SITUATION OF FORT SIMPSON--CLIMATE--THE LIARD--EFFECTS OF
THE SPRING FLOODS--TRIBES INHABITING MACKENZIE'S
RIVER DISTRICT--PECULIARITIES--DISTRESS THROUGH
FAMINE--CANNIBALISM--ANECDOTE--FORT GOOD HOPE SAVED BY THE
INTREPIDITY OF M. DECHAMBAULT--DISCOVERIES OF MR. CAMPBELL.
Mr. Lewis embarked for York Factory on the 4th of August. I set out on
my return on the 6th, and arrived at Fort Simpson on the 22d. Having
prepared and sent off the outfit for the different posts with all
possible expedition, I found myself afterwards at leisure to note down
whatever I thought worthy of being recorded with reference to this
section of the country.
There are seven posts in this district; three on the River Liard and
its tributaries; three on the banks of McKenzie's River, and one
on Peel's River. About two degrees to the north of Good Hope, Fort
Simpson, the dépôt of the district, is situated at the confluence of
the Liard and McKenzie, in lat. 61° north. Heat and cold are here
felt in the extremes; the thermometer frequently falls to 50° minus in
winter, and rises sometimes to 100° in the shade in summer. The River
Liard has its source in the south among the Rocky Mountains: its
current is remarkably strong; and in the early part of summer, when
swollen by the melting of the snow, it rushes down in a foaming
torrent, and pours into the McKenzie, still covered with solid ice,
when a scene ensues terrific and grand:--the ice, resisting for some
time the force of the flood, ultimately gives way with the noise of
thunder, and clashing, roaring and tumbling, it rolls furiously along
until it accumulates to such an extent as to dam the river across.
This again presents, for a time, a solid barrier to the flood, which
is stopped in its course; it then rises sometimes to the height of
thirty and forty feet, overflowing the adjacent country for miles,
and levelling the largest trees with the ground. The effects of this
frightful conflict are visible in all the lower grounds along the
river. The trading posts are situated on the higher grounds, yet they
are not secure from danger. Fort Good Hope was swept clean away some
years ago, and its inmates only saved themselves by getting into a
boat that happened fortunately to be at hand. The McKenzie opens about
the end of May, and is ice-bound in November.
The tribes who inhabit the banks of the McKenzie, and the interior
parts of the district, are members of the powerful and numerous
Chippewayan family, and are known by the names of Slaves, Dogribs,
Rabbitskins, and Gens des Montagnes. The Loucheux, or Squint-Eyes,
frequent the post on Peel's River, and speak a different language;
their hunting-grounds are within the Russian boundary, and are
supposed to be rich in fur-bearing animals. The Loucheux have no
affinity with the Chippewayan tribes, nor with their neighbours, the
Esquimaux, with whom, however, they maintain constant intercourse,
though not always of the most friendly kind, violent quarrels
frequently occurring between them. The various dialects spoken by
the other tribes are intelligible to all; in manners, customs, and
personal appearance, there is also the closest similarity.
In one point, however, these tribes differ, not only from the parent
tribe, but from all the other tribes of America;--they treat their
women with the utmost kindness, the men performing all the drudgery
that usually falls to the women. Here the men are the hewers of
wood and drawers of water; they even clear away the snow for the
encampment; and, in short, perform every laborious service. This is
indeed passing strange;--the Chippewayans, and all other Indians,
treat their women with harshness and cruelty; while the women on the
banks of the McKenzie--Scotticé--"wear the breeks!" The Rabbitskins
and Slaves are in truth a mild, harmless, and even a timid race; could
it be this softness of disposition that induced the weaker sex first
to dispute, and finally to assume the supremacy?--or what cause can be
assigned for a trait so peculiar in this remotely situated portion of
the Indian race?
These tribes clothe themselves with the skins of rabbits, and feed on
their flesh; when the rabbits fail, they are reduced to the greatest
distress both for food and raiment. I saw a child that remained naked
for several days after its birth, its parents having devoured every
inch of their miserable dress that could be spared from their bodies:
it was at last swaddled in crow's skins!
