d propounds the subject of discussion;
the inferior chiefs (Okimas) speak in turn, according to seniority;
every old man, however, whether chief or not, is allowed to give his
opinion, and the general voice of the assembly decides the question at
issue. It is seldom, however, that any question arises requiring much
deliberation in the present times of peace. When a party of strange
Indians arrives at the village, a council is called to ascertain the
means the community may possess of discharging properly the rites of
hospitality; each individual states the modicum he is willing to
contribute, in cash or in kind, and the proceeds, which are always
sufficient to entertain the guests sumptuously, according to Indian
ideas, while they remain, are placed at the disposal of the Kitchi
Okima.

Councils are held and harangues delivered when they receive their
annual presents from Government; these consist of blankets, cloth,
ammunition, and a variety of small articles, all of which in their
present impoverished state are highly valued by them. They profess an
attachment to the British Government; but, like certain more civilized
nations, they will fight for the cause that is likely to yield them
most advantage. Their loyalty to Britain, therefore, is less to be
depended on than their hatred to America. A general idea has gone
abroad regarding their taciturnity which does not accord with my
experience. Far from being averse to colloquial intercourse, they
delight in it; none more welcome to an Indian wigwam than one who
can talk freely. They pass the winter evenings in relating their
adventures, hunting being their usual theme, or in telling stories;
and often have I heard the woods resound with peals of laughter
excited by their wit, for they too are witty in their own way.

Their tradition of the flood (_kitchi a tesoka_, or "great tale,") is
somewhat remarkable. The world having been overflowed by water, all
mankind perished but one family, who embarked in a large canoe, taking
a variety of animals along with them. The canoe floated about for some
time, when a musk-rat, tired of its confinement, jumped overboard and
dived; it soon reappeared, with a mouthful of mud, which it deposited
on the surface of the water, and from this beginning the new world was
formed.

When the veracity of an Indian is doubted, he points to heaven with
his forefinger, and exclaims:--

"He to whom we belong knows that what I say is true."

No