318 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



the Sioux to the Esquimaux, that lias not been tinctured with French 

 blood. The ( !anadians showed preferences in the choice of Indian mates, 

 yet seem to have slighted no tribe, and generally made selection wherever 

 fortune and circumstances led them. 



Along the Saint Lawrence they took wives among the various hordes 

 of Montagnais, Ottawas, and Ilurons, and, at a later period, the Iroquois. 



In Michigan most of the metis derive their Indian blood from the 

 Ottawas and Chippewas; some from Pottawatomies and Menomonees; 

 one or two families from Crees; one or two from Sioux. Along the 

 shores of Lake Superior, mostly from Chippewas, a few from Sioux, 

 Assinaboines, Illinois, and, in Green Bay, from the Menomonees. From 

 Lake Superior to Eed River, and in Minnesota, from various bands of 

 Chip] >ewas, especially the Saulteaux, so named from their place of origin, 

 Sault Ste. Marie. 



The Crees, the largest tribe in the British Possessions, roaming over 

 the plains of the Saskatchawan, were always held in high esteem by the 

 French, and united to them in close friendship. It was found that Cree 

 women were superior to those of other tribes in moral and mental qual- 

 ities, and they are generally preferred by white traders. The majority 

 of the metis of Fort Garry, Saint Boniface, and other points on the Bed 

 River are of Cree, and the balance mostly of Chippewa-Saulteaux blood. 



Aronnd Pembina and Saint Joseph the Chippewa element predomi- 

 nates, also around Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg, and westAvard to 

 the northern branch of the Assinaboine. On the Saskatchawan, at the 

 missions near Fort Edmonton, and northward to the Great Slave Lake, 

 the metis are almost exclusively of Cree origin. 



North of Lake Manitoba are some Maskegon metis, and where the 

 Saskatchawan issues from the Bocky Mountains are a small number of 

 [roqtiois metis. The settlement of a band of Iroquois in the Rocky 

 Mountains is a striking illustration of the roaming propensity of savages. 



A small proportion of Blackfeet and Montagnais metis are found at 

 the base of the Bocky Mountains; the former south, the latter north, of 

 the Crees. 



The Assinaboines have also mixed-blood representatives in Southern 

 Manitoba, on the liver of that name, and in the Bed River Valley. 



In Dakota t lie met is are mostly ( 'hippewa and Assinaboine on the Red 

 River and at Devil's Lake, and Sioux at other places. In Montana they 

 are Gros Ventre on Milk River, Flathead in Missoula County, Cree and 

 Chippewa elsewhere. In Iowa they are from the Sacs and Foxes, and 

 in the Indian Territory from the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. Farther 

 west, and on the Pacific coast, the.\ derive their Indian blood from the 

 various tribes among which they live. 



V. 

 OCCUPATION. 

 flu- capacity Oi the metis for work and industry is great, and is ex- 

 ercised over a wide range, from the highest callings of civilized life to 



