46 In Great Waters

women®are gathered in groups at various points
along the coast and on the larger rivers, to work at
canneries and fishing stations. In these places a
motley crowd may be found, Japs, Chinese, Natives,
Scandinavians, Finns and English-speaking people
thrown together for months, living in shacks pro-
vided by the canneries, on boats, or in cabins built
by individual owners. In some places, an invisible
line separates the Indians from the Orientals, or
from their white neighbors. I have seen a beer
parlor operating within ten yards of an Indian dance
hall, both in full swing at the same time. You
may gather then, how little is the protection afforded
the native people by the provision of the Indian
Act which says that no liquor shall be sold or kept
on an Indian Reserve. In this particular place, I
defy anyone who does not know the locality, to tell
where the Indian village ends and the portion al-
lotted to others begins. Bootleggers, card sharks,
pool rooms, dance halls, all take their share of the
time, attention, and the earnings of the fishermen
and cannery helpers, as opportunity offers, and add
to the loss caused by bad seasons, storms, accidents,
etc., which these people have to face in the endeavour
to provide for themselves and their families through-
out the winter. Is it not due these folks that the
Church, too, should be present to guide, encourage
and strengthen them during this time of wearisome
toil? Surely yes. Here the Marine workers come
again to the front, and on the canneries on the
Skeena and upper mainland, and on the Queen