THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS

AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
IN THE UNGAVA PENINSUtA

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Cover: Montagnais portageurs from Seven Islands. Knob Lake, Quebec,
June 22, 1953. ( Francis McKenzie in center of front row. )

THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS

AND THEIR NEIGHBORS

IN THE UNGAVA PENINSULA

The Friendly Montagnais

and Their Neighbors
in the Ungava Peninsula

BY
FRANCIS HAKPER

UNIVERSITYOF KANSAS
LAWRENCE • KANSAS

S- Nf^^ L :

^%i^'rC^^(jl

University of Kansas
Museum of Natural History

EDITOR: E. RAYMOND HALL

Miscellaneous Publication No. 37, pp. 1-120, 20 plates
Published April 20, 1964

Biological investigations in this region in
1953 were supported by the Arctic Institute
of North America (through contractual ar-
rangements with the Office of Naval Re-
search) and by the Research and Develop-
ment Division, Office of The Surgeon Gen-
eral, Department of the Army. The results
are being prepared for pubhcation under a
grant from the National Science Foundation.
Reproduction in whole or in part is per-
mitted for any purpose of the United States
Government.

MUS. COMP. ZOOL
LIBRARY

DLC Z 3 1965

HAr<VARD
UNIVERSITY.

Lvi

IN

l/.s.i>-
THE ALLEN PRESS

Lawrence, Kansas
1964

THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS

AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
IN THE UNGAVA PENINSULA

Francis Harper
CONTENTS

Introduction

Differentiation between Montagnais, Naskapi, and Cree 3

Geographical and ecological distribution of Indian tribes in the

Ungava Peninsula 13

Tribal characteristics 19

The Eastern Cree 19

The Naskapi -„- 28

The Montagnais-Naskapi ( mixed bands ) 40

Davis Inlet band 40

Northwest River band 43

The Montagnais 45

Montagnais friends 62

Montagnais names of animals 82

Indian dogs of the Ungava Peninsula 86

Indian dances of the Ungava Peninsula 92

Indian canoes of the Ungava Peninsula 94

Some contributors to the ethnology of the Ungava Peninsula 98

Acknowledgments 110

Literature cited 112

Index 118

[v]

Introduction

"One would wish the Eskimos and Indians of Ungava and Northern Labrador
to join that select academy of uncrushable small peoples that includes as dis-
tinguished members the Lapps, the Faroese, the people of Tristan da Cunha,
some Arawaks and Dyaks, and the Mexican Indians."

(Elton, 1942:363.)

A brief summer's e.xperience (in 1953) with certain members of
the Seven Islands or Moisie band of Montagnais Indians has left me
with a distinct impression that friendliness is one of their outstanding
characteristics. (Self-possession, I might add, is another.) Evi-
dently Couper had a similar feeling in regard to the Mingan band
some 95 years ago, and Tanner in regard to the Montagnais-Naskapi
of Davis Inlet and Northwest River in quite recent years, if we may
judge by the quotations from tlieir works that are presented on sub-
sequent pages.

How, then, are we to interpret the subtitle of Professor Speck's
volume of 1935: Naskapi: Savage Hunters of the Labrador Penin-
sula? Here he used the term "Naskapi " to include die Montagnais
of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence as well as the true
Naskapi of the northern interior. In fact, my late friend and neighbor
made no very sharp distinction between the two tribes and frequently
gave them the joint designation of "Montagnais-Naskapi." Perhaps
we shall have a better understanding of the word "savage" in the
book's subtitle if we interpret it as primitive or untutored, rather than
as fierce or barbarous.

In much earlier times, however — say in the 160O's — there was no
doubt at all as to the savage nature of the Montagnais. One who reads
Parkman's The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century
is likely to gain from that volume a shuddering impression of the
unspeakable tortures practiced by this tribe on their native enemies
and on some of the Jesuit fathers as well.

Works on Indians of North America in general ( for example. Hand-
book of North American Indians, Parts 1 and 2, 1907 and 1910; E. S.
Curtis, 1907-1930; Palmer, 1929; Kroeber, 1939; Wissler, 1940; Swan-
ton, 1952; Driver and Massey, 1957) or of Canada in particular
(for example, Jenness, 1955; Leechman, 1957?) give comparatively
little ( or even no ) space to tlie Indians of the Ungava Peninsula. In
order, therefore, to prepare a compendium no more ambitious than
the present one on the characteristics and distribution of the several
tribes (or subtribes), it has been necessary to assemble the infor-
mation from many sources, most of them dealing with merely a seg-
ment of the Indian population of the entire peninsula.

Differentiation Between Montagnais, Naskapi, and Cree

"The Naskopies, Mountaineers [Montagnais], and Moose River
Indians are sprung from the same stock, the Cree, extending over the
centre of British North America. They are not sufficiently differ-
entiated to be classed as dialectically distinct; although the linguistic
differences between the Naskopies and Moose River Indians are
greater than between the Naskopies and the Mountaineers.

"Physically, the Naskopie appears to be between the two; the
Moose River ( or East Main ) Indian is the taller, somewhat stouter,
darker-skinned, and the better man of the two. The Mountaineers are
of smaller stature, well built and also of dark color." (Turner, 1888:
109.)

"The number [of Naskapi words] obtained ... is sufficient to prove
that the people of this region [Fort Chimo] . . . belong to the Cree
branch. The Mountaineers and Little WTiale River Indians belong
to the same stock, and the difference in their language is due whoUy
to environment." (Turner, 1894:184.)

"The western people [Eastern Cree along James and Hudson bays]
differ greatly in customs and many words of their language from the
Nenenots [Naskapi]. The mountaineers differ but little in their cus-
toms, and only in speech as much as would be expected from the
different locality in which they dwell." (Turner, 1894:267.)

Low (1896:44-45) distinguishes no less than four Indian groups
in the Ungava Peninsula:

"The principal tribes of Labrador are the Montagnais, the eastern
and western Nascaupees, and the coastal Indians of Hudson Bay.
The Montagnais inhabit the coimtry extending south of a line drawn
westward from Hamilton Inlet, to the headwaters of die St. Maurice
River. The Nascaupees inhabit the interior country north of this hne,
or from the bottom of James Bay eastward to Hamilton Inlet. The
northern limit of their territory is marked by the Koksoak River, from
its mouth to the StiUwater Branch [Larch River], and by this stream
. . . westward to Richmond Gulf on Hudson Bay. This line divides the
Indian territory from that of the Eskimo, and the boundary is well
observed, the latter keeping far to the north of it, when hunting deer
inland, and the Indians rarely crossing it from the southward.

"The coastal Indians of Hudson Bay are confined to a narrow mar-
gin extending from the bottom of James Bay to Little Whale River,
along the east coast." (While Low did not here give a tribal name
to this last group, he evidently had in mind what others have variously

4 UNI\^RSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

called the Eastern Cree, Swampy Cree, Mistassini-Cree, or James
Bay Cree.)

"The Montagnais of Lake St. John speak a somewhat different
dialect from that of Bersimis, and it again differs from the dialects of
Mingan or Northwest River. These differences of dialect in the same
tribe are slight, and are mostly in the slang and interjections. The
same differences apply to the dialects of the Nascaupee, Mistassini
and Nichicun, differing from that of Fort Chimo, and all from that of
[Great?] Whale River and Rupert House. But these differences are
all so small that the Montagnais canoemen conversed readily with
the natives at Mistassini, Nichicun, Fort Chimo and Northwest River,
and were only slightly puzzled on the coast of Hudson Bay, where the
number of Ojibway words is greater." (Low, 1896:46.)

According to natives of Rupert House and East Main, "the Mistas-
sini band is not specifically differentiated in any way from the groups
whose trading quarters are at Rupert House and at East Main River
.... Culturally and linguistically there is the closest similarity
between them, and were it not for the separate habitat, the separate
headquarters, the separate chieftaincies, together with a certain
consciousness of independence of each other, there would be little
need to employ different designations for the three bands." ( Speck,
1923:453.)

"For dialectic reasons the Rupert House and East Main Indians
should be identified with the Mistassini and Montagnais." (Speck,
1923:457.) On the other hand, according to Michelson (1939:70,
fig. 12), the Rupert House, East Main, Mistassini, and Nichicun
bands speak a y-dialect, while the Montagnais proper (from Lake
St. John to Seven Islands ) speak an Z-dialect.

Speck {1926b) has a further discussion of tribal relationships:

"The customs and speech of the bands throughout the Labrador
Peninsula are in the wider sense essentially uniform. Differentiation
is chiefly noticeable between the smaller bands located on the
southern watershed toward the St. Lawrence, those on the northern
or Ungava and Atlantic watershed, and thirdly those in that portion
of the peninsula facing towards Hudson Bay. There has been in the
past a tendency among ethnologists to classify these groupings as
though they possessed tribal differentiation, by referring to them as
Montagnais, Naskapi and Cree, respectively. There seems, however,
to be httle real cause for this terminology, since neither group-con-
sciousness nor internal political relationship can be shown for the
same areas, no fixed dialectic properties and no definite culture anal-

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 5

ogies appear to mark them out distinctly withia the geographical
boundaries mentioned for them. As for racial characteristics, similar
types, in head form, face width, complexion and stature, seem, from
available data, equally dispersed over the whole extent of the pop-
ulation. . . . [Pp. 274-275.]

"It would then be more appropriate, I believe, to refer to the In-
dians of the whole area as Montagnais-Naskapi, there being some
authority in earlier literature for the retention of these two names.
The designation of the bands on the eastern coast of James and Hud-
son Bay as Cree, by Skinner, proves upon further test to be for the
present inadvisable, in view of the fact that the dialects here possess
affinities with those of the Labrador interior as much as with the
Cree proper. . . . And again a correction may be made in the prevail-
ing opinion, one much promulgated by ethnological writers, that the
Height of Land, forming the watershed between the St. Lawrence
and the Arctic drainage area, is a boundary dividing the so-called
Montagnais on the southern side from the so-called Naskapi on the
north. It turns out, indeed, that the inhabitants of the southern
coasts, from about Seven Islands eastsvard, are, in both speech and
habit, almost identical with the interior groups recognized as true
Naskapi, and hence deserve inclusion with them. ... [P. 275.]

"From a cultural and at the same time a dialectic viewpoint, the
whole peninsula falls into three subdivisions, the most extensive and
the most simplified one is that covering the whole nortliem, the cen-
tral and eastern territory, . . . from Lake Nichicun . . . north to Ungava
Bay . . . , east to the Atlantic Labrador coast .... The same grouping
embraces the southeastern coast, coming up into the Gulf of St. Law-
rence about as far as Seven Islands .... This is the area to which the
term Naskapi has been applied quite generally in the past, and we
may still refer to the bands within it by the same name. . . . From
this point on, ascending the Gulf and river coast of the St. Lawrence
to a little above Quebec . . . , and tlien sweeping northward to a point,
above Lake St. John, about Lat. 51, Long. 72, and eastward following
the Height of Land back to the longitude of Seven Islands, is the
boundary of the traditional Montagnais cultural and dialectic type.
The Indians realize marked differences between the bands occupying
the interior and those near the coasts. . . . The northwestern sector
finally, from below Rupert House and Rupert River nortliward as
far as the uninhabited region north of Lake Minto . . . and east to
about latitude [= longitude] 72, is characterized by a set of dialectic
and cultural factors entitling it to recognition at present as another

6 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

separate subdivision. It remains as yet an actually unknown block.
For this group we may propose the name of Mistassini-Cree .... It
might be unnecessary to give this group a separate name were it not
for the divergence of their speech, in respect to phonetics, from that
of the accepted Naskapi type in the central and eastern interior."
(Pp. 276-277.)

In a later work ( 1935) Speck shows less than complete consistency
in adhering to the dual appellation of Montagnais-Naskapi. The fol-
lowing quotations from it show that he found it convenient to main-
tain separate designations in various cases. "The Montagnais of Lake
St. John" (p. 91). "From another quarter of the Naskapi territory,
this time from the Mistassini" (p. 119). "The modes of procedm-e in
scapulimancy [among the Naskapi] are similar to those among the
Montagnais" (p. 147). "The Naskapi, ranging from Seven Islands
east and north" (p. 147). "The pack strings of the Mistassini Indians
are even more highly conventionahzed than those of the Montagnais"
(p. 207). "The St. Augustin band of Naskapi" (p. 213).

In accord with Speck's attitude, my late revered friend, Dr. John R.
Swanton, says (1952:581): "The nearest relatives" of the Monta-
gnais-Naskapi are "the Cree from whom they are set off by certain
phonetic peculiarities." The separation of the Naskapi "is without
sufficient justification."

The title of Lips' treatise (1947) — "Naskapi Law (Lake St. John
and Lake Mistassini Bands)" — is somewhat startling in view of the
fact that practically all authorities regard the Lake St. John Indians
as Montagnais, while a good number of them ( for example, Skinner,
Cabot, Jenness, Tanner, Leechman) classify the Mistassini Indians
as Eastern Cree. Lips, like Speck, makes constant use of the expres-
sion "Montagnais-Naskapi."

It would scarcely be meet for one without any pretensions to
competence in ethnology to take serious issue with the scholars who
minimize the differences between the Cree, the Montagnais, and the
Naskapi. It may not be out of place, however, to quote a few further
opinions on the subject.

The Handbook of American Indians (Bur. Am. Ethnology Bull.
30, pt. 1, 1907, and pt. 2, 1910) treats the Cree, the Montagnais, and
the Naskapi separately.

Half a century ago Alanson Skinner, a friend of my youthful days,
made two summer trips to James Bay and subsequently published
an extensive treatise (1911) on the Eastern Cree whom he had vis-
ited and investigated on both sides of the bay. His map (1911:10,

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGXAIS OF UXGAVA /

fig. 1 ) shows the territory of the Eastern Cree ( or "Muskeko-wug" )
as including all the eastern tributaries of James Bay and of the adja-
cent part of Hudson Bay northward through the Great WTiale Biver
basin. The eastern and northern boundaries, in the Ungava Penin-
sula, extend to and include Lake Mistassini, Nichicun Lake, the Great
Whale and Little Whale rivers, and some of the headwaters of the
Larch Biver, which drains into Ungava Bay. The same map places
the Montagnais on tlie northern tributaries of the St. LawTence Biver
and Gulf, and the Naskapi on the tributaries of Ungava Bay and
about the headwaters of the Hamilton Biver.

Michelson (1939:70) disagrees decidedly with Skinner's classifi-
cation: "It can not be too strongly emphasized that east of Hannah
Bay [at the south end of James Bay] Cree leaves off and Montagnais-
Naskapi begins. Mistassini, Waswanipi, Bupert's House, East Main,
Nichigun, Fort George and the Great Whale Biver bands are {/-dia-
lects ... of Montagnais-Naskapi to which the dialect spoken at the
northeast comer of Lake Kaniapiskau may now be added. That the
Fort George and Great Whale Biver bands distinctly form a subgroup
within this larger one is confirmed."

He adds on a later page ( 86 ) : "I am compelled to state that the
map and accompanying remarks by A. Skinner . , . (1911) is [sic]
practically without value .... The author had insufficient skill to
know what linguistically is Cree and what is Montagnais-Naskapi."
Michelson's map (p. 72, fig. 12) indicates all the Indian territory of
the Ungava Peninsula as occupied by the Montagnais-Naskapi.
However, it does show three different areas in this territory, each
characterized by a different dialect. Actually, these areas are corre-
lated fairly well with the distribution of the three different tribes or
tribal subdivisions recognized by others: the {/-dialect among the
Cree, the n-dialect among the Naskapi, and the /-dialect among the
Montagnais. The last dialect, however, is not represented as extend-
ing eastward beyond Seven Islands. (There is a divergence of opin-
ion among ethnologists as to whether the natives of the eastern part
of the North Shore are Montagnais or Naskapi. )

Nearly all authors (other than Speck and Michelson), both before
and after Skinner, that I have consulted, seem to be in fairly general
agreement with his views on the distribution of the Indian tribes of
the Ungava Peninsula. They at least distinguish the population of
the Hudson and James bays drainage from that of the rest of the
peninsula, and some of them ( Low, 1890; Cabot, 1922; Kroeber, 1939;
Neilson, 1948; Jenness, 1955; Leechman, 1957?; J. W. Anderson, 1961 )

8 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. fflST.

designate this population as Cree. With the free movement of indi-
viduals, especially in later years, to tlie territories of other bands
and tribes, it must be expected that the speech characteristic of one
tribe may easily be found here and there among other tnbes^ M-
chelson s is essentially a linguistic chssijication, as mdicated by the

'''xVe rSf C^ fascinating pages ( 1912) on the true Naskapi
of the George River area-pure-blooded, fiercely independent in
nature, largely self-sufficient in their local resources living primarily
on the Barren Ground caribou and clad mainly in the skins of these
animals until recent decades-finds it difficult (to say the least) to
associate them very closely in his mind with the urbane friendly
obliging, and quite civilized North Shore Montagnais of the present
dav The Naskapi, "as untamed aborigines. Stone Age people, ... lay
hold of one. The look in their eyes is the look of the primiUve man
of the open." (Cabot, 1912:86.) But even these Naskapi, as repre-
sented by the remnants that were starved out of the interior by the
caribou scarcity some forty years ago and have clustered about the
eastern and northern coastal settlements, are no longer the primitives
such as he knew. And how my old friend would deplore the change!
He himself used to tell me in the '20's, on occasionally droppmg m
for a chat with me at the Boston Society of Natural History, how he
not only hved somewhat Uke an Indian when in Labrador, but got
so i\-\2i\.\\e felt Indian. i ^^^

The Naskapi men, as revealed in Cabot s photographs, appear
rather tall and spare. The Montagnais are generally of no more than
medium height (see cover; pi. 4, fig. 2), and some, though not all, of
Lm incline toward chunkiness. Prichard (1911:195) discusses
physical differences between the two peoples. They talk to each
other with difficulty; so I was informed by Ben McKenzie, of the
Moisie or Seven Islands group. While their kinship is evident from
a general similarity in their names of birds and other animals, these
names are not usually identical in the two languages.

"In general, the Montagnais are rather badly clothed in tradmg-
store furnishings. The Nascaupees are still considerably m skins,
some, in fact, with no cloth garments at all." ( Cabot, 1922:209. )

"The Naskopi and Montagnais intermingle freely, intermarry and
are able to converse without difficulty. In physical appearance also,
there is considerable resemblance." (Waugh, 1925:128.)

Watkins remarks ( 1930:120) : "From what I have heard and read

HARPEE: THE FRIExNDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UXGAVA 9

of the Naskaupis, they seem to be far more primitive than the Mon-
tagnais."

Some of the attributes, both physical and psychological, that dis-
tmgmsh the present-day Montagnais from their more northerly kin
are doubtless due to a considerable admixture of French blood along
with some Scottish. These admixtures are reflected in their names
Several centuries ago, when both tribes were practically pure-
blooded, the differences between them were doubtless much less
pronounced than today. It is evident that a part of the once prim-
itive Montagnais have actually been undergoing a process that the
late Joseph Grinnell would have termed "extinction through dilu-
tion. °

Speck's above-quoted references to the "Naskapi ranging from
Seven Islands east" and to the "St. Augustin band of Naskapi" are
not readily reconcilable with other statements regarding tribal af-
filiations on the eastern part of the North Shore. J. J Audubon
remarks (in M. R. Audubon, 1897:376) concerning Montagnais at
Natashquan in 1833: "All were dressed in European costume except
the feet, on which coarse moccasins of sealskin took the place of
shoes. Bryant (1913:5) mentions pure-blooded Montagnais at St
Augustm River. Townsend (1913:171-172; 1917:138; 1918-55 178^
1/9) speaks of Montagnais at Natashquan and Grand Romaine and
on St. Augustin River. "Today, Mingan, Romaine and St. Augustin
are the major Montagnais centres of the remote easterly coast" (Miss
Leitch 956:20). Miss Leacock (1954:18, map 3) includes the
Seven Islands, Mingan, and Natashquan bands among the Monta-
gnais. Perhaps these differences of opinion are explainable by con-
sidering that certain Naskapi elements may have infiltrated and
become amalgamated with, the Montagnais of the eastern part of the
North Shore.

"Three different types of Indians are encountered in Hudson Strait
and Hudson Bay. The hunting grounds of the shrill-voiced Nascopie
Indians he in the interior of the Labrador-Quebec Peninsula They
pay an annual trade visit to Fort Chimo .... The southern half of
Hudson Bay from Great Whale River on the east coast to York Fac
tory on the west coast is the coastal limit of the Swampy Cree Indians
A tau-ly large percentage of them are coastal-that is to say they live
and trap along the coast-line mthin the vicinitv of the posts' But the
majority of them have their trapping grounds inland and only visit the
main trading posts of the Bay during the spring and summer." ( Bin-
ney, 1929:13.) ^

10 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. fflST.

"The Crees . . . extend from James Bay up the west coast of Quebec
Peninsula, hunting partly inland also. The rest is country of Nas-
copies and Montagnais. ... The broad tribal differences between the
Indians may be narrower than this [the uncomplimentary name ap-
phed by the Montagnais to the Naskapi and the complimentary name
appHed by the Naskapi to themselves] would make them seem, and
American ethnologists favour the portmanteau term 'Nascopie-Mon-
tagnais' which is more correct but lacks the convenience of a port-
manteau." (Elton, 1942:249.) .
Tanner (1947 2) expresses himseH as follows on differentiation:
"The customs and speech of the bands throughout the Labrador
Peninsula are in the wider sense essentially uniform, but differentia-
tion is noticeable between the smaller bands located (a) on tiie
southern watershed toward the St. Lawrence, (b) on the northern
or Ungava and Atlantic watershed and (c) in the portion facmg
towards Hudson Bay" ( p. 586 ) .

After reviewing the opinions of Speck and others on the differen-
tiation of the Montagnais and the Naskapi, Tanner grants (p. 5«7)
that Speck "has entered upon an appropriate and practical path m
referring to "these geographical groupings ... as Montagnais-Nas-
kaupee." But he continues: , , u

"No real, thorough ethnological distinction can be clearly shown to
exist between the two territorial clans, the Naskaupee and the Mon-
tagnais. The small differences which can be tiraced in their soci-
ology and their material cultiire will probably be taken by many
ethnologists to be only nuances of the basic characteristics. In spite
of this I think that for the most important practical reasons the two
groups must be kept apart in the following presentation. If ... we
take an anthropogeographical view of the questions which mterest
us here I think we can find an acceptable systemization. (Pp. 5»/-

588.)

"It seems to me that the same more or less subconscious conception
of let us say, two different derivatives of the hunting Ufe is vaguely
present in the minds of the white population of Labrador when they
speak of the Naskaupee and the Montagnais. It should be specially
mentioned that the managers of the H.B.C. stations, who^may be
reckoned as best acquainted with the Labrador Indians whose Ian-
guage they speak, continue to differentiate between the Montagnais
and the Naskaupee. Also among them it seems to be ]ust on tiie
natiire of the hunting grounds and its consequences that the differ-
entiation of the two great groups is based." ( P. 590. )

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 11

"According to what some Montagnais told me, the language of the
Barren Ground Naskaupee differs so much from their southern kins-
men that they had sometimes difficulty in understanding each other,
a fact showing that they represent different clans which have hved
apart for a rather long time" (p. 664).

As a mere zoologist and zoogeographer, not properly qualified to
express an ethnological opinion, I shall merely remark that I find it
easy and natural to abide by Tanner's view.

Jenness (1955:270-274), while discussing the Montagnais and the
Naskapi in the same pages, nevertheless distinguishes the t\vo tribes
in name, territory, material culture, and burial customs:

"These two tribes . . . were the first to come into close contact with
Europeans, yet they have remained, in some districts, almost more
primitive than any other Indians of Canada. . . . The territory of the
Montagnais comprised the huge square bounded on one side by the
north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence between the St. Maurice river
and Seven Islands, on the other by the height of land that separates
the waters flowing into the St. Lawrence from those flowing into
James Bay. The Naskapi occupied a still larger area; they roamed
the entire Labrador peninsula east of a line from Seven Islands to
lake Nichikun, and a second from lake Nichikun to Ungava bay, \vith
the exception of the narrow belt of coast-line from Ungava bay to the
strait of Belle Isle, which was controlled by Eskimo. [Pp. 270-271.]
"Both the Montagnais and the Naskapi . . . were nomadic peoples
ignorant of agriculture and living exclusively by hunting and fishing.
Their dialects were almost identical, and their customs so closely
ahke that the two tribes were hardly distinguishable. . . . The Mon-
tagnais country was a well-wooded area abounding in moose, whereas
much of the Naskapi territory was open plateau covered with grasses
and lichens [Here Jenness scarcely allows for a sufficient proportion
of forested lands in the Naskapi territory.— F. H.], the natural feed-
ing-ground for herds of barren ground caribou. The Montagnais,
therefore, covered their conical wigwams with birch bark and hunted
principally the moose during the winter months, moving down the
rivers in the spring to spear salmon and eels, and to harpoon the seals
that were then plentiful along the shores of the St. Lawrence. The
Naskapi, on the other hand, covered their wigwams with caribou
skin, and hunted the caribou from midsummer until early spring,
when some of them moved down to the coast, hke the Montagnais,'
while others remained inland to fish in various lakes and rivers, and
to hunt hares, porcupines, and other small game. [P. 271.]

12 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT, HIST.

"The southern Montagnais . . . generally went bare-headed in

winter But the harsher cUmate in the interior of the Labrador

peninsula compelled the Naskapi, and some of the more northern
Montagnais, to adopt the tailored shirt of the coastal Eskimo, and to

fit it occasionally with a hood for winter use [P. 272.]

"The Montagnais wrapped their dead in birch bark, buried them
in the ground . . . ; but the Naskapi deposited them on scaffolds or
suspended them from trees" (p. 273).

"Contact with Europeans was disastrous to both tribes .... Later,
the game supply diminished owing to intensive slaughter with fire-
arms ... The struggle for existence then became harder and starva-
tion more frequent. The fur trade helped the Indians until white
men encroached on their best trapping and hunting grounds; then it
called for greater effort and yielded diminishing returns. Measles
and other diseases decimated their ranks, and many of the interior
natives, urged by missionaries to settle on the coast, fell victims to
lung affhctions aggravated by the damp sea air.

"So both the Montagnais and the Naskapi decUned rapidly. Today
the two tribes combined number less than four thousand. Most of
the survivors are still hunters and trappers, more or less enchained to
the trading-posts where they dispose of their furs for rifles, ammuni-
tion, woollen clothing, cloth tents, sewing-machines, gramaphones,
and other products of our modem civilization. The Naskapi in the
centre and north of the Labrador peninsula have been too isolated
to mingle much with Europeans, but the majority of the Montagnais
carry an infusion of white blood in their veins." ( P. 274. )

Contrary to what Jenness has said (1955:271) regarding the
moose and the Barren Ground caribou as the primary game animals
of the Montagnais and the Naskapi, respectively, it was the eastern
woodland caribou, rather than the moose, that filled this role for the
Montagnais up to the end of the last century (see Chambers, 1896:
293) and it still does so in the more easterly parts of their territory.
Comeau, in his classic on the North Shore ( 1923: 154 ) , tells of a Mon-
tagnais drive in the Godbout area in which 81 of these caribou were
killed, but he apparently says nothing of the Montagnais hunting
moose. In his day the caribou was fairly common as far west as the
vicinity of Quebec City. It is only in recent years that the moose has
extended its range eastward from the Saguenay to the Moisie River
(Harper, 1961:129). . .

While the ethnologists are discussing the degree of differentiation
between Cree, Naskapi, and Montagnais, it is perhaps fitting that

HARPER: THE FRIENT>LY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 13

these peoples themselves should be heard on the subject. They apply
distinctive names to the three groups. While it may still be a ques-
tion whether each group is a tribe by itself or whether all three are
merely subdivisions of a single tribe, it is highly convenient to rec-
ognize each group by a name known to, and used by, the natives,
from days of long ago.

In all this discussion, it may be just as well to bear in mind the
following remarks by Barbeau (1927:48-52). If they sound pessi-
mistic, perhaps they are justifiably so. It is unfortunate that the
science of ethnology could not have become full-fledged several
centuries ago, when the earth and its peoples were certainly in far
more natural condition than today, and probably in a more promising
condition as well,

"The racial characteristics of our aborigines — their features, their
bodies, their aptitudes, their intelligence — have, in the last cen-
turies, changed almost beyond recognition ....

"No native at the present day can boast in all certitude of an un-
mixed ancestry. . . ,

"The leggings, ... the pointed hat of the Naskopi, . . . were all
introduced by the traders and the missionaries ....

"The ethnologist is a fool who so far deceives himself as to believe
that his field notes and specimens, gathered in the raw from half-
breeds or decrepit survivors of a past age, still represent the unadul-
terated knowledge or crafts of the prehistoric races of America."

Geographical and Ecological Distribution of Int)ian Tribes
IN THE Ungava Peninsula

At this point it may be in order to review the distribution of all
three Indian tribes of the Ungava Peninsula from, say, the latter part
of the nineteenth century to the present time. For their distribution
in still earlier days. Speck (1931:558-572) may be consulted.

This author (1931:565, map 2) shows the "approximate location,
since about 1850, of local groups or bands of Montagnais-Naskapi."
All the Indians of the peninsula are treated under this designation,
without any sharp distinction into the three separate tribes that have
been recognized by certain other authors. Speck writes (1931:576)
of "retaining the terms Montagnais and Naskapi in a general sense
for the inhabitants of the Labrador peninsula, by using the form
Montagnais-Naskapi agreed upon by Hallowell and myself for the
group as a whole."

For the purposes of the present paper, the list below indicates the
tribal affiliations of the various bands named by Speck:

14 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Eastern Cree

Nichicun Band East Main Band

Mistassini Band Big River Band

Rupert House Band White Whale River Band

[White Whale River is an old designation of Little Whale River (see

Prov. Quebec Bur. Mines, Extracts from reports on the district of

Ungava or New Quebec, ed. 3:204, 1929).]

Naskapi
Ungava Band
Barren Ground Band

Montagnais-Naskapi (of mixed origin)
Northwest River Band
Davis Inlet Band

Montagnais

Lake St. John Band Moisie Band

Chicoutimi Band Mingan Band

Tadousac Band Natashquan Band

Escoumains Band Musquaro Band

Bersimis Band St. Augustin Band

Godbout Band Michikamau Band

Shelter Bay Band Petitsikapau Band

Ste. Marguerite Band Kaniapiskau Band

In his text, Speck (1931:580-598) presents notes on the native
names, history, population, hunting territories and systems, trading
centers, and organization of these 26 bands.

In general, the distribution of the three tribes has corresponded
rather closely to the several great drainage systems of the peninsula:
the Eastern Cree on the waters flowing into James Bay and the south-
eastern part of Hudson Bay; the Naskapi in the basins of the Koksoak,
Whale, and George rivers, which are tributary to Ungava Bay; and
the Montagnais in the St. Lawrence and Hamilton basins, which are
tributary to the Atlantic. Such an approximate distribution has been
indicated on maps by Skinner (1911:10, fig. 1), Kroeber (1939: map
la, in end pocket), Tanner (1947, 2:474, fig. 222, and 584-585, fig.
253), Jenness (1955: map 270A, in end pocket), and Leechman
(1957?: 23).

"These three tribes have distinct boundaries, beyond which they
seldom wander. Of late years, however, a gradual influx of the
western people has poured into the Ungava district, due to the de-
crease of the food supply along that portion of the eastern coast of
Hudson Bay." (Turner, 1894:267.)

