virtually the only place where summer transportation is accomplished by
dog-drawn travois (fig. 5). This device, consisting of two trailing
poles, with a small platform midway, is recognizable immediately by
readers of Parkman's _Oregon Trail_ (1849), where its use by Indians of
our Western Plains is mentioned again and again. The travois was
introduced into this region by the late Charles Planchek?, a Czech?
trapper of somewhat sinister repute, whose headquarters were at Putahow
Lake. He was the "Eskimo Charlie" of Downes (1943: 160-161, pl.). In
years gone by he took a travois with him on a visit to the Windy River
area, and it was thereupon copied and subsequently used regularly by the
Schweder family. Their Eskimo friends of the upper Kazan will
occasionally borrow one, but I am not aware that they have made any
travois of their own. During the summer the two younger boys of the
Windy River post made a practice of hauling in caribou meat from the
surrounding Barrens by means of travois.
In the latter part of summer some small pieces of caribou meat were
occasionally laid on a stone for drying, in front of the door at the
post. Other pieces were said to have been hung up in the air for the
same purpose, without fire or smoke, out in the field where the animals
were killed. Apparently blowflies did not pay much attention to this
meat. No considerable quantity seemed to be preserved locally in this
way. Three Caribou-eater Chipewyans from the south end of Nueltin Lake,
who visited our camp in late October, were carrying dried meat with them
as travel rations and eating it without cooking.
The larvae of the warble fly (_Oedemagena tarandi_), found beneath the
skin of the Caribou, are relished by the Eskimos, being eaten apparently
while alive and raw. The Eskimo boy of our camp continued this practice
after his little sister had given it up. Hearne (1795: 197) reported the
Indians as eating the warbles in his day.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. A band of Caribou swimming across Little
River at its mouth and landing on the western shore. Toward the
left, a doe standing broadside and enveloped in a cloud of spray
being shaken off. August 28, 1947. (From a 16-mm. motion
picture.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 10. Two Caribou bucks standing in the edge of
Little River at its mouth after swimming across. August 28, 1947.
(From a 16-mm. motion picture.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 11. A one-horned doe, a hornless doe, a fawn,
and a two-horned doe among a band of Caribou approaching the
camera within a rod after swimming across Little River. August 28,
1947. (From a 16-mm. motion picture.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 12. A band of Caribou (chiefly big bucks)
swimming across Little River at its mouth. August 28, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13. Camp Slough, with trails showing the
recent passage of Caribou through the sedge growth (predominantly
_Carex chordorrhiza_). Black spruce in the foreground and
distance. August 29, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14. A Caribou _Elysium_: a hornless doe
approaching within 15 feet of the photographer at the mouth of
Little River. August 30, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15. Anoteelik in caribou-skin clothing,
holding a caribou spear. A buck on the skyline. Mouth of Windy
River, September 7, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16. Katello, a Padleimiut Eskimo from the
upper Kazan River, in a coat (_attigi_) and boots (_komik_) of
caribou skin. Windy River, Oct. 6, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17. Charles Schweder with the fresh,
warble-infested hide of a Caribou buck (specimen No. 1033). Windy
River, June 3, 1947.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18. Hide of a Caribou doe, about four years
old, with about 130 small warbles or warble scars (concentrated on
the rump). Windy River, September 15, 1947.]
Only a small proportion of the hides of the locally killed Caribou are
preserved. A hide that would fetch only a dollar at Reindeer Lake would
not be worth transporting more than 250 miles from Nueltin Lake. Hearne
long ago (1795: 84) remarked on the remoteness of the hunting grounds
from the trading posts as a barrier to trade in the skins; and this
condition prevails to a large extent to the present day. Thus only such
hides as are required for domestic use are kept. Tanning, while done by
the Eskimos of the upper Kazan, is not undertaken by the residents on
Windy River. Here the task of drying the hides is left mainly to the
children of the camp. Most of them are pegged out on the summit of a
gravelly ridge, wooden pegs being driven with a rock through slits in
the edges of the skin (fig. 6). Now and then one is nailed to the outer
wall of a log cabin (fig. 18).
