t one distance is immediately followed by a retreat of a few paces
until the feat can be accomplished at a considerable distance. The
same routine is gone through with the axe part so that it shall cleave
the bark in the very center of the mark. At about ten years of age, a
long bow with arrows of proportionate length, is put into the hands of
the boy, and when he becomes of sufficient age to manage it properly
he is instructed in the use of the rifle.

The boys are incited to begin hunting and trapping early, and their
first success in trapping a beaver, shooting a martin or spearing a
muskrat is celebrated with as much triumph as is the first scalp taken
in battle by a young warrior. When about twelve years old the boys
join the hunting parties, and are very expert in the use of the bow.
Many widows are supported entirely by their sons who have just passed
their twelfth year.

The small children and the very old people are allowed the use of
cooked meat, but all others eat their food raw. No salt is used but
pepper is frequently obtained from the Russian and Hudson Bay trading
posts, and is eaten with the food as a great addition. Besides the
privilege of eating cooked meat the very old people are well cared for
by the tribe, and are allowed to remain in their lodges without being
called out to hunt or work. Everything is done for them and they enjoy
perfect rest until their death.

The Copper Heads do not, in general, bury their dead in the same
manner with many of the tribes in the United States territory. In some
cases, when a warrior dies, the dead body is placed in a birch bark
canoe in which are also laid the dead warrior's rifle, tomahawk, pipe,
knife and all the other articles belonging to him when alive. Two
blankets and provisions to last six months are also placed in the
canoe. A poor miserable dog is next procured and hung up by the hind
legs to a tree or pole stuck in the ground. The throat of the dog is
cut and the animal suffered to bleed to death. The object of this
ceremony is to provide a dog to hunt with in the spirit land and the
bad blood is let out so as to fit the animal for its new sphere of
existence. A poor dog is as serviceable as a good one for the happy
hunting grounds if the bad blood is taken out. Some powdered roots are
then sprinkled over the body, and the canoe with its contents is
launched on the river, if there is one in the neighborhood, and the
deceased warrior goes on his way