"Along the eastern coast of James Bay, as far north as Little Whale
River, are to be found the Eastern Cree. . . .

"There is . . . some interchange of [Naskapi] population between
the George River and the Fort Chimo regions. In 1921 there were
three Fort Chimo men and a boy in the George River band." ( Waugh,
1925:128.)

harper: the friendly montagnais of xjngava 15

Wissler (1940:51, map) indicates the Eastmain and Hamilton
rivers as the dividing-line between the Naskapi and the Montagnais,
and restricts the Eastern Cree to northeastern Ontario near James
Bay.

Kroeber (1939:map la, in end pocket) shows Montagnais ter-
ritory extending from the Gulf of St. LawTcnce north to Hamilton
River and Lake Kaniapiskau, west to include the Lake St. John area,
and east to include the St. Augustin and St. Paul rivers; the Naskapi
territory, to the north of that of the Montagnais, but not including a
coastal strip extending all the way from Hamilton Inlet in the east
to Cape Jones in the west; the Cree territory, from beyond the south-
western boundary of the peninsula northward to include Lake Mis-
tassini and the lower half of the basin of Eastmain River. This map
"attempts to indicate tribal territories [of North America] approx-
imately as they were constituted at the time of the first occupation
by Europeans" (p. 8).

"The Nascopies of the Ungava band . . . ranged for the most part
in the Koksoak and Whale River valleys and adjacent uplands, cen-
tered on Fort Chimo for their trade" (Elton, 1942:250-251).

Tanner's map (1947, 2:474, fig. 222) shows the Montagnais ter-
ritory extending from the Lake St. John area east to the Atlantic Coast
south of Hamilton Inlet, and north from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to
Lakes Kaniapiskau, Petitsikapau, Michikamau, and Melville; the
Naskapi territory, from the northern boundary of the Montagnais
nearly to Ungava Bay, and including most of the basins of the Kania-
piskau, Whale, and George rivers; the Muskeko-woig (Cree) terri-
tory, "occupying the drainage system of tlie east side of James and
Hudson Bays north to Clearwater Lake."

Jenness' map 270A (1955: in end pocket) "attempts to show the
locations of the tribes [Cree, Montagnais, and Naskapi] immediately
before tlie fur trade brought about widespread disturbances" ( that is
to say, about 1525 A.D.). These locations are based upon Speck
(1926^7:274-277), who "has relied mainly on the material culture.
His boundaries would have to be greatly changed if linguistic differ-
ences were made the criterion." (P. 423.)

"On the north [the Cree] were bounded [in former times] by the
coast-Hne from Eastmain river nearly to Churchill; on the east by
lakes Mistassini and Nichikun" (p. 283).

Teal (1955:153) recognizes the three groups: Mountaineers
(Montagnais), Little WTiale River Indians (Eastern Cree), and
Naskapi; he provides no detailed information on the distribution

16 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

of the Naskapi, and only a few words as to that of the two other
tribes.

A map in Leechman (1957?:22) shows the boundary between the
Naskapi and the Cree (here labeled Mistassini-Cree) extending
from Lake Mistassini to Lake Nichicun, and thence northward ( west
of the Kaniapiskau River) to about latitude 57°. From this point the
western boundary of the Cree territory curves southwestward to
the mouth of Eastmain River, but does not reach the coast north of
the latter point. This territory includes practically all the drainage
of the east side of Hudson and James bays north to Clearwater Lake,
with the exception of the lowermost portions of the rivers north of
the Eastmain. No definite boundary between the Swampy Cree ( or
Mistassini Cree) and the more western Cree is indicated. This map
(except for the above-mentioned coastal strip) corresponds rather
closely to Skinner's (1911:10, fig. 1).

J. W. Anderson (1961:54) extends the territory of the James Bay
Cree eastward to Mistassini and southward to Waswanipi.

Within the peninsula, the distribution of the three tribes is corre-
lated at least to some extent with geological, climatic, and biotic condi-
tions. Their entire range is virtually restricted to the Canadian Shield
(see Bruce, 1939:232, map; Kimble and Good, 1955:12, fig. 2; Geol.
Survey Canada, map 1045A, 1955). The territories of the Eastern
Cree and the Naskapi lie mainly in the Hudsonian Life-zone, while
that of the Montagnais is mainly in the Canadian Life-zone (cf.
Harper, 1958:17, map 1, and 1961:17, map 2), though projecting
well up into the Hudsonian in the central interior. Neither of the
other two tribes is restricted wholly to its principal hfe-zone. The
Naskapi, in former days, hunted caribou to some extent in the Arctic
Life-zone, but this treeless region was scarcely a natural or perma-
nent home for them, in view of their dependence upon wood for
warmth and cooking. (Swanton [1946:19-20] discusses a certain
correlation between life-zones and the former distribution of Indian
tribes in the Southeastern United States. )

An isotherm representing a mean January daily temperature of
-5° F. (see Thomas, 1953:chart 1-1) separates most of the Eastern
Cree and the Naskapi from most of the Montagnais. The first two
tribes range northward to a January isotherm of approximately -12°
to -14°; and the Montagnais southward to a January isotherm of -f8°
to +10°. Humidity (or vapor pressure) becomes progressively less
toward the north at all seasons of the year (Thomas, 1953: charts 2-1,
2-2, 2-3, 2-4). Thus the Naskapi and the Eastern Cree experience,

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 17

in general, less humidity than the Montagnais. The Montagnais have
to contend with a considerably greater annual snowfall ( 120 to 200
inches, except in the Lake St. John area, where it is 100 inches ) than
the other two tribes, which have, over most of their area, from 100
to 120 inches (Thomas, 1953: chart 4-3). The mean annual rainfall
also is greater in Montagnais territory ( about 18 to 27 inches ) , com-
pared with about 10 to 20 inches in Naskapi and Cree territory
(Thomas, 1953: chart 5-2). There is comparatively little variation in
mean wind speed over the entire peninsula — about 10 to 15 miles per
hour at aU seasons (Thomas, 1953: charts 3-6, 3-7, 3-8, 3-9). The
mean annual total hours of bright sunshine vary from about 1,600
on the North Shore of the Gulf to about 1,400 in the north at lati-
tude 57° (Thomas, 1953:chart 6-1). The territories of the Eastern
Cree and the Montagnais he mostly to the south of the southern hmit
of permafrost; but the Naskapi in the lower Ungava Bay drainage
area live within the zone of permafrost (Thomas, 1953: chart 8-1).

The respective ranges of the Naskapi and the Montagnais in the
past may have corresponded — at least roughly — to the ranges of the
two species of caribou inhabiting the Ungava Peninsula. For the
principal food animal of the Naskapi was Cabot's or the Labrador
Barren Ground caribou {Rangifer cahoti), while that of the Monta-
gnais was the eastern woodland caribou (R. caribou caribou). We
still have none-too-exact information as to the meeting-ground or the
overlapping area of the more or less complementary ranges of the
two caribou. There was probably ( at least in the Ashuanipi-Attikam-
agen-Michikamau Lakes area ) some overlapping among the Naskapi
and the Montagnais as well as among the two species of caribou.
For example, Hind (1863, 1:239) had a report of some Naskapi fam-
ilies wintering as far south as the southern end of Ashuanipi Lake.

According to the meager information available (Low, 1896:70,
86, 100, 128, 318; Mrs. Hubbard, 1908:56, 81; Anderson, 1948: map;
Banfield, 1949: figs. 1-2), the woodland caribou ranged over the
southern part of the peninsula, north to the Eastmain River (and
possibly Great Whale River), Nichicun, Kaniapiskau, Knob, Atti-
kamagen, and Michikamau lakes, Naskaupi River, and Goose Bay;
the Barren Ground caribou ranged over the northern part of the
peninsula, south to Great Whale River, Bienville, Knob, and Michi-
kamau lakes, and Goose Bay(?). The animals of tlie Mealy Moun-
tains (south of Lake Melville) have been variously allocated by
different authors; but it seems more likely that they belong to the
woodland species, as indicated by Banfield (1949:486).

18 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

There is some discrepancy in the above-suggested correlation in
the distribution of caribou and Indians. For one thing, the Naskapi
have not followed the Barren Ground caribou into Eskimo territory
in the extreme northeastern and northwestern parts of the Ungava
Peninsula. "From Koksoak River to Hudson Bay the respective areas
covered by the two races [Indians and Eskimos] are separated ap-
proximately by the line of the Nastapoka and Larch Rivers" ( Cabot,
1922:197). From Lake Mistassini northward at least to Nichicun
Lake, the primary big-game animal of the Eastern Cree, hke that of
the Montagnais farther east, was originally the woodland caribou,
although in the extreme north of their territory the Cree probably
found the Barren Ground caribou at certain seasons.

Under the spur of modem industrialization and through the par-
tial failure of such an important food resource as the two species of
caribou, we seem to be witnessing in recent years a general break-
dovvTi of the original boundaries of tribes and bands, especially in
certain areas. On this point Miss Leacock ( 1954) makes some cogent
remarks :

"Further field work has shown the hunting territory to be less
clear cut than it first appeared to Speck." Reference is made to "the
continual readjustment of band lands to fit the needs of band mem-
bers." (P. L)

The six central bands of Speck — Petitsikapau, Kaniapiskau, Michi-
kamau, Ste. Marguerite, Moisie, and Shelter Bay — have merged into
one "by their common interest in and dependence upon the trading
post at Seven Islands. . . . They are aU known generally as Seven
Islands Indians." (P. 19.)

"The attitudes of the present-day Montagnais toward band af-
fiHation or attachment to a given locality are utterly casual" (p. 20).

A large and perhaps permanent congregation, in one small area,
of diverse tribal elements was apparent by 1960. Several hundred
representatives of the three Labrador tribes had then been attracted
to the Knob Lake area by the opportunities for employment in the
mining industry, and had been settled by the government in an In-
dian reserve on the neighboring John Lake. There were 26 Naskapi
and 20 Cree families from Fort Chimo on one side of the reserve, and
50 Montagnais families (including 300 individuals) from Seven Is-
lands and Moisie on the other side. Language barriers were said to
keep the two groups separate. ( Fred Farah, in lift., August 5, 1960,
on the basis of information supplied largely by Sebastien McKenzie. )

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 19

Tribal Characteristics

In the following pages I have endeavored to assemble from some
of the principal sources a brief account of the salient physical and
psychological traits and the general manner of hfe of the three tribes
or of certain of their subdivisions.

It is obvious that in times past, as well as recently, there has
been considerable wandering on the part of the Indians of the penin-
sula. In their unending quest for food it has happened not merely
that members of one band have entered or traversed the normal ter-
ritory of a neighboring and friendly band, but that there have been
similar occurrences with respect to tribal territories. These tres-
passes seem, in general, to have been accepted with fairly good will,
or at least without outright clashes. The Cree, Naskapi, and Monta-
gnais may have been drawn together somewhat not merely by their
near relationship, but also as a result of aggression by their common
enemy, the Iroquois (cf. Hind, 18&3, 1:272; Turner, 1888:109, and
1894:267; Low, 1896:45; Cabot, 1922:201; Speck, 1931:562; Tanner,
1947,2:580).

The Eastern Cree

At Lake Mistassini (1884) "some 35 or 40 famiUes of the Monta-
gnais [= Cree] tribe usually summer in the neighbourhood, living on
wild fowl and fish from the Lake and dispersing in autumn through-
out the surrounding region to trap and hunt" (F. H. Bignell, 1885:
16).

Turner (1894), who resided at Fort Chimo from 1882 to 1884,
writes on the Little Whale River Indians:

The southwestern fork [Riviere du Cue] of Larch River drains "the
eastern sides of the same mountains whose western slopes are drained
by the Little Whale River." This course is followed by the Little
Whale River Indians to join the Naskapi of the Koksoak Valley. ( P.
171.)

"The Indians dwelling to the southwest of the Ungava district
differ rather more than the Mountaineers [Montagnais], in their
speech, from the Indians of the Ungava district. They average, for
both sexes, slightly taller than the Naskopies. The men are spare, and
have small limbs and extremities. The cheek bones are also more
prominent, although this is partly due to the thin visage. . . .

"In their personal habits they are much more tidy tlian their eastern
relations. Their dress differs but little from that of their neigh-
bors. , . . The men occupy their time in hunting and fishing. The

20 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

[woodland?] reindeer have in recent years become so scarce in tlie
vicinity of Fort George that many of the Indians have left that
locality and journeyed to the eastward, dwelling in proximity to the
Naskopies, or even with them." ( P. 182. )

"Their purchases are made with furs of the same kinds as those
procured in the Ungava district. The black bear is procured in great
numbers by these Indians." (P. 183.)

Low (1896:45) probably refers to the Eastern Cree in the follow-
ing remark: "The western Nascaupees are, as a rule, the tallest men
in Labrador, many of them being six feet and over in height, straight
and of light physique."

Low (1890:24) writes of the Indians at Lake Mistassini:

"Twenty-six families belong to this post, about 150 persons in all.
They speak a dialect of the Algonquin or Cree language, being a
tribe of that great family which inhabits the country from the Rocky
Mountains to the Atlantic. As a rule they are not of great stature,
though some of the men are fine stalwart fellows, six feet tall.

"From long contact with the Hudson Bay Co. and missionaries
they are all pretty well civilized, everybody being able to read and
write in a kind of syllabic shorthand ....

"They are all perfectly honest, and would not touch provisions left
in the woods even to save themselves from starvation. . . .

"Great respect is paid to the bones and flesh of the bear and beaver,
their skulls are always scraped clean and set up on poles facing the
sun."

Low also gives an account (1896: 101) of the Indians of the Nichicun
Lake area:

"These Indians belong to the western Nascaupee tribe. They speak
a dialect closely resembling that of the Montagnais. . . . Owing to
the small numbers of caribou killed in this region, the natives are
forced to clothe themselves in garments bought from the Hudson's
Bay Company. They live in wigwams covered with cotton, as they
cannot get either the deer-skin used in the north or the birch bark
covering of the south.

"The hunting grounds of the Indians of Nichicun extend from the
height-of-land on the southward, to the head-waters of the Great
Whale River on the North. To the eastward they hunt as far as Lake
Kaniapiskau and down its discharge about fifty miles. There appears
to be quite an extensive area between their eastern boundary and
the western limit of the hunting grounds of the Hamilton River In-
dians .... [However, Sebastien McKenzie, coming probably from a

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 21

base at or near Seven Islands, was in the Opiscoteo Lake area about
1905. This is some 120 miles east of Nichicun Lake, and in the Kania-
piskau drainage system. Possibly there had been some shift in tribal
boundaries by that time. — F. H.] There is also a large area without
hunters on both sides of the Koksoak [Kaniapiskau] River, from
where the Nichicun Indians leave off, to where those from Ungava
begin, as no signs of Indians were seen along that stream for nearly
200 miles. The greatest number hunt to the westward of Nichicun,
or about the head- waters and tributaries of the Big [Fort George] and
East Main Rivers."

The following are excerpts from Skinner's account (1911) of the
Eastern Cree along James Bay:

"The Cree themselves claim that the Naskapi are closely related
to them. It is possible that the Naskapi may be a band of the former,
kept primitive by their isolation from European contact. The Eastern
Cree also claim a relationship with the Montagnais of Labrador."
(P. IL)

"In former times the Eastern Cree dwelt in lodges ... of bark,
skins, or brush .... To-day . . , they are usually covered with
canvas. The skin lodge has become obsolete. . . .

"Formerly, many lodges were built of caribou skins." ( P. 12. )

"In former times, leather and fur clothing was used extensively
.... Later European garments of all sorts" have been "universally
adopted. Moccasins, it is true, are still worn especially by the hunters;
and rabbitskin garments and blankets are used in winter. It it not
infrequent, however, to see small children dressed in clothing of the
old style." (P. 14.)

Before European contact, "hooded coats of caribou skin tanned
with the hair, somewhat resembling Eskimo parkas, were also worn
[by the men] in winter" ( p. 15 ) .

"Coats with attached hoods made of woven rabbitskin were also
used" (p. 17).

The Montagnais "sometimes come to Lake Mistassini" (p. 31).

"Owing to the scarcity of food, permanent village communities
could not exist, as the Eastern Cree are obliged to scatter through the
forest, a family here and a family there, often many miles apart. Usu-
ally, a man hunted wdiii his sons and their families, but when these
grew large they separated. . . .

"Now, the Cree meet at the Posts of the Hudson's Bay Company,
bringing in the winter's hunt of furs to trade for the necessities of the
following season. They spend from two to four weeks at the Posts

22 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT, HIST.

and then return to their scattered hunting grounds." ( Pp. 56-57. )

"During the winter the rabbit, or hare, is the staff of hfe. . . . Every
seventh year, it is said, that the rabbits are seized with a disease . . .
which sweeps them away in great numbers. During the periods
when rabbits are scarce, the Indians experience great suffering. , , .
During these bad years . . . the Indians are not infrequently driven to
cannibahsm. There are individuals at nearly every post who have
tasted human flesh under these conditions." (P. 25. )

Other foods discussed are beaver, caribou, bear, lynx, seals, whales,
ducks, geese, loons, partridges, pike, and sturgeon (pp. 25-37).

"The nose, heart, and tongue of all species of the deer family are
considered great delicacies" ( p. 29 ) . This reminds me of the courtesy
shown a party from the Geological Survey of Canada in 1914 on the
lower Taltson River, Mackenzie, when two Dogrib hunters pre-
sented us with the heart of a moose that they had just killed.

Skinner gives only a little notice to bows and arrows of the Eastern
Cree. For use in games, "bows and blunt arrows . . . are seen in daily
use by the Indian boys at all the Posts. The bows range from several
feet to five or six inches in length." ( P. 37. ) A photograph of such
bows and arrows, taken by Skinner, appears as plate 3, figure 2, of
the present report. In olden times bows and arrows were used in wars.
"The arrows were made of iron willow, and tipped with bone; the
short sinew-backed bow of juniper or tamarack" (p. 78 ) .

Cabot says (1922):

"A certain number of Indians from [Little or Great] Whale River
also come to Chimo more or less regularly, perhaps more often to Fort
George or other posts on Hudson Bay. . . . Their dialect is not very
easy for the other Indians to understand, probably from its Ojibway
affinities." (Pp. 196-197.)

"Tlie thirty families who trade at Mistassini are . . . counted
as Nascaupees. All the Indians known by this name are properly
Swampy Crees. Those at Chimo say that they came originally from
southwest of Hudson Bay to get away from the Iroquois." (P. 201.)

"The general life and culture of this interesting [Mistassini] group
is marked by a laudable and intelligent conservativeness. The Mis-
tassini are clean and robust and appear very healthy and well con-
ditioned for people whose whole life is passed in the remote bush."
( Speck, 1923:455. ) For times of famine, there are reciprocal hunting
privileges between the Mistassini and the Nichicun Indians (p. 458).

Speck (1925:60-61) refers to "the Mistassini people" as "one of
the divisions of the Naskapi"; and Davidson (1928:18) refers to "the

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 23

Mistassini Naskapi band of Lake Mistassini."

By 1925 the Nichicun band had become dispersed. Only eight fam-
ilies remained at their old station, and made a long annual trading
joumey to Rupert House. Others had settled at Seven Islands.
( Speck, 1931:591. ) This marked change in the status and affiliations
of the band is the subject of further comment by Speck and Eiseley
(1942:232-234):

"The Nichikun band has been dissolved as a social unit since the
abandonment of the Hudson Bay's [sic] Company [post] at Lake
Nichikun circa 1919, . . .

"Members of this band were met with during several periods when
Speck was working at Seven Islands in 1915 and 1925. Following
the dispersion of the families of the band, he was told that some
took up their residence with the Moisie Indians while others joined
the bands west of them. . . .

"Questioning disclosed the fact that the Nichikun families did
not separate and hunt or trap alone on inherited hunting grounds, as
do the Montagnais south of them."

By 1910 "the hunters . . . had married or intermarried with French-
speaking Indians trading at Seven Islands, and had come under the
sway of priests where they had hitherto been adherents of the Church
of England and, in addition to their English were using Canadian
French with no less fluency than the Seven Islands natives."

The journey from the Nichicun area to Seven Islands, across sev-
eral river systems, must have been an extraordinarily arduous one.

Although Low (1896:101) spoke of the Nichicun Indians hunting
to the eastward ( only? ) as far as Kaniapiskau Lake, Speck and Eisley
(1942:227-228) remark on "a very close connection between the
Ste. Marguerite Indians and tlie Kaniapiskau families immediately
north of them"; also on "the rather vague geographical boundaries
that separate them."

Speck (1931:590-599) had assembled much of the general infor-
mation then available concerning the six bands of Eastern Cree
inhabiting the Ungava Peninsula, and his resume may be consulted
to advantage.

As we have seen above, the Montagnais have been undergoing
amalgamation with some of the Eastern Cree as well as with the
Naskapi. Speck (1931:590-591) remarks on the hunters of the
Kaniapiskau band and "their annual migration to the post at Seven
islands." Perhaps it was in view of this situation that Tanner ( 1947,
2:474, fig. 222) has included the headwaters of the Kaniapiskau

24 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

River in the territory of the Montagnais. On the other hand,
Michelson remarks ( 1938:119) : "The dialect at the northern end of
Lake Kaniapiskau is obviously closely related to the dialect of Ru-
pert's House on James Bay."

Speck (1931:592) refers to "the independent ethnic character" of
the Mistassini band, which numbered, in 1915, "approximately thirty
family units, with about 137 souls." He also comments ( 1931:593) on
the White Whale [= Little Whale] River group as an "almost un-
known band," with "a communal hunting range . . . north ... to Lake
Minto and Stillwater [= Larch] river and then eastward almost to
Kaniapiskau river."

Tanner (1947, 2:578) refers (perhaps a little hastily) to "the Mis-
tassini Cree" as "at present a quite unknown group."

Neilson (1948) writes of this group:

"They still observe the superstition that to look back after once
leaving the shore invites certain disaster in the form of tempestuous
waves and winds that spring up without warning" (p. 149).

"The Indians of the territory are the easternmost members of the
widespread Cree tribe. The Mistassini band, now numbering more
than six hundred, are probably amongst the most unspoiled Indians
in Canada today, due almost entirely to relatively little contact with
the whites. They still follow the nomadic ways of their fore-fathers,
living by fishing, hunting and trapping." (Pp. 150-151.)

"The members of the band differ considerably in appearance.
Those from the southern part of the territory, including some families
from the Chibougamau and Waswanipi districts, are generally short
and stocky, broad-headed and with rather Mongoloid features. On
the other hand, the Nichicun Indians from the northern districts, as
a group, are usually tall and of good physique." ( P. 151. )

"Not more than three or four men in the whole band speak either
French or English so all trading at the post is done in the James Bay
Cree dialect ....

"Deaths resulting from starvation are not unknown in the winter
in spite of the traders' efforts to mitigate food shortages." ( P. 152. )

"About six hundred Montagnais-Nascopie Indians, who speak
neither French nor English," come "from points as distant as Lake
Nichicun," and "summer at Mistassini Post." (Godfrey, 1949:3. )

By 1949 it was said that the Nichicun Indians could no longer
count upon caribou for food (Pomerleau, 1950:14).

Dr. Bertram H. Harper, of the Department of National Health
and Welfare, has kindly transmitted (in litt., October 5, 1961), on

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MOXTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 25

the basis of personal observations, the following remarks on the
Indians of the Great Whale River and Richmond Gulf areas. Among
these Indians there is a distinctly different type of face from that of
the Swampy Cree. Their faces are longer, their noses more of the
Roman type instead of the flat type of the Cree, and their foreheads
higher. In fact, they look more like Iroquois of southern Ontario
and the Northeastern States. There is a possibihty that these features
may have come from mixture with Scandinavian whalers who did
quite a business in these parts 40 to 80 years ago. These Indians travel
far inland and could also have mingled with the Nascopies and Mon-
tagnais of Ungava and Labrador.

Honigmann ( 1952 ) discusses "the Great WTiale River, Cree-
speaking Indians," of whom 171 were attached to that trading post,
along with 193 Eskimos:

"The Indians spend the cold months in the landlocked interior, pur-
suing a greater variety of fur bearers than are available on the coast.
A large part of their food is secured from lake and river fishing. . . .
The winter camps [contain] only one or tvv^o families .... In summer
the Indians Hve in rectangular canvas tents or tipis. In winter some
informants report building a beehive-shaped structure of lashed poles
spread with canvas and banked high with snow." There is comment
on "their lack of dogs for transportation." (Pp. 512-513.)

"With the disappearance of caribou from the region around
[Great] Whale River, sealskin boots became standard apparel for
Indians .... White whale hunting has been adopted by the Indians
in summer and is accomplished with the aid of the socketed harpoon
and sealskin float." (P. 513.)

"A few Indians ... in autumn travel northeast of Richmond Gulf
to kill the caribou that remain on the northerly tundra" (p. 515).

"A proposed beaver conservation program promises to increase
the present earnings of the Indians" ( p. 521 ) .

Pere Laviolette (1955:206-207) writes of the Cree as distinct
from the Montagnais-Naskapi:

"This important Algonquian tribe . . . occupies lands on the East and
West coasts of James Bay as well as on the South coast of Hudson
Bay. . . .

"Mistassini: This large band of 669 Hves on the South East shores
of Lake Mistassini. They are % Cree and Vs Montagnais. Most of
them are nomadic, while nearly 150 men are working in lumber
camps. . . .

"The James Bay Agency Cree, numbering over 2,100 are successful

26 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

trappers and hunters, enjoying the use of the extensive beaver re-
serves of Nottaway River, Rupert's House, Old Factory and Fort
George. A number of stragglers from Rupert's House now spend
most of the year in the settled districts of Abitibi, hunting, trapping
and seasonal work in lumber camps.

"The main bands are:

"Rupert's House, 535 and Nemaska (Nemiscau): 118;

"Eastmain: 175 and Old Factory: 319;

"Fort George and Kanoapscow: 784;

"Great Whale River and Richmond Gulf: 182."

A remarkable story of beaver conservation in the James Bay area
and of its highly beneficial results to the Cree Indians has been ef-
fectively told by W. A. Anderson (1959). In the 1928-29 season
only four beaver skins were brought in to Rupert House. The Indians
were in dire need, and some were starving. Thereupon the local |
Hudson's Bay Company manager, James Watt, subsidized the beaver
lodges, so to speak, by inducing the Indians not to molest the animals
for a period of years. They received from him, in return, an approx-
imate cash equivalent for the beavers they would have trapped and
sold. As a result of this enlightened measure, the beavers in that area
had increased by 1938 to 3,300, and by 1939 to 4,000. In 1940 the
Rupert House preserve was opened to the Indian trappers under
careful regulations. Each trapper was allowed an exact quota based
upon the number of beaver lodges on his trapline. By 1959 the family
cash incomes of the Indian hunters averaged between $1,000 and
$1,800. The flesh of the beaver is almost as important to them as the
pelt. "By any standards the Indians are now prosperous." And
"today there are 187,100 square miles of beaver preserves in the
Province of Quebec alone." The model Rupert House preserve,
estabhshed largely through the efforts of Mrs. Maude Watt after her
husband's death, is now supervised by her. '<

For a further account of beaver conservation in the James Bay
area, see J. W. Anderson ( 1961 : 183-190 ) . j

The extension of the same sort of conservation policy to the other I
fur-bearers, and likewise to the caribou and other hard-pressed game
animals, would go far toward ensuring the permanent preservation
of these irreplaceable features of the wilderness areas of the con-
tinent.

Until recently so little direct information has come out of the Mis-
tassini area concerning the life of the Indians on their winter trap-

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 27

ping-grounds, that I venture to insert the following fragmentary
notes of my good friend J. Laurent Veronneau ( in litt., June 26, 1955,
and May 14, 1956 ) , who spent parts of two recent winters there.

About the headwaters of the Nemiscau River ( lat. 52° N., long. 75°
W. ), in January and February, 1955, some Indians were hunting
beaver. They reported 75 of the animals taken, apparently by five
families. They evidently considered these results very poor. They
were also eating moose and a lot of snowshoe rabbits and using the
fur of the latter species to make garments for their young children.
Two bear skulls had been set up in a tree, in accordance with the
usual native ceremonialism (see Speck, 1935:102).

The following winter Mr. Veronneau met two Indians trapping
for fur in the vicinity of Lac Quentin ( lat. 52°32' N., long. 73°20' W. ),
where they had their main cache. They were part of a group of
families that had come from Lake Mistassini in the fall. These, like
the others at the headwaters of the Nemiscau, could speak neither
French nor Enghsh. But they could eat quantities of pies and
pastries!

The above notes suggest that the winter hunts in the areas north-
west and north of Lake Mistassini are conducted by communal
groups rather than by separate family units ( see Speck and Eiseley,
1942:218-220).

After 13 months of field work somewhere in the Lake Mistassini
area, Rogers and Rogers (1959) present a most interesting and il-
luminating account of the daily and seasonal round of activities
among the Mistassini Indians, including travel, hunting, trapping,
fishing, feasts, and camp routine, such as division of labor among
men, women, and children. Dogs are used to some extent for trac-
tion. The authors spent nine months with a hunting group of 13
members. They do not indicate the tribal affiliations of these Mis-
tassini Indians.

"The winter trapping camp [of a Mistassini family] would be on
a tract of land which by tribal custom and inheritance would, for all
practical purposes, be owned by the Indian. His rights would be
respected by the other members of the tribe and no one would hunt
or trap on his lands without his express permission. This was the
ancient way of conservation of the Mistassini Cree. . . .

"The whole camp, sometimes as many as three families hunting
together for the winter, would be kept busy on these varied tasks
[preparations for the winter] and all would lend a hand — men, women
and children." (J. W. Anderson, 1961:106-107.)

28 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

The Naskapi

In 1731 the Jesuit Laure met the Naskapi to the north of Ashua-
nipi Lake. In 1853 Father Arnaud found them on Manicouagan
Lake and stated that their hunting grounds lay to the northwest. In
the 1860's, according to Hind ( 1863 ) , their territory extended from
Lake Mistassini to the Atlantic, and in summer they made trips dowTi
various tributaries of the St. Lawrence to meet their priest at Seven
Islands. In the 1880's they occupied the basins of the Nascaupi and
Hamilton rivers and traded at Rigolet and Northwest River. In
earher years they had traded at Fort Chimo on the Koksoak River
and at Fort Nascopie on Petitsikapau Lake. (Tanner, 1947, 2:581-
582.)

John McLean, who was in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company's
post at Fort Chimo from 1837 to 1842 (meanwhile discovering
Grand Falls on the Hamilton River), left a brief but valuable early
record (1932:258-265) of his observations on the local Naskapi. His
impressions of them were none too favorable, as may be gathered
from some of the following passages:

"The Indians inhabiting the interior of Ungava [number] about
one hundred men able to bear arms. ... [P. 258.]

"Of all the Indians I have seen, the Nascopies seem most averse
to locomotion; many of them grow up to man's estate without once
visiting a trading post. . . .

"The Nascopie freely indulges all the grosser passions of his na-
ture; he has no term in his language to express the sensation of
shame .... [P. 259.]

"The Nascopies depend principally on the rein-deer for subsist-
ence ....

'Tartridges [Ptarmigan] are very numerous in certain localities,
but cannot be trusted to as a means of Hving .... [P. 261.]

"In their intercourse with us the Nascopies [are] selfish and in-
hospitable in the extreme .... But ... no people can exercise the
laws of hospitahty with greater generosity, or show less selfishness,
towards each other than the Nascopies. . . .

