Page:History of the Ojibway Nation.djvu/167

Rh Lacs. This fact is mentioned here to show that at this date, this tribe still held possession, and resided on or near this lake. It is further stated that through the influence of the early French traders who first built posts in their country, among whom may be mentioned as most conspicuous the names of Nicholas Perrot and Le Sueur, "the Dakotas began to be led away from the rice grounds of the Mille Lacs region."

Tradition among the Ojibways says otherwise. They deny that the influence of the traders could induce the Mdewakantons to evacuate such a desirable point in their country as Mille Lacs, a spot covered with their permanent earthen wigwams, and the resting place of their forefathers.

Our own experience of the great love and attachment which the red race has ever shown to their ancient village sites, would cause us to doubt this assertion on the part of the Dakotas. It is sooner to be believed that the same force which has caused them to relinquish, step by step, all their former country east of the Mississippi during the course of the past two or three centuries, operated to drive them from this, their strongest hold of olden times.

The manner in which the Ojibways first came into possession of Mille Lacs, is vividly related by their old men, and this event forms a prominent item in the course of their past history. The tradition of this occurrence is briefly as follows, taken by the writer from the lips of one of their most truth-telling sages, who is now a resident of Mille Lacs, and who is the descendant of a long line of noted chiefs.

Five generations ago, shortly after the Ojibways residing on the shores of Lake Superior had commenced to