Lake,[52] which at that part was about twelve or thirteen miles wide,
though from North to South it is much larger. As deer were as plentiful
as before, we expended much time in killing and eating them. This
Matonabbee assured me was the best way we could employ ourselves, as the
season would by no means permit us to proceed in a direct line for the
Copper-mine River; but when the Spring advanced, and the deer began to
draw out to the barren ground, he would then, he said, proceed in such a
manner as to leave no room to doubt of our arrival at the Copper-mine
River in proper time.
[Sidenote: March. 2d.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March. 3d.]
On the second of March, we lay by the side of Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pike
Lake,[53] and not far from Doo-baunt Whoie River. On the next day we
began to cross the above mentioned Lake, but after walking seven miles
on it to the West South West, we arrived at a large tent of Northern
{78} Indians, who had been living there from the beginning of the
Winter, and had found a plentiful subsistence by catching deer in a
pound. This kind of employment is performed in the following manner:
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out for one of the
paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to be
still frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river,
or a barren plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose;
and if the path run through a cluster of woods, capable of affording
materials for building the pound, it adds considerably to the
commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by making a strong
fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of regularity, and
the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of the
builders. I have seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am
informed that there are others still more extensive. The door, or
entrance of the pound, is not larger than a common gate, and the inside
is so crowded with small counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze;
in every opening of which they set a snare, made with thongs of
parchment deer-skins well twisted together, which are amazingly strong.
One end of the snare is usually made fast to a growing pole; but if no
one of a sufficient size can be found near the place where the snare is
set, a loose pole is substituted in its room, which is always of such
size and length that a deer cannot drag it {79} far before it gets
entangled among the other woods, which are all left standing except what
is found necessary for making the fence, hedges, &c.
[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, July 19, 1893._
WHOLDIAH LAKE AS SEEN FROM THE HILLS TO THE SOUTH]
[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 2, 1893._
GROVE OF SPRUCE BESIDE DUBAWNT RIVER,
WITHIN THE BARREN LANDS]
The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brush-wood is stuck up in
the snow on each side of the door or entrance; and these hedge-rows are
continued along the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where
neither stick nor stump besides is to be seen, which makes them the more
distinctly observed. These poles, or brush-wood, are generally placed at
the distance of fifteen or twenty yards from each other, and ranged in
such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute angle, growing
gradually wider in proportion to the distance they extend from the
entrance of the pound, which sometimes is not less than two or three
miles; while the deer's path is exactly along the middle, between the
two rows of brush-wood.
Indians employed on this service always pitch their tent on or near to
an eminence that affords a commanding prospect of the path leading to
the pound; and when they see any deer going that way, men, women, and
children walk along the lake or river-side under cover of the woods,
till they get behind them, then step forth to open view, and proceed
towards the pound in the form of a crescent. The poor timorous deer
finding themselves pursued, and at the same time taking the two rows of
brushy poles to be two ranks of people stationed {80} to prevent their
passing on either side, run straight forward in the path till they get
into the pound. The Indians then close in, and block up the entrance
with some brushy trees, that have been cut down and lie at hand for that
purpose. The deer being thus enclosed, the women and children walk round
the pound, to prevent them from breaking or jumping over the fence,
while the men are employed spearing such as are entangled in the snares,
and shooting with bows and arrows those which remain loose in the
pound.
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
This method of hunting, if it deserves the name, is sometimes so
successful, that many families subsist by it without having occasion to
move their tents above once or twice during the course of a whole
winter; and when the Spring advances, both the deer and Indians draw out
to the Eastward, on the ground which is entirely barren, or at least
what is so called in those parts, as it neither produces trees or shrubs
of any kind, so that moss and some little grass is all the herbage which
is to be found on it. Such an easy way of procuring a comfortable
maintenance in the Winter months, (which is by far the worst time of the
year), is wonderfully well adapted to the support of the aged and
infirm, but is too apt to occasion a habitual indolence in the young and
active, who frequently spend a whole Winter in this indolent manner: and
as those parts of the country are almost destitute of every animal of
the furr kind, it cannot be {81} supposed that those who indulge
themselves in this indolent method of procuring food can be masters of
any thing for trade; whereas those who do not get their livelihood at so
easy a rate, generally procure furrs enough during the Winter to
purchase a sufficient supply of ammunition, and other European goods, to
last them another year. This is nearly the language of the more
industrious among them, who, of course, are of most importance and value
to the Hudson's Bay Company, as it is from them the furrs are procured
which compose the greatest part of Churchill trade. But in my opinion,
there cannot exist a stronger proof that mankind was not created to
enjoy happiness in this world, than the conduct of the miserable beings
who inhabit this wretched part of it; as none but the aged and infirm,
the women and children, a few of the more indolent and unambitious part
of them, will submit to remain in the parts where food and clothing are
procured in this easy manner, because no animals are produced there
whose furrs are valuable. And what do the more industrious gain by
giving themselves all this additional trouble? The real wants of these
people are few, and easily supplied; a hatchet, an ice-chissel, a file,
and a knife, are all that is required to enable them, with a little
industry, to procure a comfortable livelihood; and those who endeavour
to possess more, are always the most unhappy, and may, in fact, be said
to be only slaves and carriers to the rest, whose ambition never leads
them to any thing beyond the means of procuring food {82} and clothing.