"The Nascopies, surrounded by kindred tribes, are strangers to the
calamities of war, and are consequently a peaceful, harmless people;
yet they cherish the unprovoked enmity of their race towards the
poor Esquimaux, whom they never fail to attack, when an oppor-
tunity offers of doing so with impunity." ( P. 264. )

Nicol Finlayson, a contemporary of McLean's at Fort Chimo,
wrote in 1833, as quoted by Elton (1942:243): "The Indians never

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 29

leave the coast [Fort Chimo area], where deer are most numerous,
above four of five days journey, and that is when they go to look for
birchrind for their canoes." (From other soiurces, it is evident that
this search was made along the Kaniapiskau River. )

Some further information on the Naskapi of the Ungava Bay
region is presented by Davies (1854:126, 129, 131); his source was
the journal of an anonymous writer ( probably John McLean ) . Their
hunting grounds ( he says ) extend from near the coast of Ungava Bay
to the upper waters of streams that fall into the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and westward along the height of land nearly to Lake Mistassini.
They generally keep together in large camps, in this respect differing
from the Montagnais. The latter seldom or never hunt together in
large numbers; two families generally associate for that purpose. The
Naskapi frequenting the posts on Ungava Bay consist of 40 or 50
families.

Hind (1863) gives one of the earlier accounts of the Naskapi; it is
of much interest in showing how widely the tribe ranged over the
peninsula at that period:

In testimony before a Select Committee of the House of Commons
in 1857, passages were quoted from a letter from WilUam Kennedy
to Lord Elgin:

"Starvation has, I learn, committed great havoc among your old
friends the Nascopies, numbers of whom met their death from want
last winter, whole camps of tliem were found dead, without one sur-
vivor to teU the tale of their sufferings; others used as food the dead
bodies of their companions .... At Fort Nascopie the Indians were

dying in dozens by starvation .... says it was 's fault

in not giving them enough of ammunition." (Hind, 1863, 1:15.)

Hind refers later to some Naskapi who had come from the far
interior to see tlie priest at the mouth of the Manicouagan ( 1 : 196 ) ; to
some having their lodges as far to the southwest as Lake Pletipi
(1:198); to five or six famihes wintering on the north side of the
Height of Land in the valley of the Ashuanipi (1:239); and to
Naskapi from Petitsikapau Lake (1:335).

"The country of the Nasquapees extends from Lake Mistassini to
the Atlantic coast of the Labrador Peninsula .... They occupy the
table-land, and it is only lately that they have visited the coasts and
shores of the Gulf imd River St. LawTcnce in considerable numbers.
They make their way from the interior, chiefly by the Manicouagan,
the Ste. Marguerite, the Trinity, and the Moisie rivers. In figure the
Nasquapees are shorter and of lighter build than the Montagnais;

30 UNTVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST,

they have very dehcately formed and clean-cut features, small
hands and feet, a large and rather soft eye, inclined towards the
nose; their hair is intensely black, coarse, and thick, their teeth reg-
ular and beautifully white. They speak a dialect of the Cree lan-
guage, and can hold communication with the Montagnais without
any difficulty. The men are tattooed in the cheek, generally from the
cheek-bone to the nostril on either side. The marks which I saw
consisted of slight cuts about a line long, parallel to each other, and
about a hue apart." ( 2:97. )

"The evil deity, Atshem, is the terror and the bugbear of the Nas-
quapees" (2:102).

"The Nasquapee arrow for killing the caribou is of pecuhar con-
struction. The head is made of iron or copper (formerly of bone),
and consists of a piece of metal about six inches long, beat out,
pointed and barbed at one end; the other is let into and fastened to
the shaft with sinew. The head of the common arrow for killing
ptarmigan, porcupine, and small birds, is very heavy, and resembles
in every particular the Montagnais arrow." ( 2: 106. )

The able ethnologist Turner, after residing at Fort Chimo from
1882 to 1884, makes some comments (1888:109-114) of interest on
the Naskapi of that area. They then numbered about 350 souls.

"They are slightly above the average height, having narrow bodies,
small limbs and deHcate extremities; their face is rather flat, with the
exception of the cheek bones, which are somewhat prominent, though
not so much as in Indians of the plains. . . . Their hair is black,
coarse and abundant, occasionally disposed to waviness, though this
is more especially noticeable in the women than in the men; and is,
doubtless, due to their pecuhar manner of wearing the hair on a
piece of curved wood about which it is rolled. . . . [Pp. 109-110.]

"The men hunt the reindeer, fur-bearing animals, and the var-
ious birds, principally ptarmigan, for food. The reindeer forms the
principal source of the food supply, and affords skins suitable for
conversion into garments well adapted to the climate." (P. 110.)

"In their social intercourse, the allotment of tasks falls most heavily
upon the females. They are the drudges of the men. They fetch
water, and fuel, prepare the tent, bring the slain deer to camp, assist
in hauling the sleds and paddling the canoes, together with the
additional labors of sewing and the care of the children.

"Their dwelling is the conventional type of wigwam, in this in-
stance covered with the inferior quahties of the skins of the rein-
deer." (P. 111.)

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 31

"Their summer journeying is accomplished by means of the birch-
bark canoe; in winter the flat-sled (tabaskhan) is used for bearing
the household and other valuable effects. The large, oval snow-shoe
is made here to perfection." (P. 114. )

"I cannot assert that the Nascopie has any bad trait of character, or
any vices worthy of comment. He is honest, faithful and ever ready
to aid a friend." (P. 114.)

In a later paper ( 1894) Turner \\Tites:

"They differ slightly in customs from their neighbors, but their
speech is somewhat different, being very rapidly uttered and with
most singular inflections of the voice. A conversation may be begun
in the usual tone, and in a moment changed to that of a whining or
petulant child. . . . That their voice is penetrating may be inferred
from the fact that during quiet days it is not unusual for parties to
converse from opposite sides of the Koksoak river, at Fort Chimo,
where the river is nearly a mile and a half wide." ( P. 183. )

Turner's remark on the carrying power of the Naskapi voice recalls
to mind a chilly morning (temperature about 25°), April 13, 1920,
on the snowy shore of frozen Lac La Biche, Alberta, when a dog's
bark or a man's voice at a quarter- or haLf-a-mile's distance rang sharp
and clear across the wonderful stillness. For examples of the extra-
ordinary carrying power of both human and avian voices on the
Sussex Downs in England, see Hudson ( 1951:139, 146-147, 150, 152).

"Although their food consists of reindeer [caribou], ptarmigan,
fish, and other game, the deer is their main reliance, and when
without it, however great their abundance of other food, they con-
sider themselves starving" (Turner, 1894:276).

"The bow and arrow is . . . stiU used to kill ptarmigan, hares, and
rabbits." The bow is made of larch or spruce wood. The arrows are
feathered with ptarmigan feathers. "The head is usually an egg-
shaped knob, terminating in a slender point which soon breaks off."
(P. 312, figs. 132-136. )

There appears to be a close similarity between the Naskapi bow
and arrows for small game and those of the Eastern Cree (pi. 3,
fig. 2) and the Montagnais type, as made by Sebastien McKenzie
(see p. 69). (See also p. 30, for Hind's description of the Naskapi
arrow for killing caribou. )

"The eastern Nascaupees are usually not above five feet six inches
tall, slightly built and not at all muscular, being incapable of carry-
ing half the loads of the Montagnais. They are also the dirtiest and
most degraded Indians of Labrador. The coastal Indians have appar-

32 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

ently a large admixture of white blood, as many of them have blue
eyes and the men as a rule have strong beards. They bear in figure
and face a certain resemblance to their northern neighbours the Es-
kimo, being heavily built and unlike the typical Indian. The admix-
ture of white blood would account for this difference of physique,
and it may also have been induced by their living along the sea coast."
(Low, 1896:45-46.)

At Natuakami Lake on the Larch River, in 1896, Low (1898:15)
found a number of Naskapi engaged in killing caribou; he also ( 1898:
18) reported them as hunting on one of tlie main tributaries, the
Kenogamistuk or Riviere du Gue. The total number living about the
tributaries of the Koksoak River and trading at Fort Chimo, he said
( 1898:22), was about 150. "They belong to the Nascaupee tribe, and
speak a dialect of the Cree or Algonkin language. They are a poor,
degraded people, without thrift or forethought, and as a rule, very
lazy. Being caribou hunters they can hardly be induced to trap fur-
bearing animals. They depend wholly on the herds of barren-ground
caribou for their food and clothing, and sell a certain number of
caribou skins not required for their own use, with a few furs, to the
Hudson's Bay Company for powder, shot, tea, sugar and tobacco,
which comprise all their necessaries of life. Foxes, both white and the
varieties of the red species, form their principal fur hunt, but otters
are also taken, and in early spring they made excursions southward
into the wooded country for martens."

Wallace (1907:207-210) writes:

In winter the Naskapi at Fort Chimo use garments (including
leggings and moccasins ) that are made of caribou skin. They are not
so clean or prosperous as the Montagnais. They are "perhaps the
most primitive Indians on the North American continent to-day."
Caribou, Ptarmigan, and fish are their chief food. Half of them
perished in the winter of 1892-93 through failure of the caribou
hunt. "The divide north of Lake Michikamau is the southern and the
George River [area] the eastern boundary of the Naskapi territory."

Mrs. Hubbard (1908) was one of the few white persons (and
certainly the first white woman) to visit the camp of the Barren
Ground band on the east side of Indian House Lake; and she left as
adequate a record as might be expected from a stay of no more than
an hour or so on August 20, 1905. A few excerpts follow:

"They had markedly Indian faces and those of the older men
showed plainly the battle for life they had been fighting. They were

harper: the friendly montagxais of ungava 33

tall, lithe, and active looking, with a certain air of self-possession
and dignity which almost all Indians seem to have. They wore
dressed deer-skin breeches and moccasins and over the breeches
were drawn bright red cloth leggings reaching from the ankle to
well above the knee, and held in place by straps fastened about the
waist. The shirts, some of which were of cloth and some of dressed
deer-skin, were worn outside the breeches and over these a white coat
bound about the edges with blue or red. Their hair was long and cut
straight below the ears, while tied about the head was a bright
coloured kerchief. The faces were full of interest." ( P. 170. )

"We learned that only three days before they [some of the men]
had returned from Davis Inlet where they go to trade for supplies as
do the Montagnais. They had come back from their long journey
sick at heart .... The ship had not come, and the post store was
empty." (P. 172.)

"The camp consisted of two large wigwams, the covers of which
were of dressed deer-skins sewed together and drawn tight over the
poles, while across the doorway hung an old piece of sacking. The
covers were now worn and old and dirty-grey in colour save around
the opening at the top, where they were blackened by the smoke
from the fire in the centre of the wigwam." ( P. 176. )

"Their [the younger women's and the children's] dresses were of
cotton and woollen goods. Few wore skin clothes, and tliose who
did had on a rather long skin shirt with hood attached, but under the
shirt were numerous cloth garments. Only the old men and httle
children were dressed altogether in skins. . . . The faces here were not
bright and happy looking as at the Montagnais camp [near the head
of George River]. Nearly all were sad and wistful. The old women
seemed the brightest of all and were apparently important people
in the camp." (Pp. 176-177.)

Doubtless the most intimate, sympathetic, and fascinating pic-
ture of Naskapi life in the George River area in the days of caribou
abundance is presented in Cabot's classic work (1912). He writes
of them not merely as a tribe or a band, but as individuals. The vol-
ume must be read to be appreciated; a few fragmentary quotations
must suffice as specimens of the whole work:

"The first impression that the Naskapi make on one is apt to be
vivid and a little mixed. Their irresponsible thin legs and bare
thighs, and their horsetail hair, are decidedly not of our world,
though the latter is generally docked at the shoulders. They have a

34 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

nasal twang, which in the excitement of arrival, and at such times
they are not impassive, becomes almost a whine. ... As untamed
aborigines. Stone Age people, they lay hold of one. The look in their
eyes is the look of the primitive man of the open." ( P. 86. )

"They were people in the primitive hunter stage. Nowhere else,
perhaps, was the like of these Indians to be found, a little group of a
race high in personality, yet living substantially in the pre-Columbian
age of the continent. If they had guns and kettles and knives, if they
sold fur and bought new conveniences, these changed little the es-
sential life. They knew no language but their own; they had plural
wives; they hved wholly on meat and fish; they used no salt. The
clothing and lodges were mainly of sldns. They lived under their
own law, in their old faith unchanged." ( Pp. 189-190. )

"Smiles prevailed everywhere as I went about; we were guests
of the camp. . . . The older women did various operations on the skins
with their different tools, made pemmican, went through many acts of
their routine. They lifted the covering skins from whatever I cast
my eyes upon, showed me what was there and what everything was
for. Most of their dried meat and other things were piled close along-
side the lodges, covered with skins." ( P. 237. )

"The house-wives were pleasantly grave and simple. These older
women looked hard worked and thin, under all their unusual toil
upon meat and skins, besides their household duties. The men ap-
peared well fed and easy. The man's work of providing game was
mere sport as things were." ( P. 238. )

"They had speared no less than twelve or fifteen hundred deer
[caribou] in a few weeks" (p. 239).

"After supper the neighbors came in, mostly women whose men had
gone to the shore. My old acquaintances of 1906, every one, brought
presents of meat and skins and moccasins, nor had they lost their
pleasing manners I remembered. . . .

"What went on in the course of the evening brought to us as real
a phase of the primitive life as I had seen. While we were eating the
people roasted whitefish over the fire, the children in particular
chewed the dried meat. There was no vegetable food; whitefish and
dried deer meat were all. . . .

"We were given skins and blankets for the night. . . . Some one kept
a little fire, putting on wood when necessary, and we were wholly
comfortable. Breakfast was of dried meat boiled." ( P. 273. )

"Now, in November, the snow is over the country, there is meat

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 35

for the winter, and the lodge life at its best is going on in the sheltered
bays. In such times of plenty the Indian life is peculiarly attractive,
perhaps more so than the life of any other hunter race that survives on
earth. The people are lords over their fine country, asking little
favor, ever, save that the deer may come in their time. It was one of
the notable privileges of my wilderness days to have the best of their
country to myself for some years, unexplored as it was, and even more
to me was the relation with the people themselves." (Pp. 285-286.)

In another work Cabot remarks ( 1922:210) :

"All in all, the life of these people [the Naskapi] remains singularly
unchanged. It may be doubted whether another such survival of the
purely primitive hunter, at the same time of so high a personahty as
that of the savage of temperate America, is to be found in any part
of the world. The caribou are to them what the buffalo were to the
Indians of the plains."

Waugh (1925) provides a useful supplement to Cabot's account:

"The total numbers of the Naskopi, past as well as present, are
somewhat difficult to ascertain. In 1921 there were only 16 adult
hunters in the George River band, or some 75 or 80 in all. The num-
ber at Fort Chimo and vicinity was said to be between 200 and 300.
R. White, a fur-trader residing at Nain, states that fully 250 Indians
came out at Voisey's Bay in 1914. During the winter of 1918-1919 an
epidemic of influenza, smallpox and measles reduced these to the
remnant seen in 1921. ... [P. 128.]

"A change in the attitude of the eastern Naskopi to their neigh-
bors . . . has evidently been taking place. They now trade at Voisey's
Bay, and first came out for this purpose during the winter of 1912. On
this occasion they camped several miles from the two small posts . . .
and prepared to spend the remainder of the winter within reach of
supplies and certain of the comforts of civilization. Next winter they
camped still closer, and have been coming out regularly ever since. . . .
[P. 129.]

"Moccasins are still worn, but the Eskimo skin boot, reaching to
the knee and capable of excluding the wet, is much in favor. . . .
[p. 130].

"Hunting territories among the Naskopi are apparently not as ex-
actly divided off as among other Algonkians, probably because they
are so few in numbers and because the country over which they
wander is so vast in extent. Due respect, however, is shoun by each
family or group to the area selected by another.

36 UNR^RSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

"A considerable amount of their hunting, especially for caribou, is
conducted in common. . . .

"The Naskopi has [sic] evidently profited by their contact with
the Eskimo and often engage in the hunt for harbour seals. Another
Eskimo touch is 'jigging' through the ice for tom-cod in the spring.
[P. 131.]

"The principal dependence of the Naskopi in the matter of food
is the caribou. This animal migrates ... in herds which are . . .
waylaid, a favorite method being to spear it in the water as it crosses
some river or lake. The carcasses are hauled up on the shore, the skin
and entrails removed, and the meat left to dry in the sun and wind.
[Pp. 131-132.]

"Every now and then the caribou migrate in some round-about
direction and the Indians have a serious time in consequence. 1921-
22 was a season of this kind, but the Indians, fortunately, caught
plenty of fur and were able to buy supplies. ... [P. 132.]

"The ordinary dwelling of the Naskopi is the wigwam. This . . .
consists of a stack of poles covered with caribou skin or canvas. A
small opening is left at the top as a smoke-hole. The floor is covered
with spruce twigs, while in the centre, some stones are arranged to
form a fire-place. An innovation very much in favor at present is a
sheet-iron stove with pipes. . . . The door is merely a flap of skin or
canvas. . . . [Pp. 132-133.]

"The Naskopi are noted for the long journeys they undertake on
foot, as well as for the speed at which they travel. . . .

"The toboggan was formerly the favorite winter conveyance, but
the George River Naskopi at present use a sledge with thin, broad
runners ....

"Snowshoes are of the round type used by the Montagnais. . . .

"Corpses are now buried very much after the fashion of the whites,
though they are often placed in trees when a death occurs inland
during the winter. Later on they are buried." ( P. 133. )

In the following remarks by Wissler (1940:96-97), we seem to
miss the sympathetic understanding of a Turner, a Cabot, a Speck, an
Elton, or a Tanner:

"Far up in Labrador live the Naskapi. No white man seems to
want to live in their country, so they cannot claim to be martyrs to
white expansion. They have taken from the white man many of the
conveniences of civilization . . . ; but for the most part, they have
been free to work out their own social problems. ... If the reader

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MOXTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 37

asks what these Naskapi achieved with all their freedom, we fear the
answer is, not much.

"... Their life is hard; many of them die young, but the tribe has
survived by solving the problem of existing in a harsh environment.
Possibly they are as happy as most of us."

These remarks might be answered by saying that the Naskapi, in
their primitive state, had developed a higher degree of social equaht\%
individual liberty, and fitness to their environment, than the inhab-
itants of many civilized countries. The mere fact that they had sur-
vived and maintained their numbers for centuries before coming
into contact with civilization is a sufficient tribute to their resource-
fulness and adaptability. Their deterioration has resulted from con-
tact wdth avaricious traders, who profited unduly from their labors,
spread the diseases of civilization among them, diluted their racial
purity, and contributed to the depletion of their vital food resource —
Cabot's Caribou — by placing in their hands the deadly modern
weapons of wholesale destruction. Without the interference of the
white man, they might have continued indefinitely in their com-
paratively happy state; furthermore, they would not have been forced
to discard their primitive caribou culture by becoming mine laborers.

"The conditions of life here and the fate in hardship of these
natives [Montagnais-Naskapi] of the cold-forest and steppes zones
of Canada have evoked much commiseration among writers on the
North, which they fully deserve; but it is chiefly because of their
singular adaptation and fitness to the places where they are found
that they claim our attention and evoke interest in the principles
underlying the processes rather than pit)' for their lot." (Speck,
1935:16, fn.)

"The [Naskapi] bands have always been few and poor and dogged
by bitter catastrophies of starvation. . . .

"These Indians achieved a sort of balance which the acquisition of
firearms must have changed in large degree but still left possible."
(Elton, 1942:250.)

"In eastern Ungava lived the Barren Ground people. Their territory
was the George's River Valley up to the head of Indian House Lake
— a broad expanse of the river, famous as a caribou hunting place.
They wandered as well in the barrens west of Whale River, marching
with the Ungava Indian lands. The Barren Ground band traded, if at
all, with Davis Inlet. Since the deer failed in 1916 and influenza
swept through them in 1919, only a few are left and these have now

38 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS,, MUS. NAT. HIST.

come out to Nain to trade." (Elton, 1942:251.)

"The Indians [Naskapi, mainly] of Labrador are usually described
as a degenerate and rather poor branch of the race, inferior in many
respects to the Eskimos. This opinion has come from the traders,
who seem to have expected an independent nomad people to alter at
once its w^ay of life in order to help the trade; from ethnologists,
hoping to discover new and complicated customs and behefs; from
explorers, wanting wild hunters to turn to canoeing and packing for
wages; and from missionaries, whose attempts to introduce monog-
amy and a strange theology have usually failed to penetrate far below
the surface of the Indian mind." (Elton, 1942:351-352.)

Sebastien McKenzie, who was manager of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's post at Fort McKenzie from 1916 to 1936, informed me that
about 20 to 40 people (presumably hunters or heads of families)
would trade there in the course of a year. Some of the Naskapi came
from as far away as Indian House Lake, while others were local
about Fort McKenzie. Still other Indians were Cree from Great
Whale River, whence there were canoe routes to his post. He spoke
of doing as much as $35,000 worth of business in a year. The prin-
cipal furs were mink, marten, and otter. His trade goods came by
boat from Fort Chimo — a three- to five-days journey.

I gathered from Sebastien that tlie relations between the Naskapi
and the Montagnais were amicable. He himself had been to Indian
House Lake, to hunt. Some of the Indians there, up to 45 or 50 years
old, had never seen the sea.

Tanner's comprehensive and excellent account (1947, 2:654-700)
of the Naskapi is based in part on the prior records of McLean, Tur-
ner, Cabot, and others, and in part on his own observations, chiefly
at Davis Inlet and Northwest River. By his time there had been some
mixture, not only with Montagnais but even with Eskimos. Tanner's
account should be read in its entirety. Some quotations from it
follow:

"From the first moment it was clear that I was meeting with a
fragment of mankind who had to a great extent been preserved
from the influence of Europeanizing culture" (p. 659).

"Measured by economic and social standards the Naskaupi must
be considered among the most primitive peoples of the earth. But
this opinion must not be regarded as a disparaging one in their own
environment, for in the godforsaken regions where they live an un-
usually high degree of buoyancy and inventiveness is demanded

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 39

even to keep alive, and these qualities they certainly possess. The
isolation from contact with the white people and the conditions of
nature under which they hve, have evidently been contributory
causes of the retention of their primitiveness, which as we shall see
(p. 697), once resulted from a process of deculturation." (P. 661.)

"I have found no proof that [the Barren Ground band] extended
their hunting to any notable extent west of Indian House Lake"
(p. 669).

"The Naskaupee of olden days have gone, like the caribou they
hunted, and the hunters wander about to-day in the woods near the
Atlantic coast. Rotting tent poles on the George River and Barren
Ground Lake [Indian House Lake] tell a sad tale of life in these now
deserted parts and speak as if from tlie grave of a race that has passed
away. The descendants of the Barren Ground Naskaupee are no
longer a tundra people; in the forests they are in their element to-
day; the tundra is the despised land, without wood, without fuel, one
can freeze to death there. Yet the call of the life of freedom seems
still strong; they prefer to live in the forest wilds and seem to have
little or no intercourse with the whites or the Eskimoes and they even
seem to be outside the limits of tlie Catholic Mission." (P. 680. )

In 1947 Rousseau (1949) passed down the entire length of the
George River, meeting with only a few caribou and not a single
Naskapi. The river is said to have been entirely deserted by the
natives in 1944. Rousseau's voyage was apparently the first one of
that sort on the George since 1905.

Seventy Naskapi "were transported to Nutak by schooner from
Davis Inlet in 1948 and early in March [1950] left Nutak to go south
again." On two inland trips from Nutak they killed 27 and 2 caribou.
"This . . . band . . . have ceased to be barren ground hunters." (Fra-
zer, 1950.)

"Chimo serves as a trading post . . . for the small Indian population
which formerly traded at Fort McKenzie before that post was closed
in 1948

"Caribou are becoming increasingly scarce, by all accounts, and
according to report suffered a major, and unexplained, setback about
1918, when the migrating herd which usually crossed the Koksoak
River each year, failed to appear. It has not appeared since." ( Dun-
bar, 1952:7-8.)

Pere Laviolette ( 1955:204) writes of the population of the Koksoak
Basin:

40 XJNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. mST.

"Fort Chimo: This group of 191 Naskapi lives in the Winter
months at Fort Mackenzie .... During the summer tliey camp at
Fort Chimo. They are all nomadic, living of [= by] fishing, trapping
and hunting."

"In 1953 the Federal Government moved the Indians [Naskapi at
Fort Chimo] back to their former habitation in the neighbourhood
of Fort McKenzie on the Kaniapiskau River" (Michie and Neil,
1955:33).

"Increasing contact with the [white] newcomers in both Ungava
and Keewatin . . .threatens these people [Naskapi and Eskimo] with
the complete loss of their culture if not with virtual extermination"
(Michie and Neil, 1955:38).

Humphrys ( 1958 ) describes a recent drastic change in the way of
life of these Naskapi:

"In the summer of 1956 the entire Fort Chimo band of the Naskaupi
trekked 200 miles south to settle at the base of a ridge [near Knob
Lake] on which the Montagnais were already living. When they
first arrived, these people lived in tents, but later they built huts to
withstand the rigors of winter. In marked contrast with the modem
town and its facilities, the Indian settlement has no piped water sup-
ply, no electricity, no proper sanitation. In addition, the Naskaupi
have found their section to be ill-drained and therefore infested with
mosquitoes in summer." (P. 163.)

"The Canadian Indian Affairs Branch, in cooperation with the
Iron Ore Company, plans to build 25 houses, with provision for proper
hygiene, electric power, and adequate water supply, on a site near
that at present occupied by the Indians" ( p. 164 ) .

The Montognais-Naskapi {mixed bands)

Davis Inlet Band. — The intermixture of Naskapi and Montagnais
at this post seems to have come about through abandonment by the
Naskapi of their former territory between Davis Inlet and Hopedale
on the coast and Michikamau Lake in the interior. Their movement
was occasioned by great forest fires (about the end of the last century)
and the resulting scarcity of caribou. After the caribou lichen had
slowly regenerated and the animals had returned, the Montagnais
moved in from Northwest River and gradually took possession of the
district. Presently they established relations with the Davis Inlet
post, where both tribes now intermingle. ( Tanner, 1947, 2:583, 608. )

Before the amalgamation took place, Mrs. Hubbard (1908:156-
161 ) came in 1905 to a camp of Montagnais women and children at

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF XJNGAVA 41

Resolution Lake, near the head of George River. The men were
absent on a visit to Davis Inlet, where they had been trading for some
years. The wigwams "were covered with dressed deer-skins. . . . Some
six or eight splendid Eskimo dogs prowled about." The nearest
Naskapi camp was two days' journey to the north, "The two camps
are friendly and sometimes visit each other."

These notes of Mrs. Hubbard's are of interest in pertaining to
perhaps the northeasternmost band of Montagnais. Doubtless the
men of each camp went to Davis Inlet by a different route ( Nota-
kwanon and Assiwaban rivers ) . The era when any Montagnais had a
sufficient number of caribou skins for use as tents was probably
drawing to a close. Perhaps the Husky dogs had been acquired on
the Labrador coast and had supplanted the sled dogs of the Monta-
gnais. It was feasible to maintain these big dogs only where caribou
were moderately plentiful.

In the winter of 1927-28 the late WilHam Duncan Strong traveled
with members of the mixed Davis Inlet band in the country inland
from that post. According to a preliminary announcement ( Am. An-
thropologist 30[ 1 ] : 173, 1928 ) ,

"Dr. Strong . . . will go, with a native interpreter and a team of
dogs, into the interior to mingle with and study the primitive Naskapi
Indians. These tribes, of which little is known at present, are one
of the most primitive of extant peoples. They are reported to be surly
and untrustworthy and disinclined to welcome white intruders."

In a subsequent account of the relations of these Indians with the
vertebrate fauna. Strong writes (1930fl:l-2):

"Like all northern regions, Labrador is subject to periodic fluc-
tuations in the abundance of animal life, and the winter of 1927-
1928 marked a very low ebb in the numbers of all species, resident
as well as migratory. The country was lifeless beyond description,
and it was not at all unusual to travel fifty or sixt\' miles a day in the
utterly uninhabited interior and not see a single bird or animal track,
let alone any living creature. In spite of constant hunting, only two
snowshoe rabbits and no arctic hares were killed by the Indians.
Willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan, and spruce grouse were likewise
very scarce, and the fur-bearers, as would be expected, were very
rare. This lifelessness extended to the birds of prey, small birds of
all sorts, squirrels and mice. Needless to say, the Indians were ter-
ribly pressed for food, and if several small herds of caribou had not
been encountered, in addition to the trout secured in nets under the
ice, many of these people would have starved to death. These periods

42 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

of want are of frequent occurrence in Labrador, and the mortality
from starvation among the Indians who hve in the peninsula is still
quite high. Formerly, when there were no trading stations and the
hostile Eskimo prevented access to the coast, tlieir sufferings at such
times were even more extreme."

The names employed by this mixed band for the various species of
mammals differ in at least some slight degree from those in use by the
Seven Islands band.

The Davis Inlet Naskapi often camp at a large unnamed lake about
40 miles west of Jack Lane's Bay to watch for caribou ( Strong, 1930b:
128).

"There are no Eskimo here [Davis Inlet], but about eighty Indians
of the Nascaupee tribe, a branch of the Cree nation, were camped
along the mainland shore, making their summer visit to trade and
meet their priest. They are indescribably filthy and clad in rags of
deerskin and store clothing; their canoes are of the usual Canadian
pattern . . . ; their dwellings are both of the ridge-tent and the 'tepee'
type, covered with old canvas and skins; they are entirely nomad and
wander up and down the country from Ungava to the St. Lawrence,
travelling the lakes and rivers by canoe and living by hunting; they
are said to be inferior trappers." (Wyatt, 1934:50.)

Tanner ( 1947, 2:474, 583-585, figs. 222, 253) extends the boundary
between the Naskapi and the Montagnais westward from Davis Inlet
to Resolution Lake and across the lower course of the Riviere de Pas;
thence it continues, north of Petitsikapau and Kaniapiskau lakes, till
it meets the domain of the Eastern Cree. This old boundary hes for
the most part between latitudes 55° and 56°. It has been rendered
somewhat obsolete by tlie mixture of the two tribes in the Davis Inlet
area, and recently by another mixture in the mining area about Knob
Lake (see Ross, 1957).

Tanner (1947, 2:654-657) provides an illuminating discussion of
the Davis Inlet band, including his personal impressions of the people.
In treating of the Naskapi in general, he makes (p. 691 ) some further
remarks that seem to be applied more or less particularly to this mixed
band at Davis Inlet:

"I have no knowledge that a single Indian of Newfoundland-Lab-
rador has been given an opportunity to learn to read, write and count.
In social and religious aspects the Indians have been but little raised
above their state of development at the time when the Catholic Mis-
sion first discovered them. Animism is still said to control their view
of life. But when their world is so poor as the deserted woods and

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 43

barren grounds of Labrador it is only natural that they should seek
to reinsure themselves where they may find sympathy and protec-
tion, so they do not despise what tlie priest may be able to give them
and their families by reading the Latin mass and giving them alms at
the trading-post of Davis Inlet. Though really their mental life still
belongs to the Stone age." ( This condition is in very marked contrast
to that of the Montagnais of the Moisie band, where practically the
entire community seems to be hterate. )

"Recent reports [of the Davis Inlet band] are of a band about four
times the [former] size, which has become more and more depen-
dent on trade goods and which regularly spends the summer months
at Davis Inlet and Nain. With the depletion of fur in the area, the
Indians have become increasingly dependent on relief." (Miss Lea-
cock, 1954:22.)

