Part 23 (1/2)
”I have often,” wrote Captain Coats, ”thought this people of the lineage of the Chinese, in the many features I see in them, their bloated flatt faces, little eyes, black hair, little hands and feet, and their listlessness in travelling. They are very fair, when free from grease, very submissive to their men, very tender to their children, and indefatigable in the geegaws to please their men and children.”
They owned no manner of government or subordination. The father or head of the family obeyed no superior nor any command, and he himself only gave his advice or opinions. Consequently it was rarely that any great chief ever existed, and then only in time of war. It is true that when several families went to war, or to the factories to trade, they chose a leader, but to such a one obedience was only voluntary; everyone was at liberty to leave when he pleased, and the notion of a commander was soon obliterated.
Merit alone gave t.i.tle to distinction; such merit as an experienced hunter could boast, or one who possessed knowledge of communication between lakes and rivers, who could make long harangues, was a conjurer, or had a large family. Such a man was sure to be followed by several Indians when they happened to be out in large parties. They likewise followed him down to trade at the settlements, although upon such occasions he was forced to secure their attendance by promises and rewards, as the regard paid to his ability was of too weak a nature to command subjection. In war a mutual resentment forced their union for perpetrating vengeance.
The Hudson's Bay Indian's method of dividing time was by numbering the nights elapsed or to come. Thus, if he were asked how long he had been on his journey, he would answer, ”so many nights.” From the nocturnal division he proceeded to lunar or monthly reckoning, twelve to a year, all of these moons being symbolical of some remarkable event or appearance.
Their method of computing numbers was abstruse, they reckoning chiefly by decades: two-tens, three-tens, ten-tens. A few units over or under were added or subtracted, thirty-two being three-tens and two over. If they reckoned any large number a skin or stick was laid down for every ten, and afterwards tied in a bundle for the aggregate.
[Sidenote: Intelligence of the Indians.]
The servants of the Company were not a little astonished at the wonderful intuition of the Indian, which enabled him to forego the advantage to be derived from a compa.s.s, and yet to rarely miss his way. The trees, he knew, were all bent to the south, and the branches on that side were larger and stronger than on the north, as was also the moss. To apprise his women of the spot where the game was killed, he broke off branches here and there, laying them in the path with their ends pointed in the requisite direction.
In winter, when the braves went abroad they rubbed themselves all over with bear's grease or beaver oil, treating in this fas.h.i.+on, too, the furs they wore.
”They use,” says one trader, ”no milk from the time they are weaned, and they all hate to taste Cheese, having taken up an opinion that it was made of Dead Men's Fat.” They were fond of prunes and raisins, and would give a beaver skin for twelve of them to carry to their children, and also for a Jew's-harp or a tin trumpet. They were great admirers of pictures or prints, giving a beaver for bad prints, and ”all toys were jewels to them.”
A trader at a little later period writes: ”Having been fortunate enough to administer medical relief to one of these Indians during their stay, I came to be considered as a physician, and found that was a character held in high veneration,” and goes on to add that their solicitude and credulity as to drugs and nostrums had exposed them to gross deceptions on the part of the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company. One of the chiefs informed him that he had been at the Bay the year before and there purchased a quant.i.ty of medicines which he would allow his visitor to inspect. Accordingly, he fetched a bag containing numerous small papers, in which he found lumps of white sugar, grains of coffee, pepper, allspice, cloves, tea, nutmegs, ginger, and other things of the kind, sold as specifics against evil spirits and against the dangers of battle. These compounds were said to give power over enemies, particularly the white bear, of which the Indians in those lat.i.tudes were much afraid; others were infallible against barrenness in women, against difficult labour, and against a variety of other afflictions.
[Sidenote: Superst.i.tion of the Indians.]
It is related that some Indians, who were employed in the vicinity of York Factory in a goose hunt, were so influenced by superst.i.tion that they firmly believed the devil, with hideous howlings, frequented their tent every night. They came in a most dejected state to the factory and related a lamentable tale to the Governor, setting forth with much pathos, the distress they were being subjected to by his Satanic majesty. So overcome were they that they kept large fires burning all night, sleeping only in the day time. One of the Red men declared that he had discharged his gun at the monster, but unluckily missed. The devil was described as of human shape, with a capacity for enormous strides. The governor treated the victims to a little brandy, and as if by magic their courage rose. Investigation that same night disclosed that the Satan was neither more nor less than a huge night-owl.
The same trader also declares he found a number of small prints, such as in England were commonly sold to children, but which amongst the Indians were each transformed into a talisman for the cure of some evil or for procuring some delight. He even gives the mottoes on some of these, and their specific uses: No. 1--”A sailor kissing his mistress on his return from sea.” This worn about the person of a gallant attracted, though concealed, the affections of the s.e.x! No.
2--”A soldier in arms.” Such a talisman poured a sentiment of valour into its possessor and gave him the strength of a giant!