One of the main uses of the hides is for winter clothing. The Windy
River residents have their garments made by Eskimo women of the upper
Kazan, whose tanning process leaves the fur intact. Early autumn hides,
with new, comparatively short fur, are the ones in demand. The season
for securing such hides is said to extend to mid-September. At that
season the larvae of the warble fly have not developed far enough to
have injured the hide appreciably. The long winter fur is much less
suitable for clothing. In moderately cold weather a single coat
(_attigi_), with the fur inside (fig. 16), is worn by the Eskimos. This
coat, when made for a man, extends very little farther downward at the
rear than at the front; but a woman's coat is considerably longer at the
rear. The bottom is generally provided with a fringe consisting of small
strips of caribou skin, perhaps 4 inches long and 1/16 inch wide. In
mid-winter another coat, with the fur outside (fig. 15), is slipped on
over the other. Both are provided with hoods. Trousers, with the fur
outside, are cut rather short at the bottom; some such material as rope
is passed around the waist, without belt loops, to hold the trousers up.
Boots (_komik_) of tanned caribou skin (fig. 16), reaching nearly to the
knees, with the fur inside, make exceptionally warm footgear in winter.
An extra piece is sewed on the sole, with the fur outside, but the hairs
soon wear off. The seams are sewed with sinew. Another sort of boot, for
summer use, is made of untanned skin, without the fur, and is more or
less waterproof. Mittens (_pahloot_) have the fur outside; the thumb
piece, of a length suitable for a short Eskimo thumb, does not properly
fit a white man.
In the autumn of 1947 the migrating Caribou did not reach the territory
of the Chipewyans about the south end of Nueltin Lake till about
November 1--by which time the fur had grown so long that it was not
suitable for clothing. When I inquired of Charles Schweder how these
natives managed under such circumstances, he replied that nowadays they
use very little skin clothing--just manufactured clothing. Certainly the
latter type was being worn by three men of this tribe that visited the
Windy River post in late October. In this connection it is interesting
to note that in November Charles brought to Windy River a bundle of fawn
skins that he had secured from an Eskimo on the upper Kazan. Presently
he traded them to a Cree halfbreed from the Putahow River, who was to
have them made into a coat for himself. In years gone by the
above-mentioned Chipewyans must have found some means of securing
caribou skins for themselves in August or September; they could have
accomplished this by moving to the northern part of Nueltin Lake,
provided the animals had not reached the southern part at the proper
season.
From Charles Schweder I learned that the Hudson's Bay Company acquires
caribou skins (apparently tanned) from the Duck Lake Chipewyans at about
a dollar apiece, puts them up in bales of perhaps 10 to 20 skins, and
ships them by steamer from Churchill to Baffin Island or thereabouts,
for use by the Eskimos. He had seen about 25 or 30 such bales being
loaded on a steamer in September, 1947. This trade evidently results
from the present scarcity of Caribou on Baffin Island (_cf._ Manning,
1943a: 47-50; Soper, 1944: 247-250; Banfield, 1949: 481). Moccasins of
caribou skin, made by the Duck Lake Chipewyans, were on sale at
Churchill.
The three Caribou-eater Chipewyans from the south end of Nueltin Lake
brought mittens, gloves, and moccasins of caribou skin to trade at Windy
River. Similar gloves were brought by a Cree halfbreed from the Putahow
River.
At the Windy River post furred caribou skins served in upholstering the
seat, back, and arms of a couple of home-made chairs. They were used
also as mattresses or blankets, in the making of sleeping bags, and even
as insulating material on the outside of the cabin (Harper, 1949: 226,
228, figs.). The Schweder boys also maintain tents of caribou skin at
various points on their long trap-lines; they are much warmer than
canvas tents, and require no outlay of cash. The skins are nailed on
poles arranged in tepee form; the height of such a tent is about 10
feet, and the diameter 9 or 10 feet. There is a home-made stove inside,
with the smoke-pipe projecting outside about halfway to the top of the
tent.
The Eskimos of the Kazan River have large summer tents of caribou skin,
and smaller ones of canvas. The former are the ones in which the drum
dances are held. These Eskimos never make their winter houses wholly of
snow, according to Charles Schweder, but use caribou skins for the roof.
