that it was the mere laziness of the
Indians which prevented more rapid advance. It may be that we do not
realize their difficulties. When the white men first came these rude
peoples were so backward and so little trained in using their faculties
that any advance towards art and industry was inevitably slow and
difficult. This was also true, no doubt, of the peoples who, long
centuries before, had been in the same degree of development in Europe,
and had begun the intricate tasks which a growth towards civilization
involved. The historian Robertson describes in a vivid passage the
backward state of the savage tribes of America. 'The most simple
operation,' he says, 'was to them an undertaking of immense difficulty
and labour. To fell a tree with no other implements than hatchets of
stone was employment for a month. ...Their operations in agriculture
were equally slow and defective. In a country covered with woods of the
hardest timber, the clearing of a small field destined for culture
required the united efforts of a tribe, and was a work of much time and
great toil.'

The religion of the Algonquin Indians seems to have been a rude nature
worship. The Sun, as the great giver of warmth and light, was the
object of their adoration; to a lesser degree, they looked upon fire as
a superhuman thing, worthy of worship. The four winds of heaven,
bringing storm and rain from the unknown boundaries of the world, were
regarded as spirits. Each Indian clan or section of a tribe chose for
its special devotion an animal, the name of which became the
distinctive symbol of the clan. This is what is meant by the 'totems'
of the different branches of a tribe.

The Algonquins knew nothing of the art of writing, beyond rude pictures
scratched or painted on wood. The Algonquin tribes, as we have seen,
roamed far to the west. One branch frequented the upper Saskatchewan
river. Here the ashes of the prairie fires discoloured their moccasins
and turned them black, and, in consequence, they were called the
Blackfeet Indians. Even when they moved to other parts of the country,
the name was still applied to them.

Occupying the stretch of country to the south of the Algonquins was the
famous race known as the Iroquoian Family. We generally read of the
Hurons and the Iroquois as separate tribes. They really belonged,
however, to one family, though during the period of Canadian history in
which they were prominent they had become deadly enemies