SECTION IXINHABITANTS

Interestingas are the natural characteristics of the country and its undeveloped resources, the inhabitants who make their home there should demand from us first consideration.

The Indian, the Esquimaux, the half breed, the white trader and the missionary constitute the different classes of the very scattered population of that vast region between the borders of civilisation on the south and the Arctic sea on the north.

In the region traversed between Edmonton and Fort Yukon we meet with several tribes of Indians speaking as many different tongues. The first of these as we go north are the Wood Crees, the Knisteneaux, of Mackenzie. Then as we reach Athabaska Lake we have the Chippewyan; next the Slaves, and lastly the Loucheaux or Squint Eyes.

The Cree, the Chippewyan and the Slavethough differing somewhat in speech resemble each other in character and in appearance, but when we come to the Loucheaux we seem to have reached a different type and one more closely allied to the eastern Asiatic than to the American Indian. They inhabit the country of the lower Mackenzie, the Porcupine and the lower Yukon. They are of rather small stature and dark colour; are very inquisitive and much disposed to imitate the white man in several particulars. In one characteristic, however, that of cleanliness, perhaps from lack of example on the part of our race, they have made very little progress. They are very devout in their religious observances, most of them being members of the Anglican Church, and, so far as I could judge, they lived a life quite as consistent with its teachings as their white brethren. In the following reference to Indian character and characteristics I wish it understood that I refer to the other tribes not including the Loucheaux. On account of my short acquaintance with the latter it would be presumptuous for me to say anything further.

COMING IN FROM THE NORTH

The ordinary Indian is usually consideredstoical and unsympathetic. In the first of these qualities he certainly in some respects deserves a place not second to his Greek prototype. He will endure torture as a matter of pride that would shock the sensitive. His self-denial in some cases also is almost heroic. To rob a cache, even when he is enduring extreme hunger would be to him an unworthy act if he knew that the owner were depending on it for his own use.

I wish also to qualify this by the statement that I am speaking of the race as a whole and not of every individual constituting it. There is diversity of individual character among the uncivilised equal to that found in civilised society. It is incorrect also to deny to the native Indian the possession of any measure of human sympathy. It is quite true that he may sometimes seem to us cold and indifferent, but this is more in appearance than in reality.

When fortune favours the hunter and he brings home a moose to his wigwam, the first thing he does is to send a piece of the meat to his neighbours. These may be many miles away. I remember on oneoccasion in winter I engaged an Indian with two teams of dogs and toboggans to bring me from the northern boundary of Ontario out to the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It had happened that just before starting he had shot two moose. On the route were a few wigwams at long distances apart, and at every one of these a present of fresh venison was made. In some cases no one was in the wigwams at the hour of our visit, but nevertheless, a portion of the meat was always left; a pleasant surprise for the occupant on his return.

Their affection for their kindred and for their children is quite equal to that of the ordinary white man. There is something very morose in this affection. It was my fortune to spend a winter on Rainy River many years ago before the railway had entered any part of Canada beyond Lake Superior. There were several Indian settlements along the stream. Wild game, especially the caribou and moose, were plentiful in the woods and fish abundant in the river, so they were seldom in actual want of food such as they were accustomed to. Very little sickness among them wasthen heard of, but years after I went up the same river in a steamer and sad were the stories told of the misfortunes that had come upon these people. With the white settlers came the contagious diseases such as smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, and others of even a worse nature with the result that their settlements were practically wiped out, and the graveyards, with their numerous little wooden houses built over each grave, showed where the stalwart braves with their wives and children had gone.

We noticed one old man who had lost all his family in one of those epidemics, walking aimlessly among the graves, and we were told that he spent most of his time there, no doubt in fancied communication with the spirits of the departed.

The grief of the Indian woman at the loss of her child is very touching. On one occasion I remember seeing at a distance two Indians and a squaw pulling a little sleigh up the bank of a river, and curiosity prompted me to join them when I saw them stop at a little open space where there was a new made open grave. Then I noticed on the sleigh the dead child which theyproceeded to bury. The mother was perfectly quiet until the men commenced to cover up the grave when she uttered a wild shriek which revealed the depth of her maternal feelings. She seemed to protest at what the men were doing, and on inquiring from them I learned that she belonged to a tribe who buried their young children in trees. This was done by cutting out a section of the tree of sufficient size to receive the body and then closing it up again, their belief being that the child would in some way enjoy the life of the tree. Their ideas of these matters are vague and undefined, but the grief of this poor mother at the thought that her child was smothered in the earth instead of in some way living another form of life in conjunction with the tree, showed that ages of struggle for existence in the wilderness had failed to obliterate those finer feelings of the soul.

