🧚 Ojibwa and Mohawks. (no. 4.)

Told by Peter York.1

An Ojibwa man and wife and one child were out hunting away back in the woods and one day the man said to his wife, “We are going to have trouble now.2 There are some Mohawks about, and they are going to come to-night to kill us.3 There is no use running away for we are too far from home.4 If I am killed they will take you away to their home.”5 The night came and this man and wife watched nearly all night, till about daylight they heard an owl and some other kind of bird.6 This shows that the Mohawks were near and had surrounded their camp.7 There were fifteen Mohawks and the one Ojibwa man had to fight them all.8 Well, he did very well for he killed quite a lot of them, but his wife and child were taken prisoners whilst he was fighting.9 He was not killed but escaped and ran towards his home.10 He ran for two days till he reached home and told his friends what had happened.11 He raised a war party of some forty or fifty men and one old man, a prophet, and started after the Mohawks.12

This old man, the Prophet, knew where the Mohawks went and he also knew that the wife was still alive, and that child was killed on the way to the Mohawks’ home, for he had that power.13 So the Ojibwa war party started for the Mohawk country and while they were going the old man said, “She has made her escape and is coming back.”14 So they all ran to meet her and they met her.15 She told a very bad (pitiful) story to the men.16 She said, “On the way every night I had to keep the fire going all night to keep them warm.17 Some days they all go out hunting, but one had to stay and watch me.18 One day they all went out but one bad man who stayed in camp to watch me.19 This bad man made a big fire and went out and cut a good-sized stick.20 Then he took my baby and ran the stick into him (through the anus) and roasted him in the big fire.21 Well, I could not do anything only cry, and this bad man came right in front of me and began to mock and cry, and facing the other way showed his buttocks.22 I grabbed his privates and pulled all I could, and he fell down and I got up and rolled him to the fire and burnt him.23 Then I took his gun, I did not run away till I killed every one them.24 Towards the evening one came when I was inside the camp, when he got near I shot him.25 He fell dead, and after a while another one came and I also shot him.26 I took his gun which was loaded.27 The last time two came together.28 Well, I thought, if I kill them this time I would be safe, so I made a good aim and fired at the first.29 He fell and the other tried to run away; before he got away I shot him dead and started to run back towards our country.”30 One of the Ojibwa war party took her home, and the rest went on their way to the Mohawk village.31 When they got there they killed some of the children to pay the Mohawks for what they did.32

This woman made a good plan to get these Mohawks.33 She did not run away after she killed the first man for fear the rest would chase her and catch her, so she stayed in camp and killed them as they came in singly from hunting.34 She would take the gun of the man just killed and would be ready for the next.35

The Mohawks in camping at night fixed some poles around the fire about two feet from the ground, and would lay on their backs with their feet on the poles, warming their hind quarters.36 The Ojibwa woman had to keep the fire going all night.37 The killing or torturing of children was the worst thing Indians could do.38 This ends this story.39

Note.—All these fights took place in this locality.40 The river referred to is the Gull River.41 The Ojibwa used to come to where Beaverton now is and then across to South Bay, Balsam Lake, by another route south of the Portage Road.42 (This is borne out by other evidence than York’s.)43 I spoke of the embankment at South Bay to York, but he had never seen it though he had heard of it, and remarked that it was “one of the fighting grounds.”44

NO. 12.45