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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in tha upper left hand corner, left to light and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate tha method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de rAduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 >V3 OC Report of iJie CommitUe, consisting of J)v. E. B. Tylok, Dr. G. jNI. Dawson, General Sir J. H. Li'.fhoy, Dr. Daniel Wilson, Mr. HouATio Hale, ]Mr. J\, G. Halibuhton, and Mr. Geokcje W. Bloxam (Secretari/), ajjjjointed for the pnrjjose of invest i;/atinf/ and piihli.sliiiiff report!^ on the physical characters, laia/naf/cs, iiidastriid a nd social condition of the Nortli-w ester n Tribes of the Dorninion of Canada. Tni: Committee have been in active correspondence with missionaries and others stationed among the Indians, hut the unsettled state of the country during the past year has made it impossible to do more than collect materials for a preliminary report ; the Committee, therefore, ask that they may be reappointed, with a continuance of the grant. Report 0)1 the lilach'ont Trlhes. Brmt-n tip hij Mr. Horatio Hale. The tribes composing the Blackfoot Confederacy, as it is commonly styled — in some respects the most important and interesting Indian com- munities of the North-west — have been until recently less known than any others. It seemed, therefore, that the best contribution which a single member could make to the general report of the Committee would be a special study of these tribes. This view was confirmed by the opinion of President Wilson, the only other member of the Committee who was near enough for me to consult with. With his aid a corre- spondence was opened with two able and zealous missionaries residing among these Indians, both of whom have replied most courteously and liberally to my inquiries. These are the Rev. Albert Lacombe, widely and favourably known as Father Lacombe, Roman Catholic Missionai'y among the Siksika, or proper Blackfeet Indians, and the Rev. John McLean, Missionary of the Canadian Methodist Church to the Blood and ON THE NOllXn-WESTEUN TRIBES OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. G97 imonlj com- than "liich a Iwould the litteo 3orre- ^iding- and ^idely 'pnary iJohn and Pipgan (or Kena and Piekant') tribes. Father Lacombo has been many yonrs a missionary in the Canadian North-west, and has a very extensive knowledge of tlie tribes of that region. His elaborate work, the ' Gram- mar and Dictionary of tlie Cree Language,' ranks among tlie best contri- bntious to American philology. Mr. McLean has been engaged in his missionary duties for five years, has prepared a grammar of the Blackfoot language, and is at present occupied in ti'anslating the Scriptures into that tongue ; he lias been most considerate in furui.shing the information which was requested on behalf of the Committee, and is now making special researches for this object. The nnfoi'tunate troubles of the past season have for a time inter- I'uptcd the correspondence, and have left the investigations necessarily incomplete. The principal portion of the report on these Indians will thei'efore have to bo deferred for another year. It has seemed advisable, however, to submit ;v ■ ummary of the knowledge now olitained by way of introduction to the fuller account Avhich the Committee may be able to render hereafter. With this view some other sources of information have been examined, particularly the valuable official reports and maps of the Canadian and United States Indian Departments, Avhich have been obligingly furnished by those Departments for this purpose. Fifty years ago the Blackfoot Confederacy held among the western tribes much the same position of superiority which was held two centu- ries ago by the Irocpiois Confederacy (then known as the * Five Nations ') among the Indians east of the Mississippi. The tribes of the former con- federacy were also, when first known, five in number. The nucleus, or main body, was — as it still is — composed of three tribes, speaking the proper Blackfoot language. These are the Siksika, or Blackfeet proper, the Kena, or Blood Indians, and the Pickane, or Piegans (pronounced Peegans), a name sometimes corrupted to ' Pagan ' Indians. To these are to be added two other tribes, vho joined the original confederacy, or, })erhaps more properly speaking, came under its ])rote(;tion. These were the Sarcees from the north, and the Atsinas from the south. Tlie Sarcees are an offshoot of the great Athabascan stock, vdiioh is spread over the north of British America, in contact with the Eskimo, and extends in scattered bands — the Umpquas, Apaches, and others — tlirough Oregon and California into Northern Mexico. The Atsinas, wlio have been variously known from the reports of Indian ti-aders as Fall Indians, Rapid Indians, and Gros Ventres, speak a dialect similar to