Huldowget. A Story of the North Pacific Coast.

HULDOWGET  A STORY OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST BY B. A. McKELVIE First Editions,1926  © 2021 Librorium Editions    FOREWORD Prior to the discovery of gold in British Columbia, in 1858, the country was controlled entirely by the Hudson's Bay Company. The servants of the company were the only white men in the great territory west of the Rocky Mountains and north of Old Oregon. The native population at that time was estimated to be from 100,000 to 150,000, but to-day, after less than threescore years and ten of the white man's occupation and civilisation, there are but 25,000 on Government reservations. The white man's diseases and his fire-water have wiped whole tribes out of existence. Scattered along the seven thousand miles of tidal waters of Canada's Pacific province are numerous reserves where remnants of once powerful nations have been gathered. Here the Federal Government agents seek to combat the causes which have decimated the aborigines. In its wisdom the Government has endeavoured to replace ancient customs and tribal rites with the civilisation of the white man. The potlatch—a peculiar banking system—has been banned, and the bartering of coppers has been declared illegal. No longer are the winter ceremonials, with their weird and fantastic dances, held, and no trials of endurance mark the initiation of young braves into the secret organisations of the Coast. The Government frowns on such things. The authorities may prohibit, but they cannot eliminate from the minds of those who listen in the lodges to the tales of the old men the desire for a return to the exciting times that are no more, when the customs of centuries held sway. Nor can the instruction of teacher and missionary altogether banish the fear that arises at the mention of evil spirits. "I have seen," says a friend, "young men who had been educated in the schools turn pale and tremble when it was rumoured in the village that some man or woman was invoking the aid of evil spirits. I have known men to die—gradually fade away—when they believed a spell had been cast upon them. It is hard indeed to remove in a few years the superstitions of countless centuries." The hunting of the huldowget and the trial by the mouse are barbaric customs which a few years ago were common, and which to-day are followed when opportunity offers to do so beyond the scrutiny of the law. It is only a few months ago that Mounted Police penetrated the trackless Northland to bring to trial those charged with the murder of a boy suspected of exercising an evil influence over others. Records of different Government agencies reveal dozens of instances of the fight which the authorities and missioners are waging against the return of the shaman, or medicine man. The story of self-sacrifice and devotion of the missionaries of the Coast is one of great inspiration. In the earlier days of Christianity among the natives of British Columbia and Alaska the lives of these devoted men were in constant danger, but they faced their trials and difficulties without complaint, toiling ceaselessly to help the Indians. Praise is especially due to those splendid women, the wives of the Protestant missionaries, who assisted them in their work. In the story of Huldowget an effort has been made to picture some of the trials and tribulations, the dangers and disappointments of a missioner and his wife, but no pen can do full justice to the men and women of whom Father David and Mother are types. An endeavour has also been made to portray in a slight measure the confusion that often arises in the mind of the native when asked to accept new doctrines in place of those held by his forefathers. Not long ago an Indian woman asked me to explain why the stories she told were bad and those the missioner related were good. Her spiritual adviser had told her to discard her practice of story-telling. "He said," she explained, "it was bad for me to tell how the eagle talked. Then he tells me about Balaam's ass. Why, if my story is bad, is his story good?" I could not answer. B.A.M.