be any) belonging to the other party relates, in like manner, all the
bad news that has come to his knowledge; and both parties never fail to
plead poverty and famine on all occasions. If those orations contain any
news that in the least affect the other party, it is not long before
some of them begin to sigh and sob, and soon after break out into a loud
cry, which is generally accompanied by most of the grown persons of both
sexes; and sometimes it is common to see them all, men, women, and
children, in one universal howl. The young girls, in {333} particular,
are often very obliging on those occasions; for I never remember to have
seen a crying match (as I called it) but the greatest part of the
company assisted, although some of them had no other reason for it, but
that of seeing their companions do the same. When the first transports
of grief subside, they advance by degrees, and both parties mix with
each other, the men always associating with the men, and the women with
the women. If they have any tobacco among them, the pipes are passed
round pretty freely, and the conversation soon becomes general. As they
are on their first meeting acquainted with all the bad news, they have
by this time nothing left but good, which in general has so far the
predominance over the former, that in less than half an hour nothing but
smiles and cheerfulness are to be seen in every face; and if they be not
really in want, small presents of provisions, ammunition, and other
articles, often take place; sometimes merely as a gift, but more
frequently by way of trying whether they cannot get a greater present.
They have but few diversions; the chief is shooting at a mark with bow
and arrows; and another out-door game, called Holl, which in some
measure resembles playing with quoits; only it is done with short clubs
sharp at one end. They also amuse themselves at times with dancing,
which is always performed in the night. It is remarkable that those
people, though a distinct nation, have never adopted any mode of dancing
of their own, or any songs to which {334} they can dance; so that when
anything of this kind is attempted, which is but seldom, they always
endeavour to imitate either the Dog-ribbed or Southern Indians, but more
commonly the former, as few of them are sufficiently acquainted either
with the Southern Indian language, or their manner of dancing. The
Dog-ribbed method is not very difficult to learn, as it only consists in
lifting the feet alternately from the ground in a very quick succession,
and as high as possible, without moving the body, which should be kept
quite still and motionless; the hands at the same time being closed, and
held close to the breast, and the head inclining forward. This diversion
is always performed quite naked, except the breech-cloth, and at times
that is also thrown off; and the dancers, who seldom exceed three or
four at a time, always stand close to the music. The music may, by
straining a point, be called both vocal and instrumental, though both
are sufficiently humble. The former is no more than a frequent
repetition of the words, hee, hee, hee, ho, ho, ho, &c. which, by a more
or less frequent repetition, dwelling longer on one word and shorter on
another, and raising and lowering the voice, produce something like a
tune, and has the desired effect. This is always accompanied by a drum
or tabor; and sometimes a kind of rattle is added, made with a piece of
dried buffalo skin, in shape exactly like an oil-flask, into which they
put a few shot or pebbles, which, when shook about, produces music
little inferior to the drum, though not so loud.
{335} This mode of dancing naked is performed only by the men; for when
the women are ordered to dance, they always exhibit without the tent, to
music which is played within it; and though their method of dancing is
perfectly decent, yet it has still less meaning and action than that of
the men: for a whole heap of them crowd together in a straight line, and
just shuffle themselves a little from right to left, and back again in
the same line, without lifting their feet from the ground; and when the
music stops, they all give a little bend of the body and knee, somewhat
like an awkward curtsey, and pronounce, in a little shrill tone, h-e-e,
h-o-o-o-e.
Beside these diversions, they have another simple in-door game, which is
that of taking a bit of wood, a button, or any other small thing, and
after shifting it from hand to hand several times, asking their
antagonist, which hand it is in? When playing at this game, which only
admits of two persons, each of them have ten, fifteen, or twenty small
chips of wood, like matches; and when one of the players guesses right,
he takes one of his antagonist's sticks, and lays it to his own; and he
that first gets all the sticks from the other in that manner, is said to
win the game, which is generally for a single load of powder and shot,
an arrow, or some other thing of inconsiderable value.
