FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 2): Few particulars of the recent cases of cannibalism in the Peace river district are attainable. They occurred in the far northwestern portion of the territories, 200 or 300 miles beyond Edmonton. The Peace river country is inhabited by Cree Indians and half-breeds. Most of them are pagans and still cling closely to the traditions of the Cree nation. They believe that at times evil spirits enter the bodies of members of the tribe, turning them into wehtigos, who kill and devour their families. It is usual when any member of the tribe shows signs of becoming a wehtigo for the members of his or her family to kill the person so addicted.
Last fall a half-breed named Conteraille, assisted by his
son, killed his wife because it was believed she was turning wehtigo. The
Dominion government sent a detachment of police in to the Peace river district
and arrested them, and they are now serving a term for manslaughter in the
Stony Mountain penitentiary. Their punishment caused much disaffection among
members of the tribe, who contended that if they had not put the woman to death
she would have killed her children and eaten them.
The woman who is the cause of the present case of cannibalism turned wehtigo [a person possesses by an evil spirit that devours mankind] some years ago and killed and ate one of her children before she was suspected. Having once tasted human blood she is supposed by the Indians to be endowed with superhuman powers, and they are in such terror of her that no attempts have been made to kill her.
The woman who is the cause of the present case of cannibalism turned wehtigo [a person possesses by an evil spirit that devours mankind] some years ago and killed and ate one of her children before she was suspected. Having once tasted human blood she is supposed by the Indians to be endowed with superhuman powers, and they are in such terror of her that no attempts have been made to kill her.
At intervals of four or five months her craving for human
blood returns, and while in these fits it is reported she assails the first
person she meets. Most of her children have fallen victims, having been slain
with an ax. The half-breeds and Indians are in terror, and it is probable a
police force will be sent to Peace river to arrest the man eater.
[“North American Man-Eaters. – Some Strange Facts About the
Cannibals in the Northwest Territory.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, La.),
Mar. 26, 1888, p. 8]
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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 2): Edmonton, N. W. T. March 27.—
The blood-curdling stories of cannibalism which have reached here during the
past few days revive to memory scenes nothing short in brutality of those
reported as having occurred in the Fiji islands years ago. The murderous
man-eating woman of Peace river, living 500 miles north of Edmonton and 1,700
miles from Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, has devoured twelve human beings,
her system of killing being by gradual poisoning. How long she has carried on
her brutal work to satisfy an inhuman appetite, and how she has accomplished so
many deaths, avoiding discovery so long, is a great surprise to the wild
Indians of the Peace river region and the few while people scattered here and
there throughout this great waste of land to the north of Edmonton. So well has
she carried on her terrible work that traces of her awful deeds are scarce, and
the woman being hopelessly insane, it is probable that darkness will forever
enshroud the dreadful tragedy.
It is learned that the woman has been seized by a hand of
Indians and will probably be removed to a Canadian government or Hudson Bay
company’s station, if in the meantime she is not killed by her friends, who are
threatening her life. Talking to an old Hudson Bay official, your correspondent
was assured that dozens of cases of cannibalism had taken place in the North
Which had never been brought to light. Of course many Indians have been
compelled to eat their own friends from sheer starvation. This officer told of
a man named Papniow, who started on a 700-mile trip a few winters ago
accompanied by two friends. The dogs took sick, also one of the men, and for
several weeks the starving men subsisted on the flesh of their dead comrade.
The Indian woman, who is undoubtedly the greatest cannibal ever known in the
continent of America, was driven crazy in the first place by medicine men, as
they are called. As particulars of the tragedy are only brief, owing to
circumstances explained above, a brief history of these men, as learned by your
correspondent, will probably be read with interest. They are. designated by
several names, as shamans, sorcerers and conjurers.
The Eskimo, among whom this woman was acquainted, call them
angekoks, which is wise men. The Indians, like other people, are subjected to
the ills of body and mind, and are, therefore, dependent upon medical
protection to help them in their hours of pain. Blindness, arising from the
smoke of the lodges, uncleanness, the habitual use of paint; and hereditary
diseases are very prevalent among the tribe. Sitting in a lodge a short time
ago with twelve persons, a missionary named Rev. John McLean, B. A., counted no
less than five blind individuals. There are numerous cases of scrofula,
consumption, rheumatism, immoral diseases, bronchitis, etc. The medicine men
are the priests and doctors of the camp, uniting religion and medicine in their
practice. Generally there are grades of distinction, the lower resorting to the
use of herbs and other medicines only, the higher relying upon supernatural
Influences to aid them with the dispensing of their materia medica. It is of
the latter class to whom the cannibal woman went with her ills. Shrewd and
intelligent, they are revered by the occupants of the lodges, and become
instructors of the youth and the guardians of the sacred legends. Occasionally
medicine women are found, generally aged persons, who become famous through the
numerous cures wrought by their skill.
