Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1 | Page 4

untrue.
Mackenzie also refers to the same tradition, in his "General History of
the Fur Trade," prefixed to his "Voyage to the Northern Ocean."
(London, 1801, quarto, cxviii). Mackenzie is a high authority in all that
relates to the Indians.
"The Fall of the Lenape" (Vol. 1, p. 87) is told by Mr. Heckewelder, in
the volume before referred to, page 36. It is undoubtedly an authentic
account of the overthrow of the Delawares by the Iroquois, aided by the
insidious counsels of the white people.
"The Marriage of the Snail and the Beaver" (Vol. 1, p. 103) is referred
to by Lewis and Clarke, in "Travels to the Pacific Ocean." (London,
1815, Vol. 1, p. 12.) It probably relates to the marriage and consequent
settlement of the founder of the Osage Indians with a woman of a tribe
whose totem or badge was a beaver.
"The Choice of a God" (Vol. 1, p. 117) was related to me by my old
Indian nurse. I heard a rather different version of it from a venerable
clergyman of the name of Thaxter. He had it from a Captain
Richardson, who was killed at Cape Breton in the "Old French War." It

is a very common tradition, though it has not, as far as I know, been
before in print. This tradition also refers to the first meeting of the
natives with the whites.
"The Resurrection of the Bison" (Vol. 1, p. 143) is told by James in his
"Account of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains." (London, 1823,
Vol. 1, p. 257). I have been informed that it is a common tradition
among the Rocky Mountain Indians.
"The Wahconda's Son" (Vol. 1, p. 147) is also from James's "Account
of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains" (London, 1823. Vol. 1, 251),
and is mentioned by other writers and travellers. This also refers to a
transaction in which white people were concerned.
"The Idols" (Vol. 1, p. 173) is referred to by Lewis and Clarke in
"Travels to the Pacific Ocean" (London, 1815, Vol. 1, p. 146). It is a
genuine Indian superstition.
"The Discovery of the Upper World" (Vol. 1, p. 201) is referred to by
James in his "Account of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains."
(London, 1823, Vol. 1, p. 258); by Heckewelder in the work before
referred to, p. 242, and numerous other writers.
For the tradition entitled "Love and War" (Vol. 1, p. 213) I am indebted
to Mr. Henry Schoolcraft. It is taken from a work of his published some
years ago, the title of which I forget. No other alterations had been
made in this tradition than those which were requisite to make it
conform strictly to what I deemed were Indian manners, customs,
phraseology, and opinions.
The series of traditions entitled "Legends of the Happy
Hunting-Grounds," (commencing at p. 225 of volume first) being in my
estimation by far the most interesting and valuable in the volume,
deserve a more elaborate commentary with a view to the authenticating
them. They are all of them genuine, but there is but one of them that
belongs, as has been supposed in the tradition, exclusively to the tribe
of whom it is related. Thus "Akkeewaisee, the Aged," which is
supposed to describe the heaven of the people called the Dahcotahs,

describes also that of many other tribes. Keating assigns the belief to
the Dahcotahs. (See his Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St.
Petre's river. London, 1825, Vol. 1., p. 410).
The second tradition in the series, "The Delaware Heaven," I believe is
peculiar to the tribes which compose that nation, and rests upon the
authority of Loskiel. (History of the Missions of the United Brethren.
Lond. 1794, p. 35). He was a Moravian missionary, and has been
esteemed an accurate and faithful relator of what he saw.
The third of these series of traditions relating to the future residence of
the soul, entitled "The Hunting-Grounds of the Blackfoots," is a current
tradition with many tribes, but, in order to give it a more distinct shape,
I have assigned it to the Blackfoot tribe.
The legend entitled "The Stone Canoe" is referred to by Mackenzie.
("Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen Ocean." Quarto, London, 1801,
Prelim. Account, cxix).
"The Little White Dove" I have heard of frequently, and yet I cannot at
this moment give any authority. It was probably an American
author--certain I am that it is a genuine tradition.
The last of the Legends, entitled "The Teton's Paradise," is so well and
so generally known to be a genuine tradition, that I shall content myself
with referring only to Hearne. ("Journey to the Northern Ocean," p.
346). He does not indeed speak of it as a Teton tradition, but as it is
known to prevail