The women never mix in any of their diversions, not even in dancing; for
when that is required of them, they {336} always exhibit without the
tent, as has been already observed; nor are they allowed to be present
at a feast. Indeed, the whole course of their lives is one continued
scene of drudgery, _viz._ carrying and hauling heavy loads, dressing
skins for clothing, curing their provisions, and practising other
necessary domestic duties which are required in a family, without
enjoying the least diversion of any kind, or relaxation, on any occasion
whatever; and except in the execution of those homely duties, in which
they are always instructed from their infancy, their senses seem almost
as dull and frigid as the zone they inhabit. There are indeed some
exceptions to be met with among them, and I suppose it only requires
indulgence and precept to make some of them as lofty and insolent as any
women in the world. Though they wear their hair at full length, and
never tie it up, like the Southern Indians; and though not one in fifty
of them is ever possessed of a comb, yet by a wonderful dexterity of the
fingers, and a good deal of patience, they make shift to stroke it out
so as not to leave two hairs entangled; but when their heads are
infested with vermin, from which very few of either sex are free, they
mutually assist each other in keeping them under.
A scorbutic disorder, resembling the worst stage of the itch,
consumptions, and fluxes, are their chief disorders. The first of these,
though very troublesome, is never known to prove fatal, unless it be
accompanied with some inward complaint; but the two latter, with a few
{337} accidents, carries off great numbers of both sexes and all ages:
indeed few of them live to any great age, probably owing to the great
fatigue they undergo from their youth up, in procuring a subsistence for
themselves and their offspring.
Though the scorbutic disorder above mentioned does appear to be
infectious, it is rare to see one have it without the whole tent's crew
being more or less affected with it; but this is by no means a proof of
its being contagious; I rather attribute it to the effects of some bad
water, or the unwholesomeness of some fish they may catch in particular
places, in the course of their wandering manner of life. Were it
otherwise, a single family would in a short time communicate it to the
whole tribe; but, on the contrary, the disease is never known to spread.
In the younger sort it always attacks the hands and feet, not even
sparing the palms and soles. Those of riper years generally have it
about the wrists, insteps, and posteriors; and in the latter
particularly, the blotches, or boils as they may justly be called, are
often as large as the top of a man's thumb. This disorder most
frequently makes its appearance in the Summer, while the Indians are out
on the barren ground; and though it is by no means reckoned dangerous,
yet it is so obstinate, as not to yield to any medicine that has ever
been applied to it while at the Company's Factory. And as the natives
themselves never make use of any medicines of their own preparing,
Nature alone works the cure, which is never performed in {338} less than
twelve or eighteen months; and some of them are troubled with this
disagreeable and loathsome disorder for years before they are perfectly
cured, and then a dark livid mark remains on those parts of the skin
which have been affected, for many years afterwards, and in some during
life.
When any of the principal Northern Indians die, it is generally believed
that they are conjured to death, either by some of their own countrymen,
by some of the Southern Indians, or by some of the Esquimaux: too
frequently the suspicion falls on the latter tribe, which is the grand
reason of their never being at peace with those poor and distressed
people. For some time past, however, those Esquimaux who trade with our
sloops at Knapp's Bay, Navel's Bay, and Whale Cove, are in perfect peace
and friendship with the Northern Indians; which is entirely owing to the
protection they have for several years past received from the Chiefs at
the Company's Fort at Churchill River.[BR] But those of that tribe who
live so far to the {339} North, as not to have any intercourse with our
vessels, very often fall a sacrifice to the fury and superstition of the
{340} Northern Indians; who are by no means a bold or warlike people;
nor can I think from experience, that they are particularly guilty of
committing acts of wanton cruelty on any other part of the human race
beside the Esquimaux. Their hearts, however, are in general so
unsusceptible of tenderness, that they can view the deepest distress in
those who are not immediately related to them, without the least
emotion; not even half so much as the generality of mankind feel for the
sufferings of the meanest of the brute creation. I have been present
when one of them, imitating the groans, distorted features, and
contracted position, of a {341} man who had died in the most
excruciating pain, put the whole company, except myself, into the most
violent fit of laughter.
