38 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.ann.U 



straightened across and indented, as if it might have been an attempt 

 at forming an animal mound. 



The next mound, k, toward the south, extends 80 feet from southwest 

 to northeast, and is only 12 feet across. The surrounding depression 

 is at several places about a foot in depth. It is much overgrown with 

 saplings and brush, a circumstance not occurring in connection with 

 any of the other mounds. 



A short distance east of mound k are two other mounds, / and /»,the 

 former measuring 50 feet in length by IS in width, the latter 50 feet in 

 length by 15 or 10 in width. 



East of this area, as well as north and south of it, at varying dis- 

 tances, mounds were visible, and many others were reported. 



In the immediate vicinity of Keshena there are many remains of 

 this character. North of the village is a high ridge covered with 

 immense pines and oaks, which elevation separates the valley of Wolf 

 river from some marshy lakes on the south. The top of this ridge is 

 just wide enough to use as a roadway, and is about 75 feet above the 

 river, which is distant some 200 yards. The ridge extends from south- 

 west to northeast, and appears to have been formed by glacial action; 

 its total length between the two areas in which it merges into the nat- 

 ural prairie level is about one-third of a mile, and at various places 

 along the upper surface there are the remains of mounds averaging 12 

 to 15 feet in diameter and from 'J.i to i feet in height. Some of these 

 have been opened at some time during the past, and it is reported that 

 one or two of them contained human bones. 



Ten miles north of Keshena, near "Wolf river, there are several large 

 circular mounds, but no examination of them has been made. 



This country was, previous to the appearance of the Menomini in 

 1852, claimed by the Ojibwa, bands of this tribe having lived east of 

 Keshena, about Shawano lake. The Ojibwa of Wisconsin, as well as 

 of Minnesota, allege, however, that they do not know who built these 

 mounds; but they generally attribute them to the Dakota, who, they 

 claim, were the first occupants of the country. 



Fragments of pottery are occasionally found in the vicinity of mounds, 

 ami these, likewise, are attributed by the Menomini to their predeces- 

 sors. Occasional arrowheads of quartz ite, jasper, and hornstone occur, 

 which also are believed to have been made by the Dakota or some other 

 Siouan tribe now residing westward from this locality. 



About .'5 miles northwest of Keshena. near Wolf river, there is a 

 large conical bowlder of pink granite, measuring about 6 feet in height 

 and 4 feet in diameter at the base. This rock is in a state of disinte- 

 gration, and is regarded by the Menomini as a manido. In a myth 

 given elsewhere it is related that a party of Indians once called on 

 Ma'nabush to ask for favors, and that all of them were accommodated 

 save one. who had the temerity to ask for everlasting life. Ma'nabtish, 

 it is related, took this man by the shoulders and thrust him upon the 



