Contests between the Colonists and Savages revive--Murderous
skirmish.--Mikak.--Karpik, his conversion and death.--The
Moravians receive a grant of land on the coast of
Labrador--resolve to renew the mission--voyage to explore the
land.--Jans Haven, Drachart, &c., arrive at Labrador--their
interview with the natives--meet Mikak and Tuglavina--their
kindness.--Segulliak the sorcerer.--Anxiety of the Esquimaux for
their remaining among them--ground purchased for a
settlement--manner of bargaining with the Esquimaux--sail for
Esquimaux bay--the natives troublesome--the Captain's method of
checking them--conduct of the missionaries--they preach on
shore.--Conversation with the Esquimaux--search out a place for
a settlement--purchase it of the natives--ceremonies used on the
occasion--take formal possession.--Deputation return to England.
Various impediments prevented any further negociations with the
government of Great Britain, in regard to establishing a mission among
the Esquimaux, for nearly five years. During this period the English
merchants and the natives on the coast of Labrador were anew involved
in strife and bloodshed. With the missionaries all confidence had left
the country; the colonists had no check, and the savages had no
friend. The mercenary views of the traders were ever leading them to
cheat and deceive these poor untutored unprotected beings, who in
return, deemed retaliation no crime; nor in balancing the amount of
guilt would it be easy to settle which of the parties were most deeply
implicated; the one who gave trifles, or worse--beads or brandy, for
articles of real value; or the other, who secretly pilfered some
useless toys or iron implements, for which in fact they had greatly
overpaid. Both were rogues in their dealings, only the Europeans had
the advantage of superior knowledge, which enabled them to rob with
superior dexterity, and to cloak their knavery under the name of
barter.
But at this date--1766-9--the Esquimaux, from their intercourse with
their civilized neighbours, had learned to estimate the value of
European arms and vessels, and they stuck at no method by which they
might possess themselves of them, while the murders which the whites
committed with impunity, led them on every occasion that offered,
eagerly to gratify their cupidity and revenge. They accordingly
watched their opportunity; and in 1768, when the Europeans were off
their guard, killed three men and stole two boats. A battle was the
consequence, when twenty of the savages were left dead on the field,
and four women, two boys and three girls were taken prisoners, and
brought to Newfoundland. Among the women prisoners were MIKAK; one of
the boys was her son; the other, Karpik, about fifteen years of age,
had previously lost his mother, and his father fell in the engagement.
Their own story forms a remarkable episode in the history of the
mission. These three were sent to England, where they were treated
with much kindness.
Mikak, who seems to have been a person of very superior understanding,
was noticed by many of the nobility, and particularly by the Princess
Dowager of Wales, mother to George III; but nothing could overcome her
love for her native land, or erase from her mind the deep sense she
entertained of the sufferings of her kindred. We are not furnished
with the facts of the case, but it appears sufficiently plain, that
from all she saw in England, and during the time of her captivity,
that she discerned and appreciated the immense superiority of the
Europeans over the Esquimaux, and was extremely anxious to return
home, and, if possible, carry with her the means of their
amelioration. Providentially Jans Haven came to England in 1769 for
the purpose of endeavouring to renew the mission, and meeting with
Mikak, she immediately recognised him as an old acquaintance, who had
formerly lodged in her tent, and expressed the most unbounded joy at
meeting with a friend by whom her language was understood. Her first
and constant theme was the condition of her countrymen; and she
incessantly entreated Haven to return to Labrador and endeavour to do
something for their relief. Besides, now that she had a medium of
communication, she never ceased to urge her prayer among those
distinguished personages, by whom she had been patronized, and her
applications had no small influence in paving the way for a renewal of
the mission. Soon after she was sent home in a King's ship, and
rendered essential service to the brethren who followed.
