Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
History
Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784
Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
New Brunswick -- History; Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)
We quote next Father Biard's description of the Indian method of
encampment: "Arrived at a certain place, the first thing they do is to
build a fire and arrange their camp, which they will have finished in
an hour or two; often in half an hour. The women go into the woods and
bring back some poles which are stuck into the ground in a circle
around the fire and at the top are interlaced in the form of a
pyramid, so that they come together directly over the fire, for there
is the chimney. Upon the poles they throw some skins, matting or bark.
At the foot of the poles under the skins they put their baggage. All
the space around the fire is strewn with soft boughs of the fire tree,
so they will not feel the dampness of the ground; over these boughs
are thrown some mats or seal skins as soft as velvet; upon these they
stretch themselves around the fire with their heads resting upon their
baggage; and, what no one would believe, they are very warm in there
around that little fire, even in the greatest rigors of the winter.
They do not camp except near some good water, and in an attractive
location."
The aboriginies of Acadia when the country became known to Europeans,
no doubt lived as their ancestors had lived from time immemorial. A
glimpse of the life of the Indian in prehistoric times is afforded us
in the archaeological remains of the period. These are to be found at
such places as Bocabec, in Charlotte county, at Grand Lake in Queens
county, and at various points along the St. John river. Dr. L. W.
Bailey, Dr. Geo. F. Matthew, Dr. W. F. Ganong, James Vroom, and others
have given considerable attention to these relics and they were
studied also to some extent by their predecessors in the field of
science, Dr. Robb, Dr. Gesner and Moses H. Perley. The relics most
commonly brought to light include stone implements, such as axes,
hammers, arrow heads, lance and spear heads, gouges and chisels, celts
or wedges, corn crushers, and pipes; also bone implements such as
needles, fish hooks and harpoons, with specimens of rude pottery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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