neer days. He brought us word that some of
the peaceful sugar-makers near us on the river
had been attacked and murdered by roving Ojib-
ways. This news disturbed us not a little, for we
realized that we too might become the victims of
an Ojibway war party. Therefore we all felt
some uneasiness from this time until we returned
heavy laden to our village.

V: A Midsummer Feast
IT was midsummer. Everything
that the Santee Sioux had under-
taken during the year had been un-
usually successful. The spring
fur-hunters had been fortunate,
and the heavy winter had proved
productive of much maple sugar. The women's
patches of maize and potatoes were already suffic-
iently advanced to use. The Wahpetonwan band
of Sioux, the "Dwellers among the Leaves," were
fully awakened to the fact that it was almost time
for the midsummer festivities of the old, wild
days.

The invitations were bundles of tobacco, and
acceptances were sent back from the various bands
--the "Light Lodges", "Dwellers back from
the River," and many others, in similar fashion.
Blue Earth, chief of the "Dwellers among the
Leaves," was the host.