Chapter 4

To ensure concealment of their proceedings, they first destroyed the two Europeans left as hostages, by shooting them with arrows--then packed up what clothing and utensils they could conveniently carry--crossed the lake on the ice the same afternoon, carrying the heads of the two Europeans with them--one of which they stuck on a pole, and left it on the north side of the lake; they then followed along the margin of the lake westward, and about midnight reached the encampment of their friends--the alarm was given, and next morning they all joined in the retreat westward. They proceeded a few miles in order to reach a secure and retired place to halt at, in the hope soon of hearing something of the two Indians whom Captain Buchan had taken with him. On the second day the Indians appeared among them, and stated to them that upon returning with the white men and discovering the first encampment destroyed, they fled instantly and escaped,--one of these was Shaw-na-dith-it's uncle. All now resumed the retreat, and crossed on the ice to the south-side of the lake, where the only remaining and undisturbed encampment lay. Upon reaching the shore, a party was despatched to the encampment which lay further to the westward to sound the alarm. This encampment was then likewise broken up, and the occupants came east to join the tribe. To avoid discovery, the whole retired together to an unfrequented part of the forest, situate some distance from the shore of the lake, carrying with them all the winter stock of provisions they possessed.

In this sequestered spot they built six winter wigwams, and remained unmolested for the remainder of the winter,--about six weeks. They had conveyed with them the head of one of the hostages; this was placed on a pole, around which the Indians danced and sang.

When spring advanced and their provisions were exhausted, some of them went back to the encampment at which they had been surprised, and there supplied themselves out of the winter stock of venison that had been left there.

After the disaster the tribe became scattered, and continued dispersed in bands frequenting the more remote and sequestered parts of the northern interior. In the second winter afterwards twenty-two had died about the river Exploits, at the Great Lake, and in the vicinity of Green Bay; in the following years also numbers died of hardship and want. In 1819 their numbers were reduced to thirty-one, and in 1823 it consisted of only a remnant of twelve or thirteen. Such is the substance of Shaw-na-dith-it's statement, and which it is said she never related without tears.

In 1827 Mr. Cormack renewed his attempt to discover and open a friendly intercourse with the Boeothicks, and for this purpose with a small party, consisting of Europeans and a couple of Micmacs, entered the country at the mouth of the River Exploits, and took a north-westerly direction which led them to Hall's Bay. On the fourth day after their departure, at the east end of Badger Bay, at a portage known by the name of the Indian Path, they found traces made by the Indians, evidently in the spring or summer of the preceding year. Their party had been possessed of two canoes, and they had built a canoe-rest, on which the daubs of red ochre and the roots of trees used to tie or fasten it together appeared fresh. A canoe-rest is simply a few beams' supported horizontally about five feet from the ground by perpendicular posts. Among other things which lay strewed about here was a spear shaft, eight feet long, recently made and stained with ochre--parts of old canoes--fragments, of their skin dresses, &c. Some of the cuts in the trees, made with an axe, were evidently of not more than a year's date. Besides these signs, the party were elated by other encouraging marks. After some further search, but without meeting with any greater success, the party determined to proceed to the Red Indian Lake. On reaching this magnificent sheet of water, they found around its shores abundant evidence that this had been for a long time the central and undisturbed rendezvous of the tribe. At several places by the margin of the lake were found small clusters of summer and winter wigwams, but all in ruins--one large wooden building, presumed to have been used for the purpose of drying and smoking venison, was found in a perfect state. The repositories for the dead were found perfect, and in one of these the party discovered the remains of the ill-fated Mary March, whom the Indians had placed by the side of her unfortunate husband. On the north-side of this lake, opposite the River Exploits, were seen the extremities of two deer fences, about half a mile apart, where they lead to the water--and in gliding down the river, the attention of the traveller is arrested by a continuation of these fences which extend from the lake downwards on the banks of the river at least thirty miles. After spending several days in wandering round the margin of the lake, and having fully satisfied themselves that no encampment of the Indians was to be found there, they returned. Subsequently to this excursion, a party of men under the direction of an Institution termed the "Boeothick Institution," which was established with the view of benefiting the Indians, were sent on the same errand, but they too returned after a fruitless search, and with this attempt ends all efforts that have been made to open a communication with the Red Indians.

