THE HALF-BREED SCRIP COMMISSION 71 



who stands till morning." One of the applicants was Kana- 

 watchaguayo, or " The ghost-keeper."* 



But others were strikingly poetical, particularly the female 

 names. Payucko geesigo, " One in the Skies " ; Pesawakoona 

 kapesisk, " The silent snow in falling forming signs or 

 symbols " ; Matyatse wunoguayo, or rather, for this is a 

 doubtful name, Powastia ka nunaghquanetungh, " Listener to 

 the unseen rapids " ; Kese koo apeoo, " She sits in Heaven," 

 were all the names of applicants for scrips, and many others 

 could be added of like tenor. In a word, the Christian or 

 baptismal names have not displaced the native ones, as 

 they did in Wales and elsewhere, and amongst some of 

 our far Eastern Indians. But there were terrifying and 

 repulsive names as well, such as Sese kenapik kaow 

 apeoo, " She sits like a rattle-snake " ; and one indi- 

 vidual rejoiced in the appalling surname of " Grand 

 Bastard." These instances serve to illustrate the ten- 

 dency of half-breed nomenclature at the lake towards the 

 mother's side. Here, too, there was no reserve in giving the 

 family name ; it was given at once when asked for, and there 

 was no shyness otherwise in demeanour. There was a readi- 

 ness, for example, to be photographed which was quite dis- 

 tinctive. In this connection it may interest the reader to 

 recall some of -the names of girls given by the same race 

 thousands of miles away in the East. Take those recorded 

 by Mrs. Jamesonf during her visit to Mrs. McMurray and 

 the Schoolcrafts, on the Island of Mackinac, over seventy 



*It may be mentioned here that this half-breed's " inner " name, 

 so to speak, meant " The Ghost-Keeper," for the name he gave, 

 following an Indian usage, was not the real one. Kanawatchaguiyo 

 was the one given by the interpreter, but accompanied by the trans- 

 lation of the inner name, fo wit, " The Ghost-Keeper." This curious 

 custom is more fully referred to in a forthcoming work on Indian 

 folk-lore, traditions, legends, usages, methods and manner of life, 

 etc., by Mrs. P. H. Paget, of Ottawa. This lady is an expert Cree 

 scholar, and her work, which I have had the pleasure of hearing 

 her read, is the result of diligent research and of ample knowledge 

 of Indian life and character. 



t " Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," 1835. 



