This favored individual, in his
village, passes for a grand match.
Bravery and great warriors they
think much of - they constitute the latter their chiefs. Poverty is no
disgrace at the council board, and an orator in rags will speak out as
boldly, as successfully, as if he were decked out in gold cloth. They
come thus poorly habited in the presence of the Governor, indulge in
long harangues, and touch his hand fearlessly. When ladies are present
at these interviews, they honor them thus - seize their hand and shake
it in token of friendship. Before I became a nun I was present at some
of these ceremonies, and having won their good opinion, they would
extend to me a hand which was disgusting in the extreme, but which I
had cheerfully to accept for fear of offending them. They are
sometimes asked to dine at the Governor's table. Unlucky are their
neighbors, especially when they happen to be ladies, they are so
filthy in their persons. - 1730." - Revue Canadienne, page 108-9.
Such the Montreal Indians in 1730.
The Lorette Chapel dates back, as well as the Old Mill, to 1731. In
1862 the Chapel suffered much by fire. The tribe occupies land reserved by
Government, under the regulations of the Indian Bureau of Ottawa. "Indian
Lorette comprises from forty to fifty cottages, on the plateau of
the falls - spread out, without design, over an area of about twenty square
acres. In the centre runs the kings highway, the outer half sloping down,
towards the St. Charles.
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