The Drama of the Forests | Page 7

outside to
dry a little, and are then split into the finest threads. The thread-maker
passes each strand through her mouth to moisten it, then places it upon
her bare thigh, and with a quick movement rolls it with the flat of her
hand to twist it. Passing it again through her mouth, she ties a knot at
one end, points the other, and puts it away to dry. The result is a thread
like the finest hair-wire.
For colouring moose hair or porcupine quills for fancy work, the

women obtain their dyes in the following ways: From the juice of
boiled cranberries they derive a magenta dye. From alder bark, boiled,
beaten, and strained, they get a dark, slate-coloured blue which is
mixed with rabbits' gall to make it adhere. The juice of bearberries
gives them a bright red. From gunpowder and water they obtain a fine
black, and from coal tar a stain for work of the coarsest kind. They rely
chiefly, however, upon the red, blue, green, and yellow ochres found in
many parts of the country. These, when applied to the decoration of
canoes, they mix with fish oil; but for general purposes the earths are
baked and used in the form of powder.
From scenes such as I have described the summer traveller obtains his
impression of the forest Indians. Too often their life and character are
judged by such scenes, as if these truly represented their whole
existence. In reality, this is but their holiday season which they are
spending upon their tribal summer camping ground. It is only upon
their hunting grounds that one may fairly study the Indians; so,
presently, we shall follow them there. And when one experiences the
wild, free life the Indian lives--hampered by no household goods or
other property that he cannot at a moment's notice dump into his canoe
and carry with him to the ends of the earth if he chooses--one not only
envies him, but ceases to wonder which of the two is the greater
philosopher--the white man or the red; for the poor old white man is so
overwhelmed with absurd conventions and encumbering property that
he can rarely do what his heart dictates.
FAMILY HUNTING GROUNDS
Don't let us decide just yet, however, whether the Indian derives more
pleasure from life than does the white man, at least, not until we return
from our voyage of pleasure and investigation; but before we leave Fort
Consolation it is well to know that the hunting grounds in possession of
the Indian tribes that live in the Great Northern Forest have been for
centuries divided and subdivided and allotted, either by bargain or by
battle, to the main families of each band. In many cases the same
hunting grounds have remained in the undisputed possession of the
same families for generations. Family hunting grounds are usually

delimited by natural boundaries, such as hills, valleys, rivers, and lakes.
The allotments of land generally take the form of wedge-shaped tracts
radiating from common centres. From the intersection of these
converging boundary lines the common centres become the hubs of the
various districts. These district centres mark convenient summer
camping grounds for the reunion of families after their arduous labour
during the long winter hunting season. The tribal summer camping
grounds, therefore, are not only situated on the natural highways of the
country--the principal rivers and lakes--but also indicate excellent
fishing stations. There, too, the Indians have their burial grounds.
Often these camping grounds are the summer headquarters for from
three to eight main families; and each main family may contain from
five or six to fifty or sixty hunting men. Inter-marriage between
families of two districts gives the man the right to hunt on the land of
his wife's family as long as he "sits on the brush" with her--is wedded
to her--but the children do not inherit that right; it dies with the father.
An Indian usually lives upon his own land, but makes frequent
excursions to the land of his wife's family.
In the past, the side boundaries of hunting grounds have been the cause
of many family feuds, and the outer boundaries have furnished the
occasion for many tribal wars. The past and the present headquarters
camping grounds of the Strong Woods Indians--as the inhabitants of
the Great Northern Forest are generally called--lie about one hundred
and fifty miles apart.
The natural overland highways throughout the country, especially those
intersecting the watercourses and now used as the roadbeds for our
great transcontinental railways, were not originally discovered by man
at all. The credit is due to the big game of the wilderness; for the
animals were not only the first to find them, but also the first to use
them. The Indian simply followed the animals, and