And now what opinion may be reasonably formed after a careful consideration of all the foregoing facts? Shall it be concluded as many, nay, as most people have done, that the Red Indians are wholly extinct? The mind is slow to entertain so painful a conclusion, and more especially as there is some reason to hope that the tribe, to some extent at least, yet survives.

If indeed Shaw-na-dith-it's statement is to be taken as of unquestionable authority, and is not to be subjected to any scrutiny, then indeed but slight hopes can be entertained of the existence of any of her race; but if the information she supplied be compared with that conveyed to us through various other sources, then a very different conclusion may be most legitimately reached.

And first let Shaw-na-dith-it's recital of the circumstances connected with Captain Buchan's visit to the Great Lake in the winter of 1810 and 1811 be contrasted with that gentleman's own statement of the same facts.

Shaw-na-dith-it when entering into the particulars of the condition of her tribe at the period just referred to, said it consisted of no more than seventy two persons, and whom she thus further described: In the principal encampment, that which Captain Buchan surprised, there were in one mamaseek or wigwam four men, five women and six children--in a second mamaseek there were four men, two women and six children--in a third mamaseek there were three men, five woman, and seven children--in the whole forty-two persons. In the second encampment there were thirteen persons, and in the third seventeen persons, making in the whole seventy-two; the two smaller encampments being several miles distant from the larger one. Now, compare this account with what Captain Buchan saw, bearing in mind that it was only the larger encampment he surprised,--of the two smaller ones, it does not appear that he was at all aware, Shaw-na-dith-it states the encampment contained forty-two persons, of whom nineteen were children. Captain Buchan asserts in his official Report, that it contained seventy-five persons, and it is by no means clear that in this number he included any of the women or children, as in another part of his report, he estimates the number of the Red Indians as consisting at least of three hundred persons--an opinion formed solely from the appearances which the one encampment presented. Then we have the testimony of a writer, an anonymous one it is true, yet it is evidently the testimony of a person who was present at the scenes he describes, and he tells us that in 1819 he estimated the number of Indians he saw, at from three to four hundred, including women and children. Then again, we find Mr. Cormack, in 1827, declaring "that hundreds of Indians must have been in existence not many years ago," otherwise it would be impossible to account for the great extent of deer fences which he found so late as the period above-named, yet in being. And lastly, we have the opinions of the Micmacs, who are so satisfied of the continued existence of the Red Indian tribe, that they can with difficulty be made to comprehend that it is possible to entertain a doubt of a fact, which to them appears so palpable. Their opinion is that the whole tribe of Boeothicks passed over to the Labrador some twenty or twenty-five years since, and the place of their final embarkation, as they allege, is yet plainly discernable.

In the _Royal Gazette_, dated the 2nd September, 1828, there appears a statement referring to the Red Indians, of which the following is a copy:--"Nippers Harbor, where the Red Indians were said to have been seen three weeks ago, and where one of their arrows was picked up, after having been ineffectually shot at one of the settlers, is in Green Bay." This accumulation of facts, all of a widely different character from Shaw-na-dith-it's testimony, would seem, to render the latter more than doubtful, and it ought to be borne in mind that Shaw-na-dith-it acquired a knowledge of the English language very slowly; and though it is said that before her death she could communicate with tolerable ease, yet it would be incorrect to assume that she could, without fear of mistake, make such a detailed statement as that which is attributed to her; but even allowing that which is most uncertain,--allowing that she expressed herself with tolerable clearness, and admitting that the parties to whom she made her communication fully understood her broken English, and were acquainted with the Boeothick words, which it was her wont to mingle in all she said--admitting all this--yet even in this view of the case, it may not be difficult to suppose a reason for her giving an incorrect account of the state of her tribe. Shaw-na-dith-it knew from bitter experience, that all former attempts made by Europeans to open a communication with the Red Indians, had to the latter issued only in the most disastrous and fatal results. She knew too the antipathy her own people had to the whites,--so great was this, that she feared to return to them, believing that the mere fact of her having resided among the whites for a time would make her an object of hatred to the Red man.--Knowing all this, is it a violent deduction to draw from all the circumstances surrounding this subject, that Shaw-na-dith-it in very love for her own people, may have purposely given an incorrect account of the numbers of her tribe--lessening it, in the hope that by so doing no further search would be made for then. Supposing it possible that such may have been the case, then, it follows that Shaw-na-dith-it may not have been, as many persons have presumed her to be, the last of the Boeothicks.