Pere Laviolette (1955:204) writes of the two mixed bands of the
Labrador coast:

"There are two Indian settlements on the Labrador coast, the one
located at North West River, with a population of 135; the other is at
Davis Inlet, with a population of 117.

"These Indians live of [ = by] trapping, hunting and fishing. They
do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Indian Act and they are con-
sidered full-fledged citizens of Canada."

Northwest River Band. — Cartwright ( 1792 ) distinguished none
too clearly between Montagnais ("Mountaineers"), Naskapi ("Nes-
caupick"), and Eskimos along the coast between Lake Melville and
the Strait of Belle Isle. In 1778 he wrote ( 1792, 2:352) of seven fam-
ilies of "Mountaineers" having been in winter at "Ivuktoke Bay"
(apparently Lake Melville).

"The Nascaupees inhabit the interior country north of a line . . .
from the bottom of James Bay eastward to Hamilton Inlet" (Low,
1896:44). They then traded at Rigolet and Northwest River, and
their hunting grounds extended to the north and the northwest as far
as the Koksoak and Larch Rivers.

"Formerly some of the southern Indians came up Northwest River
[Naskaupi River] and hunted on its upper waters and those of rivers
flowing eastward into the Atlantic. Their country, poor at best, suf-
fered by fire; fish were small, the caribou more and more uncertain.
Finding that the deer summered in the unoccupied lake country
south of the Nascaupees and west of Hopedale, they adopted that
region and gave up the difficult Northwest River route. Having
changed their trading-point to Seven Islands, the easier route by the

44 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

upper Hamilton and Lake Michikamau was very direct. The num-
ber of these families varies from half a dozen to as many as fifteen
or more. Their summer route finally reaches the east coast by the
Notaquanon . . . River." ( Cabot, 1922: 199. ) ( It is difficult to decide
whether these notes of Cabot's apply to the Davis Inlet band or to
the Northwest River band; perhaps they refer, in part, to both. )

"The blood of these [Montagnais] Indians [at Northwest River]
is still practically pure" (Leslie, 1931:190),

Speck (1931:558) refers to this as an "unstudied band." "Part of
the tribe, coming out to the Northwest river post, . . . hunt between
Hamilton inlet and the gulf of St. Lawrence."

"South again [from Davis Inlet] were the North West River band,
whose lands were north of Hamilton Inlet, and who hunted west
almost to the height of land, by the huge Lake Michikamau. These
traded at North West River post. West of these and high up among
what Turner called 'the festoonery of lakes looped through the high-
lands' lived the small Lake Michikamau band: between that lake
and Lake Petitsikapau. These used to trade at North West River but
now go out to Seven Islands on the Gulf of St. Lawrence." ( Elton,
1942:251.)

"The Montagnais were living at Hamilton Inlet until 1779." During
the next century they "gradually spread out over all parts of the
extensive Lake Melville drainage system. . . . Parallel with the
displacement of the Naskaupee people in contrary directions indi-
viduals and families belonging to both tribes have ceaselessly been
intermingled," The essential reason why Speck combined them into
one group was the similarity of their non-material culture. The Mon-
tagnais in our day are continually crossing the boundary zone be-
tween themselves and the Naskapi. (Tanner, 1947, 2:582, 583, 586,
591.)

The Northwest River group comprises 35 to 40 Montagnais families.
For hunting and trapping they spread out to the Mealy Mountains,
the lower Hamilton River, the Goose, Beaver, and Susan rivers,
Michikamau Lake, and from Lake Snegamook toward Hopedale.
Recruits to this group include some Naskapi from Ungava and some
Montagnais from the Gulf coast. (Tanner, 1947, 2:606-608.)

By 1951 the Indians of this band did not "seem to regard themselves
as much of a unit." Some families "have apparently left the band and
become attached to the Seven Islands post." ( Miss Leacock, 1954:23. )

It will be seen from the above account that the history of the North-
west River band is somewhat vague and incompletely documented.

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 45

We have only a meager knowledge of its origin, composition, wan-
derings, and shifting territory.

The Montagnais

"The Mountaineers [Montagnais] are esteemed an industrious
tribe; and, for many years, had been known to the French traders
[along the North Shore of the Gulf?]. Their chief employment is
to catch fur, and procure the necessaries of life. They are extremely
illiterate, but generally good-natured; and are reckoned to be less
ferocious than any other of the Indians. This softness of their man-
ners is owing to their long intercourse with Europeans; and the other
natives will doubtless lose their savage disposition, in proportion as
they imbibe our customs." (R. Curtis, 1774:380.)

Among the earher accounts is that of J. J. Audubon (in M. R. Au-
dubon, 1897, 1:376), who met the Montagnais at Natashquan in 1833:

"The men were stout and good-looking, spoke tolerable French,
the skin redder than any Indians I have ever seen, and more clear;
the women appeared cleaner than usual, their hair braided and hang-
ing down, jet black, but short. All were dressed in European costume
except the feet, on which coarse moccasins of sealskin took tlie place
of shoes."

When Audubon had passed a little eastward of Little Mecatina on
the way to Bradore Bay, he had a conversation with some seafaring
men (pp. 406-407):

"We talked of . . . the aborigines themselves melting away before
the encroachments of the white man, who looks without pity upon
the decrease of the devoted Indian, from whom he rifles home, food,
clothing, and life. For as the Deer, the Caribou, and all other game is
killed for the dollar which its skin brings in, the Indian must search
in vain over the devastated country for that on which he is accus-
tomed to feed, till, worn out by sorrow, despair, and want, he either
goes far from his early haunts to others, which in time will be similarly
invaded, or he lies on the rocky seashore and dies. We are often told
rum kills the Indian; I think not; it is oftener the want of food, the
loss of hope as he loses sight of all that was once abundant, before tlie
white man intruded on his land and killed off the wild quadrupeds
and birds with which he has fed and clothed himself since his crea-
tion. Nature herself seems perishing. Labrador must shortly be de-
peopled, not only of aboriginal man, but of all else having Hfe, owing
to man's cupidity. When no more fish, no more game, no more birds
exist on her hills, along her coasts, and in her rivers, then she will be
abandoned and deserted like a worn-out field."

46 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Robertson ( 1843:37) writes of the "Mountaineers" at the six King's
Posts (Tadousac to Moisie):

"They are a very timid and inoffensive people, not but that they
show occasionally some outbursts of ferocity, particularly when intox-
icated— their long subjection has debased them and given them all
the vices of slaves, liars, cheats, and drunkards. About 200 years ago
they were, at least as warlike and enterprising as any tribe on this
continent."

Encamped at Seven Islands, in 1861, "were about 150 [Montagnais]
Indians; among them were a dozen Nasquapees" (Hind, 1863,
1:320).

Here, at the chapel mass,

"The Indian women wore the picturesque Montagnais cap of
scarlet, and black or green cloth in alternate stripes, with, in some
instances, a gold lace tassel attached to the drooping extremity.
Most of them were enveloped in gaudy coloured shawls; their petti-
coats were of blue cloth or calico, with bright patterns, their mis-
tassins or leggings of blue cloth, and their moccasins of seal skin,
neatly ornamented with silk or porcupine quills, worked into a pattern
of flowers. The men had all discarded their Indian dress of caribou
skin, and wore cloth coats and trousers; the only article of Indian
manufacture which formed part of their clothing was the seal-skin
moccasin.

"... I was very much struck with the general aspect of the Monta-
gnais women: their eyes are inclined, their noses aquihne, and their
jaws square; the last feature is also the distinguishing character of
the men, but is still more developed in the Nasquapee than in the
Montagnais race." (Hind, 1863, 1:335.)

When Paul le Jeune, a Jesuit missionary, first saw some of the
Montagnais on the lower St. Lawrence in 1632, "their faces were
painted with red, blue, and black stripes, according to each man's
fancy and taste; their clothing was made of the beaver, bear, or fox
skins; they wore no covering on the head, and their long black and
greasy hair hung low over their shoulders; they were armed with
bow and arrows, a shield, and a lance." (Hind, 1863, 2:10-11.)

The following passage, dealing with the Indians at Mingan in 1867,
is worth quoting from a little-known work by Couper ( 1868:9) :

"The Labrador Indians are a peaceable people, having great regard
for rehgion and morahty. Several of both sexes can read their own
language, and when at the mission, they regularly go to church twice
a day on Sunday. They have evidently abandoned the savage modes

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 47

of life attributed to their predecessors. Yet, a stranger can discern
a love of fellowship existing among them, which is probably caused
by the ties of relationship. Like all other tribes of North American
Indians, they are happy when together in camp. Each family hunt
and work for themselves — jealousy does not exist — no quarrels arise
among the weaker sex — indeed, the utmost harmony and good
will prevails even when the wigwams stand close together, and their
occupants number over five hundred souls. I have seen more real
affection exhibited at the parting of two families of these semi-
civilized people than could be evinced from tlie breasts of nations
long advanced in civilization.

"Being poor fishermen, they do not care to capture fish by any other
mode but with the spear — an instrument which tliey handle with
great dexterity. . . .

"The men generally resemble the European in stature; evidently
strong, but having little confidence in their strength, tliey succumb
to the power of the settler, and will run away sooner than receive a
blow. . . . They are fond of music, singing and dancing .... Old and
young wear a conical cap on their heads; it is made of alternate
pieces of red and blue cloth. The latter colors are those adopted by
the tribe, and the men sometimes wear leggings and gauntlets of
these combined colors."

John Bignell ( 1873:53 ) writes concerning the inhabitants about the
Manicouagan, Pentecote, Trinity, and Godbout rivers:

"The interior of this part of the country is hunted over by a portion
of the Montagnais tribe of Indians who are a quiet [,] docile, inof-
fensive, and hospitable people ....

"Amongst these people hospitahty is practiced to the fullest extent,
quarreling is never heard, and theft is unknown, and almost every
man amongst them can read and write, and our own boasted civ-
ihzed communities would in a great many respects, compare very
unfavorably with them."

Corroboration of Couper's and BigneU's laudatory words may be
found in Tanner ( 1947, 2 : 599 ) :

"They [the Montagnais] are a very peaceful people. As one learns
to know them better one soon finds something attractive in their
calmness. I myself can fully confirm the opinion of one of my white
trapper friends: that diey really radiate friendliness and goodwill
when they see a person for a second time."

Turner (1894:181) writes of Montagnais distribution and traits
intliel880's:

48 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

"The Mountaineers . . . roam over the areas south of the Hamilton
inlet and as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, . . . They trade at all
the stations along the accessible coast. Many of them barter at
Rigolet and Northwest river.

"In customs they differ little from the Indians [Naskapi] to the
north of them. Their means of subsistence are the flesh of reindeer,
porcupines, and various birds, such as geese, ducks, ptarmigan, and
grouse.

. . .The scarcity of the reindeer renders the food supply quite
precarious ....

"Their clothing is of the tanned skin of the [woodland] deer when
they are able to procure it. As nearly all the skins of the reindeer are
used for garments, few are prepared for other purposes; hence the
northern stations (Fort Chimo) furnish great numbers of these [Bar-
ren Ground caribou] skins in the parchment condition to be pur-
chased by the Mountaineers, who cut them into fine lines for snow-
shoe netting and other purposes.

"They procure the furs of marten, mink, fur beaver, muskrats,
lynxes, wolverines, wolves, and foxes. A considerable number of
black bears are also obtained by these Indians. By the barter of
these furs they procure the articles made necessary by the advent of
the white people among them. They are quiet and peaceable. Many
of them profess a regard for the teachings of the Roman missionaries,
who have visited them more or less frequently for over a hundred and
fifty years. ...

"It was impossible to obtain a satisfactory estimate of the numbers
of the Mountaineers. My stay in their vicinity [Rigolet] was too
short to learn as much about them as was desired."

After long acquaintance with the Montagnais of the Lake St. John
area, Chambers (1896) refers to this tribe as "the most interesting
of Canadian Indians" (p. 123), and he comments further on the
"peculiarities of this interesting people, and of the strange beliefs,
superstitions, and manners of the men who paddle and pole [the
sportsman's] canoe in the water, carry it over the portages, pitch and
take down his tent, make his bed and his fire, cook and serve his
meals, and conduct him to the likeliest spot for a shot at a bear or a
caribou, or to the most promising grounds for ouananiche or trout."
(P. 301.)

He also remarks (pp. 302-306) on the occurrence among them,
especially in bygone years, of sorcery, immorality, murder, anthro-

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 49

pophagy, and the strangling of the aged and infirm who could not
keep up with the rest of the party on hunting trips.

"Their territorial hunting rights, which are their most valued pos-
sessions, are not the father's to bequeath. These hereditary rights are
vested in the woman, and the hunter only acquires the use of them
by marriage." ( P. 307. )

Their belief in evil spirits or Windigoes "is one of the most firmly
rooted of their suspicions" ( p. 308 ) .

"The squaws are compelled to be the drudges of their husbands,
and are usually only permitted to eat after them. The daintiest
pieces of the game they Idll are only eaten by the men. According to
the latter, it would injure their future hunting prospects to give any
of these tidbits to a woman. Yet in cases of actual want, an Indian,
to do him justice, will leave his last piece of food for his squaw." ( P.
314. ) ( In the more than three-score years since the time of Chambers'
book, the woman's status has vastly improved, at least in the Moisie
band, as may be seen on subsequent pages of the present report. )

"The territory hunted by each Indian family in Labrador is as
much its own for hunting purposes as is a farmer's field for cultivation.
Some hunters have several hundred square miles of territor>' in their
respective game preserves. Bears and caribou and such hke roaming
animals are killed wherever seen, if wanted, but beavers and similar
game and fur-bearing animals that inhabit restricted areas are the
property of the hunter within whose territory they reside and breed.
For any but their owner to kill them would be as unjustifiable as the
shooting down of a neighbor's ox." ( Pp. 318-319. )

"Christianity and the northerly advance of civilization have done
much for these poor people, but they still cling fondly to many of their
old superstitions. So far as morality and respect for law and order
are concerned, the Montagnais and Nascapees of Labrador will now,
as a rule, compare favorably with those boasting a loftier Christian-
ity and a higher plane of civilization." (P. 320.)

"Recent years have witnessed a radical change in the appearance
of the Montagnais language as printed and written by the Oblat
missionaries. These zealous men, for the purpose of simplifying the
art of reading for their Indian converts, have reduced the letters of
the alphabet to sixteen, having eliminated b, c, d, f, q, v, w, x, y, z."
(P. 327.)

"I cannot wish for the true angler and lover of these Nortliem
woods and waters any more enjoyable experience than many that

50 UNRTERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

have been mine in the company of Montagnais guides in camp and
canoe" (p. 329).

Low (1896:45) writes on the Montagnais:

"The Montagnais are more or less of mixed blood, having inter-
married with the old coureurs des hois and the French and English
traders. This admixture of white blood is seen in the better phy-
sique of the tribe, the men being more muscular and broader than
the pure Indian of tlie interior. As a rule, the men are of medium
height, but a few are tall. The women are inclined to obesity as they
advance in years, like their sisters of the northern tribes."

"Sandgirt Lake is an important gathering place for the Indians of
the interior, on account of the number of routes that centre here. . . .
The main route from the Hamilton River to Lake Michikamau also
ends here. The Indians who trade on the lower St. Lawrence and
hunt anywhere in this vicinity, always congregate here in the spring,
and descend to the coast in company, either by the Romaine or Moisie
River." (Low, 1896:147-148.)

I was informed by Ben McKenzie that during recent years a radar
station at Sandgirt Lake had served to attract the Indians there. All
were Montagnais, not Naskapi.

In 1905 Wallace ( 1907:14, 135, 136, 208, 287) met with some Mon-
tagnais from Davis Inlet who were hunting caribou on the head-
waters of the George River (about lat. 55° 15' N. ). In olden times
a part of this tribe had hunting grounds between "Hamilton Inlet"
[Lake Melville] and the upper George River. But by 1907, for the
most part, they hunted south of Hamilton Inlet and traded at posts
on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At that period most of the St. Lawrence
Montagnais had more or less white blood, while those inhabiting
Lake Melville, the St. Augustin River, and the area to the eastward of
that river were "pure, uncontaminated" Indians. In April, 1906, some
members of the tribe had been driven to SeaLnet Cove on the Gulf
through failure to find caribou in the interior. Their food was almost
wholly flesh, fish, and berries. They still used the bow and arrow
for partridges and other small game. Some of the younger people
had never seen a priest.

In referring to the Montagnais of the Lake St. John area. Speck
writes (1909:154):

"At heart the Indians have lost their independence of life. The
white man supplies all their physical needs — food and clothing —
while die priest takes care of their spiritual needs. From this state of
dependence the native is unable to rise. It is impossible for him to

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 51

revert to his primitive state of simplicity and it is just as impossible
for him to master or catch up with the intricate ways of modem
economy. In his natural state he labored less and had more; now he
labors more and has less. The difference flows into the coffers of the
. . . Company."

Bryant (1913:5) writes of some 2.5 Montagnais famihes who were
gathered at St. Augustin in July, 1912, on their annual migration from
the interior:

"The summer rendezvous on the gulf is the great event of the year
to this wandering people. . . . The men have adopted the prosaic
garments of their white brothers; but the women affect the most
gaudy colors in their skirts and bodices. Perhaps the most charac-
teristic detail of the women's dress is the Phrygian cap made of
alternate sections of red and blue cloth. . . . These Mountaineers of
the [southeastern] Labrador interior are a pure-blooded people who
still adhere to the hunting life of their ancestors and have compar-
atively Httle intercourse with the whites." He writes further (p. 6)
on "their unwillingness to have white men spy into the secrets of
their country."

After a trip about 80 miles up the Natashquan River in 1912,
Townsend writes (1913:171-172):

"According to the government census published in 1908, the Mon-
tagnais Indians along this part of the coast number 694 in all, distrib-
uted as follows: 76 at Natashquan, 241 at Mingan and 377 at Seven
Islands. . . .

"Although some of the Montagnais are tall, the majority are
rather short in stature, but lithe and wiry, with small hands and feet,
and delicate, attractive features .... Many of the Indians show ad-
mixture with white blood. The straight black hair of the men is
cropped below the ears, while the women tie theirs up in round black
knots on either side. The men wear stockings of many colors puUed
up to the knee over the trowsers, moccasins and wool or canvas
jackets; the women, short plaid skirts, bright handkerchiefs about
the shoulders and red and black liberty caps with embroidered
bands. . . . Hind in 1861 pictured the same fashions."

TowTisend also (1917:138) presents a brief pictiu-e of the appear-
ance and costumes of the Montagnais at Grand Romaine in 1915. He
refers (p. 144) to a portage path at Shekatica Inlet that had been
polished for generations by the moccasined feet of the Montagnais
on tlieir way to tlie upper St. Paul's River.

In a later work (1918:57, 302-303), he says that the Montagnais

52 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

usually spend the whole winter (August to May) in the interior, and
that during the summer they cruise along the coast, feasting on eider
eggs and flesh.

A few comments by Cabot ( 1922 ) on the distribution of various
groups of Montagnais may be inserted here:

"Along the Gulf the principal trading-stations are Bersimis, Seven
Islands, Mingan, and St. Augustine" (p. 193).

"From the Gulf near Mingan, the hunters ascend the St. John, pass
a difficult high portage to the Romaine, and proceed toward the
Grand Falls region of the Hamilton" ( p. 193 ) .

"Eastward from Mingan the people travel the Natashquan, St.
Augustine, and Eskimo Rivers. Their lands are chiefly between the
Hamilton and the St. Lawrence." ( P. 195. )

"The people who descend the Moisie in the summer gather at
Sandgirt Lake on the Hamilton, apparently for the mere sake of
seeing each other, and they keep together as may be until their final
separation in the fall for their individual lands" (p. 207).

Comeau (1923) gives some very interesting glimpses of Monta-
gnais traits, especially in the Godbout area.

Speck's several works (1909-1942; see bibliography) are too ex-
tensive to lend themselves to adequate and yet concise quotation. At
the same time they are so autlioritative and essential that any serious
student of the Indians of the Ungava Peninsula will gain access to
the originals. I cannot refrain, however, from quoting a few passages:

"It becomes imperative as a prelude to ethnological investigation
in any region that the distribution of its population be ascertained,
and the units, should they exist, assigned a location under their proper
names. ... In so large an area ... as the Labrador peninsula . . . the
need of knowing the contemporary distribution of its population . . .
is obvious. Considering again the extent of country, its inacces-
sibility in all times, the sparseness of people, and the mysterious
seclusion of its roving tribes, it is small wonder that such a preliminary
survey has never as yet been made." (1931:573.)

"It will be noticed that the populations forming the band groups are
localized within the drainage areas of the rivers and lakes" ( 1931 :
574).

"Comment seems to be in place at this point concerning the part
played by the game animals of several categories as an influencing
factor upon the type of land tenure and upon the distribution of the
differing bands of the well-forested southern portion of the peninsula
and those of the barrens of the north" (1931:576).

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 53

Concerning the Moisie ( or Seven Islands ) band, to which my own
acquaintance was Hmited in 1953, Speck (1931:585) makes the fol-
lowing comments:

"The Moisie people seem to be of mixed extraction so far as original
units are concerned. The families who operate nearer the coast
may be the residue of a population of former times which belonged
south of the Height of Land, and the northern families of those be-
longing in the interior. . . . The families falhng under this band clas-
sification number ten, and hunt and trap the territory up Moisie
River and east of it to Mingan and Attikonak lakes, from the coast to
the headwaters of Hamilton river beyond the Height of Land."

Speck's later and probably most important work (1935) on the
Montagnais deals primarily with their spiritual culture, and thus
hes for the most part beyond the scope of the present sHght effort.
Mention may be made of his plate 3 ( facing p. 48 ) showing a Naskapi
woman of the Moisie band and thus indicating a diversity of elements
in that band. Corroboration is supplied by Tanner (1947, 2:578):
"Descendants of the semi-settled Nascaupee are ... to be found . . .
among the Montagnais on [at] Seven Islands." Speck writes also
(1931:587) of the Musquaro band on the North Shore: "Specimens
of their language show them to be a branch of the so-called Naskapi."

For a comprehensive ethnographic description of early Montagnais
cultvu-e (1600-1640), as reconstructed from contemporary sources,
Lane (1952) may be consulted.

Speck ( 1936 ) discusses the natives in the extreme southeast of the
peninsula:

"The Indians of the Montagnais-Naskapi group covering the entire
interior of the Labrador peninsula are represented on their farthest
eastern frontier by the small band hunting the headwaters of the St.
Augustin, Shekatica[,] Paradise and Eskimo rivers to and beyond
the Height of Land dividing the waters flowing into the Straits of
Belle Isle from those going to Hamilton Inlet. The St. Augustin
Indians emerge from their hunting grounds in the interior annually
in spring, when the break-up of ice in the rivers permits them to
descend by canoe, coming out to the Hudson's Bay Co. post at the
mouth of the St. Augustin river to trade their winter catch of fur.
They number at present only 49 persons. There is practically no
mixture of blood." (Pp. 143-144.)

"This band, like all of those on the easterly coast . . . depended
primarily on the caribou in former times. . . . The tighter pressure of
famine each winter [not to mention . . .] have radically changed

54 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

economy for them." (P. 145.) (They now Hve largely upon white
flour and lard. )

"The hunting territories of the band . . . are the traditional birth-
right of the natives" (p. 147).

"Skin clothing . . . has disappeared from use, except for moccasins
and mittens. Contact with civilization has indeed routed the warm
and adequate native materials of protective clotliing from the vitals
of their poor bodies to the shivering extremities! What an exemplified
symbol of native fate!" (P. 150.)

"Twenty or thirty years ago the caribou were abundant. The
Indians were practically living on them. . . . Then they decreased
and were only found thirty or forty miles in the country ( above St.
Paul's river ) . In the last few years they have been more abundant."
(Pp. 154-155.)

"There are certain measures which if adopted, even at some tech-
nical cost, would result in extraordinary benefit to the Indians of
the eastern interior of the peninsula. The seat of their maladies Ues
in the evil of permanent malnutrition. Consensus of opinion of sev-
eral experienced authorities who have intimate dealings with the
Indians from Romaine to St. Augustin expresses a similar view of the
cause of endemic tuberculosis attended with scrofula in malignant
form. The remedial measures would seem to lie primarily and
directly in the stabilization of the natural, I mean the wild, food
supply. Incidentally, then, the other conditions of life affected by
health conditions, the maintenance of social equilibrium, of moral
control are secondary or become secondary circumstances." ( P. 155. )

"What is meant by a poor winter hunt' will appear in the following
list of the gross net kill made by the band the previous season; car-
ibou 15, seal 1, muskrat 114, beaver 12, otter 10, fox 24, weasel 100,
total value $125." (P. 156.)

"Now for the cHmax of my memorandum. If a solution be desired
for the tragic condition of life to which the innocent have been
brought by the apparently inexorable fate of collapse in the path of
advance of a vicious Caucasian migration, one move is logically pre-
scribable. It is, in short, to restrict the operation of invaders into the
hunting grounds of the aborigines, thus barring the whites from
free-land hunting and trapping beyond certain distances from the
coast. Game in the interior is too uncertain a quantity to support life
for more than a limited number of souls. . . . The annual influx of
whites who leave their homes in the coast settlement to invade those
of the Indians in the barren hinterland for winter hunting and

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 55

trapping is an overtax of the country's resources. For this the health,
the morale, the vitality of the Indians pay the price with no indem-
nity— sacrifice entire!" (P. 157. )

The following are excerpts from Speck and Eiseley's account (1942)
of the bands that are based upon Seven Islands as a trading center:

They refer (p. 215) to the Ste. Marguerite, the Moisie, the Shelter
Bay, the Michikamau, the Nichikun, and several other bands as
"now almost disintegrated groups."

In contrast to the northern and eastern bands, "matters are quite
different in the economic circumstances of the bands of the southern
and western portions of the Montagais-Naskapi habitat, where the
hunting environment is that of the forest, where the game is more
diversified and more abundant though smaller in size, and scattered
through the forests. And here furthermore tlie moose enters into the
economic system while the caribou is of the woodland race which
runs in smaller numbers." ( P. 220. )

"It is now evident that the two bands, Ste. Marguerite and Moisie,
. . . have become amalgamated" (p. 222).

"It seems that the Petisikapau horde has suffered a fate similar to
that of the Kaniapiskau and Nichikun people recently, and which is
overtaking the Michikamau group at the time of writing. The dis-
integration of the band has thrown its members into the population
complex to the southward, nearer the shore folk who make rendez-
vous at the Seven Islands post. Since the hunters from the Petisikapau
endroits descend by way of Moise River and associate with the
people deriving their identity from the Moisie, they have become
considerably fused and intermarried with this group." (P. 224.)

Family names in the Moisie band are Picard, Moise, Pinette, Regis,
Vollant, Rock, and Pilo (p. 225).

"The scarcity of edible large game animals, the devastation of the
region by annual bush fires, not to mention the growing encroach-
ment of Canadian-French trappers in the European drift northward
to exploit new areas, is [sic] having a destructive effect upon their
game resources. Reactions upon the human inhabitants, who for so
long have lived in relative equi-balance in these deserts, have been
noteworthOy destructive in the long run." (P. 226.)

"It seems that the absorption of the interior bands into the coastal
populations began with the movement of the Ashwanipi horde in
the 19th century, joining with others to form the Moisie Band of
later times, followed by the merging of the Petisikapau and Kaniapis-
kau famihes with these of the Ste. Marguerite Band, and lastly the

56 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

dispersion of the Nichikim people to join temporarily with the gen-
eral populations of tlie coast at Seven Islands." ( Pp. 226-227. )

"A very close connection exists between the Ste. Marguerite Indians
and the Kaniapiskau families" (p. 227).

"The Nichikun band has been dissolved as a social unit since the
abandonment of die Hudson Bay's [sic] Company at Lake Nichikun
circa 1919" (pp. 232-233).

"Some took up their residence with the Moisie Indians while others
joined the bands west of them" ( p. 233 ) .

"Questioning disclosed the fact tliat the Nichikun families did not
separate and hunt or trap alone on inherited hunting grounds, as do
the Montagnais south of them.

"The Michikamau horde is apparently the most integrated of the
groups living in the central interior of the peninsula. The isolation
of their habitat and the recency of their emergence from solitude
into the confusing milieu of hfe at the Hudson's Bay Company's post
at Seven Islands have tended to preserve their social independence
and fend off the disintegration through mixed marriages and adop-
tion of French-Canadian ideals and manners." ( P. 234. )

The Michikamau band leaves Seven Islands for the interior on
August 1, and reaches "Menihek Lake by about October 5th. . . .
Thence they move along by easy stages . . . , reaching . . . Michikamau
by the end of October." From November "until toward the end of
January they travel as a band, depending upon and following the
caribou for food." Then "they separate again by families to pursue
trapping in their habitually frequented tracts. About the end of
March" they come "together again at the customary rendezvous on
Menihek Lake. . . . Early in May the flotilla gets under way moving
southward over the Height of Land . . . and down the Moisie River, ar-
riving at the Moisie post almost punctually on the 25th of June." A
few famihes "may refrain from the coast migration for many years,
some never going down." ( Pp. 234-235. )

It will be noted that there is considerable discrepancy as to details
between the annual cycle of the Michikamau band, as related here
by Speck and Eiseley, and that of Pierre Gabriel, presumably a
representative of the neighboring Petitsikapau band, as related in
the next few pages by Tanner (1947, 2:612-625). Among other
things, it may be mentioned that if the Michikamau band waited in
the spring for open water on the lakes, it could scarcely start south-
ward before June. The downstream journey on the Moisie River
at this season is so much easier than the upstream journey in the fall
that it could no doubt be accomplished readily in less than a month.

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 57

Some 40 years after Bryant and Townsend had sketched the Mon-
tagnias way of Hfe on the North Shore, at St. Augustin and Natash-
quan, and 20 years after Speck had done hkewise for those of the
St. Augustin area, Miss Leitch (1956) brings the account nearly up
to date, with a portrayal of modem Romaine, at the mouth of the
Olomane. There seems as yet to have been no very drastic or fun-
damental change. There are still "the old women of the village, in
their voluminous tartan skirts and traditional Montagnais 'Liberty'
caps," and "with a pipeful of tobacco." "Even some of the young
modems [girls] of the North Shore continue to bind their hair into
two bobs, one over each ear, and wrapped with black ribbon."
(These hair bobs are figured on pages 20-21.) The whole popula-
tion of 303 was about to depart on its regular autumnal trip to the
hunting territories in the interior. However, "as the frontier rolls
east past Seven Islands, the Indians are slowly moving into housing
projects and forgetting their old ways."

Tanner (1947, 2:612-625) provides an absorbing account of the
annual cycle of the Indians of the North Shore, as told to him by
Pierre Gabriel. An abstract follows:

"Pierre's group generally breaks up at Seven Islands about August
10th. They move up the Moisie River and usually two families go
together." (P. 612.)

"Though [the Indian's] main food still consists of nature's gifts —
fish and game — yet he must now also have flour, lard, sugar, etc.
with him .... To carry all this equipment up to the lake plateau a
family . . . will need 2 to 4 canoes ....

"The canoe must be paddled, poled, or tracked." ( P. 613. )

"Along the Moisie River there are many well-worn portage paths
around the falls and rapids proving the antiquity of this highway
route ....

"Only after a month and a half of paddling and poling does Pierre
arrive at his first big stopping-place: Ashuanipi Lake ....

"Thence they move comfortably further north along the water-
course ... to Petitsikapau Lake." (P. 614.)

