Some distance to the southward of this people are the Rocky Mountain
Indians, a small tribe which musters about forty men and boys capable of
pursuing the chase. They differ but little from the next we are about to
mention, the Edchawtawhootdinneh, Strong-bow, Beaver, or Thickwood
Indians who frequent the Riviere aux Liards or south branch of
Mackenzie's River. The Strong-bows resemble the Dog-Ribs somewhat in
their disposition; but when they meet they assume a considerable degree
of superiority over the latter who meekly submit to the haughtiness of
their neighbours. Until the year 1813 when a small party of them, from
some unfortunate provocation, destroyed Fort Nelson on the Riviere aux
Liards and murdered its inmates, the Strong-bows were considered to be a
friendly and quiet tribe and esteemed as excellent hunters. They take
their names in the first instance from their dogs. A young man is the
father of a certain dog but when he is married and has a son he styles
himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of reproving the
dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting: "Are you not
ashamed," say they, "are you not ashamed to quarrel with your little
brother?" The dogs appear to understand the reproof and sneak off.
The Strong-bows and Rocky Mountain Indians have a tradition in common
with the Dog-Ribs that they came originally from the westward, from a
level country where there was no winter, which produced trees and large
fruits now unknown to them. It was inhabited also by many strange
animals, amongst which there was a small one whose visage bore a striking
resemblance to the human countenance. During their residence in this land
their ancestors were visited by a man who healed the sick, raised the
dead, and performed many other miracles, enjoining them at the same time
to lead good lives and not to eat of the entrails of animals, nor to use
the brains for dressing skins until after the third day; and never to
leave the skulls of deer upon the ground within the reach of dogs and
wolves but to hang them carefully upon trees. No one knew from whence
this good man came or whither he went. They were driven from that land by
the rising of the waters and, following the tracks of animals on the
seashore, they directed their course to the northward. At length they
came to a strait which they crossed upon a raft but the sea has since
frozen and they have never been able to return. These traditions are
unknown to the Chipewyans.
The number of men and boys of the Strong-bow nation who are capable of
hunting may amount to seventy.
There are some other tribes who also speak dialects of the Chipewyan upon
the upper branches of the Riviere aux Liards such as the Nohhannies and
the Tsillawdawhootdinneh or Brushwood Indians.