The Northern Indians never bury their dead, but always leave the bodies
where they die, so that they are supposed to be devoured by beasts and
birds of prey; for which reason they will not eat foxes, wolves, ravens,
&c. unless it be through mere necessity.
The death of a near relation affects them so sensibly, that they rend
all their cloths from their backs, and go naked, till some persons less
afflicted relieve them. After the death of a father, mother, husband,
wife, son, or brother, they mourn, as it may be called, for a whole
year, which they measure by the moons and seasons. Those mournful
periods are not distinguished by any particular dress, except that of
cutting off the hair; and the ceremony consists in almost perpetually
crying. Even when walking, as well as at all other intervals from sleep,
eating, and conversation, they make an odd howling noise, often
repeating the relationship of the deceased. But as this is in a great
measure mere form and custom, some of them have a method of softening
the harshness of the notes, and bringing them out in a more musical tone
than that in which they sing their songs. When they reflect seriously on
the loss of a good friend, however, it has such an effect on them for
the present, that they give an {342} uncommon loose to their grief. At
those times they seem to sympathise (through custom) with each other's
afflictions so much, that I have often seen several scores of them
crying in concert, when at the same time not above half a dozen of them
had any more reason for so doing than I had, unless it was to preserve
the old custom, and keep the others in countenance. The women are
remarkably obliging on such occasions; and as no restriction is laid on
them, they may with truth be said to cry with all their might and main;
but in common conversation they are obliged to be very moderate.
They have a tradition among them, that the first person upon earth was a
woman, who, after having been some time alone, in her researches for
berries, which was then her only food, found an animal like a dog, which
followed her to the cave where she lived, and soon grew fond and
domestic. This dog, they say, had the art of transforming itself into
the shape of a handsome young man, which it frequently did at night, but
as the day approached, always resumed its former shape; so that the
woman looked on all that passed on those occasions as dreams and
delusions. These transformations were soon productive of the
consequences which at present generally follow such intimate connexions
between the two sexes, and the mother of the world began to advance in
her pregnancy.
{343} Not long after this happened, a man of such a surprising height
that his head reached up to the clouds, came to level the land, which at
that time was a very rude mass; and after he had done this, by the help
of his walking-stick he marked out all the lakes, ponds, and rivers,
and immediately caused them to be filled with water. He then took the
dog, and tore it to pieces; the guts he threw into the lakes and rivers,
commanding them to become the different kinds of fish; the flesh he
dispersed over the land, commanding it to become different kinds of
beasts and land-animals; the skin he also tore in small pieces, and
threw it into the air, commanding it to become all kinds of birds; after
which he gave the woman and her offspring full power to kill, eat, and
never spare, for that he had commanded them to multiply for her use in
abundance. After this injunction, he returned to the place whence he
came, and has not been heard of since.
RELIGION has not as yet begun to dawn among the Northern Indians; for
though their conjurors do indeed sing songs, and make long speeches, to
some beasts and birds of prey, as also to imaginary beings, which they
say assist them in performing cures on the sick, yet they, as well as
their credulous neighbours, are utterly destitute of every idea of
practical religion. It is true, some of them will reprimand their youth
for talking {344} disrespectfully of particular beasts and birds; but it
is done with so little energy, as to be often retorted back in derision.
Neither is this, nor their custom of not killing wolves and
quiquehatches, universally observed, and those who do it can only be
viewed with more pity and contempt than the others; for I always found
it arose merely from the greater degree of confidence which they had in
the supernatural power of their conjurors, which induced them to
believe, that talking lightly or disrespectfully of any thing they
seemed to approve, would materially affect their health and happiness in
this world: and I never found any of them that had the least idea of
futurity. Matonabbee, without one exception, was a man of as clear ideas
in other matters as any that I ever saw: he was not only a perfect
master of the Southern Indian language, and their belief, but could tell
a better story of our Saviour's birth and life, than one half of those
who call themselves Christians; yet he always declared to me, that
neither he, nor any of his countrymen, had an idea of a future state.
