THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 383 



institutions of tlie 'New and the Old World. In tliis work I find tliat Mr. Schoolcraft 

 denies tlie truth of Mr. Catlin's description of the Maudan religious ceremonies, the 

 truth of his assertion that the Mandan youths suspended the weight of their bodies 

 by splints run through the flesh on the breast and shoulders, &c. ; and asserts, also, 

 that his whole account of the Mandan religion is all wrong. It is a great pity that 

 Mr. Schoolcraft, who never visited the Mandans, should have put forth such false and 

 unfounded assertions as these on a subject so important to science, and so well estab- 

 lished by proved facts. 



I had the sole control of the American Fur Company's business v.ith the Mandans, 

 and lived in their village, for the space of thirteen years, from 1822 to 1S35, and was 

 doubtless the first white man who ever learned to speak their language. In the sum- 

 mer of 1832 Mr. George Catlin was a guest in my fort at the Mandan village, observ- 

 ing and learning the customs of those interesting and peculiar j)eox)le, and iiaintiug 

 the portraits of their celebrated men, of which he made many and with great exact- 

 ness. It was during that summer that Mr. Catlin witnessed the Mandan religious 

 ceremonies, the O-lcee-^ja described in his notes of travels among the North American 

 Indians, and to which Mr. "Schoolcraft has applied the insulting epithet of falsity in 

 his great work. By the certificate jjublished by Mr. Catlin, signed by my chief clerk 

 and myself, on the 23d day of July, 1832 (see i)age 3G8, herein), in the Mandan village, 

 certifying that we witnessed, in company with Mr. Catlin, the whole of those four days' 

 ceremonies, and that he has represented in his four paintings, then and there made 

 of them, exactly what we saw, and without addition or exaggeration, it will be seen 

 that I witnessed those scenes with Mr. Catlin and interi^reted their whole meaning 

 for him as they are described in his work. Since the almost extinction of this friendly 

 tribe, and the end of this peculiar and unaccountable custom, and in the eighty-fifth 

 year of my own age, from a sense of duty to my ancient frienel, Mr. Catlin, and a wish 

 for the truthfulness of history, I have taken the liberty of committing to your care 

 and for your use, as you may bo disposed, tlie foregoing statements. 

 Yours, truly, 



JAMES KIPP. 



Professor Henky, 



Smithsonian Insiitution. 



Until his dying day Mr. Catlin felt sorely the attempt to discredit the 

 truth of his work amongst the Mandans. 



Mr. Lewis H. Morgan was with the Mandans about 1857, and traveled 

 over much of the ground where Mr. Catlin had been twenty-five years 

 before. 



In speakiug of George Catlin as an observer of Indian life, and of his 

 being with the Mandans at their village on the Upx)er Missouri, Mr. Mor- 

 gan writes : 



He was an accurate and intelligent observer, andhis work on the " Manners and Cus- 

 toms of the North American Indians" is a valuable contribution to American Ethnog- 

 raphy.* 



LEWIS H. MORGAN. 



* Houses and Home Life of the American Aborigines, 1881, page 50. 



