It represents
not only wealth but social standing, and its value may be compared to
the white man's estimate of pink pearls. Diamond-cutters seldom spend
more than two weeks in polishing a good stone. An Indian would spend
thirty days in perfecting a single bit of shell into fine wampum.
Radisson's friends had ornamented him for the feast in order to win the
respect of the Mohawks for the French boy. Striking his hatchet
through a kettle of sagamite to signify thus would he break peace to
all Radisson's foes, the old Iroquois warrior made a speech to the
assembled guests. The guests clapped their hands and shouted, "Chagon,
Orimha!--Be merry, Pierre!" The Frenchman had been formally adopted as
a Mohawk.
The forests were now painted in all the glories of autumn. All the
creatures of the woodlands shook off the drowsy laziness of summer and
came down from the uplands seeking haunts for winter retreat. Moose
and deer were on the move. Beaver came splashing down-stream to
plaster up their wattled homes before frost. Bear and lynx and marten,
all were restless as the autumn winds instinct with coming storm. This
is the season when the Indian sets out to hunt and fight. Furnished
with clothing, food, and firearms, Radisson left the Mohawk Valley with
three hunters. By the middle of August, the rind of the birch is in
perfect condition for peeling. The first thing the hunters did was to
slit off the bark of a thick-girthed birch and with cedar linings make
themselves a skiff.
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