_Canad. Roy. Soc. Proc._, vol. ix., sect. 1, p. 85; and vol. x., sect.
1, p. 41. Cf. Pilling's _Bibliog. Algon. Lang._, pp. 6-9.
39 (p. 127).--_Raquettes_: snowshoes. This word is very old; its
earlier forms were _rachete_ or _rasquete_. It is derived by Littré
(through Low Latin _racha_) from the Arabic _rāha_, "palm of the hand;"
by Menage and others, from Latin _reticulata_, "netted." In either
case, its present use is traceable to certain ball-games. The earliest
of these was that called by the French "paume" (from Latin _palma_),
in which the ball was struck with the palm of the hand; it was
exceedingly popular in the countries of Western Europe, and was common
at least as early as the thirteenth century, afterwards becoming known
as "tennis" (a word of uncertain derivation). Of historic interest,
in this connection, is the _serment du jeu paume_ (oath of the tennis
court), a name given to that session of the Third Estate at Versailles,
June 20, 1789, at which the deputies swore not to adjourn till they had
given a constitution to France.
Heathcote, in _Tennis_ (London, 1890), says: "It is probable that the
Italians, when playing _la paume_, found that a glove was a useful
protection to the hand; and, when balls were made harder and heavier,
that a thicker glove was required. The transition from the thick glove
to a network of strings, and the adoption of the leverage afforded by
the use of a handle, may have suggested to an ingenious inventor the
prototype of the implement we now use." The racket was introduced into
France, probably in the fourteenth century.
To apply the name of this instrument to the snowshoe, so similar in
shape to the former, was an obvious and easy transition. The use of
netted snowshoes was universal among the North American tribes, from
whom it has been adopted by the white inhabitants of Canada and the
mountainous regions of the United States. Lafitau describes snowshoes
and their use, in his _Mœurs des Sauvages_, tome ii., pp. 220-223;
as does Schoolcraft, in _Ind. Tribes_, vol. iii., p. 68,--several
illustrations being given, of specimens from Minnesota, Utah, and
Oregon. Among the different tribes, they are of various sizes and
shapes; their length varies from fifteen inches to six feet, and the
width from thirteen to twenty inches; those used by the Western tribes
turn upward at the front end. The snowshoes worn by the women are
shorter, often painted and otherwise ornamented.
40 (p. 133).--Concerning the division of labor between men and women,
see vol. ii., _note_ 33. Cf. the references given by Carr, in _Mounds
of Mississippi Valley_; this paper has also been published separately
(Cincinnati, 1883); see pp. 7-35, in that edition. Cf. also Tailhan's
_Perrot_, pp. 29, 30, 181.
41 (p. 157).--The aborigines of North America had but vague and
uncertain ideas of a Supreme Being or Creator. They believed in
certain supernatural Beings, called Manitous (Algonkin), or Okis
(Huron-Iroquois), which they conceived under the forms of beasts,
birds, or reptiles,--occasionally in human form, or even that of
stones. Another class of beings embodied the polytheistic tendencies
of the savage mind,--the manitous of the sun and the moon, of the
water, of the winds, etc.; and the progenitors or "Kings" of various
animals,--of which Michabou, Messou, or Manabozho ("the Great Hare")
was the chief. The Huron deity Jouskeha and the Huron-Iroquois Areskoui
are apparently personifications of the Sun. Sometimes, too, are found
deifications of heroes, as the Iroquois Taounyawatha, or Hiawatha, the
Northern counterpart of the Peruvian Viracocha, the Carib Tamu, or
the Aztec Quetzalcoatl,--all suggestive, in personal characteristics,
and in their influence upon their respective peoples, of the Greek
Prometheus.
Charlevoix, in _Journal Historique_ (Paris, 1744), pp. 344-347, gives
an account of Michabou, Areskoui, and other deities, and of the
tutelary genius that each Indian adopts. Lafitau (_Mœurs des Sauvages_,
tome i., pp. 126, 127, 145) says that Areskoui is the Supreme Being, in
the belief of the Hurons; and he cites the saying of a Huron convert
that Areskoui was such as the missionaries described their God to be.
