THE TINNÉ INDIANS.
The various Tribes of the Tinné Indians.--The Dog-ribs.--
Clothing.--The Hare Indians.--Degraded State of the Women.--
Practical Socialists.--Character.--Cruelty to the Aged and Infirm.
The Tinné Indians, whose various tribes range from the Lower Mackenzie
to the Upper Saskatchewan, and from New Caledonia to the head of
Chesterfield Inlet, occupy a considerable part of the territories of
the Hudson’s Bay Company. To their race belong the Strongbows of the
Rocky Mountains; the Beaver Indians, between Peace River and the west
branch of the Mackenzie; the Red-knives, thus named from the copper
knives of which their native ores furnish the materials, and who roam
between the Great Fish River and the Coppermine; the Hare Indians, who
inhabit the thickly wooded district of the Mackenzie from Slave Lake
downward; the Dog-ribs, who occupy the inland country on the east from
Martin Lake to the Coppermine; the Athabascans, who frequent the Elk
and Slave Rivers, and many other tribes of inferior note.
The Tinné, in general, have more regular features than the Esquimaux,
and, taken on the whole, exhibit all the characteristics of the red
races dwelling farther south; but their utter disregard of cleanliness
and their abject behavior (for when in the company of white people
they exhibit the whine and air of inveterate mendicants) give them
a wretched appearance. Mackenzie, the first European who became
acquainted with the Dog-ribs, describes them as an ugly emaciated
tribe, covered with dirt and besmeared with grease from head to foot.
More than sixty years have passed since Mackenzie’s journey, but his
account of them is true to the present day. The women are even uglier
and more filthy than the men, for the latter at least paint their
unwashed faces and wear trinkets on festive occasions, while the
females leave even their hair without any other dressing than wiping
their greasy hands on the matted locks, when they have been rubbing
their bodies with marrow. The clothing of the men in summer consists
of reindeer leather dressed like shammy, which, when newly made, is
beautifully white and soft. “A shirt of this material,” says Sir
John Richardson, to whom we are indebted for the best account of the
various nations inhabiting the Hudson’s Bay territory, “cut evenly
below, reaches to the middle; the ends of a piece of cloth secured
to a waist-band hang down before and behind; the hose, or Indian
stockings, descend from the top of the thigh to the ankle, and a pair
of moccasins or shoes of the same soft leather with tops which fold
round the ankle, complete the costume. When the hunter is equipped for
the chase he wears, in addition, a stripe of white hare-skin, or of the
belly part of a deer-skin, in a bandana round the head, with his lank,
black elf-locks streaming from beneath; a shot-pouch suspended by an
embroidered belt, a fire-bag or tobacco-pouch tucked into the girdle,
and a long fowling-piece thrown carelessly across the arm, or balanced
on the back of the neck. The several articles here enumerated are
ornamented at the seams and hems with leather thongs wound round with
porcupine quills, or more or less embroidered with bead-work, according
to the industry of the wife or wives. One of the young men, even of the
slovenly Dog-ribs, when newly equipped, and tripping jauntily over the
mossy ground with an elastic step, displays his slim and not ungraceful
figure to advantage. But this fine dress once donned is neither laid
aside nor cleaned while it lasts, and soon acquires a dingy look, and
an odor which betrays its owner at some distance. In the camp a greasy
blanket of English manufacture is worn over the shoulders by day, and
forms with the clothes the bedding by night.”
In winter they clothe themselves with moose or reindeer skins,
retaining the hair, while a large robe of the same material is thrown
over the shoulders, and hangs down to the feet in place of the blanket.
The women’s dress resembles the men’s, but the skirt is somewhat
longer, and generally accompanied by a petticoat which reaches nearly
to the knee. The form of dress here described is common to the whole
Tinné nation, and also to the Crees, but the material varies with the
district. Thus moose-deer, red-deer, and bison leather are in use among
the more southern and western tribes, and the Hare Indians make their
skirts of the skins of the animal from which they derive their surname.
As this, however, is too tender to be used in the ordinary way, it
is torn into narrow strips, twisted slightly, and plaited or worked
into the required shape. Such is the closeness and fineness of the fur
that these hare-skin dresses are exceedingly warm, notwithstanding the
closeness of their texture.
The Hare Indian and Dog-rib women are certainly at the bottom of the
scale of humanity in North America. Not that they are treated with
cruelty, but that they are looked upon as inferior beings, and in this
belief they themselves acquiesce. In early infancy the boy discovers
that he may show any amount of arrogance towards his sisters, who, as
soon as they can walk, are harnessed to a sledge, while the tiny hunter
struts in his snow-shoes after the men and apes their contempt of the
women. All the work, except hunting and fishing, falls to their share;
yet they are in general not discontented with their lot.
