Page 81 |
Previous | 81 of 520 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
70 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN
not say exactly where— and when they were born was often
a matter of doubt as w e l l . * It was not i n February, but in
Meeksuo pesim, " The month when the eagles r e t u r n " ; not in
August, but i n Oghpaho pesim, " The month when birds begin
to fly." When called upon they could give their C h r i s t i an
names and answer to W i l l i a m or M a g l o i r e , to M a r y or Mada-l
i n e , but, in spite of priest or parson, their home name was
a Cree one. In many cases the white forefather's name had
been dropped or forgotten, and a Cree surname had taken
i ts place, as, for example, i n the name L o u i s Maskegosis, or
M a d e l i n e Nooskeyah. Some of the Cree names were i n their
meaning simply grotesque. Mishoostiquan meant " The
man who stands w i t h the red hair " ; Waupunekapow, " He
* With reference to these nondescript birthplaces, the wonderful
ease of parturition among Indian women may be referred to here.
This is common, probably, to all primitive races, but is perhaps
more marked amongst Indian mothers than any other. The event
may happen in a canoe, on the trail, at any place, or at any moment,
without hindering the ordinary progress of a travelling party, which
is generally overtaken by the mother in a few hours. But nothing
I heard here equalled in grotesque circumstances occurrences, whose
truth I can vouch for, many years ago on the Saskatchewan River.
In 1S74, if I remember aright, a great spring freshet in the North
Branch was accompanied by a tremendous ice- jam, which backed
the water up, and flooded the river bank so suddenly that many
Indians were drowned. On an island below Prince Albert, a woman,
to save her life, had to climb a neighbouring tree, and gave birth to
a child amongst the branches. The jam broke, and, wonderful to
say, both mother and child got down to firm ground alive. Another
case, even more gruesome, happened on the Lower Saskatchewan
not so many years ago. A woman and her husband were hastening
on snowshoes from their winter camp to the river, in order to share
in the usual Christmas bounty and festivities at the Hudson's Bay
Company's post. The woman was seized with incipient labour, and,
darting from her husband, with whom she had been quarrelling on
the way, pushed on, and, in a frozen marsh, amongst bulrushes, on
a bitterly cold night, was delivered of a child. Grumous as she was,
she picked herself up, and, with Incredible nerve, walked ten miles
to the Pas, carrying her live infant with her, wrapped in a rabbit-skin
robe.
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 81 |
| OCR | 70 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN not say exactly where— and when they were born was often a matter of doubt as w e l l . * It was not i n February, but in Meeksuo pesim, " The month when the eagles r e t u r n " ; not in August, but i n Oghpaho pesim, " The month when birds begin to fly." When called upon they could give their C h r i s t i an names and answer to W i l l i a m or M a g l o i r e , to M a r y or Mada-l i n e , but, in spite of priest or parson, their home name was a Cree one. In many cases the white forefather's name had been dropped or forgotten, and a Cree surname had taken i ts place, as, for example, i n the name L o u i s Maskegosis, or M a d e l i n e Nooskeyah. Some of the Cree names were i n their meaning simply grotesque. Mishoostiquan meant " The man who stands w i t h the red hair " ; Waupunekapow, " He * With reference to these nondescript birthplaces, the wonderful ease of parturition among Indian women may be referred to here. This is common, probably, to all primitive races, but is perhaps more marked amongst Indian mothers than any other. The event may happen in a canoe, on the trail, at any place, or at any moment, without hindering the ordinary progress of a travelling party, which is generally overtaken by the mother in a few hours. But nothing I heard here equalled in grotesque circumstances occurrences, whose truth I can vouch for, many years ago on the Saskatchewan River. In 1S74, if I remember aright, a great spring freshet in the North Branch was accompanied by a tremendous ice- jam, which backed the water up, and flooded the river bank so suddenly that many Indians were drowned. On an island below Prince Albert, a woman, to save her life, had to climb a neighbouring tree, and gave birth to a child amongst the branches. The jam broke, and, wonderful to say, both mother and child got down to firm ground alive. Another case, even more gruesome, happened on the Lower Saskatchewan not so many years ago. A woman and her husband were hastening on snowshoes from their winter camp to the river, in order to share in the usual Christmas bounty and festivities at the Hudson's Bay Company's post. The woman was seized with incipient labour, and, darting from her husband, with whom she had been quarrelling on the way, pushed on, and, in a frozen marsh, amongst bulrushes, on a bitterly cold night, was delivered of a child. Grumous as she was, she picked herself up, and, with Incredible nerve, walked ten miles to the Pas, carrying her live infant with her, wrapped in a rabbit-skin robe. |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 81
