Chapter LVI: Section 2: Profession of Peace and Friendship

The following account of pictorial correspondence leading to peace was written by Governor Lewis Cass, while on one of his numerous missions to the Western tribes, before 1820:

Some years before, mutually weary of hostilities, the chiefs of
the Ojibwas and the Dakotas met and agreed upon a truce. But the
Sioux, disregarding the solemn contract which they had formed, and
actuated by some sudden impulse, attacked the Ojibwas and murdered a
number of them.

On our arrival at Sandy lake I proposed to the Ojibwa chiefs
that a deputation should accompany us to the mouth of the St.
Peters, with a view to establish a permanent peace between them
and the Sioux. The Ojibwas readily acceded to this, and ten of
their principal men descended the Mississippi with us. The computed
distance from Sandy lake to the St. Peters is 600 miles. As we
neared this part of the country we found our Ojibway friends
cautious and observing.

The Ojibwa landed occasionally to examine whether any of the
Sioux had recently visited that quarter. In one of these excursions
an Ojibwa found in a conspicuous place a piece of birch bark, made
flat by fastening between two sticks at each end, and about 18
inches long by 2 broad.

This bark contained the answer of the Sioux nation. So
sanguinary had been the contest between these two tribes that no
personal communication could take place. Neither the sanctity
of office nor the importance of the message could protect the
ambassador of either party from the vengeance of the other.

Some time preceding, the Ojibwas, anxious for peace, had sent a
number of their young men into these plains with a similar piece of
bark, upon which they represented their desire. This bark had been
left hanging to a tree, in an exposed situation, and had been found
and taken away by a party of Sioux.

The proposition had been examined and discussed in the Sioux
villages, and the bark contained their answer. The Ojibwa explained
to us with great facility the intention of the Sioux.

The junction of the St. Peters with the Mississippi, where the
principal part of the Sioux reside, was represented, and also the
American fort, with a sentinel on duty, and a flag flying.

The principal Sioux chief was named The-Six, alluding, I
believe, to the band of villages under his influence. To show that
he was not present at the deliberation upon the subject of peace,
he was represented on a smaller piece of bark, which was attached
to the other. To identify him, he was drawn with six heads and a
large medal. Another Sioux chief stood in the foreground, holding a
pipe in his right hand and his weapons in his left. Even we could
not misunderstand that; like our own eagle with the olive branch and
arrows, he was desirous for peace, but prepared for war.

The Sioux party contained fifty-nine warriors, indicated by
fifty-nine guns, drawn upon one corner of the bark.

The encampment of our troops had been removed from the low
grounds upon the St. Peters to a high hill upon the Mississippi. Two
forts were therefore drawn upon the bark, and the solution was not
discovered until our arrival at St. Peters.

The effect of the discovery of the bark upon the minds of the
Ojibwas was visible and immediate.

The Ojibwa bark was drawn in the same general manner, and Sandy
lake, the principal place of their residence, was represented with
much accuracy. To remove any doubts respecting it, a view was given
of the old northwestern establishment, situated upon the shore, and
now in the possession of the American Fur Company.

No proportion was preserved in their attempt at delineation.
One mile of the Mississippi, including the mouth of the St. Peters,
occupied as much space as the whole distance to Sandy Lake, nor was
there anything to show that one part was nearer to the spectator
than another.

The above pictorially professed attitude of being ready for either peace or war may be compared with the account in Champlain--Voyages (_d_)--of the chief whose name was Mariston, but he assumed that of Mahigan Atticq, translated as Wolf Deer. He thereby proclaimed that when at peace he was mild as a deer, but when at war was savage as a wolf.

In Davis’ Conquest of New Mexico (_a_) it is stated that Vargas’ Expedition in 1694 was met by the Utes, who hoisted a deerskin in token of peace.

The following “speech of an Ojibwa chief in negotiating a peace with the Sioux, 1806,” from Maj. Pike’s (_a_) Expeditions, etc., shows the pictographic use of the pipe as a profession of peace:

My father, tell the Sioux on the upper part of the river St.
Peters that they mark trees with the figure of a calumet; that we of
Red lake who may go that way should we see them, that we may make
peace with them, being assured of their pacific disposition when we
shall see the calumet marked on the trees.

D’Iberville, in 1699, as printed in Margry, IV, 153, said that the Indians met by him near the mouth of the Mississippi river indicated their peaceful and friendly purposes by holding up in the air a small stick of whitened wood. The same authority, in the same volume, p. 175, tells that the Oumas bore a white cross as a similar declaration; and another journal, in the same volume, p. 239, describes a stick also so borne as being fashioned like a pipe. The actual use of the pipe in profession of peace and friendship is mentioned in several parts of the present paper. See, also, the passport mentioned on p. 214 and wampum, p. 225.

Lieut. Col. Woodthorpe, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. Gr. Br. and I., XI, p. 211, says of the wild tribes of the Naga Hills, on the northeastern frontier of India:

On the road to Niao we saw on the ground a curious mud figure of
a man in slight relief presenting a gong in the direction of Senua.
This was supposed to show that the Niao men were willing to come to
terms with Senua, then at war with Niao. Another mode of evincing
a desire to turn away the wrath of an approaching enemy and induce
him to open negotiations is to tie up in his path a couple of goats,
sometimes also a gong, with the universal symbol of peace, a palm
leaf planted in the ground hard by.

G. W. Bloxam (_a_) gives the following description of Fig. 470:

It represents a message of peace and good news from the King
of Jebu to the King of Lagos, after his restoration to the throne
on the 28th of December, 1851. It appears complicated, but the
interpretation is simple enough. First we find eight cowries
arranged in pairs, and signifying the people in the four corners of
the world, and it will be observed that, while three of the pairs
are arranged with their faces upwards, the fourth and uppermost, i.
e., the pair in the most important position, are facing one another,
thus signifying that the correspondents, or the people of Jebu and
Lagos, are animated by friendly feeling towards each other; so,
too, there are two each of all the other objects, meaning, “you and
I,” “we two.” The two large seeds or warres, _a_, _a_, express a
wish that “you and I” should play together as intimate friends do,
at the game of “warre,” in which these seeds are used and which is
the common game of the country, holding very much the same position
as chess or draughts with us; the two flat seeds, _b_, _b_, are
seeds of a sweet fruit called “osan,” the name of which is derived
from the verb, “san,” to please [Mem. Notice the rebus] they,
therefore, indicate a desire on the part of a sender of the message
to please and to be pleased; lastly, the two pieces of spice, _c_,
_c_, signify mutual trust. The following is the full meaning of the
hieroglyphic:

Of all the people by which the four corners of the world are
inhabited, the Lagos and Jebu people are the nearest.

As “warre” is the common play of the country, so the Jebus and
Lagos should always play and be friendly with each other.

Mutual pleasantness is my desire; as it is pleasant with me so
may it be pleasant with you.

Deceive me not, because the spice would yield nothing else but a
sweet and genuine odor unto god. I shall never deal doubly with you.