22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



brave bourgeois, Philibert ; the manor house of Tilly on the shores of the St. 

 Lawrence ; the Chateau of Beaumanoir, famous for the bacchanalian revels of the 

 •intendant Bigot ; the castle of St. Louis, and other " Seats of the Mighty " in 

 New France, have often been described, but who has pictured the little huts in their 

 courtyards, of the negro and pani ? 



Dr. Daniel G. Brinton says that the Pani stock was scattered irregularly from 

 the Middle Missouri River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Pawnees proper occupied 

 the territory from the Niobrara River south to the Arkansas. The Niobrara River 

 courses in an easterly direction through the northerly part of the State of Nebraska, 

 and falls into the Missouri. The territory indicated embraces now the States of 

 Nebraska and Kansas, and parts of Iowa and Missouri. It includes many cities 

 and towns, among them being Des Moines, St. Louis, Topeka, and Omaha. The 

 Arikari and Skidi branches of the nation separated at an early date and went north, 

 while the Wichitas, Caddoes, and Huecos roamed over Eastern Louisiana and 

 Western Texas. 



The Pani stock, as a rule, had an excellent physique, being tall and robust, with 

 well-proportioned features, the lips and eyes small. Their marriage customs were 

 lax ; agriculture was more in favor with them than generally on the plains. Their 

 religion somewhat resembled that of the Mexicans, and indicates a southern origin. 

 'One of their divinities was Opirikut, who represented the deity of fertility and agri- 

 culture. At the time of corn planting, a young girl, usually a captive, was sacrificed 

 to this, divinity. The victim was bound to a stake and partly burned, her breast was 

 cut open, /her heart was torn out, and flung into the flames. Her flesh was then 

 divided into small pieces and buried in the. corn field, to secure an abundant crop. 

 In Mr. Grinnell's book this idivinity appears under the name of Ti-ra-wa, and this 

 sacrifice seems to have been most used by that portion. of the nation known as the 

 Skidi, whose home was on the Platte and Loup Rivers in Nebraska. 



In i8p6 the ;^awnee tribe had a population of 6,223, with nearly 2,000 warriors. 

 The Caddoes were of the same stock, and were also numerous • on the western 

 plains. "Since the removal of these people to reserves, mostly in the Indian 

 Territory, the evidences of their progress towards civilization are cheering ; but 

 their character has changed. In the old barbaric days they were light-hearted, 

 merry, makers of jokes, keenly alive to the humorous side of life. Now they are 

 serious, grave, little disposed to laugh. Then they were like children, without a 

 care. Now they are like men, on whom the anxieties of life weigh heavily. Civiliza- 

 tion, bringing with it some measure of material prosperity, has also brought care, 

 responsibility, repression. No doubt it is best, and it is inevitable, but it is sad, too." 

 Recent information as to the remnant of this nation is given by Mr. .Geo. B. Grin- 

 nell, from whom we have just quoted. Many of the young men were embodied into 

 companies of armed scouts, under Major North and other officers, . during the con- 

 struction of the Union Pacific Railway in 1863, to guard against the depredations of 

 the Sioux and Arapahoes. They were brave and reliable soldiers, and it is to be 

 regretted that the tribe of Pawnees . proper is. reduced to a few hundred souls, 

 while the whole Caddoan or Pani stock does not probably exceed in number two 

 thousand. (10) 



The American Cyclopedia, article Pawnee, describes the tribe as warlike, long 

 resident in Nebraska on the Platte River and its tributaries. The name Pawnee 

 or Pani is from the Illinois language, and is said to be from Pariki, meaning a horn, 

 referring to the peculiar scalp lock, dressed to stand erect and curve slightly back 

 like a horn ; the rest of the hair was shaven off. They were constantly at war with 

 the Sioux and other nations, and, being considered irreclaimable savages, were per- 

 mitted to be held as slaves in Canada, when bought from other tribes ; wherefore, 



n AA *'°} ^•^■- B""^^^^ of Ethnology, Vol. 7, pp. 61, 62 and 113, date 1885-6. " The present number of the 

 Caddoan stock is 2,259. settled m Fort Berthold Reservation, N. Dakota, and some on the Indian Territorv 

 some on the Ponca, Pawnee, and Ota[e Reservations, and others on the Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita Reser- 

 vations. They are now self-supporting. 



