Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1896-03-10
lNolAEs OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST.


ment bf the Hudson Bay Company are
comparative handful, comprising chief
ly thd mission people, the company serv-
ants, land a few ''freemen," as those
who have served their five years enlist
ment bnd set up little indep ndcncy OF
labor kre called. Those that live within
the cbmpsny's gates are chiefly half
breedl. Iu summer they catch and dry
the fi,h which forms the chief article OF
food iOr men and dogs, or work on the
compknv fat boats; and in winter they
spend the short days 10 stripping" and
the lGhg nights Ia smoking and talking
about their dogs, or In dancing and
sleeping. They have no other diversion;
no ipIiOor games, no outdoor sports.
Dancing and sleeping are the beginning
and ,lnding OF their recreation, and i
would not venture an opinion as to the
more popular; certainly they have an
abnor| NAL capacity for either.
Thit applies to the men. Life Is q
more FERROUS affair for the women. They
too s.eep and dance and smoke. but their
sleep,bg comes as a well-earned respite
after the days toll; their dancing has
the Outward appearance OF a sacrifice, TO
which they are silently resigned, and
smoking Is an accompaniment to work
rathel than a diversion in itself. The
womdn is the country drudge. Her
work IL never finished. She chops the
firew1od, dries the ish aud meat, snares
rabitll and carries her catch into the post
on heE back; scrapes and tans the moose
and ,Iaribou hides, from the latter OF
which size afterwards makes "babiche'
by cutting 1t into strings an eighth OF an
inch hide; laces the snow-shoes, makes
and ehbroiders with beads the mittens,
mocc.| sins, and leggins yields the lions
shareIof the scanty larder TO her husband
shenIhe Is at home luxuriating In smoke
and sleep, and when he Is away give
her Children her tiny pref (allowsnce) OF
tjsh abd goes hungry without murmur
Thlk l. the woman OF the post. She OF
the wbods, the full-blooded squaw, and
there are few Indians that ever take up
permiuent abode In the settlement, does
all this and more. In addition 10 chop
ping The firewood, she seeks and hauls
IL not only dries, but catches the fish;
gees liter and quarters and brings Ia the
gameIher master has killed breaks camp.
and bitches II again where the husband,
who las gone on ahead with no load but
his gin and no thought except for the
hunt. .ad whose trail she has followed,
indic.ires by sticking up brush In the
snow when there Is plenty she makes
her ukal on that which her lord leaves,
and when there l. little she starves, along
With her children aud the dogs.
Thd Indian Ia the sybarite Of the North
land, knd tie only genuine socialist on
earthl lie holds all the possessions OF
hI. c,hntry equally with his tribe, feasts
and ds,s and sorrows and rejoices In
comu|on. and roams where his legs carry
and there Ia game for his gun. When
thereEs abundance he smokes his pipe In
happt Incidence. and his wife does the
work. when there Ia no meat Tor the
kettl,| he shoulders his gun and goes out
into the woods. leaving care and hunger
nj he with the squaw. But he bv no
mesnk invariably escapes hunger. III u
ever 1 feast or a famine with him. and II
might always be feast were he not so
impriyident aud lazy. Clothing and food
are A; his very door. In the rivers and
Iakesltntre - nsH lu kIcat uuahttf """
varieiy along their banks, fisher, otter,
mink beaver. and musk-rat; and In the
forests. moose, caribou, bear, lynx, fox,
wolff wolyerene, marten, ermine, and
rabbls-,o say nothing OF the early
sprink and autumn migrations Of ducks
and eecse, the packs of ptarmigan, which
In thJEr changing plumage Of brown and
whtd are to be seen summer and winter,
and the several other species Of the grouse
iami.E that may be found the greater
part $f the year. There Is no occasion
for al Indian 10 starve In this country. II
he kclps out Of the Barren Grounds; but
hunting demands skill, Of which he has
less than any other red man ever knew,
and never-failing cache presupposes
fores ght, of which he has none-so that,
In truth, he fasts more often than he
feastI .-Caspar W. Whitney, In Harper's
Magazine.