HUDSON'S BAY. 



333 



HuJ*o . dances are very simple, and are performed by three or 

 Bjr four persons at a time, who stand up naked, or nearly 

 ^^"Y" 1 ^ so, cliiv to the musician ; and, with their hands dose 

 < the breast, their heads inclining a little forwards, 

 %ept quite stiff, lift their feet alter- 

 nately in quick succession, and as high as possible. 

 : iu-ic- if produced by a drum or tabor, and onmp 

 made of buffalo's hide, .shaped like an 

 uk, and filled with pebbles or small shot. These 

 .menu are accompanied with the voice, repeating, 

 in a monotonous kind of tune, the words her, nee, hee, 

 ho, so, ho, Sec. The women are never allowed to join 

 in these diversions, but sometimes dance by themselves, 

 out of doors, to the music which serves the men within 

 the tent Their mode of dancing has still less meaning 

 and motion than that of the men ; and is performed by 

 a number of them crowding close together in a straight 

 line, shuffling themselves a little from right to left and 

 back again on the tame ground, without lifting their 

 feet; and making, when the music stops, a kind of 

 awkward curtsey, with a shrill cry ot'lie-e-t, ke-o-o-o-e. 



H*j Few of the Northern Indiani live to a great age; and 



the extreme fatigues which they undergo from their 

 youth in procuring their subsistence, is supposed to have 

 no small effect in shortening their lives. Their roost fatal 

 disorders are fluxes and consumptions, which carry off 

 great numbers of both sexes and of all ages. But the 

 most prevalent disease, is a kind of scurvy resembling 

 the worst stage of tbe itch. It M seldom known to 

 < fatal, unless when conjoined with some internal 

 affection ; but it M extremely troublesome and obsti- 

 nate, resisting sll the medicines, which have yet boon 

 applied at tbe Company's factories ; and, when left to 

 the power of nature, as is always tbe case among the 

 natives, seldom removed in less than twelve or 

 months. They make no use, indeed, of 

 either for external or internal diseases, and attempt to 

 cure them solely by charms. The modes most com- 

 monly employed are sucking the part affected, blow- 

 ing and singing to it, laughing, spitting, and uttering a 

 multitude of unmeaning sounds and vocables. In the 

 case of some internal complaints, such as colic, stran- 

 gury, tic. the operator frequently blows into the anus 

 or the adjacent parts, whatever be tbe sex of the pa- 

 tient, and continues tbe process aa long *r**^ as violent- 

 ly ai his lungs can act. The consequence of such an 

 accumulation of wind is not unusually precisely the 

 same as the effect of a clyster ; and tbe reaction is 

 oamctrmfs so sudden as to lodge the contents fall in 

 the face of tbe doctor ; a scene which, however ludi- 

 crous to Europeans, never rsiacnmpnari the gra 

 any of the Indian parties or spectators. The medical 

 practitioners are a class of conjurors, who no doubt 

 impose upon the credulity of their countrymen, but 

 who seem to have themselves a real belief in the effi- 

 cacy of tome of their operations. In cases of great 

 danger, besides tbe usual modes of cure, they pretend 

 to appease the power of death, and to procure a re- 

 spite for the sufferer, by swallowing hatchets, ice- 

 chisels, broad-bayonets, knives, &c. ; and these feats 

 they are described as performing, or rather appearing 

 to perform, with wonderful dexterity. Some of their 

 exertions are sufficiently real and laborious, as particu- 

 larly described in a case witnessed by Mr Hearne. 

 After one of them had performed tbe feat of swallowing 

 a long board, he took with him other five men and an 

 old woman into the house when tbe pstissU by ; and, 

 having stripped themselves completely naked, began 

 to suck, blow, sing, and dance around the tick man, 



" continuing so to do for three day* and four nights, Hudo 

 without taking the least rest or refreshment, not even so ^ '* y l_r 

 much as a drop of water. When these poor deluding and ""V~~ 

 deluded people came out of the conjuring-house, their 

 mouths were so parched with thirst, as to be quite 

 black, and their throats so sore that they were scarcely 

 able to articulate a single word, except those that stand 

 for yet and no in their language. After so long an ab- 

 stinence, they were very careful not to eat or drink 

 too much at one time, particularly for the first day ; 

 and, indeed, some of them, to appearance, were almost 

 as bad as the poor man they had been endeavouring to 

 relieve. But great part of this was feigned ; for they 

 lay on their backs with their eyes fixed as if in the 

 agonies of death, and were treated like young children. 

 One person sat constantly by them, moistening their 

 mouths with fat, and now and then giving them a 

 drop of water. At other times, a small bit of meat was; 

 put into their mouths, or a pipe held for them to smoke. 

 This farce only lasted for the first day ; after which 

 they seemed to be perfectly well, except the hoarse- 

 ness, which continued for a considerable time after- 

 wards." These conjurors profess to accomplish their 

 cures by the aid of certain spirits or fairies, with whom 

 pretend to converse, and whom they often de- 

 scribe as appearing to them under the shapes of beasts, 

 birds, clouds, &c- They are supposed to be equally 

 able, by means of those supernatural allies, to take 

 away as well as to prolong any one's life ; and when 

 they chose to threaten such a malign influence to any 

 individual or family, the imaginations of their victims 

 are so possessed by the conviction of their power, that 

 the consequence is affirmed to have often proved fatal, 

 without any apparent molestation being offered to the 

 objects of their vengeance. Indeed, when any of their 

 principal people die, their death, in whatever way it has 

 taken place, is usually ascribed to some conjuring in- 

 fluence, either of their own countrymen, or of the Es- 

 r'maux, or of the Southern tribes. They never bury 

 ir dead, but always leave the bodies on the spot 

 where they expire. They are understood to be gene- 

 rally devoured by beasts and birds of prey; and for 

 this reason these Indians will not eat the flesh of foxes, 

 wolves, ravens, &c- unless thev be pressed by absolute 

 necessity. Though thus neglectful of the mortal re- 

 mains of their friends, they are deeply affected with 

 grief fur their loss ; and express their sorrow by tearing 

 off their clothes, and wandering about naked, till their 

 neighbours or relatives come to their relief. After the 

 death of a father, mother, husband, wife, son or bro- 

 ther, they mourn for the space of a whole year, indi- 

 cating their affliction, not by any particular dress, but 

 by cutting off their hair, and crying almost perpetually. 

 But the greatest calamity that can befal any of these 

 Indians is old age. When any one is incapable to la- 

 bour, he is treated, even by his own children, with the 

 greatest neglect and disrespect, being always hut ser- 

 ved at meals, and then only with the worst of the vic- 

 tuals ; being clothed in the clumsiest manner, with 

 what the rest of the family despise to wear ; and finally, 

 when no longer able to walk, deliberately abandoned 

 to perish of want. This practice is so general, that one 

 half at least of the aged people of both sexes arc sup- 

 posed to die in this miserable manner. The absolute 

 necessity of moving from place to place in quest of 

 subsistence, and the want of any easy mode of convey- 

 ance among them, may be considered as the original 

 causes of this unnatural custom. 

 The notions which these Indians entertain in religion 



Dc.iJ. 