It would be vain to look among the Dog-ribs for the stoicism popularly
attributed to the Indians, for they shrink from pain, shed tears
readily, and are very timorous; but all, young and old, enjoy a joke
heartily, and when young are lively and cheerful. When bands of their
nation meet each other after a long absence, they perform a kind of
dance. A piece of ground is cleared for the purpose, and the dance
frequently lasts for two or three days, the parties relieving each
other as they get tired. The two bands commence the dance with their
backs turned to each other, the individuals following one another in
Indian file, and holding the bow in the left hand and an arrow in the
right. They approach obliquely after many turns, and when the two bands
are closely back to back, they feign to see each other for the first
time, and the bow is instantly transferred to the right hand and the
arrow to the left, signifying that it is not their intention to use
them against their friends. Their dancing, which they accompany by a
chorus of groans, compared by Sir John Richardson to the deep sigh of
a pavior as he brings his rammer down upon the pavement, has not the
least pretensions to grace; their knees and body are half bent, and,
from their heavy stamping, they appear as if desirous of sinking into
the ground.
The Dog-ribs are practical socialists, and their wretched condition
results in a great measure from this cause. All may avail themselves
of the produce of a hunter’s energy or skill, and do not even leave
him the distribution of his own game. When it becomes known in a camp
that deer have been killed, the old men and women of each family sally
forth with their sledges and divide the quarry, leaving the owner
nothing but the ribs and tongue--all he can claim of right. Unable to
restrain their appetite, all the community feast in times of abundance,
however little many of the men (and there are not a few idle ones) may
have contributed to the common good. Taught by frequent sufferings,
the more active hunters frequently withdraw from the worthless drones,
leaving them at some fishing-station, where, with proper industry,
they may subsist comfortably. Fish-diet is, however, not agreeable to
their taste, and as soon as reports of a successful chase arrive, a
general movement to the hunting-ground ensues. If on their march the
craving multitude discover a hoard of meat, it is devoured on the spot;
but they are not always so fortunate. The deer and the hunters may
have gone off, and then they are obliged to retrace their steps, many
perishing by the way.
The Dog-ribs are not conspicuous for hospitality. When a stranger
enters a tent he receives no welcome and proffer of food, though he
may help himself from a piece of meat hanging on the wall or join
the repast. Though great liars, they do not steal the white man’s
property like the Esquimaux and Crees, and when visiting a fort, they
may be trusted in any of the rooms. As to their religious belief, the
majority of the nation recognize a Great Spirit, while others doubt his
existence, assigning as a reason their miserable condition. They are in
great fear of evil spirits, which, as they imagine, assume the forms
of the bear, wolf, and wolverine, and in the woods, waters, and desert
places they fancy they hear them howling in the winds or moaning by the
graves of the dead. They never make offerings to the Great Spirit, but
deprecate the wrath of an evil being by the promise of a sacrifice, or
by scattering a handful of deer-hair or a few feathers. They believe in
a state of future happiness or torment. The soul, after death, crosses
a broad river in a boat, and thus endeavors to reach the opposite
shore, which is adorned with all the beauties of paradise. If laden
with crime, the boat sinks under the weight, and the unfortunate soul,
immersed in water, strives in vain to reach the blissful abode from
which it is forever banished.
Formerly when a Tinné warrior died, it was customary for the family
to abandon every article they possessed, and betake themselves, in a
perfectly destitute condition, to the nearest body of their own people
or trading-post. The advice of traders is gradually breaking down this
absurd practice, which would alone suffice to keep this people in a
state of perpetual poverty. In other respects also, European influence
begins to make itself felt. Since 1846 Roman Catholic missionaries are
at work among the Chepewyans, and have taught many of their converts
to read and write. The Athabascans had formerly but a small breed
of dogs, now a stouter race has, in some respects, ameliorated the
condition of the females, and the introduction of the horse, which
has more recently taken place, holds out prospects of a still greater
improvement. The Tinné are as giddy and thoughtless as children. When
accompanied by a white man they will perform a long journey carefully,
but can not be depended upon to carry letters, however high the reward
may be that has been promised them on reaching their destination, as
the least whim suffices to make them forget their commission.
They are generally content with one wife at a time, and none but the
chiefs have more than two. The successful wrestler takes the wife of
his weaker countryman, who consoles himself for his loss by endeavoring
to find one weaker than himself.
Tender and affectionate parents, the Tinné are totally indifferent to
the sorrows of helpless age. During the stay of Sir George Back at
Fort Reliance, an old woman arrived there on Easter Sunday, clothed in
ragged reindeer skins, worn down to a skeleton, and grasping with both
her hands a stick to support her body, bent double by age and want.
The story of the poor creature was soon told. She had become a burden
to her family; her former services had all been forgotten, and she had
been told “that though she still seemed to live, she was in reality
dead, and must be abandoned to her fate. In the new fort she might find
assistance, for the white strangers were powerful medicine-men.” This
had happened a month before, and all this time she had slowly crept
along, appeasing her hunger with the berries she found here and there
on the way. When she reached the fort it was too late; she died a few
days after her arrival.