By the especial direction of Sir Hugh Palliser, Karpik was consigned
to the care of Jans Haven for the purpose of being properly educated,
that he might afterwards be employed in the important service of
introducing Christianity, and the peaceful arts of civilized life,
into the savage and inhospitable coasts of Labrador--the Governor
being deeply impressed with a sense of the great benefits to be
derived from a well conducted mission among the wild tribes in the
neighbourhood of the colony, with whom they meant to carry on a safe
or a gainful traffic. Naturally ferocious and untractable, Karpik was
very averse to restraint; and it was not till after the most unwearied
display of disinterested kindness, that Jans succeeded in gaining the
affections of this stubborn boy, and persuading him willingly to
accompany him to his dwelling.
Here, perhaps, the good man's most trying labours began. Karpik
inherited the prejudices of his nation: he had a high opinion of
himself, and despised all others; and when told that God the Creator
of the world desired to make him happy, received the information as a
matter of course, replying to his teacher with a comfortable
self-complacency, "That is right, for I am a good _karaler_!" The
filthiness of his skin had superinduced a cutaneous disorder, which,
when the care and attention of Haven had got removed, he expressed
high delight, but he soon became dissatisfied with the clean plain
clothing in which he was dressed; boys of any rank at that time being
absurdly decorated with ruffles and lace, and such like trumpery; and
as if human folly had wished to caricature its own ridiculous
extravagance, some of the children were even introduced into company
with cocked hats and swords.
Poor Karpik, it seems, caught the infection, and conceived a violent
passion for a hat and coat bedizzened with embroidery; and it is
amusing to remark his wayward ingenuity, when insisting upon being
gratified. On one occasion Jans had remonstrated with him upon the
uselessness of finery, and exhorted him to apply himself to useful
learning; and above all, to seek to know the Lord who dwells in
heaven--"Poor clothes," retorted he instantly, "will not teach me
that! my countrymen, who have poor clothes, die and know nothing of
God. The king has fine clothes, and knows God as well as you, and why
should not I? give me fine clothes, I can still know God and love
him!" Haven told him he had no money to buy him fine clothes--"Then go
to the king," said Karpik, "and get money from him." "Well," replied
the missionary, "we will go; but if the king asks, what has Karpik
learned? can he read, or write, or is he acquainted with the God in
heaven? what shall I say? If I am forced to answer, He has learned
nothing; the king will say, Take him on board the man of war, let him
serve my officers and clean their shoes for seven years, till he has
learned something.--You know how these boys are treated." Karpik
perceived the force of this simple reasoning, fell on the neck of his
instructor, and promised all obedience in future. It was not, however,
till some time after, that eternal things began to make a serious
impression on his mind.
At length he grew thoughtful, and under the powerful conviction of his
wretched state as a sinner, would often exclaim, "Woe is me! I am good
for nothing, I am a miserable creature!" Under these uneasy sensations
he at first felt exasperated, and he wished he had never heard of a
God or of a Bible; but as the truth beamed in upon his soul, he became
calm and peaceful, and manifested a strong desire to be further
instructed. He was in this interesting state of mind, when Haven,
being called away, committed him to the charge of Mr Drachart, who was
then residing at the Brethren's settlement in Yorkshire, under whose
tutilage he made rapid improvement in knowledge; and evidenced, by the
change of his disposition, and his mildness of manner, and simplicity
of conduct, that the gospel had taken powerful hold upon his heart;
and this he evidenced still more clearly, when early called to
grapple with the last enemy.
From the encouraging progress he was making, his friends were fondly
anticipating the time when he should go forth as a zealous missionary
of the Lord Jesus among his benighted countrymen, but their hopes were
suddenly overcast. On September the 22d, he was seized with the small
pox, which, in spite of the best medical assistance, speedily proved
fatal. He bore his distemper with patience, and some of his last
expressions were, "O! Jesus, I come to thee, I have no where else to
go. I am a poor sinner, but thou hast died for me! have mercy upon me!
I cast myself entirely upon thee." The day before his death he was
baptized by Mr Drachart, who, at his own request, made use of the
Greenlandish language in administering the rite. On the 4th October
1769, he expired, the first fruits of Christ's vintage among the
Esquimaux; and although not employed to spread the savour of his name
among his heathen kindred by the living voice, yet he was honoured by
his death to encourage the exertions, and strengthen the faith of
those soldiers of the Lord who were buckling on their armour for the
glorious combat.
