ON THE NOKTH-WESTEEN TRIBES OF CANADA. 189 



youths who had not yet been on the warpath hold the meat while roast- 

 ing, so as to harden them to endure suffering. The Indians never used 

 salt before the white man came, bat are now very fond of it. They seem 

 to like strong- tasting food, and sometimes make a mixture of strong black 

 tea, tobacco, and ' pain-killer,' which they drink with great relish. The 

 Blackfeet seldom, if ever, eat fish ; I am told that they regard it as 

 unclean. They preserve berries by drying them in the sun. Principal 

 among these are the Saskatoon berry and the choke cherry. The latter 

 they pound up when newly picked, and spread it on sheets of parchment 

 to dry ; then they powder it up and put it in skin bags. It is called by 

 white people ' choke cherry pemmican,' and is said to be very palatable. 

 These people, in common with other nomad Indians, usually eat two meals 

 a day — breakfast and supper. The latter, however, is often prolonged to 

 an indefinite period after a successful day's hunt. When they get up in 

 the morning the first thing they do is to wash. The Blackfeet Indians 

 are very particular about this, even in the depth of winter. For soap 

 they use ashes from the fire, and they usually rinse out their mouths 

 thoroughly with water. It is a common practice to take a deep draught 

 of cold water on first awakening in the morning. Directly after break- 

 fast the usual thing is either to move camp or to start on a hunting 

 expedition. The little fetish, or charm, shaped out of stone like some 

 animal or bird, and wrapped round with roots, herbs, clay, and beads, is 

 placed on end the night before, and in whichever direction it has fallen 

 that is the direction in which to look for the buffalo. The hunt occupies 

 the day, and in the evening, when work is over, they will eat a heavy 

 and long-continued meal. For the above information I am indebted 

 principally to the Rev. John Macdougall, of the Methodist Missionary 

 Society, who has for many years past been labouring among these and 

 neighbouring tribes of Indians. Now that the buffaloes are all gone, these 

 people would be forced to starve were it not for the Government rations 

 which they receive. Each individual receives one pound of good beef and 

 half a pound of flour per diem. The buffalo disappeared in 1879-80. Before 

 that time they might be counted by thousands. Their sudden disap- 

 pearance has never yet been satisfactorily accounted for. None now 

 remain in Canada, and only very few are to be found in the United 

 States. 



Medicine. 



I had no opportunity of talking to the Blackfeet Indians themselves 

 about this, and had I done so they would probably have been unwilling 

 to reveal their secrets. I however gathered from Mr. Macdougall the 

 names of some of their most frequently used medicines. (1) Minweg 

 (Cree), a vegetable; little short sticks; a strong, pleasant aromatic 

 flavour, like celery ; used for headache, catarrh ; also for smoking. 

 (2) Bear root ; tastes like liquorice ; used for colic. (3) Rat food ; a 

 flag root, with a sharp, pungent taste ; they grind it up and drink it like 

 hot tea ; used for various diseases. Bleeding is done with a piece of 

 sharp flint fastened into a stick like a veterinary surgeon's fleam. They 

 bind the arm till the vein is swollen, put the edge of the flint on the vein, 

 and strike it with a stick. Cupping is done by scarifying the part with 

 a flint or pricking it with needles and then drawing the blood to the 

 surface by sucking through a horn. Amputation of a limb is never 

 resorted to, but they will patch up a bad wound, and often succeed in 

 effecting a cure where an English surgeon would have amputated. These 