“Medicine” has a two-fold meaning, the one referring to the
charms and incantations, the supernatural part of the work, and the other to
the use of physic, the natural part. In some tribes there exist secret
societies and organizations of medicine men, who keep sacredly their medical
lore and mysterious rites, thus creating superstitious fears among the people,
a would enhancing the value of the services. According to the statement of F.
Aosikinaik, a warrior of the Ottawas, there were secret societies among the
Ottawas, one of which was called “Wahbahnoowin,” signifying the east. It has
been asserted that those who were fully instructed in all the mysteries of
this Society could hold a burning coal in their hands or thrust their fingers
into boiling water without receiving any injury. They had a very strong
preference for the pleasures of the sweat lodge, and were able to endure a
greater amount of heat than other persons. Another society named “Medaowin” had
several sections, each of which consisted of eight members.
They had secret signs and pass-words which enabled them
easily to get rid of their enemies, and to exercise a commanding influence in
the tribes, and nothing was positively known of their private meetings, but
their public meetings were held in a large wigwam or in the open air, where the
people assembled in large numbers to witness the ceremonies. Within the
inclosure the members sat, each holding a stuffed bird or animal in his band,
which seemed to revive from the sounds uttered as some of the members danced in
the open space, or ran about holding a bird or animal in front of them. Placing
small bones in the mouths of the animals, they were thrown in the mouths of the
persons standing near, and caused in them superstitious fears, believing that
the members used some powerful medicine for accomplishing their purpose. It was
believed that when an enemy was disposed of, one of the members disguised as a
wolf or bear went on the eighth night, dug up the body, cut off one of the
little toes, the little fingers, and cut out the heart and tongue.
These were taken to the next meeting, where the tongue,
being divided into eight shares, was eaten, and the other parts of the body
used in the preparation of their medicines. Wherever the secret fraternities of
medicine men existed there were initiatory rites which the candidates for the
profession had to undergo to lit them for their duties. In some tribes this
consisted merely in passing successfully through a period of fasting until the
guardian spirit had been found. Some held that from birth a supernatural
influence rested upon a person designated for the office, and in due course he
entered upon the career marked out for him by the gods.
The Eskimo, among whom the cannibal lived for some time,
taught that death and resurrection were necessary in every candidate for the
sacred office. A keen intellect and dignified bearing, or a tinge of manners
betokening the prophetic vision, were held by others to constitute the necessary
qualifications of a candidate. Among the Chinook Indians, near the Rockies, the
aspirant for medical honors prepares a feast, which is free to all, and bestows
gifts upon the medicine men. A lodge is prepared for him, wherein he fasts
three days and nights, while the initiated dance and sing around it during the
whole period. The fast ended, he is taken up apparently lifeless, and the
ceremony of washing the dead is performed, which implies plunging the candidate
into the nearest cold water and rubbing him briskly until he recovers from the
effects of his fast. He now rushes into the woods and returns dressed as a
medicine man, and then, relying upon the dignity of his profession and the
influence attending it for his support, with his medicine rattle in his hand,
he collects all his property and divides it among his friends. The singing and
dancing are kept up during the distribution, after which the ceremony of
initiation ends with a general feast. Among the Crees, who live in Manitoba
principally, there are four grades leading to the highest position.
The first grade is “Wapunoo,” conjuror of the morning, the
members of which have the power of extinguishing fire; the second is “Nutao,”
the man who uses the bone or shell in killing, and the “birdskins,” who has an
extensive knowledge of healing remedies and possessing mesmeric powers; the
third is “Kesikowejinew, the man of the day,” who is the revealer of secrets,
and the fourth is called “Tipiskoweyinew,” who has the power to nullify the
evil influence of the Mitav, and even to heal those who have been affected by
him.
The initiatory rites among the Cree Indians consist in
physical torture to test the power of endurance, this being a necessity in the
professionals the novitiate will be prepared for stolidly witnessing sufferings
in others, and a fast of ten days’ duration. The candidate’s first degree is
obtained by undergoing this period of fasting, in accordance with the custom of
the medical brotherhood. The candidate goes to a lonely spot and takes up his
residence in the branches of a tree, where he fasts and meditates, holding
converse with the spirits who visit him now and again and become his guardians
and friends through life. The great Evil Spirit visits him and takes him under
his care, and the lesser spirits that abound in the animals and in all the
wonderful things of nature become his servants. The dress of these medicine men
is generally .the most hideous and grotesque that can be conceived. The skin of
a bear, or other wild animal, is wrapped around the body, encircling the limbs,
the claws reaching to the tips of the fingers arid the head being so closely
fastened that a part only of the hideously-painted face is seen. It is expected
that the medicine men who are said to have injured the woman’s reason will be
arrested and prosecuted by the British authorities.
[“Indian Cannibalism. History of the Woman Who Ate Twelve
Indian Comrades. The Crime Takes Place Seventeen Hundred Miles From Winnipeg”.
Medicine Men Set the Woman Crazy by Their Peculiar Actions. A Statement Made by
a Warrior Named Assikinack, of the Ottawas.” St. Paul Daily Globe (Mn.), Mar.
29, 1888, p. 1]
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