The _medicine men_ were unable to divine the cause of
his malady; the circumstances of his sickness and death, were thought to
be very peculiar, and his friends could discover no better way of
explaining the matter, than to suppose he had been bewitched.
The Indians believed in sorcery, and at different times in their history
had been known to execute summary judgment, on those whom they supposed to
be guilty of practicing the Satanic art. In the present instance suspicion
rested on the woman, by whom he had been attended, during his sickness. In
pursuance of the customs of their nation she was condemned to die. The
sentence was executed by Soo-nong-gise, a chief, commonly called Tom-
Jemmy. It took place at their reservation near Buffalo. Coming to the
knowledge of the whites in the vicinity, it excited feelings of horror,
mingled with indignation. The case was taken in hand by their authorities,
who without regard to Indian jurisdiction, arrested Tom-Jemmy and threw
him into prison.
At his trial the plea was set up in his defense, that the Indians were a
sovereign and independent nation, having their own laws, and their own
mode of carrying them into execution; that the offense was within the
acknowledged bounds of their own territory, that according to their laws,
it was not a crime, inasmuch as the act of the prisoner was in the
execution of a sentence, that had been passed upon the woman in question.
The trial was conducted with reference to this issue, and numerous
witnesses were examined to substantiate the facts having a bearing on the
case.
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