living, it is then we want your help, and that is the only way that I can see how the poor can get along."
GOVERNOR--"You will remember the promises which I have already made; I said you would get seed; you need not concern yourselves so much about what your grand-children are going to eat; your children will be taught, and then they will be as well able to take care of themselves as the whites around them."
MIS-TAH-WAH-SIS (one of the leading Chiefs)--"It is well known that if we had plenty to live on from our gardens we would not still insist on getting more provision, but it is in case of any extremity, and from the ignorance of the Indian in commencing to settle that we thus speak; we are as yet in the dark; this is not a trivial matter for us.
"We were glad to hear what the Governor was saying to us and we understood it, but we are not understood, we do not mean to ask for food for every day but only when we commence and in case of famine or calamity. What we speak of and do now will last as long as the sun shines and the river runs, we are looking forward to our children's children, for we are old and have but few days to live."
AH-TAHK-AH-COOP (the other leading Chief)--"The things we have been talking about in our councils I believe are for our good. I think of the good Councillors of the Queen and of her Commissioners; I was told the Governor was a good man, and now that I see him I believe he is; in coming to see us, and what he has spoken, he has removed almost all obstacles and misunderstandings, and I hope he may remove them all. I have heard the good things you promise us, you have told us of the white man's way of living and mentioned some of the animals by which he gets his living, others you did not. We want food in the spring when we commence to farm; according as the Indian settles down on his reserves, and in proportion as he advances, his wants will increase."
The Indians here asked for the afternoon to hold further
council. To this the Governor said, "I grant the request of the Indians but I give them a word of warning, do not listen to every voice in your camp, listen to your wise men who know something of life, and do not come asking what is unreasonable, it pains me to have to say no, and I tell you again I cannot treat you with more favor than the other Indians. To-morrow, when we meet, speak out your minds openly, and I will answer, holding nothing back. Be ready to meet me to-morrow, as soon as my flag is raised, for remember I have a long journey before me and we ought to come to a speedy understanding. I trust the God who made you will give you wisdom in considering what you have to deal with."
FOURTH DAY
August 23rd.