I remember visiting, with my
old friend Attakacoop--Star-Blanket--the deceased Cree chief,
twenty years ago, the triumphal pile of red deer horns raised
by the Blackfeet north of Shell River, a tributary of the North
Saskatchewan. It is called by the Crees Ooskunaka Assustakee,
and the chief described its great size in former days, and the
tradition of its origin as told to him in his boyhood. Be all
this as it may, and this is not the place to pursue the inquiry,
the stream in question is, to the Crees who live upon it, not
the River of the Slaves, but the "River of the Blackfeet." How
it came by its white name is another question. Possibly some
captured Indians of the tribe called the Slaves to this day, reduced
to servitude by the Crees, were seen by the early voyageurs, and
gave rise to the French name, of which ours is a translation.
Slavery was common enough amongst the Indians everywhere. A
thriving trade was done at the Detroit in the 18th century in
Pawnees, or Panis, as they were called, captured by Indian
raiders on the western prairies and sold to the white settlers
along the river. I have seen in Windsor, Ont., an old bill of
sale of one of these Pani slaves, the consideration being, if
I recollect aright, a certain quantity of Indian corn.
To return to the river. The distance from Athabasca Landing to
the Lesser Slave is called sixty-five miles, but this must have
been ascertained by measuring from point to point, for, following
the shore up stream, as boats must, it is certainly more.
Pages:
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57