Original - North Central Michigan College Library

an&tongue, a totem, and which is in the nature of anarmorial bearing. It informs the passing Indianof the family to which the deceased belonged.A serious duty at the grave is that of placingfood for the use of the dead on the journey tothe land of souls. This care is never neglected,even under every disadvantage of molestation.In the neighborhood of the traders, dishes ofcooked venison are very commonly placed onthe graves of those long buried and as commonlyremoved by Europeans, even withoutoffense to those who placed them there. Insituations of great want I have more than onceresorted to them for food.The men among the Osinipoilles are wellmade, but their color is much deeper than thatof the more northern Indians. Some of thewomen are tolerably handsome, consideringhow they live, exposed to the extremes of heatand cold and placed in an atmosphere of smokefor at least one-half of the year. Their dress isof the same materials and of the same form withthat of the female Cristinaux. The marriedwomen suffer their hair to grow at random,and even hang over their eyes. All the sex isfond of garnishing the lower edge of the dresswith small bells, deer hoofs, pieces of metal, oranything capable of making a noise. Whenthey move the sounds keep time, and make afantastic harmony.The Osinipoilles treat with great crueltytheir slaves. As an example, one of the295