Oajaca

“ The Rio Verde rises in the Upper Misteca, eight leagues north of Oajaca, and falls west of the Cerro de la Plata and of the Lagunas of Chacahua, into the Pacific. On the coast of Oajaca there are many smaller streams and rivulets, such as the Chacalapa, the Manialtepec, the Colotepec, the Santa Helena, the Caputita, the Comun, the Ayutla, the Chicometepec and the Tecoyama,—the last of which is the boundary between the states of Oajaca and Puebla. ”

“ The Oajacan coast region or tierra caliente, if we may credit the result of researches by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, was sometimes known as Anáhuac Ayotlan, as the opposite coast of Tabasco was called Anáhuac Xicalanco. Both these Anáhuacs were inhabited by enterprising commercial peoples, whose flourishing centres of trade were located at short intervals along the coast. Material relics of past excellence in architecture and other arts of civilization abound in Oajaca, chief among which stand the remarkable structures at Mitla. ”

“ The Miztecs and Zapotecs are simply mentioned by the authorities in connection with the Olmecs and Xicalancas as having occupied the south-eastern region during the primitive period. Later they became powerful nations in the country now constituting the state of Oajaca, and were probably at least the equals of the Aztecs in civilization. ”

“ The delay had enabled the royalist troops to approach from Tlacotalpan and Oajaca, and the rivers being swollen by rain, it was thought imprudent to venture farther, to struggle with a threatening famine, and perhaps to be cut off by pursuers. [23] During the retreat the royalist column from Tlacotalpan was bravely repulsed, and Juan Teran came in time to check two Oajaca expeditions which had been organized with the intent of attacking his brother in the rear. The latter reached Tehuacan September 22d. ”

“ The Dominican friars, as the reader is aware, obtained almost undisputed possession of Oajaca, their establishment in that region having been formed into a separate province under the name of San Hipólito, They were now bent on extending their influence in a northerly direction from the capital, and with such a view established as early as 1604 a convent at Zacatecas, and another in 1610 at Guadalajara. Subsequently they began to work as missionaries in the region of Sierra Gorda, the present Querétaro, where the Franciscans had so far been unable to establish themselves to any extent. ”

“ The natives of Oajaca are generally large and well-formed; those of Sierra are of a light-yellow complexion, and their women are tolerably white with mild features. Some branches of the Miztecs and Mazatecs carry upon their shoulders very large loads. Father Burgoa writing of the Miztecs, of Yangüistlan, in the year 1541, speaks of their beautiful complexion and fine forms. The Mijes are of good height, strongly built, hardy, and active; they wear a beard, and altogether their aspect is repulsive. The Zoques are very much like the Mijes, their features are as prominent and unprepossessing ”

“ Trujano pursued the fleeing royalists to the very gates of Yanhuitlan giving no quarter. Canon San Martin then assumed the command of the place; but when the soldiers that had been left behind saw their beaten comrades returning panic-stricken, they began to hasten from the impending danger; and the officers, after holding a council of war, departed with the troops for the city of Oajaca. ”

“ Ojeeg told him that it was a great undertaking. He must first make a feast, and invite some of his friends to accompany him on a journey. Next day he had a bear roasted whole. All who had been invited to the feast came punctually to the appointment. There were the Otter, Beaver, Lynx, Badger, and Wolverine. After the feast, they arranged it among themselves to set out on the contemplated journey in three days. When the time arrived, the Fisher took leave of his wife and son, as he foresaw that it was for the last time. ”

“ For here in Oojni, wot you, are homes of men, and gardens, and golden temples of the gods, and sacred places inshore from the sea, and many murmurous woods. And there is a path that winds over the hills to go into mysterious holy lands where dance by night the spirits of the woods, or sing unseen in the sunlight; and no one goes into these holy lands, for who that love Oojni could rob her of her mysteries, and the curious aliens come not. Indeed, but we love Oojni though she is so little; she is the little mother of our race, and the kindly nurse of all seafaring birds. ”

“ They were too disheartened to force their way through the inhabited country, where they would have to fight the irritated natives; and therefore Ojeda, who had only before him a choice of evils, led them through the savannas and marshes, whence, with incredible labour, they at length emerged on an Indian village. Their sufferings had been intense and incessant, and out of the number of seventy who had set out, but one-half survived. With these Ojeda continued his march to Cape de la Cruz, whence, by means of a canoe, he was able to communicate with the Spaniards on the island of Jamaica. ”

“ Among these may be mentioned the Ojibway, who are at the present day, the most numerous and important tribe of the formerly wide extended Algic family of tribes. They occupy the area of Lake Superior and the sources of the Mississippi, and as a general fact, they still live in the ways of their ancestors. Even among these, a change is so rapidly taking place, caused by a close contact with the white race, that ten years hence it will be too late to save the traditions of their forefathers from total oblivion. ”

“ When you command, all the French obey you and go to war. But I shall not be heeded, and obeyed by my nation in like manner. Therefore I cannot answer, except for myself, and those immediately allied or related to me. Nevertheless I shall communicate your pleasure to all the Sauteurs, and in order that you may be satisfied of what I say, I will invite the French who are in my village to be witnesses of what I shall tell my people in your behalf."
Two days after this the Ojibways left for Lake Superior. ”

“ Is it not probable from these beliefs that ages ago the Ojibways resided westward, and occupied a country "flowing in milk and honey"—a country abounding in all that tends to their enjoyment and happiness, and to which they look back as the tired traveller on a burning desert looks back to a beautiful oasis which he has once passed, or as the lonely wanderer looks back to the once happy home of his childhood? ”

