12 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



For colouring moose hair or porcupine quills for fancy work, 

 the women obtain their dyes in the following ways: From the 

 juice of boiled cranberries they derive a magenta dye. From 

 alder bark, boiled, beaten, and strained, they get a dark, 

 slate-coloured blue which is mixed with rabbits' gall to make it 

 adhere. The juice of bearberries gives them a bright red. 

 From gunpowder and water they obtain a fine black, and 

 from coal tar a stain for work of the coarsest kind. They 

 rely chiefly, however, upon the red, blue, green, and yellow 

 ochres found in many parts of the country. These, when ap- 

 plied to the decoration of canoes, they mix with fish oil; but for 

 general purposes the earths are baked and used in the form of 

 powder. 



From scenes such as I have described the summer traveller 

 obtains his impression of the forest Indians. Too often their 

 life and character are judged by such scenes, as if these truly 

 represented their whole existence. In reality, this is but their 

 holiday season which they are spending upon their tribal 

 summer camping ground. It is only upon their hunting 

 grounds that one may fairly study the Indians; so, presently, we 

 shall follow them there. And when one experiences the wild, 

 free life the Indian fives — hampered by no household goods or 

 other property that he cannot at a moment's notice dump into 

 his canoe and carry with him to the ends of the earth if he 

 chooses — one not only envies him, but ceases to wonder which 

 of the two is the greater philosopher — the white man or the 

 red; for the poor old white man is so overwhelmed with 

 absurd conventions and encumbering property that he can 

 rarely do what his heart dictates. 



FAMILY HUNTING GROUNDS 



Don't let us decide just yet, however, whether the Indian 

 derives more pleasure from life than does the white man, at 



