Vroom Papers

Contributions to the History of Charlotte County

and the Border Towns

I – INTRODUCTION

“All the facts of history,” says Emerson, “pre-exist in the mind as laws…The fact narrated must correspond to something in me to be credible or intelligible.”

The half settled, half nomadic Indians, returning from time to time to rebuild their bark wigwams on the old sites, are men whom we can understand; for we, too, are a wandering race, with our hearts still turning towards home, though our canoe is the ocean steamship, and the railway our forest trail. The stories of French discoverers and explorers appeal to a love of adventure which each of us feels, or has felt. The spirit of enterprise which brought the earliest English speaking settlers to these shores is still alive in their children; and that noble devotion to sentiment by which our Loyalist forefathers were moved is a trait which, even in this more prosaic age, would find admiring sympathy in every heart.

There are many places of historic note within the limits of the old Acadia; yet few of which the recorded events are more interesting or more important than are those of Passamaquoddy Bay and the surrounding country. The history of this region falls into four distinct periods:

a. The Indian period. When the first Europeans visited this country, they found here an aboriginal race, of unknown antiquity; a friendly and hospitable people, of interesting language, traditions and customs; but a people so weak in numbers that the intruders, whether French or English, had no hesitation in taking possession of the land in the name of their respective kings. This people, whose home was the forest, welcomed the French to share in the products of the chase; but they instinctively understood, (better, perhaps, than we do today,) that forest health was the true wealth of the country, and they had good reason, therefore, apart from their alliance with the French, to look upon the Saxon, the axe-man, as their natural enemy. Fairly or unfairly, they have been dispossessed; and the period of European discovery was to them the beginning of the end.

b. The French period. Passing over the early Norse, Spanish and Portuguese explorers, who, so far as known, did not visit Passamaquoddy, (though the Spanish undoubtedly saw and named the Bay of Fundy,) the French period begins with the voyage of DeMonts, in 1604, and ends with the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. This may be subdivided into an early period, the period of French exploration, and a later one, that of French occupation. After the treaty of Breda, in 1667, in which the English surrendered, for the time, their claim to Acadia, the French settled in considerable numbers abut the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay, but they seem to have abandoned it before the English conquest. We have relics of their occupancy in names of places, as will be seen in the article on geographical names.

c. The early English period. Nearly fifty years after the departure of the French, the first New Englanders came. They came voluntarily, as new settlers, to seek their fortunes ….. a movement very different from that which marked the following period. It is not generally recognized that the attitude of the Passamaquoddy Indians at this time was a source of much anxiety to the British, and possibly had an influence in deciding the result of the Revolutionary War.

d. The Loyalist period, Like a page of romance is the story of the coming of the United Empire Loyalists; largely a forced migration, yet cheerfully undertaken, from devotion to principle; a movement that has marked on the map of North America an indelible boundary line and given British responsible government to half a continent. Sincere and brave men there were in the land they left behind them, who are honored as patriots there; but none of purer motives or of more noble life. The lands they cleared, the towns they built, the county they named with a royal name, are our inheritance; and whatever we can learn of their thoughts and words and deeds is well worth learning.

II – PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS

Little is known of the ancient inhabitants of our land. Little can be learned of the life and habits, the origin and history of a people who have left no buildings and no writings: and this may be said in a general way of the aborigines of Acadia; for the buried hut bottoms found in many places can scarcely be called ruined buildings, and , with the exception of the inscriptions mentioned below, the few Indian writings now known to exist are scarcely worthy of mention.

Whether the forefathers of our Indians were the earliest inhabitants of this region is a question which may perhaps never be satisfactorily answered; but there is at least some little ground for the opinion that they were preceded by a people of different race and habits.

The Passamaquoddies have a tradition of the existence of such a people, whom they call Caansoos, or Konsoos, (plural, Konsoosuk,) and who, they say, disappeared and went to live in the under world. Then they find stone implements of which they do not know the use, they speak of them as left by the Konsoosuk. (a)

Stories current some twenty or thirty years ago, abut a stone altar said to have been found somewhere in the interior of the country, and ruins of a temple on one of the hills overlooking Lake Utopia, must be discredited because unsupported by later observations. But most people living in the east of this county have either seen or heard of the “Laney stone,” a slab of red granite found at Lake Utopia about twenty-five years ago, on one side of which was carved in relief the representation of a human head. (b) It seems hard to believe that such work could have been done without metal tools; yet the pioneers of Acadia found no metal tools in use among the natives. Unless the unique carving is of comparatively recent date, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that it is a relic either of an extinct people or of a prehistoric settlement of Europeans here; in which case, it is strange that no further trace of such a people have been seen. (c) Some artificial arrangement of stones, some terraces or excavations, some greater earth-works than those of the beaver, might surely be expected. Will they ever be found? That such remains of a former civilization might exist, as yet unnoticed, is not incredible, when we consider how little of a trace is left of the dwellings of our own people, even in places where inhabited houses have stood within the memory of living men.

Mr. George Creed, of South Raewdon, N. S., has carefully examined and made numerous fac-similes of some strange inscriptions on the rocks on the shores of a small lake (d) in that province, an account of which he has prepared for publication. The characters differ from those which the early missionaries found in use among the Micmacs and no on has yet been able to interpret them. Possibly the faces of some of our cliffs bear similar records, over which the gray lichens have written their story of desolation, or the soft green mosses, fit emblems of oblivion, have drawn their thickest veil. Anything resembling the work of human hands is worth investigating. (e)

FOOTNOTES:

(a) The statement is made on the authority of Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, of Calais. Mr. Brown was formerly an Indian agent, and still takes an active interest in matters relating to the Indians; and Mrs. Brown’s patient study of the language and traditions of the Passamaquoddies has made her the leading authority on the subject.

(b) Mr. Edward Jack was a resident of St. George when this piece of sculpture was found and knew the stone mason who discovered it as he was looking on the shores of Lake Utopia for material for his work. Turning over this block of stone, the mason noticed the face and carried it home. His wife objected to its presence there because it “glowered at her,” so, in order to keep peace in the family, the husband disposed of it to Mr. A. J. Wetmore, then a collector at the port of St. George.

(c) This carved stone is now in the museum of the Natural History Society, at St. John. It is figured in “Field and Forest Rambles,” by Dr. A. Leith Adams; one of the most interesting books ever published about New Brunswick. A faithful copy of the carving on it and a plan of the locality in which it was found are given in a paper by

I. Allen Jack, D. C. L., of St. John, included in “Miscellaneous Papers relating the Anthropology,” published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1881. His conclusion is that the stone is a genuine relic of an age antedating the period of British, and probably that of French occupation; and that the carving was intended to represent the head of a deceased Indian at whose grave it was probably originally placed.

(d) A curiously marked stone found at Minister’s Island is described by F. Ganong, M. S., in an illustrated article in the University (of N. B.) Monthly for March, 1885. The stone is now in the museum of the University at Fredericton; and the markings are thought by some to have been made by the Indians long prior to the advent of Europeans. An article in the “Canadian Indian,” for June, 1891, discusses supposed picto-graphs in New Brunswick.

