Joseph Noad

“ I would I could now describe how insensibly we glided from one subject to another;—religion—politics—country—'home, sweet, sweet, home'—alternately occupied our attention; and thus, in the midst of a dreary waste, far away from the haunts of civilized man, we sat contentedly smoking our pipes; and, Englishmen like, settled the affairs of nations over a glass of rum and water—ever and anon drinking a health to each friend and fair, who rose uppermost in our thoughts. ”

“ Others are of opinion, founded on some real or presumed affinity between the vocabulary of the one people with that of the other, that the Indian tribes of North America and the original inhabitants of Newfoundland, called by themselves "Boeothicks," and by Europeans "Red Indians," are of the same descent.
The enquiry, however, into the mere origin of a people is one more curious in its nature than it is calculated to be useful, and failure in attempting to discover it need excite but little regret ”

“ For the greater part of the seventeenth century the history of the Red Indians present a dreary waste—no sympathy appears to have been felt for them, and no efforts were made to stay the hands of their merciless destroyers. ”

“ Had the Indian tamely permitted his wife to have been carried away from him—had he without feeling or emotion witnessed the separation of the mother from her infant child, then indeed little sympathy would have been felt for him—and yet it is precisely because he did show that he possessed feelings common to us all, and without the possession of which man becomes more degraded than the brute, that he was shot. ”

“ Several of the Indians, with the three who had quitted the house with the woman, now advanced, while we retreated towards the shore. At length we stopped and they did the same. After a pause, three of them laid down their bows, with which they were armed, and came within two hundred yards. We then presented our guns, intimating that not more than one would be allowed to approach. They retired and fetched their arms, when one, the ill-fated husband of Mary March, our captive, advanced with a branch of fir tree (spruce) in his hand. ”

“ This is to inform you that I could get no men until the 20th August, when we proceeded with the Indian to the Bay of Exploits, and there went with her up the river as far as we possibly could for want of more strength, and there let her remain ten days, and when I returned the rest of the Indians had carried her off into the country. I would not wish to have any more hand with the Indians, in case you will send round and insure payment for a number of men to go in the country in the winter. ”

“ After the capture of Mary March, the next attempt, in order of time, to discover the Red Indians was made by James Cormack, Esq., in 1822, and for that purpose he crossed the whole interior of the Island—starting from Random Bar on the Eastward on the 6th September, and finding his way out at St. George's Bay, on the 2nd November following. During this excursion he suffered great privation,—which few men could have endured, and which few men indeed, would have undertaken with only one companion. ”

“ From such traditionary facts we gather, that the Boeothicks were once a powerful and numerous tribe, like their neighbouring tribe the Micmacs, and that for a long period these tribes were on friendly terms and inhabited the western shores of Newfoundland in common, together with other parts of the Island as well as the Labrador, and this good understanding continued until some time after the discovery of Newfoundland by Cabot ”

“ Cormack, in 1827, declaring "that hundreds of Indians must have been in existence not many years ago," otherwise it would be impossible to account for the great extent of deer fences which he found so late as the period above-named, yet in being. And lastly, we have the opinions of the Micmacs, who are so satisfied of the continued existence of the Red Indian tribe, that they can with difficulty be made to comprehend that it is possible to entertain a doubt of a fact, which to them appears so palpable. ”

“ The houses of these Indians are very different from those of the other tribes in North America; they are built of straight pieces of fir about twelve feet high, flattened at the sides, and driven in the earth close to each other; the corners being much stronger than the other parts.—The crevices are filled up with moss, and the inside entirely lined with the same material; the roof is raised so as to slant from all parts and meet in a point at the centre, where a hole is left for the smoke to escape ”

“ They believed, according to Whitburne, that they were created from arrows stuck in the ground by the Good Spirit, and that the dead went into a far country to make merry with their friends. Other early voyagers also make favourable mention of the natives, but notwithstanding this testimony, it is evident, even from information given by their apologist Whitburne himself, that the Red Indians were not exempt from those pilfering habits which, in many instances, have marked the conduct of the inhabitants of newly discovered Islands on their first meeting with Europeans. ”

“ Mr. Buchan went in the autumn, to the entrance of the River Exploits, and there anchored his vessel, which soon became fixed in the ice. He then began his march into the interior, accompanied by 24 of his crew and three guides, and having penetrated about 130 miles, discovered some wigwams of the Indians. He surrounded them, and their inhabitants, in number about seventy-five persons, became in his power. He succeeded in overcoming their extreme terror, and soon established a good understanding with them. ”

“ When spring advanced and their provisions were exhausted, some of them went back to the encampment at which they had been surprised, and there supplied themselves out of the winter stock of venison that had been left there.
After the disaster the tribe became scattered, and continued dispersed in bands frequenting the more remote and sequestered parts of the northern interior. In the second winter afterwards twenty-two had died about the river Exploits, at the Great Lake, and in the vicinity of Green Bay; in the following years also numbers died of hardship and want. ”

“ A third, and the most common method of burying among this people, was to wrap the body in birch rind, and then cover it over with a heap of stones on the surface of the earth; but occasionally in sandy places, or where the earth was soft and easily removed, the body was sunk lower in the earth and the stones omitted.
Their marriage ceremony consisted merely in a prolonged feast, and which rarely terminated before the end of twenty-four hours. Polygamy would seem not to have been countenanced by the tribe. ”

