THE SASKATCHEWAN NATIVES 



27 



Belts are worn at all seasons. The best are called l'Assump- 

 tion belts; they are woven from heavy threads and are from 

 four to six inches wide and eight to ten feet in length. They 

 are girded around — not above — the hip bones. The belt is 

 used as a tompline or packing rope, to mend dog harness, or 

 wherever a line is needed. The cord fringe at the ends usually 

 has a finger ring and the key to the wearer's cassette tied in it. 

 The belt is wound twice around the body and tied in front, 

 leaving the long fringe hanging. As they are variegated with 

 all the colors of the rainbow they form a conspicuous part of 

 the apparel of the Indians and metis. 



Imported caps, or Canadian tucques, are worn in winter. In 

 summer the costume is that of civilized man except for the belt 

 and moccasins. The women wear dresses of light, though 

 expensive material, which is wholly unsuited to their needs. 

 They endure the greatest hardship and exposure without a 

 murmur. Winter moccasins are made large enough to contain 

 a square piece of duffel or old blanketing in lieu of socks. 

 With heavy duffles I had no difficulty in keeping my feet warm 

 on the coldest days; even when they were bound with the snow- 

 shoe lines I never froze them. No matter how cold it may be 

 the moccasins become damp from contact with the snow and 

 must be dried at night. When wet, they wear away quickly; a 

 wet, stony trail will wear holes in new moccasins in two hours. 

 They are made of mooseskin with deerskin or cloth tops, 

 which fold around the ankle. A small piece of snow-white 

 deerskin, bordered with colored horse hair and embroidered 

 with silk and beads, is placed over the instep. There is very 

 little beadwork done at present at Grand Rapids and I did not 

 see anything at all comparable to the beautiful transparent 

 beadwork of the Ojibways. 



Treaty. In 1875 Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris, 

 and Hon. James McKay, commissioner and interpreter, went 

 among the Crees and Sauteux of Lake Winnipeg, proposing 

 that a treaty be drawn up between the Great Mother and her 

 Red Children, whereby the country was to be opened to white 

 settlement and the Indians placed upon reserves as wards of 

 the government. The old, blind chief, Peter Beardy, and Joe 

 Atkinson, two intelligent half-castes, I found could speak Eng- 

 lish fluently. Both were fond of repeating the story of the 



