Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-05-24
A NAVIGATING WOMAN.



A NAVIGATING WOMAN.
An Indian sqnav who Has Dsvoursd
Twelve Human Reings.
The murderous man-eatino woman
Of Peace river. living five hundred
miles north of Edmonton. and seven
teen hundred miles from Winnipeg.
tie capital of Manitoba. has devoured
twelve human beings. her system Of
killing being by gradual poisoning:
How long she has carried on her brutal
work to satisfy an inhuman appetite.
and how she has accomplished 80
many deaths. avoiding discovery 50
long. is q great mystery to the wild
Indians of the Peace river region and
the few white people scattered here
and there throughout this great waste
of land to the north Of Edmonton.
So well has she carried on her terri
ble work that traces of her awful deeds
are scarce. and, the woman being
hopelessly insane, it is probable that
darkness will forever enshroud
them. 1t is learned that the woman
has been seized by q band of Indians
and will probably be removed to Z
Canadian Government or Hudson Bay
Company station. If. in the meantime,
she is not killed by her friends, who
are threatening her life.
Talking to an old Hudson Bay of.
fetal, your correspondent was assured
that dozens of cases of cannibalism
had taken place in the North which
had never been brought to light OF
course many Indians have been com.
PEELED to eat their own friends from
sheer starvation. This officer told Of
a man named Papniow, who started on
a seven hundred mile trip few win.
tiers ago, accompanied by two friends.
The dogs took sick. also one of the
men. and for several weeks the starv.
ing men subsisted on the flesh of their
dead comrade.
The Indian woman. who is undoubt-
eddy the greatest cannibal ever known
in the continent of Americ' was driv.
en- crazy in the first place my medicine
men. as they are called. As particu-
lars of the tragedy are only brief.
owing to circumstances explained
above. a brief history of these men. as
learned by your correspondent will
probably be read with interest. They
are designated by several names, as
shamans. sorcerers and conjurers.
The Esquimaux. among whom this
woman was acquainted, call them
angekoks. which is wise men. The
Indians. like other people, are subject
ed to the ills of body and mind. and
are, therefore, dependent upon medi-
cal protection to help them in their
hours of pain. Blindness. arising from
the smoke of the lodges, uncleanness.
the habitual use of paint and hered-
itary diseases are very prevalent among
the tribe.
Sitting in lodge short time ago
with twelve persons. a missionary
named Rev. John Mclean. b A.,
no less than five blind individ.
uals. There are numerous cases OF
consumption. rheumatism
and other loathsome diseases. The
medicine men are the priests and doc
tors of the camp. uniting religion and
in their practice. Generally
there are grades of distinction, the
lower resorting to the use of herbs and
other medicines only. the higher rely
ing upon supernatural influences tc !
aid them with the dispensing of their
medica.
1t is of the latter class to whom the !
cannibal woman went with her ills. !
Shrewd and intelligent, they are re- i
vered by the occupants of the lodges
and become instructors of the youth |
md the guardians Of the sacred
legends. Occasionally medicine wom-
IN are found. generally aged persons.
who become famous through the
numerous cures wrought by their skill
Medicine has two-fold meaning.
he one referring to the charms and
nominations. the supernatural part OF
he work. and the other to the use Of
,hysic, the natural part
1t is expected that the medicine men
Who are said to have injured the
reason will be arrested and
by the Britt sh authorities.
Cor. s. Paul Globe.