"Nowadays the different families do not, as formerly, feel them-
selves confined to certain hunting tracts which were theirs of old-
established or inherited rights .... For the greater part of the time
the Indians now live as separate families or groups of some few
families." (Pp. 614-616.)

"The only protection against the elements which the Indians have
is the linen tent ....

58 UNIVTERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

" Nor do the Montagnais systematically lay in a store of food; they
build no caches like other hunters ....

In the autumn, "from Petitsikapau Lake Pierre's company bends
south-east to Sandgirt Lake," whence they "spread out in different
directions: away to Mishikamau Lake and even to the Notaquanon
River or the Hamilton River. While waiting for winter to set in
Pierre himself generally paddles away to the mysterious hunting-
grounds around the sources of the George River which he still con-
siders his family's hereditary possession .... But he tries to get
back to Sandgirt Lake before it freezes. . . .

"In early October the caribou . . . collect round the sources of the
George and Kipekak [Kaipokok] Rivers; the hunters therefore go
there and kill many animals .... Especially Mishikamau Lake has
been a regular autumnal rendezvous of Indians since very old
times. . . .

"In early November . . . the winter gear must be examined and
mended, the traps set, the canoes laid up ... . The squaws dress the
caribou skins." ( Pp. 617-618. )

In winter "the long journeys on foot begin. . . .

"The family must take to snowshoes and drag all their baggage on
the tabanasks [toboggans]." (P. 619.)

"The Indians travel from morning to night witliout stopping, day
after day ....

"The fur-animal traps are set around the lakes in a line which may
be thirty miles long .... The family first lives chiefly on the flesh of
these animals, and on hare, porcupine and birds caught in the snares
and on ice-fish. . . . Sometimes there are feasts when caribou are
killed ....

"The result of the hunt [for caribou] is the property of the whole
band .... In respect of other game the rule seems to be that those
present at the death share in the booty, while all that is taken in
snares or traps belongs entirely to their owner ....

"Fur-trapping is carried on between the end of October . . . and
the end of March. ... It has finally become at least as important as
caribou-hunting; the skins are in demand at the trading-store, and
in exchange for them the Indian can get ammunition, clothes and
food." (Pp. 620-622.)

"When game is scanty . . . the Indian must fall back upon fish. . . .
It is . . . the women's task to set out a net ... or bait some primitive
hooks." (P. 62.3.)

"Towards the end of March . . . the Indian goes on to hunt other

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 59

game, chiefly the caribou and the porcupine, always supplementing
them . . . with fish when necessary" (p. 624).

"Generally in May a move is started towards the places where the
canoes are laid up. . . .

"Arrived at the canoes the families prepare for the spring move.
Some of them go to Seven Islands, others to North West River to
meet their priests in the early summer. . . . Normally Pierre Gabriel
can begin his canoe journey to the coast ... in the beginning of June.
He then goes via Astray and Ashuanipi Lakes. . . . The journey down
the River Moisie ... is made quickly. . . .

"On their arrival at the coast the annual cycle of Pierre Gabriel is
at an end." (P. 625.)

There may be some slight confusion in Tanner's statement of
Pierre Gabriel's annual cycle (possibly owing to language diffi-
culties?). If the latter reached Ashuanipi Lake a month and a half
after leaving Seven Islands on August 10, his date of arrival would be
about September 22-25. Traveling thence to Petitsikapau, Sandgirt,
and Michikamau lakes, and still farther to the sources of tlie George
River, with a return to Sandgirt Lake before freeze-up (say October ^'oi^e*
1 ), would involve a canoe journey of at least 400 miles. If allowance
is made for being windbound on the larger lakes and for hunting
caribou and curing their flesh and hides, such a schedule could
scarcely be compressed into five or six weeks. In other accounts,
Sandgirt Lake is referred to as a spring rendezvous, preparatory to
the journey to Seven Islands. In addition to using canvas tents, the
Montagnais now build log cabins on their trapping grounds.

This story of Pierre Gabriel's annual cycle points up a problem in
the classification of the Indian bands of tlie Ungava Peninsula. Since
Pierre's hunting territory comprises Petitsikapau Lake and a con-
siderable surrounding area (cf. Tanner, 1947, 2:584-585, fig. 253),
his group must be the Petitsikapau band of Speck ( 1931:565, map 2,
and 1935:14, fig. 1). Yet, since his summer residence and his trading
post are at Seven Islands, is he not also a member of the Seven Islands
or Moisie band?

Let us examine another case. In 1953 Mathieu Andre was the chief
of the latter band. During the previous winter he was reported to
have secured a number of wolves somewhere east of Menihek Lake.
This identifies him as the Matthieu Andre whose trapping grounds
are shown by Tanner ( 1947, 2:584-585, flg. 253) to include the north
end of Michikamau Lake and some of the headwaters of the George
River. Also, it obviously identifies his group as the Michikamau band

60 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

of Speck (loc. cit.). His case would seem, therefore, to be another
one of dual membership in bands. Under these circumstances would
it not be logical to regard the Petitsikapau and Michikamau bands
as merely subdivisions of the Seven Islands band? As a matter of
fact, Speck remarks ( 1931:590) : "I would not . . , insist upon separate
classification as a band for these famihes" of Petitsikapau people.

Reading Tanner's account of Pierre Gabriel's activities puts me in
mind of a visit made in July, 1953, to an unoccupied log camp (pi. 1,
fig. 2 ) in a clearing on the Iron Arm of Attikamagen Lake. A larger
cabin provided living quarters, while a smaller one may have been
used for storage. The unpeeled logs were apparently spruce. A scaf-
fold, supported by posts, probably served as a drying-stage for fish
and game. There was also a sawhorse in the yard. A name, some-
where within the larger cabin, indicated that the proprietor was
Joseph Gabriel — presumably a kinsman of Pierre, since Attikamagen
and Petitsikapau are adjoining lakes. The contents of the cabin in-
cluded a radio, a .22 rifle, two picture postcards of a sanitarium at
Mont Joli (on the south shore of the St. Lawrence), and a Bible
printed in Montagnais. On the roof of the smaller cabin were the
skeleton of an otter ( Lutra canadensis ) and the antlers of a subadult
woodland caribou {Rangifer caribou) — probably set up there in
some sort of a propitiatory rite that is in general vogue among north-
em Indians. On the ground was a rotting skin of a caribou. Fireweed
(Epilobium) and wild currant (Ribes) grew in the clearing.

Several weeks later, while my friend Ben McKenzie was relating
some of the trapping experiences of himself and two brothers in the
Menihek-Wakuach-Bringadin Lakes area three winters previously,
he remarked that they made log camps and had little stoves in them,
Uke tent stoves. Possibly the construction of such camps is a com-
paratively recent innovation, for Tanner writes (1947, 2:640): "As
far as my information goes no Montagnais in Newfoundland-Lab-
rador has erected a fixed dwelling-place, of wood or anything else."

"The Indians [Naskapi and Montagnais] . . . managed well enough
. . . before the traders came and were better off in most respects than
they are now .... The Hudson's Bay Company traders gradually
persuaded the Indians to leave off hunting for meat to hunt and trap
instead the animals whose fur they were anxious to buy, notably
beaver, marten and fox. As the caribou became more scarce, the
natives were driven to cooperate more closely with the traders, and
finally became entirely dependent upon the fur trade for their liveli-
hood. In return for pelts, the natives were given fire-arms, flour,

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 61

sugar, tea and other groceries, tobacco and woven goods. . . . The
need for such interior posts [as those formerly located at Petitsikapau,
Michikamau, and Kaniapiskau Lakes] has now passed, for the native
peoples have both decreaseed in numbers and have centralized in
quasi-stable communities along the coasts." (Cooke, 1958:7.)

The completion of the Q. N. S. & L. Railway to Knob Lake in 1954,
and the subsequent development of the vast iron-ore industry in the
interior of the peninsula, have fairly uprooted the ancient way of
life for the Montagnais of Seven Islands and even the Naskapi and the
Cree of Fort Chimo. According to Ross (1957), some 300 of these
people had been relocated in the Knob Lake area for employment
in the mining operations there. This inevitably means the virtual end
of their tribal life as primitive wilderness hunters, with all its pictur-
esque features. It remains to be seen whether their life as free
nomads, including starvation and lesser hardships, can be satisfac-
torily exchanged for an industrialized, sedentary existence with its
security and creature comforts. In such a transition, they are under-
taking a single mighty leap across the pastoral and tillage stages of
human development. This is the end of an era for many of the
Ungava natives, and the negation of the prayerful wish quoted from
Elton at the beginning of this report. It is verily a sad day for the
ethnologist. No delightful, scholarly volume by some worthy fol-
lower of Turner, Cabot, Skinner, Speck, or Tanner can be brought
forth, now or later, on the modernized native folk living amidst the
roar of the mining machinery at Knob Lake. For them, the spiritual
exhilaration of the silent, lonely wilderness has departed.

A recent visitor to tlie above-mentioned native settlement at John
Lake (near Knob Lake) has remarked:

"Life for the Montagnais is not very pleasant on their new 'reserve'
of unpainted, squalid, mud-splattered shacks .... Although the men
have more work than at Seven Islands, the houses at Marie Otnem
Reserve [Moisie] appeared to be a lot healthier — being government-
built."

Under these circumstances the scanty notes that I was able to
gather concerning my Montagnais friends, and that I ventvire to
present in the following pages, may have a melancholy interest that
would scarcely have attached to them, had these good people been
able to continue indefinitely in their old ways, with a minimum of
contamination from high-powered modem machinery.

Montagnais Friends
Before my departure for the Ungava Peninsula in 1953, Mrs. Frank

62 XJNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

G. Speck very kindly offered me some excellent suggestions on ap-
proaching and dealing with the Montagnais; these were based upon
the experiences of Professor Speck and herself a quarter of a century
or more previously. I recall especially her remarks on the unreceptive
attitude of these people toward "jabbering Americans." In other i
words, I was advised not to "rush" the conversation with any of them
I might meet, but to wait quietly and give them a chance to say some-
thing.

When I first saw a few Montagnais passing along the streets of
Seven Islands in May, I rather despaired of making any contact with
them at all. It was obviously out of the question, in such surround-
ings, to attempt to "button-hole" any of them as the start of a
conversation. Language difficulties alone appeared insuperable;
few of tliem know any language but French in addition to their native
tongue, and my shght French bears little enough resemblance to the
quehecoise of the North Shore! .

Francis McKenzie

But opportunities came eventually, as delightful as they were
unexpected. For example, soon after my arrival at Knob Lake in
June, a contingent of the Royal Canadian Air Force began making
temporary use of the local seaplane base. When it required trans-
portation of some heavy equipment from a certain lake to a mountain
top more than a tliousand feet higher and some 4 miles distant over
a rough terrain, a group of about ten young Montagnais from the
reserve near the mouth of the Moisie River, a few miles east of Seven
Islands, were recruited for the portaging job. Though some of them
were not of particularly robust build, the group's performance on
the portage trail called forth the hearty commendation of the RCAF '
crew. [Gilbert Simard told of having once seen an Indian (presum-
ably a Montagnais) carry a load of seven 100- lb. bags of flour up
some steps to a second floor at a settlement on the Manicouagan \
River. The man had wagered that he could do so, and got the seven '
bags for winning.] Their countenances, in general, were pleasant ]
and open. During their few intervals of leisure at Knob Lake, my |
friend Jean P. Labrecque, of the RCAF, kindly offered his services as I
interpreter, tliereby enabling me to have some very interesting con- |
versations with these Montagnais. They quite readily agreed to j
posing for their photographs (see front cover), besides furnishing '
the Montagnais names of many birds and other animals ( see pp. 83- ^
86) and giving information about caribou and other game. Their

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 63

leader and principal spokesman was Francis McKenzie, one of the
sons of Sebastien McKenzie, whose acquaintance I enjoyed later in
the season.

Practically all of the clothing worn by this group was store-bought,
although one of them had a pair of sealskin boots, which I understood
to have been secured by trade with Eskimos somewhere. Most of
them wore bluish berets, adorned with a "pigtail" in the center.
There were sport shirts (with red as a prominent color), ordinary
outing shirts and trousers, sport coats, a sweater, leather-topped
rubber boots, and "sneakers."

Some of them had been in the habit of resorting to this part of the
interior in the fall for a few months of hunting and trapping; and
perhaps again in January, after spending the Christmas season at
their homes near Seven Islands. The long and arduous journey in
the fall by canoe up the turbulent Moisie River to the Menihek Lake
area would require about 20 days. They brought their wives and
children, and some were chivalrous enough to carry wives over
rough portages! They would start on the journey into the interior
with about 100 lb. of flour and tea, but otherwise live on such food
as the country affords: for example, trout (Cristivomer namaycush
and Salvelinus fontinalis ) , pike ( Esox lucius ) , rabbits ( Lepus amer-
icanus), and porcupines ( Erethizon dorsatum ) . Some of their people
have starved to death in hard winters. Tlie principal fur animals they
capture are beaver (Castor canadensis), mink (Mustela vison), and
marten (Martes americana). In olden days a family would secure
about 70 beavers in a winter and sell their skins for $70 apiece. Ap-
parently both species of caribou (Rangifer caboti and R. caribou)
were to be had in this area, and there were some wolves (Canis
lupus) and a few arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus). On journeys in
winter they used sleds, hauled by themselves, but occasionally with
the help of a dog or two. Apparently the food resources of the coun-
try do not suffice for the keeping of a larger number of dogs.

In securing the Montagnais names of birds, I would point out the
colored plates and line drawings in Peters and Bm-leigh's Birds of
Newfoundland ( 1951 ) , and Francis McKenzie would set down the
corresponding names in beautiful printed script. The general
literacy of the group is evidently due to the faithful teaching of the
Oblate Fathers at the Pensiomwt indien at the Marie Otenam Re-
serve, Moisie. The spelling is obviously phonetic, and it is apt to
vary slightly with the individual. The names seem to be largely
descriptive (see Cabot, 1922:222), and I suspect that some of them

64 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

are onomatopoetic. One of the Oblate Fathers at the reserve, Pere
J. E. Beaudet (pi. 11, fig. 1), most kindly checked the bird names
for me some montlis later, and also added names of a few mammals
that I had missed.

I was actually able to comprehend the French spoken by Francis
McKenzie ( and by some of his fellow Montagnais later in the season )
better than that I had heard from some of the French people in Seven
Islands. The difference may have been accounted for, at least in
part, by the more dehberate manner of speaking among the Mon-
tagnais. Among the group at Knob Lake, a couple were said to speak
English. One or two had been engaged in carpentry work at Seven
Islands. I was exceedingly pleased by a cordial invitation to visit
their homes at Moisie during my return journey homeward in the
fall.

Part of their leisure time at Knob Lake in June was spent in play-
ing "catch," with a baseball and mitt. In their commodious bunk-tent
they engaged in group singing — not merely Indian songs but also
( sad to relate ) the latest popular "hit," which they had learned over
the radio. By 1960 the old chief of the Moisie band, Mathieu Andre,
had moved to the Knob Lake area to take part in the mining opera-
tions there, and Francis McKenzie, at the age of 26, had become the
new chief (information supplied by Sebastien McKenzie to Fred
Farah).

Sebastien McKenzie

In late July I arrived at Lac Aulneau for an 11-day stay at a geo-
logical camp of Holannah Mines Limited. The locality is about 80
miles south of Fort Chimo and 18 miles northeast of Fort McKenzie;
it thus hes within territory occupied at least in past years by
the Naskapi group based upon Fort Chimo and Fort McKenzie. A
former Hudson's Bay Company's post at the latter point (abandoned
in 1948) was managed from 1916 to 1936 by Sebastien McKenzie.
He was now acting as a sort of general factotum at the camp of eight
or nine men at Lac Aulneau. A distinctly pleasant feature of my stay
there was making his acquaintance. Sebastien almost certainly is
the person to whom Michelson (1939:89) refers as "Bastian Mac-
kenzie at Seven Islands who has been at Fort Mackenzie." He ex-
presses the opinion that "Bastian" came from Bersimis. Again (p.
90): "Bastian Mackenzie, who has met Great Whale River Indians,
Chimo Indians, those of Mingan, etc., says the Great Whale River In-
dians are Crees."

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 65

Sebastian was then 68 years of age. He had been bom and raised
at Seven Islands, where his Scottish father was manager of the Hud-
son's Bay Company's post. His other affihations were with either the
Montagnais or the Naskapi, or possibly both. His present home was
in the reserve at Moisie. He was the only member of that group with
whom I had an opportunity to converse in English. He also spoke
French, Montagnais, and doubtless Naskapi, in view of his long
residence at Fort McKenzie. Prior to that sojourn, he had been in
the habit of spending his winters in hunting and trapping in the
Menihek Lake area. He was evidently one of the most widely traveled
of the Moisie group.

One of the memories of his boyhood ( at the age of 14 ) was coming
across the remains of an Indian family somewhere west of Michi-
kamau Lake, in the month of April. The family had consisted of man,
wife, and five children. Only the woman was intact, sitting up and
leaning over. Of the rest of the family, just the bones remained, in
bags; they had been designed for being pounded up for soup. There
was "moss" (presumably mold) about the mouth of the woman. It
is bad luck for a woman to look upon such a death; only a man may.
Such stark tragedies of starvation and anthropophagy were not ex-
actly rarities in the old days; and thus they could be related in a
somewhat matter-of-fact or unemotional way.

Sebastien told of other hard times — starving and traveling; and
the woman of the family would stop now and then to nurse a child
in an effort to provide it with nourishment.

About 50 years previously (perhaps in 1905, when Cabot found
mice at an extraordinary peak of abundance in the Assiwaban River
area), Sebastien had observed a similar mass occurrence in tlie Opis-
coteo Lake area, where he was located at that time. He had not
again met witli comparable numbers until 1953, when meadow mice
{Microtus pennsylvanicus)/ and red-backed mice {Clethrionomys
gapperi ) were fairly overrunning a large portion of the interior of the
peninsula. He had not witnessed the "plague" of lemmings (Dicro-
stontjx huclsonitis) at Burnt Creek in 1949, since he was then at
Moisie or Seven Islands. He provided me with many other useful
notes on the fauna and on the Montagnais names of various animals;
these I have incorporated in separate reports on the mammals
(1961), birds (1958), and fishes (1962) as well as on pages 83-86
beyond.

Among other things, he gave me some interesting bits of infor-
mation about the Labrador Barren Ground caribou, whose present

66 UNn^ERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

numbers are a mere shadow of the former hordes. At one time he
had gone hunting to Indian House Lake, where the Naskapi in olden
days had slaughtered their thousands of caribou.

One of the Montagnais names he supplied was that of "Atsensket-
san" for the Northern Shrike ( Lanius excubitor borealis ) . Its mean-
ing, he said, was something like "devil," but not so strong; "bad
bugger" would serve approximately. Perhaps it was a similar ( Nas-
kapi?) name that Cabot had in mind when he wrote (1912:143):
"Indians give die unpleasant name of Torturer to the shrike, for it
plays with its victims like a cat, picking them gradually away." Speck
(1935:237) gives the definition of "cannibal demon" for "Atcen," as
used by tlie Moisie band.

As for the continent-wide native belief in bad luck resulting from
the discovery of a Canada Jay's nest or from killing one of the birds
{Ferisoreus canadensis), Sebastien granted that when he was a boy,
his father admonished him not to kill the "Whisky Jacks" ( "Oiskit-
shan" in Montagnais ) . He nevertheless did so, when away by himself.
Perhaps his father also told him not to keep any Whisky Jack found
in a trap, but to throw it away.

Some years previously an ethnologist (whose name was not re-
called; possibly Michelson?) had employed Sebastien by the day to
relate to him Indian folk-tales. One of the tales, said to deal with a
black bear and a brown bear, aroused my interest on the possible
chance that the latter might be identical with the mysterious Ungava
grizzly ( Ursus sp.). But Sebastien said the brown bear existed only
in the story — not in real nature. I was disappointed in that I did not
learn from him anything about the grizzly, which I feel confident
once existed in Ungava, though now probably extinct.

A tale he told me presumably belongs in the realm of mythology,
although he gave it a factual air. It pertains to some sort of aquatic
animal said to be found in a lake on the upper Kaniapiskau River. A
drawing he made shows a creature with a sort of tadpole-like outline:
an undifferentiated head and body, without legs but with a broad
caudal appendage. Yet it is a furred animal, perhaps three feet in
length. It was said to have been seen beneath 2 inches of ice, and to
have made a noise like a squirrel scolding. A couple of months later
Jerome St. Onge gave me an account of a somewhat similar animal
in the same general area.

Sebastien made a little contribution to the native pharmacopeia
in showing me some sections of a young tamarack ( Larix hricina ) ,

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 67

saying that he boils up the inner bark and uses the concoction for
dressing wounds.

He had a clear recollection of the time in 1917 when W. E. Clyde
Todd and his party from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh passed
Fort McKenzie on their long canoe journey from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to Fort Chimo.

The geologist in charge of the camp at Lac Aulneau spoke in glow-
ing terms of Sebastien's responsibility and his upstanding qualities.
For example, earher in the season the latter had direatened to quit
the camp unless the cook were restrained in his singing of ribald
songs. When I mildly expressed a wish for some whitefish {Core-
gontis clupeaformis) specimens, Sebastien took it upon himself,
without a word, to set a gill net in the lake, and he was thus able
very shortly to present me with a couple of fine specimens.

He also posed most accomodatingly for a variety of photographs —
in sealskin coat, boots, and leggings and a knitted woolen tam-
o'shanter ( the latter presumably reminiscent of the Scottish side of
his ancestry ) ( pi. 6, fig. 1 ) ; in store clothes decorated with Hudson's
Bay Company medals, which had been issued on the occasion of its
250th anniversary in 1920; cleaning a Lake Trout on the sandy shore of
the lake (Harper, 1962:pl. 2); and coming into camp with a log on
one shoulder and an axe on the other (pi. 6, fig. 2). In the back-
ground of this last photograph was his small, very neatly kept canvas
tent, where I enjoyed an occasional visit with him.

He had arrived at this camp very early in the season ( in April ) , in
order to construct some of the wooden buildings for the accommo-
dation of personnel and supplies. The plywood materials had been
transported by air from Seven Islands; the other lumber perhaps
came from no farther away than Knob Lake.

He corroborated the account given by his son Francis about car-
rying his wife over difficult portages. He does so himself. But this
happens only when his wife is sick. He and his son sometimes have
a single dog to help in transporting their camp gear in winter; but
for the most part they haul it themselves on sleds. He spoke of 60
portages between Seven Islands and Lac Aulneau; some of them
are very bad — knee-deep in mud.

A couple of days after I had returned from Lac Aulneau to Knob
Lake, I received from Sebastien, by air, a thoughtful present in the
form of a nestling Rough-legged Hawk ( Buteo lagopus sanctijohan-
nis).

During a stay of several days in early October at Seven Islands,

68 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

while on my way homeward, I set out one afternoon to visit some of
my friends of the summer at the Moisie reserve. As luck would have
it, Sebastien was in Seven Islands at the moment, just returning to his
home in a taxi driven by one of his Montagnais neighbors. I gladly
accepted his invitation to accompany him. The road extends some
9 miles eastward at a little distance back from the edge of the lofty
wooded bluff overlooking the Gulf. I had become so accustomed,
in conversing with others of the Montagnais, to using such French as
I could muster, that I continued, unconsciously, to do so on this ride
with Sebastien, until he sang out, "Talk English!"

At the reserve I found some 30 to 40 fairly new frame houses laid
out in several straight rows on the level top of the bluff. They were
said to have been built by the government. All are of about tlie
same size, and they show little variation in design. They seem to
consist of a combination kitchen and dining-room and living-room,
two bedrooms, and a bathroom. A wooden platform, or roofless
porch, stands at the entrance. Perhaps because of the newness of the
construction, there was a general absence of grass or shrubbery in
the yards. A couple of old log cabins — forerunners of the frame
houses — remained, but without occupants. At the west end of the
village are the school and other buildings of the Pensionnat indien,
and on the north side a store of the Hudson's Bay Company. The
immediate surroundings of the dwelling area are pretty generally
wooded. I noticed no indication of agriculture.

"The actual reserve at Seven-Islands measures 261 acres .... The
Seven-Islands Montagnais are generally being settled in a village
(P. O. Malietonam [sic]). A large number of them are still no-
madic." (Laviolette, 1955:204.)

On arrival at Sebastien's home, we sat for a time in the living-room,
where I was introduced to his wife. While the latter was preparing
for a portrait of herself and Sebastien, I went out to photograph a
group of neighborhood boys, who had appeared at the porch, with
an inevitable couple of dogs. They were a bright-looking lot of
youngsters (pi. 12, fig. 2), carrying on much as boys do the world
over.

For his portrait Sebastien appeared in what may have been a
beaverskin cap. When it was presently suggested that I might pho-
tograph his 84-year-old brother Alexandre and the latter 's wife, living
next door, I was delighted at the opportunity. Both wore moccasins,
perhaps of sealskin and caribou skin, respectively. The wife was
one of not more than an exceedingly few Montagnais women whom

harper: the friendly montagnais of uxgava 69

I noticed still preserving the ancient style of wearing the hair in knots
suspended below the ears ( pi. 12, fig. 1 ) . She also had the traditional
parti-colored peaked cap. The present Alexandre McKenzie is prob-
ably identical with the "Alexandre Mackenzie" of Speck and Eiseley
(1942:217, 236, fig. 2), who include him in the Michikamau band,
with summer quarters at Seven Islands (or Moisie). I was advised
that his memory had so far failed that it would be useless to question
him as to old acquaintance with Professor Speck.

On a brief visit in 1960 to the Knob Lake area, Fred Farah (in
lift., August 5, 1960) found Sebastien operating a provision store at
the reserve on near-by John Lake. The latter kindly passed on,
through Fred, various items of information of interest to me, includ-
ing the numbers of Montagnais, Naskapi, and Cree now congregated
in that area, among a total population of 5,000. Sebastien had pre-
viously made for Fred a Montagnais bow and several arrows. The
arrows have a blunt wooden tip for hitting small game, such as par-
tridges, and the shaft has no feathering. The bowstring had been
made of caribou hide by Sebastien's wife.

Ben McKenzie ami Georges Michel

A sojourn of twelve days in August with Gilbert Simard's surveying
party (pi. 4, fig. 2) at Mollie T. and Leroy lakes was particularly
enjoyable. This was due not only to the extraordinary cordiality and
hospitality of Mr. Simard and his two French-Canadian associates
(J. Laurent Veronneau and Pierre Cote) from the Quebec-Montreal
area, but also to the presence of four Montagnais axemen, not to
mention the fine services of the party's very agreeable chef, Henry
Larouche.

The nature of my work and the knowledge and experience of the
Montagnais in respect to the fish and game of the region quickly
brought a fine rapprochement between us. While our conversation
was Hmited by language difficulties, the other half of the camp was
always ready to oblige in interpreting.

"Ben" McKenzie ( an identification card indicated that his real first
name is Bertelemy ) was particularly friendly. I learned that he was
a son of Alexandre McKenzie, whom I was to meet later at Moisie.
After the day's work of the camp was over, Ben and his special buddy,
Georges Michel, would come now and then into my tent, and they
would tlius provide me with opportunities for securing information
regarding the local fauna.

Three winters previously Ben and two brothers had trapped in this
general area. He had stayed at Menihek Lake, while the others went

70 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

elsewhere. Since the railway had not then been constructed, they
had obviously made the journey from Moisie by canoe. They had
no dogs for hauling sleds. Their operations apparently extended up
through Petitsikapau Lake, north to Wakuach Lake, and west to Lac
Bringadin. For quarters, they made small log camps and provided
them with small stoves, like a tent stove. Their catch consisted largely
of mink, otter, marten, weasel, muskrat, and fox, with some (but not
many) lynx and beaver. He spoke of the winter occurrence of per-
haps a hundred long-homed caribou (that is to say, the Barren
Ground caribou) on a treeless mountain about 10 miles east of
Mollie T. Lake.

One evening I was asking Ben about the food of Lake Trout
( Cristivomer namaycush ) . By way of answer, he went out and pres-
ently returned with the six-day-old remains of a big specimen. When
its stomach was opened, there was exposed the badly decomposed
body of an 8-inch coregonid fish, with a number of obscure dark
spots on its sides. These proclaimed it a Round Whitefish (Pro-
sopium cylindraceum quadrilaterale) — one of extremely few speci-
mens that I met with during the season. He gave me the further
very interesting news diat these fish occur by the "tliousands" —
obviously a spawning aggregation — in late September or early Oc-
tober in a brook by the old airstrip near Knob Lake. There they may
be caught by hand in the shallow water, to serve for later use as bait
in the traps set for fur-bearers.

For an evening's diversion, the Montagnais were fond of canoeing
down to the outlet of Mollie T. Lake for a try at Brook Trout. When
a bucketful or so would be brought back, I would be invited to look
over the catch and to select whatever specimens I might wish for
preservation. Or they would set a gill net in the lake and bring me
some Common Whitefish from it.

When I trapped my first specimen of a Labrador varying lem-
ming (Dicrostonyx hudsonius) at the "alpine garden" on near-by
Sunny Mountain, and sought to learn the Montagnais name for the
species, I was astonished to find that they had none — they were
totally unfamiliar with the animal! Jokingly I remarked: "Shame on
you, Ben, to let me come from a place 1,200 miles away to show you
an animal in your own country that you didn't even know about!"
That evidently put Ben on his mettle. The next free day he and
Georges Michel set out over the alpine Barrens to Geren's Mountain,
some 4 miles to the northwest. There they somehow flushed a lem-
ming, which had the misfortune to seek refuge in a shallow hole,

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 71

where it was captured alive. And so they bore it back to camp in
triumph; they had evened tlie score. Evidently this species occurs
only in the northern part of the Montagnais territory, and chiefly
above timberline, where it had been easy for such a small, secretive
animal to escape their notice.

On the same excursion Georges had secured for me a Rock Ptar-
migan, which had presumably been summering and breeding on die
wonderful Arctic-Alpine heights of Geren's Mountain. It was quite
unexpected there, at such a distance from the nearest part of its prin-
cipal breeding haunts on the main Barren Grounds. These lie either
150 miles or so to the eastward, beyond the George River, or some 200
miles to the northward, beyond the Koksoak and the Larch. Alto-
gether it was one of the most prized specimens of the entire season,
and it afforded a fine illustration of the valuable help that a naturalist
may derive from his Montagnais friends.

It was Georges who had made the actual capture of the lemming.
He displayed his agility again on the day when we were making a
new camp in a very attractive lichen woodland at Leroy Lake. A
spruce mouse, when disturbed from a hole at the base of a stump,
scurried off over the surface of the ground, but Georges overtook it
within a few rods and once more made a capture. This provided my
first opportunity to study and photograph a hve individual of the
httle-known Pheruwomys ungava crassus. (It had been likewise with
the lemming. ) A few days later the spruce mouse had the distinction
of being shipped off by air to the Army Medical Center in Wash-
ington.

One evening at Leroy Lake, Georges Michel and Joseph Georges
St. Onge made a little canoe excursion, without my prior knowledge
tliough for die special purpose of being able to present me with a
muskrat — the only complete specimen of the species that I brought
back from Ungava. It now reposes in tlie study collection of the
United States National Museum. The next day Ben McKenzie made
me the beneficiary of a red squirrel's injudicious approach within
reach of his canoe paddle.

