Acadiensis/Volume 1/Number 4/The Indians of Acadia
The Indians of Acadia.
HEN, in the year 1604, Champlain, deMonts and Poutrincourt, from old France, their souls filled with a laudable ambition to establish colonies and conquer new territories which would add to the wealth and renown of the mother country, landed in what they named New France, they found the territory occupied by a brave and healthy race of men. These men, the native Indians, the Abenakis, as they were then called, lived by fishing and hunting. The only enemy they knew were the Mohawks, a rival tribe, with whom they were frequently at war, and against whom, according to their own legends and traditions, they were able, for a considerable period of time, to hold their ground. That the Mohawks subsequently obtained the mastery is at least probable from an incident which is touched upon in a later portion of this sketch.
The descendants of the Abenakis still remain among us, and are to be found in scattered groups throughout the length and breadth of Acadia. Much of interest regarding them has been related by Marc L'Escarbot, the historian of New France, to whose published works we are greatly indebted for the preservation of valuable material. Champlain's maps of La Baie Française, Port Royal and
the mouth of the St. John River, the first ever made of this part of the world, of which we have any knowledge, are remarkably accurate in their main features, and well worthy of careful examination.
L'Escarbot, in his "Historie de la Nouvelle France" says: "When we came to the River Saint John, being in the town of Ouigotidi (for thus I can well call an enclosed place full of people), we saw in a great 'hallier' about eighty savages, entirely naked, with the exception of a cincture, who were making a tabaguia with flour which hey had received from us, of which they had made pots full of 'bouillie.'"
The exact spot where this interesting feast took place is shown by Champlain upon one of his maps, and is readily recognized as the Navy Island of to-day, situated at the upper end of the harbour of St. John.
The Indians who live in Acadia are the members of three tribes the Micmacs, who were the original owners of the soil; and the Maliseets, who were once a portion of the Abenaki nation, were later comers, and driving back the Micmacs established possession of the northern and western portion of what is now New Brunswick, including the valley of the river St. John, with the exception of one village site at the mouth of the river. The third tribe the Passamaquoddy Indians had no separate tribal organization until after the advent of the white man upon the scene.
Mr. Montague Chamberlain, formerly of the city of St. John, but now of Boston, Mass., is a very well known writer upon Indian affairs, and has published, among others, two valuable papers. The first, entitled, "The Abenaki Indians," was an interesting paper on the Indians of New England, their language and their tribes. This paper was read in 1895 before the Shepherd Historical Society of Cambridge, Mass. The second paper was entitled "The Origin of the Maliseets," and was published in the New Brunswick Magazine, Vol. I., pp. 41–45.
Concerning the origin of the Abenakis, and their extension into Acadia, Mr. Chamberlain states in his first mentioned paper that there was good reason for supposing that the progenitors of the Abenaki nation were a band of Ojibways who left the main body and settled in the Adirondack region, from which they were driven by the Iroquois, when that nation moved up from the southwest.
"At the time of the European occupation of New England these Ojibways had increased to seven large tribes, and controlled the entire country from the St. John river in New Brunswick through Maine and New Hampshire to the Connecticut river, and extended their rule into Massachusetts as far as the mouth of the Merrimac on the east, and Northampton on the west. The senior or original tribe claimed the hunting rights of the country between the Connecticut and the Piscataqua, their principal village being Pennacook, on the banks of the Merrimac, where Manchester now stands, and where their chief, Passaconaway, lived. It is probable that this tribe was known as the Nipmuks by the neighboring people, but their own tribal name is unknown."
The origin of the younger tribes is thus accounted for by Mr. Chamberlain:
"First a band of Nipmuks wandered to the Saco, set up a village on the site of the present town of Fryburg, organized an independent tribe and adopted the name of Sakokik, generally spelled Sakoki, from which we have derived the present name of the river Saco. Later, a detachment from the Sakoki set up for themselves on the banks of the Androscoggin, and are known in history as the Assagunticooks. From these sprung the Wawenocks, and the Canibas or Kenebasiaks, the former spreading over the Maine coast between Rockland and Yarmouth, and the Canibas taking possession of the Kennebec river. In turn, the Canibas became the parent tribe of the Penobscots, and it was a band of Penobscots who set up their wigwams on the banks of the St. John, and established the tribe that is now known as the Maliseets. All this must have occurred long before the white man entered the country, for Champlain, Lescarbot, Captain John Smith and Cardillac, who visited the St. John during the first decade of the seventeenth century, found there two large encampments of Maliseets, and the early visitors refer to the tribe as taking a leading part in the affairs of the Abenaki nation."