In illustration of the primary importance of the Caribou to both
primitive and civilized man in the Arctic and the sub-Arctic, the
numerous cases of partial or complete starvation in the absence of
Caribou may be cited. The chronicles of northern explorers are replete
with them. A notable case is that of John Hornby and his two companions
on the Thelon River in the winter of 1926-27 (Hoare, 1930: 25;
Christian, 1937). In the autumn of 1946 only a small fraction of the
normal caribou migration passed by the Eskimo camps on the upper Kazan
River. These happy-go-lucky, utterly improvident people did not take
steps to secure an alternative winter's supply of fish, and by the
following spring eight out of the band of 27 persons had succumbed
directly or indirectly to starvation. (It is suspected that several were
accounted for by anthropophagy.) Women, children, and dogs were the
victims; no adult male succumbed. The casualties would doubtless have
been more numerous if Charles Schweder had not reported the plight of
the band when he made a trip to Reindeer Lake in March. Thereupon the
government shipped emergency rations by plane as far as Nueltin Lake,
and Charles transported them from that point by sleigh to the Kazan.
Meanwhile he rescued two of the orphan children, took them to the Windy
River post, and in a few more months formally adopted them.
_Ethnological material from caribou products_
In addition to the utilization of caribou products for the primary
purposes of food, clothing, and shelter, as discussed in preceding
pages, certain other uses of an ethnological nature may be mentioned
here.
Charles Schweder spoke of the former Eskimo use of splint bones from the
legs of Caribou as needles, after a hole had been drilled or burned
through the larger end. They are about the same length as a large
darning needle. These people commonly use the back sinew as thread or as
wrapping on tools, drums, and the like. I saw a piece of back sinew
being dried for future use at the Windy River post.
Either lard or caribou fat serves as fuel for an "Eskimo candle"; the
wick is a bit of rag or moss. The heat of the flame melts the fat where
it is spread out in some small receptacle like a can cover. When our
other means of illumination gave out at the Windy River post, I worked
or wrote notes for many hours by the light of one of these candles. It
gives approximately as much illumination as an ordinary tallow candle.
One disadvantage of using caribou fat for this purpose is the
considerable amount of smoke that it produces.
The Eskimos make odd use of an antler as a brake for a sleigh, to
prevent the harnessed dogs from running after any Caribou they may
sight; on other occasions it retards the sleigh in descending a hill.
Such an antler, that I found at the Windy River post, is notched near
the base; a rope or thong, 2 or 3 feet in length, is fastened at one end
to this notch, and at the other to the side of the sleigh. To apply the
brake, the driver simply presses down the points of the antler into the
snow or ice.
The drums used in the ceremonial dances of the Kazan River Eskimos are
made of a piece of caribou skin stretched tightly over a circular frame
of spruce and fastened in place with caribou sinew. They are about 3
feet in diameter.
In an Eskimo fish spear from the upper Kazan River an iron barb on one
of the prongs is supported by a small piece of caribou antler and
fastened with back sinew. The two large lateral prongs, of metal, are
tied to the wooden shaft of the spear with braided sinew.
Two snow-knives have handles of antler, about 10 and 11 inches in
length. One of the handles has been planed down, and is wrapped with
sinew.
The handle of another implement, used in cleaning out grains of wood
from a hole being drilled in wood, is also a piece of antler.
A woman's knife, or _ooloo_, has a section of antler for a handle.
Strands of beads, used either for an ear pendant or for ornaments at the
peak of a hood, have a caribou incisor fastened at the tip. The opposite
end of the pendant is provided with a thin strip of caribou hide for
fastening to a perforated ear lobe.
The willow stems of pipes are wrapped with back sinew.
Antler and sinew went into the making (by Anoteelik) of a "ring and pin"
game.