Some account of the usages and habits of this people, and of such particulars as have special reference to them, will now close this narrative: and first it may be observed that the extensive works which they completed and kept in repair for a number of years, would seem to indicate, and that almost beyond a doubt, that the Boeothicks were once a numerous and energetic tribe.

That they were intelligent, their buildings, store-houses, &c., would appear to be a sufficient evidence. Their mamaseeks, for such was the word they used to describe their habitations, were far superior to the wigwams of the Micmacs. The dwellings of the Boeothicks were in general built of straight pieces of fir, about twelve feet high, flattened at the sides, and driven in the earth close to each other, the corners being made stronger than the other parts. The crevices were filled up with moss, and the inside lined with the same material; the roof was raised so as to slant from all parts and meet in a point in the centre, where a hole was left for the smoke to escape--the remainder of thereof was covered with a treble coat of birch bark, and between the first and second layers of bark was placed about six inches of moss--about the chimney clay was substituted for the moss. The sides of these mamaseeks were covered with arms--that is, bows, arrows, clubs, stone hatchets, arrow heads, and all these were arranged in the neatest manner. Beams were placed across where the roof began, over which smaller ones were laid; and on the latter were piled their provisions--dried salmon, venison, &c.

That the Boeothicks were a bold, heroic, self-dependant tribe, few will be disposed to question, when it is remembered that they never courted the friendship of, neither were they ever subdued by, any other tribe, or by Europeans--by the combined efforts of both Micmacs and Whites, their numbers were greatly reduced, if not utterly exterminated, but they were never conquered.

BOEOTHICK DRESS.

This was peculiar to the tribe, and consisted of but one garment--a sort of mantle formed out of two deer skins, sewed together so as to be nearly square--a collar also formed with skins was sometimes attached to the mantle, and reached along its whole breadth--it was formed without sleeves or buttons, and was worn thrown over the shoulders, the corners doubling over at the breast and arms. When the bow is to be used the upper part of the dress was thrown off from the shoulders and arms, and a broad fold, the whole extent of it, was secured round the loins, with a belt to keep the lower part from the ground and the whole from falling off, when the arms were at liberty. The collar of the dress was sometimes made of alternate stripes of otter and deer skins sewed together, and sufficiently broad to cover the head and face when turned up, and this is made to answer the purpose of a hood of a cloak in bad weather--occasionally leggings or gaiters were worn, and arm coverings, all made of deer skins--their moccasins were also made of the same material; in summer, however, they frequently went without any covering for the feet.

BOEOTHICK ARMS.

These, whether offensive or defensive, or for killing game, were simply the bow and arrow, spear, and club. The arrow-heads were of two kinds, viz.:--stone, bone or iron, the latter material being derived from Europeans, and the blunt arrow, the point being a knob continuous with the shaft--the former of these was used for killing quadrupeds and large birds, the latter for killing small birds--two strips of goose feathers were tied on to balance the arrow, and it has been remarked by many persons who have seen the Red Indians' arrows, that they have invariably been a yard long; the reason of this would seem to be that their measure for the arrow was the arm's length, that is, from the centre of the chest to the tip of the middle finger, that being the proper length to draw the bow--the latter was about five feet long, generally made of mountain ash, but sometimes of spruce.