This name has been variously spelled Abenaki, Wapanaki, Wabananchi, and Abenaqui.
In his paper, entitled, "The Origin of the Maliseets," Mr. Chamberlain writes:
"That the Micmacs were not Wapanakis has been clearly established by comparison of the languages and the traditions, though the tribes lived on intimate friendly terms, and Micmac braves were sometimes found among Wapanaki war parties. Dr. Williamson, in his History of Maine, quotes a Penobscot Indian's statement that 'all the Indians between the St. John and the Saco rivers are brothers; the eldest lives on the Saco, and each tribe is younger as we pass eastward. Always I could understand these brothers very well when they speak, but when the Micmacs talk I can't tell what they say.'"
The Passamaquoddy tribe, to which we have before alluded, is a mixture of Maliseet and Penobscot, and tradition states that a Maliseet brave married a Penobscot squaw and built a wigwam at the entrance of the river St. Croix. They were joined by other Indians from various parts of what is now the State of Maine, and the band which had thus grown up, held allegiance to the Maliseets until subsequently to the arrival of the whites. When the Penobscots finally deserted Machias and the majority of the families moved to the St. Croix, the band, augmented by this addition, elected their own chief and organized a tribal establishment. This ceremony is said to have been conducted by leading men from the Maliseet, Penobscot and St. Francis tribes, which tribes, according to Williamson, were estimated as numbering some 36,000 souls at the time of the European invasion.
The late Edward Jack, who was by profession a civil engineer, has left quite a valuable fund of information relating chiefly to the district of Acadia. In the pursuit of his calling he spent much of his time in the depths of the forests of New Brunswick, often for weeks together, with no companion save an Indian guide or two, their nightly resting place in the summer time, a bed of spruce or fir boughs, beneath a rude shelter of canvas or an upturned canoe; in the winter, a sort of lean-to, or shed, constructed of young evergreens, beneath which the fir boughs upon which they slept were spread upon the snow, while in front a generous fire kept the keen frost at bay.
A man of kindly heart and sympathetic disposition, he eventually won the confidence and respect of what is now but the proud and silent remnant of a once mighty race, which ruled the country from the Bay of Fundy to the St. Lawrence, and from the Kennebec to the Atlantic Ocean.
In a sketch by him, entitled "A Day with the Abenakis," written for the St. John Sun, and published in that journal on the 30th of July, 1881, several Indian legends and customs are touched upon, and the writer feels that he may be permitted to insert herein, from the article mentioned, what may possibly be considered a somewhat lengthy extract:
"In the year 1696, when De Villebon was Governor of Acadia, and resided at the mouth of the Nashwaak, a plan to capture Boston by the aid of the Abenakis, was submitted by him to the consideration of the Court of France, but the carrying out of the scheme was never attempted, for De Villebon found his own existence threatened by an attack which was made upon his fort on the 21st day of October, in that very year, by a force from Massachusetts. This, however, with the assistance of forty neophytes, sent by Father Simon, the Recollet Missionary, who resided near what is now called Springhill, De Villebon defeated. Father Charlevoix, who visited New France in 1720, in describing this contest, says that the Massachusetts men landed below the mouth of the Nashwaak and lighted their camp fires. The French opened upon them with round shot. To this they paid no attention, but on their changing this for grape, the hardy New Englanders were compelled to pass the cold autumnal night without fire, as best they could.
In confirmation of Charlevoix's statement, it may be mentioned that within the past few years, round and grape shot have both been dug out of the lower banks of the Nashwaak, near its junction with the Saint John.
An Indian Wigwam, near Halifax.
Photo by E. A. Wilson
Squaws at the Halifax Market.
Photo by Thomas J. Curren
Not more than half a mile above where De Villebon's fort once stood, there stands a group of miserable huts, inhabited by the descendants of those very Abenakis, whose name once carried such terror to the home of many an early New England settler. In the warm summer evenings, these few poor remnants of a fading and faded race, love to gather in the open air around a bright fire and relate to one another their little experiences of uneventful life, occasionally mingled with a few faint traditions of their ancestor's deeds of valor which memory has from age to age handed down. They are a civil, harmless people, and not nearly so much addicted to strong drink as they once were.
