A large part of the squaws' time was occupied in colleering birch bark, and they were often to be seen doing so with a young papoose strapped to a board on their backs. The bark was used to make canoes, tepees and wigwams, the latter having a framework of pine poles. The long, thin roots of tarmac trees were used to sew the strips of bark together, then the seams were waterproofed with the heavy resin from gum trees.
In the winter the squaws made leather sacks to hold corn, waterskins, clothes and fishing lines. Many of the young ones were good-looking; but, close to, they smelt unpleasantly of rancid grease, owing to their custom of plastering their hair, during the period when the moon was waxing, with the fat of animals whose virtues they wished to possess: a deer's for swiftness, a beaver's for industry, and an owl's to make them wise at night.
Apart from this unpleasant habit of smearing grease on their hair, Roger found the Indians surprisingly clean. Both the men and women bathed regularly in the river, rubbing their bodies with a type of fern that made a soapy lather. At times they also took sauna baths in tepees set apart, where they turned water into steam by pouring it over heated stones. Instead of shaving, the men plucked the hairs from their faces with bone tweezers, and without even wincing, for it was part of a brave's training to show no evidence of feeling pain.
To qualify for the red feather, they went through hideous ordeals. Leaping Squirrel had held a red-hot stone under his armpit for ten minutes, without flinching. Until well into middle age, they kept themselves extraordinarily supple and muscular by constant exercise. Their favourite game was lacrosse, played so ferociously with wooden clubs and a stuffed deerskin ball, that broken heads were not uncommon.
At their first meeting, Morning Star had asked Roger his intentions, and he had replied that, as soon as Mary's ankle was strong enough, they wanted to go to Montreal. The old squaws had had long experience in healing broken limbs, and on the ninth day after her arrival they declared her fit to travel. It was then arranged that on the following morning everything should be made ready for their departure, and that Leaping Squirrel would accompany them.
After the evening meal that day, which Roger always ate in the Longhouse with Morning Star and the elders, the Sagamore dismissed his subordinates, saying that he wished to talk alone with Roger.
When they had smoked in silence for a few minutes, the old man said, 'Morning Star owes the life of his beloved son, Leaping Squirrel, to the noble one, and wishes to pay this debt.'
Roger bowed. 'Sir, Leaping Squirrel saved the lives of my squaw and myself by getting us safely across the rapids, so there is no debt to repay.'
'There is a difference. Comrades always help one another to overcome danger from the harsh aspects of nature. From the malice of man it is not normal for Pale Faces to give a red man unknown to them their protection.'
'It was Leaping Squirrel's declaring himself to be a Christian that enabled me to save him.'
'The Great Spirit counselled Morning Star wisely in sending Leaping Squirrel to gain knowledge of the ways of the Pale Faces at the Mission. My thought was not that he should be converted, but when he becomes Sagamore be more able in negotiating with the Chiefs of the Pale Faces. But it is possible to pay homage to new gods while retaining the beliefs of one's ancestors. That is so with Leaping Squirrel.'
Roger nodded. 'I understand that. I have travelled much and come to realise that God may be worshipped with many different ceremonies and under different names/
'The noble one speaks as Morning Star expected; for at first sight he recognised him to be a Twice-Born. During many lives he has sought the help of the Great Spirit through a great diversity of forms. Is the noble one yet capable of leaving his body at will ?'
'No; but when in the East I met a number of saintly men whom I believed to be capable of doing so.'
'Morning Star is blessed by having advanced to that state. Out of his body he has travelled far and wide. He has observed in their own country the black faces such as are brought to slave in the cotton fields of the Americani; the yellow men who live across the great waters beyond the setting sun, and the Pale Faces in their vast tepees made from baked earth and stone, forming villages compared to which Montreal is no
more than a few wigwams.'
With intense interest, Roger enquired, 'What opinion, Sir, did you form of the way of life of these distant peoples?'
'Among the black faces there is much ignorance and cruelty, among the yellow men much wisdom but also cruelty. Yet there is more misery among the Pale Faces than there is among any other people, and in time they will destroy themselves.'
Greatly surprised, Roger asked, 'Why, Sir, should you think that? The civilisation of Europe is far in advance of any other. We have learned how to harness the forces of nature, so that we can manufacture innumerable useful articles in great quantities, with far less toil than the more primitive races.'
'That is the seed of your future destruction. Whole tribes of your people spend their lives delving in darkness far underground. Others labour from childhood to old age in tepees fifty times the size of this Longhouse. In them they work streaming with sweat as they feed roaring fires, deafened by the thunder of machines, rendered breathless by steam hissing from huge iron cauldrons and poisoned by noxious fumes. It is too late for them to stop. They must go on until all your people, but for a very few, are forced to become machines themselves. They will build more and more of those great tepees until you have no forests, no open country left. Their bodies will deteriorate from lack of sunshine, of clean air, or healthy exercise. How much better is our way of life: to cultivate the land and enjoy its produce, to hunt in the forests and fish in the rivers, to fashion our simple requirements by hand, and dance and feast here round our totem poles.'
Many of the expressions actually used by the Sagamore Roger found difficult to understand, but in the main he absorbed their meaning; and, recalling the journeys he had made in the Midlands and north of England, where the Industrial Revolution had taken place toward the end of the previous century, he felt bound to agree.
After a moment's silence, the Sagamore resumed, 'But it is not of these things that Morning Star wished to speak to the noble one. It is clear that, although a Christian, he recognises that form of worship to be new compared with others. Therefore, he cannot believe that the Christian Father God created the world.'
'No,' Roger replied. 'He was simply adopted by the early Christians from the Jehovah of the Jews, and there were many other beliefs far older than theirs.'
'The noble one speaks truly, and the origin of all is embodied in our totem pole. Does he know its meaning?'
'Leaping Squirrel told me that the eagle at the top represents the Spirit of the Air, the wolf the Spirit of the Land, the whale the Spirit of the Sea, and the frog at the bottom the union of Earth and Water.'
'The Frog represents more than that, for he moves by leaping, so he is also symbolical of Air. Thus he is the basis of all things. I cannot confer upon the noble one the ability to leave his body at will, but I am a son of the Frog and can confer his power on one other person before I die. This way Morning Star will pay his debt.'
'I...' Roger hesitated. ‘I ... no, Sir. No, this should go to your heir, Leaping Squirrel.'