Metlakahtla and the North Pacific Mission of the Church Missionary Society Part 10

It did not take long to transfer ourselves and our baggage to the canoe, and at 4.30 a.m. we started against wind and tide, rain, too, at intervals; but having much to talk about of past events and future plans, the twenty miles of distance soon disappeared, and about noon we crossed the bar and entered the "inlet of Kahtla." On the north side of the inlet stands, on an eminence, "the Church of G.o.d;" on either side of it, spreads out the village of Metlakahtla, skirting two bays whose beaches are at once a landing-place for its inhabitants and shelter for the canoes. As we approached the landing-place two guns were fired and flags displayed from house to house--conspicuous by a string of them reaching the Mission House verandah, inscribed, "A REAL WELCOME TO METLAKAHTLA." Near to this were a.s.sembled all the village--men, women, and children--gaily dressed.

The choice of this harbour of refuge is one of G.o.d's many providential dealings with this Mission. It is defended from the storms and heavy rolling swell of the Pacific Ocean by large and lofty islands, forming a breakwater across its entrance, extending as far out to sea as twenty miles, inside of which smaller islands, numbering nearly a hundred, form channels leading up to the foot of the snow-capped mountains, 15 or 18 miles distant, on many of which are the village gardens where potatoes and other vegetables are grown.

The rise and fall of the tide is very great, often 25ft. It was low water when we arrived, and difficult to land, but this had been antic.i.p.ated. We found a small canoe covered over with pretty mats (Indian manufacture from the cedar bark). Into this we were transferred, and when comfortably seated, we were lifted quietly on the shoulders of the young men, and carried up to a platform close to the entrance of the Mission House. We were surrounded by kind hearts who had been long expecting us, and the flowers and garlands had withered; but joy was depicted in their countenances. The body of constables, dressed in a uniform given by the Government, presented arms; the small band played; and then all the voices, about 250 in number (the larger portion of the population being at the fisheries), joined in that beautiful hymn--

"What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear, What a privilege to carry Everything to G.o.d in prayer."

Then came the shaking of hands, and let me remind you a Metlakahtla Indian can give a hearty shake of the hand!

Rain obliged us to seek shelter indoors. We all met again in the church in the evening, changing the weekly service to Tuesday. It was my privilege to address more than two hundred from Romans viii. 31--"If G.o.d be for us, who can be against us?" It was an evening never to be forgotten. After 25 years' absence, G.o.d had brought me back again, amidst all the sundry and manifold changes of the world, face to face with those tribes amongst whom I had witnessed only bloodshed, cannibalism, and heathen devilry in its grossest form. Now they were sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in their right mind. The very churchwarden, dear old Peter Simpson, who opened the church-door for me, was the chief of one of the cannibal tribes.

Words cannot describe the happy month I spent in this happy Christian circle. I can only copy from my rough notes, written on the spot, some of the events which occurred to me.

In the Mission House, I found the Rev. W. H. Collison, and his wife and two children (whom I had known previous to their leaving England), and Mr. and Mrs. Schutt and children. There was plenty of room for all, and in addition to our party there were five girls, boarders in the house, living in a dormitory upstairs with a cheerful look-out. These are industrial pupils training for their future position as wives and mothers. Each girl has her own recess. As many as fourteen boarders have been in the house at one time, and G.o.d has greatly blessed the instruction they have received, the Christian young men preferring a wife who has pa.s.sed through the Mission training to all others.

It rained so incessantly the first three days, that nothing could be done outside. The meetings for Morning and Evening Prayers, in which the boarders joined, were very precious. Sankey's hymns, a portion of G.o.d's Word, explained by Duncan in Tsimshean, and united prayer, began and closed the day.

On 21st June, I met by appointment in Duncan's room eight of the twelve elders of the village (four absent at the fisheries) to consult about the programme during my stay. It was no formal a.s.sembly, but a council of wise heads met together, all taking a deep interest in the affairs of the village, and all speaking out boldly.

_June 22nd._--Still rain, but all the men and some of the women a.s.sembled in the school-room, to hear an address from me and to give me their welcome in reply. We met at 5 p.m., and did not separate until 8 o'clock. Let me give one or two of the speeches addressed to me:--

GEORGE USHER (Indian name, Comtsool) said--"I also want to speak, though I occupy not the seat of a chief, but only that of a common man who sits at the door. Your seat is the seat of honour at the upper end of the house. Yet I will address you.

"It is wonderful to us to see what changes have come amongst us since your last visit, and it is wonderful to us to see how much good some people are capable of doing for others. We think of your good work and are amazed. If it shall so be that you leave this world before us to see G.o.d, remember we are trying to follow you, to be with you before long. We shall see you again in heaven."

JAMES LEEQUNEESH (chief) said--"Shimoigit, what we once were is known to you, for you saw our state. I was a young man when you first saw us.

