ATIM ND1\. SI I 



peculiar to the Indian mode of BJprCCB. I found horn, as I had 



ted, the fullest and most recent information from the Lines. 



MfoZOJeed, the principal man at OttOWa Lake, had recently visited 



them for the porpOM of consultation; but returned on the alarm 



of an attack opon hie tillage. 



I i Indians listened with attention to the message transmitted 

 to them from the President, and to the Statements with winch it 



■ - enforced. Peahickee, the venerable and respected chief of 



the place, was their speaker in reply. He lamented the war. and 

 admitted the folly of keeping it op; hut it was carried on by the 

 Chippewas in self-defence, and by volunteer parties of young 

 men. acting without the sanction of the old chiefs. He thought 

 the same remark due to the elder Sioux chiefs, who probably did 

 not sanction the crossing of the lines, but could not restrain their 

 young men. He lived, lie said, in an isolated situation, did not 

 ■ingle in the interior broils, and did not deem himself responsible 

 for acts done out of his own village, and certainly not for the 



- of the villages of Torch Lake, Ottowa Lake, and the St. 

 Croix. He had uniformly advised his people to sit still and re- 

 main at peace, and he believed that none of his young men had 

 joined the war-parties of last year. The government, he 

 said, should have his hearty co-operation in restoring peace. He 

 .red to the sub-agemy established here in 1826, spoke of its 

 benefits, and wished to know whj the agent had been withdrawn, 

 and whether he would be instructed to return ? In the course of 

 his reply, he said, that formerly, when the Indians lived under 

 the British government, they were usually told what to do, and in 

 very distinct terms. Hut they were now at a loss. From what 

 had been said and done at the treaty of Fond do Lac, he expected 

 the care and protection of the American government, and that 

 they would advance towards, instead of (as in the case of the 

 tub-agency) withdrawing from them. He was rather at a loss for 

 our views r es pecting the Chippewas, and he wished much for my 

 • in their atfairs. 



[thought it requisite to make a distinct reply to this point. I 

 told him tint when they lived under the British (Government, they 



ware justified in shaping th< ■■ according to the sdvice they 



received; but that, on the transfer of the country, their allegiance 



