The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-23

The Chippewas usually had the best
of the fighting. for they were then, and
are now. a brave and hardy race. one
remarkable thing about the tribe Is
that II stil occupies the same territory
as in the days before the white man
overran the West. Other tribes have
been driven from their original terri
tory. but the Chippewas are on the old
place still. The particular tribe with
which the present outbreak originated
numbered l.153 when they were last
counted. In 1897. The whole tribe
numbered at that time 1851. There
were l.i23 of the Chippewas at AXE
Leech in 1880. $50 Of this number be-
ing males. and 324 above the z of IL.
In addition to these the Cass Lake and
the Winnebegoshist reservations had
3S9. and Otter Tail $50. The land own
ed by the ban who have just been
defying United States troops cOmpris-
es ala 40 acres. and $50 of these acres
are under cultivation by the Indians.
The tribe raises annually 900 bushels
of corn. 1.220 bushels Of vegetables and
of the Indians from the sale Of this
farm produce Is S1.050.
According to the returns OF the gov
agents. 900 Indians were liv-
ing on the reservation In 1890. OF
whom 1000 wore American clothes.
1000 could read. 1900 were church MEM
bers. II will be seen. therefore. how
highly civilized the tribe has become.
and how impossible II Is to rely upon
these civilizing agencies TO change the
nature OF the red man.
IL was the Chippewa tribe with which
the commission appointed In 1883 ne
gotiated regarding the acceptance OF
allotments in severalty. The Indians
agreed to the terms OF the commission.
but nothing has been lone about II
since. a neglect that has had its share
in souring the Chippewas' friendship
for the white man.
There is a great %fondness in the
breast of the Chippewa for his native
heath. A book published by one Of
the tribe thus describes the reservation
and the tribesmen: When I look up
on the land OF the Ojibways | cannot
but he convinced of the fact that In
no other portion OF the world a there
be a territory more favored by heav-
en-. The waters are abundant and
good. the air bracing and healthy and
the soil admirably adapted for agri-
cultural purposes. II Is not much to
bewondered at hat I'm such a climate
such a strong. athletic and hardy race
Of men should exist. as the Otlbways
are generally acknowledged to be. In
fact. they could scarcely BE- otherwise.
There Is to be seen at the Smithson-
ian Institute a birch bark chart. about
~ inches wide and about eight feet
in length. on which there Is a series
Of pictures that are supposed to give
the history of the tribe According TO
this char the C%hippewas owe their be-
ing to the following series Of circum-
tances: When Nina Bozno. the great
Rabbit. who was the servant of Dzhe
Manido. the good spirit. looked down
upon the castle he beheld human be-
ings. the ancestors OF the Indians.
They occupied the four quarters of the
earth-the northeast. the southeast,
the northwest and the southwest. He
saw how helpless they we're. and de-
sired to give them the means of ward
ing off the diseases with which they
were constantly afflicted and to pro-
vide them with animals and plants
10 serve as food n for other COM
forts.
Thus thinking. the Great Rabbit re-
manned lowering over the center OF
the earth e~ndeavoring to devise means
Of communication with the beings
there. when he heard a laugh n per-
ceived a dark object upon the surface
of the water in the west. He failed
10 make put its form. and IL slowly dis
appeared, but IL came again I'm the
north. then in the east and finally in
j the south, WntTtupon the bTtdA ihdo-
I bit asked IL to come to the center OF
the earth hat he might behold IL, but
II disappeared again. At last II came
up in the west and then slowly APP
preached the center Of the earth. where
the Great Rabbit saw II Vas the otter.
Then he instructed the otter In the
mysteries OF the medicine order. and
gave him the implements and the ma
terfal necessary for the sacred dances.
including tobacco. IL was through the
Otter that the miserable beings on the
earth elevated and became Indians.
The Chippewas have the most pecu-
| liar religious beliefs. The soul. accord
ing TO the superstition OF the tribe.
crosses the gulf between this world and
the next over the body OF a huge snake.
A drowned man never gets over, but
| slips off into the lake below. Their
idea Of heaven Is a place of complete
idleness. with abundance of o ready
at hand. A Chippewa widow carries
around with her wherever she goes a
bundle tied up to represent her hus-
band. At the end Of a year she Is re-
lieved Of the bundle and may again
become a wife. The dead are exposed
on a raised platform until nothing but
m bones remain. when these are
buried.
The accompanying illustrations drawn
from photographs by the courtesy OF
the United States bureau of ethnol-
ogy are not from photographs taken at
the Chippewa reservation. hut they
show accurately the appearance Of the
tribesmen in times when they revert
/ IN their aboriginal habits.