A Discovery of Strangers by Rudy Wiebe Read Free Book Online Page A

fireworks of smoke and hissing that produced! Even the brown leather women, who until then had refused to be anything but silent mounds beyond the men’s circle — andwere thus somewhat nearer the fire — sighed magnificently in admiration. However, when the chief came pacing up, he was already in lament, a singing so dolorous and ear-piercing that our half-breed translator hesitated even more than usual before he would venture a word in English. It seemed that destroying the flag was more or less equivalent to destroying England — so the chief sang — since besides our dress uniforms that was all he had yet seen of its particular majesty.
    Perhaps in our proposal we had been somewhat too strong for these primitive people. I had read the proclamation phrase by phrase for our translator so there could be no misunderstanding:
    “This, our great flag, is the sign of the King of England’s power, who is your king also! The King of England is your Great Father! We are not traders, we are the King’s warriors, as you can see by our uniforms. We are not come to trade, but to establish good relations between us and yourselves, and to discover the resources of your country. We already know one great river to the north, but if you show us the way of the other great river to the Northern Ocean, and if you hunt for us as we follow it, the King will be very thankful. He will send ships bigger than a hundred voyageur canoes combined to trade with you. Then your enemies will fade away with envy at your wealth and power, and you will be richer than all your ancestors together.”
    They stared at us in disbelief, especially the old man who subsequently — after a deal of hesitation — scratched the map of the country on the ground. He seemed to be advising the chief, though he was much too apprehensive to say anything directly to us. (Our translator from Fort Chipewyan spoke English intelligibly enough — he had a somewhat larger vocabularyof Canadian French, though execrably muddled with Cree — but he was obviously slow in communicating what was said in either, which I gather is partly due to the paucity of the Indian language.) When Lieutenant Franklin explained further — and at more length — what we had planned to tell them, I thought the idea of the wealth we proposed was too much for their minds to grasp. They seem unable to understand anything of the principles of “property”. In fact — our translator insisted — there was no word for it in their language! Ah, primitiva gloriosa indeed!
    However, when Lieutenant Franklin tried to explain what numberless goods our great ships coming directly from England could bring them, cutting out entirely the present 2,205 miles of incalculable lake, river and rapid labour between York Factory and Fort Providence, it emerged that their hesitance did not concern wealth at all. It was the size of ships that held them speechless. A hundred of our huge voyageur canoes? Their own canoes can barely sustain four people. Thereupon Hood brought out his sketch of Prince of Wales , which had brought us from England, as we traded with the Esquimaux in Hudson Bay the summer before, but then, perversely, they did not for a moment notice the immensity of the vessel, but rather gave all their attention to the kayaks of the Esquimaux fleeting on the water.
    “Our enemies,” they groaned. “You have talked — you have traded — you have already eaten — with the Raw-Meat Eaters!”
    The beak-nosed old mapmaker seemed especially disturbed and we had to expend more time than ever convincing them of our totally pacific intentions. “Our Great Father wants all his children to live at peace!” we told them emphatically. “We are all his children, we and all Indians and all Esquimaux alike, andhe wants you to stop killing each other. We cannot help you become rich if you fight and kill each other!”
    To which they — ever perverse — responded, “Then why are you come as warriors and not