Virginia Argus

WASHINGTON CITY, August 5.

In the following curious talk we think we perceive a new evidence of British amity! as well as what we may expect from our friends on the frontier. Americans are alone considered as objects of hatred by the Great Spirit, and no ardent spirits, forsooth, ought to be drank by the Indians, except such as comes from Montreal! It is impossible to view such extravagance as flowing from the unprejudiced mind of the savage. It can only be ascribed to the interested views of a foreign trading company, or to the instructions or countenance of the government from which that company emanates.

SUBSTANCE of a talk delivered at Le Maigouls, entrance of Lake Michigan, by the Indian Chief Le Maigouls,
By the Trout, May 4th, 1807, as coming from the first man whom God created, said to be now in the Shawanese country, addressed to all the different tribes of Indians.

Le Margouis holding in his hand eight strings of old wampum, four white and four blue, said—

Brothers—These strings of wampum come from the Great Spirit. Do not despise them, for he knows everything. They are to go all round the earth till they are lost. They were sent to you by the First Man he created, with these words:

Children—I was asleep, when the Great Spirit addressed himself to another spirit; said: I have closed my Book of accounts with man, & am going to destroy the earth: but first I will awaken, from the sleep of the dead, the first man I created: he is wise, and let us hear if he has ought to say.

He then awoke me, and told me what he was about to do.

I looked round the world and saw my RED CHILDREN had greatly degenerated; that they had become scattered and miserable. When I saw this, I was grieved on their account, & asked leave of the GREAT SPIRIT, to come and see if I could reclaim them. I requested the GREAT SPIRIT to grant, in case they should listen to my voice, that the world might yet subsist, for the period of three full lives. And my request was granted.

Now, therefore, my Children, listen to my voice. It is that of the Great Spirit! If you hearken to my counsel, and follow my instructions for four years, there will then be TWO DAYS of DARKNESS, during which I shall travel unseen through the land, and cause the animals, such as they were formerly, when I created them, to come forth out of the earth. The GREAT SPIRIT bids me address you in his own words, which are these.

“My Children—You are to have very little intercourse with the whites. They are not your fathers, as you call them; but your brethren. I am your FATHER. When you call me so, you do well, I am the father of the English, of the French, of the Spaniards, and of the Indians; I created the first man, who was the common father of all these people as well as yourselves, and it is through him, whom I have awakened from his long sleep, that I now address you. Of the Americans I did not make.” They are not my children, but the children of the evil spirit. They grew from the scum of the great water, when it was troubled by the evil spirit, and the froth was driven into the woods by a strange east wind, they are numerous. But I HATE THEM. THEY ARE UNJUST; they have taken away your lands, which were not made for them.

My Children—The whites I placed on the other side of the Great Lake, that they might be a separate people. To them I gave different manners, customs, animals, vegetables, &c. for their use. To them I have given cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry for themselves only. You are not to keep any of these animals, nor to eat of their meat. To you I have given the deer, the bear, and all wild animals, and the fish that swim in the rivers, and the corn that grows in the fields, for your own use: and you are not to give your meat or your corn to the whites to eat.

My Children—You may salute the whites when you meet them, but must not shake hands. You must not get drunk; it is a great sin. Your old men and chiefs may drink a little pure spirits, such as comes from Montreal! But you must not drink one drop of whiskey. It is the drink of the evil spirit. It was not made by me, but by the Americans. It is poison. It makes you sick. It burns your insides. Neither are you on any account to eat bread, it is the food of the WHITES.

My Children—You must plant corn for yourselves, for your wives, and for your children, and when you do it, you are to help each other, but plant no more than is necessary for your own use. You must not sell it to the whites. It was not made for them.

I made all the trees of the forest for your use; but the maple I love best, because it yields sugar for your little ones. You must make it only for them, but sell none to the whites. They have another sugar, which was made expressly for them; besides by making too much you spoil the trees, and give them pain by cutting & hacking them, for they have a feeling like yourselves. If you make more than is necessary for your own use, you shall die, and the maple will yield no more water. If a white man is starving, you may sell him a very little corn, or a very little sugar, but it must be by measure and by weight.