that of the Arapo- Iioes, who now reside in the ' Indian Tem-itory ' of the United States. Ifc is a peculiarly harsh and difficult language, and is said to be spoken only by those two tribes. None of the Atsinas are now found on Canadian territory, and no recent information has been obtained concerning them, except from the map Avhich accompanies the Unitetl States Indian Rej.. c for 1884, and on which their name appears on the American lilackfoot Reservation. The five tribes were reckoned fifty years ago to comprise not less than thirty thousand souls. Their numbers, union, and warlike spirit made them the terror of all the western Indians on both sides of the Rocky i\Iountains. It was not uncommon for thirty or forty war parties to bo out at once against the Salish (or Flatheads) of Oregon, the Upsa- rokas (or Crows) of the Missouri plains, the Shoshonees of the far south, and the Crees of the north and east. The conntiy which the Blackfoot tribes claimed properly as their own comprised the valleys and plains acific N. W. History Dept. PROVINCIAL LIBRARY 698 REPORT — 1885. i : along tho eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, between the ^Missouri and the Saskatchewan. This region was the favourite resort of the buffalo, whose vast herds aiforded tho Indians their principal means of subsistence. In tho ye.ar 18;3G a terrible visitation of the small-pox swept off two-thirds of the people, and five years later they were supposed to count not more than fifteen hundred tents, or about ten thousand souls. Their enemies were then recovering their spirits, and retaliating upon the weakened tribes the ravages which they had formerly committed. In 1855 the United States Govern ment humanely interfered to bring about a complete cessation of hostilities between tho Black foot tribes and the other Indians. The Commissioners appointed for the purpose sum- moned the hostile tribes together, and framed a treaty for them, accom- panying the act by a large distribution of presents. This judicious proceeding proved effectual. Dr. F. V. Hayden in his account of tho Indian Tribes of the Missouri Valley (published in the 'Transactions of the American Philosophical Society for 18G2 '), states that from the period of this treaty the Blackfoot tribes had become more and more peaceful in their habits, and were considered, when he wrote, the best disposed Indians in the North-west. He remarks that theii- earlier repu- tation for ferocity was doubtless derived from their enemies, who always gave them ample cause for attacking them. He adds : ' From my own experience r.mong them, and from information derived from intelligent men who have s]ient the greater portion of their lives with them, I am convinced that they are among tho most peaceable and honourable Indians in the West ; and in an intellectual and moral point of view they take the highest rank among the wild tribes of the plains.' This favourable opinion of Dr. Hayden, it may be added, is entii'cly in accordance with the testimony of the Indian agents and other officials of the Canadian North-west, who place the Blackfeet decidedly above the surrounding tribes in point of intelligence and honesty. At the present time, while constantly harassed on their reserves by the inciu"- sions of thievish Crees and other Indians, who rob them of their horses, they forbear to retaliate, and honourably abide by the terras of their treaty, which binds them to leave the redress of such grievances to the Dominion authorities. It has seemed proper to dwell upon this point, as the marked differences of character among the Indian tribes has been too little regarded. As a question of science and a matter of public policy, these differences deserve a careful study. The good disposition manifested by the Blackfoot tribes during the recent disturbances has displayed their natural character, and has been a fact of the utmost value to the welfare of the new settlements. Since the genei'al peace Avas established by the American Government the numbers of the Blackfeet have apparently been on the increase. Dr. Hayden reports the three proper Blackfeet tribes as numbering in 1855 about 7,000 souls. The present population of the three Canadian Reserves is computed at about 6,000, divided as follows : Blackfeet proper, 2,400 ; Bloods, 2,800 ; Piegans, 800. On the American Reserva- tion there are stated to be about 2,800, mostly Piegans. This would make the total population of the three tribes exceed 8,000 souls. The adopted tribe, the Sarcees, have greatly diminished in numbers through the ravages of the small-pox. In 1870 this disease raged among them with great virulence. They were then residing on the American side, in Montana. Mr. McLean writes : ' An eye-witness told me that at the or 1, R(l raJ ph mil intl stri of BU wel dull W0(1 tril fun aim nee befi sud titte ON THE NORXn-WESTEHN TRIBES OF THE DOMINTQN OF CANADA. 