Whether the ruinous effects of the state of anarchy, and murderous
contests which prevailed whenever the natives and the Europeans came
in contact, or whether the various memorials with which they had been
for several years annoyed, had most influence, we know not; but the
Board of Trade made a representation early in 1769 to the king,
(George III.) and on the 3d May, the same year, a Privy Council was
summoned to consider of a petition from the Brethren for establishing
a mission on the coast of Labrador. The result of their deliberations
was, "That His Majesty in Council gave, and authorised the Brethren's
Unity, and the Society for the furtherance of the gospel among the
heathen, to take one hundred thousand acres of land (_belonging to the
Esquimaux_,) on the coast of Labrador, where, and in whatever place of
the same was most convenient for their purpose." And the Governor of
Newfoundland was directed to afford the brethren in their settlement
every protection, and to furnish them from the royal stores with fifty
muskets and the necessary ammunition.
Following up this favourable opening, the Moravian Synod, which was
held at Marienborn, resolved to renew the friendly intercourse with
the Esquimaux, and to search out a convenient situation for the
establishment of a mission. In consequence, Jans Haven, Drachart, and
Stephen Jensen, received this in charge; and some other brethren
resolved to take a part in it, and go themselves as sailors in a ship
which a Society of the Brethren in London had fitted out, and which
they resolved should annually visit the coast of Labrador to carry out
supplies of the necessaries of life to the missionaries. They first
made land at a place called Arnitok, an island about six miles from
the spot where Nain now stands; there they found twenty-nine boats
full of Esquimaux, but they behaved in a very unruly manner and with
great insolence, till the report of the great guns, fired over their
heads, frightened them into order; they then showed themselves
friendly, and the missionaries, who understood the language, preached
the gospel to them. After this the two brethren, Haven and Jensen,
traversed the coast unmolested in search of favourable ground for a
settlement; but being unable to find such a spot they set sail again,
and on the 15th July ran into an harbour upon the most eastern point
of the mainland, near Nain, 55 deg. N.L. Here they found many
Esquimaux, and the joy on both sides was greatly heightened, when they
recognised among them several of their old acquaintances, in
particular Segulliak, who said to Jans Haven, "When I first saw your
boat I was afraid, but I no sooner heard that little Jans Haven was
there than all fear departed, and I am very glad to see you again, for
I have a great love to little Jans." He then bound a strap of leather
round Drachart's arm, at the same time saying, "We love thee much!"
and laying his right hand on Drachart's breast, continued, "This band
on thy arm shall from henceforth be a sign that our love shall never
cease. I have not forgot what I heard of the Lord in heaven, and I
long to hear more." Drachart answered, "You may indeed be assured that
I have a great love for you, when I, an old man--he was then in his
sixtieth year--have come again to visit you, that you might hear more
of your Lord in heaven, your Creator, who became a man and died on the
cross for your sins, for mine, and for the sins of the whole world."
The Esquimaux replied, "We will hear the word you have for us!"
Drachart continued, and spoke of the great love of the Creator of all
things, which moved him to come down from heaven to earth, and by his
sufferings and death to redeem us from our sins and eternal
punishment. When the brethren confirmed to the savages what Mikak had
formerly told them, that they intended to settle among them, they
rejoiced like little children, and every one of them gave Jans Haven a
small present.
As Mikak had told them that her relations, who had gone to the south,
anxiously wished to see them, the missionaries sailed on the 19th July
back to Byron's Bay, and sent the Esquimaux boats before them. It was
not long before a kaiak arrived with the father of Mikak, who
instantly coming on board said, "My daughter and her husband are here
on the island before you, and they strongly desire to see and speak
with you." Indeed, scarcely had they cast anchor in the open creek,
when Mikak with her husband Tuglavina, and their son and daughter,
came to them. The man had a white woollen coat, but Mikak herself wore
a finely ornamented dress, trimmed with gold, and embroidered with
gold spangles, which had been presented to her by the Princess Dowager
of Wales, when she was in London, and had on her breast a gold medal
with a likeness of the king. Her father also wore an officer's coat.
