The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-03-22
A MARVELLOUS STORY.
Indians who Sink their Children In A fr-
Tight Envelopes During the Winter.
from the San Francisco CALL

the northwestern shores of Lake Su-
perior, around Chan-wo- mi-gan Bay,
and the mouth of the river Mus-ke-zlbi. |
/ often heard of the strange and hither-
to unpublished custom of secluded |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. "sf.
The Chippewa Indians who related
this circumstance to me were all re-
spectacle in their way, and are gener-
ally trustworthy and truthful people,
being mostly Christians, having been
instructed by Bishop Barraga, of pious
memory. Hence, when they informed
me of the custom among the Rabbit
Indians of consigning about one-third
of their tribe to a kind of tomb for
about six months, in order that the
other two-thirds might be saved from
death by starvation, though regarded
what | heard as almost incredible, l
could not but pay some attention to q
statement so frequently made by so
many persons otherwise credible.
The manner, in which the thing is
done, as they stated, ifs in this way: The
children from the age of three years to
that of fourteen, at the approach of
winter, are enclosed within air-tight
vessels or bags, made out of the bark
of the birch tree, or vetula alba, and
after the " Mokock," as it is called, is
Id la -
water, it is sunk with its living freight
into the bottom of the Lake Owas,
where it remains until spring, when it
is drawn up, and the dormant pap
poose found sound and well, and after
little shaking the child is soon re-
stored to consciousness. The Owas-
soes 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 mot
taught them to have recourse to the
desperate plan of disposing of their
children in order to save their pro-
visions.
The writer of this narrative regarded
the statement as famulous at first; for,
though every Indian he consulted ex-
pressed his belief 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 mar
rated the story certified that any
one of them had been present when
the operation of sealing up the children
in the Mokocks,'' or their enlarge
ment therefrom, took place. But the
writer happened to be present ats wed
ding of the head chief of the AChippe-
was, No-ga-nup's daughter, Lady
Louisa, to one Boyle, cion of one OF
the tribes of Galway, and at this mar
riage feast, lasting a whole week, were
present two trappers from the rabbit
eating Indians aforesaid, who, upon be-
ing asked if the story about sinking the
children into the lake to save the food
they would consume was fabulous, an
} swered, gravely, "Kawin," Z" No."
They assured us that 800 of their young
people were then under the water since
November, and that they expected 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 i
were prepared-how the air was exclud-
ed by the burning of dry leaves within
them, how the children were ordered to
inhale full breast of air, how the YES
sci or sack of birch bark was sealed and
rendered waterproof by coating of
gums and rosin, and how they were
sunk into the lake to repose there till
spring! lad rts
p Not satisfied with the testimony of
those two witnesses, confirmed by the
solemn clouds of smoke arising like in
cense from their large stone pipes, your
correspondent came to the resolution
OF testing in person the truth of these
strange variations of so many respect
able Indians, Christian and Pagan. Ac-
cordingly, the next day being the 7th
of January, 1872, your correspondent,
accompanied by a son of Na-gen-up,
the chief, son of the head medicine
man, Ma-co-day-be-nos, and Antoine
Daye, a half-breed, took the best six
dogs we could pick up, with plenty of
dried meat and provisions 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
500 miles, for the surface of the snow
was quite solids mist having prevailed
for two or three days, and, under the
influence of the frost, become ice. Not
IN all nature is there any thing more
desolate and melancholy than travelling
IN those savage regions, where, for
miles and miles, not living thing is
seen nor a sound heard, except the
crash of the limb of some tree under its
weight OF snow, or the thud of the fall
Of larna f,-c,.,