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Servant & Demigod. Every Mountie is still issued the cherished dress uniform red coat—for parades, for Parliament guard duty, for appearances in court. All recruits still learn to sit a horse, and in the snowbound north the Mountie is still king, servant, and demigod. There are only some 200 of them in the Yukon and Northwest Territories these days, and they talk about all the rest of the service as something slightly distasteful "on the outside." No wonder. In their arctic world they are the postmasters, game wardens, tax collectors, licensing agents, oath administrators, notaries public, firemen, immigration officers, fur pelt inspectors, dispensers of relief funds, dentists, doctors and midwives. Acting as a policeman, a Mountie once brought in an Eskimo murderer; as examining magistrate, he committed the Eskimo for trial; as jailer, he kept him under lock and key; as sheriff, he supervised the Eskimo's hanging; as coroner, he certified the Eskimo's death.
The townspeople of Aklavik (pop. 600) in the Northwest Territories do not think that the picture hanging behind the altar of the Anglican Cathedral is out of the ordinary. The painting shows three wise men visiting the manger of the Christ child in Bethlehem. Instead of Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, the magi bringing gifts are the trader, the northern priest—and the Mountie.