An Account of the Customs and Manners of the Micmakis and Maricheets Savage Nations, Now Dependent on the Government of Cape-BretonMaillard, Antoine Simon
History
An Account of the Customs and Manners of the Micmakis and Maricheets Savage Nations, Now Dependent on the Government of Cape-Breton
Maillard, Antoine Simon
Malecite Indians; Micmac Indians; Nova Scotia -- Description and travel
"You men! who look on me as of an infirm and weak sex, and consequently
of all necessity subordinate to you, know that in what I am, the Creator
has given to my share, talents and properties at least of as much worth
as your's, I have had the faculty of bringing into the world warriors,
great hunters, and admirable managers of canoes. This hand, withered as
you see it now, whose veins represent the root of a tree, has more than
once struck a knife into the hearts of the prisoners, who were given up
to me for my sport. Let the river-sides, I say, for I call them to
witness for me, as well as the woods of such a country, attest their
having seen me more than once tear out the heart, entrails, and tongue,
of those delivered up to me, without changing color, roast pieces of
their flesh, yet palpitating and warm with life, and cram them down the
throats of others, whom the like fate awaited. With how many scalps have
not I seen my head adorned, as well as those of my daughters! With what
pathetic exhortations have not I, upon occasion, rouzed up the spirit of
our young men, to go in quest of the like trophies, that they might
atchieve the reward, honor, and renown annexed to the acquisition of
them: but it is not in these points alone that I have signalized myself.
I have often brought about alliances, which there was no room to think
could ever be made; and I have been so fortunate, that all the couples
whose marriages I have procured, have been prolific, and furnished our
nation with supports, defenders, and subjects, to eternize our race, and
to protect us from the insults of our enemies. These old firs, these
antient spruce-trees, full of knots from the top to the root, whose bark
is falling off with age, and who yet preserve their gum and powers of
life, do not amiss resemble me. I am no longer what I was; all my skin
is wrinkled and furrowed, my bones are almost every where starting
through it. As to my outward form, I may well be reckoned amongst the
things, fit for nothing but to be totally neglected and thrown aside;
but I have still within me wherewithal to attract the attention of those
who know me."
After this introduction follow the thanksgiving and encomiums, much in
the same taste as the first haranguer's amongst the guests. This is what
is practised in all the more solemn entertainments, both on the men and
women's side. Nor can you imagine, how great an influence such praises
have over them, derived as they are from the merit of hunting, and how
greatly they contribute to inflame their passion for it. Nor is it
surprising, considering how much almost the whole of their livelihood
depends upon the game of all sorts that is the object of their chace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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