SECTION XHALF BREEDS
Theterm “Half breed” is applied throughout Western Canada in a general and indifferent way to the individual in whose veins there is an admixture of Indian and European blood. In some cases the proportion may be very largely that of the native race and in others quite the reverse; but in each case the individual is quite content to be classed under the general name.
In the early days the country along the Red River and the Assiniboine in the Province of Manitoba was divided into parishes, in some of which the inhabitants were almost all Scotch in others English and in others still French, and from each of these races in alliance with the native red men sprang the Scotch, English or French half breeds all having certain similar characteristics combined in their several caseswith others as different as the several nationalities referred to.
The Frenchman coming principally from the Province of Quebec, where his ancestors had already during two centuries become inured to forest life, more readily adopted the life of the wigwam, and his children became frequently Indians in many respects, while the English and Scotch settler coming direct from the old land made a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to bring up the children of his native wife as Scotchmen or Englishmen. In nothing is this difference more noticeable than in the speech of these different inheritors of Indian blood. Even to-day in the parish of Kildonan, below Winnipeg, where there are many descendants of the union of the Scotchman with native Indian women you will hear a strange dialect, but still with sufficient similarity to that spoken in certain shires in old Scotia to indicate its origin. The terms “boy” and “whatever,” the latter peculiarly characteristic of the Highlands of Scotland, are here used with great freedom, no matter what the age or station of the party so addressed may be.
On one occasion the Bishop of Saskatchewan who was somewhat irreverently-called “Saskatchewan Jack” had in his employ a half breed boy as his valet. I am not aware that this individual ever dared, at least in his Lordship’s presence, to use the latter term, but in the most reverential tone he invariably addressed him as “boy My Lord.”
On one occasion I had in my employ one of these Scottish half breeds whose constant reiteration of the word “whatever” became wearisome, and I asked him why he employed it so frequently. To which he replied “We use the word because we could not express ourselves without it whatever.” Then rather piqued at my criticism he asked “Is it not a correct word, whatever?” I said that it was correct in certain cases but unnecessary in nine out of ten where he used it. To this he replied that if it was a correct word he could see no objection to using it “whatever!” This ended the conversation for the time.
The half breed whether of English, Scotch or French descent has inherited from the Indian side certain qualities peculiar to thatrace. While he has in many cases lost to a degree some of the higher qualities of his untutored ancestor of the wilderness such as absolute honesty, for which the latter was once famous, he has retained the quality of enduring the greatest privations without complaint. He has also usually a better physique than his native Indian cousin, and in many instances is possessed of great strength. The loads that men of his type frequently carry for great distances on rough trails, over hills and even mountains is truly remarkable. On the other hand they have little idea of the value of time—and are never in a hurry. This they inherit from the Indian whose boast is that he has no need to be in a hurry; that he owns all the time there is, and will tell you that the white man acts as if there were no to-morrow. This characteristic has also impressed itself on the few white men whose lot has been to pass their existence in the lonely outposts. The dull monotony of life at a trading post in unsettled Canada could hardly fail to have this effect. Procrastination is common enough everywhere, but the complacent way in which these people,whether Indian, half breed or white, will allow the opportune moments to escape, frequently results in far greater work for them in the future, and is very trying if not exasperating to the ambitious traveller, delayed by their deliberate methods. As an example of this I once had a journey to make in a very rough country but where there was a chain of lakes leading out to my destination. With the lakes open, a pleasure trip was possible, but winter was fast setting in, and from the time the ice began to take on the lakes, till it would be safe to travel over it, weeks might elapse, and as there were no trails overland this would be our only alternative. I had arranged with some Indians and half breeds who possessed bark canoes to commence the trip on a certain morning. We were up early and waiting for them to arrive. The morning was passing without their appearance and precious time was being lost. We all longed to be on our journey back to civilisation after months in the woods. But there was no sign of their arrival. Finally I took a small canoe, only capable of carrying two persons, and went in search of our Indians. Onarriving at a small lake we found them having rare sport with some loons. The latter would dive and after several minutes come to the surface when the men would try their luck with their rifles. In this way they had spent a full half day at our expense. What mattered to them if the lakes froze over that night? They were at their home and had indulged in a forenoon’s sport which apparently had afforded them great enjoyment. For days after they talked and laughed like children over this adventure.