It is a mistake to suppose that hunting is pursued by the Indian merely
as a means of subsistence. It is also his favourite sport; and no
English gentleman who spends his thousands of pounds per annum on his
horses and hounds, follows the sports of the field with a keener zest,
than the wild Indian who has never beheld the face of a white man. The
accounts of Catlin, who spent much time among the wildest tribes, show,
that amusement, in its most liberal sense, is pursued by the Indians in
this way. Hunting is not drudgery to them.
The means of procuring subsistence must always form an important branch
of national economy. Writers take a superficial view of savage life,
and, seeing how scanty the articles of food are, while the demand
is necessarily urgent, have assumed that the efforts to attain them
must absorb his whole mind, and scarcely leave room for any other
thought. But, on the contrary, these are to him very subordinate
objects. To perform a round of daily labour, even though ensuring
the most ample provision for his wants, would be equally contrary to
his inclination and supposed dignity. He will not deign to follow
any pursuit which does not, at the same time, include enterprise,
adventure, and excitement. Hunting, which the higher classes in the
civilized parts of the world pursue for mere recreation, is almost
the only occupation considered of sufficient importance to engage his
attention. It is peculiarly endeared by its resemblance to war, being
carried on with the same weapons, and nearly in the same manner. In
his native state, the arrow was the favourite and almost exclusive
instrument for assailing distant objects; but now the gun has nearly
superseded it. The great hunts are rendered more animating, as well as
more effectual, from being carried on in large parties, and even by
whole tribes. The men are prepared for these by fasting, dreaming, and
other superstitious observances, similar to those which we shall find
employed in anticipation of war. In such expeditions, too, contrivance
and skill, as well as boldness and enterprise, are largely employed.
Sometimes a circle is formed, when all the animals surrounded by it
are pressed closer and closer, till they are collected in the centre,
and fall under the accumulated weight of weapons. On other occasions
they are driven to the margin of a lake or river, in which, if they
attempt to seek refuge, canoes are ready to intercept them. Elsewhere a
space is enclosed by stakes, only a narrow opening being left, which,
by clamour and shouts, the game are compelled to enter, and thereby
secured. In autumn and spring, when the ice is newly formed and slight,
they are pushed upon it, and their legs breaking through, they are
easily caught. In winter, when the snow begins to fall, traps are
set, in which planks are so arranged, that the animal, in snatching
at the bait, is crushed to death. Originally the deer, both for food
and clothing, was the most valuable object of chase; but, since the
trade with Europeans has given such a prominent importance to furs,
the beaver has in some degree supplanted it. In attacking this animal,
great care is taken to prevent his escape into the water, on which
his habitation always borders; and with this view various kinds of
nets and springes are employed. On some occasions the Indians place
themselves upon the dike which encloses his amphibious village. They
then make an opening in it, when the inmates, alarmed by seeing the
water flowing out, hasten to this barrier, where they encounter their
enemies, armed with all the instruments of destruction. At other times,
when ice covers the surface of the pond, a hole is made, at which the
animal comes to respire; he is then drawn out and secured. The bear is
a formidable enemy, which must be assailed by the combined force of the
hunters, who are ranged in two rows, armed with bows or muskets. One
of them advances and wounds him, and, on being furiously pursued, he
retreats between the files, followed in the same line by the animal,
which is then overwhelmed by their united onset. In killing these
quadrupeds, the natives seem to feel a sort of kindness and sympathy
for their victim. On vanquishing a beaver or a bear, they celebrate
its praises in a song, recounting those good qualities which it will
never more be able to display, yet consoling themselves with the useful
purposes to which its flesh and its skin will be applied.
Of the animals usually tamed and rendered subservient to useful
purposes, the Indians have only the dog, that faithful friend of
man. Though his services in hunting are valuable, he is treated with
but little tenderness, and is left to roam about the dwelling, very
sparingly supplied with food and shelter. A missionary, who resided in
a Huron village, represents his life as having been rendered miserable
by these animals. At night they laid themselves on his person for the
benefit of the warmth; and, whenever his scanty meal was set down,
their snouts were always first in the dish. Dog’s flesh is eaten, and
has even a peculiar sanctity attached to it. On all solemn festivals it
is the principal meat, the use of which, on such occasions, seems to
import some high and mysterious meaning.
