“About two months later Paul had a dream that deeply impressed him. He was sitting alone in his brother’s house, reading in the syllabic, when he must have fallen asleep, for a vision came to him of a figure standing in the open doorway. It was that of a young woman wearing a loose yellow garment, which was caught together at the neck with a brooch that sparkled like a star. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and her face was radiant. She smiled and said: ‘Paul, don’t you know me? Don’t you know your own wife?’ He jumped up to seize her hand, and she continued: ‘God has sent me to you because He loves you, and He bids you to persevere. Do not be in doubt about me, for I am very happy.’ Then she vanished.
“And now,” continued Canon Stocken, “I must tell you about Naomi, who is Paul’s present wife. She was the widow of Black Boy, who was Big Road’s brother. One day she said to me: ‘My husband, Black Boy, had wanted to become a Christian, but he was never asked by a missionary.’ It was sad to hear this when Black Boy was dead; but I had made it a rule never to ask any Indians to become Christians. There was always the fear in my mind that they might consent, not through any earnest desire on their own part, but because they wished to please. It has always seemed to me that one must teach them all one can, and point out the evil of sin, but that the actual request for baptism must come unprompted from their own hearts and lips.
“When Black Boy had been dead six months or so, Handsome Otter Woman—that was the name of his widow—said to me: ‘Running Wolf, if I marry again, I’m going to marry a Christian.’ Later, she said: ‘Paul is the man I want to marry.’ Paul had said: ‘I’m never going to marry again; I’m just going to work.’ She kept sending messages to Paul to say she would like to marry him; and Paul eventually agreed, because his brother Timothy was so keen for it. Indian marriages are usually arranged by relatives, the principals having very little voice in the matter. Thus, a mother or father will say to a chief: ‘My girl is old enough to be married. Whom do you suggest?’ The chief might say that So-and-So would make a good son-in-law. Then the question would arise: How many horses might the girl’s parents expect from the family of the suggested husband?
“After Paul and Handsome Otter Woman were married, their tempers rather clashed. Paul would come round to my house, and be very silent, and then say: ‘H’m! My wife has gone away.’ ‘What is the matter?’ I would ask. ‘She gets most dreadfully cross,’ he would tell me; and then take his departure. In a little while his wife would be sure to arrive, and explain: ‘Paul is so dreadfully cross, you know.’ ‘Yes,’ I would point out, ‘we all have our failings; but we must learn to control ourselves. You can do so if you try.’ After one or two little tiffs of that sort, they settled down to be a most affectionate couple. In the work of spreading Christianity among their people, they now labour hand in hand, helping and stimulating one another. After she was baptised—receiving the name of Naomi—it was her eager wish to become a Bible-woman. In those days she could not read the syllabic system; but she would not let that temporary disability stand in the way of her work. She got me every week to prepare brief notes of some truths, and these she caused to be read over and over to her until she had the words by heart. In that way she entered upon labours to which she has since devoted her life. Naomi’s teaching, sympathy, and self-sacrificing ministrations have indeed been a blessing to the Indian women on this reserve.”
What need of further evidence? The red man is revealed as in all essentials like unto the white man, with a conscience responsive to the knowledge of good and evil. Great profit has crowned the self-sacrifice of the men and women who have devoted their lives to Canada’s aborigines. To a triumphant end have the C.M.S. and other bodies endured anxieties and sustained the financial burden. Human blessings now reward the self-denial of their devoted subscribers. Already in the Indian reserves missionary effort is giving place to ministrations purely pastoral.
Concerning the present state of Fenimore Cooper’s scalping savage, two words remain to be spoken. The missionaries having made him a Christian, the Government is making him a farmer. It has been up-hill work, necessitating much thought and patience, a large staff, and heavy expenditure. But at last the red man is successfully growing fruit in British Columbia and raising grain and stock in the Prairie Provinces.
As to one matter, however, still his mind urgently needs enlightenment. He must be taught the paramount importance of thoroughly ventilating his dwelling, alike in the winter and the summer. For, alas! the tribes suffer a heavy mortality from consumption, whereof the preventive and cure is fresh air.
CHAPTER XVI
NORTHERN ALBERTA
That part of Saskatchewan (more than half the province) lying north of occupied, or at any rate surveyed, territory, I have been tempted to describe as “Unknown Saskatchewan”; and certainly the clues we possess to its character are slight, even though they carry a definite and comprehensive assurance of the country’s suitability for settlement.