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CHAPTER XXIX.

Indians of the Prairie and the Forest.

The Intention of the Chapter-Extinction of Indian Titles-Enumeration of Different Indian Treaties-Location of the Lands Ceded-General Terms of the Various Treaties-Indian Characteristics-Former Habits-Horse Stealing no Crime-Considered a Virtue and still Indulged in-How Conducted around the Cypress Hills in 1880-How I Saved my Horses-The Union Jack Versus the Stars and Stripes-Settlers need have no Fear-Indians and their Occupations on Lakes Manitoba and Winnipegoosis-Food, Game, and Furs-Potatoes and Garden Vegetables-Indian Reserve at Fort PellyCote's Medal-Reasons for Marrying more than one Wife-Minnesota Sioux-Generally Hard Working and Peaceable-Plain Crees-Their Feuds with the BlackfeetExtract from Palliser-Peace made Ten Years Ago-Big Bear-His Desire for Better Terms-The Wood Crees-Quiet and Industrious-The Chipweyans as Farmers-Food of the Indian Tribes-The Assiniboines-Anecdotes Regarding their PeculiaritiesConclusion.

Ir is not my purpose to write an exhaustive treatise on the Plain and Forest Indians, but merely to enumerate the principal tribes, define as nearly as possible their present locations, and relate a few anecdotes that may be interesting and suggestive to my readers. At present it can scarcely be said that any one tribe is still on its old hunting grounds, and hence to arbitrarily define limits would require more space than I have for the subject.

When the Canadian Government obtained possession of the North-West Territories by the extinction of the Hudson's Bay Company's title, they inaugurated their authority by a solemn declaration that the rights of all should be respected. As an earnest of this a large tract of land in Manitoba was set apart for the Half-breeds and their children. In 1870 the Indians of Manitoba, seeing a great influx of white men into their country, asked that a treaty should be made with them guaranteeing certain privileges. The following enumeration of the Treaties will show the successive steps taken by the Government to extinguish the Indian titles to the North-West lands:

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Treaty No. 1 was made at the Stone Fort on the 3rd August, 1871, between the Canadian Commissioner Wemyss M. Simpson, Esq., of the one part and the Chippewa and Swampy Cree Indians on the other. This treaty included the Province of Manitoba and extended from the Lake of the Woods on the east to the Assiniboine Rapids, near Brandon, on the west, and from the International Boundary on the south to a line drawn due west from the mouth of the Winnipeg River on the north.

Treaty No. 2 was concluded the same year, August 21st, 1871, at Manitoba House on Lake Manitoba, by the Canadian Commissioner Wemyss M. Simpson, Esq., of the one part and the Chippewa tribe of Indians of the other part. The tract ceded at this time lay partly north and west of Treaty No. 1. It commenced at the mouth of Winnipeg River and passed north to Beren's River, thence west across Lake Winnipeg to the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan, thence up this stream, Lake Manitoba, Water Hen River and Lake, thence west across Lake Winnipegoosis to the sources of Shell River, thence down this stream and the Assiniboine to Fort Ellice, and thence southwesterly to Moose Mountain, and thence southwards to the International Boundary. This tract included a large area, not being much less than 40,000 square miles.

The North-West Angle Treaty, or Treaty No. 3, was concluded October 3rd, 1873, and extinguished the Indian title to all lands lying between Lake Superior and the eastern limit of Treaty No. 1. This treaty was made by the Saulteaux branch of the Chippewa nation and tied the hands of a turbulent and exacting people. The number of square miles included in this treaty were 55,000.

Treaty No. 4, or the Qu' Appelle Treaty, was concluded after a great deal of difficulty on the 15th September, 1874. By this treaty the Cree, Saulteaux and other Indians ceded a large tract of valuable territory, and the basis for treaties

with the oher plain Indians was laid down. The eastern boundary of the district ceded, coincided with that of Treaty No. 2. Its northern boundary passed through the middle of Lake Winnipegoosis to the mouth of Red Deer River, thence up this river to the source of its western branch. From this point, it extended in a southerly direction to the western extremity of the Cypress Hills, including all the land drained by the northerly branch of the Qu'Appelle. The remainder of the western boundary extended due southfrom the Cypress Hills to the International Boundary, which formed the southern one.

