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Indian Lives and Anecdotes ca. 1886 - 1941 part 9
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Obum Sawin or Joe Joseph [both names underlined] - was a little Indian from Three Rivers, Canada. Camped with ____ ____.
When father, Leonard & Staples started to go to Restigouche {1859} (though they later went to Tobique) they met Piel Antonine Tomah at Chamberlain. Sawin had been there tanning hides at the farm. They met him at Eagle Lake and came up to the farm. He was going 400 miles alone in a 15 ft canoe and Piel was going to Restigouche. They never expected to see each other again so they held a war dance.
Obum had sung in a church choir, he said and first they sang Latin hymns together.
The Piel got down on his knees & Obum scraped [?] his hair upon the top of his head and trimmed it with leaves. Piel took off his boots and danced round & round with his sheath knife bared, dancing stiff-kneed. He wore a red flannel shirt, pants, belt, hatchet, pitchumgan and bullet pouch. He sang a low song & went through the war dance, looking for a track, flourishing his knife, searching, etc, chanting all the