As with many of his co-workers in the Hudson's Bay Company, John Tod's knowledge of the culture of his Aboriginal trading partners was shallow. Tod saw the Indians through the eyes of a nineteenth-century European.

In a letter he wrote to Edward Ermatinger in 1826, he stated:

“I trust in God, that in compassion for the miseries I have endured in this land of savages, that he will be pleased to spare us both to live and see that day, when we may participate in the pleasure of each other's company.”

(Gilbert Sproat, “Career of a Scotch Boy”, British Columbia Historical Quarterly 18.3-4, 1954, 540.)

Tod went so far as to state differences between Indians that lived on fish opposed to Indians who hunted. His memoirs state:

“There is a marked difference between Indians who lived on fish, and those who lived on hunting; the former were mean, sneaking, thieving, deceiving; would scarcely ever tell the truth. The latter were noble, generous, would scorn the idea of theft; they could not be more insulted than if charged with theft.”

(John Tod, History of New Caledonia, 48)

He related his observations through a story about the behaviour of the hunters and the fishermen. In 1829, John Tod and Chief Factor Connolly were with a fur brigade as it travelled to Fort Vancouver. While travelling down-river, they came across a section of the river that had too many rapids, forcing the group of boats to be pulled up out of the water and carried around the rapids. Connolly decided to hire a band of Nez Percés Indians who were camped nearby. Tod believed the Nez Percés were “the noblest band in the country.” The Indians soon helped the brigade in exchange for tobacco. When it came time to pay the Indians for their services, Connolly became nervous that the Nez Percés group would attack them. So Connolly wouldn't pay them until the boats were loaded with their supplies. This forced the Natives to wait on shore. After the boats were loaded and the tobacco was offered, the band refused to accept it, and instead, left the tobacco lying on some rocks by the river.

Before Tod's group was underway, another band of First Nations came to the river. This was a coastal group of Indians who had come to the river to fish salmon. They had watched what had happened between the Europeans and the Nez Percés band, and when they had withdrawn, came in and took the tobacco lying on the rocks. The Nez Percés tribe was insulted because they were forced to wait. However, the coastal tribe could not afford the luxury of pride. Their existence depended on an uncertain salmon run. Tobacco could be used to trade with other Native groups. Trading tobacco could be the difference between survival and starvation.