Lafitau tries to prove, by arguments more ingenious than convincing,
that Areskoui was the same as the Ares (or Mars) of the Thracians.
Perrot relates the legends of the Great Hare, in his _Mémoire_
(Tailhan's ed.), pp. 3-7. Many legends of Manabozho and Manitou are
collected by Schoolcraft in his _Algic Researches_ (N. Y., 1839); cf.
_Ind. Tribes_, vol. i, p. 317. Parkman (_Jesuits_, pp. lxxii.-lxxv.)
outlines the whole subject as connectedly as is possible, giving many
references to other authors. Brinton has just issued (1896) a third and
revised edition of his _Myths of the New World_, which fully treats
these legends; he regards Manabozho as an impersonation of Light, and
belonging to the world-wide cycle of Sun-myths. Cf. A. F. Chamberlain's
"Nanibozhu among the Algonkian Tribes," in _Jour. Am. Folk-Lore_, vol.
iv. (1891), pp. 193-213.
42 (p. 183).--The mountains here referred to are the Laurentian; they
extend along the north shore of the St. Lawrence from Belle Isle
Straits to Quebec, and thence N. W. to the Arctic Ocean,--a distance of
about 3,500 miles. They form the watershed between the St. Lawrence and
Hudson Bay, and also between that bay and the region of the Mackenzie
River. The general elevation of the Laurentian range is 1,500 to 2,000
feet, although some peaks in the neighborhood of the Saguenay reach
a height of 4,000 feet. The valleys are often worn into deep pits,
containing ponds and lakes; and some of the streams are formed by a
succession of these lakes, united by short outlets. These mountains are
generally thickly wooded; the rocks are eozoic; and the region is rich
in minerals,--graphite, asbestos, phosphates, mica, iron, etc.--See
_Annual Reports_ of Canadian Geological Survey.
43 (p. 187).--_Consulter of Manitou_; diviner or soothsayer, often
called "sorcerer" by the French; the _aoutmoin_ or _pilotois_ described
by Lescarbot (_Nouv. France_, pp. 678-681, 683), Biard (vol. ii., of
our series, pp. 75, 77), and Champlain (Laverdière's ed.), pp. 335.
336--See _note_ 41, _ante_; cf. Rochemonteix's _Jésuites_, vol. i., pp.
110, 111.
44 (p. 193).--_Eschom_: more correctly written _Echon_, since,
according to Brébeuf (_Relation_ 1636, part 2, chap, iv.), the sound
of _M_ is unknown in the Huron dialect. A name given to Brébeuf by the
Hurons, during his first stay among them (see vol. iv., _note_ 30).
After his death, they similarly named Chaumonot, in accordance with
their custom of bestowing a dead man's name upon one of his relatives,
or upon some person adopted by the tribe, who thus became the
representative and successor of the deceased. The word _echon_ is the
Huron name of a certain tree, valued by the natives for its medicinal
properties,--according to _Suite de la vie du Chaumonot_ (1693), pp.
13, 14.
45 (p. 197).--This negro lad is mentioned by Le Jeune in the _Relation_
of 1632, p. 63, _ante_. Ker is one of the numerous variants of Kirk's
name. "The estimable family living" at Quebec was that of Madame Hébert
and her son-in-law, Guillaume Couillard (vol. ii., _note_ 80; vol.
iv., _note_ 38); see _note_ 13, _ante_. For value of écu, see vol. i.,
_note_ 34.
