hands of her own relatives, who receive the culprit with a good beating. A woman cannot be subjected to a more degrading punishment.
An Assiniboin has no scruple in lying, when he can obtain any advantage from it: he rarely tells falsehoods in jest. In regard to theft, falsehood and adultery, the Assiniboins differ from the Indians near the Rocky Mountains, especially the Flatheads and the Pend d'Oreilles, who detest these vices. It may be observed that the Assiniboins have been in relations with the whites for many years.
False oaths are very rare among the Indians, when their promises are assumed with any solemnity. The objects by which the Assiniboin swears are his gun, the skin of the rattlesnake, a bear's claw, and the Wah-kon of the Indian interrogated. These various articles are placed before him, and he says, "In case my declaration prove false, may my gun fire and kill me, may the serpent bite me, may the bears tear and devour my flesh, may my Wah-kon overwhelm me with misery." A circumstance in which perjury could save his life, is the only one in which a savage would be tempted to commit it. In extraordinary and very important affairs, which demand formal promises, they call upon the thunder to witness their resolution of accomplishing the articles proposed and accepted. The whole vocabulary of the Assiniboin and Sioux language contains but one single word which
can be considered insulting or as blasphemous. This word expresses the wish that the person or thing in question may become ugly, as we would say in French " Le Monstre," or in Flemish " Gy leelyke beest." The name of the Great Spirit is never pronounced in vain, but always with highest marks of veneration. In this respect the language of the poor Indian is more noble than the more polished tongues of many civilized nations, where there are ever on the swearer's lips curses and blasphemies, and where men mingle in all their conversation the name of the Almighty! Such an individual would not only excite horror in the Indian, but would even excite his terror.