By such means the Cree
warrior becomes god-like; but unless he kills an enemy before his return
his newly-acquired powers are estimated to be productive in future of
some direful consequence to himself.
As we did not witness any of the Cree dances ourselves we shall merely
mention that, like the other North American nations, they are accustomed
to practice that amusement on meeting with strange tribes before going to
war and on other solemn occasions.
The habitual intoxication of the Cumberland House Crees has induced such
a disregard of personal appearance that they are squalid and dirty in the
extreme; hence a minute description of their clothing would be by no
means interesting. We shall therefore only remark in a general manner
that the dress of the male consists of a blanket thrown over the
shoulders, a leathern shirt or jacket, and a piece of cloth tied round
the middle. The women have in addition a long petticoat; and both sexes
wear a kind of wide hose which, reaching from the ankle to the middle of
the thigh, are suspended by strings to the girdle. These hose or, as they
are termed, Indian stockings, are commonly ornamented with beads or
ribands, and from their convenience have been universally adopted by the
white residents as an essential part of their winter clothing. Their
shoes, or rather short boots for they tie round the ankle, are made of
soft dressed moose-skins, and during the winter they wrap several pieces
of blanket round their feet.
They are fond of European articles of dress, considering it as mean to be
dressed entirely in leather, and the hunters are generally furnished
annually with a capot or great coat, and the women with shawls, printed
calicoes, and other things very unsuitable to their mode of life but
which they wear in imitation of the wives of the traders; all these
articles, however showy they may be at first, are soon reduced to a very
filthy condition by the Indian custom of greasing the face and hair with
soft fat or marrow instead of washing them with water. This practice they
say preserves the skin soft and protects it from cold in the winter and
the mosquitoes in summer, but it renders their presence disagreeable to
the olfactory organs of an European, particularly when they are seated in
a close tent and near a hot fire.
The only peculiarity which we observed in their mode of rearing children
consists in the use of a sort of cradle extremely well adapted to their
mode of life. The infant is placed in the bag having its lower
extremities wrapped up in soft sphagnum or bog-moss, and may be hung up
in the tent or to the branch of a tree without the least danger of
tumbling out; or in a journey suspended on the mother's back by a band
which crosses the forehead so as to leave her hands perfectly free. It is
one of the neatest articles of furniture they possess, being generally
ornamented with beads and bits of scarlet cloth, but it bears a very
strong resemblance in its form to a mummy case.
The sphagnum in which the child is laid forms a soft elastic bed which
absorbs moisture very readily and affords such a protection from the cold
of a rigorous winter that its place would be ill supplied by cloth.
The mothers are careful to collect a sufficient quantity in autumn for
winter use; but when through accident their stock fails they have
recourse to the soft down of the typha, or reed mace, the dust of rotten
wood, or even feathers, although none of these articles are so cleanly or
so easily changed as the sphagnum.
The above is a brief sketch of such parts of the manners, character and
customs of the Crees as we could collect from personal observation or
from the information of the most intelligent half-breeds we met with; and
we shall merely add a few remarks on the manner in which the trade is
conducted at the different inland posts of the Fur Companies.
The standard of Exchange in all mercantile transactions with the natives
is a beaver skin, the relative value of which as originally established
by the traders differs considerably from the present worth of the
articles it represents; but the Indians are averse to change. Three
marten, eight muskrat, or a single lynx or wolverine skin, are equivalent
to one beaver; a silver fox, white fox, or otter, are reckoned two
beavers, and a black fox or large black bear are equal to four; a mode of
reckoning which has very little connection with the real value of these
different furs in the European market. Neither has any attention been
paid to the original cost of European articles in fixing the tariff by
which they are sold to the Indians. A coarse butcher's knife is one skin,
a woollen blanket or a fathom of coarse cloth eight, and a fowling-piece
fifteen. The Indians receive their principal outfit of clothing and
ammunition on credit in the autumn to be repaid by their winter hunts;
the amount entrusted to each of the hunters varying with their
reputations for industry and skill from twenty to one hundred and fifty
skins. The Indians are generally anxious to pay off the debt thus
incurred but their good intentions are often frustrated by the arts of
the rival traders. Each of the Companies keeps men constantly employed
travelling over the country during the winter to collect the furs from
the different bands of hunters as fast as they are procured.