It is true, the carriers pride themselves much on the respect which is
shewn to them at the Factory; to obtain which they frequently run great
risques of being starved to death in their way thither and back; and all
that they can possibly get there for the furrs they procure after a
year's toil, seldom amounts to more than is sufficient to yield a bare
subsistence, and a few furrs for the ensuing year's market; while those
whom they call indolent and mean-spirited live generally in a state of
plenty, without trouble or risque; and consequently must be the most
happy, and, in truth, the most independent also. It must be allowed that
they are by far the greatest philosophers, as they never give themselves
the trouble to acquire what they can do well enough without. The deer
they kill, furnishes them with food, and a variety of warm and
comfortable clothing, either with or without the hair, according as the
seasons require; and it must be very hard indeed, if they cannot get
furrs enough in the course of two or three years, to purchase a hatchet,
and such other edge-tools as are necessary for their purpose. Indeed,
those who take no concern at all about procuring furrs, have generally
an opportunity of providing themselves with all their real wants from
their more industrious countrymen, in exchange for provisions, and
ready-dressed skins for clothing.
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
It is undoubtedly the duty of every one of the Company's servants to
encourage a spirit of industry among {83} the natives, and to use every
means in their power to induce them to procure furrs and other
commodities for trade, by assuring them of a ready purchase and good
payment for every thing they bring to the Factory: and I can truly say,
that this has ever been the grand object of my attention. But I must at
the same time confess, that such conduct is by no means for the real
benefit of the poor Indians; it being well known that those who have the
least intercourse with the Factories, are by far the happiest. As their
whole aim is to procure a comfortable subsistence, they take the most
prudent methods to accomplish it; and by always following the lead of
the deer, are seldom exposed to the griping hand of famine, so
frequently felt by those who are called the annual traders. It is true,
that there are few of the Indians, whose manner of life I have just
described, but have once in their lives at least visited Prince of
Wales's Fort; and the hardships and dangers which most of them
experienced on those occasions, have left such a lasting impression on
their minds that nothing can induce them to repeat their visits: nor is
it, in fact, the interest of the Company that people of this easy turn,
and who require only as much iron-work at a time as can be purchased
with three or four beaver skins, and that only once in two or three
years, should be invited to the Factories; because what they beg and
steal while there, is worth, in the way of trade, three times the
quantity of furrs which they bring. For this reason, it is much more for
the interest of the Company that the {84} annual traders should buy up
all those small quantities of furrs, and bring them in their own name,
than that a parcel of beggars should be encouraged to come to the
Factory with scarcely as many furrs as will pay for the victuals they
eat while they are on the plantation.
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
I have often heard it observed, that the Indians who attend the
deer-pounds might, in the course of a Winter, collect a vast number of
pelts, which would well deserve the attention of those who are called
carriers or traders; but it is a truth, though unknown to those
speculators, that the deer skins at that season are not only as thin as
a bladder, but are also full of warbles, which render them of little or
no value. Indeed, were they a more marketable commodity than they
really are, the remote situation of those pounds from the Company's
Factories, must for ever be an unsurmountable barrier to the Indians
bringing any of those skins to trade. The same observation may be made
of all the other Northern Indians, whose chief support, the whole year
round, is venison; but the want of heavy draught in Winter, and
water-carriage in Summer, will not permit them to bring many deer skins
to market, not even those that are in season, and for which there has
always been great encouragement given.
[Sidenote: 4th.]
[Sidenote: 7th.]
[Sidenote: 8th.]
[Sidenote: 9th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
We stopped only one night in company with the Indians whom we met on
Pike Lake, and in the morning of the fourth, proceeded to cross the
remainder of that {85} Lake; but, though the weather was fine, and
though the Lake was not more than twenty-seven miles broad at the place
where we crossed it, yet the Indians lost so much time at play, that it
was the seventh before we arrived on the West side of it. During the
whole time we were crossing it, each night we found either points of
land, or islands, to put up in. On the eighth, we lay a little to the
East North East of Black Bear Hill,[54] where the Indians killed two
deer, which were the first we had seen for ten days; but having plenty
of dried meat and fat with us, we were by no means in want during any
part of that time. On the ninth, we proceeded on our course to the
Westward, and soon met with as great plenty of deer as we had seen
during any part of our journey; which, no doubt, made things go on
smooth and easy: and as the Spring advanced, the rigour of the Winter
naturally abated, so that at times we had fine pleasant weather
over-head, though it was never so warm as to occasion any thaw, unless
in such places as lay exposed to the mid-day sun, and were sheltered
from all the cold winds.