About the first of the present month (July 1881) the writer, in company with a friend, determined to visit the Islands opposite to or rather below the mouth of the Keswick, about seven miles above Fredericton. We enlisted the services of Gabe, who brought with him another Indian whom he called Sol, and who must have Men nearly eighty years of age. He spoke but little English, and although very good natured, had but little to say. Gabe, however, made up for all his friend's defects in this respect. Before leaving, we bought a can of salmon, a couple of loaves of (bread, some tea and sugar, and a tin kettle and dippers. We had each of us an Indian and a canoe, and our dusky guides soon landed us on the bosom of the Saint John, plying their paddles with a strength and speed which younger men might envy.
Gabe had a pole, so he occasionally dropped his paddle and used his pole, always, however, waiting affectionately for Sol when he had distanced the latter a hundred yards or so, saying at the same time, "I must not leave Sol behind." The balmy air, laden with the perfume of the white clover and wild flowers which grew on the river bank, rippled the blue waters of the river, obliterating the shadows which the long extended branches of the graceful alms had thrown upon the water, and rustled among the leaves as it sportively danced from bough to bough. Nature was indeed charming, in her very brightest and happiest mood, and the time passed so pleasantly that we found ourselves near the lower end of the Islands in a very short time. One of these, yet called Savage Island, was the place where, about the year 1760 or 1770, Charles Morris, then Surveyor General of Nova Scotia, saw the Great Indian Council House, built of rude poles, where, in the mouth of July in each year, the Abenakis met to allot to each Indian family its hunting ground.
"As we rounded a point on the west side of the river, Gabe remarked: 'It is noon; here is a good place for dinner; on that
bank is a clean, cold spring, and there are no flies to trouble us.' So, pushing ashore, we all landed and went up to Gabe's cold spring, which we found answered his commendations.
"Sol and he soon had dinner ready. This we partook of beneath the overarching boughs of a magnificent elm, and as Gabe had told us, there were no flies, there being in this spot a constant breeze. After we had finished our dinner, overhearing Sol make some remarks to Gabe in the Abenaki tongue, we asked the interpretation : 'Oh,' said Gabe, 'Sol is only telling me that this is the first time that he ever ate salmon out of boxes.' When dinner was over, and Gabe's pipe filled and smoked, he became very communicative as one or other of us drew him out: 'Ah!' said he 'the English when they took Quebec promised to treat us Indians as well as the French. They never have, nor never will. The French lived among us, learned our language and gave us religion; they were just like ourselves; that is why we thought so much of them.'
"After leaving the point where we had dined we ascended the river a mile or two further, until we came opposite the foot of what is now called Hart's Island. This, Gabe informed us, was formerly called by the Indians, Old-town. Here it was that the Abenakis lived in summer. Their wigwams being placed around the island, formed a sort of stockade, the centre being reserved as a space for their dances. The Mohawks, Gabe said, more than once attempted the destruction of the Abenakis residing here, and once in particular they would have been utterly destroyed but for the wise foresight of an aged squaw who was gifted with the spirit of prophecy: 'On a still summer evening, long before the pale faces had invaded our country,' said he, 'this woman, with wild eyes and long flowing hair, rushed into the centre of the encampment, calling out in low tones, "there is trouble! there is trouble!" In a short time she was surrounded by our braves, who asked what she meant. "You see Woo-cho-sis (Currie's Mountain) over there, do you not? Behind it is hidden a great party of Mohawks, and they are only waiting for the night to cover the earth, when they will attack you and kill you all if you are not ready for them." A great council was immediately called, and it was decided that action should be at once taken in the matter. In order to conceal their intentions from the Mohawks they concluded to have a big dance. While this was going on the braves slipped out one by one, leaving none but the old men and women to keep it up. Before separating they had determined upon a particular sign by which they might know one another in the dark, as they might be crawling in the long grass, or among the thick bushes which surrounded the island, and he who could not answer this sign was to be dispatched immediately and his gory head thrown in among the dancers. The Mohawks meanwhile had, as evening advanced, slowly and stealthily approached the Abenakis village, but will had been met by will, and before day dawned many a Mohawk's head had been thrown into the midst of the dancers, with the whispered command: dance harder! dance harder! until, exhausted and fainting, the dancers sank to the ground. By morning most of the Mohawk braves had been slain, the others,' said Gabe, 'were as easily dispatched as you might cut a chicken's head off, or knock a lamb on the head. Some three or four, with ears and noses cut off, were allowed to return home, in order to show the other Mohawks how they would be treated should they attempt the like again.'