699 Maria's River, in Montana, there stood fully one hundred lod^'os, and not one contained less than ten bodies. His estimate of dead Sareees was 1,500.' This tribe, now numbering less than .^UU souls, have their Reserve near Calgary. They are reputed to be less cleanly and moral than the proper Blackfeet tribes. In this respect their habits and cha- racter correspond with those of other Athabascan tribes. During the past five years, as is well known, a gi'eat change has taken place in the condition of the north-western tribes through the exter- mination of the buffixlo. The transcontinental railways have brought into the interior great ni'mbers of hunters, armed with the most de- structive weapons, who have engaged in a constant and reckless slaughter of these animals, until it is now doubtful if any are left alive. The Blackfeet have lieen the greatest sufferers from this cause. The bufflilo were their main dependence. The animals, which roamed the plains during the summer, were accustomed t^ resort to the sheltered and wooded v!?,lleys of the Blackfoot country during the winter ; and thus the tribes were assured of a supply of food at all seasons. The skins furnished their clothing, their tents, and their conches. Suddenly, almost without warning, they found themselves stripped of nearly every necessary of life. The change was one of the greatest that could well befall a community. If the inhabitants of an English parish were suddenly transported to the centre of Australia, and set down there, utterly destitute, to make a living by some unknown methods of tropical agriculture, they would hardly be more helpless and bewildered than these unfortunate Indians found themselves. The Governments both of the United States and of Canada came to the rescue ; but in the former country the urgency of the case was not at first fully understood, and much suffering ensued. The agent on the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana (Major Allen) states in his official report that when he entered upon his duties in April 1884 he found the Indians in a dei)lorable condition. The supplies of food which had been sent for them had proved insufficient, and before these could be I'enewed many died from actual starvation. Some stripped the bark from the saplings v/hich grew along their creeks, and ate the inner portion to stifle the sense of hunger. On the Canadian side, fortunately, the emergency was better understood. Colonel McLeod, an able and vigilant officer, was in charge of the Mounted Police at that time, and through his forethought the necessary preparations were made. In 1879 and 1880 the buffalo disappeared from that region. Arrangements were at once made for settling the Indians on Reserves, and for supplying them with food and clothing, and teaching Ihem M erect wooden houses and cultivate their lands. l)aily rations of meat and flour were served out to them. Ploughs, cattle, and horses were furnished to them. Farm instructors were placed among them. The Indians displayed a remarkable readiness to adapt themselves to the new conditions. According to the reports of all the agents they have evinced a quickness to learn and a persevering industry which place them decidedly in advance of the other Indian tribes of that region. In 1882 more than 500,000 lbs. of potatoes were raised by the three Blackfoot tribes, besides considerable quantities of oats, barley, and turnips. The Piegans had sold 1,000 dollars' worth of potatoes, and had a large supply on hand. 'The manner in which the In(1'ans have worked,' writes the agent, ' is really astonishing, as is the interest they have taken, and are taking, in farming.' Axes and other tools were distributed among them, 700 KEPOIIT — 1885. and wore put to good ust. In November 1882 tho agent writes that loglinusos had ' gone up thick and fast on the Reserves, and were most creditable to the l)iiihlcrs.' In many cases tho logs were hewn, and in nearly all the houses tii'cplaces were built. In tho sanio year another official — tho Indian Commissioner — going through tho Resei'ves, was surprised ai , found them holding the south branch of the Saskatchewan, from its source to its junction with the north branch. He speaks of four tribes — the Picancux, lilood, and IJlackfeet, and the Fall Indians (Atsinas), which latter tribe then imrabered about 700 warriors. Of the three former tribes he says : ' They are a distinr'.t people, speak a language of their own, and, I have reason to think, are travelling noi'th- west, as well as the others just mentioned (the Atsinas) ; nor have I heard of any Indians with whose language that which they speak has any affinity.' The result of ^[r. McLean's inquiries confirms this opinion of the westward movement of these Indians in comparatively recent times. ' The former home of these people,' he writes, ' was in the Red River country, where, from the nature of the soil Avhich ulackened