Chippewas, when drunken debaucheries resulted from a keg of whiskey that
had escaped the vigilant eyes of the soldiers, and when migrations to
the Canadian posts were prompted by the hope that there they could
obtain enough supplies to support them without work and that there they
could enjoy some ceremony to break the monotony of life. But these
migrations were few on the part of the Sioux: they could enjoy councils
just as good near home.

On the occasion of a visit to Old Fort Snelling and the agency near by,
the authorities were careful to see that there was a due amount of
ceremony. Probably a whole band of Indians would come down from the
headwaters of the Minnesota River. Their chiefs and braves gathered in
the log Council Hall, and there took place the scene so picturesquely
described by the eccentric traveller, J. C. Beltrami.

"The council-hall is, as it ought to be, a great room built of trunks of
trees. The flag of the United States waves in the centre, surrounded by
English colours, and medals hung to the walls. They are presented by the
Indians to their _Father_, the agent, as a proof that they abjure all
cabal or alliance with the English. Pipes, or calumets and other little
Indian presents, offered by the various tribes as pledges of
their friendship, decorate the walls and give a remarkable and
characteristic air to the room." The dignitaries of the post are seated
about a table and the braves recline upon the ground during the council.

"The _seance_ opens with a speech of the chief, who rises and addresses
the agent. He generally begins with the Great Spirit, or the sun, or the
moon 'whose purity is equalled by that of his own heart,' &c. &c. always
finishing with a petition for presents;--_whiskey_ is sure to find
honourable mention: these are what English lawyers call the _common
counts_."[281]

After the reply of the agent the peace pipe was solemnly passed from one
to another, and the council ended with the distribution of presents.
These presents were of tobacco, gunpowder, vermilion, pipes, kettles,
blankets, snuff-boxes, armbands, looking-glasses, horse bells,
jews'-harps, ivory combs, and shawls.[282] Not the least popular of
these were the jews'-harps, which had their uses--in spite of the
sarcastic invective delivered against them by Senator Benton in 1822
when the abolition of the Factory System was being considered. "They
were innocent", observed the Senator, "and on that account prec