Le Baillif, a native of Amiens, had come with De Caen, in 1622, as
a clerk. Champlain says (Laverdière's ed., pp. 1228-1231) that this
man was discharged by his employer, as being extremely vicious; that
he deserted to the English, in 1629; that Kirk gave him the keys of
the company's buildings; that Le Baillif availed himself of this
opportunity to plunder the stores of all their contents, including
3,500 to 4,000 beaver skins belonging to De Caen; that his scandalous
conduct displeased even the English; and that he illtreated the French
who remained at Quebec. Le Clercq says that Le Baillif tried to induce
the English to plunder the Jesuit residence.
46 (p. 201).--_Grand Chibou_: see vol. iv., _note_ 46.
47 (p. 201).--The remainder of this paragraph is not found in the Lenox
copy (H. 56); see Bibliographical Data, _ante_, document xxi.
48 (p. 203).--An important variation in the text occurs at this point
in the Lenox copy, for which see Bibliographical Data, _ante_, document
xxi.
49 (p. 203).--_Oliver the interpreter_: Oliver Le Tardif, born at
Honfleur, in 1601. He probably came over with Champlain, when a mere
lad; his name first appears as one of the signers of a petition from
the Quebec settlers to Louis XIII., dated Aug. 18, 1621, asking that
the disputes between the rival commercial companies in Canada, and the
disorders arising therefrom, might be settled by royal authority. This
petition was sent to France by the Récollet Father George Le Baillif;
it is given in full by Le Clercq (Shea's ed., vol. i., pp. 161-174). By
Champlain we are told (Laverdière's ed., pp. 1042, 1113, 1228) that Le
Tardif was serving as an interpreter in 1623; that he was proficient in
the Montagnais, Algonkin, and Huron dialects; that he was, in 1626-29,
a sub-agent for the Hundred Associates; and, at the capture of Quebec,
he gave up the keys of the storehouse to Kirk. Returning at that time
to France, he came back to Quebec with either De Caen or Champlain.
Nov. 3, 1637, he married the eldest daughter of Guillaume Couillard,
Louise, then less than thirteen years of age. Seven years later,
his adopted daughter, Marie Manitouabewich, was married to Martin
Prevost,--the first marriage in Canada of a Frenchman to an Indian
woman. In 1642, he was general manager for the Hundred Associates; and,
in 1650, the agent of a company (including Lauson Rosée, Cheffault, and
others) to whom had been conceded the Isle of Orleans. Laverdière says
that Le Tardif was at one time seignior over part of Beaupré. His death
occurred Jan. 28, 1665.--Sulte's _Can.-Français_ vols. ii. and iii.
50 (p. 203).--_Assisted in their wars._ Champlain here refers to his
expeditions, with the Ottawas and other tribes of the St. Lawrence
valley, against the Iroquois, in 1609, 1610, and 1615. In the last of
these, during an attack made by the allies on an Iroquois fort (Oct.
11), Champlain was wounded by arrows, as were also two Ottawa chiefs,
Ochateguin and Orani (_Voyages_, Laverdière's ed., pp. 528, 532, 533,
919). Laverdière reproduces Champlain's illustration of the battle,
and thinks this fort was near the foot of Lake Canandaigua, in Ontario
county, N. Y.; but Slafter identifies it with one, the remains of which
were discovered years ago, on the shore of Nichols's Pond, in Fenner
township, Madison county, N. Y.--_Champlain_ (Prince Soc.), vol. i.,
pp. 130-132.
51 (p. 219).--_Sorcerers_: the Nipissiriniens, or Nipissings, around
Lake Nipissing; Ferland says (_Cours d'Histoire_, vol. i., p. 92) that
the term "Sorcerers" was given them "because more sorcerers [medicine
men] were found among them than among other tribes." Charlevoix
says of them (_Journ. Hist._, pp. 186, 187): "These are the true
Algonquins, and they alone have retained the Algonquin Language without
alteration."--See Hunter's account of their habitat, _note_ 19, _ante_.
In regard to Ste. Croix, see vol. ii., _note_ 66.