_References on relations to Eskimos and Indians._--Isham, 1949
(1743): 152-154; Dobbs, 1744: 19; Hearne, 1795: 35, 78, 80-84,
96, 119, 195-197, 297, 316-319, 321-325; Franklin, 1823:
243-244; Lyon, 1824: 119, 123, 130, 144, 198, 229, 238, 241,
282, 311-317, 324, 327, 336; Parry, 1824: 289, 380, 403,
494-497, 505, 508, 512, 537; Richardson, "1825": 330, 331;
Franklin and Richardson, 1828: 200, 275; Richardson, 1829:
242-244, 245-249; John Ross, 1835a: 243-244, 252, 352, 512,
537; J. C. Ross, in John Ross, 1835b: xvii; Richardson, in
Back, 1836: 499; Simpson, 1843: 76, 208, 312, 347, 355; J.
McLean, 1932 (1849): 195, 359; Richardson, 1852: 290; J.
Anderson, 1856: 24, and 1857: 321; Armstrong, 1857: 149, 154,
155, 166, 194; M'Clintock, 1860?: 212; Richardson, 1861: 274;
B. R. Ross, 1861: 439-440; Kennicott, in Anonymous, 1869: 170;
Kumlien, 1879: 19, 23-25, 36-37, 54; Caton, 1881: 366-371;
Gilder, 1881: 11, 23, 25, 26, 28, 43, 50, 59, 61, 64, 67, 71,
137-146, 154, 245-255; Nourse, 1884: 220, 232; Schwatka, 1885:
59-86; Boas, 1888: 419, 429, 461-462, 501-503, 508-509, 522,
555-560; Bompas, 1888: 61, 100; Collinson, 1889: 277;
MacFarlane, 1890: 32-34, 38; Pike, 1917 (1892): 51-56, 59-60,
82, 209; J. B. Tyrrell, 1892: 128-130; Dowling, 1893: 107; J. B.
Tyrrell, 1894: 445, 1895: 440-444, and 1897: 122, 126-127,
131-132, 151, 166-167; Russell, 1895: 49-51, and 1898: 91, 134,
168-172, 176, 178, 187-189, 227-229; Whitney, 1896: 161, 175,
176, 213, 237, 240, 242, 262; J. W. Tyrrell, 1908 (1898): 80-81,
123-141, 241; Jones, 1899: 342, 429; Hanbury, 1900: 64, 65;
J. M. Bell, 1901a: 16, and 1901b: 252, 255, 258; Boas, 1901:
52, 54, 81, 102, 107, and 1907: 465, 493, 501; W. J. McLean,
1901: 5; Elliot, 1902: 276-279; J. W. Tyrrell, 1924 (1902): 28,
37; Hanbury, 1904: 41, 43, 67, 70, 72, 75, 82, 114-115, 120,
121, 123, 137, 143; MacFarlane, 1905: 680-683; Amundsen, 1908,
+1+: 120, 201, 237, 326-329, and +2+: 110; Preble, 1908: 137;
Seton, 1911: 259-262; Cameron, 1912: 127, 309; Wheeler, 1912:
199-200; R. M. Anderson, 1913a: 5, 6, 8, and 1913b: 502-505;
Stefánsson, 1913a: 105, and 1913b: 203, 215, 221, 281, 337-338,
and 1914: 48, 56-59, 97, 137, 139-141, 147-148, 150, 296, 353;
Hornaday, 1914, +2+: 97, 100; Wheeler, 1914: 52, 56, 58; Nelson,
1916: 460-461; Thompson, 1916: 19, 99; J. B. Tyrrell, in
Thompson, 1916: 16; Buchanan, 1920: 113-151; R. M. Anderson,
in Stefánsson, 1921: 743, 750; Hewitt, 1921: 58, 59, 64-66;
Stefánsson, 1921: 401-402; Jenness, 1922: 47, 48, 61, 78-81, 97,
100-103, 124, 127-142, 148-151, 182-189, 244, 248, 249;
Blanchet, 1925: 34, 1926a: 98, and 1926b: 47; Preble, 1926: 121;
Craig, 1927: 22; Henderson, 1927: 40; Rasmussen, 1927: 5, 23,
59-60, 65, 67, 68, 73-76, 103-106, 145, 166-167, 245, 246;
Anthony, 1928: 532; Kindle, 1928: 72-73; Birket-Smith, 1929 (1):
9, 47, 52-53, 56, 57, 86, 89, 90, 94, 96, 98, 101, 102, 104,
106-112, 133-144, 171, 186, 191, 196, 199-223, 232, 239-251,
262, 263, 268-271; Seton, 1929, +3+: 111-122, 133-134; Blanchet,
1930: 50-51, 53; Critchell-Bullock, 1930: 193, and 1931: 32-33;
