Rt'M.. nOl 



MISSIONS MISSISA UG A 



909 



1851 ; Duflot (le Mofras, Expl. de I'Ore- 

 j;on, 1844; I)unl)ar, I'awnce Indians, 1880; 

 Ei'lls, Ten Vears, ISSG; Kngelhanit, Fran- 

 ciscans, 18!)7; Fletcher, Indian Ivlucation 

 and Civilization, 1888; Gookin, Ciiristian 

 Indians, Arclipeologia Americana, I8;>(r, 

 Harris, Ivirly Missions, 1893; Harvey, 

 Shawnee Incjians, 1855; Heckeweider, 

 United Brethren, 1820; Hind, Labrador, 

 1803; Howe, Hist. (\)11. Ohio, ii, LSOO; 

 Jackson (1) Alaska, 1880, (2) Facts About 

 Alaska, 1903; Jesuit Relations, Thwaites 

 ed., 1896-1901; Jones, Ojebway Inds., 

 1861; Kreiil)iel, Mennonites, 1898; Los- 

 kiel. United Brethren, 1794; Lossinu;, Mo- 

 ravian Missions, American Hist. Record, 

 1872; INIacLean, Canadian Savaj;:e Folk, 

 1896; McCov, IJajjlist Indian Missions, 

 1840; McDoiigali, George Millard .McDou- 

 gall the Pioneer, 1888; Minnesota Hist. 

 Soc. Coli., I, 1872; Mooney, Myths of 

 Cherokee, 1900; Morice, Northern British 

 CoIuml)ia, 1904; Morse, Report, 1822; 

 Palfrev, New England, i, 1866; Parknian, 

 (1) Jesuits, 1867, (2) Pioneers, 1883; Pill- 

 ing, Indian Bil)liographies (Bulletins of 

 Bur. Am. F^th.), 1887-91; Pitezel, Lights 

 and Shades, 1857; Riggs, Tah-koo Wah- 

 kan, 1869; Rink, Tales and Traditions 

 of Eskimo, 1875; Ronan, Flathead Indians, 

 1890; Ryerson, Hudson's Bay, 1855, 

 Shea, Catholic Missions, 1855; de Smet, 

 Oregon Missions, 1847; Stefansson in Am. 

 Anthrop., viii, 1906; Sutherland, Summer 

 in Prairie Land, 1881; Thompson, ]\Iora- 

 vian Missions, 1890; Tucker, Rainbow in 

 the North, 1851; Wellcome, Metlakahtia, 

 1887; Whipple, Lights and Shadows, 1899. 



(.1. M.) 



Missisauga (Chippewa: rnisi, 'large,' 

 sag or sank, 'outlet (of a river or bay)' = 

 'large outlet,' referring to the mouth of 

 Missisauga r. — Hewitt). Although this 

 Algonquian tribe is a division or subtribe 

 of the Chippewa, having originally formed 

 an integral part of the latter, it has long 

 been generally treated as distinct. When 

 first encountered by the French, in 

 1634, the Missisauga lived about the 

 mouth of the river of the same name, 

 along the n. shore of L. Huron, and on 

 the adjacent Manitoulin id. Although .so 

 closely allied to the Chippewa, they do 

 not appear to have been disposed to fol- 

 low that tril)e in its progress westward, 

 as there is no evidence that they were 

 ever found in early times so far w. as 

 Sault Ste Marie, but appear to have clung 

 to their old haunts about L. Huron 

 and Georgian l)ay. Early in the 18th 

 century, influenced by a desire to trade 

 with the whites, they began to drift to- 

 ward the s. E. into the region formerly 

 occupied by the Hurons, between L. Hu- 

 ron and L. Erie. Although they had de- 

 stroyed a vdlage of the Iroquois near Ft 

 Frontenac about 1705, they tried in 1708 to 



gain a jjassage through the country of the 

 latter, to trade their peltries with the 

 English. At this time a part or band was 

 settled on L. St Clair. About 1720 the 

 French estalilished a station at the w. 

 end of L. Ontario for the [)Urpose of 

 stinndating trade with the Alissi.siuga. 

 Near the close of the first half of tlie 

 century (1746-50), having joined the Iro- 

 (piois in the war against the Frencji, the 

 Missi.^auga were compelled l)y the latter, 

 who were aided by the Ottawa, to 

 abandon their country, a portion at 

 least settling near the Seneca e. of L. 

 Erie. Ot liens, however, appear to have 

 remained in the vicinity of their early 

 home, as a delegate from a INIissisauga 

 town "on the north side of L. Ontario" 

 came to the conference at Mt Johns<(n, 

 N. Y., in June, 1755. As it is also stateil 

 that they "belong to the Chijipewyse 

 confederacy, which chiefly dwell about 

 the L. Missiiianac," it is probable that 

 "north side of L. Ontario" refers to 

 the shores of L. Huron. Being friendly 

 witli the Iroquois at this time, they were 

 allowed to occupy a number of i)laccs in 

 the country from wliich the Hurons had 

 been driven. This is inferred in part 

 from Chauvignerie's report of 1736, which 

 locates partsof the tribe atdifferent points 

 on Missi.sauga r., Maniskoulin (JNIanitou- 

 lin?) id., L. St Clair, Rente, Toronto r., 

 Matchitaen, and the w. end of L. On- 

 tario. The land on which the Iroquois 

 are now settled at Grand r., Ontario, was 

 l)OUght from them. For the purpose of 

 sealing their alliajice with the Iroquois 

 they were admitted as the seventh tribe 

 of the Inxpiois league in 1746, at which 

 date they were described as livmg in five 

 villages near Detroit. It is therefore 

 probable that those who went to live with 

 the Seneca first came to the vicinity of 

 Detroit and moved thence to w. New 

 York. The alliance with the Iroquois 

 lasted only until the outbreak of the 

 French and Indian war a few years later. 

 According to Jones (Hist. Ojebways), 

 as soon as a Missisaugadied he was laid out 

 on the ground, arrayed in his best clothes, 

 and wrapped in skins or blankets. A grave 

 about 3 ft deep was dug and the corpse 

 interred with the head toward the w. 

 By his side were placed his hunting and 

 war implement's. Thegrave was then cov- 

 ered, and above it poles or sticks were 

 placed lengthwise to the height of about 

 2 ft, over which birch-bark or mats were 

 thrown to keep out the rain. Immedi- 

 ately after the decease of an Indian, the 

 near relatives went into mourning by 

 blackening their laces with charcoal and 

 putting on the most ragged and filthy 

 clothing they possessed. A year was the 

 usual time of mourning for a husband, 

 wife, father or mother. 



