ap of blue
cloth and a fillet round his head. His lodge, occupied by his widow and
three small children, stood near. On examination, he had been stabbed in
several places, deeply in both thighs. These wounds might not have
proved fatal; but there was a subsequent blow, with a small tomahawk,
upon his forehead, above the left eye. He was entirely dead, and had
been found so, on searching for him at night, by his wife. It appeared
that he had been drinking during the evening and night, with an Indian
half-breed of the Chippewa River, of the name of Gaulthier. This fellow,
finding he had killed him, had taken his canoe and fled. Both had been
intoxicated. I directed the body to be interred, at the public charge,
on the ancient burial hill of the Chippewas, near the cantonment. The
usual shroud, on such occasions, is a new blanket; a grave was dug, and
the body very carefully dressed, laid in the coffin, beside the grave.
Before the lid was fastened, an aged Indian came forward, and pronounced
a funeral oration. He recited the traits of his character. He addressed
the dead man direct. He told him that he had reached the end of his
journey first, that they should all follow him soon to the land of the
dead, and again meet. He gave him directions for his journey. He offered
a brief admonition of dangers. He bid him adieu. The brother of the
deceased then stept forward, and, having removed the head-dress of the
slain man, pulled out some locks of hair as a memento. The head-dress
was then carefully replaced, the lid of the coffin fastened, and the
corpse let down into the ground. Two stout poles were then laid over the
open grave. The brother approached the widow and stood still. The orator
then addressed a few words to both, telling the survivor to perform a
brother's part by the widow. He then took her by the hand, and led her
carefully across the open grave, over the two poles. This closed the
ceremony, and the grave was then filled, and the crowd of white and red
men dispersed. At night a small flickering fire was built by the Indian
relatives of the murdered man, at the head of the grave.

_27th_. Making inquiries respecting the family of Soan-ga-ge-zhick, in
order to direct some provisions to be issued to them, I learned that the
widow is a prophetess among her people, or in other words a female
Jossakeed, and is supposed to have much influence in this way. This
denotes that the prophetic office is not, as has been suppos