But, besides the cheering avocations of the chase, other means must
be used to ensure the comfort and subsistence of the Indian’s family;
all of which, however, are most ungenerously devolved upon the weaker
sex. Women, according to Creuxius, serve them as domestics, as
tailors, as peasants, and as oxen; and Long does not conceive that
any other purposes of their existence are recognized, except those of
bearing children and performing hard work They till the ground, carry
wood and water, build huts, make canoes, and fish; in which latter
processes, however, and in reaping the harvest, their lords deign to
give occasional aid. So habituated are they to such occupations, that
when one of them saw a party of English soldiers collecting wood, she
exclaimed that it was a shame to see men doing women’s work, and began
herself to carry a load.
Through the services of this enslaved portion of the tribe, those
savages are enabled to combine in a certain degree the agricultural
with the hunting state, without any mixture of the pastoral, usually
considered as intermediate. Cultivation, however, is limited to small
spots in the immediate vicinity of the villages, and these being
usually at the distance of sixteen or seventeen miles from each other,
it scarcely makes any impression on the immense expanse of forest. The
women, in the beginning of summer, after having burned the stubble of
the preceding crop, rudely stir the ground with a long, crooked piece
of wood; they then throw in the grain, which is chiefly the coarse but
productive species of maize peculiar to the Continent. The nations
in the south have a considerable variety of fruits; whereas those of
Canada appear to have raised only turnsols, watermelons, and pompions.
Tobacco used to be grown largely; but that produced by the European
settlers is now universally preferred, and has become a regular
object of trade. The grain, after harvest (which is celebrated by a
festival), is lodged in large subterraneous stores lined with bark,
where it keeps extremely well. Previous to being placed in these, it is
sometimes thrashed; on other occasions merely the ears are cut off, and
thrown in. When first discovered by settlers from Europe, the degrees
of culture were found to vary in different tribes. The Algonquins, who
were the ruling people previous to the arrival of the French, wholly
despised it, and branded as plebeian their neighbours, by whom it was
practised. In general, the northern clans, and those near the mouth
of the St. Lawrence, depended almost solely on hunting and fishing;
and when these failed they were reduced to dreadful extremities, being
often obliged to depend on the miserable resource of that species of
lichen called _tripe de roche_.
The maize, when thrashed, is occasionally toasted on the coals, and
sometimes made into a coarse kind of unleavened cake. But the most
favourite preparation is that called _sagamity_, a species of pap
formed after it has been roasted, bruised, and separated from the
husk. It is insipid by itself; yet when thrown into the pot, along
with the produce of the chase, it enriches the soup or stew, one of
the principal dishes at their feasts. They never eat victuals raw, but
rather overboiled; nor have they yet been brought to endure French
ragouts, salt, pepper, or, indeed, any species of condiment. A chief,
admitted to the governor’s table, seeing the general use of mustard,
was led by curiosity to take a spoonful and put it into his mouth.
On feeling its violent effects, he made incredible efforts to conceal
them, and escape the ridicule of the company; but severe sneezings,
and the tears starting from his eyes, soon betrayed him, and raised a
general laugh. He was then shown the manner in which it should be used;
but nothing could ever induce him to allow the “boiling yellow,” as he
termed it, to enter his lips.
The Indians are capable of extraordinary abstinence from food, in which
they can persevere for successive days without complaint or apparent
suffering. They even take a pride in long fasts, by which they usually
prepare themselves for any great undertaking. Yet, when once set down
to a feast, their gluttony is described as enormous, and the capacity
of their stomachs almost incredible. They will go from feast to feast,
doing honour to each in succession. The chief giving the entertainment
does not partake, but with his own hands distributes portions among
the guests. On solemn occasions, it is a rule that everything shall be
eaten; nor does this obligation seem to be felt as either burdensome or
unpleasant. In their native state, they were not acquainted with any
species of intoxicating liquors; their love of ardent spirits, attended
with so many ruinous effects, having been entirely consequent on their
intercourse with Europeans.