We profited by your visit, but you suffered by us. Which of us is not now ashamed when we see your face again, and remember the injuries we did to you? But we were then in darkness. We were like the wild animals. We were living in mud and darkness. You got a hoe. You got seed. You designed a garden, though on a very unfavourable site. It was G.o.d who touched your heart. Then the workmen came. Your work was among thorns, and you suffered, but so did Jesus the Son of G.o.d work among thorns and suffer. So you then got a spade and turned over the ground and put in the seed. G.o.d was with you, and now you have come back to see what G.o.d has done. You are pleased to see that the plants have come up a little. Yes, the good seed has grown, and this, sir, is the result of your work. G.o.d put all this into your heart, and our own hearts are deeply affected and aroused within us by your coming again to see us."

ADAM GORDON (Kshimkeaiks) said--"Sir, though I have not prepared a speech, I cannot help saying my heart is thankful to tell you how happy we all are. It is while we are still in the fight you have come to see us. Like as children rejoice to see a father, so we rejoice to see you.

We are fighting every day with sin, but we shall cease fighting; by-and -by, and be happy when we get to the other sh.o.r.e. Then when we reach over there we shall be truly happy."

PETER SIMPSON (Thrakshakaun).--"I remember when you put your ship on sh.o.r.e at Fort Simpson. I remember how nearly we were fighting, and the guns were prepared. You had a rope put out to keep us off, and we heard it said that you would fire at us from your ship when you got afloat.

We knew not what you had rather planned to do. You planned to bring us the Gospel, and that has opened our eyes to heavenly things, and oh!

how beautiful, very beautiful indeed! Metlakahtla is like a ship just launched. You are here to give us advice where to put the mast in, and how to steer. I address you thus, though you are great and I am poor.

But Jesus despises not the poor. The Tsimsheans were very low, yet Jesus raised us, and we are now anxious for all our brethren, the tribes around us, to be made alive. We see them now willing to hear, and we are trying to help them. We know G.o.d put it into your heart to come here, and brought you here; G.o.d bless you for coming."

_Sunday, 23rd_.--To me, all days at Metlakahtla are solemnly sacred, but Sunday, of all others, especially so. Canoes are all drawn up on the beach above high water mark. Not a sound is heard. The children are a.s.sembled before morning service to receive special instruction from Mr. Duncan. The church bell rings, and the whole population pour out from their houses--men, women, and children--to worship G.o.d in His own house, built by their own hands. As it has been remarked, "No need to lock doors, for no one is there to enter the empty houses." Two policemen are on duty in uniform, to keep order during service time. The service begins with a chant in Tsimshean, "I wilt arise and go to my Father," etc., Mr. Schutt leading with the harmonium; the Litany Prayers in Tsimshean follow, closing with the Lord's Prayer. The address lasts nearly an hour. Such is the deep attention of many present, that having once known their former lives, I know that the love of G.o.d shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost can alone have produced so marvellous a change.

First, there was a very old woman, staff in hand, stepping with such solemn earnestness; after her came one who had been a very notorious gambler; though now almost crippled with disease, yet he seemed to be forgetting infirmity, and literally to be leaping along. Next followed a dissipated youth, now reclaimed; and after him a chief, who had dared a few years ago proudly to lift up his hand to stop the work of G.o.d, now with humble mien, wending his way to worship. Then came a once still more haughty man of rank; and after him a mother carrying her infant child, and a father leading his infant son; a grandmother, with more than a mother's care, watching the steps of her little grandson.

Then followed a widow; then a young woman, who had been s.n.a.t.c.hed from the jaws of infamy; after them came a once roving spirit, now meek and settled; then, a once notorious chief; and the last I reflected upon was a man walking with solemn gait, yet hope fixed in his look. When a heathen he was a murderer: he had murdered his own wife and burnt her to ashes. What are all these now, I thought, and the crowds that accompany them! Whither are they going? and what to do? Blessed sight for angels! Oh, the preciousness of a Saviour's blood! If there is joy in heaven ever one sinner that repenteth, with what delight must angels gaze on such a sight as this! I felt such a glow of grat.i.tude to G.o.d come over me, my heart was stirred within me, for who could have joined such a congregation as this in worship and have been cold, and who could have preached the Gospel to such a people and not have felt he was standing where G.o.d was working?

After morning service, a cla.s.s of female adults remain in the church, and receive further instruction from the native teachers. At the same time the male adults meet Mr. Duncan in his own room. At three, the church bell again a.s.sembles all the village to worship; and again at seven, when they generally meet in the schoolroom, the address being given by one of the native teachers.

