The People of the River's Mouth by Michael E. Dickey

Author:Michael E. Dickey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Missouri Press

Our father, when you came to our lands on your return from across the Great Lake [Atlantic Ocean] you spoke to us on behalf of the great Onontio [an Algonquin Indian term for the Governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil] who is the absolute master of your people and who illuminates the entire world, like the sun. You have told us that he has asked you to bring with you several chiefs of our nation when you return to his land. You see us now all assembled here to consider this matter. Although we may be unrefined, we judge, nevertheless, that it would be shameful for our tribe not to obey the request made by the great chief, whom we have heard of since we were born. Here are four chiefs, whom we place in your charge, and the daughter of the head chief of our tribe, so that you may conduct them to the country, which is the source of our fusils [guns], gunpowder, and generally all the merchandise we have.

The headman reaffirmed the intention of the Missouria to keep the peace recently made with the Padouca and expressed a fear of “our enemies the Foxes” if the French should abandon them. He reminded Bourgmont how they assisted the Skidi Pawnee and Otoe in destroying the Villasur expedition. The headman expressed confidence in the words of Bourgmont and prayed for Wakanda to have pity on him and promised to weep for those departing. The headman concluded by saying, “We hope that our people will not return naked or empty-handed since they are going to that country where all that we prize is made.” The headman's speech was printed in the newspaper Mercure de France but had probably undergone extensive editing by the time it was published. Although the core sentiments may be correct, the phraseology is characteristically French rather than Siouan.

Bourgmont, his Missouria wife, and three headmen each from the Missouria, Osage, and Otoe nations departed Fort Orleans in November of 1724. They picked up five Illini headmen and a Jesuit priest at Fort de Chartres. They reached New Orleans on January 9, 1725, but to save expenses, the Company of the Indies would allow only one headman of each tribe to go on the trip. Their ship, the Bellone, sank near Dauphine Island on April 2, destroying the possessions of the Indians and many of Bourgmont's and Governor Bienville's private documents and correspondence. Undoubtedly, these lost documents would have yielded more information about the Missouria during this early period.

The group finally made the Atlantic crossing aboard a ship named the La Gironde. Scurvy and malaria afflicted the passengers, and one Indian died on the voyage, though his tribe was not specified. The party finally arrived in Paris, France, on September 20, 1725. Articles in the Mercure de France gushed over the Indians, their appearance, their speeches, and the gifts lavished on them. The Mercure reported; “Their astonishment at the beauty of things they had seen was inexpressible .

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