Miami Indian Hunting Superstitions: Reverence for the Snake and Wolf
The Miami Indians were superstitiously opposed to killing snakes or wolves, and they had a custom of making peace with snakes at certain seasons, by offerings of tobacco, etc. The cliff of rocks on the north side of the canal near the west line of the county, was for many years known as Tobacco Rock, and tobacco has been seen there by early settlers. It was one of the greatest snake dens in the county until the canal was made, which destroyed their hiding places.
One of the early settlers who lived in the west part of Allen County, Mr. Morrissoe. borrowed a gun from an Indian neighbor known as " Old Zeke, " to go hunting. When he returned the gun Zeke asked him what he killed. Mr. Morrissoe, well know ing the superstition of the Indians in regard to wolves, but not thinking of it at the time, told him he had killed a wolf, at which the old Indian expressed great sorrow, and said that his gun would never shoot straight any more, that it was spoiled; he took it all apart, washed and thoroughly cleaned every par ticle of it and went through some incantation to remove the spell from it. Mr. Morrissoe, who had lived among the Indians many years, said that it was not an uncomm on thing, when In dians killed more game than they could carry home, to leave a f art of it, in a certain place where they could get it the next day. if anyone in the evening would suggest that the wolves might eat it, the reply would always be," they are eating it," after which they would not go after it, but let it remain there. Another one of their peculiar customs was, cleaning and hang ing up in their cabins, the skulls of a certain number of the an imals caught in traps, as they seemed to think it would bring them good luck.