_June 26th._--Evening Service in schoolroom, about 90 in attendance, most of the village absent at the fisheries. Some strange Indians arrived today from a distance. A large building has been erected on the sh.o.r.e, close to the general landing-place, for the accommodation of such visitors; here they deposit their property (brought for trade), and take up their abode, finding firewood ready for use. As soon as they are comfortably housed and mashed (the latter a positive injunction), they come to Duncan's room, where he receives them, generally having something new and amusing to show them. To-day I was present at their interview, when Duncan showed them a mechanical picture, in which a "ship at sea," a "wind-mill," and a "water-mill,"

worked by machinery, are moved at the same time. A galvanic battery is also a source of wonder and astonishment. After some time he explains to his audience the cause and effects, exposing, too, the tricks formerly played upon their ignorant minds by their own medicine men.

The visit is returned, and in that market-house the good seed of the Word of G.o.d has been frequently sown by this faithful man of G.o.d to casual visitors, and through them to the surrounding tribes.

A deputation also arrived from the Fort Simpson Indians to consult with the Metlakahtla Indians how to meet the pending difficulties with the White men as regards the Indian rights as to the salmon-fisheries.

The bugle sounded to call together the Council. Both parties a.s.sembled together in the school-house, and consulted together for several hours; and when they had finished, they sent for Duncan to tell him the result. I mention this circ.u.mstance as one of the blessed results of their new life in Christ Jesus. In their heathen days this difficulty with white men would have been met with murder and destruction. In 1859, I was present at an a.s.semblage of chiefs, when gold was first discovered in British Columbia, and when more than twenty thousand white men rushed into that country, bringing with them vice and disease. The question was asked by the head chief, "How shall we treat these strangers? Shall we cut their throats?"--going through the motion of doing so in an unmistakable manner. In G.o.d's providence, the man in authority had great influence over the Indian mind and action. A proper answer was returned, and the lives of hundreds, nay, thousands were saved.

27th.--Visited the village saw-mill, conveniently situated at the head of a sheltered inlet about a mile and a quarter from the village. It is managed entirely by natives, the head Indian receiving 8 dols., or L1 12s., the second, 6 dols., or L1 4s., the third, 5 dols., or L1 per week. Lumber of all sizes is supplied to the village for building purposes at moderate prices. Thus the Indians are kept independent of the white man's help. Duncan told me a curious story of an old Indian who came to him, when the mill was being erected, and asked him, "Are you going to make water saw wood?" He got his answer, and exclaimed, "When I see it I die, to go and tell it to my chief."

I visited the widow of Samuel Marsden (Shooquanahts), the first fruits of this Mission. He was baptized, 21st July, 1861, and died May 8th, 1878, a Native elder, a ripe Christian, a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus; and the clear testimony he bore on his death-bed to the blessedness of the Christian hope and the presence of the Saviour was very cheering. Duncan adds, "His parting words to myself and the elders were very affecting; his end indeed was peace, and such a funeral the Indians never saw." Catherine, his widow, is left with two children, and lives in the same house with Catherine Ryan, whose husband died about the same time as Samuel, leaving her with four children. I did indeed wish for some of the friends of the Mission to have witnessed the touching simple faith of these two brands plucked out of the fire, as I read to them a few words from John xi., "Jesus wept." after which we joined in prayer.

Shortly after my return to the Mission House, Samuel Marsden's father called to see me. He was present at my first visit to Fort Simpson in 1853. Poor fellow! he looked quite cast down; he said his heart was sad, he wanted to speak to me. "I have felt," he said, "that I must see you. It has been on my heart to see you. I saw your ship long ago when you first came to Fort Simpson. I saw you then also. I was a young man then. I had a son, an only son, he was then very young. You did not forget us. When Mr. Duncan came, I sent my son to learn. I was anxious to walk in G.o.d's way myself; but I was very wicked. But I was anxious that my son should learn; he learned quickly and had but one heart.

When Mr. Duncan came to Metlakahtla, Samuel was one of the first to accompany him, and afterwards, when Mr. Duncan had to punish any of the Indians of the villages around who were guilty of crime, Samuel was always ready to go and a.s.sist in bringing them to justice. I was not afraid, because I knew he was doing right, and G.o.d would defend him and save him. Well, he continued to grow stronger in G.o.d's way, and was anxious to work for Him, wherever he went telling the people about the Son of G.o.d, the Saviour; but he became sick and was very weak for some time. However, he almost recovered, and when the news came last autumn that you were coming, no one was so glad as Samuel. He was rejoiced to think that he would see you again; but it was not to be so now. G.o.d was pleased to call him to Himself before you came. He is in heaven now.

Chief! this is why I was not present at the meeting to welcome you. My strength was gone, my only son, I thought he would strengthen my heart now that I am an old man; but G.o.d knows it is best. I felt that I could not speak with the rest, as my heart was so weak. But there was a burden on my heart. I felt so much that if Samuel were alive, he would have much to tell you, and I felt that I could not rest until I told you all this, as Samuel would have me do were he alive. I thank you much for your sympathy and encouragement to us. My heart is very full.

