44 



weathered, but no doubt buried as of value for their brilliant 

 nacreous covering. Several wampum beads. Breast ornament 

 with perforations, evidently portion of large sea shell. Pieces 

 of birch bark basket well preserved with regular piercing of 

 sewing. Numerous pieces of charcoal, with evidence in mound 

 of burning having taken place. 



Stone — Two pipes from the Red Pipestone quarry. Three 

 round stones seemingly used for game. Two stone hammers. 



DATE OF THE MOUNDS. 



The Manitoba Historical Society has now obtained the 

 result of mound opening investigations within its territory 

 from three distinct regions : 



1. Red River; 2, Rainy River; 3, Souris, hundreds of 

 miles apart. Some twenty mounds have been pretty fully open- 

 ed. The following results seem more or less firmly established : 



1. That the mounds are found in fertile regions, and from 

 which it would seem their builders were agriculturists. 2. The 

 present races of Indians, included in this area the Ojibways, 

 Crees, and Sioux, maintain that they were not built by their 

 ancestors. 3. A persistent tradition of smallpox is connected 

 with the mounds both on the Red and Rainy rivers, and there 

 is a fear on the part of the Indians to have them opened. 4. On 

 the Red and Souris rivers a tradition that they were built by 

 the Mandans, or as they are incorrectly called the "Mandrills," 

 prevails. 5. No articles of European manufacture have been 

 found in any of these Northwestern mounds. 6. Sea shells 

 have been found in the mounds of the three regions ; stone and 

 bone implements in them all ; pottery in most of them. Copper 

 has been found in the Rainy River and Souris mounds, but not 

 in those of Red River, 7. Evidences of fire, as of charcoal, 

 burnt bones, etc., have bten found in all. 



PROBABLE THEORY. 



The theory advanced by the writer in 1882 in his work on 

 ■"Manitoba" is receiving in its main features confirmation from 

 later discoveries. The probabilities are in favor of the mound 

 builders of this region having been other than ancestors of 

 our Indians. The connection seems almost certain with the 

 Mandans, or "White bearded Sioux," of the Missouri river, 

 who have nearly disappeared, but who when visited by Catlin 

 fifty years ago were an agricultural, pottery-making, earth- 

 dwelling tribe, among whom were many before the advent of 



