The Drama of the Forests | Page 9

the Indians procure their outfit for the winter. Being

usually insolvent, owing to the leisurely time spent upon the tribal
camping grounds, they receive the necessary supplies on credit. The
amount of credit, or "advances," given to each Indian seldom exceeds
one third of the value of his average annual catch. That is the white
man's way of securing, in advance, the bulk of the Indian's prospective
hunt; yet, although a few of them are sometimes slow in settling their
debts, they are never a match for the civilized white man.
When I entered the trading room I saw that it was furnished with a
U-shaped counter paralleling three sides of the room, and with a large
box-stove in the middle of the intervening space. On the shelves and
racks upon the walls and from hooks in the rafters rested or hung a
conglomeration of goods to be offered in trade to the natives. There
were copper pails and calico dresses, pain-killer bottles and Hudson's
Bay blankets, sow-belly and chocolate drops, castor oil and gun worms,
frying-pans and ladies' wire bustles, guns and corsets, axes and ribbons,
shirts and hunting-knives, perfumes and bear traps. In a way, the Indian
shop resembled a department store except that all the departments were
jumbled together in a single room. At one post I visited years ago--that
of Abitibi--they had a rather progressive addition in the way of a
millinery department. It was contained in a large lidless packing case
against the side of which stood a long steering paddle for the clerk's use
in stirring about the varied assortment of white women's ancient
headgear, should a fastidious Indian woman request to see more than
the uppermost layer.
Already a number of Indians were being served by the Factor and
Delaronde, the clerk, and I had not long to wait before Oo-koo-hoo
appeared. I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face,
that he was all his name implied, a wise, dignified old gentleman, who
was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
quality in men--especially white men. Even before I heard him speak I
liked Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl.
[Illustration: I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face that

he was all his name implied, a wise dignified old gentleman, who was
in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
quality in men--especially white men. Even before I heard him speak I
liked Oo-koo-hoo--The . . . See Chapter I]
But before going any farther, I ought to explain that as I am
endeavouring to render a faithful description of forest life, I am going
to repeat in the next few paragraphs part of what once appeared in one
of my fictitious stories of northern life. I then made use of the matter
because it was the truth, and for that very reason I am now going to
repeat it; also because this transaction as depicted is typical of what
usually happens when the Indians try to secure their advances.
Furthermore, I give the dialogue in detail, as perchance some reader
may feel as Thoreau did, when he said: "It would be some advantage to
live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward
civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and
what methods have been taken to obtain them; or even to look over the
old day-books of the merchants, to see what it was that men most
commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that is, what are the
grossest groceries."
But while the following outfit might be considered the Indian's grossest
groceries, the articles are not really necessaries at all for him; for, to go
to the extreme, a good woodsman can hunt without even gun, axe,
knife, or matches, and can live happily, absolutely independent of our
civilization.
As the Factor was busy with another Indian when the Chief entered--for
Oo-koo-hoo was the chief of the Ojibways of that district--he waited
patiently, as he would not deign to do business with a clerk. When he
saw the trader free, he greeted:
"Quay, quay, Hugemow!" (Good day, Master).
"Gude day, man Oo-koo-hoo, what can I do for ye the day?" amicably
responded the Factor.
"Master, it is this way. I am about to leave for my hunting grounds; but

this time I am going to spend the winter upon a new part of them,
where I have not hunted for years, and where game of all kinds will be
plentiful. Therefore, I want you to give me liberal advances so that my
hunt will not