"Entering our canoes we poled along towards Savage Island, and the water became quicker and the bottom was covered by bright pebbles. 'This,' said Gabe, 'is Augh-pa-hack, the head of tide. On the west side of the river, just here, once stood our church and village. There was a racecourse in ancient times,' said Gabe, 'which extended all around the island, a distance of several miles. Here, after ball playing, the young Indians tried their speed. When I was a boy,' said he, 'I have seen traces of their race course in the sod.'
"As the day was well advanced we concluded to turn our canoes homewards, which we did; one of them hoisting a sail, the other was held on, and was borne swiftly along by the north-west wind, As Gabe dropped the paddle and wiped the perspiration from his brow he again recurred to the traditions of his fathers. 'Long ago,' said he, 'there was a great sickness fell upon the Abenakis, and many of them, men, women and children, died. One night, when all was dark and silent, there appeared to one of our braves a strange figure, as of a man all covered with joints and bars. "I am," said he, "Ke-whis-wask (calamus-root), and can heal you all. You must, to-morrow morning, dig me up, steep me in warm water, and drink me, and I will cure you." After saying this he vanished, and next morning the brave, doing as he was told, the sick all recovered.'"
The Indians of Canada are all more or less under government supervision, but in spite of great watchfulness, are sometimes the subjects of unjust attack by their white brethren, as will be illustrated by the following incident:
In July, 1879, an Indian named La Coate entered the Crown Land Office at Fredericton, and informed one of the officers that two men had taken possession of a piece of land on the great Schoodic Lakes, containing 200 acres, which the Indians claimed as their property.
In order to substantiate his claim, he drew from his pocket a carefully preserved paper, written in the year 1808. and signed by Thomas Wyer, Thomas Wyer, jr., Robert Pagan, David W. Jack, and other leading citizens of St. Andrews. It stated that John La Coate, the grandfather of this Indian, together with a number of others as representatives of the tribe, expressed their determination to be friends with the English and to retire to the woods, if necessary, so as to escape the effects of war between Great Britain and the United States.
Whether these 200 acres were ever restored to the remnant of this tribe by the Provincial Government or not, the writer is not in a position to state.
Among some old papers the writer finds an account of a meeting held at St. Andrews, N. B., in the year 1808, and to which he has before alluded. The inhabitants of that town were then greatly alarmed lest the Indians should, in the case of war with the United States, take arms against the English. A meeting was accordingly held with the delegates of the Indians, at the house of Thos. Wyer, Esq., when they appeared in full Indian dress with a Mohawk as interpreter.
On the opening of the council the Indians seated themselves on the floor, around the walls of the room, the chief addressing the people of St. Andrews in the Indian language, which was interpreted by the Mohawk. As each sentence was completed by the chief, each Indian bowed his head, uttering the Indian word or sign for yes, which is something like ah, ah.
They said that they would have to act as the Mohawks would require them, but that they were King George's men, and desired to remain neutral and to trade with both parties. These Indians, during the time the council was held, appeared to be a grave and respected body of men, but after the council broke up, rum was given them, when they became wild with its exciting spirit, some of them going so far as to roll over on the floor and yell out, More rum! more rum!
Col. Wyer was always a protector to the Indians, and endeavoured to secure for them that honorable and straight-forward treatment which he felt they should receive. His house was always open to them, and they were at liberty to enter his kitchen, make use of the fire in the wide old-fashioned fireplace to prepare their meal, and to spend the night under his roof if they so desired.
The writer's father was wont to relate many interestiag reminiscences of life in St. Andrews in the earlier part of the last century.