52 (p. 219).--Iroquet (also written Hiroquet, Hirocay, Iroquay, and
Yroquet): the name of both the tribe and its chief, the latter being
frequently mentioned by Champlain. He took part in two of the latter's
expeditions against the Iroquois (1609 and 1615). In 1610, Champlain
persuaded Iroquet to allow a French lad to spend the winter with his
tribe, to learn their language and become acquainted with the country
and its people; Laverdière thinks this boy was Étienne Brulé (see
_note_ 58, _post_). After the Iroquois expedition of 1615, Iroquet and
his men, as well as the French, spent the winter in the Huron country;
and quarrels which then arose between the Iroquets and their hosts
compelled Champlain reluctantly to abandon a journey of exploration
northward from Lake Nipissing, which he had long desired to undertake.
He states that Iroquet lived about 80 leagues from the Grand Sault
(Sault St. Louis); Ferland (_Cours d'Histoire_, vol. i., p. 91) says
the tribe "occupied, southwest of the Ottawa, the interior of a
triangular territory of which Vaudreuil, Kingston, and Ottawa form the
angles." Their Huron name was Onontchataronons (_Relation_ of 1646).
Charlevoix relates, in his _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_ (Paris,
1744), vol. i., p. 228, that in August, 1642, two old men of the
Iroquets told Maisonneuve, at Montreal, that "their tribe formerly
lived on this island; that they were driven out by the Hurons; and that
they took refuge, some with the Abenakis, some among the Iroquois, and
some with the conquering Hurons." He also describes (_Journ. Hist._,
pp. 110, 111) a sanguinary conflict which had occurred, in former
times, between the Iroquets and the other Algonkin tribes, in which the
former were almost exterminated. This battle took place near the mouth
of the Becancourt River, a little below Three Rivers. So many dead
bodies remained in the stream and on its banks, that it was called,
even till Charlevoix's time, "la Rivière Puante" (stinking river).
Sulte (_Can. Français_, vol. i., pp. 76-83) thus epitomizes the
successive changes in tribal locations on the St. Lawrence: "The
Algonquins dwelt along the Ottawa; the Iroquois, on the St. Lawrence.
About the year 1500, the Algonquins drove the Iroquois from the
shores of their river, and there established themselves. The Iroquois
settled between Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario. Between 1500 and
1530, the Hurons (or some other Iroquois tribe) retook Montreal
from the Iroquets, an Algonquin tribe; and most of the Iroquets
passed into the ranks of the Iroquois by this conquest [adopted by
the conquerors, according to the custom prevalent among most of the
aboriginal tribes].... In 1535, Jacques Cartier visited, at Montreal,
the Huron-Iroquois.... Towards 1560, the Algonquins massacred nearly
all the Iroquet warriors at the Rivière Puante, and the rest of this
tribe returned to the Algonquins. Between 1560 and 1600, the Iroquois
tribe of Agniers [Mohawks] was the one chiefly at war with the
Algonquins. From 1560 to 1600, the Algonquins gained the ascendency
in every direction. The Iroquois tribe that held Montreal retired
westward; this was, apparently, the Huron tribe that Champlain found,
in 1615, near Lake Simcoe. It was about 1600 that the league of the
Five Nations seems to have commenced, and it swept the shores of the
river.... The Algonquins, crushed by the Iroquois, fell back upon the
Ottawa. In 1609, Champlain was accompanied, in his expedition against
the Iroquois, by bands of Hurons, Algonquins, Iroquets, and Montagnais;
and the French alliance again attracted Algonquins to the St. Lawrence,
who settled chiefly at Three Rivers.... About 1630, the Iroquois gained
ascendency over the Algonquins, thanks to the firearms sold them by
the Dutch. In 1647, Piescaret, an Algonquin chief, was assassinated;
and, after that, his tribe, as well as the Hurons, was destroyed. Until
1665, the Iroquois reigned supreme in the greater part of Canada." See
also Perrot's _Mémoire_, chap, iv., and Tailhan's notes thereon, pp.
