or Absharokays, to the Blackfeet, or Ziarzapas,3 their inveterate enemies. I have described the Assiniboin worship, which, in regard to ceremonies, superstitious practices, and various point of belief, resembles all others in use among the different Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri.
These details must have given you an idea of the depth of heathen darkness in which the North American Indians are yet shrouded. How worthy, alas! are they of exciting Christian compassion and devotedness ! How noble the mission of rescuing the minds and hearts of this despised and forlorn race from the degrading superstitions and infamous cruelties to which they are abandoned: of sowing in that uncultivated soil the mustard seed, which will spring up and bear the immortal blossoms of present and future happiness!
Some of our Fathers are already engaged in this noble task. It is to be hoped that a greater number may be inspired to join them in bearing the torch of faith to all the nations which deserve it, and incessantly implore Blackrobes. I speak from actual knowledge when I say that most of the nations of the great desert manifest a desire for instruction, and listen willingly to the word of the Lord.
To initiate you still further in the knowledge of Indian manners and customs, I have thought that you would be pleased to receive a sketch of the life of the most renowned chief of the Assiniboins. He was a crafty, cruel, deceitful man, a bad Indian, in every sense of the word; his whole life was full of horrors. For forty years he led his tribe in the forest. At the commencement of his career, his band numbered over 2,ooo. He led them from war to war, some
times with success, often with reverse. Disease thinned the band - poison and battle wasted them like snow. When they were but a handful, he beheld the remnant of his gallant band disperse and seek an asylum in a more powerful
a Father De Smet has here confused different families known by the name of Blackfeet. The Sihasapa are a division of the Teton Sioux, elsewhere called by him Blackfeet-Sioux, and they have nothing to do with the Blackfeet proper.