Upon one occasion, when a very small child, he was staying at the house of Col. Wyer, his grandfather, and all the household, with the exception of one servant and himself, being absent, a party of Indians entered the kitchen, and, bidding the servant good evening, set about preparing their evening meal. Supper ended, the Indians spread their blankets upon the kitchen floor, and were soon fast asleep.
Greatly alarmed at this free-and-easy procedure, the servant withdrew to a room in the attic of the house, taking the small boy with her, where they spent a sleepless night, in momentary dread of Indian violence.
Their fears, however, were unfounded, for at daybreak the Indians arose and proceeded upon their journey, leaving everything just as they had found it. It is scarcely necessary to add that the open-hearted and generous treatment accorded to the Indians by Col. Wyer was never abused by them, and that upon no occasion did he ever lose by petty thieving or any other dishonesty upon the part of his Indian guests.
Reverting once more to Mr. Chamberlain's article upon the Abenakis, he thus describes the tribal organization:
They were organized upon the same general plan common to most of the North American tribes, the old men forming a council which is presided over by the chief or sakum (sachem) who was elected by the people at large. The members of the council were not elected but were appointed by the chief.
The sakum held no other executive authority unless delegated by vote of the council, though the position gave an able man great influence and unlimited opportunities for leadership. The council discussed tribal affairs, but neither made nor enforced laws. The tribes had no laws. They followed certain traditional usages, but followed these because they revered them, each man being free to govern his own actions, though he was ostracized if he neglected any important function.
Crime was almost unknown among them, and when it occurred was punished by vote of the council.
The people were not nomadic, but lived in fixed villages, which were fortified by palisades. They were hunters, but cultivated corn, beans and pumpkins extensively.
The children were carefully trained by the old women of the village, the boys and girls being prepared for their respective duties. The young women did not mingle with the young men and were not allowed to marry until about twenty-four, when the parents arranged a suitable match.
It is impossible to tell exactly what the primitive religion was, for their legends are now mixed with matter taught by the Jesuit missionaries. It is doubtful if they believed in a supreme being, or in any god who was always good. They had many gods, but these were sometimes good and sometimes evil. They prayed to these gods for assistance and made offerings by way of thanks and praise. Their religious ceremonies were mostly songs and dances and incantations.
The priests combined the offices of intercessor and medicine man. They possessed no remedial knowledge, but used occult charms to remove the evil spirit that caused disease. The old woman used many herbs and roots for external and internal uses. These people believed in a future life, but did not believe in future punishment.
The mental and moral characteristics of the Abenaki Indians are of a much higher plane than is usually accredited to the race. But their minds are undeveloped and they are almost child-like in their immaturity, their methods of reasoning and their standards. They are observant and quick to appreciate cause and effect, so they learn readily, and being obedient make pleasant pupils and satisfactory servants.
Before being degraded by the white man's influence the Abenakis were highly moral. They were honest, truthful and just; hospitable to a fault and unswerving in fidelity to their friends. They are still hospitable, and the best of them are honest and faithful. In the old times the women were peculiarly moral. Married women were rarely inconstant and maidens were never unchaste.
They were revengeful; it was born in them, and from their mother's lips they learned it was their duty to pay back wrong with wrong. They tortured captives, but that was from superstition more than from lack of humaneness. They were extremely kind to their old people and to the unfortunate. Their hospitality was unlimited, and to this day they never turn away from their wigwams those who apply to them for food or shelter.
Their code of warfare was a savage code they knew none other but they never went to war for the mere glory of scalp taking nor from love of conquest. They were strong men who faced death with calmness and courage, but they were also tender and affectionate and cared for wives and children with great devotion. Their reserve is proverbial, but is due to their extreme bashfulness in the presence of strangers, their dread of ridicule to which they are peculiarly sensitive, and their respect for those who they deem superiors. When among intimates they converse with ease and volubility; repartee is much enjoyed, and their conversation is spirited and not unfrequently very mirthful.
The writer well remembers in his boyhood's time many pleasant days spent at Gagetown, upon the St. John River, his constant and only companion, Sabatis, an Indian boy of about his own age.
Summer after summer, in fishing, canoeing, swimming, and raft and camp building the days were spent. Delightful they were in the reality, and delightful still in the recollection. Upon many a sultry afternoon, after retiring to some sandy and secluded spot upon the river bank, and devoid of what little clothing the usages of society retired, did the youthful braves paddle and swim about in the tepid water until its chilling influence compelled a temporary abandonment of this pleasurable pastime. Then a blazing bonfire of driftwood, and a race up and down the grassy sward. After this, with bodies once more glowing with the vigor of youth and health, a plunge into the river to begin again the same routine.
