Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/223

 HISTOEY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��near as can be understood, ran: ' Tinny, tinny, tinny, ho, ha, ho, ha, ho,' accenting the last syl- lal)les. Then a chief arose and addressed them. During the delivery of his speech a profound si- lence prevailed. The whole audience seemed to be deeply moved by the oration. The speaker seemed to be about seventy years of age, and was very tall and graceful. His eyes had the fire of youth, and shone with emotion while he was speaking. The audience seemed deeply moved, and frequently sobbed while he spoke. Mr. Copus could not understand the language of the speaker, but presumed he was giving a summary history of the Delaware Nation, two tribes of which, the Wolf and the Turtle, were represented at the feast. Mr. Copus learned that the speaker was the famous Capt. Pipe, of Mohican Johnstown, the executioner of Col. Crawford. At the close of the address, dancing commenced. The Indians were clothed in deer- skin leggins and English blankets. Deer hoofs and bear's claws were strung along the seams of their leggins, and, when the dance com- menced, the jingling of the hoofs and claws made a sort of harmony to the rude music of the pots and kettles. The men danced in files or lines by themselves around the central mound, the squaws following in a company by themselves. In the dance there seemed to be a proper modesty between the sexes. In fact, the Greentown Indians were always noted for being extremely scrupulous and modest in the presence of one another. After the dance, the refreshments, made by lioiling venison and bear's meat, slightly tainted, together, were handed around. The food was not very pal- atable to the white persons present, and they were compelled to conceal it al)oat their per- sons until they had left the wigwam, when they threw the unsavory morsels away. No greater insult could have been offered the Indians than to have refused the proffered refreshments. Hence a little deception was necessary to evade the censure of these untutored sons of the

��forest,"whose stomachs could entertain almost anything."

A feast was held by these same Indians in 1811, a short time before the opening of the war of 1812. It is believed to be the last one held in this part of Ohio, as the war took away all the principal Indian characters. It was con- ducted very much as the one described — held in the fall of 1809. John Coulter, an old pioneer, recollects it very well, and, through Dr. Hill, gives a full description of it. Mr. Coulter says that, while the food was cooking, an occasional morsel was thrown in the fire as as offering to the Great Spirit. Also, while the supper was being prepared, the chiefs, a large number of whom from all parts of Northern Ohio were present, connnenced to move around the mound in the center of the cabin, some- times singing and sometimes delivering short speeches in their native tongue. While this was going on, the balance of the audience were arranged in lines two or three deep around the inside of the council-house, which Henry Howe estimated, from narratives of pioneers given him in 1849, was sixty feet long, twenty-five feet wide, one story high, and inclosed by clap- boards, or broad pieces of split lumber. The singing of the Indians at this second feast was a low kind of melancholy wail, accompanied by a sort of griint, contortions of the face and singular gesticulations of the arms. The Indians were dressed as those described in the feast of 1800, and, though Mr. Coulter could not under- stand their language, he thought it was either a recital of then* history, or portended war. The ceremonies lasted two or three hours, when the provisions were handed around, and a gen- eral handshaking and congratulations followed, closing the feast. All the white men present at this feast gave it as their opinion that old Capt. Pipe was there. There were three or four hundred Indians present. Dr. Hill thinks, from all the evidence he can gather. Capt. Pipe was at this feast, and that soon

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