III – THE SCULPTURED STONE OF LAKE UTOPIA

In the autumn of 1863 or winter of 1864, a remarkable sculptured stone, representing a human face and head in profile, was discovered in the neighborhood of St. George. This curiosity was found by a man who was searching for stone for building purposes and was lying about one hundred feet from the shore of Lake Utopia.

The stone, irrespective of the cutting, which is in relief, has a flat surface and is of the uniform thickness of 2 inches. Its form is rounded elliptical, and it measures 21½ inches longitudinally, and 18 ¼ inches across the shorter diameter. The stone is granulate, being distinguished from granite proper by the absence of mica.

I believe that the finder, who, as I have stated, was searching for stone for building purposes, was attracted by the shape of the stone in question; that it was lying on the surface and covered with moss, and that it was not until the removal of the moss that the true character of the object appeared. An examination of its surface must, I think, convince the observer that the stone has been subjected to long-continued action of water, and from its situation it seems fairly certain that the water which has produced the wasted appearance was rain and rain only.

I hesitate to speak of the precise period when the stone showed no marks of rain. I feel, however, that I am safe in expressing the belief that it would require a length of time commencing at a date before a Frenchman is known to have set foot in this country to produce from the action of rain so worn a surface as this stone exhibits. If this proposition is correct, there can be no reasonable ground to doubt that the carving is the work of an Indian.

A very obvious question presents itself to the mind of the investigator which may here very properly be considered. What purpose would an Indian have in view in producing this curious work of art? I think that I can suggest an answer.

Upon one occasion, while in conversation with an old resident of St. George, he gave me an account of a somewhat singular monument which, many years before this period, stood on the summit of a high hill near the Canal, (a) and about one-half mile distant from the place where the carved stone was found. It consisted of a large oval or rounded stone, weighing, as my informant roughly estimates, seventy-five hundred weight, lying on three vertical stone columns, from ten inches to one foot in height, and firmly sunk in the ground thus… (The above weight, I should imagine, is an over-estimate, but I give is as stated to me.) My informant stated that the boys and other visitors were in the habit of throwing stones at the columns, and eventually the monument was tumbled over by the combined efforts of a number of ship carpenters, and fell crashing into the valley. (b) Some years afterwards, I read for the first time, Francis Parkman’s “pioneers of France in the New World,” when my attention was at once arrested. Champlain, the writer states, had journeyed up the Ottawa River beyond Lake Coulange. I quote what the historian writes of what the explorer sees: “Here, too, was a cemetery, which excited the wonder of Champlain, for the dead were better cared for than the living. Over each grave a flat tablet of wood was supported on posts, and at one end stood an upright tablet carved with an intended representation of the features of the deceased.”

Now, it may be that there is no connection whatever between the Indian custom described by Champlain, as existing at the place described, and the finding of the sculpture and the appearance of a large stone, supported on stone columns, at a place in New Brunswick. The points are certainly far apart, and while in one place there is clear evidence of the common custom, there is in the other barely sufficient evidence to justify the supposition that there may be a single instance of the adoption of the custom. Two conjectures may be made, however, either of which if correct might account for the supposed existence of an Ottawa custom in New Brunswick. An Indian might have been captured, or might have been carried, or have found his way, to the Maritime Provinces. Or a young Malicete might have been carried away by the Ottawas and escaped to his home. The use of a large stone instead of a wooden tablet scarcely deserves comment, for the change of material would in no sense interfere with the object in view.

I think that a careful or even a superficial examination of the carving must impress the observer with the idea that it is intended to represent the face of an Indian, and the head although viewed only laterally, certainly presents many of the peculiarities of the North American type.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) First published in “Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology,” in report of Smithsonian Institution for 1881 (now out of print).

(b) The name is applied to a natural waterway which connects Lake Utopia with the Magaguadavic River.

(c) The original paper was accompanied by a map of the locality on which was marked the position of the stone. The existence of this stone altar and ruined temple which were mentioned in the last number.

IV – THE WABANAKI

Whether it is held that the Micmacs and Etchemins were the primitive inhabitants of New Brunswick or that they were preceded by another race, it may be regarded as certain that they were in undisturbed possession of the territory long before the white men came. The Passamaquoddies, or Etchemins, have removed to the other shore of the St. Croix, and are now no longer numbered among the inhabitants of Charlotte county; but the place names which they have left behind are monuments more enduring than buildings of sculptured stones.

Before taking up the history of our county since the advent of Europeans, it is right that we should glance at what is known of these people, who met and welcomed the first white men that trod our shores, who were the friends and not the foes of our ancestors, and whose present condition is their misfortune more than their fault.

The Indians of this region belonged to the great Algonquin family, extending from Labrador to South Carolina, and westward nearly to the Rocky Mountains. The nation or confederacy which included the Passamaquoddies was known as the Wabanaki, a name which is generally interpreted as meaning “people of the east”, or “people who live nearest the dawn.” (a) The word has been variously spelled; Abanakai, Abnaki, Abenaki, Abanaki, and Abenaquis, being some of the forms in which it is found. (b) Opennago is probably another form of the same word. There were four tribes or divisions of the Wabanaki – the Penobscots, the Passamaquoddies, the St. John River Indians, and another, which is said to have scattered and merged in other tribes, but probably now represented by the Abanakis of Becanour and St. Francis. (c) The Passamaquods, or Passamaquoddies, were known to the French as Etchemins, by which name were also included the St. John River Indians, (now known as Maliseets, or Milicetes, (d) and the Penobscots. The Micmacs are of distinct origin, and were at one time a separate nation. (e) Edward Jack, C. E., in a paper read last month before the Canadian Institute at Toronto, states that the principal subdivision of the Wabanaki took their distinctive names from the districts in which they lived; as, for instance, Kambesinnoaks, “those who lived near the lakes;” Sokowakiakio, “men of the south;” Nurtantsuaks, “those who travel by water.” It is held by some authorities that the name Passamaquoddy (Peskamaquontik) was of similar origin.

According to Indian tradition, the Passamaquoddies are descended from a man and woman belonging to two of the older tribes, who, as they could not agree to live with either tribe, made for themselves a home in this region, which was then unoccupied.

The traditional songs and stories of the Wabanaki show they were a people remarkable for their poetic imagination. Mrs. Brown, who has a large manuscript collection of their myths and legends, believes that the Passamaquoddies surpassed all the other tribes in this respect. The next few articles will deal with this people and their curious folklore. As to their history before the coming of the whites, almost nothing is known, owing to their lack of written records; (f) but as to their habits of life, etc., we have some testimony in the old refuse heaps, so frequent along the shores of the Passamaquoddy Bay. In the next subsequent article we will give an abstract of a paper by Mr. G. F. Matthew, which embodies all that is known upon this subject.

