The Great Lone Land: A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of AmericaButler, William Francis, Sir
History
The Great Lone Land: A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America
Butler, William Francis, Sir
Northwest, Canadian -- Description and travel
Poor red man of the great North-west, I am at last in your land! Long as
I have been hearing of you and your wild doings, it is only here that I
have reached you on the confines of the far-stretching Winnipeg. It is no
easy task to find you now, for one has to travel far into the lone
spaces of the Continent before the smoke of your wigwam or of your tepie
blurs the evening air.
But henceforth we will be companions for many months, and through many
varied scenes, for my path lies amidst the lone spaces which are still
your own; by the rushing rapids where you spear the great "namha" (
sturgeon) will we light the evening fire and lie down to rest, lulled by
the ceaseless thunder of the torrent; the lone lake shore will give us
rest for the midday meal, and from your frail canoe, lying like a
sea-gull on the wave, we will get the "mecuhaga" (the blueberry) and the
"wa-wa," (the goose) giving you the great medicine of the white man, the
the and suga in exchange. But I anticipate.
On the morning following my arrival at the mission house a strange sound
greeted my ears as I arose. Looking through the window, I beheld for the
first time the red man in his glory.
Filing along the outside road came some two hundred of the warriors and
braves of the Ojibbeways, intent upon all manner of rejoicing. At their
head marched Chief Henry Prince, Chief "Kechiwis" (or the Big Apron) "Sou
Souse" (or Little Long Ears); there was also "We-we-tak-gum Na-gash" (or
the Man who flies round the Feathers), and Pahaouza-tau-ka, if not
present, was represented by at least a dozen individuals just as fully
qualified to separate the membrane from the top of the head as was that
most renowned scalp-taker.
Wheeling into the grass-plot in front of the mission house, the whole
body advanced towards the door shouting, "Ho, ho!" and firing off their
flint trading-guns in token of welcome. The chiefs and old men advancing
to the front, seated themselves on the ground in a semi-circle, while the
young men and braves remained standing or lying on the ground farther
back in two deep lines. In front of all stood Henry Prince the son of
Pequis, Chief of the Swampy tribe, attended by his interpreter and
pipe-bearer.
My appearance upon the door-step was the signal for a burst of deep and
long-rolling, "Ho, ho's," and then the ceremony commenced. There Was no
dance or "pow wow;" it meant business at once. Striking his hand upon
his breast the chief began; as he finished each sentence the interpreter
took up the thread, explaining with difficulty the long rolling, words of
the Indian.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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