[Sidenote: 19th.]
[Sidenote: 20th.]
On the nineteenth, as we were continuing our course to the West and West
by South, we saw the tracks of several strangers; and on following the
main path, we arrived that night at five tents of Northern Indians, who
had resided there great part of the Winter, snaring deer in the same
manner as those before mentioned. Indeed, it should {86} seem that this,
as well as some other places, had been frequented more than once on this
occasion; for the wood that had been cut down for fewel, and other uses,
was almost incredible. Before morning, the weather became so bad, and
the storm continued to rage with such violence, that we did not move for
several days; and as some of the Indians we met with at this place were
going to Prince of Wales's Fort in the Summer, I embraced the
opportunity of sending by them a Letter to the Chief at that Fort,
agreeably to the tenor of my instructions. By summing up my courses and
distances from my last observation, for the weather at that time would
not permit me to observe, I judged myself to be in latitude 61° 30'
North, and about 19° 60' of longitude to the West of Churchill River.
This, and some accounts of the usage I received from the natives, with
my opinion of the future success of the journey, formed the contents of
my Letter.
[Sidenote: 23d.]
[Sidenote: 26th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
On the twenty-third, the weather became fine and moderate, so we once
more pursued our way, and the next day, as well as on the twenty-sixth,
saw several more tents of Northern Indians, who were employed in the
same manner as those we had formerly met; but some of them having had
bad success, and being relations or acquaintances of part of my crew,
joined our company, and proceeded with us to the Westward. Though the
deer did not then keep regular paths, so as to enable the Indians to
catch them in pounds, yet they were to be met {87} with in great
abundance in scattered herds; so that my companions killed as many as
they pleased with their guns.
[Sidenote: April. 8th.]
We still continued our course to the West and West by South, and on the
eighth of April, arrived at a small Lake, called Thelewey-aza-yeth;[55]
but with what propriety it is so called I cannot discover, for the
meaning of Thelewey-aza-yeth is Little Fish Hill: probably so called
from a high hill which stands on a long point near the West end of the
Lake. On an island in this Lake we pitched our tents, and the Indians
finding deer very numerous, determined to stay here some time, in order
to dry and pound meat to take with us; for they well knew, by the season
of the year, that the deer were then drawing out to the barren ground,
and as the Indians proposed to walk due North on our leaving the Lake,
it was uncertain when we should again meet with any more. As several
Indians had during the Winter joined our party, our number had now
increased to seven tents, which in the whole contained not less than
seventy persons.
[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
Agreeably to the Indians' proposals we remained at Thelewey-aza-yeth ten
days; during which time my companions were busily employed (at their
intervals from hunting) in preparing small staves of birch-wood, about
one and a quarter inch square, and seven or eight feet long. These serve
as tent-poles all the Summer, {88} while on the barren ground; and as
the fall advances, are converted into snowshoe frames for Winter use.
Birchrind, together with timbers and other wood-work for building
canoes, were also another object of the Indian's attention while at this
place; but as the canoes were not to be set up till our arrival at
Clowey, (which was many miles distant,) all the wood-work was reduced to
its proper size, for the sake of making it light for carriage.
As to myself, I had little to do, except to make a few observations for
determining the latitude, bringing up my journal, and filling up my
chart to the present time. I found the latitude of this place 61° 30'
North, and its longitude, by my account, 19° West of Prince of Wales's
Fort.
