ears
he had acted as a jossakeed, or seer, for his tribe. In this business he
told me that the powers he relied on, were the spirits [81] of the
tortoise, crow, swan, and woodpecker. These he considered his familiar
spirits, who received their miraculous power to aid him directly from
_Mudjee Moneto_, or the Great Evil Spirit. After the establishment of
the Mission at Mackinack, his wife embraced Christianity. This made him
mad. At length his mind ran so much on the theme, that he fell into
doubts and glooms when thinking it over, and finally embraced
Christianity himself; and he was admitted, after a probation of a year
or two, to church membership. I asked him, after this period, how he had
deceived his people by the art of powwowing, or jugglery. He said that
he had accomplished it by the direct influence of Satan. He had
addressed him, on these occasions, and sung his songs to him, beating
the drum or shaking the rattle. He adhered firmly to this opinion. He
appeared to have great faith in the atonement of Christ, and relied with
extraordinary simplicity upon it. He gave a striking proof of this, the
autumn after his conversion, when he went with his wife, according to
custom, to dig his potatoes on a neighboring island. The wife
immediately began to dig. "Stop," said he, "let us first kneel and
return thanks for their growth." He was aware of his former weakness on
the subject of strong drink, and would not indulge in it after he became
a church member.

[Footnote 81: Indians believe animals have souls.]

_3d_. Received an application for relief from the Black River
Chippewas, near Fort Gratiot. It is astonishing how completely the
resources of the Indians have failed with the game, on which they
formerly relied. When a calamity arrives, such as a white settlement
would surmount without an effort, they at once become objects of public
charity. Kittemagizzi is their immediate cry. This is now raised by the
Black River band, under the influence of small-pox.

_14th_. Received a copy of the treaty of the 29th of July last with the
Chippewas. This tribe, like all the other leading tribes of the race, is
destined to fritter away their large domain for temporary and local
ends, without making any general and permanent provision for their
prosperity. The system of temporary annuities will, at last, leave them
without a home. When the buffalo, and the deer, and the beaver, are
extinct, the Indian must work or die. In a