But, awe-struck always by
the mysterious beauty of the world around him, his mind reflects it
instinctively in his Nature-worship and his system of names.
In speaking of the "Lakers" I refer, of course, to the primitive
people of the region, and not to half-breed incomers from Manitoba or
elsewhere. There were a few patriarchal families into which all the
others seemed to dovetail in some shape or form. The No??skeyah family
was one of these, also the Gladu, the Cowitoreille, [A corruption,
no doubt, of "Courtoreille."] and the Calahaisen. The collateral
branches of these families constituted the main portion of the native
population, and yet inbreeding did not seem to have deteriorated the
stock, for a healthier-looking lot of young men, women and children
it would be hard to find, or one more free from scrofula. There
were instances, too, among these people, of extreme old age; one
in particular which from confirmatory evidence, particularly the
declarations of descendants, seemed quite authentic. This was a woman
called Catherine Bisson--the daughter of Baptiste Bisson and an
Indian woman called Iskwao--who was born on New Year's Day, 1793, at
Lesser Slave Lake, and had spent all her life there since. She had a
numerous progeny which she bore to Kisi?›kak??po, "The man who stands
still." She was now blind, and was partly led, partly carried into
our tent--a small, thin, wizened woman, with keen features and a
tongue as keen, which cackled and joked at a great rate with the
crowd around her.
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