62 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. iv. 



not reissued in Canada until 1858, one year after Assi- 

 kinack had communicated the paper to the Canadian 

 Institute at Toronto. Both editions of the ' Eelation of 

 the Jesuits ' are published in the old French commonly 

 spoken two centuries ago, and no English translation has 

 yet appeared to my knowledge. It is therefore not pro- 

 bable that Assikinack, who does not understand French, 

 should have derived his ideas from the ' Eelation of the 

 Jesuits ' or any second-hand source. He says that the 

 tradition is not taken from information derived from 

 reading, but entirely from what he heard from the Indians 

 in his younger days. 



The hunting-grounds of the Odahwah or Ottawa Indians 

 were between Lake Huron and Michigan 250 years ago, 

 or about 1,000 miles west of the Montagnais country. 

 Then, again, the Odahwahs were of the Ojibway nation, 

 while the Montagnais belong to the Crees. 



A celebrated demigod, styled Nanakboozho, came to 

 reside with men. He fixed his winter quarters near a 

 certain lake ; but he was not long there before he became 

 aware that malignant monsters dwelt in the lake. He 

 therefore cautioned his favourite son, Wolf, not to go upon 

 the ice, lest some misfortune happen to him. The young 

 Wolf acted for some time upon the advice of his sire, 

 until one evening he ventured upon the ice and made for 

 the opposite shores ; but when he got about half way, he 



command of the English language as is evinced by this communication on 

 the legends and traditions of his tribe, but also to obtain a familiar knowledge 

 of Latin and Greek. F. Assikiuack now fills the office of interpreter in the 

 Indian Department at Coburg. So creditable and satisfactory a result of an 

 experiment which at first seemed hopeless, ought surely to encourage its 

 repetition, and that on a much more extended scale.' Canadian Journal of 

 Industry, Science, and Art. 