This led the way for another treaty the succeeding year, which was concluded at Beren's River and Norway House, in the month of September, 1875. A very large extent of territory lying east, north, and west of Lake Winnipeg, was ceded at this time, and not less than 100,000 square miles were added to the treaty limits. This last treaty included the mouth of the Saskatchewan, and extended westwards as far as No. 4 Treaty.

The Treaties of Fort Pitt and Carlton are called Treaty No. IV, and were concluded in the Autumn of 1876. By these treaties the Plain and the Wood Cree Indians, and all other Indians inhabiting the territory, resigned their claims to the lands. Within the limits of this treaty are included all the lands within the following limits, that is to say :

"Commencing at the mouth of the river emptying into the northwest angle of Cumberland Lake, thence westerly up the said river to the source, thence on a straight line in a westerly direction to the head of Green Lake, thence northwards to the elbow in the Beaver River, thence down the said river northerly to a point twenty miles from the said elbow; thence in a westerly direction, keeping on a line generally parallel with the said Beaver River (above the elbow), and about twenty miles distance therefrom, to

the source of the said river; thence northerly to the northeasterly point of the south shore of Red Deer Lake (Lac la Biche), continuing westerly along the said shore to the western limit thereof, and thence due west to the Athabasca River, thence up the said river, against the stream, to the Jasper House, in the Rocky Mountains; thence on a course south-eastwards, following the easterly range of the Mountains, to the source of the main branch of the Red Deer River; thence down the said river, with the stream, to the junction therewith of the outlet of the river, being the outlet of the Buffalo Lake; thence due east, twenty miles; thence on a straight line south-eastwards to the mouth of the said Red Deer River, on the south branch of the Saskatchewan River; thence eastwardly and northwardly, following on the boundaries of the tracts conceded by the several Treaties numbered Four and Five, to the place of beginning;

"And also all their rights, and privileges whatsoever, to all other lands, wherever situated, in the North-West Territories, or in any other Province or portion of Her Majesty's Dominions, situated and being within the Dominion of Canada;

"The tract comprised within the lines above described, embracing 121,000 square miles, be the same more or less; "To have and to hold the same to Her Majesty the Queen and her successors for ever."

The text of Treaty No. VII is given in the succeeding chapter, and may be taken as a fair example of the text of each.

The habits and mode of life of the various Indian tribes vary with their locations and the character of the animals on which they subsist. The Chippewas which inhabit the shores of Lake Superior, and frequent the lakes and rivers lying between it and Lake Winnipeg, differ in no particular in their mode of life from the Swampy and Chipweyan

Indians found in the forest country stretching from Lake Winnipeg to Portage la Loche. The chief article of diet for all these Indians is fish, and their mode of cooking is the same everywhere. During the summer they are found encamped in small parties at the discharges of lakes or on the shores of small bays where there are sandy or gravelly shallows or at the foot of rapids or rivers. Here they set their nets and draw from the water day by day their necessary food. Excursions are frequently made for the purpose of hunting, but their chief dependence is on fish. Cooking amongst the Indian tribes is a very simple process, yet they can roast a duck or other fowl to suit the taste of any gourmand. Should a little flour be obtained at a fishing station, a number of fish are cut up and put in a pot with water and a handful of flour, and boiled for a short time. The pot is then taken off and all gather round, and the contents are eaten with great gusto, and they drink the liquid with evident relish. Seeing a family eating in this way after you have had a hearty meal is certainly disgusting, but should you be hungry you are altogether oblivious to the mode, as you see only the food. In 1869 I saw the Indians at the Pic on the northeast coast of Lake Superior eat fish as I have described and considered their habits filthy in the extreme, yet in 1875, when starving at Buffalo Lake, I considered boiled fish and fish broth without flour a rich treat, and could see nothing wrong except in its scarcity.

Very little dried fish seems to be eaten by the eastern Indians, but those west of the Rocky Mountains dry enormous quantities for winter use. As these fish are dried without salt, and eaten without being cooked, I may say that dried fish "straight" was the most unpalatable food I ever ate. An old Frenchman at Fort St. James on Stewart's Lake told me he had lived on dried fish for nearly forty years, and showed how his teeth were worn chewing them. His son and an Indian boy when travelling with us caught

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