It was alleged that by means of such commodities many customers were secured to the Company, nor is there reason to doubt it. ”Even those Indians who shortened their voyage by dealing with us, sent forward one canoe laden with beaver-skins to purchase articles of this kind at c.u.mberland House.” Henry adds that he was wise enough not to dispute their value.
As time went on the Indians began to relinquish many of the habits and customs, and even the appearance they presented, before the advent of the white traders. Being in constant communication with the factories, they became semi-civilized, and took on many of the outer characteristics of the European. They brought in year after year the spoils of the chase in strict confidence, and there exchanged them for the necessaries of life, which they no longer provided for themselves.
To all intents and purposes the tribes were in the pay of the Company, or lived upon their bounty. It was, therefore, to be expected that all originality would be lost amongst them.
The princ.i.p.al things necessary for the support and satisfaction of the Indian and his family in the middle of the eighteenth century were: a gun, hatchet, ice chisel, brazil fob, knives, files, flints, powder and shot, a powder horn, a bayonet, a kettle, cloth, beads, etc.
It was early found that alcohol was a very dangerous element to introduce amongst the savages. Talon had presented the unhappy colony of New France with a statute removing all the penalties and ordinances of which justice and the authorities had made use to repress the disorders caused by the too great quant.i.ty of liquor given to the Indians.
[Sidenote: Liking of the Indians for liquor.]
The inclination of the Indians for intoxication, it was pointed out to Colbert by an ecclesiastic who sought to alter the condition of affairs, is much stronger than that of the people of Europe. They have, urged he, greater weakness in resisting it. ”If in a bourgade there be liquor freely accessible to the Indians, they usually all become intoxicated--old, young, great and small, women and children, so that there is hardly one left sober. If there were liquor sufficient to last two days, drunkenness invariably continued two days. If enough for a week, it would last a week; if for a month, it would last a month. This,” said the good priest, ”is what we do not see in Europe--a whole city get drunk, nor see it continue in that state for weeks and months.” It may readily be perceived that those who wish to strike a bargain favourable to themselves with the Indians, had only to resort to liquor, and by that means, without regard to their own salvation or that of the savages, could generally procure what they desired at a small expenditure.
An Indian, it was said early in the next century, would barter away all his furs, nay even leave himself without a rag to cover his nakedness, in exchange for that vile, unwholesome stuff called English brandy.
The Company in England having decided not to employ liquor in its traffic with the Indians, the temptation was strong upon Colbert and the French to resort to it. At one of its meetings, in 1685, the Company listened to a paper describing the methods in vogue by the French traders at the important post of Tadoussac. At this fort or factory, for more than twenty years previously, it was the custom to allow an Indian a quart of wine; this fluid, although it boasted such a t.i.tle, hardly merited it. It was composed of one part of brandy to five parts of water; a proportion which fluctuated, it is true, but chiefly in respect of more water. To this more or less fiery liquid was given at a little later date the name high wine; and high wine figured largely in the dealings of both French and English with the Indians for more than two centuries. If an Indian desired more than the regulation quart, he was put off until another time. The necessary moderation was thus secured, and the trade suffered no injury. Colbert expressed himself as afraid that if the Quebec Company did not employ liquor the Indians would carry their beavers to the Dutch. He need not, however, have troubled himself with this apprehension, as it was the Iroquois alone who could go there, and the French of Quebec did small trade with this hostile nation. It was a.s.serted that the French would not lose five hundred skins a year by preserving the moderation necessary for Christianity, and the good morality of the colony.
[Sidenote: Effect of intoxication on the Indians.]
Excess of liquor frequently made Europeans merry and gay; on the Indian, however, it had a contrary effect. Under its influence he recalled his departed friends and relations, lamenting their death with abundance of tears. Should he be near their graves he would often resort thither and weep there. Others would join the chorus in a song, even though quite unable to hold up their heads. It was not uncommon for them to roll about their tents in a fit of frenzy, frequently falling into the blazing fire. Quarrelling then was common: an ancient disagreement, long forgotten, being revived. The chiefs had often the prudence, when matters were going this way, to order the women to remove all offensive weapons out of the tent. But one weapon, very effective, the teeth, still remained; and it was not unusual to see several braves the next morning without a nose, an ear, or a finger.
In affrays such as these, no respect whatever was paid to the ties of blood, brothers and sisters often fighting with great spirit and animosity. At the conclusion of one of these encounters early in the eighteenth century, an Indian entered York Factory one morning and desired to be admitted to the surgeon. He was conducted to the surgeon's room; he saluted its inmate in broken English, with ”Look here, man; here my nose,” at the same time holding out his palm, which contained half that desirable facial adjunct. This he desired the surgeon, having a mighty opinion of the faculty, to restore. The man's nephew had, it seems, bit it off; he declared he felt no pain, nor was he sensible of his loss till awaking the next morning he found the piece lying by his side.
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