A General History of the Fur Trade* 69 



laid on a kind of scaffolding; and I have been informed that 

 women, as in the East, have been known to sacrifice them- 

 selves to the manes of their husbands. The whole of the 

 property belonging to the departed person is destroyed, and 

 the relations take in exchange for the wearing apparel, any 

 rags that will cover their nakedness. The feast bestowed 

 on the occasion, which is, or at least used to be, repeated 

 annually, is accompanied with eulogiums on the deceased, 

 and without any acts of ferocity. On the tomb are carved 

 or painted the symbols of his tribe, which are taken from 

 the different animals of the country. 



Many and various are the motives which induce a savage 

 to engage in war. To prove his courage, or to revenge the 

 death of his relations, or some of his tribe, by the massacre 

 of an enemy. If the tribe feel themselves called upon to 

 go to war, the elders convene the people, in order to know 

 the general opinion. If it be for war, the chief publishes 

 his intention to smoke in the sacred stem at a certain period, 

 to which solemnity, meditation and fasting are required as 

 preparatory ceremonials. When the people are thus assem- 

 bled, and the meeting sanctified by the custom of smoking, 

 the chief enlarges on the causes which have called them 

 together, and the necessity of the measures proposed on the 

 occasion. 



He then invites those who are willing to follow him, to 

 smoke out of the sacred stem, which is considered as the 

 token of enrolment ; and if it should be the general opinion, 

 that assistance is necessary, others are invited, with great 

 formality, to join them. Every individual who attends 

 these meetings brings something with him as a token of his 

 warlike intentions or as an object of sacrifice, which, when 

 the assembly dissolves, is suspended from poles near the 

 place of council. 



They have frequent feasts, and particular circumstances 

 never fail to produce them ; such as a tedious illness, long 

 fasting, &c. On these occasions it is usual for the person 

 who means to give the entertainment, to announce his de- 

 sign, on a certain day, of opening the medicine bag and 

 smoking out of his sacred stem. This declaration is consi- 

 dered as a sacred vow that cannot be broken. There are 

 also stated periods, such as the spring and autumn, when 

 they engage in very long and solemn ceremonies. On these 

 occasions dogs are offered as sacrifices, and those which are 

 very fat, and milk-white, are preferred. They also make 