Mrs. Brown has been told by the Passamaquoddies that the shell heaps were left by their forefathers; who, they say, made autumn encampments on the shore, for the purpose of getting a winter’s supply of clams. They chose a spot from which it was easy to get back to their winter hunting grounds; therefore the shell heaps are generally found near the mouths of navigable streams. The clams were put into an oven, and cooked just enough to be taken out of the shells easily; and were then dried on sticks. This preserved them, and made them light and easy to carry. Several households, they say, used the same oven; which accounts for the great number of shells in one place. The saltiness of the clams made them an important article of food, as salt was unknown in its crystalline form.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) The Indians themselves do not know the meaning of the word. The late Father Vetromile, of Eastport, missionary to the Etchemins, gives an elaborate argument to prove that the name is derived from “wab,” white, and Naghi, ancestor; and means “our ancestors of the east,” a term of respect applied to them by adjoining tribes. Mrs. Brown accepts this derivation; but, as “naghi” is used as a title of respect (much as “father” is with us), would take the name to mean, rather, “the people living near the light, whom we respect.” Louis Mitchell, a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe, and their representative in the Maine State Legislature, translates it, “the people of the northern lights.”

(b) The spelling which we have adopted shows, as nearly as possible, the Passamaquoddy pronunciation of the word. The “a” represents a sound broader and more nasal than “a” in father, and approaching that of “a” in all. The final “i” has the sound of “y” in the English word chalky, with which the last two syllables of Wabanaki nearly rhyme.

(c) The chief emigration of the Abenakis from their original home to the St. Lawrence seems to have taken place under Frontenac’s administration. At that time the Jesuits had brought together, at St. Joseph de Sillery, a certain number of these Indians, and formed, with those who were already there, an Abenaki mission of 500 to 600 souls; and in 1683 they established, on the Chaudiere, another more considerable one which they named St. Francois de Sales. This Abenaki emigration is a subject well worthy of investigation. Puritan bigotry brought Indians from Maine and settled them in two villages on the Chaudiere – Becanour and St. Francis. It was always the policy of the French to keep villages of friendly Indians on all rivers navigable for canoes, to block the way of the English to Canada. ---W. F. Ganong.

(d) Some of the more intelligent of the Abenakis of the St. John say that their ancestors came from the west, and that the original inhabitants of New Brunswick were Micmacs. In furtherance of these views they say that the names of a great number of the branches of the St. John consist of Micmac words. One of our Abenakis, with whom I have had frequent conversations, gives the meaning of “Melicite” as being “broken” language; referring to the original language of the Abenakis having been corrupted by an admixture of Micmac words. Abbe Maurault, who for many years was missionary to the Abenakis of St. Francois, on the St. Lawrence, derives the word from Maloudit, those from St. Malo; this being, he says, the name which the Abenakis gave to the “metis” among them, because the greater part of their fathers came from St. Malo. The Abbe further states that the French called the Indians residing on the St. Croix and St. John rivers, first, Eteminiquois, and later, Etchemins. This name was given them he states, because the Abenakis called this territory “Etemanki” “land of snow shoe skins,” on account of the abundance of moose and caribou to be found there. ---Edward Jack.

(e) Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, who possesses the largest collection of precious wampum known, has a treaty belt on which are three marks supposed to represent the three tribes of the Wabanaki, after the departure of the lost tribe, and before the union with the Micmacs.

(e) The Wabanaki and neighboring tribes had a regular method of writing, and were accustomed to sent messages on birch bark; but their writing seems never to have been used for historic or literary purposes. A curious book of prayers in the Micmac characters is in the possession of Mr. W. W. Brown.

V – DISCOVERIES AT A VILLAGE OF

THE STONE AGE AT BOCABEC

(a)(From a paper by G. F. Matthews, M. A., F. R. S. C., read before the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, Feb. 5, 1884.

A number of members of this society combined to form a summer encampment in Charlotte county, in August last, for the purpose of studying, during a short vacation, the botany, zoology, (b) and archaeology of a locality in that county. As the work in the last named branch was entrusted to me, it becomes my duty to tell you of the result.

The spot chosen for investigation was a group of kitchen-middens or shell heaps which mark the site of an abandoned village of the Stone Age, at a place called Phil’s Beach, near the mouth of the Bocabec River.

The site was well chosen, for the advantages of the place to a people who depended for existence on hunting and fishing are manifold. A clay flat, flanked on the west by a long protecting hill of felsite rock, running parallel to the course of the Bocabec River, and on the east by a similar ridge which separates this river from Digdeguash inlet, was the spot chosen for the principal settlement. To the north of the clay flat, where there is now an open field, the standing forest broke off the keen winds of winter; and to the south was the sea-beach, where drift wood in abundance was thrown up, and where boats or canoes could be kept, secure from the rising and falling tide. Sea-fish and marine animals no doubt abounded there, as now, along the whole of this river. The inhabitants of the village could float up with the tide. Three miles, to the head of navigation, whence they had a five mile range for hunting beaver and larger game on the branches of the Bocabec River; or by going out of the river and passing around into Digdequash inlet a still more extensive woodland tract was open to them. From the mouth of the Bocabec they could also cross Passamaquoddy Bay in various directions in search of seals and seabirds.

On first surveying the ground, it was observed that the north side of the village site was comparatively smooth, having been under cultivation since the arrival of the English, and no inequalities remained that would indicate where the dwellings of the ancient inhabitants had been. Fully one half of the site of the village, however, including the part on which the shells of the kitchen-midden were heaped together in the greatest quantities, had never been disturbed by the plow. In the western part of the shell-covered area, where the heaps of shells were most conspicuous, the presence of numerous saucer-shaped depressions indicated the positions of the huts of the aboriginal settlement.

In digging a trench we struck an ancient fire-place, which was made the center of exploration for several feet around. It was found that at this point the deposit in the hut bottom was about two feet deep, but its fire-place rested upon an older kitchen-midden, or refuse heap beneath.

The exact form and size of the typical hut was disclosed by a layer of clean beach gravel, which we met with about 15 inches from the surface. This layer formed a ring around the

fire-place, at a distance of from 2 to 3 feet from its center, and was bordered all around by the shells of the kitchen-midden. The ring of gravel was about 3 inches thick in its deepest part, and was continuous except on the south side where a break about four feet long marks the position of the door.

There are two peculiarities in the foundation of this hut which would lead to the inference that the hut was conical. The first is the relation of the kitchen-midden to the gravel of the sleeping-bench. In making a trench through this hut-bottom, and others adjoining, sections of several layers of gravel marking such sleeping-benches were passed through at various depths in the deposit; and in all, the outer edge of the gravel of the sleeping-bench was found to be overlapped by the shells of the kitchen-midden as though the shells had fallen in upon the gravel after the decay of the poles which had supported the walls of the hut. A second feature of the appearance of this foundation, which seemed to indicate a conical form to the dwelling, was the width between the ends of the gravelly layer of the sleeping-bench. If this space corresponds to the width of the doorway it would be quite out of proportion to the size of such a dwelling, unless the doorway was rapidly narrowed above by the convergence of the poles supporting the sides of the hut.