My Children—You are indebted to the white traders, but you must pay them no MORE THAN HALF THEIR CREDITS, BECAUSE THEY HAVE CHEATED YOU. You must pay them in skins, furs, canoes, &c. but not in meat, corn, or sugar. You must not dress like the whites, nor wear hats like them, but pluck out your hair, as in ancient times, and wear the feather of the eagle on your heads; and when the weather is not severe, you must go naked, excepting the BREACH CLOTH; and when you are clothed, it must be in skins, or leather of your own dressing.

My Children—You complain that the animals of the forest are few and scattered. How should it be otherwise; You destroy them yourselves, for their skins only, and leave their bodies to rot, or give the best pieces to the whites. I am displeased when I see this, and take them back to the earth, that they may not come to you again. You must kill no more animals than are necessary to feed and clothe you; and you are to keep but one dog, because by keeping too many, you starve them.

My Children—Your women must not live with the traders, or other white men, unless they are lawfully married. But do not like even this; because my WHITE AND RED CHILDREN were thus marked, with different colors, that they might be a separate people.

[Here follow certain regulations respecting courtship and marriage; as also respecting the purification of women at certain periods, which are too minutely detailed to be repeated. The Great Spirit also directs them all to bathe at certain periods, to wash away their sins, upon the observance of which regulations, they are to be pardoned four times for the same offence; such
as stealing, getting drunk, or the like; but the fifth time, says the Great Spirit, "you shall surely die."

Your wise men [or conjurors] have bad medicine in their bags. They must throw away their medicine bags, and when the medicine is in blossom, collect it fresh and pure. You must make no feasts to the evil spirit of the earth; but only to the good spirits of the air. You are no more to dance the Warano, nor the Piogan, or fife dance. I did not put you on the earth to dance those dances, but you are to dance naked, with your bodies painted, and with the Piogamaugum [war club] in your hands. You must all have this weapon and never leave it behind you. When you dance thus, I SHALL ALWAYS LOOK ON WITH PLEASURE. You are to make yourselves Paka touanacs, (or crosses) which you must always carry with you, and amuse yourselves often with that game. [A kind of bat ball common among the savages, which requires great agility.] Your women must have also handsome fassa guamakes & that they may play also; for I made you to amuse yourselves, and I am delighted when I see you happy. You are, however, never to go to war against each other, but to cultivate peace between your different tribes, that they may become one great people.

My Children—No Indian must ever sell rum to Indians. It makes him rich, but when he dies he becomes very wretched. You bury him with all his wealth and ornaments about him, and as he goes along the path of the dead, they fall from him: he stops to take them up, and they become dust. He at last arrives almost at the place of rest, and then crumbles into dust himself. But those, who by their labor furnish themselves with necessaries only, when they die are happy; and, when they arrive at the land of the dead, will find their wigwam furnished with everything they had on earth.

[Thus far the Great Spirit.]

Now my Children said he First Created Man. Listen to what I am about to add. The Great Spirit then opened a door, shewing me a bear and a deer, both very small and very lean, and said look here my son! these are the animals that are now on the earth; the Red People have spoiled them by killing them too young, and giving their meat to the Whites, and also by greasing themselves with their fat, which is very wrong. The women when they grease their bodies or their hair, should do it only with the fat of the smaller animals: of raccoons, of otters, of snakes &c. The GREAT SPIRIT then, opened another door, and shewed me a bear and a deer extremely fat and of a very extraordinary size— and said look here my son! These are the animals, I placed on the earth when I created you.

Now my children, listen to what I say, and let it sink in your ears—it is the orders of the GREAT SPIRIT.

My Children—Thus must not speak of this talk to the whites. It must be hidden from them. I am now on the earth sent by the Great Spirit to instruct you. Each village must send me two or more principal Chiefs to represent you that you may be taught. The bearer of this, will go out to you—he path to my wigwam. I could not come myself to Arbre Croche, because the world is changed from what it was: it is broken, and came down; and as it declines the Chippewa and all beyond will fall off and die: therefore you must come to see me and be instructed, in order to prevent it. Those villages which do not listen to this talk, and send me two deputies, will be cut off from the face of the earth.
The game at which they were playing when old Michilimackinac was taken by stratagem and destroyed.

Another game for the amusement of the Indian women.

Two little balls are tied together by a thong of six inches in length, and thrown with a stick.