THE NORTHERN ATHABASCANS 



59 



I have come to have a better understanding of the "Indian 

 mind." They were more intelligent than I supposed, but I 

 made the mistake of judging them by our standards, and my 

 first impression was followed by disappointment. They occupy 

 what Professor Mason terms the "birch-bark region;" 1 the few 

 and extremely primitive arts of which, apparently, have not 

 advanced their mental development. They were never stupid, 

 but always light hearted, even under the most depressing cir- 

 cumstances. Twice, while at the edge of Barren Ground, the 

 whole band was without food, and the caribou were scarce; the 

 men gathered in one of the largest lodges to consider the situa- 

 tion and to form plans for remedying it. One of their number 

 began the discussion by cleverly mimicking the speech of an 

 absent chief. They closed their by no means solemn delibera- 

 tions by singing a number of native songs, notwithstanding their 

 very empty stomachs. 



I several times saw the men pick up spruce sticks and, after 

 cutting down one side until they had a smooth white surface, 

 mark on them in charcoal in the syllabic character; the others 

 present would then try to imitate the first, but the " copy " was 

 soon thrown aside. Indeed the children are now taught to read 

 andwrite by the Roman Catholic missionary at Rae and both men 

 and women can read their prayer books readily. 2 But the use 

 of denotive symbols has not yet affected their mode of thought. 

 Their ideas are not capitalized, so to say, by recorded language. 3 



The women always occupied the coldest place at the camp 

 fire — that next the entrance to the lodge. They performed the 

 labor of making and caring for the camp and of dressing skins, 

 the latter no inconsiderable task, as nearly everything made 

 and used by these people is of caribouskin or birch. The 

 women did not often cut the firewood or haul in the game 

 which the men killed. This work was almost always done by 

 the children. 



A harmless lunatic, who wandered about the camp with star- 



1 American Anthropologist ,V ol. VI, p. 151. 



2 See p 31, ante. 



3 " Chose admirable, ces hommes de la nature ou des dispositions naturel- 

 les qui leur permettent de saisir promptement ce qu'on leur enseigne: en 

 moins de trois semaines un grand nombre savaient lire et ecrire." Farand, 

 Henri, Dix-hitit ans chez les Sauvages, Paris, 1866, p. 89. 