Kitto, 1930: 87-88, 90; Mallet, 1930: 13, 32, 85, 87, 89, 90,
92, 95, 102, 116, 131-140; Jacobi, 1931: 156, 157, 159; Harper,
1932: 30, 31; Jenness, 1932: 47, 48, 51, 58, 59, 75, 406-408,
411, 412, 414, 415; Munn, 1932: 191-192, 210, 214, 255, 271,
278; Sutton and Hamilton, 1932: 80-83, 86-87; Weyer, 1932: 38,
39; Birket-Smith, 1933: 100; Ingstad, 1933: 118, 122, 135, 139,
162-163, 167, 186-187, 247, 253-254, 257-259; R. M. Anderson,
1934a: 81, and 1937: 103; Godsell, 1934: 273-276, and 1937: 288;
Hornby, 1934: 105; Birket-Smith, 1936: 90, 91, 110, 111,
115-116; Hamilton, 1939: 246, 352, 359; Clarke, 1940: 5-9, 84,
110, 112; G. M. Allen, 1942: 297; Manning, 1942: 29, 1943a: 47,
50, and 1943b: 103; Downes, 1943: 215, 227-228, 261-262; Soper,
1944: 248-250; Wright, 1944: 185, 187, 188, 193; Rand, 1948b:
149; Yule, 1948: 288; Banfield, 1949: 477, 478, 481, and 1951a:
1, 11, 14-15, 42-50; Harper, 1949: 226, 230, 231; Hoffman, 1949:
12; Polunin, 1949: 230; Scott, 1951: 127; Anonymous, 1952: 264.
_References on relations to civilized man._--Kennicott, in
Anonymous, 1869: 166; Schwatka, 1885: 59-86; A. J. Stone, 1900:
57; Grant, 1903: 186; Cameron, 1912: 309; R. M. Anderson,
1913a: 5, 6; 1913b: 504, and 1938: 400; Stefánsson, 1913b: 27;
Hornaday, 1914, +2+: 100; Wheeler, 1914: 56; Hewitt, 1921:
11-12, 59; Critchell-Bullock, 1931: 33; Godsell, 1937: 288;
G. M. Allen, 1942: 298-299; Manning, 1942: 28; [U.S.] War
Department, 1944: 77; Harper, 1949: 239; Banfield, 1951a: 1,
14-15.
_Relations to Black Bears_
It is hardly to be expected that Black Bears (_Ursus americanus_ subsp.)
commit any depredations on adult, able-bodied Caribou unless under very
exceptional circumstances. Since they do not normally venture to an
appreciable distance into the Barren Grounds, their contacts with
Caribou are mainly in the forested zone. For an untold period in the
past there has been a very interesting tripartite relationship between
Bears, Caribou, and Caribou-eater Chipewyans about the south end of
Nueltin Lake. For information concerning it I am indebted to Charles
Schweder. The Indians of that area have been in the habit of killing
large numbers of Caribou, especially on the spring and fall migrations,
and leaving many of the bodies, or parts of the bodies, out in the
"bush." The Bears have become accustomed to taking advantage of the
situation, especially, perhaps, in the matter of fattening up for
hibernation. This probably resulted in a certain concentration of the
animals thereabouts. But of late years the local native population has
seriously declined by reason of fatal illness and removal to other
parts. Consequently, as Charles Schweder expressed it, there are no
longer enough people there to feed the Bears! Three of the Chipewyans
reported in late October, 1947, that they had lost a good many of their
Caribou to the Bears during that season.
This recent change in the food situation about the south end of Nueltin
Lake has apparently resulted in, or at least coincided with, an influx
of Bears in the Windy River area, where they were unknown until 1944.