At about this time Mr. Simard asked, with something of a twinkle,
if I knew the nickname that the Montagnais had for me — "le bon-
homme." In French idiom, he explained, this means something like
"the old boy," but is scarcely meant unkindly or disrespectfully. On
the way back to camp from a day's work in the bush, he had over-
heard one asking another what sort of a specimen they might get
"pour le bonhomme." I was as pleased with the title as with the

72 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

specimens, which comprised not only mammals, birds, and fishes,
but even flowering plants. The next month, at far-off Ashuanipi
Lake, I was referred to again, but by an entirely different Montagnais,
as "le bonhomme." ["Chez les Montagnais parlant frangais, le mot
T)onhomme' n'implique qu'une acception respectueuse. II designe
une personne agee et plus particulierement le doyen du groupe."
(Rousseau, 1955:215.)]

It is worthy of remark that tliroughout the season I could not
induce any of the Montagnais, who were connected with the various
field parties that I visited, to accept financial compensation for the
specimens they brought me. When pressed, one would be apt to walk
away. How different their attitude from that of northwestern In-
dians! Here they seemed to be motivated merely by a spirit of
genuine helpfulness. I could do little more in return than present
such friends with a few leftover supplies at the end of the season,
and send them prints of the photographs for which they had so
freely and obligingly served as subjects.

One evening, in Mr. Simard's tent, we held something of a sym-
posium on Ben's knowledge of fishes, birds, and mammals. Mr.
Simard and his associates took the part of interpreters while I pHed
Ben with questions. His answers are recorded in separate reports,
but there may be room here for his account of muskrat hunting:

In October, about ten years previously, he and two companions
secured 300 of the animals on "Oskoas" Lake in about 15 days, while
waiting for the freeze-up. The three would operate by night in a
canoe: one in the stem to paddle; one in the bow to strike the musk-
rats with another paddle; and one in the middle to finish them with a
stick. Another method was to put a bag over the under-water en-
trance to a burrow, and then to strike the ground above to drive
the muskrat into the bag.

He also reported the following method of capturing a marten:
When you see one, yell at it, and it goes up a tree, where you can
shoot it. He had never seen a wolf.

An interesting bit of Montagnais folklore came to light on the
morning of August 15, when a Common Loon {Gavia immer) passed
high over Mollie T. Lake, giving its wild cry. Ben thereupon re-
marked that the day would be windy (see Speck, 1935:126). Siu^e
enough, there was a brisk wind on Sunny Mountain that afternoon.
Hind wrote long ago (1863, 1:131) of the wild cries of loons being
followed by wind and rain.

When a woodland caribou was secured and eaten at Harris Lake

HAKPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 73

in September, one of the Montagnais in the party is said to have
danced several times, with a bone from the animal in each hand,
beating them together; but the others were too abashed to join him.
Moreover, several of them ate the marrow raw, but one, who had
apparently been brought up in a North Shore settlement rather than
in "the bush," "couldn't go it."

Wille Pinette

I became acquainted with Wille Pinette when I retin-ned to Knob
Lake in mid-September from a month's sojourn to the southward, at
Ashuanipi and Carol lakes. During the main part of the season he
had been engaged, with Jerome St. Onge, in prospecting for one of
the mining companies in the Leaf Lake area near the shores of Un-
gava Bay. He was now at the seaplane base, painting a fleet of
canoes about to be put into winter storage. We got into conversation
over the skin of a black bear, which I was inspecting prior to packing
it for shipment. When the animal had been secured in early August,
some of us had estimated its weight at 250 lb. Wille remarked that
some of the Ungava bears get bigger — say up to 300 lb. in the fall.
This suggests that black bears may not attain such a large size here
as in more southerly regions, where weights of 400 lb. or more are
reported fairly commonly.

Subsequently Wille dropped in a couple of times at the bunk-tent
where I was quartered. When I referred to my linguistic deficiencies
in trying to converse in the only tongue common to both of us, he was
gracious enough to confer upon me the best ( I might rather say, the
only) comphment on that subject that I heard during the season:
"Vous parlez frangais pas mal." His own French was so clearly and
deliberately spoken as to be readily understandable. He is a cousin
of Kom Pinette, with whom I had recently become acquainted on the
Ashuanipi River. I was interested to learn that Wille's home is at
Moisie; and more particularly that his winter trapping-groimds have
been for many years about 120 miles north of that point, at Eric Lake,
on the headwaters of the Magpie River. The Montagnais name of
this lake is Kaooseiapisiloetin — equivalent in French to Lac des
Rochers. When young (perhaps 30-35 years previously) he had
gone there with his father. Thus Eric Lake could perhaps be re-
garded as an inlierited family territory (see Speck, 1931:576; Speck
and Eiseley, 1942:218). The authors just cited (1942:225) hst the
Pinettes as one of the ten famihes making up the Moisie band.

In the past Wille had made the journey to Eric Lake in the fall
by canoe, and had stayed there for a six-months period. He has two

74 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

dogs, which help in drawing a sleigh. He is accompanied by his wife
and five children. They Hve in a log cabin, with glass windows. The
children had not become old enough to help in the trapping. No
other family winters nearby. From 1953 onward his travels to the
interior have doubtless been by rail.

His winter's catch of game, food, or fur-bearing animals in 1952-53
included the following:

Snowshoe rabbit ( Lepus americanus ) , many

Red squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) , numbers not indicated

Beaver (Castor canadensis), 18

Red fox ( Vulpes fulva ) , 8

Marten (Maries americana), 25

Weasel (Mustela erminea), 45

Mink ( Mustela vison ) , 50

Otter ( Lutra canadensis ) , 10

Woodland caribou ( Rangifer caribou ) , 3

Spruce Grouse (Canachites canadensis), many

Ptarmigan ( Lagopus spp. ), many
The returns from such a catch, in addition to his summer earn-
ings, should provide him with a very comfortable livelihood. In some
former years he had secured as many as 10 of the caribou. Twenty
years previously he had taken a single fisher (Martes pennanti);
but meanwhile the porcupine ( Erethizon dorsatum ) , a primary prey
of the fisher, had disappeared, and with it the predator. The wol-
verine (Gulo luscus), even in years past, did not occur. Likewise
there are no skunks ( Mephitis mephitis ) . The black bear ( Euarctos
americanus) and the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) must be present,
but they did not happen to be enumerated. Wille said there are a few
wolves (Canis lupus) about Ashuanipi Lake, but he reported none
about Eric Lake.

In the fall he puts up apparently several thousand fish for winter
use. They include Lake Trout, Whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis) ,
Red Suckers (Catostomus catostomus) , Gray Suckers (Catostomus
commersonii) , and Pike (Esox lucius). Presumably they are taken
in gill nets.

This was by far the best account I secured of a Montagnais family's
winter life on their trapping grounds. No doubt many others of the
Moisie band who are scattered over the interior during the colder
months lead essentially similar Hves.

It may be of interest to compare Wille's winter catch of 1952-53
with one made nearly a century previously by Domenique, a Mon-

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 75

tagnais chief of Seven Islands, in an area about 40 miles northwest
of Eric Lake and perhaps half that distance south of Ashuanipi Lake.
Domenique reported (in Hind, 1863, 1:80-81) 30 caribou, 4 bears,
8 martens, 12 foxes (including 1 black), and 3 otters. Thus the latter
apparently made a better record in food values, but a poorer one in
fur values.

When I visited the Moisie village on October 10, 1 had the pleasure
of seeing Wille Pinette and his family at their home. I had hoped to
secure their portraits, but after I had called upon several other friends,
the waning daylight prevented me from realizing this wish. Fortu-
nately, Wille had previously sat for his portrait (pi. 7, fig. 1) at
Knob Lake. It represents a man of dependable, agreeable, and
decidedly friendly character. What a privilege it would be for a
naturalist to share his adventures on his wintering-grounds!

Kom Pinette

Kom, his wife, and five children were the only native family that
I met with in the interior. In former years the entire Moisie band
was accustomed to spending the summer on the North Shore of the
Gulf and making hunting and trapping excursions into the interior
only during the other seasons. In 1953, however, opportunities for
work at good pay in the construction camps at such places as Mile 224
Airstrip and Knob Lake, or with various surveying and prospecting
parties, induced some of the men to return at an unusual season.

In Kom's case, he was apparently on ancestral hunting grounds
along the Ashuanipi River just below Ashuanipi Lake. For when
another Montagnais secured a mink along this part of the river, close
to Mile 224 Airstrip, and disposed of it, Kom is said to have protested
the act as a transgression of his territorial rights.

He seems to have occupied part of his time in purveying game to
the near-by camp. Otherwise he was engaged in building a two-room
frame cabin, meanwhile securing the materials from piles of scrap
lumber at the camp and lugging them on his back half a mile or so
to the building site on a bluff by tlie river, just above the first rapids
below the lake. Pending the completion of the cabin, the family had
rather cramped quarters in a tent little more than 7x7 feet in ground
coverage.

I made Kom's acquaintance in late August through our mutual
friend, Fred Farah, of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, whose
facility with French was a decided help on that and otlier occasions.
The words "Sept lies" on the front of Kom's sweater proclaimed his

76 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

station and affiliations. He was ready enough to be photographed
there at the big camp; but when I learned that his family was down
by the river, I suggested adjournment to that more appropriate en-
vironment. By the time Fred and I, laden with three cameras and a
supply of oranges, reached the place, Kom was already there.

The family was evidently a very compatible one, and all were in
good humor. Even the wife smiled and laughed — not at all in the
tradition of an unexpressive or stoical Indian woman. [As Speck
remarks (1926rt:65) concerning his experiences with a Montagnais
trapper during a January journey northwest of Lake St. John: "The
tradition of taciturnity with which the northern Indian is accredited
is everlastingly shattered by the flow of conversation and exchange of
jokes lasting through most of the night."] She appeared with a pa-
poose strapped in a baglike cradle (see Skinner, 1911:45-46, fig. 25).
The other children were Bastien and Michel, two engaging boys of
about 12 and ten, and two little girls, of about six and one and a half.
The larger girl undertook to carry the papoose on her back. There
were said to be two older boys, at work in some other area. When I
spoke of my acquaintance with several McKenzies, Kom said that his
wife was Sebastien's daughter.

Several of the photographs were taken at the front of the partly
built cabin. Bastien evidently understood the nature of motion pic-
tures, for while I was operating my Bell and Howell, he began of
his own accord to toss an orange into the air, as if to provide a little
action. Further photographs were taken at the tent in the rear, where
the smoke-pipe of a little stove projected from the open front. But
first I suggested removing from view such appurtenances of civili-
zation as a couple of lard buckets, and the little girl put aside a Fly-tox
gun. Two skins of the harbor seal or "Loup marin" ( Phoca vitulina
concolor) were produced, and one was soaked in a basin of water,
perhaps to indicate a softening process preliminary to making it into
moccasins. Practically all of the family except the youngest ones
assumed some cooperative share of the work in hand — Bastien pour-
ing water into the basin for his mother, Michel hanging up one of the
skins on or by a spruce, and Kom holding the papoose while the wife
was occupied with another of the sealskins (pi. 7, fig. 2).

The cheerful and accomodating spirit of the Pinettes was further
illustrated by Kom's suggestion of a little movie scenario — the family
paddling ashore with a laden canoe, the wife and children taking
various loads to carry up the bluff, and Kom bringing up the rear.
Though little more than 5 feet in height, he was enabled by his sturdy

HARPER: THE FRIEXDLY MONTAGXAIS OF UXGAVA 77

build to pick up the large canoe single-handed, swing it overhead,
lower it till a thwart rested on his shoulders, and walk easily up the
river bank with it. Meanwhile one of the children happened to drop
its load, causing the mother to collapse to the ground and fairly rock
back and forth with merriment and laughter at the youngster's little
mishap. The scene would have been an eye-opener to anyone with
a preconceived notion as to the stoical nature of Indian women. It
was assuredly a genial and friendly family.

That morning Kom had killed four Black Ducks, and we saw the
wing of one of them by the river's edge. He also reported a "Ground
Hog" or woodchuck (Marmota monax) killed there recently, and
thrown into the river when it became smelly. If I had been there in
time, it would have enabled me to add a species to my collection of
Ungava mammals.

The next day, on my way to the seaplane base at the foot of Ash-
uanipi Lake, I stopped at the camp long enough to disburse a few
presents : tobacco for Kom, needles for his wife, candy and a squeaky
rubber mouse for the youngsters. After supper Kom appeared at
my tent with a handful of small gastropod mollusks (Lymnaea)
from the river, presumably as an expression of gratitude for the
presents of the afternoon. We also secured from him a number of
Montagnais names of fishes and other natural objects. Specimens
brought from the river at other times, by either Kom or the boys,
were a Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontiruilis), a Common Whitefish
(Coregonus clupeaformis), a Round Whitefish (Prosopium cylin-
draceum quudrilaterale) , a Red Sucker (Catostomus caiostcnnus
catostomus) , and a stone-fly.

As I was preparing to devote the afternoon of September 4 to a
photographic excursion along the Ashuanipi River, Bastien and
Michel appeared at the camp, and I invited them to accompany me.
We were able to carry on a limited conversation in French, and sign
language served where words failed. I had a fair load of cameras in
my packsack, and Bastien offered to carry the tripod. The boys were
pleasantly simple and natural in their conduct, exhibiting neither
shyness nor forwardness. It was very agreeable to have their com-
pany as we set off acros the airstrip and down the slope to the river.
Bastien was wearing moccasins of sealskin, while Michel's were of
caribou skin; both kinds were made by their mother. The name for
those of caribou skin is pishakanesin.

When we paused for a photograph of the dense spruce forest by
the riverside, luxuriant with mosses and lichens (Harper, 1961 :pl. 2,

78 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

fig. 1 ) , the boys fitted gracefully into an environment that was their
natural heritage. They always wanted to look at the ground glass of
my 4x5 Korona camera and amuse themselves with tlie upside-
down image on it.

As we passed upstream, the boys began to pluck and eat some
ripe (and half -ripe) mooseberries (Viburnum edule). Michel made
such an enticing picture as he sat on the bank and contemplated a
berry in his fingers that I induced him to hold that natural pose long
enough for a photograph ( pi. 10, fig. 1 ) . In nearly every case of this
sort I merely secured a pictorial record of the activities that the boys
were pursuing with entire spontaneity. Presently Bastien was sit-
ting in a pensive attitude on a boulder at the edge of the river as he
looked out over the rapids (pi. 8, fig. 1). Then Michel sprawled
over the same boulder and reached far downward for a drink of the
Ashuanipi's waters (pi. 8, fig. 2).

As I was getting ready for another photograph of the river, I noticed
that the boys were passing the time in playing "mumbledepeg" ( pi. 9,
fig. 1 ) , just as I used to do in Georgia nearly threescore years previ-
ously. Doubtless this was a game of European derivation, rather
than an aboriginal one.

As we neared the Pinette camp, the boys ran on ahead, presum-
ably to announce my coming. On arriving tliere, I asked if they
would bring their little sisters down to the river bank to be photo-
graphed ( pi. 9, fig. 2 ) . When the younger one was inclined at first
to whimper in the presence of the stranger, the boys diverted her
attention by inducing her to do a little shuffling dance. Possibly
this represented an early training for some sort of Montagnais dance
more or less akin to the nocturnal tea-dances of the western Cree,
such as I had witnessed and photographed at Fort Chipewyan on
Lake Athabaska in 1914.

Presently I planned a separate photograph of the older girl, but
when I suggested to Michel that he first remove something like a
crumb from her cheek, she retreated to the cabin and stayed there.
"Elle a peur," Michel explained. I then suggested a portrait of their
mother with the baby in its swaddling clothes, but the boys reported
that the latter was "malade," as indeed I had heard several days
previously. The mother came very obhgingly by herself and sat on a
rock, where I had just secured a focus on Michel. So she was spared
any embarrassment of waiting during such a process, and she could
hardly believe it when I announced in a very few moments that the
picture had been taken ( pi. 10, fig. 2 ) .

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 79

In writing names, Kom seemed inclined to use an n where others
of the Moisie band would use an /: for example, inineo vs. ilineo
for Spruce Partridge, and Michen vs. Michel for his son's name. This
is a characteristic of the Naskapi language, as found from Seven
Islands eastward (see Michelson, 1939:72, fig. 12). Kom, though
raised at Moisie ( or Seven Islands ), may represent a Naskapi element
in that somewhat mixed group (cf. Speck, 1931:585, and 1935:pl.
opp. p. 48).

After my return home, while reading Rousseau's accoimt ( 1949 )
of his trip down the George River in 1947, I was intrigued to learn
that "Comis" Pinette and Remi Regis ( another member of the Moisie
band with whom I became briefly acquainted at Knob Lake) had
been members of his party. Rousseau refers (p. 105) to Kom as of
Naskapi origin.

Kom, however, was bom at (or near) Seven Islands, and was liv-
ing there in 1960, not having joined those of his neighbors who had
moved to the Knob Lake area ( Sebastien McKenzie, per Fred Farah,
in litt., Augusts, 1960).

Jerome St. Onge

Jerome St. Onge, one of the Moisie band, had been, at various
times in previous years, a valued member of Gilbert Simard's sur-
veying parties in the hinterland of the North Shore. During the
summer of 1953 he had been engaged in prospecting in the Leaf
Lake area of northern Ungava. On his return from the north in late
September he paused for a few days at Knob Lake, where Mr. Simard
made me acquainted with him.

Some weeks previously I had heard from oui mutual friend about
Jerome's remarkable prowess in capturing that valuable fur-bearer,
the marten ( Martes americana ) . About 1944 a fur trader had offered
a merchant a fantastic price for live martens. Thereupon Jerome
made arrangements for the merchant to supply him with cash, pro-
visions, and a plane to transport him to a lake about 50 miles north-
northwest of Shelter Bay. He camped there \vith his wife, a small
son, and a nephew. The nephew, Joseph Georges St. Onge, was in
Mr. Simard's party in August, 1953, at Mollie T. Lake, and he sup-
plied some of the details that I heard there. Jerome would track
down the martens, capturing two of them by hand in their holes in
the snow and others in cages baited with beaver meat.

In early spring, 1941, Jerome had been with Mr. Simard's sur-
veying party on a tributary of the Romaine River near Lac Allard.

80 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

One day, about 3 p.m., he detected a marten's track and followed it
for 3V^ miles, when he treed the animal and killed it with a thrown
stone. He returned to camp about 9 p.m. with his booty.

At about the same period he secured two nestling owls somewhere
in the interior and brought them back to Seven Islands ( or Moisie ) ,
where he kept them in the attic of his house. During the daytime
they were loose and would follow him around the village, perching
on telephone poles. One night he threw a cat into their quarters, and
the next morning there was nothing left of it but the tail. The ready
way in which they disposed of the victim suggests that they were
Great Homed Owls ( Bubo virginianus ) .

One evening at Knob Lake Jerome dropped in for a chat with me
in the bunk-tent where I was quartered. He at once gave the im-
pression of being a person of marked intelligence and generally
upstanding qualities. I was able to understand his leisurely and
deliberate speech probably as well as that of any French resident
of the North Shore. He was evidently aware of my interest in securing
specimens of Ptarmigan, and he came to tell me particularly of seeing
some of their tracks in the snow on a high ridge between Knob Lake
and Burnt Creek. He wrote for me the Montagnais names of a Wil-
son's Snipe {Capella gallinago delicata) and a Pine Grosbeak (Pini-
cola enucleator eschatosus) that I had secured that day. He also
presented me with the cased skins of a muskrat ( Ondatra zibethicus )
from Swampy Bay River and a Labrador varying lemming (Dicro-
stonyx hudsonius) from the Leaf Lake area. The latter is of special
interest in representing a rich brown color phase that apparently
had not been previously recorded for the Labrador species.

On October 10, when I made a long-anticipated visit to some of
my Montagnais friends at their homes in the Reserve indienne at
Moisie, a few miles east of Seven Islands, I found that Jerome's house
contained the village post-office, under his wife's charge. He kindly
offered to accompany and guide me to the west end of the village,
where a large school was maintained under the direction of the
Oblate Fathers. School being over for the day, the children were
playing outdoors, where I filmed a group of the girls ( pi. 13, fig. 2 )
as well as one of the boys ( pi. 13, fig. 1 ) . The former were a little
shy, but giggly enough. The boys were full of spirits, but not unruly;
they thronged for a time about a cage containing several red squirrels
( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and a wheel that the little animals could
scarcely be induced to turn. Here I also met two of the Oblate
Fathers, the Peres Beaudet and Laurent. To the tutelage of such

harper: the friendly montagxais of uxgava 81

devoted missionaries the Montagnais doubtless owe their high de-
gree of Hteracy. Pere Beaudet (pi. 11, fig. 1), with an excellent com-
mand of Enghsh, has subsequently given me some much appreciated
advice on the Montagnais names of animals that I had compiled
during the season and that appear on later pages of this report. He
has also contributed some names in addition to those that came to
my knowledge in the field. Before we parted, Pere Beaudet spoke
in high commendation of Jerome; and I, in turn, made known my wish
that he would take some later occasion to express to Jerome my own
cordial esteem for him (my French being insufficient for the pur-
pose ) .

The sun and the temperature were now dropping, and we hastened
back toward Jerome's house. On the way he pointed out a couple of
old log cabins that had been occupied by the Montagnais before the
government undertook to build the new village for them. Here a dog
came to fawn upon him, with proper affection ( as a good judge of
human nature). At Jerome's house there was still daylight enough
for a photoghaph of himself and his family (pi. 11, fig. 2). I was in-
vited indoors, where I packed up my cameras and presented my
friends with a few odds and ends of equipment that were left over at
the end of my field season.

By that time supper was ready, and a place was indicated for me
at the table. The tasty and excellent meal consisted of meat, mashed
f>otatoes, gravy, home-made bread, butter, and tea, with preserved
fruit and cake for dessert. Two little girls had their supper in a comer
of the room, while Mrs. St. Onge joined Jerome and myself at the
table. I could not help contrasting, to myself, the traditional diffi-
dence of the womenfolk of the Georgia piney woods in bygone years,
who would not think of sitting at table with their menfolk when a
guest was present, but would occupy themselves with bringing food
to the table (and whisking the flies away) until their turn came at
a second setting of the table. Here the good wife not only took part
in the general conversation, but at one point, when she had risen
momentarily from the table to attend to some food or dishes, she
returned and leaned affectionately on her husband's shoulder while
listening to our talk.

During the supper, with an outdoor temperature in the 40's and
an indoor temperature in the 60's, the door had been kept half open
to offset the moderate heat from the cookstove. Oh for the physio-
logical adaptation of the Montagnais to the rigorous chmate in which
they Hve!

82 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Jerome showed me an album of photographs, many of which had
evidently been taken by the Montagnais themselves. One that par-
ticularly interested me showed a group of four or five of the men,
in the midst of the antlers and skulls of perhaps 25 or 30 Labrador
Barren Ground caribou ( Rongifer caboti ) . It had been taken some-
where along the George River, and was reminiscent of the old days
of abundance when the Naskapi of the Indian House Lake area
piled up such relics of their chase. One of the men in the group was
Remi Regis, whom I had met at Knob Lake. He and Kom Pinette had
been members of Rousseau's party that descended the George River
in 1947 (see Rousseau, 1^49:89). Evidently the photograph was a
memento of that trip.

When I was ready to leave, Jerome summoned one of his Monta-
gnais neighbors, who drove me in his taxi as far as the airport, where
I connected with a bus for Seven Islands. So ended a long-to-be-
remembered afternoon among my good friends at Moisie.

There was further evidence of Jerome's cooperation in advanc-
ing our knowledge of the mammals of Ungava when, under date of
October 29, 1956, he sent to the National Museum of Canada a der-
moid cyst from a caribou ( probably Rangifer caribou caribou ) , with
an accompanying explanatory note (see Banfield, 1958). This rare
abnormality, according to Indian myth, develops into a caribou,
which comes out of the host in the form of a two-year-old animal.
Jerome's note was sent from the Indian reservation near Knob Lake,
indicating that he, like many others of the Moisie band, has trans-
ferred his residence from the old village site on the North Shore.

Montagnais Names of Animals

The following list includes such Montagnais names of mammals,
birds, amphibians, and fishes as I was able to secure in the field. In
nearly every case, the spelling is that of the natives themselves. For
each species, the English and the technical names also are given.

These Montagnais names, in so far as they are represented at all in
Lemoine's Dictionnaire Frangais-Montagruiis (1901), are not, in
general, identical with the names in that work. The fact that Pere
Lemoine lived most of the time at Maniwaki (fide Pere J. E. Beaudet,
in litt., October 14, 1961), more than 500 miles southwest of Seven
Islands, may account for the discrepancies. Maniwaki appears to
be in Algonkian territory, separated by the Tete de Boules from the
Montagnais area about Lake St. John.

Since subspecific determinations, in general, can be made only in

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MOXTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA

83

the laboratory, with pertinent hterature available, it is not to be
expected that the Montagnais would recognize, or discriminate be-
tween, the subspecies of a given species. (A single exception may
be noted in the case of the Salmon and the Ouananiche, which are
rated by ichthyologists as no more than subspecifically distinct — if
that much! — and yet bear distinctive names.) This state of affairs
has led to a certain degree of variation in presenting the English and
the technical names. If, in the case of certain species, just a single sub-
species occurs in Montagnais territory, I endeavor to employ an En-
ghsh name that appHes particularly to that subspecies and to make
the technical name a trinominal ( for example, American Goldeneye,
Bucephala clangula americana) . On the other hand, if two or more
subspecies of the same animal occur in this region, each presumably
bearing an identical name in the Montagnais language, I use the
English and the technical names in a sense covering the species as
a whole (for example, muskrat, Ondatra zihethicus) ; in such a case
the technical name is restricted to a binominal.

This procedure may not be applied strictly in every case; for
example, in the present state of our zoogeographical knowledge of
the Ungava Peninsula, it is not always certain whether more than
one subspecies of a given animal occurs in the territory of tlie Monta-
gnais.

The principal informants, to whom I am greatly indebted for these
names, were Sebastien, Francis, and Ben McKenzie, Kom Pinette,
and Jerome St. Onge. Pere J. E. Beaudet, O.M.I., was kind enough
to check the names supplied by our mutual friends, and to add a few
others from his own knowledge of the Montagnais tongue.

"Almost all the names of fish and other creatures are plainly de-
scriptive" (Cabot, 1922:222). Some of the bird names appear to be
onomatopoetic.

MAMMALS

English

Technical

Montagnais

Bear, American black

Euarctos americanus
americanus

Mask

Beaver

Castor canadensis

Amisk

Caribou, eastern wood-

Rangifcr caribou cari-

Atok

land

bou

Fox, red

Vulpes fulva

Oishao tsesho

Fox, Ungava arctic

Alopex lagopus ungava

Oapi tseshish

Lynx, Canada

Lynx canadensis cana-
densis

Pisho

Marten, American

Martes americana

Oapistan

Mink

Mustela vison

Tchekash

84

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Moose, eastern
Mouse, meadow

Mouse, nortliern white-
footed
Mouse, red-backed

Muskrat

Otter, Canada

Porcupine, eastern Can-
ada

Rabbit, American snow-
shoe

Seal, Atlantic harbor

Shrew, masked

Skunk, northeastern
striped

Squirrel, northern flying

Squirrel, red

Weasel, Richardson's

short-tailed
Whale, white
Wolf, eastern timber
Wolverine
Woodchuck

Alces alces americana
Microtus pennsijlvani-

ciis
Peromyscus maniculatus

Clethrionomtjs gapperi

Ondatra zibethicus

Lutra canadensis

Erethizon dorsatum
dorsatum

Lepus americanus amer-
icanus

Phoca vitulina concolor

Sorex cinereus

Mephitis mephitis me-
phitis

Glaucomys sahrinus

Tamiasciurus hudsoni-
cus

Mustela erminea rich-
ardsonii

Delphinapterus leucas

Canis lupus lycaon

Gulo luscus luscus

Marmota monax

Moose
Assioapokoshish

Mistapokoshish

Kaoappikoshishapoko-

shish
Otshisk
Nkok
Kak

Oaposh

Atshok

Tsinistoapokoshish

Tseka

Oponikotsash
Annikotsash

Socoshish

Mistimek
Meiken
Kwakwatcheo
Otshek

BIRDS

Blackbird, Rusty

Euphagus carolinus caro-
linus

Tshetshe kenoi

Bunting, Eastern Snow

Plectrophenax nivalis
nivalis

Popon pineshish

Chickadee, Eastern Black-

Parus atricapillus atrica-

Tipeikan pineshish

capped

pillus

Chickadee, Hudsonian

Parus hudsonicus

Pitshi kiki

Crossbill, Red

Loxia curvirostra

Oatshi koteshish

Crossbill, White-winged

Loxia leucoptera leucop-

Oatshikoteshish kaoa

tera

pishit

Crow, Eastern

Corvus hrachyrhynclws
brachyrhynchos

Aasho

Dovekie

Plautus alle

Tsikaoniss

Duck, Black

Anas rubripes

Ilni shep

Duck, Harlequin

Histrionicus histrionicus

Nost paostokoeshish

Eagle, Northern Bald

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Kaoapestokoanet mest-

alascanus

sho

Eider, American

Sorruiteria molissima dres-

Nessep

FUcker, Yellow-shafted

seri
Colaptes auratus

Pipistshish

Goldeneye, American

Bucephala clangula amer-

Meshe kosk

Goose, Canada

icana
Branta canadensis

Nesk

Goshawk, Eastern

Accipiter gentilis atricap-
illus

Kakaopetak

Grosbeak, Pine

Pinicola enucleator

Kamishistit mishoi

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA

85

Grouse, Hudsonian

Spruce
Guillemot, Black
Gull, American Herring

Gull, Great Black-backed
Gull, Iceland
Hawk, American Rough-
legged
Hawk, Marsh
Jay, Canada

Junco, Slate-colored
Kingfisher, Eastern Belted
Kinglet, Eastern Golden-
crowned
Kinglet, Eastern Ruby-
crowned
Knot, American
Lark, Horned
Merganser, Hooded
Merganser, Red-breasted
Old Squaw
Osprey, American

Owl, American Hawk

Owl, Homed

Owl, Snowy

Pintail

Ptarmigan, Hudson Bay
Rock

Ptarmigan, Ungava Wil-
low

Raven, Northern

Redpoll, Common

Robin, American

Sandpiper, Spotted

Scoter, American

Scoter, Surf

Scoter, White-winged

Shrike, Northern
Snipe, Wilson's

Sparrow, House

Sparrow, White-crowned
Sparrow, White-throated

Swallow, Tree
Tern, Arctic
Warbler, Blackpoll
Yellowlegs, Greater

Canachites canadensis

canadensis
Cepphus grylle atlantis
Lams argentatus smith-

sonianus
Larus marinus
Lauras glaucoides
Buteo lagopus sanctijo-

hannis
Circus cyaneus hndsonius
Perisoreus canadensis

Junco hyemalis hyemalis
Megaceryle alcyon alcyon
Regulus satrapa satrapa

Regulus calendula calen-
dula

Calidris canutus rufa

Eremophila alpestris

Lophodytes cucullatus

Mergus serrator serrator

Clangula hyemalis

Pandion haliaetus carolin-
ensis

Surnia ulula caparoch

Bubo virginianus

Nyctea nijctea

Anas acuta

Lagopus mutus rupestris

Corvus corax principalis
Acanthis linaria
Turdus migratorius
Actitis macularia
Oidemia nigra americana
Melanitta perspicillata
Melanitta deglandi deg-

laruli
Lanius excuhitor horealis
Capella gallinago delicata

Passer domesticus domes-

ticus
Zanotrichia nigrilora
Zonotrichia albicollis

Iridoprocne hicolor
Sterna paradisaea
Dendroica striata
Totanus melanoleucus

Ilineo

Tshimoshomash
Mesh tshiask

Opoeioeo tshiask
Tshiask kaoapishish
Shakotom

Notshineo oesho
Oiskitshan or Oisldt-

san
Otete pisho
Tshisse melsho
Kaioassi koniskoeones

Tshatshao nish

Notapiskoeshish
Nanioet
Meste shok
O shok
A a oeo
Koshi mesheo

Pepe nestshish
O sho, or O o
Oapi kino
Oapeneshep
Keske tshish

Lagopus lagopus ungavus Oapineo

Ka katsho

Kaipishissit mishoi

Pi pitsheo

Katsha kaskopiniot

O momok

Koaiken

Koiskoshipatom

Atsensketsan or Mishoi
Ka moskoashst — or

Otitipesho?
Tshi moalo

Oaposkao pineshish
Tante nipatshiko tshi-

kotshin
Shakoeikenesh
Tshiask oeshish
Tossi pimansh
Sheshesho

86

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT, HIST.

