. British North America: I. The far West, the home of the Salish and Déné . ar tohave been so cowardly. Though they protected them-selves with palisaded forts they were always ready todefend their homes and property from the attacks ofth^eir foes. But most of the Dene were no better thanthe coast and delta Salish. Father Morice speaksmost strongly of their timidity and cowardice. Hewrites :— The Northern T)6n6 are generally pusillanimous,timid and cowardly . . Even among our Carriers, theproudest and most progressive of all the western tribes;hardly any summer passes but some party runs homepa
. British North America: I. The far West, the home of the Salish and Déné . ar tohave been so cowardly. Though they protected them-selves with palisaded forts they were always ready todefend their homes and property from the attacks ofth^eir foes. But most of the Dene were no better thanthe coast and delta Salish. Father Morice speaksmost strongly of their timidity and cowardice. Hewrites :— The Northern T)6n6 are generally pusillanimous,timid and cowardly . . Even among our Carriers, theproudest and most progressive of all the western tribes;hardly any summer passes but some party runs homepanic stricken, and why ? They have heard at somelittle distance some men of the woods evidentlyanimated by murderous designs and have barelyescaped with their lives. Thereupon great commotionand tumult in the camp. Immediately everybody ischaritably warned not to venture alone in the forest,and after sunset every door is carefully locked againstany possible intruder. Mr. Bernard R. Ross, the Hudsons Bay factor,writes also in the same strain in his manuscript : Plate 7. wimji: Typical Plain Indlans Photo by C. W. Mathers, Vancouver, To face page 44 THE NATIVE RACES 45 As a whole, he says, * the race under consideration isunwarlike. The Chepewyans, Beavers, and Yellow-Knives are much braver than the remaining tribes. Ihave never known, in my long residence among thispeople, of arms having been resorted to in conflict. Inmost cases their mode of personal combat is a speciesof wrestling, and consists in the opponents graspingeach others long hair. Knives are almost invariablylaid aside previous to the contest. I am disposed toconsider this peaceful disposition proceeds more fromtimidity than from any actual disinclination to shedblood . . The fear of enemies, when in these peacefultimes there are none to dread, is a remarkable trait ofthe timidity which so strongly influences the minds ofthe Eastern Dene. It is, I conjecture, a traditionalrecollection of the days when the K
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