During the next four years seven Bears were killed locally. The animals
are said to have consumed about 70 Caribou bodies in the fall of 1944,
and about 40 in the fall of 1947 within a few miles of the Windy River
post; thus they became a somewhat serious factor in the human economy of
the area. The Caribou is evidently the chief loser in this curious
relationship, but even the Bear, which may be regarded as the chief
beneficiary, suffers from man's retaliatory efforts.
_Relations to foxes_
The demand for Arctic Fox furs on the part of the fashionable women of
the world sends the trapper on his winter rounds over the bleak and
bitter Barren Grounds, where he depends upon his autumn kill of Caribou
for sustenance for himself and his dogs as well as for fox bait. It is
thus quite obvious where a large share of the responsibility for the
dwindling numbers of the Caribou lies.
Both Arctic and Red Foxes (_Alopex lagopus innuitus_ and _Vulpes fulva_
subsp.) are among the scavengers that help to consume caribou bodies
that are left unguarded in the wilds. According to Charles Schweder,
foxes of both species seem to follow the Wolves, presumably in the hope
of securing the leavings of their kills.
Charles also gave me an account of a remarkable sort of play between a
Red Fox and a small buck Caribou. He had witnessed it in September,
1943, about 18 miles north of Windy River, from a distance of half a
mile. The Fox would approach the Caribou closely; the latter would then
walk up to the Fox, which would retreat, not allowing the Caribou to
come close enough to touch it. Neither animal was afraid of the other.
They kept up this performance for about 5 minutes. The Fox then went
among some bushes, where the Caribou tried to follow it. The larger
animal was still there, feeding, when Charles passed on out of sight. He
regarded the whole performance as a matter of playfulness. His recital
put me in mind at once of a slightly similar play between a Newfoundland
Caribou and a Red Fox, as recorded by Millais (1907: 302-303).
Stefánsson (1921: 623-624) describes a game of tag between an Arctic Fox
and several yearlings of _Rangifer pearyi_ on Melville Island.
_References._--Blanchet, 1925: 34; Birket-Smith, 1929(1): 101;
Critchell-Bullock, 1930: 143; Munn, 1932: 278; Ingstad, 1933:
90, 157-159; Freuchen, 1935: 128; Banfield, 1951a: 36.
_Relations to Wolves_
Aside from man, the principal predatory enemy of the Barren Ground
Caribou is undoubtedly the Wolf. A comparison of a distributional map of
Caribou by Banfield (1949: 479, fig. 1) with a distributional map of
Wolves by Goldman (1944: 414, fig. 14) indicates that the latter species
is a considerably more plastic animal. No less than six subspecies of
Wolves seem to occur in parts of the currently recognized range of a
single subspecies of Caribou (_Rangifer arcticus arcticus_), as follows:
_Canis lupus arctos_, Prince of Wales and Somerset islands; _Canis lupus
manningi_, Baffin Island; _Canis lupus bernardi_, Victoria Island;
_Canis lupus hudsonicus_, Keewatin, eastern Mackenzie, northern
Manitoba, and northeastern Saskatchewan; _Canis lupus mackenzii_,
northern Mackenzie; _Canis lupus occidentalis_, southern Mackenzie and
northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Keewatin Tundra Wolf (_C. l. hudsonicus_) is presumably the only one
that concerns us here. However, its extension into the forested zone of
northern Manitoba and northeastern Saskatchewan, as indicated on
Goldman's map, is still problematical. Goldman's text (1944: 428-429) is
quite indefinite on this point. There are such distinct differences
between the general fauna of the Arctic Zone and that of the Hudsonian
Zone that the Wolf of the latter zone may well prove to be
differentiable from _hudsonicus_, whose type locality is at Schultz Lake
in west central Keewatin. It is an interesting question whether any
Wolves of the Barren Grounds follow the Caribou southward into the
timbered country in the fall; likewise, whether any individual Wolves of
the latter region accompany the Caribou on their spring migration out
into the Barrens. Little light on the subject seems available at
present. There is no doubt, however, that a good many Wolves remain
during the winter on parts of the Barren Grounds that have been deserted
by the Caribou at that season. Furthermore, at the time of the spring
migration, mature Wolves of the forest zone would be restricted to their
home territory by the necessity of caring for their young ones.