To the credit of this Indian boy be it said that he was without guile, a true friend, a stranger to the use of improper language, and quick to act in any emergency; upon one occasion, without momentary hesitation, plunging into the water and bringing safely to land a near relative of the writer, then a very young child, who had accidentally fallen into deep water, and was in imminent danger of drowning.
While he knew where the robin and the bob-o-link nested, and the blue-winged heron reared her brood, he never rifled their nests, for that would surely anger the Great Spirit. His theology consisted of a strange mixture of heathenism and Christianity; and if you asked him, as did the writer upon one occasion, where God lived, he would point in the direction of the setting sun and reply, "Away over there!"
The musquash he looked upon as a wise provision of nature for his subsistence, and dozens of their skins, each stretched upon a shingle to dry, might be seen about his home. These he captured in the springtime by the aid of a rude trap made of boards, when the high freshet drove them from their usual haunts and hiding places. An inquiry of Sabatis upon one occasion as to whether the musquash was good eating elicited the prompt reply, "Him better'n black duck." This remark was accompanied by a gesture so significant of appreciation that it certainly left no doubt upon the subject in the mind of the writer.
In Acadia, as elsewhere, intercommunication with his white brethren does not seem, as a rule, to have improved the physical or moral condition of the native Indian. Opportunities for obtaining fire-water, the loss to a large extent of his hunting grounds, and the consequently greater difficulty in obtaining a livelihood, are causes which have perhaps contributed to this condition. There still remain among them, however, many who are honest, sober and industrious, and who may safely be relied upon as trusty guides through the trackless forest, or upon fishing or hunting expeditions. Many of them are experts in the weaving of baskets, in the building of birch bark canoes, in reading the book of nature, and with the paddle, the rifle and the spear.
That the Indians of Acadia are not decreasing in number would appear from the government returns, which give the Indian population of the three Acadian provinces as follows:
| 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | |
Nova Scotia
|
2141 | 2164 | 2108 | 1890 | 2027 | 1953 |
New Brunswick
|
1618 | 1668 | 1590 | 1658 | 1627 | 1667 |
P. E. Island
|
285 | 287 | 308 | 303 | 314 | 315 |
There are eighteen schools maintained by the government for the benefit of the Indians, of which eleven are in Nova Scotia, six in New Brunswick, and one in Prince Edward Island.
During the year ending 30th June, 1897, there were four hundred and six pupils enrolled at the eighteen schools, with an average attendance of one hundred and eighty-seven pupils, or nearly nineteen for each school.
In the same year there were among the total population of 3,935 no less than 4,817 acres of land under cultivation, they owned 1,660 implements and vehicles, 856 horses, cattle sheep and pigs, and 1,071 head of poultry; they raised 9,460 bushels of grain, 16,345 bushels of potatoes and roots, 1,502 tons of hay, and produced $62,190 in value of fish, furs and other commodities.
In this year also there was expended by the government on their behalf: For salaries, $2,817; for relief and seed
grain, $6,416; for medical attendance, $5,804; and on miscellaneous account, $1,001.
Many of them find employment during the hunting season as guides, in which capacity they are favourably regarded by the majority of the sportsmen who regularly visit the Acadian Provinces.
The portrait which accompanies this sketch is that of Nicholas Lolar, one of the well-known guides of New Brunswick, and is the work of Mr. W. A. Hickman during the year 1899. The photograph was taken on the bank of the Restigouche River in the early morning. The Indian had just cleaned and prepared for cooking a fine grilse which he had caught, and, turning from the river towards the camp, was photographed instantaneously by Mr. Hickman.
The pose is natural, the likeness good, and the picture, being a striking one, is well worthy of preservation.
The writer regrets that lack of space will not permit him to touch more fully upon the various matters connected with Indian life and history. This brief sketch will give the reader a general idea of the extent of our Indian population, their condition and capabilities. Other articles upon the same subject are in course of preparation, and will be published from time to time, as the variety of subjects requiring attention and the limited space at our disposal will permit.