[Sidenote: 18th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
Having a good stock of dried provisions, and most of the necessary work
for canoes all ready, on the eighteenth we moved about nine or ten miles
to the North North West, and then came to a tent of Northern Indians who
were tenting on the North side of Thelewey-aza River. From these Indians
Matonabbee purchased another wife; so that he had now no less than
seven, most of whom would for size have made good grenadiers. He prided
himself much in the height and strength of his wives, and would
frequently say, few women would carry or haul heavier loads; and though
they had, in general, a very masculine appearance, yet he preferred them
to those of a {89} more delicate form and moderate stature. In a country
like this, where a partner in excessive hard labour is the chief motive
for the union, and the softer endearments of a conjugal life are only
considered as a secondary object, there seems to be great propriety in
such a choice; but if all the men were of this way of thinking, what
would become of the greater part of the women, who in general are but of
low stature, and many of them of a most delicate make, though not of the
exactest proportion, or most beautiful mould? Take them in a body, the
women are as destitute of real beauty as any nation I ever saw, though
there are some few of them, when young, who are tolerable; but the care
of a family, added to their constant hard labour, soon make the most
beautiful among them look old and wrinkled, even before they are thirty;
and several of the more ordinary ones at that age are perfect antidotes
to love and gallantry. This, however, does not render them less dear and
valuable to their owners, which is a lucky circumstance for those women,
and a certain proof that there is no such thing as any rule or standard
for beauty. Ask a Northern Indian, what is beauty? he will answer, a
broad flat face, small eyes, high cheek-bones, three or four broad black
lines across each cheek, a low forehead, a large broad chin, a clumsy
hook-nose, a tawny hide, and breasts hanging down to the belt. Those
beauties are greatly heightened, or at least rendered more valuable,
when the possessor is capable of dressing all kinds of skins, converting
them into the different parts {90} of their clothing, and able to carry
eight or ten[AA] stone in Summer, or haul a much greater weight in
Winter. These, and other similar accomplishments, are all that are
sought after, or expected, of a Northern Indian woman. As to their
temper, it is of little consequence; for the men have a wonderful
facility in making the most stubborn comply with as much alacrity as
could possibly be expected from those of the mildest and most obliging
turn of mind; so that the only real difference is, the one obeys through
fear, and the other complies cheerfully from a willing mind; both
knowing that what is commanded must be done. They are, in fact, all kept
at a great distance, and the rank they hold in the opinion of the men
cannot be better expressed or explained, than by observing the method of
treating or serving them at meals, which would appear very humiliating,
to an European woman, though custom makes it sit light on those whose
lot it is to bear it. It is necessary to observe, that when the men kill
any large beast, the women are always sent to bring it to the tent: when
it is brought there, every operation it undergoes, such as splitting,
drying, pounding, &c. is performed by the women. When any thing is to be
prepared for eating, it is the women who cook it; and when it is done,
the wives and daughters of the greatest Captains in the country are
never served, till all the males, even those who are in the capacity of
servants, have eaten what they think proper; {91} and in times of
scarcity it is frequently their lot to be left without a single morsel.
It is, however, natural to think they take the liberty of helping
themselves in secret; but this must be done with great prudence, as
capital embezzlements of provisions in such times are looked on as
affairs of real consequence, and frequently subject them to a very
severe beating. If they are practised by a woman whose youth and
inattention to domestic concerns cannot plead in her favour, they will
for ever be a blot in her character, and few men will chuse to have her
for a wife.
[Sidenote: 20th.]
Finding plenty of good birch growing by the side of Theley-aza River, we
remained there for a few days, in order to complete all the wood-work
for the canoes, as well as for every other use for which we could
possibly want it on the barren ground, during our Summer's cruise. On
the twentieth, Matonabbee sent one of his brothers, and some others,
a-head, with birch-rind and wood-work for a canoe, and gave them orders
to proceed to a small Lake near the barren ground called Clowey, where
they were desired to make all possible haste in building the canoe, that
it might be ready on our arrival.
[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
Having finished such wood-work as the Indians thought would be
necessary, and having augmented our stock of dried meat and fat, the
twenty-first was appointed for moving; but one of the women having been
taken in labour, and it being rather an extraordinary case, we {92} were
detained more than two days. The instant, however, the poor woman was
delivered, which was not until she had suffered all the pains usually
felt on those occasions for near fifty-two hours, the signal was made
for moving when the poor creature took her infant on her back and set
out with the rest of the company; and though another person had the
humanity to haul her sledge for her, (for one day only,) she was obliged
to carry a considerable load beside her little charge, and was
frequently obliged to wade knee-deep in water and wet snow. Her very
looks, exclusive of her moans, were a sufficient proof of the great pain
she endured, insomuch that although she was a person I greatly disliked,
her distress at this time so overcame my prejudice, that I never felt
more for any of her sex in my life; indeed her sighs pierced me to the
soul, and rendered me very miserable, as it was not in my power to
relieve her.
When a Northern Indian woman is taken in labour, a small tent is erected
for her, at such a distance from the other tents that her cries cannot
easily be heard, and the other women and young girls are her constant
visitants: no male, except children in arms, ever offers to approach
her. It is a circumstance perhaps to be lamented, that these people
never attempt to assist each other on those occasions, even in the most
critical cases. This is in some measure owing to delicacy, but more
probably to an opinion they entertain that nature is {93} abundantly
sufficient to perform every thing required, without any external help
whatever. When I informed them of the assistance which European women
derive from the skill and attention of our midwives, they treated it
with the utmost contempt; ironically observing, "that the many
hump-backs, bandy-legs, and other deformities, so frequent among the
English, were undoubtedly owing to the great skill of the persons who
assisted in bringing them into the world, and to the extraordinary care
of their nurses afterward."
[Sidenote: 1771. April.]