I am very grateful to you, chief. When you pray, will you ask G.o.d to make my heart strong? I want to be faithful too, I want to meet my son and all of you above. I ask your prayers to help me. My heart is strong and glad now, because I have seen you and told you my heart."

One afternoon the girls in the Mission House, five in number, were given a half-holiday, to pick berries on the opposite islands. We availed ourselves of the fine weather and this picnic to see the village gardens. We started in a large canoe (every Indian from his earliest childhood can handle a paddle), towards the head of the estuary, which leads through a labyrinth of islands, to the pine-clad sh.o.r.es of the snowy mountains, nearly twenty miles distance. We landed at some of the islands, most of which have some cultivated land. Every man and woman had a certain portion of ground measured out by Duncan, when the village was first settled, and set apart by him for their sole use. As the children advance in years, an addition is made. At present only potatoes are planted, and these are not properly attended to, for just at the time when labour is required for weeding, hoeing, etc., all hands are absent at the fishing stations. Duncan hopes, in course of time, to make better arrangements. How we all enjoyed ourselves in that holiday trip!--all of us like children escaped from school. Berries were plentiful, and we returned by moonlight, paddling and singing hymns alternately, till the sparkling wood fire in the Mission-room welcomed us to our home.

One evening I was invited by Matthews (one of the elders, and a good carpenter), to hear him perform on a parlour organ, which he had bought at Victoria for 80 dollars (L16). It was a wondrous sight--the Indian and his wife at his side playing and singing many of the well-known Sankey's hymns! Had I accepted an invitation to visit an Indian hut in years gone by, I should have seen all kinds of devilry, witchcraft, and cannibalism, often followed by murder. How strikingly were the words of Holy Scripture brought before me, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

Much of the missionaries' time is taken up in visiting and recovering the sick. Collison and I went together one morning to visit a young woman, a Kitsala.s.s (the people of the Rapids on Skeena river), dying of consumption; her husband, an affectionate nurse for four months, and most patient, seldom leaving her. I read Ps. xxv. 18, "Look upon my affliction and my pain, and forgive me all my sins;" then a short prayer, all around her kneeling. From my note-book I copy the conversation which followed, noted down at the time. "Do you remember what I said to you from G.o.d's Word?" She felt she was going to leave the world; she was always thinking of Jesus and crying unto Him. "Have you any fear of death?" "No! because I love Jesus." We replied, "He first loved us!" The husband then spoke. He had been praying three times a day. They did not know anything of their sinfulness before this affliction. "I was greatly troubled at the thought of my wife leaving me, but my heart is satisfied now, my heart is strong now, because the Saviour has had mercy on us. He has shown us the way, and though it is very hard, yet I know it will be for her gain."

Previous to this interview, her great desire had been to return to her own people, but now she asked to be buried with the Christians at Metlakahtla. She hesitated before this to ask to be baptized; she had it on her heart to ask, but now she felt her time was short, and she wished to be numbered amongst the people of G.o.d. Baptism was then administered to her, in the simple words of our Lord, "Go ye, therefore, and make Christians of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." As a proof of her humility, she asked to be baptized in her heathen name ("Lukaloosh"), not being worthy of a white woman's name, which is always given.

After two days I visited her again, and found her much weaker, breathing with difficulty. During a sleepless night she exclaimed, "I know where I am going, it is no longer darkness; Jesus is with me."

These last words were frequently repeated. In the morning her husband came to say, "she was fast departing, her heart beating faintly." He was comforted by repeating his wife's last words, "Jesus is with me."

Fine weather having now set in, I invited all the village to a feast.

Two guns were fixed to recall the absentees, who were at their daily work. Tables were soon spread on the green in front of the Church, each guest bringing cups and spoons. Coffee and biscuit was provided in abundance. Before they were seated, all a.s.sembled on the steps of the Church, and were photographed by Duncan, [Footnote: A picture drawn from this photograph appeared in the Church Gleaner of July, 1879.] to the amus.e.m.e.nt of all present. A blessing was then asked, and the feast commenced. Games followed, singing, and cheering, the latter very hearty. At nine o'clock all separated to go to their homes.

_1st July_.--In the early morning paddled over to the island set apart as the burial ground of Metlakahtla. All the graves are surrounded with a neat wooden fence, and several marble headstones are erected. I copied the three nearest to the landing-place:--

IN MEMORY OF

MARK SHELDON,

_Who was drowned in the Skeena. River, Aug. 15th, 1870,_

AGED 30 YEARS.

"Be ye therefore ready also."--LUKE xii. 40.

IN MEMORY OF

LOUISA STAVELY,

_Who died May 2nd, 1877,_

AGED 32 YEARS.

IN MEMORY OP