OF THE ODAHWAH INDIANS. 307 



their decoy fish, — which is made of wood and loaded with lead, so as 

 to cause it to sink, — to reach the bottom of this mysterious abyss ; 

 and in accordance with their simple ideas they thought it was a hollow, 

 inhabited by some Manido or sea-god. From this circumstance they 

 called that particular spot Manidowaning, which name was afterwards 

 applied to the bay itself. Had the island been called Manido Island, 

 the name would be perfectly intelligible, and in my opinion it was so 

 called originally by the white people ; but the word Island was after- 

 wards contracted into the syllable "lin" and by adding another 

 island after it, the name was completed, and rendered more har- 

 monious by the intrusion of consonants between the initial letter of 

 the second word and the final vowel of the first. 



The Indian name of this Island is Odahwah-minis, that is to say, 

 Odahwah Island, because it was occupied by the Odahwah Indians 

 about the time that America was discovered in the fifteenth century ; 

 and according to their tradition, it was from this place the tribe sent 

 a party of their warriors to Montreal, when they heard that extra- 

 ordinary people had arrived at that place, who had many things to 

 sell, for all who wished to trade with them. When the party came 

 back, their canoes were loaded with all kinds of articles they got from 

 the French, or Wamitikgoshe, as they called the first white people 

 they met with, from the circumstance of their keeping their things in 

 wooden boxes. The word Wamitikgoshe is applied to all white people, 

 but more particularly to the French. It is derived from " mitig," a 

 tree, or a piece of wood, and " wahsh" a hole in the ground where 

 foxes burrow or squirrels deposit their provisions. So the first Indian 

 visitors to the French, in endeavoring to give a description of the 

 people they saw, on their return, explained that the wonderful beings 

 they met with, kept their goods and provisions in hollow places, but 

 instead of digging holes in the ground like squirrels, they took the 

 trouble to put several pieces of wood together, in the shape of a hollow 

 tree sometimes, fastened with hoops, where they kept their provisions. 

 The Odahwahs continued to reside on this island until they conquered 

 the Mushkodenj, "Why they attacked that tribe I will explain in a 

 few words. The Odahwahs were at war with the Winibigoes at that 

 time, who then occupied the region north-west of Lake Michigan. 

 One time they were unfortunate, and on their way home they called 

 at the Mushkodenj village, and, as it was customary, they sang a 

 mournful song as they approached the village, to let the people know 

 that th.Qj had been defeated. Some thoughtless youth, wheu he heard 



