skin of a bear's head. "Thus accoutred, with the addition of a
bow and quiver, a stone axe, and a bone knife, a Naskwapi man
possessed no small degree of pride and self-importance" (James
M'Kenzie).

The handsomest tribes of Amerindians encountered by the Canadian
pioneers seem to have been the Ojibwes of Lake Superior, the Iroquois
south of the St. Lawrence, and the Mandans of the upper Missouri.

Until well on in the nineteenth century none of the Canadian
Amerindians were particular about wearing clothes if the weather was
hot. The men, especially, were either quite oblivious of what was
seemly in clothing (except perhaps the Iroquois) or thought it
necessary to go naked into battle, or to remove all clothing before
taking part in religious ceremonies.

It is commonly supposed that the Red Man was a rather glum person,
seldom seen to smile and averse to showing any emotion. That is not
the impression one derives from the many pen portraits of Amerindians
in the journals of the great pioneers. Here, on the contrary, you see
the natives laughing, smiling, kissing eagerly their wives and
children after an absence, displaying exuberant and cordial friendship
towards the white man who treated them well, having love quarrels and
fits of raging jealousy, moods of deep remorse after a fight, touching
devotion to their comrades or chiefs, and above all to their children.
They are most emotional, indeed, and, apart from this chapter you will
find frequent descriptions of how they wept at times over the
remembrance of their dead relations and friends.

Hearne remarked, in 1772, that when two parties of Athapaska Indians
met, the ceremonies which passed between them were very formal. They
would advance within twenty or thirty yards of each other, make a full
halt, and then sit or lie down on the ground, not speaking for some
minutes. At length one of them, generally an elderly man, broke
silence by acquainting the other party with every misfortune that had
befallen him and his companions from the last time they had seen or
heard of each other, including all deaths and other calamities which
had happened to any other Indians during the same period. When he
finished, another orator, belonging to the other party, related in
like manner all the bad news that had come to _his_ knowledge. If
these orations contained any news that in the least affected either
party, it would not be long before some of them began to sigh and sob,