Being invited into the cabin to partake of some refreshments, Jans
Haven asked her if she would receive the brethren as her own people.
"You will see," she replied, "how well we will behave, if you will
only come. We will love you as our countrymen, and trade with you
justly, and treat you kindly." On account of the tempestuous weather,
the whole party, amounting to fourteen, were detained during the whole
night on board the vessel. Early next morning they left them, followed
by Messrs Haven and Drachart, who, going from tent to tent, preached
the gospel to them. Mikak acted in the most friendly manner--assuring
her kindred of the brethren's affection for them, and telling them of
all the kindness she had experienced in England, where she had lived
in a great house, and been most liberally treated. The missionaries
being about to take leave, Segulliak came up to Drachart, and renewed
his expressions of attachment; the latter replied, "I do not forget
that five years ago you assured me of your love; and only a few days
since you bound this thong on my arm as a token of your affection, and
by this you have declared that you are willing to hear the word of the
sufferings and death of Jesus." When the others heard this, they all
cried out, "We also are willing to hear." The missionary then
mentioned some particulars of the history of the life and sufferings
of the Saviour, and asked if they would wish, as the Greenlanders
did, to hear something of Jesus everyday? "Yes! yes!" they all
replied. "Then," said Drachart, "if that be the case, we will look out
for a piece of land in Esquimaux Bay, where we may next year build a
house."
Although these good men had received the extensive grant we have
mentioned from His Majesty of England of the Esquimaux country, they
did not consider that that gave them any right to take possession
without the consent of the inhabitants, or without giving them an
equivalent, notwithstanding the settlement was intended solely for
their advantage, and was to communicate to them what was of infinitely
more value than millions of acres in the finest country of the world,
instead of a patch of barren ground on the bleak and inhospitable
coast of Labrador. When they mentioned that they meant to "buy" the
land, the whole crowd, who perfectly understood the term, cried out,
"Good! good! pay us, and take as much land as you please!" Drachart
said, "It is not enough that you be paid for your high rocky mountain;
you may perhaps say in your hearts, when these people come here, we
will kill them, and take their boats and all their valuable
articles." "No! no!" they exclaimed, "we will never kill any more, or
steal any more; we are brethren!" "That gladdens my heart," said
Drachart; "but how shall we buy the land? You have no great chief, and
every one of you will be lord of his land. We will do this: we will
give each of you what will be more useful to you in your fishing than
the land you may give us." "Pay us," they repeated, "pay us, and take
as much land as you please." Drachart and the other brethren then
going from tent to tent, divided among the men, women, and children,
all kinds of tools and fishing tackle, which having done, he produced
a written agreement to which all their names were attached, and
telling them its import, required each to put a mark before his name
with his own hand, that it might be a perpetual memorial of their
having sold the land. When they had done so, he again shewed each his
name with his mark, adding, "In time to come, when yourselves or your
children shall learn to read and write, as the Greenlanders have done,
they will be able to read these names, and they will remember what
they have just now seen and heard." Drachart next informed them, that
when they should return to Esquimaux Bay, after the rein-deer hunt,
they would see four great stones erected with figures on them, which
were called letters, and these would mark out the boundaries of the
land which had been bought from them. The Esquimaux, of whom about one
hundred were present, then gave the brethren their hands, and solemnly
promised to abide by their agreement "as long as the sun shone."
After this sacred transaction the brethren, along with Mikak and her
family, returned to the ship, which set sail the same day for
Esquimaux Bay. On the dangerous passage, Mikak and her husband were of
essential service in directing their course among rocks and islands,
and likewise in trading with the Esquimaux they met with on their way,
and inducing them to receive the brethren favourably, and attend to
their instructions. Notwithstanding, however, the uniform expressions
of love with which the savages everywhere hailed them, the
missionaries found it necessary always to be upon their guard, and use
the utmost circumspection in their intercourse with their new friends,
especially on shipboard, where they behaved with a rude intrusion,
often extremely troublesome, and not always without showing marks of
their natural propensity to thieving; they therefore prohibited more
than five from coming on board at one time to trade, and that only
during the day; and informed them that if any were found in the ship
during the night, they should be treated as thieves; and, to fix the
time allowed for trading more exactly, a cannon was fired at six
o'clock in the morning, and another at the same time in the evening.
