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R E S O U R C E S L E S S E R S L A V E L A K E R E G I O N 77
Yet the reader must not be too severe upon the Indian foi
his treatment of the Weeghteko. He attributes the disease
to the evil spirit, acts accordingly, and slays the victim. But
an old author, Mrs. Jameson, tells us that i n her day in
Upper Canada lunatics were allowed to stray into the forest
to roam uncared for, and perish there, or were thrust into
common jails. One at Niagara, she says, was chained up
for four years.
Aside from such cases of madness, which have often
resulted in the k i l l i n g and eating of children, etc.. and
which arouse the most superstitious horror i n the minds of
a l l Indians, the " savages" of this region are the most
inoffensive imaginable. They have always made a good living
by hunting and trapping and fishing, and I believe when
the time comes they w i l l adapt themselves much more readily
and intelligently to fanning and stock- raising than did the
Indians to the south. The region is well suited to both
industries, and will undoubtedly attract white settlers in
due time.
The fisheries in Lesser Slave Lake have always been
counted the best in all Athabasca. The whitefish. to he
sure, are diminishing towards the bead of the lake, but it is
possible that this is owing to some deficiency i n their usual
supply of food i n that quarter. Just as birds and wild- fowl
return, i f not disturbed, to their accustomed breeding- places,
so, it is said, the fishes, year by year, drop and impregnate
their spawn upon the same gravelly shallows. The food of
the whitefish in the lake is partly the worms bred from the
eggs of a large fly resembling the May- fly of the East. This
worm has probably decreased in the upper part of the lake,
and therefore the fish go farther down for food. There they
are exeeedinglv numerous, an evidence of which is the fact
that the Roman Catholic Mission alone secured 17,000 fine
whitefish the previous fall. Properly protected this lake
w i l l be a permanent source of supply to natives and incomers
for many years to come.
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| Title | Page 88 |
| OCR | R E S O U R C E S L E S S E R S L A V E L A K E R E G I O N 77 Yet the reader must not be too severe upon the Indian foi his treatment of the Weeghteko. He attributes the disease to the evil spirit, acts accordingly, and slays the victim. But an old author, Mrs. Jameson, tells us that i n her day in Upper Canada lunatics were allowed to stray into the forest to roam uncared for, and perish there, or were thrust into common jails. One at Niagara, she says, was chained up for four years. Aside from such cases of madness, which have often resulted in the k i l l i n g and eating of children, etc.. and which arouse the most superstitious horror i n the minds of a l l Indians, the " savages" of this region are the most inoffensive imaginable. They have always made a good living by hunting and trapping and fishing, and I believe when the time comes they w i l l adapt themselves much more readily and intelligently to fanning and stock- raising than did the Indians to the south. The region is well suited to both industries, and will undoubtedly attract white settlers in due time. The fisheries in Lesser Slave Lake have always been counted the best in all Athabasca. The whitefish. to he sure, are diminishing towards the bead of the lake, but it is possible that this is owing to some deficiency i n their usual supply of food i n that quarter. Just as birds and wild- fowl return, i f not disturbed, to their accustomed breeding- places, so, it is said, the fishes, year by year, drop and impregnate their spawn upon the same gravelly shallows. The food of the whitefish in the lake is partly the worms bred from the eggs of a large fly resembling the May- fly of the East. This worm has probably decreased in the upper part of the lake, and therefore the fish go farther down for food. There they are exeeedinglv numerous, an evidence of which is the fact that the Roman Catholic Mission alone secured 17,000 fine whitefish the previous fall. Properly protected this lake w i l l be a permanent source of supply to natives and incomers for many years to come. |
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