I have said that they underlaid their sleeping bunks with gravel. This couch they no doubt made softer by covering with boughs, and warmer by the added luxury of fur skins. Nevertheless in some respects they were exceedingly slovenly. The ashes and

charcoal of their fire-places gradually accumulated to such an extent, that to level up the sides of their huts, they brought in gravel and threw it on the trampled clam shells and other debris of their feasts that were scattered over the floor.

From the present aspect of the surface of the kitchen-middens at this village site, a rough approximation to the population of Bocabec River during this latter part of the Stone Age may be obtained. Including subsidiary villages, there may, at times, have been a population of 200 souls located near this river.

One of the occupations of the women living at Bocabec was the manufacture of pottery. The coarseness of the clay used in the manufacture, as well as the defects in the material and the imperfect baking, compelled these potters to make their ware very thick, in order to obtain the necessary strength. Their vessels were seldom less than three-eighths of an inch thick in any part, except near the rim, and the bottoms were usually about half an inch thick.. It is only just to give them credit for a considerable amount of rude taste in the ornamentation of their pottery. Upon the fragments found at the three hut bottoms we examined, there are no less than ten distinct designs or patterns impressed upon the surface of the ware. Some of them are quite ornamental. A favorite style of ornamentation consisted in continuous parallel lines made with pointed tools; but a more elegant pattern was a chevron, consisting of rows of short diagonal lines impressed in this manner. Some of the patterns indicate a different process of manufacture from the last; these show the print of a course woven fabric on the outside of the vessel, and sometimes also within. On some fragments this pattern has the appearance of a fine basket work, and may have been used to preserve the form of the vessel, as well as to ornament the surface. One pattern of the class first referred to, consisting of square, incised dots, is precisely like the marking on some fragments of pottery which I met with about fourteen years ago at Oak Bay.

Though their pottery was coarse, the people of Bocabec showed a great degree of proficiency in another art, namely, the manufacture of implements of stone. This industry we may suppose was in the hands of the men, and some of the implements obtained show that it was brought to great perfection. The lance-heads were flat and of a long oval pattern. The arrow-points were chiefly of three patterns, viz., lozenge shaped, lanceolate-leaf-form, and triangular, with lateral notches for securing the point to the shaft. Many of those arrow-points were rudely made, others more highly finished. There was a remarkable scarcity of axes and of the larger stone implements at these hut bottoms.

Among the objects from Bocabec are a number of skinning-knives. Those which showed the most careful chipping were rectangular in outline, like some agate knives found on the St. John River. Several, however, were lunate or oval. The material used in the manufacture of these knives was either quartz or Petrosilex, mostly the former. Scrapers in great numbers were found in the hut bottoms of this village site, but they were as imperfectly made as they were numerous, and none were met with that possessed the artistic finish of the agate scrapers found on the shores and tributaries of the St. John River. Though thus lacking in elegance, the scrapers found at Phil’s Beach, Bocabec, present a variety of forms, and were no doubt intended for various uses. Beside the ordinary scraper, which in form may be compared to a gun-flint with rounded corners, and which was used for dressing skins, there were several kinds which were probably used as carpenters’ tools.

Bone implements of various kinds were found both in the hut bottoms and in the kitchen-middens, but mostly in a fragmentary condition. The most abundant were codkins of a rough type. These were made in most cases by pointing split pieces of the legislature bones of moose, deer, and other large animals. Several fragments of netting needles, or implements which from their size and form appear to have been available for this use, were found, and one perfect needle of this kind, about eight inches long, was met with. Of ivory implements, the only ones found were made of the tooth of the beaver.

Vanity is a foible quite as prevalent among savage as civilized communities, and we are not surprised to find indications of it among the dwellers at Bocabec. Among the “reliquae” of their hut bottoms was a fragment of a stone pendant decorated with crossed lines in the form of a lattice and two kinds of powder, which appear to have been kept in shells of the common clam. One of these powders is made from galena ore, small veins of which occur on the islands of Digdeguash inlet, near Bocabec. The powder is bluish and has a glistening appearance. The other powder, which was formed of the pulverized shells of the horse mussel, could have been used as a pearly white paint. These powders would appear to have been a part of their toilet requisites.

Among all the weapons, implements, and other objects found at Bocabec, not one article has been met with which in any way would lead to the supposition that these people were acquainted with the products of European industry. An inference regarding the antiquity of this village site may also be drawn from the covering of vegetable mould which has gathered on the surface of the shell-heaps to a greater or less depth in different parts. In the hollows, and especially over the hut bottoms, this mould has attained a considerable depth, in some places as much as a foot or eighteen inches. But while on the one hand these conditions point to a period anterior to the discovery of America, or at least of the region of Acadia, by the “White Race,” as the time when the shores of the Bocabec ceased to be occupied by the people whose remains we have examined; on the other hand, their sojourn on its banks, when compared with the whole period of the Stone Age, was both recent and short.

Finally, as regards the origin of the people who made these kitchen-middens at Bocabec, a few words may be said. The indication of a conical form to the huts, which I think is sufficiently shown, points strongly to a resemblance between these huts and the well-known wigwam of the Indians. The choosing of a smooth beach for the village site; the fact that they appear to have had canoes or boats of some sort to transport the vast quantities of clams which formed an important article of their diet and which could not have been dug with ease or found in sufficient quantities in front of their village; the capture of fish which would not take the hook but must have been taken by spear, harpoon, weir, or net; the dependence of the people on hunting for the more acceptable variety in their food; the character of the rude pottery; the use of coarse woven fabrics; and a variety of other features of their culture and mode of life, are such as we know to have been common to them and the Indian tribes of Acadia.

FOOTNOTES:

Referring to Micmac writings mentioned in the last article, Mr. Edward Jack sends us the following interesting notes:

Abbe Cigone, a native of Lyons, in France, who dedicated his life to the service and instruction of the Micmacs in Nova Scotia, invented an alphabet for them. He must have come to Nova Scotia about the end of the last century, or early in this. His memory was long revered among these people, who looked up to him as their guide and best friend.

Many years since I was storm stayed at Digby. There was storm stayed there at the same time a remarkably intelligent gentleman who claimed Massachusetts as his home. To my astonishment I overheard him speaking in Acadia French to one of the servants. He laughingly remarked, as I entered the room “I am an Acadian myself,” “Where did you get your education?” I said to him. “From Abbe Cigone” was his reply, “and I can well remember his teaching me to translate Quintius Curtius, as we sat by the fire on which a piece of pitch pine was occasionally thrown, so as to furnish us with light enough to enable me to read. We had not even candles in those days. The Abbe wanted to make me a priest; but I left him and went off to the United States”.

I do not know whether I have spelled the Abbe’s name correctly, as I have not seen it written, that I can remember. I have heard that his father was mayor of Lyons at the time of the French revolution.