These two tribes generally live near the banks of the great rivers,
and seem disposed to pass their pilgrimage on earth with as little
toil, and as little regard to comfort, as any people in being. They
pass summer and winter in the open air; they huddle together in an
encampment, without any other shelter from the inclemency of the
weather than what is afforded by the spreading branches of some
friendly pine, and use no more fire than what is barely sufficient to
keep them from freezing. Their wants are few, and easily provided
for; when they have killed a few deer to afford them sinews for making
rabbit-snares, they may be said to be independent for the remainder of
the season. Their work consists in setting those snares, carrying home
the game caught in them, eating them when cooked, and then lying down
to sleep. A taste, however, for articles of European manufacture is
gaining ground among them, and to obtain those articles a more active
life is necessary, so that some tolerable fur-hunters are now to be
found among them.
The Dogribs occupy the barren grounds that are around Great Bear Lake,
and extend to the Copper-mine River. That part of the country abounds
in rein-deer, whose skin and flesh afford food and raiment to the
natives. They are a strong, athletic, well-formed race of Indians, and
are considered more warlike than their neighbours, who evidently dread
them.
None of the Indians who frequent the posts on McKenzie's River have
hereditary chiefs; the dignity is conferred by the gentlemen in charge
of posts on the best hunters. On these occasions a suit of clothes
is bestowed, the most valued article of which is a coat of coarse red
cloth, decorated with lace; and, as the reward of extraordinary merit,
a felt hat is added, ornamented in the same manner, with a feather
stuck in the side of it. Thus equipped, the new-made chief sallies
forth to receive the gratulations of his admiring friends and
relatives, among whom the coat is ultimately divided, and probably
finishes its course in the shape of a tobacco-pouch. In course of
time, the individuals thus distinguished obtain some weight in the
councils of their people, but their influence is very limited; the
whole of the Chippewayan tribes seem averse to superior rule.
Like the Esquimaux and Carriers, they seem to have had no idea of
religion prior to the settlement of Europeans among them; all the
terms they at present use in reference to the subject seem of recent
origin, and invented by the interpreters. They name the Deity, "Ya
ga ta-that-hee-hee,"--"The Man who reclines on the sky;" angels are
called "the birds of the Deity,"--"ya gat he-be e Yadzé;" the devil,
"Ha is linee," or, "the sorcerer."
The Slaves and Rabbitskins have also their magicians, whom alone they
fear and reverence. Polygamy is not common, yet there are instances of
one man having two _female masters_. In times of famine the cravings
of hunger often drive these poor Indians to desperation, when the
feelings of humanity and of nature seem utterly eradicated.
During the fearful distress of the two past years, a band of Slaves
came to Fort Simpson in a condition not to be described. Many of them
had perished by the way; but the history of one family is the most
shocking I ever heard. The husband first destroyed the wife, and
packed her up as provision for the journey. The supply proving
insufficient, one of the children was next sacrificed. The cannibal
was finally left by the party he accompanied with only one child
remaining--a boy of seven or eight years of age. Mr. Lewis immediately
despatched two men with some pemmican, to meet him; the aid came too
late,--they found the monster roasting a part of his last child at the
fire. Horrified at the sight, they uttered not a word, but threw the
provisions into the encampment, and retreated as fast as they could. A
few days afterwards this brute arrived strong and hearty, and appeared
as unconcerned as if all had gone on well with him and his family.
Cannibalism is more frequently known among the Slaves and Rabbitskins
than any other of the kindred tribes; and it is said that women are
generally the perpetrators of the crime; it is also said, that when
once they have tasted of this unhallowed food they prefer it to every
other.
All the Chippewayan tribes dispose of their dead by placing them in
tombs made of wood, and sufficiently strong to resist the attacks of
wild beasts. The body is laid in the tomb at full length, without any
particular direction being observed as to the head or feet. Neither
they, nor any other Indians I am acquainted with, place their dead in
a sitting posture.
It is affirmed by some writers that the Indians have a tradition among
them of the migration of their progenitors from east to west. I
have had every opportunity of investigating the question, and able
interpreters wherever I wintered; but I never could learn that any
such tradition existed. Even in their tales and legends there is never
any reference to a distant land; when questioned in regard to this,
their invariable answer is, "Our fathers and our fathers' fathers have
hunted on these lands ever since the flood, and we never heard of any
other country till the whites came among us." These tribes have
the same tradition in regard to the flood, that I heard among the
Algonquins at the gates of Montreal, some trifling incidents excepted.
