[4] The name Pani or Panis, Anglicized into Pawnee, was used generally in Canada as synonymous with "Indian Slave" because these slaves were usually taken from the Pawnee tribe. It is held by some that the Panis were a tribe wholly distinct from the tribe known among the English as Pawnees—e.g., Drake's History of the Indians of North America. Those who would further pursue this matter will find material in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XVIII, p. 103 (note); Vigor and Lafontaine, L'Esclavage en Canada cited above n. 2; Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, Vol. XXVII, p. 613 (n); Vol. XXX, pp. 402, 596; Vol. XXXV, p. 548; Vol. XXXVII, p. 541. From Vol XXX, p. 546, we learn that Dr. Anthon, father of Prof. Anthon of Classical Text-book fame, had a "Panie Wench" who, when the family had the smallpox "had them very severe" along with Dr. Anthon's little girl and his "æltest boy"—"however they got all safe over it and are not disfigured." Thwaites, an exceedingly careful writer, in his edition of Long's Travels, Cleveland, 1904, says in a note on page 117; "Indian Slavery among the French was first practised in the Illinois Country." He gives no authority and I know of none.
[5] Referred to in Chalmers' Collection of Treaties between Great Britain and Other Powers, London, 1790, p. 328: Pap. Off. B. 25.
[6] We shall see later in this work that by the English law, the "villein" was real property and in the same case as land: also that when Parliament came to legislate so as to make lands in the American Colonies liable for debts, "Negroes" were included in "hereditaments" and therefore "real estate."
[7] Thus early do we find the Abolitionist getting in his fiendish work—the enemy of society, of God and man!
[8] This ordinance is quoted (Mich. Hist. Coll., XII, p. 511, 517) and its language ascribed to a (non-existent) "wise and humane statute of Upper Canada of May 31, 1798"—a curious mistake, perhaps in copying or printing.
In Kingsford's History of Canada, Vol. 2, p. 507, we are told: "In 1718, several young men were prosecuted on account of their relations with Albany carried on through Lake Champlain. One of them, M. de la Découverte, had made himself remarkable by bringing back a Negro slave and some silver ware. One of the New York Livingstones resided in Montreal and was generally the intermediary in these transactions. The author adds in a note: "This negro must have been among the first brought to Canada."
[9] "A peine d'amende arbitraire et de plus grande peine si le cas y escheoit."
[10] Canada was at this time divided into three Jurisdictions or Districts—those of Quebec, Trois Rivières and Montreal.
[11] There are trifling variations in the English text in the several versions in the Capitulations and Extracts of Treaties relating to Canada, 1797; Knox's Journal, Vol. 2, p. 423: Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. 10, p. 1107. That in the text is from Shortt & Doughty's Constitutional Documents 1759-1791, Canadian Archives Publication, Ottawa, 1907. There is no substantial difference in terminology and none at all in meaning. I give the French version, as to which there is no dispute: "Les Nègres et panis des deux Sexes resteront En leur qualité d'Esclaves, en la possession des françois et Canadiens à qui Ils apartiement; Il leur Sera libre de les garder à leur Service dans la Colonie od de les vendre, Et Ils pourront aussi Continuer à les faire Elever dans la Religion Romaine."
[12] The Province of Ontario is the proud possessor of many of Paul Kane's sketches.