Some years since, when at Little Bay, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, I made the acquaintance of the Rev. Father Flynn, a young priest who resided there. One of his charges was at the mouth of Indian River, where there was a settlement of Micmacs, of them he told me that there were 150 families on the island. These Indian River Indians made a better living by hunting than the whites did by fishing. The father told me that in their correspondence with Cape Breton these Micmacs used hieroglyphics; and that they had prayer books printed in these hieroglyphics. He did not know where these prayer books were printed; but he thought at Berlin.

One day, as the father and I were talking at his house, a tall, powerful looking Micmac came in carrying a stone pot in his hand, which he presented to the priest. This was one of the pots, said Father Flynn, used by the Red Indians of Newfoundland, who have been exterminated. “I have seen,” he added, “a place in a ledge of soap stone, on this island, which is full of holes caused by the Red Indians cutting out pots.”

We had been talking about the Micmacs of the island and their hieroglyphics a short time before this; and Father Flynn, after thanking the Indian for the curiosity he had given him, said: “Joe! sit down at the table and write the Lord’s prayer for this gentleman!” Joe accordingly took a piece of paper and by means of his pencil soon covered it with his hieroglyphics. All that I could distinguish among them was the cross.

The Micmacs came to Newfoundland, I think, about the time when the Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia. Father Flynn told me that in Cape Breton the Micmacs have a king, who is crowned by the bishop; and I see in Rakluyt’s voyages that their king is spoken of, in the account of a voyage made during the reign of Henry VIII, to what is known as Saint Anne’s harbor, in that island.

(a) The full paper, of which this is an abridgment, was published in Bulletin No. III of the Nat. Hist. Soc. of N.B. 1884.

VI – WABANAKI LEGENDS

(By Mrs. W. Wallace Brown)

It has been said that the legends of a people are subject to climatic influence. How far Wabanaki legends are influenced by climate would be difficult to determine.

That the Wabanaki were a superior people, peacefully inclined, and full of poetic imagery, all must concede, who have listened to their legends. Wonderful poems, in themselves, are these legends; peopling every nook and rivulet; not altogether from the imagination, but giving voice and language to all nature. They have been said to resemble so strongly the ancient sagas of the Scandinavians as to suggest a common origin. Possibly the Indian received these mystic songs from the Northmen, who are said to have visited this coast a century before Saemund collected the sagas of the Edda; yet it is just as possible that those sagas were borrowed from the Indian.

The Indian tongue is not deficient in its capacity of expression; and its grammar, though unwritten, is formed on a similar model to that of the so-called learned languages. (a) The legends of the Wabanaki may be divided into two general classes, mythology and folk-lore. Their folk-lore is an unlimited number of tales, in which human properties are ascribed to the lower animals, and made to explain any seeming discrepancy in nature.

Gloos-kahp or Glooskap, as he is called by the Passamaquoddies, (Glos-cap by the Micmacs; Gloos-kop-be by the Penobscots;) is the great central figure in Wabanaki mythology. Though regarded by his people with high admiration, he is not exactly a divinity. He is believed to be all-powerful, all-wise; and yet his name seems a misnomer, for the word glooskap means a liar.

There is little cosmogony antedating Gloospay; who is said to have “come out of this mists of the swamp” – the Indian idea of chaos. He shot arrows into the ash tree and called mankind therefrom. He named and changed for man’s use the already created animals, reducing the size of some of them, and adapting them to their mode of life. Still a friend of the Wabanaki, he hears their call and aids them in time of need.

The stories told of Glooskap’s life are innumerable and varied. When he left his people, he went down under a great cobs-cook (water-fall); and there, on an island, he remains; in company with his adopted grandmother. His wigwam is lined with pockets made of bark which shines like silver. He is making arrows; and when he has the pockets full of arrows he will consume the world in a fire, caused by his arrows flying thick and fast in battle. (b)

How Glooskap Chased K’chi-Quabeet.

K’chi-Quabeet (the Great Beaver) had been the source of much annoyance; and Glooskap determined to capture him; so he took a position on the top of N’monee-quen-e-moosa-kesq as the Indians call the hill between Waweig and Oak Bay, which means “the place of many sugar maples.” There he could get a good view of Qua-beet-a-osis, or Beaver-house, (the Indian name for the cone-shaped island in Oak Bay, now called Cookson’s Island.)

But the Great Beaver had been warned of his danger, and had already left for the St. John River, where he built a dam. The ledge of rocks at the Falls is still called “Chi-Quabeet-a-wick-pa-hegan, or Great Beaver’s dam. He then started for further up the river.

When Glooskap found the beaver had escaped, he followed after him as far as the dam at St. John; breaking the dam, in hopes that the rush of water would bring the beaver within his reach. Then Glooskap took a large stone and threw it up river, expecting to drive the beaver down stream again. But the beaver had gone into Lake Ah-Ben-squaa-tuct, where he has built another wigwam; and the rock which Glooskap threw fell near Tobique, where it may still be seen.

Besides having such superhuman powers, which he always exercised for the good of his people, in some of the tales Glooskap seems to have had a beneficent control over the forces of nature. An instance is given in the following song, recited to the writer by an Indian named Stephen Neptune:

How Glooskap found the Summer

In the long ago time, When people lived always in the early red morning, before sunrise, Before the land of the Wabanaki was peopled as today, Glooskap went very far north, where all was ice. He came to a wigwam. Therein he found a giant – a great giant – for he was winter. Glooskap entered; he sat down. Then Winter gave him a pipe; he smoked, and the giant told tales of the old life. The charm was on him (it was the frost). The giant talked on and Glooskap fell asleep. He slept for six months, like a toad; then the charm fled, and he awoke. He went his way home: he went to the south, and at every step it grew warmer, And the flowers began to come up and talk to him. He came to where there were many little ones (c) dancing in the forest. Their queen was Summer. I am singing the truth: it was Summer, the most beautiful one ever born. The fairies surrounded their queen; but the Master deceived them by a crafty trick: He cut a moose hide into a narrow strip, and bade them hold one end: As he ran away with Summer, he let the end trail behind him. they, the fairies of light, pulled at the cord; But, as Glooskap ran, the cord ran out; and though they pulled, he left them far away. So he returned to the lodge of Winter; but now he had Summer in his bosom; And Winter welcomed him; for he hoped to freeze him again to sleep. I am singing the song of Summer. But this time the Master did the talking: this time his magic was the stronger. And ere long the sweat ran down Winter’s face, and then he melted more and quite away as did the wigwam. Then everything awoke; the grass grew, the fairies came out, and now the snow ran down the rivers, carrying away the dead leaves. Then Glooskap left Summer with them and went home.

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There are other mighty beings in Wabanaki mythology. One of these, Pook-jin-squis, or the Toad-Woman, holds nearly as prominent a place as Glooskap. She is the harbinger of evil; and through her influence have come all venomous insects. She is seldom or never mentioned in the Glooskap tales; but is the center of another group of legends. (d)

Another mythical being, Lox, is the impersonation of mischief and obscenity; and resembles in character, as much as in name, the Loki of Norse legends.

