"Each Family Has Its Chief, Or War Captain; He Is Elected By Choice.
The
four war captains chose two council chiefs, the six united select a grand
chief, either from among themselves or from among the honorary chiefs, if
they think proper."
We append a letter, from Sister Ste. Helene, descriptive of Indian
customs, in 1730. Civilization and Christianity have sensibly modified,
some will say, improved the Red Skins since then.
INDIAN DRESS - LOVE MAKING-FEASTS - BURIALS.
From a MS. Letter of Soeur Ste. Helene, published by Abbe Verrault.
"Would you like to learn how they dress - how they marry - how they are
buried? First, you must know that several tribes go completely naked,
and wear but the fig-leaf. In Montreal, you meet many stately and
well-proportioned savages, walking about in this state of nudity, as
proud in their bearing, as if they wore good clothes. Some have on a
shirt only; others have a covering negligently thrown over one
shoulder. Christianized Indians are differently habited. The Iroquois
put their shirt over their wearing apparel, and over the shirt another
raiment, which encloses a portion of the head, which is always bare.
The men generally wear garments over their shirts; the latter, when
new, is generally very white, but is used until it gets perfectly dark
and disgustingly greasy. They sometimes shave a portion of their head,
or else they comb one half of their hair back, the other half front.
They occasionally tie up a tuft of hair very tight on the top of the
head, rising towards the skies.
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