their moccasins, they were called Blackfeet.' This, it should i e stated, is the exact meaning of SiksiJca, from siksinam, black; and ka, the root of oqkatsh, foot. The meaning of the other tribal names, Kcna and PieJcane, is unknown. That they were once significant cannot be doubted, but the natives are now unable to explain them, and use them merely as appella- tives. The westward movement of the Blackfeet has probably been due to the pressure of the Crees upon them. The Crees, according to their own tradition, originally dwelt far east of the Red River, in Labrador and about Hudson's Bay. They have gradually advanced westward to the inviting plains along the Red River and the Saskatchewan, pushing tho prior occupants before them by the sheer force of numbers. This will explain the deadly hostility which has always existed between the Crees and the Blackfeet. It will seem, at first view, a perplexing circumstance that M. Lacombe, who, of all authorities, should be the best informed on this subject, and v> •( '• ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 701 wlio Ima himself recorded this westward movement of tho Crccs, is (lis- posed to unestion the liict of the corresponding movement of tho lilaik- feet. In his lust letter, in reply to ni}' inqniries, ho expresses a doul)t as to their former sojourn in the Red River region, and adds : ' They atlirm, on tho contrary, that they came from the south-west, across the moun- tains — that is, from the direction of Oregon and Wasliington Territory. There were ' (he adds) ' bloody contests between the Rlackfoet and the Nez-perces, as Bancroft ri lates, for tho right of hunting un tho eastern slope of the Rocky ^lountains.' Mr. !^[ciJean, who mentions tho former residence of the Jilackfeet in the Red River country as an undoubted fact, also says in the same letter, ' It is supposed that the great ancestor of tho Blackfeet came across tho mountains.' Hero are two distinct and apparently conflicting traditions, each having good authority and evidence in its favour. One of tin; iiest tests of the truth of tradition is to bo found in language. Applying this test in the present instance, we are led to some interesting conclusions. It has been seen that Mackenzie, to whom we owe our first knowledge of the Blackfoot tribes, declared that their language had no ailinity with that of any other Indians whom he know of. He was well acquainted with the Crees and Ojibways, who speak dialects of the great Algonkin stock, but he recognised no connection between their speech and that of tho Black- feet. Another traveller (Umfreville), whose book was published in \7'Jl, gave a list of forty-four words of the Blackfoot language. The dis- tinguished philologist Albert Grallatin, whoso great work, the ' Synopsis of the Indian Tribes' (which still remains the best authority on North American philology), appeared in 1S3(), examined this list of Umfreville, and pronounced it sufficient to show that the language of the Bljickfcet was ' different from any other known to us.' A few years later ho received from an Indian trader a more extended vocabulary, and ho then, in a second memoir on tho subject, corrected his f(n'mor statement, and showed that there was a clear afhnity between the Blackfoot 8))oech and the language of the Algonkin family. ^More recently the French mission- aries made the same discovery, which seems to have been to them equally nnex; jcted. ^I. Lacombe writes to me : ' The Blackfoot language, although far from, belongs to the same family as the Algic, Ojibway, Sautoux, ]\Iaskegon, and Cree. We discovered this analogy by studying the grammatical rules of these languages.' Here will be noticed the rather remarkable fact that some of the ablest and most experienced of North American linguists have at first supposed the Blackfoot language to bo distinct from all others, and have only discovered its connection with the Algonkin family by careful study. M. Lacombe has been good enough to send me a pretty extensive vocabu- lary of Blackfoot words, compared with tho corresponding words in the Cree and Ojibway languages. He has added what, for the purpose in view, is equally important — many paradigms of grammatical forms in the Blackfoot, compared with similar forms in the Cree and Ojibway tongues. The Blackfoot language is thus shown to be, in its grammar, pui-ely Algonkin. The resemblance is complete in the minutest forms, and in examining these alone it would seem incomprehensible that any doubt of the connection of this language with that stock could have been enter- tained. But when we turn to the vocabulary, by which the first judg- ment of a language is necessarily formed, the origin of the early error becomes apparent. Many of the most common words are totally different 702 REPORT — 1885. from tlio corresponding words in tlio Algonkin languages. Others, which are found on careful examination to l)0 