AMPHIBIANS

Toad, Cope's

Bufo terrestris copei

Nik

Frog, Northern Wood

Rana sylvatica cantabri-
gensis

FISHES

Omatshiskok

Burbot, American

Lota lota lacustris

Meli, Meni, or Miri

Capelin

Mallotus villosus

Keskenemekosh

Cod, Atlantic

Gadus callarias

Ononoi

Eel, American

Angtiilla rostrata

Oppimmishoi

Herring, Lake

Leucichthtjs artedi

PAtshikoshmek

Ouananiche

Salmo salar ouananiche

Ouananiche

Pike, Northern

Esox lucius

Tshinosheo

Salmon, Atlantic

Salmo salar salar

Otchatchomek

Stickleback, Three-spined

Gasterosterous aculeatus

PTsistaskoannamesh

Sucker, Common

Catostomus commersonii
commersonii

Makatsheo

Sucker, Red

Catostomus catostomus

Mikoashi, or Mokoashi

Trout, Brook

Salvelinus fontinalis

Matamek

Trout, Lake

Cristivomer namaycush

Kokemesh, or Kuku-

Whitefish, Common

Coregonus clupeaformis

mess
Atikameg

Whitefish, Round

Prosopium cylindraceum
quadrilaterale

PPotmekosh

Indian Dogs of the Ungava Peninsula

My own opportunities for observing these dogs were limited to a
few moments on October 10 at the Moisie village near Seven Islands.
At that time I was scarcely aware of the peculiarities of the two Mon-
tagnais breeds and of the interest attached to them. In any event,
I was too much engrossed with other matters on that crowded after-
noon to pay any particular attention to dogs, other than including
two of them (an adult and a puppy) in some photographs. These
dogs were perhaps of the breed that is used for help in hunting. The
photograph (pi. 12, fig. 2) suggests that they were of the same type
that was kept by the Montagnais at Natashquan forty-odd years ago,
as described by Townsend (see below). The adult, as revealed in
a Kodachrome, appears somewhat as follows: buff-colored, with
whitish face, collar, feet, and tail-tip. The tail was curly. The animal
was of the size of a smallish hound.

It may be useful to review some of the accounts in the literature.

R. Curtis ( 1774:386), on a visit to the Labrador coast in 1773, re-
marks on the large dogs of the Eskimos, "whereas the dogs of the
Mountaineers [Montagnais] are extremely small."

"Dogs are very useful to [the Montagnais] Indians, in finding bears
during the winter, when their hiding-places are covered with snow.

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 87

They smell the torpid animal, and thus discover his den." (Hind,
1863, 1:184.)

In describing the embarkation of some Montagnais families at
Natashquan for Musquaro, Townsend writes (1910:163):

"The small slinking foxlike Indian dog, black and tan in color, was
everywhere, each one nervously anxious not to be left behind." He
adds: "Every family possessed a cat, either carried in arms, or har-
nessed and straining at the leash, or again follo%ving free Hke a dog."
The cats were said to be "a recent acquisition," and to be "treated
most kindly as pets."

In a later work (1918:54) Townsend describes these dogs further:

At "the Indian encampment at the mouth of the Great Natashquan
River," we "were received by a rush and chorus of Indian dogs. These
dogs are very different from the Eskimo dogs and are much smaller.
They are long-haired with pointed noses and ears and curled-up tails,
and are generally black and tan in color with white bellies and white
tips to their tails."

Glimpses of Montagnais dogs are shown in some of Townsend's
plates (1918:opp. pp. 86, 168).

Referring perhaps more particularly to the Montagnais of the Lake
St. John area, Cabot writes ( 1922:204) :

"Bears are found even in midwinter, sometimes by aid of the small
dogs ....

"The keen little dogs referred to are indispensable in the hunting
of small game, joining their efforts and senses to those of the family
in a marvelous way. In traveling by canoe, they are often put ashore
to run the banks, with great effect. An Indian dog, a pole, and a noose
are as effective a combination in hunting some of the grouse kind as
almost any tliat can be brought to bear."

One of the breeds of the American aborigines is discussed by Allen
(1920:464) under the name of "Short-legged Indian Dog." It was
apparently distributed from British Columbia to Quebec, and per-
haps to New England and New York. One of the dogs (Allen, 1920:
pi. 5, fig. 1) was photographed by William B. Cabot at Bersimis,
Quebec. "The large head, erect ears (somewhat laid back in the
photograph), long, heavy body, short, straight legs, up-turned tail,
agree well with other descriptions. This particular individual has tlie
spiritless air of an old dog." (P. 465.) (Speck's photographs [1925]
seem to show no dogs so extremely short-legged. )

"These smaller dogs were apparently the famihar household pets
or hunting companions of the Indians of forested country or of the

88 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

canoe-using tribes. They were too small to be of service as pack-
animals with travois or pannier." ( P. 467. )

Pere "Le Jeune speaks [in 1633] of the familiarity of the [Quebec]
Indian dogs, that in winter they are unable to sleep outside and come
into the cabins, lying and walking over the inmates" ( p. 468 ) .

The most comprehensive account of the dogs of the Montagnais is
evidently the one by Speck ( 1925 ) , from whose paper the following
excerpts are made:

"The tribes of the Labrador peninsula . . . use dogs extensively for
the transportation of their valuable cargoes of fur and provisions in
their winter wanderings." He concludes that the practice, and "even
the dog stock itself, have been derived by the Montagnais . . . through
contact with the French Canadians." (P. 58. )

"The Montagnais have several types of dog. First to be mentioned
is a small, decidedly vulpine race: the prominent, pointed, up-
standing ears, the pointed nose, the silky hair, and whitish belly are
characteristic. In color, dogs of this race are brown, reddish, or white
and gray. They have a light delicate step, a trim graceful figure, and
and an amiable disposition. . . . These, considered the real Indian
dogs, undoubtedly represent the original sti^ain. They serve only as
trailers, for their scent being keen and their actions quick, they make
excellent, intelligent hunters. The hunting dog constitutes a decided
type .... About thirty years ago there were no dogs other than these
among the Lake St. John Indians, and they did not 'train.'" (Pp.
5a-59.)

"The driving animals, in contrast to the breed just described, are
ordinarily big hardy beasts, with broad heads and short hair. Usually
their features indicate affinity with the European dog races, but oc-
casionally some mixture with the Eskimo husky is evident." (Pp.
59-60.)

"The breed of dogs used for sledding by the Montagnais of Lake
St. John and . . . eastward generally as far as Seven Islands, is a
mongrel shaggy beast, prevailingly dark brown, of a rusty, worn hue,
or black, with a slight admixture of white" (p. 60).

"As regards the technique of dog transportation among the Mon-
tagnais, ... an European origin is convincingly suggested not only
by the breed of the large dogs . . . , but in many details of harnessing
and management" (p. 61).

Speck shows figures of the hunting type on pages 58 and 59; of the
train dogs, on pages 60-63.

Tanner (1947, 2) writes:

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 89

"The Montagnais' little, long-nosed 'cracky dog' is invaluable to
the hunter .... Yet many people may be surprised that the Indians
have no draught animals. Large dogs are not kept by them as a rule,
partly because of the food they require and partly because the
cunning huskies soon learn to rob the traps. Only a few Montagnais
are said to keep a span ( 1-2 ) of dogs, but the Naskaupee are said to
be better-off: they move about in districts where caribou meat is
plentiful; many of their families have a komatik with a team of husky-
dogs. The use of the dog as a beast of burden is unknown in Lab-
rador." (P. 620.)

When a caribou herd suddenly moves to far distant parts, then "the
hunters try to track single caribou — a very uncertain prey; they must
leave the smaller game they still have to the family in the camp and
spread out farther inland with their cracky dogs" ( p. 633 ) . Tanner
shows such a dog in one of his photographs (p. 616, fig. 262).

At Romaine, Miss Leitch (1956:19) mentions "the yip-yip-yipping
of a dozen 'crackies,' the small, Indian hunting dogs tethered along
the edge of the plateau."

Miss Leitch has kindly supplied (in lift., January 12, 1962), from
P. K. Devine's Folklore of Neivfoundland (1937), the following def-
inition of "crackie": "A small dog. A lap dog, lively, frisking and
barking." One of the definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary
( 1933) is "abounding in conversation" — which is perhaps not too far-
fetched for application to a dog that "yip-yip-yips."

Through the kindness of Henri Ouellet, of the National Museum
of Canada, I have had an opportunity to examine Kodachromes of
two "cracky dogs," taken at St. Augustin in the summer of 1961. I was
quite nonplused by their short and rounded ears, until Mr. Ouellet
{in litt., August 8, 1962) provided the following information: "Ac-
cording to an Indian ritual, that was not very well explained to me,
all the 'cracky' dogs used for hunting, in the St. Augustin area at
least, have their ears cut off near the skull; this is supposed to im-
prove their hunting qualities."

The following notes are based upon the Kodachromes. Most of the
whole body of one dog is not very clear white, with a pale buffy
wash on ears, shoulder, neck, side, and parts of forelegs; the bushy
tail hangs nearly straight down. In the other dog the chest, shoulder,
venter, and limbs are whitish; hkewise a median dorsal line on the
snout and the area about the nostrils and mouth; face, below and in
front of eyes, mouse gray; crowTi buffy brownish, with a white median
streak; ears a little browner; back dark mouse gray; tail not visible.

90 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Mr, Ouellet writes: "All the specimens I have seen display a curled-
down tail" — in contrast to the generally described curled-up tail.

Some of the Cree, Naskapi, and even Montagnais have obtained
Eskimo dogs. For example, Skinner writes (1911:43) of conditions
among the Eastern Cree:

"In winter, sleds drawn by Eskimo dogs, are used for traveling,
but according to the Indians this custom was derived from the Es-
kimo, from whom the Eastern Cree still purchase dogs for this
purpose."

At Lake Mistassini the train dogs "are almost of the pure husky
type, and the technique employed in harnessing and driving them
is strictly Eskimoan" (Speck, 1925:60).

When Mrs. Hubbard (1908:161 ) came in 1905 to a camp of Monta-
gnais at Resolution Lake, near the head of the George River, she
found "some six or eight splendid Eskimo dogs" that "prowled about
snarling at one another." The one shown in a photograph on the
plate opposite page 158 is clearly enough a Husky, and not one of
the Montagnais breeds. This band of natives, while maintaining con-
tact with Seven Islands or Mingan, also made trading visits to Davis
Inlet on the Atlantic Coast, where presumably they had been able
to obtain the Eskimo dogs. At Resolution Lake tliey evidently man-
aged to kill enough of the Barren Ground caribou to provide food
for these big dogs.

Strong (1930a:5) makes a slight reference to the use of dogs by
members of the mixed Montagnais-Naskapi band of Davis Inlet in
the hunting of Cabot's caribou: "When these are seen they are fol-
lowed, often with dog sleds, until the game is fairly close at hand.
Then the dogs are secured, and the men, keeping carefully to leeward
of the deer, creep as close as possible." These were presumably Es-
kimo dogs.

"It is . . . most interesting to find how much the Naskaupee have
borrowed from the Eskimo. Some of them have procured draught
dogs. Strong says that . . . the Davis Inlet and Barren Ground people
used a few Eskimo dogs, which were harnessed to the sled in fan-
shaped formations, but this art, like the komatik with runners, was
only acquired from the coastal Eskimo some fifty odd years ago. Prior
to that the men pulled their own toboggans, and the small white
Indian dog was used only for hunting small game. These dogs are
now almost extinct." (Tanner, 1947, 2:694.)

"A few men [of the Eastern Cree], using snowshoes and drawing
toboggans, since dogs are scarce among the Indians, may return [from

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 91

their trapping grounds] to Great Whale River in midwinter, to
exchange skins for flour, sugar, and other supphes" (Honigmann,
1952:513).

Deep snowfall was a deterrent to the use of dog-teams in the
eastern woodlands. Most Mistassini famihes had a small hunting
dog, but they did not keep sleigh dogs. (J. W. Anderson, 1961:67,
104. ) On the other hand, teams of Eskimo dogs were used in fairly
recent years (the 1930's) for travel along the east coast of James Bay
(op.cit.:177).

McLean (1932:260) indicates a lack of dogs among the Naskapi
during his time (1837-1842): "When they remove from camp to
camp in winter, the women set out first, dragging sledges loaded with
their effects, and such of the children as are incapable of walking."

A passage in Turner (1894:309) suggests that in his day hkewise
the Naskapi of the Fort Chimo area had no draught dogs, but merely
a small type that was perhaps identical with, or at least analogous to,
the Montagnais hunting dogs:

"When on a journey the younger women and the men drag [the
sled] along. When the men return to the station to trade they alone
drag it. A small dog is sometimes hitched to it by a thong, but as the
animal is so small and hght, it affords but httle assistance. The
animal, however, would certainly wander off in search of game
along the track, and by being hitched to the sled it is kept within
bounds."

The scant attention given by Turner to dogs indicates that they
then formed an element of comparatively little importance in the life
of the Naskapi of the Fort Chimo area. At that period the Naskapi
may not have been sufficiently familiar or friendly with the Eskimos
to have acquired draught dogs from them. Turner says (p. 184) that
the local Indians and Eskimos "do not intermix."

In Sebastien McKenzie's time (as reported by him), the Naskapi
(of the Koksoak River area?) used very few dogs in winter; a man
would have perhaps one or two. Obviously most of the sled-hauling
was by man-power — or woman-power. At Indian House Lake, Se-
bastien said, the people kept dogs all the time, in view of the abun-
dance of caribou for feeding them.

However, it still remains a question as to how long the latter group
— tlie so-called Barren Ground Band — may have had the use of large
draught dogs. For example, Cabot (1912) seems to make no ref-
erence to seeing any dogs among his native friends at Indian House
Lake, and none appear in his photographs, although the large num-

92 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

bers of Barren Ground caribou in the area at that time should have
enabled the Naskapi to keep dogs.

Indian Dances of the Ungava Peninsula

Skinner (1911:40) and Speck (1935:179-180) give extremely few
descriptive details of dances among the Eastern Cree and the Mon-
tagnais, respectively. It would appear that neither had been present
at any of the "old dances" anywhere in the peninsula.

The former remarks (p. 40) : "Memories of but few native dances
now remain among the Eastern Cree and these have been set aside
for the square dances of the Europeans." He secured with difficulty
some meager information concerning certain primitive dances — the
war dance, the conjuring dance, the feasting dance, the deer ( cari-
bou) dance, the bear dance, and the mide dance. On a later page
(73) he adds that in former times, after a caribou was killed by the
Cree, "a 'deer dance' was held but no information can now be ob-
tained concerning it."

The dances were in vogue a century ago, as attested by Hind ( 1863,
1:245): "The goose-dance is a time-honoured custom among the
Crees of the Saskatchewan; and similar rejoicings and ceremonies
exist among the heathen Montagnais and Nasquapees." Further-
more, Couper remarked (1868:9) that the Montagnais "are fond of
music, singing and dancing."

"Religious ceremonial dances cannot be shown to exist among the
native populations of the peninsula. Nevertheless, dance perform-
ances appear in which spiritual influences are invoked, though they
seem to concern only the individual. The dance ... is indulged in
at times when famihes come together in the bush, but more especially
when they gather at the various rendezvous at the lakes of the interior
and at the post and missions along the coast. This, however, is some-
what against the wishes of the missionaries, who do not seem to
understand how essential such emotional outlets are to the native's
mental balance, or how much better adapted to native mentality these
are than the but half-comprehended Mass." (Speck, 1935:179.)

"A scientific discussion of the dancing is hardly possible for here
the art as well as the religion of dancing is not a regulated one. The
steps are of one form, for men an alternate shuffling with the foot
brought down heavily and a shake of the whole body; for both sexes
the arms, hanging loosely at the sides, and chest are given a violent
jolt at each step." ( Speck, 1935: 179-180. )

Speck and Eiseley (1942:236-237) give the following brief hint:
"It was stated that they [a group of families operating in the general

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 93

vicinity of Michikamau and Dyke lakes] hold feasts and dances at the
time when they depart and arrive at their destinations." There is
a suggestion of a caribou dance and of another dance still being prac-
ticed in that part of the peninsula (pp. 73 and 78, antea). But where
has there been an eye-witness account of a full-fledged Montagnais
dance?

"The Chimo Journal for 11 June 1899 gives a pleasant pictinre of
a summer Sunday there: . . . The Indians were having a big feast
[of caribou?] this afternoon; they had the drum going all the time."
(Elton, 1942:346.) The use of the drum suggests that a dance may
have been in progress among the Naskapi.

European square dancing seems to have replaced the primitive
native dances among the Eastern Cree at Great Whale River ( Honig-
mann, 1952:518, 519).

Further details in regard to the caribou dance (or feast) briefly
referred to on page 73 ( antea ) have come to hand from my excellent
correspondent, J. Laurent Veronneau {in lift., May 31, 1961). His
recollection, nearly eight years after the event, has naturally dimmed
somewhat, even when helped out by conferring with the surveying
party's chief, Gilbert Simard. After the killing of the caribou in the
afternoon, the four Montagnais "almost spent the night eating some
of the meat and drinking tea. They surely had fun because they
made a lot of noise and we could hardly sleep at all. I went to their
tent myself during the evening and three of them were eating raw
marrow (moelle) taken from the bones of the legs. One of tliem said
with a smile to me, that they ate that in order to obtain the same
courage (vaillance), the same nerves, as this Caribou had."

J. W. Anderson (1961:29) refers to "rabbit and duck dances"
among the James Bay Cree at Moose Factory, Ontario, about 1911,
and states (p. 108) that there was feasting and dancing among the
Mistassini Cree on their annual return to the post in June.

Through the generous cooperation of Harrison F. Lewis {in litt.,
September 2 and October 4, 1961 ) , the following additional details
of a dance ceremony, as observed by himself, are presented:

"Montagnais dances were not infrequent during the summers
(1921-1940) that I spent in regular succession on the north shore of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I have, on more than one occasion, heard
the regular, simple dance rhythm being produced by beating on a
drum of some kind, but only once did I see a dance. That one, I am
quite sure, was 'staged' at Matamek, through arrangements made by
Mr. Copley Amory, for the benefit of scientists gathered there, in

94 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

1931, for the Matamek Conference on Biological Cycles. The par-
ticipants were all male. They stood in single file in a small circle and
the entire file moved slowly around . . . the circle by shuffling halt-
ingly along in short steps in time with the rhythm of instrumental
origin. They were dressed in their usual old store clothes. I thought
the sight uninspiring.

"The . . . dancers . . . moved forward, front to back. I think the
movement was clockwise."

Subsequently two other participants in the Matamek Conference
have written me on the subject:

"The dances were put on at night .... Many of the delegates in-
cluding myself took part in the dances and tried to master the step."
(Alfred O. Gross, March 19, 1962.) (It is interesting to note that
these dances of the Montagnais, like some that I observed among
their relatives, the Cree, at Lake Athabaska in 1914, were held at
night.)

"I have a confused memory of the Indian dance at Mr. Amory's
Matamek Conference. The Indians were going around interminably
in a shuffle step, in a small circle with hands on the shoulders in
front. Ellsworth Huntington roused us by suddenly joining them!"
(Charles Elton, April 16, 1962.)

Indian Canoes of the Ungava Peninsula

During the twentieth century the birch-bark canoe seems to have
become fairly obsolete in the Ungava Peninsula. It has been replaced
by factory-built canoes or imitations thereof. An excellent first-hand
account of the primitive craft is presented by Turner ( 1894 ) , on the
basis of his observations at Fort Chimo and vicinity from 1882 to
1884:

"A point of great dissimilarity between the Naskopies and the
Little Whale river [Eastern Cree] Indians is that the birch-bark canoe
of the latter is much more turned up at each end, producing a craft
well adapted to the swift currents of the rivers. The occupants are
skillful boatmen, and will fearlessly face wind and wave that would
appall the heart of the Naskopie." ( P. 182. )

"All the Indians of this [Koksoak River] region use birch-bark
canoes, of the pattern shown in the [lower] figure (PI. XXXIX, from
a photograph; . . . ) . The style of canoe used by the Little Whale river
Indians . . . has very much more sheer at the bow and stern than those
used in the valley of the Koksoak." (Pp. 304-305.)

"There are two kinds of canoes in use among tliose Indians [of the

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 95

Koksoak River], differing only in the shape of the stern and prow.
The original form was nearly flat along the rails and had the bow
and stem but little turned up. Of later years intercourse with some
of their neighbors has induced them to modify the nearly straight
edge canoe into an intermediate shape [cf. Turner's pi. 39, upper fig.;
also pi. 5, figs. 2 and 3, of the present report] between their o\%ti and
that of the East Main Indians, whose canoes are very much turned
up, and are acknowledged to be far superior vessels to those of the
Ungava Indians." (P. 306.)

"As the forests in the vicinity of Fort Chimo do not contain birch
trees, and none are found until the headwaters of the Koksoak [ac-
tually the middle course of the Kaniapiskau] are reached, where they
are too small to afford bark of sufficient size and thickness, the In-
dians are compelled to procure the bark from the traders, who
import it from the St. Lawrence river and gulf stations" ( p. 306 ) .

"Without the birch-bark canoe the Indian would have difficulty
in obtaining his Hving, as it is even more necessary than the sled, and
nearly as useful as the snowshoe" ( p. 307 ) .

Turner's plate 39 ( see pi. 5, fig. 3, of the present report ) shows that
the Naskapi canoe has no decking, either fore or aft; there are five
thwarts.

Half a century before Turner's time, Nicol Finlayson \\Tote of
the Naskapi in the Fort Chimo area going inland on journeys of four
or five days in search of birch bark for their canoes.

Low (1896:32) speaks of the canoe birch attaining a larger size
in that area than elsewhere north of Nichicun Lake or the upper
Hamilton Basin: "At Cambrian Lake [on the Kaniapiskau River
about 110 miles south of Fort Chimo], where the hmestones are en-
countered and the river-valley is deep and protracted, the size of the
tree improves, and birches six inches in diameter are not uncommon."

Finallv, Sebastien McKenzie informed me that there is much
canoe birch in the vicinity of Fort McKenzie, and there the Naskapi
used to make canoes of it. This area is a northern outpost of the
species in the Ungava Peninsula.

Tanner (1947, 2:694, fig. 290) shows a Naskapi canoe very similar
in shape and construction to that in Turner ( 1894: pi. 39, lower fig. ),
except that the covering seems to be canvas rather than birch bark.
So much transformation had e\adently taken place in the half century
between Turner's time and Tanner's. (See also pi. 6, fig. 3, of the
present report. )

"Canoes are frequently used [by the Naskapi] for a portion of the

96 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

trip in or out of the country. These resemble the Montagnais canoe in
type. At present they are usually canvas-covered, owing to the ab-
sence of birch of suitable size." ( Waugh, 1925:133. )

Skinner's account (1911:42-43) of the canoes and canoeing of the
Eastern Cree is well worth quoting:

"Most of the summer traveling to and from Hudson's Bay is done
by canoe along the rivers. The canoe birch does not grow to a large
size in the northern part of the range of the Eastern Cree, or else the
bigger trees have been destroyed by the Indians so that birchbark
canoes are becoming rarer every year at Eastmain River Fort and
Rupert's House, Owing to this scarcity, those seen by the writer
were made of many small pieces of bark.

"Owing to the difficulty in obtaining birchbark it has long been
imported in rolls for canoe and tent-making. Now, however, most
canoes and wigwams are covered with canvas purchased from the
Hudson's Bay Company. At Rupert's House, in 1908, there was not a
single birchbark canoe, all those seen were canvas-covered.

"The Eastern Cree canoes have lower and less rounded bows than
those of the Ojibway, who border the southern part of their country.
The writer was informed, however, that the canoes used at Fort
George, and in Ungava and northward along the Hudson's Bay
proper, have such very high bows that they are called 'crooked'
canoes. This is to aid in battling with the waves in the open sea.

"Canoes average twelve or fifteen feet in length, but those used
by the Labrador voyageurs are often twice that size and sometimes
more. They are capable of bearing enormous weights, and many
will hold twenty or more men. The paddles used are short and rather
clumsy. They have no swelling at the end of the handle to facilitate
the grip. In paddhng, the Eastern Cree take shorter and more jerky
strokes than their Ojibway neighbors on the south. ... In shooting
rapids, the men at the bow and stem ( the bowsman, by the way, is
considered the leader) always stand upright in the canoe when
approaching the head of the rapids and gaze down the stream for a
moment, noting the easiest course for travel in an incredibly short
space of time. When they reach rapids which are known to be bad,
they sometimes go ashore and follow down the stream to examine
the course. If the rapids prove wild, the canoe is then lightened and
they proceed, or portage around, as the case may be. All steering in
the rapids is done from the bow, the man in the stern merely keep-
ing the boat straight. In ascending streams, it is usual to pole up

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 97

many of the rapids. This is accompHshed by pushing from the bow
and stem. Where the water is too deep for poles and too swift for
paddhng, the canoe is towed from the shore by one of the voyageurs.
Bundles are carried across portages by means of a burden strap which
passes across the forehead. However, not a single specimen of 'tump
line' of aboriginal make was observed."

A photograph that Skinner took of canoes at Eastmain in 1908 is
reproduced as plate 2, figure 1. These doubtless include the very
canoes on which he based his remark (p. 42) as to their being "made
of very small pieces of bark." The majority of the canoes that appear
in his photograph were evidently covered with canvas.

His further remarks on the Cree ways and means of shooting rapids
( and especially the habit of standing upright in the canoe to inspect
rapids ahead) bring vividly to mind the identical actions of three
Ojibway canoemen from the Sault Ste. Marie area, who accompanied
an expedition of the Geological Survey of Canada to Great Slave
Lake in 1914 and ran many rapids on the Tazin and Taltson rivers.
(See also J. W. Anderson, 1961:113.)

Alcock (1948:pl. 1) has pubhshed a photograph of a large, dec-
orated, birch-bark canoe, with a crew of at least six men, on Lake
Mistassini. It bears the following caption: "Party of A. P. Low on
Lake Mistassini, Que., 1885." This canoe bears a general resemblance
to the Cree canoes photographed by Skinner (pi. 2, fig. 1, of the
present report) at Eastmain, but it has a more decidedly upturned
bow and stern. It may be presumed to represent a type in use among
the Mistassini Cree three-quarters of a century ago.

J. L. Veronneau, who has been engaged in winter surveys for a
number of years in Cree territory, chiefly about the headwaters of
Eastmain River, worites (in litt.. May 31, 1961) as if he had observed
no birch-bark canoes in all that area, other than some very old frames
on an island in a lake near Sakami River (about lat. 53° ); these may
have been originally covered with bark.

On James Bay the building of birchbarks ceased about the turn of
the century, but a few were still being made at Mistassini between
1913 and 1918 (J. W. Anderson, 1961:51, 104).

Hind, whose work ( 1863 ) deals mainly with the Montagnais ter-
ritory along tlie North Shore of the Gulf, presents a number of
sketches of birch-bark canoes. While there is some variation, most of
these approximate the type that is figured by Waugh (1919:pl. 1,
fig. 6) as a Montagnais canoe, and which bears a close similarity to

98 UNIVEESITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

the Naskapi type. Waugh offers practically no other information
concerning it; possibly his sketch was based upon Hind's figures.
By his time the use of the Montagnais birchbark may have practically
died out. In 1953 I saw no Montagnais canoe of a primitive type,
nor did I hear of any.

The Indians of the Mingan area "excel in the structure of canoes,
and the amount of labor and substantial work put on them is aston-
ishing— indeed, it is the only good piece of work made by them"
(Couper, 1868:9).

Referring to his annual cruises along the North Shore, 1921-1940,
Harrison F. Lewis writes ( in lift., September 22, 1961 ) : "I have
repeatedly seen Montagnais building canoes, but I do not believe that
they covered the frames, in my time, with birch bark."

Howard Cleaves {in litt., August 7, 1961) noticed no birch-bark
canoes during a cruise along die eastern part of the North Shore of
the Gulf in 1927, but he photographed a Montagnais making a can-
vas-covered canoe.

Miss Leitch ( 1956:22-23) shows in several photographs the build-
ing of the latter type of canoes by Montagnais at Mingan and Ro-
maine.

Some general remarks by Waugh ( 1919 ) may be included here:

"The factory-made canoe, though modelled after the Indian article,
has, in fact, so far eclipsed it that it is seldom seen except among
remote and backward bands of Indians who employ it mainly from
economy or conservatism" ( p. 28 ) .

"The seams in all barked canoes are gummed" (p. 32 ) .

"An inside gunwale to which the upper edge of the covering is
sewn continuously, is found among the Chipewyan, Ojibwa, Monta-
gnais and Micmac" ( p. 33 ) .

Jenness scarcely discusses the canoes of any of the natives of the
Ungava Peninsula, except to reproduce (1955:106, fig. 6) Waugh's
figure of the Montagnais type. He adds (p. 108): "Bark canoes
varied somewhat from tribe to tribe, in the amount of curvature at
bow and stern, in the decking of tlie ends, and in a few other details."

Some Contributors to the Ethnology of the Ungava Peninsula
The reader of the foregoing pages may be interested in the fol-
lowing slight sketches of some of those who laid the foundations of
the regional ethnology. It was my great privilege to enjoy friendly
relations with four of them — Cabot, Townsend, Speck, and Skinner.
The few bits of information on tlieir professional and personal qual-

HABPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 99

ities may enhance the reader's appreciation of their writings, as ex-
empHfied in the numerous quotations that have been presented.

Henry Youle Hind ( 182.3-1908) was of British birth, but spent his
adult hfe as a Canadian teacher, geologist, and explorer. After ex-
perience as geologist of the Red River expedition of 1857, he was in
command of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan exploring expedition
of 1858 and of the Labrador expedition of 1861. He published reports
on all three of these expeditions, including a two-volume account of
the third (London, 1863). (Diet. Nat. Biog., supplement 1901-1911,
1:267-268.)

Although Hind's travels in the interior were not so extensive as
might be suggested by the title of his volumes, he produced a very
readable and useful work — in fact, a Labrador classic. It probably
deals more fully with the Montagnais and the Naskapi than any
previous account since the time of the early Jesuits. At his period the
Indians had the advantage of leading a much more primitive and
natural life than a century later, and of not having received such a
strong infusion of alien blood as the present generation. Some of his
characters stand out as individual personalities — not merely as un-
named representatives of tribal groups. There are also notes on the
flora and fauna and the devastating effect of forest fires. In no otlier
work have I found such glowing appreciation of the fairyland of
Labrador lichens and mosses (see 1:182).

"Hind leaves a vivid narrative of the difficult soutliem wooded
hills of the Canadian Labrador" (Elton, 1942:241).

