NO. 5 DRAWINGS BY A. DeBATZ IN LOUISIANA BUSHNELL 



ILLINOIS, FOX, AND ATAKAPA. 1735 



During the year 1735 the French took many Ilhnois Indians to 

 Lower Louisiana, probably to New Orleans, to assist in the war 

 against the Chickasaw. From the interesting drawing made at that 

 time it is evident that not only warriors but women and children made 

 the long journey down the Mississippi. In the sketch the chief, on 

 the extreme left, is shown with his right hand resting on the head of 

 a Whooping Crane, Grus amcricmia, which may indicate that the 

 bird had been domesticated. This would agree with a statement by 

 Lawson. who, when referring to the Congaree of North Carolina, 

 wrote : " they take storks and cranes before they can fly and breed 

 them as tame and familiar as dung-hill fowls." 



The Fox woman was evidently a captive taken by the Illinois in 

 their then recent war with that tribe. 



The Atakapa is represented holding a calumet in his right hand 

 and a small pipe in the left, with a quiver filled with arrows on his 

 back, but no bow. 



The sketch was probably intended to represent the bank of the 

 Mississippi, and at the bottom appears the words : " Balbahachas. 

 Missysipy ou fleuve St. Louis." DuPratz described the Mississippi 

 and mentioned the various names by which it was then known, and 

 continued : " Other Indians, especially those lower down the river, 

 call it Balbancha; and at last the French have given it the name of 

 St. Louis." 