On another occasion an Indian, residing on one of the reserves on the Spanish River in Northern Ontario was engaged on a tug that towed scows on that stream during the construction of the Algoma branch of the C.P.R. His wife, living attheir home on the bank of the river, seeing the boat with her barges coming down stream hurriedly, gathered up her husband’s laundry garments which she had ready, and picking up her baby rushed down to her birch bark canoe, placed the little infant in its wooden cradle in the bottom of the canoe and soon reached the barge, but as she came in contract with it her canoe was upset. The tug was stopped and a boat quickly launched and the mother rescued and taken ashore while the upset canoe went floating down stream. Immediately she recovered consciousness her first words were “Where is my baby?” This was the first the men knew that the baby had been with her and they at once paddled out to the canoe, and on turning it over found the little one was there uninjured, between two cross pieces in the canoe the baby in the wooden cradle was supported. They, of course, lost no time in bringing it to its mother who received it with all the affection possible, and during the whole of the afternoon she would laugh and then burst out crying, uttering words in her own tongue which meant “I thought I lost my baby.”

Turning from the serious and sentimental to the humorous or droll we will find that the Indian is by no means lacking in his sense of the ludicrous, neither is he slow in imitating by word and action any individual who excites his mirth. He is really a born mimic and the rehearsals around the camp fire are often as humorous as one would find in any comic play. There comes now to my mind a dirty little Indian boy who could easily make his mark in any of our theatres. He had the gift of portraying the appearance, the actions and the walk of others and of imitating the voice in a manner which I have never seen surpassed. He had attended a mission school for some time, and one evening I overheard him at their camp fire, intoning the English Church service in a manner so like the Oxford graduate that it was difficult to believe that the beautifully modulated sentences were uttered by this little ragamuffin.

Let no white man who has any peculiarities of action or speech (and who has not), visit an Indian settlement without expecting to have these dramatised by the wit of the band.

They have also the gift of inventing names for individuals which aptly hit off their character. For instance, during the long period in office of the late Sir John A. Macdonald he was frequently visited by deputations of Indians, which, like most deputations, asked for more than could be conveniently given. Sir John was too astute to make any definite promise that he knew could not be fulfilled, and too wise to refuse them point blank, so he usually told them that he would consult the great Queen Mother who was a good friend of the red man and that they could go home trusting that they would be well treated.

These visits were repeated frequently without the desired result. As one of the members expressed it, it was always to be done to-morrow, till finally, Sir John was given the name “Old To-morrow.”

Another individual who occupied a prominent government position in the early days, in the country west of Lake Superior was the late Simon J. Dawson, the originator of the Dawson route between Thunder Bay and the Red River of the North. He was known by every Indian between Fort Williamand Fort Garry and from his official position they regarded him practically as the government, and in fact it was not uncommon for them to call him “Government,” but he, too, earned from them a derisive name. Mr. Dawson was also a man of tact who lived up to the maxim that a “soft answer turneth away wrath.” The Indians were not slow in detecting this characteristic, and they humorously applied to him the name of “Old Smoothbore,” and it would have been impossible to choose a name that fitted his character so well.

At one time I had in my employ on the Saskatchewan River a number of men, some of whom were Indians. One day on the trail the Indians were conversing among themselves in the Cree language, and the word “Mooneas,” which really means greenhorn, was frequently repeated. One of the white men, a Canadian, could not restrain his curiosity, and inquired from one of the Indians who spoke English as to the meaning of the word. The reply came quickly with a chuckle “Canadian,” which was followed by a shout of laughter.

They are also quick to detect anythingin an argument or discourse that to them does not seem logical. On one occasion a young clergyman arrived at Norway House, north-east of Lake Winnipeg where he became the guest of the agent of the post. The Indians were asked on Sunday morning to come into the big room for Divine service. Obedient to the invitation the Chief appeared with his people and listened attentively to the sermon which was made intelligible to them through an interpreter. The minister took for his text “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.” After the return to the post the agent made bold to tell the young man that he thought his text rather inapplicable to his audience; that the hoarding up of treasures could scarcely be called the besetting sin of the native Indian, that in fact, his own efforts and also those of the company, were constantly exercised in urging them to provide for the morrow. The young man replied that this phase of the situation had not presented itself to him but that he would the following Sunday morning endeavour to correct the evident mistake. So on the next occasion before the same audience heprefaced his remarks by a few observations on his previous sermon by stating—that what he had previously said was not to be taken literally but figuratively; but when this reached the ears of the Chief through the interpreter it meant that what he had said the former Sunday was not true. Immediately this sermon was concluded the chief gathered his men around him and told them that this man told lies; that he had just told them that what he had said before was not true and that he did not want to hear him any more.