radically the aarao as tlio (corre- sponding Algonkin terms, arc yet so changed and distorted that the resemblance is not at first apparent. Of this variation and distortion the numerals allbrd a good example. It should bo menti(jned that in the Indian words which follow, the vowels are to be pronounc(Ml as in Italian or German, and the consonants generally as in English. The only pecu- liarities are in the /, which has the French sound (like a in azure), and the (J, which I have employed to express a sound resembling the German guttural I'll, as heard in ladien. Mr. ^IcLean writes this sound with rh, as in German, and M. Lacombe with v. It seems to be a trilled guttural, approaching the sound which French philologists designate as the r grasseye. V One UliK'ktVtnt nitokiskiiin ( 'rtc jicyiik Ojibway pcjik two uiitdkiiin iiiji) "'J tliri'C! iic\v(i\visk;im nisto nisswi four iiijoiiii IH'WO iiiwin five iiijilji niyaiian naiian six IKIWU iiiii^'dt wiisik iiiiij,''(i1\vasswi Sloven ikil(,'liiko tf|)ak(»up iiijwas.swi ei^lit nanislio ayi'tiaiunv nisluvivsswi niiu! pikkiso kckamitatat jaii;^ass\vi ten kepc) iiiitataf, mitaswi twenty iinjippo nijtano iiijtana thirty ni'ppu ni.stiiiiiitano iii.ssiiiiitana om; hundrcrl kc'pippo mitatato-inilano iiingotwak Other words in ordinary use will cases, and the distorted resemblance lil.ickfoot God heaven (lay niylil man won\an boy girl sun cartli water tire river lake house knife kettle tree niy fallier my mother my son my (laugliter my head my moutli my tcetli my skin my tongue my heart my blood my leg oniakkatose spouteh kustikoy kokny Hiatal)! akew saqkoinapi akt'kowan natous tcluKikoum oqki telii niyet.'uikay omaxikiini napi-oyis stowau iska niistis n'inna nikrista n'o(|ko\va nit "ana n'otokan n'ahoy n'orpikisth n'otokis n"alchini n'oskitchipappi n'ahahan n"oqkat show the total in othcT's : — ( 'iTe kije-nianito kitchi kijik kijikaw tibi.«ka\v ayisiyiniw iskwew na])esis iskwesis pisim askiy nipiy iskoulew sipiy sakaliigan wasiwihigan mokkoumun askik niistek n"otta\viy ningawiy nikosis nit'anis n'istikwan n"int-on nipita n'asakay nifeyaniy ni-teli ni-mik n'iskat unlikeness in some Ojiliway kije-manifo kitelii kijik kijikat tihikkiit anisinal)e ikkwe kwiwisens ikkwesens gisis akki nipi Lskoutew sipi sakahigan wakkahigan nKjkkouman akik mittik n'oss iiinge nigwis nind'anis n'istigwan nind-on nipita ninjagai nin'tenani ni-teh ni-mik nikat 1 ON Tin: N0UTII-WK8TKUN TUlHi:t< OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 703 No one who oxaminos this list will wondtjr that tho connection between the Blaokfoot and the other Al^onkin tongues was not apparent to thosu who had to jndL,'0 from brief and rude voeabulariea of thc» former language, ibit it will bo noticiid that tho possessive pronoun ' my ' is evidently expressed by tho same prefix ni (or n) in all three languages. Pursuing this tra(!e we com])aro the pctrsonul proiuiuns, and Hud aclosoresemblauco, the ditfcrenee being mainly in tho terminations: — MlMckfoot Oce Ojibway iiistowa uiya nin ki>t()\V!i kiya kin oustoye wiya win nistoninan niyanan ninawind ki.stowawa kiyawa kinawa oustowawa wivawa winawa I thou lie WO ye they In the possessive prefixes the resemblance is still more notalde. Thus in tho Blackfoot language n'olas means ' my horse, or dog ' (the samo word, oddly enough, applying in this form to both aninuils) ; and in Cree nfeiii has tho same meaning. These words are thus varied with the possessive pronouns and in tho two numbers : — IMnckfoot Creo My horse (or (log) n'otas n't'era thy k'otas kit'cMi his otas otenia om- n'otiisinan n't'cniinau your k'otasinan kitciniwaw thoir otasiwaw oteniiwawa my horses (or place. The result of this cIkuij,'!! might bo better inferred if we knew the character- istics of both the constituent races. Dat it may be said that a frc(pient, if not a general, resi it of such a mixture of races is the production of a peophj of supericM" intelligence and fo"ee of character. Th(! circumstances thus suggested may account, not only for the peculiarities of the language and character of the JJlackfeot tribes, but also for the diiferent traditions which arc; lound among them in regard to their origin and former abode;. It would be very (iesiral)l(; to trace that portion of tlie Hlackfoot vocabulary which is not of Algonkin origin to its source in the language of some other linguistic stock. To do this would require a careful comparison of this foreign element with tho vai'ious langnag(!S spoken in tht;ir vicinity, and particularly with those of tho tribes west of the llocky -Mountains. For such a comparison there has been neither time nor adeipiate material, and this interesting subject of inquiry must be left for another oc ;asion. Tho religion of these tribes (applying this term to their combined mythology and worship) resembles their language. It is in the main Algonkin, but; includes some beliefs and ceremonies derived