165, 166.
53 (p. 221).--Antoine Daniel was born at Dieppe, May 27, 1601; and,
at the age of twenty, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Rouen. This
completed, he was an instructor there, during 1623-27; then for three
years studied theology at Clermont. He was, after 1630, a teacher and
preacher at the college of Eu, until his departure for Canada (1632),
whither he went with his brother, Captain Charles Daniel (see vol.
iv., _note_ 46). He endeavored, with Brébeuf and Davost, to go at
once to the Huron country; but the savages refused to take them, and
they were compelled to wait for a more favorable opportunity. This
came a year later, when these three returned with the Hurons who had
come down to Three Rivers for trade,--reaching their destination,
after a journey full of hardships and suffering, in which Daniel was
abandoned on the way by his savage guides. They established themselves
at Ihonatiria (see _note_ 60, _post_), and Daniel remained there
until his death,--except during the two years 1636-38, when he was
at Quebec, attending to some Huron lads whom he had taken thither to
instruct in religion and in the ways of civilization. In the summer of
1648, the Iroquois made a sudden raid, and, on July 4, surprised and
utterly destroyed the town of Teanaustayé (called by the missionaries
St. Joseph). Daniel, after doing all in his power to encourage and
console his people, was murdered at his church door by the Iroquois;
his body, riddled with arrows, was thrown into the flames that consumed
the building. He was the second martyr among the Jesuits sent to New
France. The Hurons called him "Antwen" (also written Antouennen),
a corruption of his Christian name. He was distinguished for his
humility, obedience, patience, and courage.--See Rochemonteix's
_Jésuites_, vol. ii., p. 74.
54 (p. 221).--Ambroise Davost came (1632), with Charles and Antoine
Daniel, to St. Anne's, Cape Breton Island (see vol. iv., _note_ 46);
but in May, 1633, both missionaries went to Quebec with Champlain, who,
on his way thither, had stopped at Cape Breton. In July, 1634, he was
assigned to the Huron mission, where he tarried two years, returning
to Quebec with Daniel in 1636. He seems to have remained there and at
Montreal until 1643; then, with health broken by toil and hardship, he
departed for France, but died while on the voyage.
55 (p. 221).--For sketch of Brébeuf, see vol. iv., _note_ 30.
56 (p. 223).--_Petite nation_: an Algonkin tribe, living east of the
Ottawa River, which is "even to this day," says Laverdière, "called the
river of the Petite Nation." Their name was also given to the falls of
the Chaudière; and to a seigniory granted, in 1674, to Mgr. de Laval,
and situated some fifteen leagues below the falls. Champlain mentions
this tribe (1613) as the Ouescharini (their Algonkin appellation,
written by Ferland Ouaouechkaïrini).
57 (p. 239).--The French called this tribe Nation de l'Isle, because
their principal habitat was on Allumettes Island, in the Ottawa River.
Their Algonkin name was Kichesipiirini; the Huron (used by Lalemant,
in _Relation_ of 1639), Ehonkehronons. Around their island the river
was obstructed by dangerous rapids, involving a portage of canoes and
goods. They profited by this position to levy a toll on all travelers
who passed them.
58 (p. 239).--Étienne Brulé, a native of Champigny, France, came to
Quebec with Champlain, at an early age, probably as early as 1608. He
was an interpreter for the Hurons during many years, and lived with
various tribes,--spending thus eight years, according to Champlain. In
1615, he went with the latter to the Huron country, and was sent by his
commander to the Carantouanais (allies of the Hurons, and probably the
Andastes, living on the upper Susquehanna), to hasten the coming of
their warriors on the expedition against the Iroquois. Champlain saw
no more of him until three years later, when he came down to Quebec
with the annual trading party of the Hurons. He told Champlain that he
had been obliged to remain among the Carantouanais, and had explored
the country southward to the sea (Slafter thinks, to Chesapeake Bay);
had been captured by Iroquois, and narrowly escaped death by torture;
but had finally succeeded in making his way back to the Hurons. After
the capture of Quebec (1629), Brulé deserted to the English; but, soon
afterward, he went with Amantacha to the Huron country, where (1633) he
was murdered by the savages. Sagard says this was in revenge for some
misdemeanor he had committed there, and that his flesh was eaten by
his murderers. Champlain says that Brulé was licentious and otherwise
depraved, thus setting a bad example to the savages, for which he
should have been severely punished.--See _Voyages_ (Laverdière's ed.),
pp. 523, 621, 629, 1065, 1249-51; also Sagard's _Canada_, pp. 465-467.
