Life in the Clearings versus the BushMoodie, Susanna
History
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush
Moodie, Susanna
Frontier and pioneer life -- Ontario; Moodie, Susannah, 1803-1885; Ontario -- Description and travel
The red man is out of his element when he settles quietly down to a
farm, and you perceive it at a glance. He never appears to advantage
as a resident among civilized men; and he seems painfully conscious of
his inferiority, and ignorance of the arts of life. He has lost his
identity, as it were, and when he attempts to imitate ihe customs and
manners of the whites, he is too apt to adopt their vices without
acquiring their industry and perseverance, and sinks into a sottish,
degraded savage. The proud independence we admired so much in the man of
the woods, has disappeared with his truthfulness, honesty, and simple
manners. His pure blood is tainted with the dregs of a lower humanity,
degenerated by the want and misery of over-populous European cities. His
light eyes, crisp hair, and whitey-brown complexion, too surely betray
his mixed origin; and we turn from the half educated, half-caste Indian,
with feelings of aversion and mistrust.
There is a Mohawk family who reside in this township of the name of
Loft, who have gained some celebrity in the colony by their clever
representations of the manners and customs of their tribe. They sing
Indian songs, dance the war-dance, hold councils, and make grave
speeches, in the characters of Indian chiefs and hunters, in an artistic
manner that would gain the applause of a more fastidious audience.
The two young squaws, who were the principal performers in this
travelling Indian opera, were the most beautiful Indian women I ever
beheld. There was no base alloy in their pure native blood. They had the
large, dark, humid eyes, the ebon locks tinged with purple, so peculiar
to their race, and which gives such a rich tint to the clear olive skin
and brilliant white teeth of the denizens of the Canadian wilderness.
Susannah Loft and her sister were the _beau ideal_ of Indian women; and
their graceful and symmetrical figures were set off to great advantage
by their picturesque and becoming costume, which in their case was
composed of the richest materials. Their acting and carriage were
dignified and queen-like, and their appearance singularly pleasing and
interesting.
Susannah, the eldest and certainly the most graceful of these truly
fascinating girls, was unfortunately killed last summer by the collision
of two steam-carriages, while travelling professionally with her sister
through the States. Those who had listened with charmed ears to her
sweet voice, and gazed with admiring eyes upon her personal charms, were
greatly shocked at her untimely death.
A little boy and girl belonging to the same talented family have been
brought before the public, in order to supply her place, but they have
not been able to fill up the blank occasioned by her loss.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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