The Keewaqu’ are a frightful race of cannibal giants, with hearts of ice.

Still more powerful and more dreaded, is Chee-bal-ok, the spirit of the air; who was the only being Glooskap feared. He is represented as having head, legs, wings, and heart; but no body. He has power in his shriek to kill all who hear him; and the sight of him would render one blind until sunset. Among the many other marvelous creatures, giants, and pigmies, friendly and unfriendly, even the names of which would make too long a list, there is another great being, seldom mentioned in the stories, but always feared – Katowks, the spirit of night and death.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) The Micmac, like many, if not all, of the other Native American languages, is remarkable for its copiousness, its regularity of declension and conjugation, its expressiveness, its simplicity of vocables, and its mellifluosness. In all these particulars, and others, it will not suffer from a comparison with any of the most learned and published languages of the world – reface to Rands’ Micmac Dictionary.

(b) The Micmac story says that Glooskap, grieved by the evil ways of men and beasts, sailed away to the west (from Minas Basin); and until he shall return again all nature mourns. A slightly different version of the story, as told in verse by Rev. A. W. Eaton, is given in another column. – Ed.

(c) The flower fairies.

(d) The long account of the conflict between Glooskap and Pook-jin-squia given by Leland in Algonquin Legends is the result of his piecing together several different tales. It was the Black Cat, not Glooskap, who vanquished the Toad-Woman.

VII – WABANAKI LEGENDS – Continued

(By Mrs. W. Wallace Brown)

One of the Passamaquoddy traditions tells that near the present site of the village at Pleasant Point there once dwelt a tribe of Konsoosuk. The place was called

Wa-beig-enuk; and the following story accounts for the origin of the name:

The Story of Wa-beig-an.

Wa-beig-an was a young hunter, whom the Catamount wished to marry. In those days hunters were not allowed to marry; as it destroyed their power of endurance and made them lazy. Therefore the young man avoided Catamount.

Catamount had two brothers, Lox and Sable, who were envious of Wa-beig-an’s success as a hunter; and they planned to entrap him into a marriage with sister. The Blue-jay was the poohegan (good genius) of the hunter; and it told him of their intention. He at once decided to leave the vicinity.

Catamount was watching him, however, and started to follow; her brothers, also, joining in the pursuit. Wa-beig-an ran till he came to the salt water. Then he followed the shore for a short distance; and, finding no other way of escape turned himself into stone.

Catamount, in her wrath, destroyed most of the body; but the legs remained, and gave to that locality the name of Wa-beig-an-uk.

It would be interesting to find the site of this ancient village. There can be little doubt of its existence; for it may be accepted as certain that all Indian traditions have some foundation in fact.

Many of the stories in Wabanaki folk-lore are of great length, and full of minute details, and yet are told with but little variation by different individuals.

Often the leading idea of these folktales reappear in the legends of distant tribes. Mr. Wallace Brown, while travelling over the C. P. R. a few years ago, met with a Cree Indian in the Northwest, who, to his surprise, told in broken English the familiar Passamaquoddy story of how the bear lost his tail.

The substance of the story is this: The bear saw the fox catching fish. This he did by dropping his tail through a hole in the ice, holding it there till a fish had taken hold, then jumping up quickly and bringing up the fish before it had time to let go. The bear tried to do the same. By the fox’s advice, he kept his tail in the water a long time, and it froze fast, and when he jumped up quickly it was broken off.

There is much in their folk-lore to show that the Indians were not without a sense of humor. In this connection we may give the following, which is part of a long story told to Mr. Edward Jack by one of the Wabanaki of St. John River:

How The Toad and The Porcupine Lost Their Noses.

Glooskap told his uncle, the Turtle, to make a feast; and the Turtle did so.

After this, the Turtle commenced plotting Glooskap. The latter, determined to know just what was taking place in the councils which the Turtle was holding with the other animals, and, in order to defeat their tricks, turned himself into an old woman and made his way to the council house.

At the door, he found another woman, the Porcupine, who was sitting at one side, while the Toad, also in the shape of a woman, was at the other.

Glooskap said to the Porcupine, “What does all of this mean?”

“It is none of your business,” was the reply.

So Glooskap, seizing the Porcupine’s nose between his fingers, pinched it off.

Turning, in a rage, to the Toad, and asking the same question, he received the same reply, and treated the reptile in the same manner.

As soon as the old woman was gone, the Porcupine said to the Toad, “Where is your nose!” At this the Toad, looking at the Porcupine, said, “Where is yours?”

Then they both knew that the old woman was Glooskap.

Referring to the Micmac writings mentioned in a former article,

Mr. W. F. Ganong writes:

Rev. Christian LeClerq, a Recollet missionary, improved, before 1690, the rude system of hieroglyphics he found among the Micmacs. How old the system was is not known, but it is probable that in its original form it was invented and used by the Micmacs themselves. It was still further improved by later priests, including Abbe Sigogne.

VIII – A Passamaquoddy ALLEGORY

At the risk of seeming to dwell too long upon the legends of the Wabanaki, (which, though interesting in themselves, are but slightly connected with our main subject) we reproduce this week from Leland’s Algonquin Legends, (a) by permission of the publishers, another typical Passamaquoddy tale. It is plainly an allegory of a frost-bound stream; in which the Great Bull-Frog represents the ice, and the spear of Glooskap the rays of the sun. The story is evidently somewhat embellished by Mr. Leland; yet its main points, no doubt, fairly reproduce the legend as told to him by Tomah Joe, to whom he credits it.

The Monster That Swallowed the Stream

Of old times, there was an Indian village, far away among the mountains, little known to other men; and the dwellers therein were very comfortable. The men hunted every day; the women did the work at home, and all went well in all things save this: the town was by a brook, and except in it there was not a drop of water in all the country round, unless in a few rain puddles. No one there had ever found even a spring.

Now these Indians were very fond of good water. The brook was of a superior quality, and they became dainty over it.

But after a time they began to observe that the brook was beginning to run low; and that not in the summer time, but in autumn, even after the rains. And day by day it diminished, until its bed was as dry as a dead bone in the ashes of a warm fire.

Now it was said that far away up in the land, where none had ever been, there was on this very stream another Indian village; but what manner of men dwelt therein no one knew. And thinking that these people in the upper country might be in some way concerned in the drought, they sent one of their number to go and see into the matter.

After he had traveled three days he came to the place; and there he found that a dam had been raised across the rivulet, so that no water could pass, for it was all kept in a pond. Then asking them why they had made this mischief since the dam was of no use to them, they bade him go and see their chief, by whose order this had been built.

And when he came to him, lo, there lay lazily in the mud, a creature who was more of a monster than a man, though he had a human form; for he was immense to measure, like a giant, fat, bloated, and brutal to behold. His great yellow eyes stuck from his head like pine knots, his mouth went almost from ear to ear, and he had broad skinny feet with long toes, exceeding marvelous.

