30 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



fine powder by pounding on deerskin. This was blown into 

 the affected eyes, two applications being sufficient to produce 

 a complete cure. A doctor had visited them four times in 

 eighteen years, "as a bird passing," the chief said. Every man, 

 woman and child, receives an annual "treaty" of five dollars 

 in cash. This is taken in " debt " as soon as the last gratuity is 

 paid. If a death occurs the head of the family who has "taken 

 up" the annuity refuses to pay the Company when he receives 

 the money. He thinks that an act of Providence annuls the 

 obligation to pay. Not only do they take up the next year's an- 

 nuity for the whole family but they even ask for " debt " on 

 account of an unborn child. They remember the verbal 

 promise that " all shall be treated alike " and are well aware of 

 the fact that the surrounding tribes are treated far better than 

 they; that the Plain Crees, for example, receive weekly rations, 

 and have blankets and other necessaries furnished them. 



School. In January, 1893, I visited the school maintained by 

 the government for the education of the children of treaty 

 Indians. The building had been erected by the Indians them- 

 selves; the walls were warped and cracks gaping. Holes in the 

 roof admitted the sunshine or the storm. The door hung 

 "slopewise," the floor was rough and broken. The register of 

 the previous quarter contained under the head of "Remarks," 

 the following protest: "The Department's attention has been 

 repeatedly called to the deplorable condition of the school 

 building which still remains in the need of repairs. It is not 

 fit to house cattle in." There were no desks, the children sit- 

 ting upon benches and keeping their books beside them. 

 There were twelve slates for thirty pupils. They seemed to be 

 quite as mischievous as white children, and their attention was 

 easily distracted from the work in hand. On being asked the 

 day of the week by the missionary teacher, one young hopeful 

 answered January, another said it was " fifty-two weeks." Yet 

 the instructor assured me that they had been taught the days 

 of the week almost daily for months. One boy about fourteen 

 years old read from the second reader and translated readily 

 from Cree to English. He also had a fair knowledge of the 

 elementary rules of arithmetic. 



The instruction is oral aided by slates and charts. The 

 children are taught numbers, reading and writing, spelling, 