Finding that his regulations, however, were not so strictly observed
as he could wish, and the natives becoming rather troublesome, Captain
Mugford, while lying off the Island Amitok, deemed it necessary to
show them that he possessed the power of punishing their misdeeds if
he chose to employ it. He fired several shot from his great guns over
their heads against a high barren rock at no great distance. When the
broken pieces of the rock rolled down threateningly towards them, they
raised a mournful howl in their tents, as if they were about to be
destroyed; but they afterwards behaved more orderly, and not with the
savage wildness they had done before, yet the missionaries were always
obliged to act with firmness and decision, in order to prevent all
approaches to any transgression that it might have been necessary to
punish, or that might have exposed any of the men to danger.
During the voyage, Drachart held a meeting morning and evening, in the
cabin, with the young Esquimaux, who seemed to take great pleasure in
it, and were highly attentive. Some of their expressions were
remarkable. "They wished they had such a desire for the Saviour as a
child has for its parents"--"or a man to hunt the rein-deer, and
obtain his prey."--"They would not cease to think of Jesus' sufferings
and death, but would remember that merciful and generous Saviour who
had died from love to them, and learn to know and love him." In the
evening of the last day of July they cast anchor in the southernmost
corner of Esquimaux Bay, and on the following day entered the harbour
of Nanangoak, in which lay fourteen European and two women's boats,
and on shore fourty-seven tents were pitched. Here Mikak and her
husband had wished to rejoin their countrymen. Before they left the
ship Drachart reminded them of what he had taught them, and
recommended to them every morning when they rose, and every evening
before they went to sleep, to think on the Saviour and his sufferings;
and exhorted them, when any wicked thoughts should arise in their
minds--theft, adultery, or murder, or any other bad thing they had
heard from their youth up from the Angekoks their teachers--that they
should pray to him that he would take them away, adding, "if you thus
turn to Jesus and diligently seek to him, then you will no more
belong to the heathen, but to the Saviour, who will receive you as his
own, and write your names among the faithful." Jans Haven accompanied
them to their friends, who rejoiced to receive them in safety, and
among them Jans found his old acquaintance Seguilliak. Next day
Drachart and Jensen went on shore, when they were immediately
surrounded by a great crowd, who took the missionaries under the arm,
and shook them by the hands, and then conducted them from tent to
tent, where they proclaimed to them the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Mikak invited them into her large tent, and begged they might hold a
meeting in it. Soon upwards of seven hundred Esquimaux were collected
within and around it, to whom Drachart, for the first time, preached
the gospel, and was heard here, as elsewhere, with the utmost apparent
attention. When he had finished, Mikak and her husband began to
testify, in their own simple manner, how the Lord in heaven had become
man, and died for their sins. Supposing that this alluded to their own
murders, some of their countrymen appeared startled, and cried out,
"Ah! that is true, we are sinners, and old murderers; but we will
never more carry concealed knives, either under our arms or under our
clothes; and we shall never have bows and arrows hid in our kaiaks,
because the Lord in heaven has said, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by
man his blood shall be shed. If we kill Europeans, as we did three
years ago, then we deserve that they should kill us and our
countrymen." But they seemed likewise alarmed lest the boats they had
then taken should be demanded back; but Mikak and her husband
explained that the Europeans did not come to desire them to give back
the boats, but that certainly if they did so any more they would be
punished. "That is good!" they replied "we believe your words, Mikak;
and shall also love the great and powerful chief you saw in London,
and his people, and will trade honourably with them;" and renewed
their protestations of affection for the missionaries, telling them,
"Now we are brethren." Drachart seized the opportunity of explaining
what he meant by brethren:--"Ye have heard that many of the
Greenlanders are our brethren; now you must learn rightly to
understand why we call one another brethren. Hear what the reason
is,--our hearts and the Greenlanders are fast bound together by the
love of Jesus our Saviour, who died on the cross for our sins,
therefore do we call the Greenlanders, and all who are united in the
death of Jesus, our brethren. If you will now be converted to Jesus,
then shall you be such brethren as the Greenlanders are." At a
subsequent meeting, the missionaries informed them that they were
desirous of finding a proper place on which to build a house, as it
was their intention to return next year and settle among them, and
requested their opinion as to where would be the best spot. They told
them there were many good places on the continent which they might
examine and choose for themselves; or if they would prefer an island,
they were welcome to the best; and the old men added, "You may build
and dwell in our country, and do what you will, either on land or
sea--you shall have the same liberty as we have, for you are Innuit,
as we are, and not such Kablunat as the other wicked Europeans."