Though he had been taught to look on things of this kind as useless, his
own good sense had taught him to be an advocate for universal
toleration; and I have seen him several times assist at some of the most
sacred rites performed by the Southern Indians, apparently with as much
zeal, as if he had given as much credit to them as they did: and with
the same liberality of sentiment he would, I am persuaded, have assisted
at the altar {345} of a Christian church, or in a Jewish synagogue; not
with a view to reap any advantage himself, but merely, as he observed,
to assist others who believed in such ceremonies.
Being thus destitute of all religious control, these people have, to use
Matonabbee's own words, "nothing to do but consult their own interest,
inclinations, and passions; and to pass through this world with as much
ease and contentment as possible, without any hopes of reward, or
painful fear of punishment, in the next." In this state of mind they
are, when in prosperity, the happiest of mortals; for nothing but
personal or family calamities can disturb their tranquillity, while
misfortunes of the lesser kind sit light on them. Like most other
uncivilized people, they bear bodily pain with great fortitude, though
in that respect I cannot think them equal to the Southern Indians.
Old age is the greatest calamity that can befal a Northern Indian; for
when he is past labour, he is neglected, and treated with great
disrespect, even by his own children. They not only serve him last at
meals, but generally give him the coarsest and worst of the victuals:
and such of the skins as they do not chuse to wear, are made up in the
clumsiest manner into clothing for their aged parents; who, as they had,
in all probability, treated their fathers and mothers with the same
neglect, in {346} their turns, submitted patiently to their lot, even
without a murmur, knowing it to be the common misfortune attendant on
old age; so that they may be said to wait patiently for the melancholy
hour when, being no longer capable of walking, they are to be left
alone, to starve, and perish for want. This, however shocking and
unnatural it may appear, is nevertheless so common, that, among those
people, one half at least of the aged persons of both sexes absolutely
die in this miserable condition.
The Northern Indians call the _Aurora Borealis_, Ed-thin; that is,
Deer:[BS] and when that meteor is very bright, they say that deer is
plentiful in that part of the atmosphere; but they have never yet
extended their ideas so far as to entertain hopes of tasting those
celestial animals.
Beside this silly notion, they are very superstitious with respect to
the existence of several kinds of fairies, called by them Nant-e-na,
whom they frequently say they see, and who are supposed by them to
inhabit the different elements {347} of earth, sea, and air, according
to their several qualities. To one or other of those fairies they
usually attribute any change in their circumstances, either for the
better or worse; and as they are led into this way of thinking entirely
by the art of the conjurors, there is no such thing as any general mode
of belief; for those jugglers differ so much from each other in their
accounts of these beings, that those who believe any thing they say,
have little to do but change their opinions according to the will and
caprice of the conjuror, who is almost daily relating some new whim, or
extraordinary event, which, he says, has been revealed to him in a
dream, or by some of his favourite fairies, when on a hunting excursion.
{348} _Some Account of_ MATONABBEE, _and of the eminent Services
which he rendered to his Country, as well as to the Hudson's Bay
Company._
MATONABBEE was the son of a Northern Indian by a slave woman, who was
formerly bought from some Southern Indians who came to Prince of Wales's
Fort with furrs, &c. This match was made by Mr. Richard Norton, then
Governor, who detained them at and near the Fort, for the same purpose
as he did those Indians called Home-guard. As to Matonabbee's real age,
it is impossible to be particular; for the natives of those parts being
utterly unacquainted with letters, or the use of hieroglyphics, though
their memories are not less retentive than those of other nations,
cannot preserve and transmit to posterity the exact time when any
particular event happens. Indeed, the utmost extent of their chronology
reaches no farther, than to say, My son, or my daughter, was born in
such a Governor's time, and such an event happened during such a
person's life-time (though, perhaps, he or she has been dead many
years). However, according to appearance, and some corroborating
circumstances, Matonabbee was born about the year one thousand seven
hundred and thirty-six, or one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven;
and his father dying while he was young, the Governor took the {349}
boy, and, according to the Indian custom, adopted him as his son.
