COMMENTS ON KINESASIS'S WONDERFUL STORY--THE PACK OF FURS RECOVERED--
HONESTY OF INDIANS--THEIR DIFFERENT HUNTING GROUNDS--THE GOLDEN RULE--
THE DISHONEST FOREIGN INDIAN--HIS SUDDEN DEATH.
The next morning the wonderful story of Kinesasis, which had produced
such a deep impression on all, was thoroughly discussed. During its
recital some one had quietly turned down the lamps, and thus the lights
from the bright fireplace had full play upon him. This seemed to add to
the effect of the scene, as frequently Kinesasis, in his intense
earnestness and few but strong movements, stood in the bright light or
turned into a shadowy place. As the story was light and shadowy itself,
so also seemed in appearance this dramatic old Indian so eloquent with
his theme. He had deeply stirred and excited the boys as he had moved
along in his story; and not only this, but he had changed their ideas
concerning him. This complete revulsion of feeling had come at the
close, when the old Indian, whom they had thought was so cold and
destitute of sentiment, had stooped down and kissed his wife, as he had
also done before during the recital of the story. It was done in a way
that was so real and genuine that it completely broke them down. They
declared that morning that they would not quickly judge anyone again.
They had thought him phlegmatic and unlovable, and now here had come out
from the heart of this Indian, of such a rugged exterior, a story and an
exhibition of love and devotion more genuine and beautiful than any that
had ever been revealed to them in song or story.
"And for very many years," said Mrs Ross, "he has been kind and true to
that quiet, industrious little wife, who as a young maiden was so true
to him and would undoubtedly have died rather than marry that chief."
"What about his pack of furs?" said Frank. "And did they find out the
thief and put the conjurers after him?"
"I am glad you have mentioned it," said Mr Ross. "I have heard
Kinesasis tell the story of their recovery, and will give you his
version of it. As regards the actual transgressors, they must have been
the old chief who was killed and the young Indian whom Shakoona had
refused. When the old chief was killed the young fellow disappeared and
was never heard of afterward. When the leather wigwam that had been cut
into was carefully examined it was found that the knife had been used on
the inside, and that the great pack of furs had been handed out, so
there must have been at least two persons engaged in the robbery. Weeks
later some women out snaring rabbits in a dense swampy place found the
pack cached up among the branches of a great spruce tree. It was so
completely hidden in the close branches that it was a wonder that they
ever discovered it. The only clue they had was that a great wolverine
came tumbling out of the tree and hurried away into the dense forest.
The women, like the men, knew what clever animals these wolverines are
to find out where venison or other game has been hid away until needed.
So, as their curiosity was excited, they carefully searched the tree,
which was a very large one, and there in among the dense branches they
found the pack of Kinesasis. They were not able to reach it, but
reported their discovery when they returned to the village. Kinesasis
and others were soon after it. It was well that they found it when they
did, as the wolverine had cut through the outer coverings of deerskin,
and had already ruined several valuable furs. In an hour more there
would have been nothing worth taking away, so terribly destructive are
these animals when they thus find anything of fur or game.
"Strange to say, old Wahbunoo would not accept anything from Kinesasis.
The death of the old chief had very much disturbed him, and it also gave
him such an idea of Kinesasis's prowess that he had to respect him. The
bag of gold also disappeared, and to this day none knows what became of
it. Kinesasis carried his furs to the Hudson Bay Company's store, and
received enough for them to make him and Shakoona comfortable for many a
day."
"I have always heard that Indians were so honest with each other about
their furs and traps," said Alec; "but this stealing of Kinesasis's
whole pack seems to knock that idea over. What are we to believe about
it?"
"What you have heard about the honesty of the Indians is the truth,"
said Mr Ross. "This stealing of the furs of Kinesasis was not an
ordinary theft for gain. The object of it was to prevent him from
having sufficient gifts to satisfy the father of the maiden of his
choice. The fact that the furs were hid away as they were showed this.
They could not bury them, as the ground was frozen like granite; they
dare not burn them for fear of detection; and the ice was too thick on
the rivers or lakes to be quickly cut through. It was very evident that
they did not try to sell them."
"But did not the thieves hide them there so that they could go and get
them, and sell them when the excitement of their loss had passed over?"
said Alec, who was a boy who had a habit of seeing things from different
sides and liked to have all the difficulties cleared up.
Mr Ross admired this trait in Alec's character, and always endeavoured
to meet it in a way that was helpful to the lad. So to this last
question his answer was:
"No Indian who wished to preserve anything of value for future use would
think of putting it up in such a place. They all know the thievish,
destructive habits of the wolverines, and other animals of that kind,
that quickly detect and destroy everything destructible if placed in a
tree, in the manner in which this was done. The wonder was that this
was not found out much sooner and completely destroyed."
"Tell us, please," said Sam, "how the hunters act toward each other in
regard to their hunting grounds and furs. Have they any titles to the
different places where they hunt year after year?"