“ The Ojibways resisted their new enemies manfully, and it was not till their ammunition had entirely failed, that they in turn showed their backs in flight. But few would tell the sad tale of defeat and the death of brave men, had not the party of sixty warriors from Sandy Lake, who were to have joined them at the mouth of Snake River, arrived at this opportune moment, and landed at the head of the portage. Eager for the fight, and fresh on the field, the band rushed forward and withstood the onset of the Odugamies and Dakotas, till their friends could rally again to the battle. ”

“ She was a maiden, not beautiful, but she was a comely Indian girl, attractive and clever in her way, and she well knew that many a young hunter had sat down beside her wigwam door or had dropped the shining, white pebble before her in the path, thus plainly intimating his desire to win her notice and esteem. But to all of them she had turned a deaf ear, and had treated them, without exception, with perfect indifference. As shy and timid as a young fawn of the forest, she had lived under the watchful and somewhat jealous care of her uncle and aunt, until Oowikapun had appeared in the village. ”

“ The martial spirit of Ojeda was soon roused, and he readily proffered his aid to the savages, in an expedition against a hostile tribe of cannibals, in a neighbouring island. As soon as his ships were refitted, he attacked and defeated, with great slaughter, the savage warriors, who, decorated with coronets of gaudy plumes, their bodies painted, and armed with bows, arrows, and lances, gallantly met and resolutely fought him on the beach. He then pursued his voyage along the coast, passed the island of Curacoa, [Pg 167] and penetrated into the deep gulf to the south. ”

“ On the 16th of February, 1806, as the first representative of the United States who had visited them, he held a council with the Ojibways at Leech Lake, and in his opening speech said: "I was chosen to ascend the Mississippi to bear to his red children the words of their father, and the Great Spirit has opened the eyes and ears of all the nations to listen to my words. The Sauks and Reynards are planting corn and raising cattle. The Winnebagoes continue peaceable as usual, and even the Sioux have laid by the hatchet at my request. ”

“ While still living in their large and central town on the Island of La Pointe, a principal and leading Me-da-we priest, whose name was Ma-se-wa-pe-ga (whole ribs) , dreamed a dream wherein he beheld spirits in the form of men, but possessing white skins and having their heads covered. They approached him with hands extended and with smiles on their faces. This singular dream he related to the principal men of the Ojibways on the occasion of a grand sacrificial feast to his guardian dream-spirit. ”

“ But Ojeeg was content. His Bluebird had not died in vain. He had sent a new war cry, death to the boasts of the Bwan! And this time it would be a war in which all would gain. The common enemy was the evil little manidos which creep into human lungs.
The two Indians walked up to the birch-bark lodge, where now the family and the friends were assembled.
Shinguakonse made his father sit down on the red chest. Then from the ancient bead-dress he brought an eagle feather and fashioned a quill into a pen. Ojeeg took it, dipped up a good deal of ink, and laboriously printed: Nick Fisher. ”

“ An individual of any one of the several Totems belonging to a distinct tribe, as for instance, the Ojibway, is a close blood relation to all other Indians of the same Totem, both in his own and all other tribes, though he may be divided from them by a long vista of years, interminable miles, and knows not even of their existence. ”

“ Again these rites were forgotten, and the Me-da-we lodge was not built till the Ojibways found themselves congregated at Bow-e-ting (outlet of Lake Superior) , where it remained for many winters. Still the Ojibways moved westward, and for the last time the Me-da-we lodge was erected on the Island of La Pointe, and here, long before the pale face appeared among them, it was practised in its purest and most original form. Many of our fathers lived the full term of life granted to mankind by the Great Spirit, and the forms of many old people were mingled with each rising generation. ”

“ One day, while Oowikapun was pondering over the words of Astumastao, and thinking of the risks she and her companions were about to run, and the dangers they would have to encounter in their great undertaking, and contrasting it with the listless, aimless life he had lately been leading, suddenly there came to him, as a revelation, a noble resolve which took such possession of him and so inspired him that he appeared and acted like another man. ”

“ The warriors of both parties leaped continually from side to side, to prevent their enemies from taking a sure aim; and as they stood confronting one another for a few moments on the open prairie, exchanging quick successive volleys, their bodies in continual motion, the plumes on their heads waving to and fro, and uttering their fierce, quick, sharp battle cry, they must have presented a singular and wild appearance. For a short time only, the Dakotas stood the eager onset of the Ojibways. ”

“ Then Ojeda tries another way. There is a poetical side to this big fighting savage, and often in more friendly days, when the bell in the little chapel of Isabella has been ringing for Vespers, the cacique has been observed sitting alone on some hill listening, enchanted by the strange silver voice that floated to him across the sunset. The bell has indeed become something of a personality in the island: all the neighbouring savages listen to its voice with awe and fascination, pausing with inclined heads whenever it begins to speak from its turret. ”

“ This is a very curious mode, and presents an appearance at once that distinguishes them from the Ojibbeways and other tribes, who cultivate the hair to the greatest length they possibly can, and pride themselves on its jet and glossy black. Every man in the Ioway tribe adheres to the mode of cutting all the hair as close as he can, excepting a small tuft which is left upon the crown, and being that part which the enemy takes for the scalp, is very properly denominated the “scalp-lock.” ”

“ You are just the chap to take a girl’s eye.”
“Our wedding-day was fixed, when she accompanied her adopted father, Owaydotah, upon a hunting expedition. His party was surprised by a band of Yakimas, under the chief Howlish Wampo, and Owaydotah was killed, and Oneotah carried away a captive.” ”

“ Every crevice in the cliffs where the battle had been fought, contained a dead or wounded enemy. The Ojibways suffered a severe loss in the death of a large number of their bravest warriors. The brother of Waub-o-jeeg was numbered among the dead, and the war-chief himself carried on his person the marks of the sanguinary fight, in a wound on his breast. But a few of the Odugamies escaped, and from this time they forever gave up the contest with the victorious Ojibways. ”