The messenger complained to this monster; who at first said nothing, and then croaked, and finally replied in a loud bellow:

“Do as you choose,
Do as you choose,
Do as you choose,

“What do I care?
What do I care?
What do I care?

“If you want water,
If you want water,
If you want water,

Go somewhere else.”

Then the messenger remonstrated, and described the sufferings of the people, who were dying of thirst. And this seemed to please the monster, who grinned. At last he got up, and, making a single spring to the dam, took an arrow and bored a hole in it, so that a little water trickled out, and then he bellowed:

“Up and begone!
Up and begone!
Up and begone!”

So the man departed, little comforted. He came to his home, and for a few days there was a little water in the stream; but this soon stopped, and there was great suffering again.

Now these Indians, who were the most honest fellows in all the world, and never did harm to anyone save their enemies, were in a sorry plight. And the great Glooskap, who knew all that was passing in the hearts of men and beasts, took note of this; and when he willed it he was among them, for he ever came as the wind comes, and no man wist how.

And just before he came, all of these good fellows had resolved in council that they would send the boldest man among them to certain death, even to the village which built the dam that kept the water which filled the brook that quenched their thirst whenever it was not empty. And when there, he was to either obtain that they should cut the dam or do something desperate; and to this intent he should go armed, and sing his death song as he went. And they were all agog. Then Glooskap, who was much pleased with all this, for he loved a brave man, came among them looking terribly ferocious. In all the land there was not one who seemed half so terrible; for he appeared ten feet high, with a hundred red and black feathers in his scalp-lock, his face painted like fresh blood with green rings round his eyes, a large clam shell hanging from each ear, a spread eagle, very awful to behold, flapping its wings from the back of his neck, so that as he strode into the village, all hearts quaked.

Then Glooskap, having heard the whole story, bade them be of good cheer; declaring that he would soon set all to rights. And, without delay, he departed up the bed of the brook; and, coming to the town, sat down and bade a boy bring him water to drink; to which the boy replied that no water could be had in the town, unless it were given out by the chief. “Go then, to your chief,” said the Master, “and bid him hurry, or verily, I will know the reason why.” And this being told, Glooskap received no reply for more than an hour, during which time he sat on a log and smoked his pipe. Then the boy returned with a small cup, and this not half full, of very dirty water.

So he arose and said to the boy, “I will go and see your chief, and I think he will soon give me better water than this.” And, having come to the monster, he said, “Give me to drink, and that of the best, thou Thing of Mud.” But the chief reviled him, and said, “Set thee hence to find water where thou canst.” Then Glooskap thrust a spear into him, and lo! There gushed forth a mighty river; even all the water which should have run on while in the rivulet, for he had made it into himself. And Glooskap, rising high as a giant pine, caught the chief in his hand and crumpled in his back with a mighty grip. And lo! it was the Bull-Frog. So he hurled him with contempt into the stream, to follow the current. And ever since that time, the Bull Frog’s back has crumpled wrinkles in the lower part, showing the print of Glooskap’s awful squeeze.

Then he returned to the village, but there he found no people, no, not one. For a marvelous thing had come to pass during his absence, which shall be heard in every Indian’s speech through all the ages. For the men, being, as I said, simple, honest folk, did as boys do when they are hungry, and say unto one another, “What would you like to have, and what you?” “Truly I would be pleased with a slice of hot venison, and dipped in maple sugar and bear’s oil.” “Nay, give me for my share, succotash and honey.”

Even so these villagers had said, “Suppose you had all the nice cool, fresh, sparkling, delicious water there is in the world, what would you do?”

And one said that he would live in the soft mud, and always be wet and cool.

And another said that he would plunge from the rocks, and take headers, diving into the deep cool water, drinking as he dived.

And the third, that he would be washed up and down with the rippling waves, living on the land, yet ever in the water.

Then the fourth said, “Verily, you know not how to wish, and I will teach you. I would live in the water all the time, and swim about in it forever.”

Now it chanced that all these things were said in the hour in which, when it passes over the world, all the wishes uttered by men are granted. And so it was with these Indians; for the first became a Leech; the second a Spotted Frog, the third a Crab, which is washed up and down with the tide, and the fourth a Fish. Ere this there had been in all the world none of the creatures which dwell in the water; and now they were there and of all kinds. And the river came rushing and roaring on, and they all went headlong down to the sea, to be washed into many lands over all the world.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) Algonquin Legends, by Charles G. Leland, published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. Boston. a basso-relievo cut in red granite, of an oval shape, 24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 1½ inches thick. Although much worn and defaced by time and weather, it still retains evidence of having been done by a bold and skillful hand. It was found in the month of November last, at the foot of a precipice of red granite, about a quarter of a mile from the western shore of Lake Utopia, in Charlotte county, New Brunswick. When it was shown to the Indians who frequent the neighborhood, they at once pronounced it to be the portrait of a chief, and said it was very likely that the chief himself was buried near the spot. They thought it was many hundred years old. If this surmise be correct and the grave can be found, it is possible that its contents may go far to establish the antiquity of the stone; for it was customary with the Indians to bury along with the deceased chief all the weapons he had used in war or in the chase, and whatever ornaments or trinkets he had possessed in his life time. Now amongst the first, or perhaps the very first Europeans who landed in New Brunswick, were Jacques Cartier and his party, who landed at Bay Chaleur in 1534. At a later date, 1604, a Frenchman named Des Monts established a colony and built a fort near the St. Croix River, now the boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick. He found the Indians friendly. He traded and lived on peaceable terms with them. The St. Croix is, in a direct line, only about twenty miles distant from the place where the sculptured stone was found at Lake Utopia. And if the grave can be discovered, and any of the contents should prove to be articles of European manufacture, such as glass beads or implements of iron, which the Indians usually get in exchange for their furs, this would be presumptive evidence of the stone having been the work of a comparatively recent date. If, on the contrary, none of these articles should be found, there would be fair reason to believe that it is of very great antiquity. The Indians who have seen it are quite at a loss to account for the fashion and quantity of the hair represented on the head, since from time immemorial, it was customary for the Indians to shave or pluck out all the hair, with the exception of the scalp-lock. And although the shape of the head and cast of the features represented on the stone were decidedly Indian, there is an Egyptian character about the whole which suggests some curious ethnological speculations. It may be mentioned that a few years ago, whilst some men were digging for the foundation of a house near the old Portage road, at the village of St. George, one mile distant from Lake Utopia, various Indian relics were found. Stone hatchets, arrows and spear heads, gouges, chisels, and other implements of flint. The tribe of Indians now living at Lake Utopia are the Passamaquoddies, descendants of the old Delaware stock, who for generations have made that locality their favorite haunt. These Passamaquoddies are very skillful in their representations of the beaver and other animals and we have seen some very beautiful specimens, sculptured in bas-relief, on the bowls of stone pipes. These figures were anatomically correct in drawing, and would do credit to a professional artist. The Passamaquoddies are much superior in every way to any of the other tribes of Indians inhabiting this province, being honest and trustworthy, and not addicted to drunkenness and other vices. Whilst retaining many of the peculiarities of their ancestors, they live a primitive and harmless life. These Indians are all Roman Catholics.