"They have no written titles," said Mr Ross, "but for generations the
same families have hunted in the same localities. Then some Indians,
generation after generation, are noted as famous hunters of certain
animals. For example, Big Tom is noted as a successful moose hunter,
and so were his immediate ancestors. Others made a speciality of the
beavers, others of the otter, and thus it went. These Indian families
naturally had localities where these different animals abounded,
although there were seasons when other varieties of fur-bearing animals
swarmed through these regions, and for a time were really more numerous
than the ones there generally hunted. As might have been expected, the
hunters of the moose, reindeer, black bears, and other large animals
that wander over immense districts had the right of following them in
any direction. The hunters and trappers of the rich fur-bearing
animals, however, generally kept in certain regions year after year.
Sometimes a hunter, in order to reach his own grounds, had to pass
through, what we might call the preserves of three or four different
families. I once accompanied a hunter to his grounds, and we saw no
less than seventy traps of other Indians on the trail as we passed along
mile after mile. In one of them was a beautiful mink. My Indian
companion at once stopped, and, putting his pack off his back, opened it
and cut off some of his bait. Then he took the mink out of the trap and
reset it, supplying it with his own bait. The mink he tied to the top
of a young sapling, which he bent down for the purpose. When he let go
of the young tree it sprang up so that the mink hung in the air, about
fifteen feet from the ground. Here it was safe from the prowling
wolverines and other animals. Then the Indian made some peculiar marks
upon the tree with his axe. His pack was then again shouldered, and we
proceeded on our way. I was very much interested in his proceedings,
and so when he had completed his work I asked him if that trap belonged
to his brother or some relative.
"`No,' he replied, `I do not yet know whose hunting ground this is, but
my duty is to do as you have seen me act. Perhaps when that hunter
comes along to-morrow or next day he will find another mink in that
trap. Then with two instead of one he will be the more pleased.'"
"Well done, honest Indian!" shouted the boys, when they heard this.
"There is a lesson for many a white man."
"And boys, too," added Sam.
Continuing, Mr Ross said: "This was the understood custom. It might
seem a little burdensome on the man who had the farthest to go, and
quite a tax on his supply of bait. But then he had the advantage when
he reached his hunting grounds, in that there were fewer human
footsteps, and, in all probability, correspondingly more game."
"Were there no exceptions--none who would take a mink or otter if they
had a chance from a neighbour's trap, if they thought they could escape
detection?" asked Alec.
"I only remember of one case occurring in many years," said Mr Ross,
"and there was soon a dead man at the end of it. It was the winter
after the great flood in Red River. A number of Indians who lived near
its mouth were driven out by the great flood. Some of them came into
this North country. The most of them were industrious and worked hard.
By fishing, shooting, and hunting where no persons specially claimed the
localities they did well, and got on as did the others. There were a
few among them who apparently did nothing, but lounged about and lived
on the industrious ones. No notice was taken of these. There was one
man, however, who soon began to be talked about. He was not known to
have any traps, nor was he ever seen to make any dead falls or other
things to catch the fur-bearing animals. Yet he often sauntered into
the trading post and brought out from under his coat a fine mink or
marten, and sometimes even a splendid otter. Soon some of the hunters
began to speak about strange tracks about their traps. One hunter told
of how he had visited one of his otter traps and had found a quantity of
hairs of an otter on the teeth, and yet the trap was set. He had also
observed where somebody who chewed tobacco had been spitting on the snow
near this same otter trap. Now, while these northern Indians are great
smokers, they never chew tobacco, but this suspected man, who had in the
Red River country been much with the whites, was nearly always chewing
and spitting. Then there was the suspicious circumstance that a few
days after, he was offering at the Company's store a fine otter skin for
sale. The Indians then were nearly all pagans, and there was no law in
the land but their own tribal one. A secret council was held, and it
was decided to put a watch on this man. Two or three of the cleverest
Indians were appointed to watch his steps. Cunning though he was, they
were too clever for him, and they so well followed him up that they saw
him take a mink out of a trap. Then, resetting the trap, he hid the
mink under his coat, and rapidly disappeared in the forest. The
detectives did not rush out and capture him. They did not even let him
know of their presence. As quietly as they had followed him, so they
did return. The secret council was again summoned. A message was sent
to a noted conjurer of the tribe, famous for his deadly poisons. Two
days after a big Indian lay dead in the birch wigwam of one of the Red
River Indian families. The burial was very quick and quiet. Not much
was said. Indians do not, on some subjects, talk much, but it was
observed for long years after that no hunter ever complained of his
traps being robbed."
"I cannot see," said Frank, "why any honest person could complain of any
such laws as those. They were certain that he was guilty, and then they
quickly punished him."
"Yes," said Mr Ross; "to some it may seem severe that he had to be
killed, but the severity in this case crushed out the crime. None dare
imitate him for fear of suffering his doom."