The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-02-17
HiHERNATING BABIES.
A Strange Custom Among the Owasso

The San Francisco CAL publishes the fol.
lowing remarkable story, prefaclng it with
the statement that 1t is printed just rs it came
from the writer, who is evidently more &c.
customed to the practical details OF life on the
frontier than to describing them in print:
Having spent more than two years among
the Chippewa Indians living on the North
western shores of Lake Superior, around Chan.
wo-mi gan bay and the mouth of the river
Muske.zibi, | often heard of the strange and
hitherto unpublished custom OF a secluded
tribe of Indians north Of Vermillion lake,
who IN winter sink their children under the
deep waters of the lake in their vicinity, and
In the spring raise them up from the bottom
of the lake alive and well, after being SIX
months dormant and unconscious.
The Chippewa Indians who related this cir
cumstance to me were all respectable in their
way, and are generally trustworthy and
truthful people, being mostly Christians, hav
ing been instructed by Bishop Barraga, of
pious memory. Hence, when they informed
me of the custom among the rabbit In
dams of consigning about one third of their
tribe to kinu of tomb for six months, IN or
der that the other twothirds might be saved
from death by starvation, though regarded
i
not but pay some attention to statement so
frequently made by so many persons other
wise credible.
The manner in which the thing is done, as
they stated, is In this way: The children from
the age of three years TO that OF fourteen, at
the approach of winter, are inclosed within
air tight vessels or bags, made out of the bark
OF the birch tree, or getuld alba, and after the
"mokock," as it is called, is sealed over and
made impervieus to water 1t is sunk with Its
living freight into the bottom Of the Lake
|" Owas," where II remains until spring, when
II Is drawn up and the dormant psppoose"
found sound and well, and after little shak.
ing II Is soon restored to consciousness. The
|" OwassOes" live chiefly on rabbits, the skins
of which animals are their only clothing, and
in the winter, when the SHOWS are deep, and
the rabbits scarce, this low tribe would starve,
If necessity had not taught them to have re.
course to this desperate plan of disposing OF
their children in order to save their provls-
ions.
Nor can these poor savsges be accused of
cruelty or lack Of affection for their infants
by this unheardof practice Of theirs. How
often do we read of people even civilized who
have been compelled by hunger to become
even to devOur their own OIL
spring in order to preserve life! But these
poor savages, with real affection for their
children have contriveu plan not to destroy
them, but by saving food to preserve both
their own and their children's lives in this
manner.
But what about the customs Does it really
exist, or is it only yarn Of some Chippewa
Indian trapperss
The writer of this narrative regarded the
statement rs fabulous a; first; for, though
every Indian he consulted expressed his be.
lief In the fact that the children of the Wild
tribe were all buried IN the lakes during the
winter, and hooked up again, safely, in the
spring, yet none of those who SO confidently
narrated the story certified that any one OF
them had been present when the operation OF
sealing up the children in the " mokocks," or
their enlargement thcrefron, took place. But
after whiieI the writer of this statement hap.
pened TO be present at wedding of the head
chief of the Chippewas, NO-ga-nups daugh-
ter, Lady Louisa, to one Boyle, scion of one
of the tribes Of Galway, and at this marriage
feast, lasting a whole week, there were pres
ent two trappers from the Rabbiteating In.
dams aforesaid, who, upon being asked if the
story about their sinking their children into
the lake TO save the food they would consume,
was fabulous, answered, gravely, "Kawin,"
mo" They assured US that there were three
hundred of their young people now under the
water since November, and that they expect
ed they would be all safe and well about the
middle OF May, when they would be able to
supply them with food. They then described
how the mokocks" were prepared-how the
air was excluded by the burning of dry leaves
within them-how the children were ordered
to inhale full breast of alr-hOw the vessel
or sack of birch bark was sealed and rendered
90 l., Nsrv nfn md
and how they were sunk into the lake, to re-
pose there till spring! Not satisfied with the
testimony of those two witnesses, confirmed
with the solemn clouds of smoke arising like
incense from their large stone pipes, which
contained two ounces of pure kin-ni.kinic to-
bacco, your correspondent came to the reso-
luton of testing IN person the truth of these
strange variations of so many respectable In
dams, Christian and pagan. Accordingly.
next day being the It'll of January, 1872, your
correspondent, accompanied by son OF Ma
gen.up. the chief, son OF the head mediclue
man, Ma.cO day-be hos, and Antoine Daye,
halfbreed, took the best six dogs We could
pick up. with plenty of dried meat and pro
visions for men and dogs, and started under
the guidance of the two Rabbit Indians for
their home in the far north In less than
four days We made the journey of over three
hundred miles, for the surface of the snow
was quite solid, from mist that had prevail
ed for two or three days, and under the intlu.
ence of the frost had become ice. Not IN all
nature is there anything more desolate and
melancholy than travelling in those savage re-
gions, where for miles and miles not living
thing Is seen nor sound heard, except the
crash of the limb of some tree under its weight
of snow, or the thud OF the fall of large mass
from the picturesque arches formed by the
Interviewing tops of huge pines Even the
barking OF pack of hungry wolves, the
growing Of bear or the roaring OF lion,
would be preferable to the stiffness or death
which prevails in all that wild reg ion, where
the king of terrors keeps his stronghold, and
all is as still and silent and torpid as the bod.
les of the Indian children at the bottom of
the frozen lake.
This article would be too long were 10
describe the details of our journey to the re-.
gion of the Rabbit or "OwassOe" Indians.
shall reserve that theme for another occasion.