“ The opinion, however, most commonly entertained is, that the vast continent of North America was peopled from the Northeast of Asia; in proof of which it is urged that every peculiarity, whether in person or disposition, which characterises the Americans, bears some resemblance to the rude tribes scattered over the northeast of Asia, but almost none to the nations settled on the northern extremity of Europe. ”

“ It would appear that as soon as a herd of deer, few or many, enter the water, the Indians who are upon the watch, launch their canoes, and the parallel fences preventing the re-landing of the deer, they become an easy prey to their pursuers, and the buildings before described are depots, for their reception. ”

“ A gentleman who knew Cull well, said, "if ever the person who charged him with the crime, comes within the reach of Cull's gun, and a long gun it is, that cost £7 at Fogo, he is as dead as any of the Red Indians which Cull has often shot." Cull received £50 for capturing the woman, and a further sum of £15 for her maintenance.
In 1807 a proclamation was issued by Governor Holloway, offering a reward of £50 "to such person or persons as shall be able to induce or persuade any of the male tribe of native Indians to attend them to the town of St. John's ”

“ After spending several days in wandering round the margin of the lake, and having fully satisfied themselves that no encampment of the Indians was to be found there, they returned. Subsequently to this excursion, a party of men under the direction of an Institution termed the "Boeothick Institution," which was established with the view of benefiting the Indians, were sent on the same errand, but they too returned after a fruitless search, and with this attempt ends all efforts that have been made to open a communication with the Red Indians. ”

“ That the Boeothicks were a bold, heroic, self-dependant tribe, few will be disposed to question, when it is remembered that they never courted the friendship of, neither were they ever subdued by, any other tribe, or by Europeans—by the combined efforts of both Micmacs and Whites, their numbers were greatly reduced, if not utterly exterminated, but they were never conquered. ”

“ Hurrying on we quickly came to the houses; when within a shirt distance from the last house, three men and a woman carrying a child, issued forth. One of the men took the infant from her, and their speed soon convinced us of the futility of pursuit; the woman, however, did not run so fast. Mr. —— loosened his provision bag from his back and let it fall, threw away his gun and hatchet, and set off at a speed that soon overtook the woman. One man and myself did the same, except our guns. ”

“ I have now, I think, said enough to account for the shyness of the Indians towards the settlers, but could relate many other equally revolting scenes, some of which I shall hereafter touch upon. In 1815 or 1816, Lieutenant, now Captain Buchan, set out on an expedition to endeavour to meet with the Indians, for the purpose of opening a friendly communication with them. He succeeded in meeting with them, and the intercourse seemed firmly established, so much so, that two of them consented to go and pass the night with Captain Buchan's party, he leaving two of his men who volunteered to stop. ”

“ All that we know of the tribe as it existed in past ages, is derived from tradition handed down to us chiefly thro' the Micmacs; and even from this source, doubtful and uncertain as such authority confessedly is, the amount of information conveyed to us is both scanty and imperfect. ”

“ They had great store of skins of deer, beaver, bears, otter, seal, and divers other fine skins, which were well dressed; they had also great store of several sorts of fish dried. By shooting off a musquet towards them, they all ran away without any apparel but only their hats on, which were made of seal skins, in fashion like our hats, sewed handsomely with narrow bands and set round with fine white shels. All the canoes, flesh, skins, yolks of eggs, bows, arrows, and much fine ochre and divers other things did the ship's company take and share among them. ”

“ In the same year a proclamation was also issued, addressed exclusively to the Micmacs, the Esquimaux, and American Indians frequenting the Island, recommending them to live in harmony with the Red Indians, and threatening punishment to any who should injure them; and early in the same year, William Cull, the same person who has been spoken of, with six others, and two Micmacs, set out upon the river Exploits, then frozen over, in quest of their residence in the interior of the country. ”

“ Whitburne, when expressing his readiness to adopt measures for opening a trade with the Indians, incidentally mentions an instance where their thievish propensities were displayed.—He says, "I am ready with my life and means whereby to find out some new trade with the Indians of the country, for they have great store of red ochre, which they use to colour their bodies, bows, arrows, and canoes. ”

“ We depended on our guns for a supply of provisions, and at all times could meet with plenty of partridges and hares, though there were few days we did not kill a deer. The description of one day's journey will suffice for all, there being but little variation. ”

“ Captain Buchan had her body carried up the lake, where he left it in a coffin, in a place where it was probable her tribe would find her,—traces of Indians were seen while the party was on its way up,—and in fact, although unaware of it, Captain Buchan and his men were watched by a party of Indians, who that winter were encamped on the river Exploits, and when they observed Captain Buchan and his men pass up the river on the ice, they went down to the sea coast, near the mouth of the river, and remained there a month ”

“ Cormack's house until he left the colony in 1829, when she was taken to the house of the then Attorney-General. She died in June following, and was interred in the burial ground on the South-side. A Newfoundland paper, of the 12th of June, 1829, notices her death thus:—"Died, on Saturday night, the 6th inst., at the Hospital, Shaw-na-dith-it, the female Indian, one of the aborigines of this Island. She died of consumption,—a disease which seems to have been remarkably prevalent among her tribe, and which has unfortunately been fatal to all who have fallen into the hands of the settlers. ”

“ On the first settlement of the country, the Indians naturally viewed the intruders with a jealous eye, and some of the settlers having repeatedly robbed their nets, &c., they retaliated and stole several boats' sails, implements of iron, &c. ”