Sketches of a tour to the lakes : of the character and customs of the Chippeway Indians, and of incidents connected with the Treaty of Fond du Lac / by Thomas L. McKenney ... Also, a vocabulary of the Algic, or Chippeway language, formed in part, and as far as it goes, upon the basis of one furnished by ... Albert Gallatin

Thomas McKenney was U.S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1824-1830, and was the American signatory, along with Michigan Territorial Governor Lewis Cass, to the 1826 Treaty of Fond du Lac with several bands of Ojibwe, granting the U.S. mineral rights within Ojibwe lands.

"The author was for many years superintendent of Indian affairs at Washington, and was brought in constant association with the principal men of the nations and tribes which sent representatives to the seat of government. In this tour he formed a more intimate association with the great mass of the Indian population, and was able to present much valuable information regarding it." (Field)

The book includes over 20 lithographs, many hand-colored, by noted early-American lithographers William and John Pendleton of Boston and Anthony Imbert of New York. Several lithographic portraits of Ojibwe individuals illustrate the memoir, including the frontispiece portrait of Shingabawossin (Zhingaabewasin), chief of the Crane Clan of Ojibwe around Sault Ste. Marie, and one of the principal signatories to the 1826 Treaty of Fond du Lac.

Among other things, this publication is notable for including one of the earliest American printings of an Ojibwe vocabulary, based in part on the work of the noted American statesman, ethnologist, and linguist Albert Gallatin.

viii, 493 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

References:

American Imprints 29575; Field 994; Howes M-132; Pilling 2383; Sabin 43407