Unlike most other Indians, the Slaves have no fixed bounds to their
hunting-grounds, but roam at large, and kill whatever game comes in
their way, without fear of their neighbours. The hunter who first
finds a beaver-lodge claims it as his property, but his claim is not
always respected.
Besides the Indians enumerated in the preceding pages, a number of
stragglers, but little known to us, occasionally resort to the post.
A band of these--nine in number--made their appearance at Fort Norman
this summer; and, after trading their furs, set out for Fort Good
Hope, with the avowed intention of plundering the establishment, and
carrying off all the women they could find. On arriving at the post
they rushed in, their naked bodies blackened and painted after the
manner of warriors bent on shedding blood; each carrying a gun and
dirk in his hands.
The chief, on being presented with the usual gratuity--a piece of
tobacco, rudely refused it; and commenced a violent harangue against
the whites, charging them with the death of all the Indians who had
perished by hunger during the last three years; and finally challenged
M. Dechambault, the gentleman in charge of the post, to single
combat. M. Dechambault, _dicto citius_, instantly sprung upon him,
and twisting his arm into his long hair, laid him at his feet; and
pointing his dagger at his throat, dared him to utter another word.
So sudden and unexpected was this intrepid act, that the rest of the
party looked on in silent astonishment, without power to assist their
fallen chief, or revenge his disgrace. M. Dechambault was too generous
to strike a prostrate foe, even although a savage, but allowed the
crest-fallen chief to get on his legs again; and thus the affair
ended.
The Company owe the safety of the establishment to Mr. D.'s
intrepidity: had he hesitated to act at the decisive moment, the game
was up with him, for he had only two lads with him, on whose aid he
could place but little reliance. Mr. D. has been thirty years in the
Company's service, and is still a _clerk_; but he is himself to blame
for his want of promotion, having been so inconsiderate as to allow
himself to be born in Canada, a crime which admits of no expiation.
This district is at present by far the richest in furs of any in the
country; this is owing partly to the indolence of the natives, and
partly to the circumstance of the beaver in some localities being,
through the barrenness of the surrounding country, inaccessible to the
hunter. When the haunts of the animal become overcrowded, they send
forth colonies to other quarters.
At the first arrival of the Europeans, large animals, especially
moose and wood rein-deer, were abundant everywhere. In those times the
resources of the district were adequate to the supply of provisions
for every purpose; whereas, of late years, we have been under the
necessity of applying for assistance to other districts.
A new field has lately been laid open for the extension of the trade
of this district. An enterprising individual--Mr. R. Campbell--having
been for several years employed in exploring the interior, last summer
succeeded in finding his way to the west side of the Rocky Mountain
chain. The defile he followed led him to the banks of a very large
river, on which he embarked with his party of hardy pioneers; and
following its course for several days through a charming country,
rich in game of every description--elk, rein-deer, and beaver, he
eventually fell in with Indians, who received them kindly, although
they had never seen Europeans before. From them he learned that a
party of whites, Russians of course, had ascended the river in the
course of the summer, had quarrelled with the natives, and killed
several of them; and that the whites had returned forthwith to the
coast. These friendly Indians entreated Mr. C. to proceed no farther,
representing that he and his party were sure to fall victims to their
revenge. This, however, could not shake his resolution; he had set out
with the determination of proceeding to the sea at all hazards, and no
prospect of danger could turn him from it; till his party refused to
proceed farther on any conditions, when he was compelled to return.
The returns of this district have, for years past, averaged 12,000l.
per annum; the outfit, including supplies for officers and servants,
has not exceeded as many hundreds. The affairs of the different posts
are managed by seven or eight clerks and postmasters; and there are
about forty hired servants--Europeans, Canadians, and half-breeds;
Indians are hired for the trip to the portage. The living for some
years past has not been such as Gil Blas describes, as "fit to tickle
the palate of a bishop;" at Fort Simpson we had, for the most part
of the season, fish and potatoes for breakfast, potatoes and fish
for dinner, and cakes made of flour and grease for supper. The fish
procured in this quarter is of a very inferior quality.