Soon after the death of Matonabbee's father, Mr. Norton went to England,
and as the boy did not experience from his successor the same regard and
attention which he had been accustomed to receive from Mr. Norton, he
was soon taken from the Factory by some of his father's relations, and
continued with the Northern Indians till Mr. Ferdinand Jacobs succeeded
to the command of Prince of Wales's Fort, in the year one thousand seven
hundred and fifty-two; when out of regard to old Mr. Norton, (who was
then dead,) Mr. Jacobs took the first opportunity that offered to detain
Matonabbee at the Factory, where he was for several years employed in
the hunting-service with some of the Company's servants, particularly
with the late Mr. Moses Norton,[BT] (son of the late Governor,) and Mr.
Magnus Johnston.[BU]
[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, 1905._
GATEWAY OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES]
[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, October 1894._
INTERIOR OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES, SHOWING WALLS OF OLD DWELLING-HOUSE]
In the course of his long stay at and near the Fort, it is no wonder
that he should have become perfect master of the Southern Indian
language, and made some progress in the English. It was during this
period, that he gained a knowledge of the Christian faith; and he always
declared, that it was too deep and intricate for his comprehension.
Though he was a perfect bigot with respect to {350} the arts and tricks
of Indian jugglers, yet he could by no means be impressed with a belief
of any part of our religion, nor of the religion of the Southern
Indians, who have as firm a belief in a future state as any people under
the Sun. He had so much natural good sense and liberality of sentiment,
however, as not to think that he had a right to ridicule any particular
sect on account of their religious opinions. On the contrary, he
declared, that he held them all equally in esteem, but was determined,
as he came into the world, so he would go out of it, without professing
any religion at all. Notwithstanding his aversion from religion, I have
met with few Christians who possessed more good moral qualities, or
fewer bad ones.
It is impossible for any man to have been more punctual in the
performance of a promise than he was; his scrupulous adherence to truth
and honesty would have done honour to the most enlightened and devout
Christian, while his benevolence and universal humanity to all the human
race,[BV] according to his abilities and manner of life, could {351} not
be exceeded by the most illustrious personage now on record; and to add
to his other good qualities, he was the only Indian that I ever saw,
except one, who was not guilty of backbiting and slandering his
neighbours.
In stature, Matonabbee was above the common size, being nearly six feet
high[BW]; and, except that his neck was rather (though not much) too
short, he was one of the finest and best proportioned men that I ever
saw. In complexion he was dark, like the other Northern Indians, but his
face was not disfigured by that ridiculous custom of marking the cheeks
with three or four black lines. His features were regular and agreeable,
and yet so strongly marked and expressive, that they formed a complete
index of his mind; which, as he never intended to deceive or dissemble,
he never wished to conceal. In conversation he was easy, lively, and
agreeable, but exceedingly modest; and at table, the nobleness and
elegance of his manners might have been admired by the first personages
in the world; for to the vivacity of a Frenchman, and the {352}
sincerity of an Englishman, he added the gravity and nobleness of a
Turk; all so happily blended, as to render his company and conversation
universally pleasing to those who understood either the Northern or
Southern Indian languages, the only languages in which he could
converse.
He was remarkably fond of Spanish wines, though he never drank to
excess; and as he would not partake of spirituous liquors, however fine
in quality or plainly mixed, he was always master of himself. As no man
is exempt from frailties, it is natural to suppose that as a man he had
his share; but the greatest with which I can charge him, is jealousy,
and that sometimes carried him beyond the bounds of humanity.