On a Sunday morning in summer at Fort Simpson, the Roman Catholic population of the little village were assembled at early mass in obedience to the call of the visiting priest he would be with them the following Sunday, and that he wished all his children to come prepared to contribute liberally to a special collection that would then be taken. On the following Saturday an Indian, or perhaps more properly a half breed, for though practically an Indian he had inherited sufficient French blood to entitle him to the name of Antoine, visited the priest and asked him to lend him twodollars in hard money (silver), stating that he would soon return it. The priest knowing that Antoine always had a good account at the Company’s store readily gave him the money. Antoine accompanied by his sweetheart was in attendance the next day at the service and astonished the congregation by ostentatiously drooping two dollars on the collection plate. Some time passed without Antoine offering to return the money. Finally, one day as the priest was preparing to leave on one of his periodical visits to other members of his flock he accidentally met Antoine and reminded him of the fact, to which the latter replied that he had already paid him in church. The priest informed that this money was not for him but for God. To this Antoine replied that God did not need the money, that he was rich, at the same time reminding the priest of a recent sermon of his, in which he had stated that where God lived all the streets were made of gold, and ended by advising the priest to keep the money and not be foolish.

It is a very noted characteristic of the Indian not to exhibit surprise under anycircumstance. Whether this is owing to his indifference or whether it is an instance of his restraint born of his stoical nature I am unable to say.

I had a young man of the Ojibway tribe in my employ for a whole winter on one occasion. Fully fifteen years afterwards I requested the agent at a post of a Hudson’s Bay Company to engage an Indian with his canoe for me for a few days. On the following morning a middle-aged man appeared. He spoke fair English and conversed freely as we paddled around among the islands in the Lake of the Woods till noon when we went ashore and had lunch; after which we resumed work and continued till evening. On leaving for his camp he inquired if I wished him for the following day, to which I replied in the affirmative. On the following day at the noon hour I asked him his name. His reply was simply “John.” I told him I knew that, but asked for his full name to which his reply was “John Begg.” I told him that I had had a young man of that name many years before who worked several months for me on the Rainy River, and askedhim if he knew him. His reply was simply “Was me.”

After this he talked very freely and recalled to my memory many incidents of the former period that I had almost forgotten, but I have little doubt that though he knew me from the start if I had not made the advance he would have left me without revealing his identity.

One other very similar case comes to my mind. When I was a boy, my father used to employ, at certain times of the year, Indians living on a reserve near by. Among these was a boy who spoke good English and who was known by and answered to the euphonious name of “Hickory Jackson.” For several successive summers he was almost a companion to my brother and myself. As time went on my place of residence was changed and probably twenty years after on visiting my old home I was taking a stroll along the banks of a very familiar stream in the dusk of a summer evening. The time and place served to call up many incidents of my early days. When absorbed in such reminiscences I barely noticed in the twilight the figure of anIndian with a boy walking behind him on the opposite side of the road, who, in a dull monotone uttered the words intended for me, “where you going,” and without halting passed on out of sight. This was “Hickory Jackson” whom I had not seen since I was a boy and never since. Though he manifested this indifference I have little doubt knowing his character that when he reached his wigwam this incident would be related to his family coupled with that of many others of past years.

There is to my mind something very fascinating in the contemplation of the characteristics, of the impulses and modes of thought, so to speak, of those members of the human family who have not come under the influence of civilised life where the Divine spark has had only nature for its tutor.

Sitting by the camp fire I have often watched the immobile countenance of the savage, (if such a name is applicable), and refrained from making any suggestion as I wondered what was passing through his mind; whether his thoughts were simply of the earth earthy, or whether there wasenjoyment in the contemplation of higher things. Does nature, of which he is a child, furnish him with her richer gifts? If so, then he should seldom be without enjoyment, for certainly his life is spent close to her very heart.

Without pretending to answer these questions I am not unwilling to reaffirm what I have said before, that in the uncivilised man we have just as great a divergence of character as we have in civilised society.

That some among them take pleasure in and are appreciative of the beautiful in nature is certain, and few there are who do not enjoy melody, whether expressed in the semi-religious chants or the more melodious songs of the feathered creation.

I must refer to one other characteristic which seems common to the North American Indian irrespective of the tribe to which he may belong, and that is his superiority over most civilised nations in his good humour. It is very rare indeed to find any quarrelling among them, and rarer still is such a thing as fighting among individuals unless they are under the influence of spirits.

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