59 (p. 245).--This was Simon Le Maistre, a merchant of Rouen, and one
of the Hundred Associates,--later, a member of the royal council and
receiver-general of tithes in Normandy. He aided in fitting up the
expedition sent by Madame de Guercheville to found St. Sauveur (see
vol. iii., p. 261). Jan. 15, 1636, he obtained a seigniory on the
Bruyante (Chaudière) river, extending three leagues on each side of the
river, and six leagues in depth. Two weeks later, he transferred this
concession to Jean de Lauson, for whom it was named Côte de Lauson.
60 (p. 259).--_La Rochelle._ Sagard mentions (_Canada_, p. 208)
"Tequeunoikuaye, also named Quieuindohian; by the French called La
Rochelle, and by us [the Récollets] the town of St. Gabriel ... the
chief town of that region, and the guardian and rampart of all the
towns of the Bear Nation, where they generally decide all affairs of
great importance." This town was afterwards known as Ossossané; and
the Jesuit mission established there was named for the Immaculate
Conception.
A. F. Hunter supplies the following information regarding La Rochelle:
"There is scarcely any doubt as to its location. It was on the
frontier toward the Iroquois, near the pass between Cranberry Lake
and Nottawasaga Bay. Du Creux's map places it (under the name of
Conception) at a short distance from Nottawasaga Bay, in the S. W. part
of the Huron territory; and there is, within and adjoining the sixth
concession of Tiny township, a group of remains of village sites and
ossuaries corresponding exactly with this position. All the references
in Champlain, Sagard, and the _Relations_, seem to indicate the same
locality. The identity is so evident, that this group has been regarded
as Ossossané since the first discovery of remains there, several years
ago. When first visited by Champlain, it was well palisaded, as it also
was when, twelve years later, the Récollets conducted there the mission
of St. Gabriel. Afterwards, its position was changed; and again, in
1636, five villages were consolidated into one. The 'feast of the
dead,' witnessed by Brébeuf in that year, was held at this place. These
data, and the discovery of ossuaries, indicate the existence of various
village sites in one neighborhood. From the earliest visit of Champlain
(1615) until the dispersion of the Hurons, it was the capital of their
confederacy,--the place where the most important councils were held.
Pijart founded the mission of the Conception there in 1637; and it was
the headquarters of the entire Huron mission, after the destruction of
Ihonatiria by a pestilence, in 1638, until the establishment of Ste.
Marie-on-the-Wye. At a meeting of the Canadian Institute on March 19,
1887, the Reverend Father Laboreau, of Penetanguishene, presented to
the Provincial Archæological Museum a brass finger-ring found in one of
the ossuaries at Ossossané. On the seal of this ring are engraved the
letters I. H. S., with a cross standing on the bar of the H."
(See Hunter's "Archæological Research in the Huron Country," at end of
this volume.)
61 (p. 263).--This abandoned village was known among the Hurons as
Toanché. As stated in _note_ 58, _ante_, Étienne Brulé was murdered
there in 1633. The Indians, dreading lest the French should take
revenge upon them for this deed, hastily abandoned Toanché, and fixed
their dwellings at a spot two or three miles distant naming their new
village Ihonatiria (see vol. iv., _note_ 30). A. F. Hunter writes,
concerning the locality of these towns: