The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-09-23

Mr.. Robinson, in his work on "The Great
Fur Land,n gives the following account Of
the angular effects produced by the medi
cines of the Indian doctors of that region:l
There was employed at n time, as . ser
want in the family, a Salteaux girl, OF about
twenty years of age. AS a natural result OF
her presence about the establishment ntlmer-
GUS Indians of both sexes, claiming ties of
c~onsanguinity of more or less remOteness,
daily besleged the culinary department of
our domestic economy. The matter became
unbearable, finally, as 1t often occurred that
the kitcheil-foOr was nearly covered with the
sqnatting relatives. The girl was ordered to
refuse aamittance to any being, of either sex,
iabited in a blanket. 1t happened that the
first candidate presenting himself for admit
lance after the receipt of this prohibitory
| order was all old conjuror, or medicine man.
The door was unceremoniously shut in his
face. He fingered about, however, until
some duty called the girl outside the door,
when, after threatening her with dire revenge,
he took his departure. The poor domestic
was much alarmed, and reported his threats.
Little attention was paid to it, and the winter
passed away without a further call from the
coniuror. a. ss .sE4 .as eaa .stgal.iy
In the early spring, the girl by some acct
dent cut her hand slightly-not sufficiently
deep, however, to necessitate binding up.
llJClolC ~ uShlCN ShS W a. NAkS NGhy III -
CARRYING water from all adjacent stream, when
the %conjuror unexpectedly approached her.
Protesting to have forgotten his election of
the previous winter, he proffei ed his hand in
a friendly way to the girl, who shoughtlessly
gave him in return the wounded member.
He shook it a long time, squeezing it tightly
IN his own. The sore smarted considerably,
and upon withdrawing her hand by reason Of
the pain, she noticed some dark substance in
H. # IL rs o~.>t nN.sr # l.s,I Fln
thought then occurred to her that he had
poisoned the sore. She was assured of it by
the medicine-mai, who informed her that she
would break out in black blotches for one
month in each year, ever afterward. One
year from that date black eruptions appeared
over her entire body, each spot about the
size of a dime silver coin. They continued
upon her person, without any severe pam,
for one month, when they disappeared. For
three successive years-as long as we had
knowledge Of her-the eruptions occurred
regularity, and continued for the allotted
time. @''h'&'-.H .' .-ai'].t "!" I9t"h1
Among the visiting Indians who called
%perenniallv at our kitchen door during the
winter months, was a middle aged woman.
suffering from a loss of power to move the
facial muscles. This incapacity was brought
on, according to her own testimony, and that
of others cognlZant of the circumstances,
some five years before our first acquaintance
with her, by certain drugs administered by a
conjuror. These medicines were given her
to produce that effect alone, without refer
ence to the prevention or Allre of other dis
eases, and we've taken without her knowledge,
being mingled surreptitiously with her food.
The effect soon showed itself in a total loss
of power in the facial muscles. She became
as eNpressionless as a mask. Only the eyes
moved: and, as they were intensely black
and rather sparkling eyes, the CHASTITY de-
formity was renderedth more glaring. The
most singular effect was produced, however,
by her laugh. She was a Jolly, good-natured
squaw, and laughed upon the slightest provo
cation. Her eyes spatkled, and her "Ha, !!
hal" was musical to a degree; but not a mus
Gle moved to denote the merriment on that
expressionless face. One felt that some one
else laughed behind that rigid integument,
and was fain to pull it off, and see the dim
pies and curves it concealed. The sensation
was that Of being in the presence of an enig-
ma one could not comprehend. No idea
could be formed of what she thought at any
time; but when she waxed merry her ceun-
tenance was more than ever a death-mask.
As to the growth of hair over the body, we
have heard OF but one instance of it. That
was an old man from a tribe dwelling in the
swamps and marshes. He was entirely COW
cred with a thick coating of hair nearly an
inch in length. Only about the eyes was
there any diminutiOn in the quantity, where
for nearly an incl in a circle there was no
lair. He attributed the phenomenon to a
detection of certain herbs given him by a
medicine-man whom he had MORALLY Offend
ed. His family, so far as we heard Of them,
were innocent of any hirsute covering.
Ina family of three Cree Indians of adj
vanced age, a sister and two brothers, L amed
rneroots.,ol,v Collso (y.,,on o-l "z-,:c H..
ing near Fort Pelly, perhaps the strangest
effects of the medicine. mans drugs appeared.
These old people had been poisoned in early
youth, with a different effect in each case.
Sallie, who was a hanger-on about the
kitchen, lost the nails of her fingers and toes
regularly every year at the season when birds
moult their feathers. This phenomenon had
never failed to occur annually since the med
icine had been taken in infancy. There was
but little pain connected with this shedding
Of the nails, and they soon grew out again.
Her brother Crepe was afflicted with an
eruption of warts over his entire person, and
was altogether as hideous a looking object as
could be we'll imagined. The divisions of
his fingers and toes were hidden by these
monstrous excrescences; from his ears de-
pended warts nearly an inch in length; in
fact he was covered with them all over except
his eyes. At certain seasons of the year they
became very painful, and deprived him of
the power OF locomotiOn. fr ha@
But in the case Of Hornie-a name con-
ferred by some facetious Scotch trader in
allnsion to a fancied resemblance of his
Santanic majesty-the effects of the poison
were of quite another character. -Hornie's
hair was simply changed from a generally
deep black to alternate streaks of black and
white. These streaks were about an inch in
width, and ran from the forehead to the back
of the head. The lines of demarcation be-
tween the two eolors were abrupt and dis.
tinct; the white color being the purest that
can be imagined. There was Ss gradual
merging from iron-erey to grey, thence tc
white ; it was the whiteness of the unsullied