fi'om sf)me other soni'ce. l''atlier Lacombe's account (jf their cosmogony and their deities cannot be bolter given than in his own clear and pithy style. In their vi(;w, as in that of the Lenapo and other Aluonkiu nations, there were two creations : the primary, which called the world into existence, and of which they have \r " a vague idea; ami the secondaiy, which found the world an expanse of sea and sky (with, it would seem, a few animals disporting themselves therein), and left il in its present state. ' The primitive creation,' writes M. Lacombe, 'is attributed to a niiierior divinity, whom they call tho Creator (ApistotdJciw). This divinit y, 1 o wever, is in some manner identified with the sun (N(it'l-<). The eaii'th itself is believed to bo a divinity of some kind, for, in their invocations, if they call the sun "our father " (Kiunon), tliey call the earth " our mother " (Kilin'stimnon). It seems also that tho moon is considered to bo one ami the same divinity v/ith the sun. At any rate, in the invocations it is designatcnl by tho same name, Xafus. Yet it is often said to be tho "old woman," the consort of the sun. The whole of this is confused enoiisrh in the minds of the Indians to render them unable to gi\ o, when questioned, exact explanations. 'As to the secondary creation, if it may bo so styled, the Indian account runs as follows: At a certain time it happened that all the earth ■was covered with water. The " Old Man " (Xajnir) was in a canoe, and ho thought of causing the earth to come up from the abyss. To put his project into execution housed the aid of four aiii ma Is rho duck, the otter, the badger, and the musk-rat. The musk-rat provt li lo be the best diver. He remained so long under water that when he came to the surface he was fixinting, but ho had succeeded in getting a litti ■ particle of earth, which he brought between the toes of bis paw. 'J'ni.j particle of earth ol ON THK NOUTII-WEJ^TKUN TUIBK.S OF TltC DOMINION OF CANADA. 705 the " Old Man " took, and blowiiiif on it ho swelled it tosncli ati extent as to make the whole earth of it. Tuen it took him lour dayn to eompleto his work, and niako the nioimtains, rivoiN, plants, jind beasts. (This number/u«/' is a fatidical one iu the legends of these Indians.) The " Old Man " worked two days moi-o in order to make the first woman, for after the first day's work he had not succeeded in making iiny thing graceful. When the first woman, after much toil, was completed, a sort of council was held, in which the woman opposed every one of Xapiw's propositions that would have been very favourable to the welfai'e of man- kind. So wo must conclude that all the evil on the earth comes from the woman's contradictious will.' This Napiw, or ' Old Alan,' adds Fatlier Lacombe, ' appears again in many other traditions and legendary accounts, iu which he is a.i. ociated with the various kinds of animals, speaking to them, making use of tiiem, and especially cheating them, and {)Iaying every kind of trick. In these legends Napiw comes down from tlio high position of creator to a much lower one, and appears not unlike to a buffoon and treacherous rascal. I will mention only that, accordin;" ♦^-^ the account of the Indians, the'" Old Man " is said to have como from l . south-west, across the mountains; and after a prolonged sojourn in Mioso countries he went toward the north-east, where he di.sappesn't'd, and nobodv has heard of him since. The Indians point out the p' ' • where the '' Old Afan " played with the Coutonay Indians, not far from the I'oioupine Hills ; on another spot he slept ; and on a hill not far from Ivcl-dei^r River any one can sec at the present day the place where Napiw came down by sliding.' Those who have jcad Schoolcraft's ' Algic Researches,' Mr. Leland's ' Algonquin Legends,' and, above all, Dr. Jirinton's ' Myths of the Now World,' will recognise in Nai)iw tho most genuine r\nd characteristic of all the Algonkin divinities. In every tribe of this widespread family, from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and from tho Delaware to the Rociky ^fountains, he reappears nnder various names — Manabosho, Michabo Wetuks, Glooskap, Wisaketjak, Napiw — but everywhere with the same traits and tho same history. He is at once a creator, a defender, a teacher, and at tho same time a conqueror, a robber, and a deceiver. But the robbery and deceit, it would seem, are nsuf "y for some good purpose. He preserves mankind from their enemies, a ^d uses the arts and craft of these enemies to subdue and destroy them. In Dr. Brinton's view, his origin is to be found in a nature-myth, representing, ' on the one hand, the unceasing struggle of day with night, of light with darkness, and, on the other, that no less im])ortant conflict which is ever waging between the storm and sunshine, the winter and summer, the rain and clear sky.' Napiw, the 'old man,' has, it seems, other