"Well," replied Drachart, "you and we and the Greenlanders are also as
one family." "Yes," returned the old men, "we are friends and
brethren." "Then, dear men, when you speak thus, do you in your hearts
really think so?" "Yes! yes! you may firmly believe that." The
brethren then proceeded from tent to tent, and distributed gifts, and
obtained the marks of the old men, to the number of sixty-seven, to an
agreement similar to that which they had made with the other
Esquimaux, and the land from Monenguak to Kangerlack being marked out
with four great stones, was given to the brethren for a possession.
The ceremony being concluded, Drachart addressed them thus: "These
signatures will shew to your children, and your children's children,
that you have received us as friends and countrymen, and have given us
the piece of land marked out by these stones, and then your children,
and your children's children, will remember this transaction after
your death, as if you spoke to them, and said, We, your fathers and
grandfathers, called the brethren here for our sakes, and your sakes,
and they have built a good house to meet daily with you, in that you
may hear of the Lord in heaven. Do not forget that we your parents
have given this piece of land for an inheritance to our brethren that
came to us from the east of Greenland; and when you are converted to
Jesus, you must live near the meeting house, love your teachers, and
follow them as the Greenlanders do. Will you," continued he, "tell
your families what you have now heard, as well as what you have now
said? that your wives and children may know." They answered, "That we
will,--and we have already begun to spread it through our country,
and shall continue to do so." The missionary proceeded:--"The Lord,
your and our Saviour, is over all. He is truly here with us--I feel
his presence in my heart; he knoweth all things, and hath heard your
words and mine; he is calling for your hearts--will you now give them
to him? And will you keep to the words you have now said to me?"
"Yes!" cried all the men, and gave him their hands, and some kissed
him.
Having concluded the solemn transactions of the day, the missionaries,
towards evening, returned to the ship, and the next day the Esquimaux
began to set out for their hunting stations. But Tuglavina and his
wife remained some days longer to assist the brethren in seeking out
an island, and then parted with tears on both sides. The missionaries
rewarded them liberally for their services; and they were not
forgetful of the favours they had now and formerly received. Mikak
begged the brethren would take charge of two white fox skins for the
Dowager Princess of Wales, of a black one for the Princess of
Glocester, and two red ones for the Governor Palliser, as
acknowledgments for their kindness.
The place pitched upon by the brethren for their settlement was 56
deg. 36 m. N.L., well supplied with good wood for building, and
numerous rivulets of excellent water, and where ships could
conveniently find an excellent anchorage. The stones they erected were
placed, one on King's point, marked G R III. 1770, the other marked U
F (unitas fratrum,) 1770, and the land was taken possession of in the
name of King George, for behoof of the United Brethren--a very
important process, as it secured the protection of the British
government for the new settlements; the other two stones were marked
and placed in the interior merely as boundary stones. This first
sacred spot was consecrated by thanksgiving and prayer. Amid the
heathen tribes and their rude rocks, the missionaries kneeled down,
and with the deepest expressions of humility, thanked the Lord that he
had thus so far prospered them in their undertaking, had guarded them
through the perils of their journey, and graciously granted them a
resting place. Having thus accomplished the object of their mission,
they returned to England, and reached London 16th November 1770,
blessing and praising the Lord that no evil had befallen them.