Missionary Work Among the Ojebway Indians | Page 4

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interpreter a young Indian named Andrew Jacobs, his Indian name
being Wagimah-wishkung, and for short I called him Wagimah. At
Owen Sound we met with some Cape Croker Indians, and engaged
their boat and two men to take us the following day to their settlement,
about forty miles up the Lake Shore.
Soon after four the next morning we were up and dressed, and an hour
later were on our way. It was fine, but rather foggy, and the sun
scarcely visible through the mist. Not a breath of wind was stirring, so
we had to keep to our oars, sometimes one and sometimes another
rowing. At noon we reached Commodore Point, and put in for about an
hour, spending our time in eating raspberries, which were growing in
the greatest profusion, and bathing in the bay. Then on we pushed again,
past Griffith's Island, White Cloud Island, and King's Point, and arrived
at length, after a voyage of eight hours, at Cape Croker. We found that
there were about 350 Ojebway Indians in the place, the majority of
whom were Roman Catholics or Methodists: they had good houses,
some log, but mostly neat little frame weather-boarded buildings; the
land, however, was much neglected, very little attempt being made at
farming. A Church of England service was conducted on Sundays by
an Indian Catechist named Angus. The Chief's name was Tabegwun.
On the day after our arrival I held a meeting with the Indians, and
explained to them my object in coming to visit them, and began by
reading the Scriptures, and preaching to them, and baptizing one or two
children. They gave me the names of twenty-six persons who professed
to belong to the Church of England, and were desirous of having a
Mission established among them. During our stay we were guests at Mr.
Angus's house, a clean, respectable dwelling, and were regaled with
venison and huckleberry pie.
The next Indian Reserve that we visited was Saugeen. To reach this
place we had to return by boat to Owen Sound, and then go across
country in a westerly direction to the shores of Lake Huron. The
journey was accomplished by "buggy." We started at 4 a.m. on the
morning of July 31st, and stopped to have our breakfast on the roadside
about 7 o'clock, sitting one at each end of a log facing each other, our
plates and cups in front of us. We reached the Indian village at 8.30

a.m., and went to the house of the chief whose name was Madwayosh.
Only his wife was at home, but we learnt all that we wanted from her.
There were about 250 Ojebway Indians on this Reserve, and nearly all
Methodists. They had a resident Methodist Missionary and a place of
worship in course of erection. I at once came to the conclusion that it
would be unsuitable for us to attempt any Mission work in this place;
and when we bade adieu to Mrs. Madwayosh we drove on to the Sauble
Reserve, five miles further. A most dreadful road it was the whole way.
We had both to get down and lead the horse more than half the distance,
and then our traps were in the most imminent danger of jumping out as
the buggy went jolting and rolling on over huge boulders and logs and
stumps. It took us over two hours to reach the place, and when we got
there, rain was coming down in torrents. We inquired for Waubesee's
house, he being a member of the Church, and after some trouble we at
length found it, but it lay back at a distance from the road, with only a
trail leading to it, so we had to take the horse out of the buggy and lead
him after us. The little house, made entirely of bark, stood in the most
picturesque spot, surrounded by lofty pines. Near the house was a calf
shed, into which we tried to squeeze our horse, but he would not go, so
we had to take him to a stable about a mile off.
Waubesee and his family received us very warmly. They said there
used to be a great many Church people among them, but no missionary
had been to see them for many years, and now all who had belonged to
the Church were either gone away into the States, or had joined the
Methodists. Waubesee, his wife, children, and grandchildren, numbered
eighteen in all, and he said that the whole number of Indians on the
Reserve was about 250. He seemed to be an intelligent man, and got
out his Ojebway prayer-book and Testament to show us. Before we left,
the family and a few others were called together, and we had reading
and prayer, and I