Their spears were of two kinds--the one, their chief weapon, was twelve feet in length, pointed with bone or iron, whenever the latter material could be obtained, and was used in killing deer and other animals. The other was fourteen feet in length and was used chiefly, if not wholly, in killing seals--the head or point being easily separated from the shaft--the service of the latter being, indeed mainly, to guide the point into the body of the animal, and which being effected, the shaft was withdrawn, and a strong strip of deer skin, which was always kept fastened to the spear head, was held by the Indian, and who in this manner secured his prey.

CANOES.

These varied from sixteen to twenty-two feet in length, with an upward curve towards each end. Laths were introduced from stem to stern instead of planks--they were provided with a gunwhale or edging which, though slight, added strength to the fabric--the whole was covered on the outside with deer skins sewed together and fastened by stitching the edges round the gunwhale.

LANGUAGE.

The language of the Boeothicks, Mr. Cormack is of opinion, is different from all the languages of the neighbouring tribes of Indians with which any comparison has been made. Of all the words procured at different times from the female Indian Shaw-na-dith-it, and which were compared with the Micmac and Banake (the latter people bordering on the Mohawk) not one was found similar to the language of the latter people, and only two words which could be supposed to have had the same origin, viz.: Keuis--Boeothick--and "Kuse" Banake--both words meaning "Sun,"--and moosin Boeothick, and moccasin, Banake and Micmac. The Boeothick also differs from the Mountaineer or Esquimaux language of Labrador. The Micmac, Mountaineer, and Banake, have no "_r_." The Boeothick has; the three first use "_l_" instead of "_r_." The Boeothick has the dipthong _sh_.--the other languages, as before enumerated, have it not. The Boeothicks have no characters to serve as hieroglyphics or letters, but they had a few symbols or signatures.

METHOD OF INTERMENT.

The Boeothicks appear to have shown great respect for their dead, and the most remarkable remains of them commonly observed by Europeans at the sea coasts are their burial places. They had several modes of interment--one was when the body of the deceased had been wrapped in birch rind, it was then, with his property, placed on a sort of scaffold about four feet from the ground--the scaffold supported a flooring of small squared beams laid close together, on which the body and property rested.

A second method was, when the body bent together and wrapped in birch rinds was enclosed in a sort of box on the ground--this box was made of small square posts laid on each other horizontally, and notched at the corners to make them meet close--it was about four feet high, three feet broad, and two-feet-and-a-half deep, well lined with birch rind, so as to exclude the weather from the inside--the body was always laid on its right side.

A third, and the most common method of burying among this people, was to wrap the body in birch rind, and then cover it over with a heap of stones on the surface of the earth; but occasionally in sandy places, or where the earth was soft and easily removed, the body was sunk lower in the earth and the stones omitted.

Their marriage ceremony consisted merely in a prolonged feast, and which rarely terminated before the end of twenty-four hours. Polygamy would seem not to have been countenanced by the tribe.

Of their remedies for disease, the following were those the most frequently resorted to:--

For pains in the stomach, a decoction of the rind of the dogberry was drank.

For sickness among old people--sickness in the stomach, pains in the back, and for rheumatism, the vapor-bath was used.

For sore head, neck, &c., pounded sulphuret of iron mixed up with oil was rubbed over the part affected, and was said generally to effect a cure in two or three days.

Brief as the foregoing statement is, yet, so scanty are the materials which relate to the subject, that it contains substantially all the facts which can now be gathered together of that interesting people, the original inhabitants of Newfoundland--a people whose origin and fate are alike shrouded in mystery, and of whom, in their passage across the stage of life, but little is certainly known, beyond the cruel outrages, the bitter wrongs they endured at the hands of the white man--before whose power, so mercilessly used, the tribe sank, and was either utterly annihilated, or, as is more probable, a remnant--worn out, harrassed beyond human endurance--left the homes of their fathers, and in another land sought that security for their lives which was denied them in this.

FINIS.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote A: "Large guns." The guns in common use there are what are made for killing seals. The general size is a barrel of five feet long, with a bore from seven-eighths to an inch and a quarter.]

[Footnote B: What I saw I should estimate at from three to four hundred, including women and children: of this however hereafter.]