558 RePoM— 1900. 



Soaie twetity-five or thirty years ago there took place an important 

 social phenomenon which completed the transformation of the labour 

 system of the Hurons — the sjireading throughout Canada of the world- 

 wide commercial and industrial evolution, the introduction of machinery, 

 the building of railways, the extension of great transportation agencies. 

 Man's power of production was thereby increased a hundredfold, and 

 distance suppressed, so to speak. While some of the minor industries of 

 Lorette, such as toboggan- making and lacrosse-making, received their 

 death-blow from the new order of things, it instilled a new life into some 

 others — hide-dressing, moccasin and snowshoe making. No longer 

 dependent on local conditions, no longer restricted by the short supply of 

 raw material at hand or by the limited demand from near-by markets, 

 these industries attained the high degree of development which we have 

 seen. A new industry, fancy basket-making, was introduced. The 

 development of manufacturing industries thus brought about, with the 

 opportunities for constant earning of wages at generally pleasant tasks, 

 in turn became a further cause of desertion of agriculture. Even hunting 

 is no longer considered a regular means of livelihood, and is largely 

 replaced by the more profitable occupation of guiding through the woods 

 sportsmen from the cities. 



A Huron woman, ninety years of age, with whom I conversed at 

 Lorette, had witnessed many phases of that evolution of labour. She 

 remembered the time when patches of Indian corn, pumpkins, beans, and 

 potatoes were grown in connection with almost every home in the village. 

 The women did most of the garden and field work, while the men did 

 very little but hunt and play lacrosse. She saw agriculture given up 

 gradually, while the Hurons were taking more and more to manufacturing. 



Notwithstanding the evolution through which their labour system has 

 been made to pass, the Huron community as a whole exhibit traits 

 retained from the previous social status. The men are less industrious 

 than the women : they still entertain a dislike for agriculture and steady 

 work ; they abstain from working in factories. 



Property, 



The property held in trust for the Hurons of Lorette comprises : 

 (1) the village site, about 20 arpents in extent ; (2) adjoining the latter, 

 a common covering, 9 arpents ; (3) two miles from the village, the 

 reserve proper, 1,600 arpents (1,350 acres) in extent ; and (4) some thirty 

 miles back of Lorette, the Rocmont Reserve, in the county of Portneuf, 

 9,600 acres in area. 



1. The village plot is subdivided into small lots, each family being 

 entitled to an area sufficient for a house, besides a width of 30 feet in 

 front and 3 feet at the back of that house. 



2. The common was originally, as indicated by its French name, ' Clos 

 des Cochons,' a pasture for hogs. It still continues to be owned in common 

 by the Huron community, but is now used almost solely as a hide-dressing 

 ground by Mr. Maurice Bastien, who has erected thereon sheds and drying 

 scaffolds. 



3. The 1,600 arpents reserve also remains undivided. It was granted 

 to the Hurons for their supply of fuel. The greater part is still bush. 

 Six or seven families, as we have seen, have taken up their abode there as 

 farmers ; but the farming carried on is of such a primitive character 



