INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. 393 
and pole fences. ‘The land is wrought entirely with hoes by the women, and the vegeta- 
bles raised are Indian corn, pumpkins, and squashes of several kinds. ‘The corn is said 
to be the original kind discovered with the continent, and is quite different in appearance 
from that raised in the States. The stalk is from three to six feet in height, seldom more 
than four or four and a half feet, and the ears grow in clusters near the surface of the 
ground. One or two ears sometimes grow higher upon the stalk, which appears too slen- 
der to support any more. ‘The grain is small, hard, and covered with a thicker shell than 
that raised in warmer climates. It does not possess the same nutritive qualities as food 
for animals as the larger kind, but is more agreeable to the taste of the Indians. It is 
raised with so little labor that it seems well calculated for them. An acre usually pro- 
duces about twenty bushels. When green, a portion is gathered and partially boiled, 
after which it is dried, shelled, and laid aside. This is called sweet corn, and is preserved 
any length of time, and when well boiled it differs little from green corn fresh from the 
stalk. The Indians plant about the middle of April or the beginning of May, according 
to the mildness or severity of the spring, and the ears are gathered about the beginning 
of August. The crops are not uniformly good, being subject to inundations from the 
Missouri, or to long periods of drouth. A moderately wet season is always favorable, and 
from two thousand to four thousand bushels of corn are raised by this nation. Cellars are 
dug within the houses, in which the various kinds of produce are stored. 
Many superstitious rites and ceremonies are performed at the time of planting corn, and 
also at different periods during the growth of the crops; some or perhaps all of which 
take their rise in ancient tradition, and are very singular, and exhibit the original modes of 
thought and worship practised by their forefathers. Some of them are very indelicate in 
their character, and indicate the lowest state of animal degradation. 
After corn, squashes next claim their attention in agriculture. ‘They grow on large and 
very strong vines, and are of various sizes and shapes. They are either boiled and eaten 
when green, or cut up and dried for winter use. In the latter case they become very hard, 
and are scarcely edible when cooked, except by the natives, who seem to devour them with 
a gusto and a preference not shown for any other vegetable except sweet corn. 
The crops being gathered in, are stored away in the cellars before alluded to, or buried 
on the field in different places, in what are called by the Canadian traders cachés, so con- 
structed as to be impervious to rain, and so well covered that no one could discover them 
without a knowledge of their locality. Whatever is concealed in this way is intended to 
remain in the ground until the succeeding spring, at which time buffalo usually being far 
distant, it is their only resource for food. Besides the great advantages accruing to them- 
selves over other wandering tribes, by tilling the soil, they have two markets for their sur- 
plus produce. The first is the fort of the American Fur Company, located near their 
