Missionary Work Among the Ojebway IndiansWilson, Edward Francis
History
Missionary Work Among the Ojebway Indians
Wilson, Edward Francis
Indians of North America -- Missions; Ojibwa Indians
Three days after William was buried, the bodies of our late dear
Bishop and Mrs. Fauquier arrived in charge of two of their sons, it
having been their expressed wish to be buried in our little cemetery
with our Indian children. On Monday, the 22nd, the long funeral cortege
moved slowly to the cemetery. There was a large gathering of people
both from the Canadian and American sides--people of all classes and
creeds. First, the clergy in their surplices, then the Indian boys, two
and two, one of them, who had been supported by the late Bishop,
carrying a banner with the words, "He rests from his labours;" then
came the hearse bearing the late Bishop's remains, with four horses,
all draped, and the Wawanosh girls followed, one of them bearing a
banner with the words, "She is not dead, but sleepeth;" then the
hearse, and members of the family and other mourners--a long mournful
procession. A vault had been prepared, and the coffins, covered with
flowers, were laid within it, and the latter part of the Burial Service
read. Thus the good, kind-hearted, self-sacrificing Bishop, the first
Bishop of this wild Missionary diocese, and his afflicted yet devoted
wife, who had laboured so earnestly for the welfare of the Indians
during the latter part of their lives, were now laid side by side in
the Indian cemetery to await the joyful resurrection to eternal life.
The very next grave to the Bishop's was that of Frederick, the
Neepigon boy.
Before the summer holidays commenced, the cemetery gate had once more
to be opened and the earth once more to be turned, for another boy,
Simon Altman, from Walpole Island, was dead. This was the fifth boy who
had died during the winter, not from any malignant disease or fever,
but from various causes, and seven bodies in all had been committed to
the silent dust. For a time we were afraid that the saddening effect
of so many deaths would lead to a complete break up of our work, as the
Indians are of course very superstitious and might be afraid to send
any more of their children to us.
Next autumn our number at both the Homes was very much reduced, still
we were able to keep on, and now our pupils are once more steadily on
the increase.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
WILLIAM SAHGUCHEWAY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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