Article Index
Page 2 of 3
This was sent into us by a fellow researcher as a possible 19th century account:
THE IDOL OF THE PEORIAS
(From an old traveller)
"We arrived at the village of the Peorias, allies of the Illinois, through a fine large meadow, which is many leagues long. This village is situated on the banks of a little river, and surrounded with great pales and posts : there are many trees on the banks, and the huts are built beneath them. When we arrived there, I inquired for the hut of the grand chief : I was well received by him and his first warriors. They had just been beaten by the Foxes, their mortal enemies, and were now holding a consultation about it. A young Indian lighted the calumet of peace ; then they brought me a dish of maize flour , called sagamit’e, sweetened with the syrup of the maple-tree ; and afterwards a dessert of dry fruits, as good as Corinth raisins. The next day I saw a great crowd in the plain: they were making a dance in favor of their new Manitou; the high priest had a bonnet of feathers , like a crown, on his head. I was at the door of the temple of their false deity; he begged me to go in. Judge of my astonishment, for this is the picture of their Manitou: his head hung upon his breast, and looked like a goat’s; his ears and his cruel eye were like those of a lynx, with the same kind of hair; his feet, hands, and thighs were in form something like those of a man.
" The Indians found him in the woods, at the foot of a ridge of mountains, and the priests had persuaded them to adopt him for a divinity. This general assembly was called to invoke his protection against their enemies. I let the Indians know that their Manitou was an evil genius; as proof of it, I said that he had just permitted the nation of Foxes, their most cruel enemies, to gain victory over them, and they ought to get rid of him as soon as possible, and be revenged on him. After a short time, they answered ‘ hou’e nigei’e,tinai ‘lab’e- ‘we believe thee, though art in the right’ They then voted that he should be burnt; and the great priest, after some opposition, pronounced his sentence, which, according to the interpreter’s explanation, was in these terms: ‘O though, fatal to our nation, who has wrongfuly taken thee for her Manitou! Thou hast paid no regard to the offerings which we have made thee, and hast allowed our enemies, whom thou dost plainly protect, to overcome us; therefore our old men, assembled in counsel, have decreed, with the advice of the chief of the white warriors, that to expiate thy ingratitude towards us, thou shalt be burnt alive.’ At the end of this sentence, all the assembly said, ‘Hau, Hau, which signified ‘yes’.
"As I wished to get this monster, I went to the priest, made him a small present, and bid my interpreter tell him that he should persuade his countrymen, that if they burnt this evil genius, there might arise one from his ashes that could be fatal to them; that I would go on purpose across the great lake, to deliver them from it. He found my reasons good, and got the sentence changed, so that it was strangled. I got it instantly dissected, in order to bring it to France, where its skeleton is now in the cabinet of natural history of M. de Fayolles. The assembly dispersed, and returned to their village by the riverside. In the evening you might see them sitting in groups at their doors, and on the shore, with many fires made of the branches of the trees, whose light was on the water and the grove; while some of them danced the dance of war, with loud shrieks, that were enough to strike an awe into the heart."
This was taken from "Adventures among the Indians" by W. H.G. Kingston Published @1888 by the John W. Lovell company, New York
