THE SASKATCHEWAN NATIVES 2 Q 



them, or to hire out their oxen to the whites. They had but 

 one ox that could be used in hauling and the poor beast had a 

 hard time of it. They said, "We do not desire these cattle, we 

 have no one to show us how to care for them. Why should 

 we raise cattle for the Indian Department, anyway?" In the 

 spring when the supply runs low, they rob each other's hay 

 caches and even steal from the Company's stack at the post. 



The reserve is simply a wooded swamp with a narrow strip 

 of dryland along the river and yet they were told that the four 

 miles of reserve would not include the muskeg but would be 

 all dry land. 



Medicine. The Government furnishes a stock of medicines 

 which are dispensed by the Company's clerk. Castor oil is 

 the most popular medicine and children have been known to 

 drink a small bottleful thinking it to be fish oil of rather 

 extra quality. The Company sells a patent cure-all made in 

 "America" as the United States is called in that region, in 

 which the natives have implicit faith. It is used whenever 

 obtainable, whether it is required or not. 



The clown, Sagames, a few years ago, conceived the idea that 

 a stone was forming in his chest and that any over-exertion on 

 his part would be the cause of his immediate death. Notwith- 

 standing the fact that Mrs. Sagames and the children were 

 starving, he persisted in keeping his bed throughout the win- 

 ter but was "brought round" in the spring by a wonderful 

 medicine prepared by the post keeper. It was a mixture of 

 the dregs of some old medicine bottles, with Worcestershire 

 sauce and cayenne pepper as the principal ingredients. At 

 nearly every post that I visited such cures of imaginary diseases 

 were reported. 



Old Antoine was the most skillful doctor in the settlement. 

 He showed me about thirty deerskin bags containing herbs from 

 which medicines to cure every disease might be concocted, 

 and assured me that if it were summer he would show me 

 the plants and how to gather the roots or leaves. He said that 

 he had cured cases of cataracts in the eyes of dogs, but had 

 never tried his remedy upon a fellow-being. 1 He took the 

 ends of long bones and burned them, reducing the ashes to a 



1 The Eskimos are said to remove "specks '' from the eyes with calcined 

 bones. (Bompas, Northern Lights, p. 150). 



