552 REPORT — 1900. 



somewhat sandy in places, they say, is on the whole well, suited to the 

 growth of Indian corn.^ 



To-day the counties of East and North Simcoe, which comprise the 

 greater portion of the later settlements of the Hurons, support a farming 

 and trading population of over 65,000 whites. They are thriving sections 

 of a highly prosperous province.^ In contrast the sandy terrace back of 

 Lorette, even up to this time, is sparsely settled, and, like the Laurentian 

 highlands to the north, remains almost untouched by agricultural 

 enterprise. 



Labour. 



Sixty-two families, or about 300 men, women, and children, make 

 up the resident population of Indian Lorette.^ The forms of labour 

 through which these people support themselves are as follows, in the 

 order of decreasing importance : (1) Hide-dressing ; (2) moccasin-making ; 

 (3) snovvshoe- and canoe-making ; (4) basket-making and fancy wares ; 

 (5) hiring out as guides ; (6) hunting and fishing ; (7) farming. 



Hide-dressing. — From 10,000 to 15,000 hides are dressed yearly at 

 Lorette. These hides are for the most part imported. East India elk 

 and antelope making the bulk ; caribou {Tarandxis ranrjifer) and cow, the 

 produce of the region, are used in certain quantities, as also a few moose 

 pelts. 



The dressing processes are very simple. The green skins are first 

 steeped in water, mere barrels sunk in the ground in an open field 

 serving the purpose. Once thoroughly soaked the skins are scraped ; the 

 inner (meat) layer and the first outer (hair) layer of the hide are thereby 

 removed. (The scrapings are sold to manufacturers of glue.) Then 

 other labourers take the skins and wash them in soap emulsions, and 

 afterwards sprinkle them with oil. Codfish oil is used for this. The 

 skins are then rubbed with sand-paper, and finally passed through a 

 smoke-house, similar to that used in the curing of hams. At viirious 

 stages of preparation the skins are put up to dry on scaffolds made of 

 poles connected by rails to which hooks are attached. These scafTolds, or 

 ' chantiers de peaux,' are a characteristic feature of Lorette. Not only 

 do they cover two or three large fields adjoining the village, but, as well, 

 smaller patches within the village plot. With the smoke-house and the 

 hide-wringer they constitute practically the whole plant required for the 

 dressing of hides. 



The hide-dressing industry at Lorette is centred in three or four fairly 

 large establishments managed by private enterprise, and in connection 

 with which the manufacturing of moccasins and snowshoes is carried on. 

 The head of each concern owns or rents the grounds and buildings, owns 

 the plant, purchases the green hides and accessories from importers in 

 Quebec, and pays his help wages by the day or month. The hides thus 

 dressed are not sold, but utilised on the same premises, principally in the 

 manufacture of moccasins. 



' ChamplaiD, Hid., vol. iv. pp. 27, 30, 31 ; Brebeuf, Jesuit Relations (Thwaites's 

 edition), vol. viii. p. 115. 



= Census of Canada, 1891, vol. i. p. 66, ii. pp. 66, 174. 



' The writer is indebted to Mr. A. O. Bastien, Government agent at the Huron 

 Reservation, for much of the information contained in the following pages. Mr. 

 Cloutier, the owner of a hide-dressing and moccasin- making establishment at Lorette, 

 kindly supplied many facts relative to the various industries, as did also Mr. Maurice 

 Bastien, who controls a large concern in the localitj^. 



