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The description of Pictograph A, Plate 60, is as follows:--
This is the leading inscription, and symbolizes the petition to the President. No. 1. It commences with the totem of the chief, called Oshcabawis, who headed the party, who is seen to be of the Ad-ji-jauk, or Crane clan. To the eye of the bird standing for this chief, the eyes of each of the other totemic animals are directed as denoted by lines, to symbolize union of views. The heart of each animal is also connected by lines with the heart of the Crane chief, to denote unity of feeling and purpose. If these symbols are successful, they denote that the whole forty-four persons both see and feel alike--THAT THEY ARE ONE.
No. 2, is a warrior, called Wai-mit-tig-oazh, of the totem of the Marten. The name signifies literally, He of the Wooden Vessel, which is the common designation of a Frenchman, and is supposed to have reference to the first appearance of a ship in the waters of the St. Lawrence.
No. 3. O-ge-ma-gee-zhig, is also a warrior of the Marten clan. The name means literally, Sky-Chief.
No. 4, represents a third warrior of the Marten clan. The name of Muk-o-mis-ud-ains, is a species of small land tortoise.
No. 5. O-mush-kose, or the Little Elk, of the Bear totem.
No. 6. Penai-see, or the Little Bird of the totem of the Ne-ban-a-baig, or Man-fish. This clan represents a myth of the Chippewas, who believe in the existence of a class of animals in the Upper Lakes, called Ne-ban-a-baig, partaking of the double natures of a man and a fish--a notion which, except as to the sex, has its analogies in the superstitions of the nations of western Europe, respecting a mermaid.
No. 7. Na-wa-je-wun, or the Strong Stream, is a warrior of the O-was-se-wug, or Catfish totem.
Beside the union of eye to eye, and heart to heart, above depicted, Osh-ca-ba-wis, as represented
by his totem of the Crane, has a line drawn from his eye forward, to denote the course of
his journey, and another line drawn backward to the series of small rice lakes, No. 8, the
grant of which constitutes the object of the journey. The long parallel lines, No. 10, represent
Lake Superior, and the small parallel lines, No. 9, a path leading from some central point
on its southern shores to the villages and interior lakes, No. 8, at which place the Indians
propose, if this plan be sanctioned, to commence cultivation and the arts of civilized life.
The entire object is thus symbolized in a manner which is very clear to the tribes, and to
all who have studied the simple elements of this mode of communicating ideas.