X – AN ETCHEMIN WAR SONG

The Passamaquoddies regarded all the Indians living to the westward as wild Indians. The fiercest and most dreaded of these wild Indians were the Mohawks, of whom they lived in constant fear; and the first league of the Wabanaki was probably formed with the hope of excluding these enemies from the three hunting grounds, on the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy, and the St. John.

The Mohawks, as the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederacy, seem to have considered it their special privilege to make war upon the eastern nations. It was a long route, by lake and stream, from the Mohawk country, west of Lake Champlain, to the land of the Etchemin; but many a fierce war party made the journey, stealing silently through the forest in search of human prey.

The scattered Wabanaki warriors, though not wanting in valor at other times, fled in terror when a Mohawk war-party approached; or, if compelled to make a stand, fought at a disadvantage because overcome with fear. The best record of the general result of these encounters if found in the fact that even today a Passamaquoddy can scarcely speak of a wild Mohawk without some look or gesture betraying the horror associated with the name. (a)

The Passamaquoddies evidently depended as much upon m’taoulin or magic for success in warfare as on their fighting qualities or personal bravery. An instance of this given in the following story of an ancient war song, for which we are again indebted to Mrs. Brown.

The song was sung by a chief too old to fight, but great in m’taoulin power. He had witnessed a battle between his people and the Mohawks. His warriors had retreated and were trying to escape. Night came on the enemy encamped; but the old man and his disabled braves kept traveling until midnight.

During the night the old man sang his war song. His voice was heard even in the most distant part of his country; and every warrior at hearing it grasped his tomahawk and started, guided by the old chief’s song:

I remember, in my younger days, I never did run from fear of being killed as I do now. I remember, in my younger days, I never did step back before any warrior as I do now. but I have left my best and bravest warriors behind me to die. They will be tortured by the Mohawks. I remember, in my younger days, I never left even one of my braves behind as I do now. Oh! I have left some of my best warriors behind. I remember the days when I was young. I sing the song now I never did have to sing before. Let all the hearts of the trees, who have heard my poor weeping song arise and help me to rescue my braves that I have left behind. Let all the tops of the trees hear my song and come to help me. Let all the roots of the trees arise and come to help me. I remember the days when I was young. His song grew louder and louder, until the enemy heard it and trembled. Before daylight the next morning, his people came to his assistance; as did also the hearts of the trees, the tops of the trees, and the roots of the trees – a large army in all – and helped him to drive the enemy back to their own land.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) Mr. Edward Jack recently asked a Milicete child, “What is a Mohawk?” The reply was, “A big bad Indian who kills people and eats them,” a description which, two centuries and a half ago, was literally true.

XI – THE LAST FIGHT WITH THE MOHAWKS

Mr. W. Wallace Brown gives us the incidents of the following story, as told to him by an old Passamaquoddy woman named Mollie La-Coot. Apart from its historic interest, it is worthy of record as showing a degree of magnanimity and self restraint on the part of hostile savages for which we rarely give them credit. (a)

Before the coming of the English, the chief village of the Passamaquoddy tribe was at Quun-os-quam-cook, now St. Andrews. In a time of peace between the Six Nations and the Wabanaki, a Mohawk chief, named Hawk-u-mah-bis, or Snow-shoe-string, accompanied by his son, came to Quun-os-quam-cook; where they were hospitably received and treated as honored guests.

One day the son of the Mohawk chief and the son of the Passamaquoddy chief, while hinting together, killed a wah-be-ne-momks-wes, or white sable. The boys got into a hot dispute over the possession of the game, as it was considered a great honor to kill such a rare animal; and in the quarrel which arose between them, the young Mohawk was killed.

The chief of the Passamaquoddy, according to Indian custom, offered his son to the Mohawk chief to take the place of the boy who had been killed; but the Mohawk would not be appeased and left for home determined to return and take revenge.

He would seem to have fallen in with a company of his own people, for as the tradition says, he had been gone only about ten days when, one morning at daybreak, the Mohawks appeared in large numbers, and the woods rang with their war cry, “Coo-way-mitt.”

The Passamaquoddies were greatly alarmed, for any of their best warriors were away hunting; so they sent out a man with the loo-good-we-mede-wagon, or flag of truce, (the use of which they had learned from the whites) to propose that the matter should be settled by single combat.

“We should not fight and destroy each other,” they said, “for our nations are both becoming less in numbers each year, and if we keep on fighting thus the whites will soon out-number us.”

So they agreed to select a man from each tribe to fight the battle, each to be armed with a knife and a tomahawk.

The Mohawks chose their chief, who is described as tall and slender; and the Passamaquoddies chose a stout young Indian named Lux.

The fight took place early next morning in an open field at Quun-os-quam-cook in the presence of both the tribes.

At a given signal, the Mohawk threw his tomahawk. The Passamaquoddy dodged it, and immediately threw his weapon, but failed to hit his antagonist.

Then rushing upon each other, they clinched in a struggle for life.

They fell to the ground, the Mohawk on top, but the Passamaquoddy soon got the advantage, and plunged his knife into his enemy’s side, and presently sprang up to his feet again, waving the scalp of the Mohawk chief.

The Passamaquoddies were wild with joy and sang their song of victory while the Mohawks quietly departed, chanting their death song as they went. Lux, the Passamaquoddy champion, was a grandfather of the late Captain Lewy, after whom Lewy’s island is named. The age of Capt. Lewy at the time of his death would mark the probable date of the occurrence as about one hundred and fifty years ago.

FOOTNOTES:

(a) The Maliseets have a similar story, applying it to a locality above Fredericton, and I have been told that the Micmacs also have it and give the locality. W. F. Ganong.

I have heard from the Abanakis that at one time the Mohawks made an attack on the Indians in what is now Charlotte county, and their presence was betrayed by a silver ornament on the breast of one of the Mohawk warriors, as the moon’s rays fell upon it, while he lay in concealment, as the thought, behind a log on the shore. The Mohawk warriors had descended the St. Croix in their canoes.

The Abanakis have many stories about the Mohawks.

Currie’s Mountain, on the east side of the St. John, about five miles above Fredericton, is called by some of the old Abanakis Po-te-wis, Ne-jocs, or Little Council Mountain. This hill was so named according to the Abanakis, because in former years the Mohawk warriors always went there to hold a council of war before attacking the St. John River Indians in their strong hold on Nkarneodan, Hartt’s Island, nearly opposite. From this height they could overlook the island, and the Indians tell me that the Mohawks would remain on this mountain for days watching the movements of their enemies. – Edward Jack.