names in the Blackfoot tongue. He is known as Keiiakakatsis, ' he who wears a wolfskin robe,* and MiJc-orJcayew, 'he wlio wears a red-painted bufifalo-robe.' These namea have probably some reference to legends of which he is the hero. The name of the creator, Apistutokiiu, as explained by M. Lacombe, oflers a good example of th^ subtle grammatical distinctions which abound in the Siksika (or Blackfoot) speech, as in the other Algonkin tongues. The expression ' he makes,' or ' he creates ' (which, like other verbal forms, may bo used as a noun), can be rendered in four different forms. Apistotoisim signifies ' he makes,' when the complement, or thing made, is expressed, and is an inanimate object, Apistotoyew is used when the expressed object is animate. Apistotakiw is the indefinite form, used 1885. z z 706 REPORT — 1885. when the complement, or thinjr made, is net expressed, bat is understood to be inanimate ; and, finally, AjnstotoJciw, the word in question, is employed when tlie unexpressed object is supposed to be animate. The world, therefore, as first created, was, in the view of the Blackfoot cosmologis*". an animated existence. But while these beliefs are all purely Algonkin, the chief religious ceremony of the Blackfoot tribes is certainly of foreign origin. This is the famous ' sun-dance,' to which they, like the Dakota tribes and some of the western Crees, are fanatically devoted. That this ceremony is not properly Algonkin is clearly shown by the fact that among the tribes of that stock, with the sole exception of the Blackfeet and a few of the western Crees, it is unknown. Neither the Ojibways of the lakes nor any of the numerous trilies east of the Mississippi had in their worship a trace of this extraordinary rite. The late esteemed missionary among the Dakotas, the Rev. Stephen 11. Riggs (author of the ' Dakota Grammar and Dictionary ') says of this ceremony : ' The highest form of sacrifice is self-immolation. It exists in the "sun-dance," and in what is called " vision-seeking." Some, passing a knife under the muscles of the breast and arms, attach cords thereto, which are fastened at the other end to the top of a tall pole, raised for the purpose ; and thus they hang sus- pended only by those cords, without food or drink, for two, thi*ee, or four days, gazing upon vacancy, their minds intently fixed upon the object in wliich they wish to be assisted by the deity, and waiting for a vision from above. Others, making incisions in the back, have attached, by hair-ropes, one or more l)uCralo-heads, so that every time the body moves in the dance a jerk is given to the buffalo- heads behind. This rite exists at present among the western bands of the Dakotas in the greatest degree of barbarity. After making the cuttings in the arms, breast, or back, wooden setons — sticks about the size of a lead-pencil — are inserted, and the ropes are attached to thera. Then, swinging on the ropes, they pull until the setons are pulled out with the flesh and tendons; or, if hung with the buffalo-heads, the pulling-out is done in the dance by the jerking motion, keeping time with the music, while the head and body, in an attitude of supplication, face the sun, and the eye is unflinch- ingly fixed upon it.' My correspondent, the Rev. Mr. McLean, sends me a minute and graphic account of this ceremony as he witnessed it, in June last, on one of the Blackfoot Reserves, when most of the Kena, or Blood Indians, were present as actors or spectators. His narrative is too long for inser- tion here in full, but the concluding portion will show the resolute con- stancy with which this sacrifice of self-immolation is performed — some new featui'es being added, which are not found in the brief account of Mr. Riggs, though they may possibly belong also to the Dakota ceremony. * This year several persons, young and old, who had made vows during times of sickness or danger, had a finger cut off by the first joint, as an offering to the sun ; and others had the operation of cutting their breasts and backs. The old woman who cut the fingers oft" held the suppliant's hand up to the sun, and prayed ; then placed it upon a pole on the ground, laid a knife on the finger, and with a blow from a deer's-horn scraper severed the member. The severed piece was taken up, held toward the sun, and the prayer made, when it was dropped into a bag containing similar members. This ceremony was gone through by each in turn. After this was done each carried an offering, »nd, I ON THE NOUTJI-WESTERN TRIBES OF TUB DOMINION Of CANADA. 707 i clim'biug the sacrificial pole with tlic face reverently turned toward the sun, placed the offering on the top of the pole. This year seven or eight persons went through the above ceremony. The other sacrificial cere- mony consisted of the slitting of the flesh in two pieces in each breast. A wooden skewer w£.s placed through each breast ; a rope fastened