Perhaps few scientific men alive today have any personal recol-
lection of Lucien McShan Turner (1848-1909), who spent two years
( 1882-1884 ) in the Ungava Peninsula, with headquarters at Fort
Chimo. While there he labored prodigiously and effectively in the
field of natural history as well as in ethnology. The Bureau of Eth-
nology of the Smithsonian Institution published his monumental
treatise on the Eskimos and the Naskapi in its Eleventh Annual Re-
port ( 1894 ) . His collection of Labrador and Ungava birds and
mammals still remains at the United States National Museum; like-
wise his notable unpublished manuscripts on mammals, birds, and
fishes. The one on mammals contains probably more real information
on the life history of Cabot's Caribou than may be found in all the
publications on that species.

In contrast to Turner's widely and favorably known works on the
zoology and ethnology of both Arctic Alaska and Arctic and Sub-

100 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

arctic Ungava, extremely little has appeared in print concerning his
personal life. So far as I have ascertained, tliere has not been even
an obituary notice in any scientific journal. He was a boyhood com-
panion of Robert Ridgway, the distinguished ornithologist (1850-
1929), in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. "In 1864" Turner's mother suggested
to young Robert "that he write to the Patent Office in Washington
for information about certain birds which puzzled him" ( Stone, 1935:
598). He thus became engaged in correspondence with Spencer F.
Baird; this was the beginning of an association that lasted as long as
the latter Hved, and it eventually resulted in Ridgway 's career as
curator of birds in the United States National Museum. He in turn
opened the way for Turner's appointment for field service, first in
Alaska (1874-1877, 1878-1881) and later in Ungava (1882-1884).
Turner's primary duties in each region were the keeping of meteoro-
logical records for the Signal Corps, and for that purpose he enlisted
in the Army; but a considerable portion of his time was left free for
collections and observations in natural history, and his eventual pub-
lications bear ample testimony to his zeal and marked abihty in that
field.

The record of Turner's second enlistment in the Signal Corps,
March 6, 1878, provides the following information: "Bom in Main[e]-
ville, Ohio. Aged 29 %2 years. Has grey eyes, dark hair, and dark
complexion. Is 5 feet, 7^/4 inches high." His discharge record. May
24, 1882, bears the notation: "Character 'Excellent.' " ( Memorandum
from Paul J. Scheips, U. S. Army Signal Historical Office, March 20,
1962.)

Among Turner's letters in the Smithsonian Archives, there is one
from Mt. Carmel as early as 1869, in which he describes birds, eggs,
and nests collected; he also states that he had learned taxidermy
from Ridgway. Other letters were written from St. Michael's, Alaska
(1875-1876), San Francisco (1877), and Washington, D. C. (1877-
1887). While he was in Alaska, numerous letters were received at
the Smithsonian from his wife, Mary E. Turner, in Mt. Carmel. A
letter from Turner in 1886 indicates that he had been a bricklayer
by trade. (Abstracts of the foregoing letters have been very kindly
supplied by Mrs. Margaret C. Blaker, of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, in litt., January 12, 1962. )

Further information on Turner's life has been gleaned from the
Ridgway Collection at McGill University. The material consists of
29 letters written by Turner between 1873 and 1895 to his lifelong
friend, Robert Ridgway. They have been made available through

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 101

the courtesy of Mrs. J. Schachter, of the Blacker-Wood Library at
McGill. Unless otherwise indicated, the letters were written from
Mt. Carmel, Illinois. Abstracts follow.

November 24, 1873. Tliis letter deals mainly with the making of a
local collection of snakes, and includes notes on habits, coloration,
and taxonomic characters. Turner was then apparently engaged in
teaching and finding it something of a strain. He tells of his boy
learning to talk, and of a rabbit hunt planned with Ridgway's father.

March 31, 1874. Announcing an early departure for San Francisco
and an intention to take his wife along — though surely not all the
way to Alaska, where the climatic and social rigors were to prove a
sufficiently severe ordeal for Turner himself. (His headquarters
from 1874 to 1877 were at St. Michael's.)

December 14, 1877 ( after three years in Alaska ) . Arranging with
Robert Ridgway's brother, John L., for drawings of native articles
to accompany his report on Alaskan Eskimos. Wants another mission
— to Alaska, Commander Islands, or elsewhere ("am not particular
where").

December 17, 1877. A box of bird skins received (from Alaska?).
John Ridgway has prepared a series of illustrations for the approval
of Major J. W. Powell, director of the Bureau of Ethnology.

December 31, 1877. Working on (local?) fishes; has already de-
scribed 60 species. Desires a copy of a large, illustrated work on tur-
tles (by Agassiz?) that he had seen in the Smithsonian. Needs to
obtain work for a living. Still interested in the (Commander?) Islands.

February 18, 1878. Anxious to hear about chances for a job at
St. Paul's Island. "I must do something shortly."

February 20, 1878. Ready to take a Signal Corps job at St. Paul's
Island. Refers to a projected visit to Mt. Carmel in March by Ridg-
way and Dr. T. M. Brewer, the ornithologist.

February 26, 1878. In regard to passing a physical examination for
the Signal Service.

March 25, 1878. Returning by train to Mt. Carmel (presumably
from Washington). Remarks on spring birds and vegetation.

November 10, 1878, Unalaska Island. This island a "desert" for
collecting. Desires a transfer to Attn Island, where birds are reported
as abundant. (Meteorological) observations take up much of his
time. Notes on a few birds.

June 20, 1879, Atka Island. Gets very tired. Weather "simply
frightful." Turner the only white person there; has become able to
speak, read, and write Russian quite well. "My teeth chatter over

102 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

the sesquipedalian polysyllabic conglomerations of this fearfully
compound language."

Unalaska "one of the worst places on the face of the globe. A
continual round of drunkenness and worse." Just two white men
there.

Notes on birds sent. Turner's birthday on June 20. Does his own
cooking, house-cleaning, bed-making, and ironing. Made the first
loaf of bread of his life. "This is a hard life, but it has its pleas-
antries." Game is scarce. "I have the privilege of writing up my own
birds this time."

October 24, 1881 ( on returning to Mt. Carmel ) . Has no desire for
any duplicates of his Alaskan birds. "Prof. S. F. Baird remarked . . .
that it would be better to await my return before the last boxes were
opened." "The 'Corwin' has arrived at San Francisco. [E. W.] Nel-
son should be on her."

November 11, 1881. Donating to the National Museum a collec-
tion of 1,077 birds made by himself and Samuel Turner. All but one
of tliem collected in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel. Plans to start for
Washington on the 18th.

July 2, 1882, Rigolet, Labrador. Arrived here after a voyage of 14
days from Quebec, and has made a collection of birds. Hopes his
( Alaskan ) report is in the hands of the printer.

September 1, 1882, Fort Chimo, Ungava. Arrived here on August
6, after a 63-day trip from Quebec. Describes the Labrador coast.
Chimo, 23 miles from the river's mouth, contains three dwellings.
Much pleased with the prospect. Made collections at Davis Inlet as
well as at Rigolet. Hopes to be able to send (via London) 2,000
bird skins by December, 1883. "I assure you that the white man here
forms a pleasant contrast to the drunken scamps of Alaska." Turner's
Indian bodyguard is so slim that he bears the nickname of "Ghost."

"I think I shall have a very interesting report on this part of
the globe. . . . Birds are very plentiful. ... I shall not fail to properly
record everything pertaining to the natural history of this place."

"The deer [caribou] were so plentiful in this village in June that
the women had to drive [them] off with sticks to prevent the animals
from knocking down the tents."

August 28, 1883, Fort Chimo. Professor Baird had written that he
would endeavor to have Turner's Alaskan report published by the
Smithsonian. Part of his Alaskan notes had inadvertently been taken
with him to Ungava. Ridgway is thanked for news of Turner's own
family. Turner had gone to a great deal of trouble in preparing his

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 103

bird specimens and packing them for shipment. By that time he had
collected about 1,100 birds. From April 10 to July 20 he had suffered
such agonizing torture from writer's cramp that he had not been able
to use his hand. This condition had been brought on by writing
stories related to him by the natives.

The man in charge at Chimo was not an educated man nor at all in
sympathy with Turner's work.

On the departure of the supply vessels in the fall, Turner was
planning a trip to the falls higher up the Koksoak. ( Some of his bird
specimens came from The Forks, where the Kaniapiskau and the
Larch join to form the Koksoak. So far as known, he did not ascend
farther upstream. ) He had seen thousands of caribou.

He had not found the field of ethnology here so varied and at-
tractive as in Alaska. Meanwhile he had suffered the loss of his best
assistant, Mrs. Maggie Brown, wife of the cooper at the post. She
was a nice little lady, of Indian and English ancestry, and spoke En-
glish that was superior to the general average at Fort Chimo. She
had taught Turner to speak Eskimo and was beginning to instruct
him in Indian [Naskapi] when she died. She had been able to
secure, in his behalf, things that the natives would not permit a white
man to touch. (This otherwise unnamed collaborator of Turner's
may now, some four-score years later, be granted a little of the
credit due for her unselfish and devoted labors. )

Turner had had news from his home up to May, 1883. He had
also received "quite a nice letter indeed" from Dr. Leonhard Stejne-
ger, written in Russian, English, and German.

September 3, 1884, Fort Chimo, Ungava. This note lists the
packages ( and their contents ) that had been shipped to the Smith-
sonian in 1884. He was to leave the next day for Rigolet on his way
home.

December 22, 1884, Smithsonian Institution. A note to Ridgway
(in New York City) expresses thanks for three hummingbirds re-
ceived. A Dr. [B. H.?] Warren was to finish, on the next day, the
cataloguing of Turner's specimens in Ridgway 's book.

December 11, 1885, Smithsonian Institution. A note about ar-
rangements for illustrating Turner's report.

January 26, 1886, Smithsonian Institution. The data of the Una-
laska collection can be supplied on receipt of the original numbers of
tlie specimens. ( These last two notes suggest that Turner may have
stayed on in Washington for more than a year after his return from
Ungava. )

104 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

October 25, 1888, and January 20, 1889, Huntingburg, Indiana.
These notes, written on letterheads of the Bureau of Pensions, De-
partment of the Interior, are a sad indication that Turner, with aU
his fine talents in zoology and ethnology, had apparently exhausted,
before the age of 40, the opportunities of contributing those talents
through further service with some scientific branch of the govern-
ment. It is a lamentable commentary on the pitifully sHght prospects
of those days, in comparison with the astronomical sums spent an-
nually on scientific projects at the present time. In the first note
Turner writes: "I have no time for birds; nothing but writing all the
time." Although a few local birds of the winter season are mentioned
in the second note, he adds: "I get so Httle time for private corre-
spondence that I have almost quit writing to anyone." He mentions
sending, for Mrs. Ridgway, "three salted Reindeer [caribou?]
tongues." Were these mementoes of the Ungava trip, from which he
had returned more than four years previously?

March 30, May 2, and December 31, 1894, and January 15, Janu-
ary 29, April 24, and April 28, 1895, Seattle, Washington. The five
years from 1889 to 1894 represent an apparent blank in Turner's life.
He then writes seven letters from Seattle. In some of these letters
we find a little reference to business of an unspecified nature; this
led, in 1894, to the prospect of a trip "east of the Cascades and into
the arid region of the state." The letters refer mainly to observations
on, and collections of, birds, and to a steady desire for acquiring
pubHcations on birds. "Reading matter is scarce with me." In some
cases bird skins were to be supplied in exchange for the publica-
tions, such as Baird, Brewer and Ridgway 's History of North Amer-
ican Birds. He also expresses a desire for the American Ornithologists'
Union Check-List. On January 29, 1895, he writes: "I gather a few
birds at odd times with the intention, ultimately, of preparing a
sketch of the bird life of this state. I have collected 107 species in the
past ten months, representing about 80 genera and 633 specimens."

He speaks of having much leisure time during the rainy season
(October to May), and of desiring to spend this time in collecting
birds, in return "for a small sum sufficient to pay my expenses. , . .
I will secure fine specimens and put them up in good form for 33%
cents each," regardless of size. Ridgway not only offered to take
skins on these terms, but apparently induced William Brewster, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, to place an order with Turner for "30
skins of each bird less in size than a jay . . . and 10 each of larger
birds."

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGXAIS OF UNGAVA 105

At this time (April 24, 1895) Turner wrote that "I need money more
than books," and so deferred obtaining the Baird, Brewer, and
Ridgway work by means of barter.

The final letter (April 28, 1895) tells of a recent act of the state
legislatiu-e, imposing a $50 fine for the killing of any song bird and
making no provision for scientific collecting. Turner suggests a
statement from Ridgway, and perhaps also from G. Brown Goode
and Charles E. Bendire, that might be helpful in the matter of a
permit and thus enable him to avoid "difficulty with some over-
zealous ignoramus."

The history of American zoology and ethnology during the past
hundred years can furnish few examples of such a distinguished
and at the same time such an elusive personality as Lucien M. Turner
has hitherto represented. His years beyond 1895 still constitute an
enigma.

As for Ungava alone, the world will be forever in his debt for his
unforgettable pictures of the Eskimos, the Naskapi, and the caribou
and other creatures under primitive conditions, while they still re-
mained largely unspoiled by contact with civilization.

The letters and other biographical materials that have recently
come to light, together with additional details that are likely to be
unearthed, will make possible a fuller and more adequate account of
Turner's life than the present sketch.

Powell (1894:,xli-xhi) writes that from 1874 to 1884, with slight
intermissions. Turner engaged, under the direction of the Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, in the study of the Innuit ( Eskimos )
and adjacent tribes. This study was commenced in Alaska and con-
tinued in Ungava. "The customs of daily life, religious observances,
mythology, arts, and folk lore of both peoples are set forth with or-
derly method, in spirited style and with abundant illustration."

"Lucien Turner includes, in his ethnographic studies on Ungava
natives, some careful notes about the scenery and resources" ( Elton,
1942:241).

"The chief scientific source [of authoritative knowledge of the
Ungava people] is the lavish report by Lucien Turner [1894]" (El-
ton, 1942:347).

Turner's Alaskan activity, in collecting zoological, botanical, and
etlinological material, was "a truly remarkable achievement when
considered in connection with his other duties" (Gabrielson and
Lincoln, 1959:9).

106 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT, HIST.

The undated and retouched portrait published herewith (pi. 14,
fig. 2) is from the files of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

The other photograph ( pi. 15, fig. 1 ) , showing Turner in his winter
quarters at Fort Chimo, is from a negative transferred recently from
the United States National Museum to the Bureau of American Eth-
nology. Although the negative was not accompanied by any data,
its identity is established satisfactorily by the following intrinsic
evidence: the close mutual resemblance of the subjects of both
photographs, including a vertical ridge or scar on the forehead above
the left eye (mostly retouched out of the formal portrait); the cal-
endar on the wall, bearing the date February, 18 . . , showing 29
days in that month ( therefore in a leap year, 1884 ) , and issued by
John D. Park[er], a stationer and bookseller of Washington, D. C;
the meteorological instruments in two glass cases; the word "Species"
written across the top of the largest sheet of paper on the wall; and,
finally, the use of the same stereoscopic camera for this photograph
as for the one reproduced as plate 5, figure 1. These features are
more discernible in the original photograph than in the halftone
engraving.

The foregoing part of this sketch had left my hands, when the fol-
lowing additional information on Turner was derived from records
very kindly furnished by the National Archives.

"Lucien Turner" was enrolled on May 14, 1864, in Company H,
136th Regiment of Indiana Infantry, and was mustered out, with the
company, on September 2, 1864, as a private. ( This is not the original
record of enHstment, but a War Department memorandum, dated
January 9, 1920.) Although his age, on enrollment, was recorded
as "19," he was actually, at that time, several weeks less than 16. Like
many other eager youngsters of that period, he must have falsified
his age in order to enlist.

A "Lucien Turner," giving his age as 18 years and his occupation
as a farmer, volunteered at Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 1, 1865,
for a period of one year in Company I, 80th Regiment of Indiana Vol-
unteers. His birthplace was recorded as "Wabash County [in which
Mt. Carmel is located], Illinois." Physical characteristics were re-
corded as: hazel eyes, dark hair, fair complexion, and a height of 5
feet 4 inches. ( These characteristics correspond in general with those
given on his enlistment record in the Signal Corps, March 8, 1878.
But his actual age at this time was only 16. )

Turner married Mary E. Lutz on March 14, 1869, at Mt. Carmel,
Illinois. She had been bom there on July 4, 1850. While still resid-

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 107

ing there, they had two sons: Jesse J. (born in 1872) and Eugene S.
( bom in 1878 ) . The former was hving at Dalkena, Washington, as
late as 1919. Aside from the mere record of Turner's death in San
Francisco on April 8, 1909, his last years remain very much of an
enigma.

The name of L. M. Turner is intimately connected with a Naskapi
Indian exhibit installed several years ago in the United States Na-
tional Museum (pi. 19). The toboggan has his name painted on
it. The two thin planks of which it is composed were perhaps orig-
inally part of a packing-case in which Turner's meteorological instru-
ments were shipped to Fort Chimo, the planks being brought back
later in the form of a small toboggan. This one is only about 6 feet
long and 1 foot wide. The remaining material in the exhibit consists
of: a man's winter clothing of caribou skin; a doll representing a
woman's winter clothing; a wooden cup in which red, blue, and
yellow paints were prepared for garments; two fork-shaped objects
of bone, used in applying the paint in parallel lines to the garments; a
tobacco pipe; two bone scrapers; and, on the wall at the right, a pair
of Naskapi snowshoes. At least most of this material was collected
by Turner. The other pair of snowshoes belonged to the Kutchin
tribe ( of the far northwest ) .

As an engineer by profession, William Brooks Cabot ( 1858-1949 )
was engaged in the construction of many important works, including
bridges across the Charles and Connecticut rivers, a dock at the
Boston Navy Yard, and the Catskill aqueduct. "Five trips to Lab-
rador . . . made the subject matter of a book. In Northern Labrador'
(1912). . . . He contributed the introduction to Mrs. Leonidas Hub-
bard's 'A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador' (1908)"
[London], and a chapter on Indians in Grenfell's 'Labrador' (1909).
He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. ( Nat. Cycl. Am.
Biog. 38:537,1953.)

"Mr. William B. Cabot of Boston, who for several years has made
an annual visit to the Montagnais Indians of Labrador, and who has
edited a dictionary of their language, has had unique opportunities
for observing their habits. He has contributed a valuable monograph
from his special experiences." (Grenfell, 1922: vii.)

"Business and the love of the shrinking \^dlderness carried Cabot
into the Canadian woods where in 1899 he formed a close personal
friendship with two half-Indian guides who tutored him in their way
of Life. In 1903 he fell in witli Dr. Grenfell whose enthusiasm for Lab-

108 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PX^LS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

rador was responsible for Cabot's turning his interests in that direc-
tion for the rest of his Hfe." ( Shipton, 1950:8. )

For a most dehghtful and intimate sketch of the former way of
Hfe among the Naskapi of Indian House Lake, one will turn again
and again to the pages of Cabot's masterpiece. In Northern Labrador.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1859-1934), a physician of Boston,
with a primary avocation in ornithology, was a worthy member of the
school of New England nature writers exemplified by Henry D.
Thoreau, Wilson Flagg, Bradford Torrey, Frank Bolles, William
Brewster, Winthrop Packard, Francis H. Allen, and Edward A.
Preble. Aside from his favorite Ipswich sand dunes and salt marshes,
coastal Labrador had a very special attraction for him. This resulted
in three volumes ( 1907, 1910, and 1918 ) on that region, as well as
several contributions to ornithological journals and one to a geo-
graphical journal; also a comprehensive work on the birds of Lab-
rador (1907, in collaboration with Glover M. Allen), a chapter on
birds in Grenfell's Labrador (1922), and the editing of a modem
edition (1911) of Captain Cartwright's Labrador journal (1792).
Here and there he made interesting and useful observations on the
Montagnais.

"A strong, positive natiu*e, generous of heart, active in mind and
body, ever quick to see the humor of a situation, he was a delightful
companion in the field and a keen observer." (Allen, 1935:231-232. )

The official reports of Albert Peter Low (1861-1942) in the pub-
lications of the Geological Survey of Canada, while devoted primarily
to geology and geography, contain a very considerable fund of val-
uable information on the several groups or tribes of Ungava natives,
and on fauna and flora as well. He was fortunate in knowing the
Indians at a fairly primitive stage of their existence (in the 1880's
and 1890's).

"Here [in Low's reports] is a noble pattern drawn from years of
travel and clear insight into the land. . . .

"Such journeys [as Low's] put everything except light Indian
travel in the shade. . . . The results are set down in a full, scholarly
way, and from the broadest point of view." ( Elton, 1942:241. )

"Ranking with the greatest of these [accomplishments of the Geo-
logical Survey of Canada in his day] were tlie achievements of Low
in traversing and investigating the vast hitherto unexplored spaces of
Labrador Peninsula. . . .

"The Ungava or Labrador peninsula was crossed in both an east

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MOXTAGXAIS OF UXGAVA 109

and west and in a north and south direction. Many of the larger
rivers and lakes were mapped, and some of the coast examined. The
winter of 1893-1894 was spent in the field. In these t\vo years alone.
Low traveled 5460 miles; by canoe 2960 miles, on vessel 1000 miles,
with dog teams 500 miles, and on foot 1000 miles ....

"Coupled with his energy was his interest in all branches of nat-
ural history, a great organizing abihty, and a faculty for dealing with
men and for making friends. The cessation of his services was a great
loss to Canada." (Alcock, 1944:195, 196, 198, pi. 9 [portrait].)

Frank G. Speck (1881-1950) was a man of exceptional qualifi-
cations for his chosen career, and one thoroughly deserving the
admiration and high esteem of those who had the privilege of know-
ing him. He had a genuine concern for the individual and tribal
welfare of his numerous Indian friends, as well as a gift for inspiring
their confidence and gaining intimate acquaintance with them. His
steadfast championing of their rights is manifest tliroughout his
writings. His volume, Naskain (1935), together with the consider-
able number of his journal articles on the Montagnais-Naskapi ( the
term by which he expressed his opinion that the two groups are
essentially one), gave him a preeminent position among the ethnol-
ogists who have specialized on the Ungava Peninsula.

"The work of Speck [1931] is the chief modem source of informa-
tion [on the Indians of the Ungava Peninsula]. Like Strong, who
helped him with notes from Labrador, Speck sought for Indian folk-
tales and customs. He also made inquiry from many people, in-
cluding Indian chiefs, aiming at a map of the distribution of each
band. His map, as he admits himself, is oversimplified, and must be
only a rough and ready approximation to the old Indian hunting and
trapping grounds. The separate existence of a few is even doubtful.
But this knowledge is the best we have and is enlarged by Speck's
thumbnail histories of each band." (Elton, 1942:249.)

"Most conspicuous was his ability to communicate with his fel-
lowman. Speck met any man on his own ground, and from each he
evoked what was worthy and constructive. Closely related to this
was his tremendous enthusiasm for and interest in all phases of
natural history and human experience." (Witthoft, 1950:2.)

"All his work bears the earmarks of high substantiality. . . .

"The many Indians who knew him will have lost one of their most
welcome visitors and devoted friends." (Hallowell, 1951:68, 75.)

Speck "viewed 'his' tribes in a romantic hght, as exotic and alien

110 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

survivals of a primitive and — to him — golden age." He once re-
marked "that he always preferred the more primitive tribes to
study." (A. F. C. Wallace, 1951:287.)

Outlines of the Geography, Life ir Customs of Newfoundland-
Labrador (2 vol., 1947), by Vaino Tanner (1881-1948), will be a
lasting monument to that distinguished Finnish geographer, geol-
ogist, sociologist, and ethnologist. Its excellent composition, in a
language so different from that of his native land, forms no small part
of the author's accomplishment. His masterly digest of the volu-
minous literature on the subjects of which he treats, produced by
the scholars of many different countries, is another notable feat.
Especially commendable is his very sympathetic understanding of
the natives of Labrador.

There is a memorial (in Swedish) by his former assistant, E. H.
Kranck (1953).

Alanson Skinner (1886-1925) grew up on Staten Island at a time
when it still contained sufficient open spaces — fields and woods and
archaeological sites — to inspire a budding naturalist, especially when
he had the companionship and encouragement of such a mentor as
William T. Davis (1862-1945), author of Days Afield on Staten Is-
land ( 1892 ) . From boyhood on, Skinner was full of energy, enthusi-
asm, and love of Indian lore. With such gifts he had a notable
career at the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum
of the American Indian (Heye Foundation), and the Milwaukee
Pubhc Museum, until cut off prematurely before reaching the age
of forty. His "Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux"
(1911), a presentation copy of which I have treasured for half a
century, has been my principal source on the Cree of the James Bay
area.

"Probably no one alive today has so thorough and detailed a
knowledge of the Central Algonkian tribes" (Harrington, 1926:
275).

"The gatherings of his short but busy life are of the greatest value
and importance to anthropology" (Hough, 1935:197).

Acknowledgments

Aside from the reference, at the beginning of this report, to the
support received from the Arctic Institute of North America, the
Office of Naval Research, the Office of The Surgeon General, De-
partment of the Army, and the National Science Foundation, it is a

harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 111

pleasure to acknowledge the very friendly hospitality of the Iron
Ore Company of Canada throughout my sojourn in the Ungava Pe-
ninsula. Dr. A. E. Moss, then chief geologist of the company, together
with numerous others — for the most part officials or employees of the
company — did a great deal to smooth my way and to make my sum-
mer's work a most memorable and enjoyable experience. The names
of many of them appear here and there in the pages of this and other
reports, as contributors of much useful information.

I must, moreover, express my particular gratitude to the Monta-
gnais friends who generously provided me with opportunities for
learning and recording something of their interesting ways of life.
Their names, activities, and portraits appear chiefly in the latter part
of this report.

In the protracted task of assembhng portraits of, and biographical
data on, some of the pioneer ethnologists who pursued their investi-
gations in the Ungava Peninsula, I have been distinctly aided by the
following individuals and institutions: Frederick J. Alcock, Howard
Cleaves, Harold J. Coolidge, Mrs. Joseph R. Coolidge, W. Earl God-
frey, E. H. Kranck, Mrs. Frank G. Speck, Mrs. Wendell Taber, the
American Philosophical Society, the Bureau of American Ethnology
(through Henry B. Collins and Mrs. Margaret C. Blaker), the Geo-
logical Survey of Canada (through J. M. Harrison), the Pubhc
Archives of Canada (through the National Gallery of Canada Ot-
tawa), and James T. White & Company. Paul J. Scheips, of the
United States Army Signal Historical Office, has gone to consider-
able pains to transmit information from L. M. Turner's service record
in the National Archives. The portrait of Turner has benefited by the
retouching skill of Miss Marion Seiler.

Other photographs have been contributed by the Smithsonian In-
stitution, Pere J. E. Beaudet, Roland C. Clement, Roger O. Stand-
field (through W. Earl Godfrey), Howard Cleaves, Alfred O. Gross,
and Henri Ouellet. The American Museum of Natural History has
provided four photographs from James Bay, taken by my late
esteemed friend Alanson Skinner. The Bureau of American Ethnol-
ogy, in the Smithsonian Institution, has providentially tiurned up, and
presented, four ancient photographs taken by Turner himself; they
appear herein on plates 5 and 15. Dr. S. H. Riesenberg and Dr. Wil-
liam H. Crocker have been good enough to supply detailed infor-
mation about the Naskapi exhibit in the United States National Mu-
seum (pi. 19).

Contributions of hitherto unpublished information by various

112 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

friends (including Pere J. E. Beaudet, Howard Cleaves, Charles
Elton, Fred Farah, Alfred O. Gross, Bertram H. Harper, Harrison F.
Lewis, Henri Ouellet, Gilbert Simard, Mrs. Frank G. Speck, and J.
Laurent Veronneau) are gratefully acknowledged at the places in
the text where this information has been utilized.

In reviewing the ethnological literature, I have been privileged to
make use of the facihties of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, Free Library of Phila-
delphia, Library of Congress, United States National Museum, Uni-
versity of North Carolina, McGill University, National Museum of
Canada, Ottawa Public Library, and Library of Parliament, Ottawa.
Through the courtesy of Mrs. J. Schachter, of the Blacker-Wood
Library at McGill University, I have received microfilms of 29 letters
by Lucien M. Turner in the Ridgway Collection. Mrs. Margaret C.
Blaker has very kindly furnished abstracts of various Turner letters
in the Smithsonian Archives.

For permission to make quotations, I am glad to express my cordial
thanks to the authors or publishers of the following publications:
Elton's Voles, Mice and Lemmings (1942), Jenness' The Indians
of Canada (1955), and Miss Leitch's "Montagnais of the Cote Nord"
(1956); and to both author and publisher (The Ryerson Press) of
Anderson's Fur Traders Story ( 1961 ) .

Alan Cooke has kindly read the manuscript and given me the
benefit of suggestions and criticisms.

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Rept. 1943:195-200, 1 pi.
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harper: the friendly montagnais of ungava 113

Banfield, a. W. F.

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Bryant, Henry G. , , t, n /- c tjt,i

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114 UNR^RSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Elton, Charles S.

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maps.
Frazeb, John E.

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1951. Frank Gouldsmith Speck, 1881-1950. Am. Anthropologist, 53(1):
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1958. Birds of the Ungava Peninsula. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc.
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1961. Land and fresh-water mammals of the Ungava Peninsula. Univ.
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1962. Field and historical notes on fresh-water fishes of the Ungava Pe-
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1926. Alanson Skinner. Am. Anthropologist, 28 ( 1 ): 275-280.
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1863. Explorations in the interior of the Labrador Peninsula, the country
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1952. Intercultural relations at Great Whale River. Am. Anthropologist,
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1935. Alanson Buck Skinner. Diet. Am. Biog. 17:197.
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HtTDSON, W. H.

1951. Nature in downland. London:xx -j- 287.

JeNNESS, DiAAlOND.

1955. The Indians of Canada. Ed. 3. Nat. Mus. Canada Bull., 65:xii -f
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1955. Geography of the Northlands. Am. Geog. Soc. Spl. Publ., 32:x +
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1953. [Vaino Tanner, memorial speech at the Finnish Scientific Society's
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Kroeber, a. L.

1939. Cultural and natural areas of North America. Univ. California Publ.
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1952. The Montagnais Indians, 1600-1640. Kroeber Anthrop. Soc. Pa-
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HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 115

Laviolette, Gontran.

1955. Notes on the aborigenes [sic] of the province of Quebec. Anthro-
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1954. The Montagnais "hunting territory" and the fin: trade. Am. Anthrop.
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Leechman, Douglas.

1957? Native tribes of Canada. Toronto :ix + 357, 238 fig., 7 maps.
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1956. Montagnais of the Cote Nord. Beaver, 287:19-23, 7 fig.
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1901. Dictionnaire fran^ais-montagnais .... Boston: 1-281, 1-63.
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Low, A. P.

1890, The Mistassini region. Ottawa Naturalist, 4:11-28.

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1932. John McLean's notes of a twenty-five year's service in the Hudson's
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Michelson, Truman.

1938. Studies among the Montagnais-Naskapi Indians of the northern
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1948. The Mistassini territory of northern Quebec. Canadian Geog. Jour.,
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Palmer, Rose A.

1929. The North American Indians. Smithsonian Institution Series, 4:
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1950. Au sommet de I'Ungava. Revue Universite Laval, 4(9): 1-16, 2
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1894. Report of the director. In: Smithsonian Institution, Bur. Ethnology,
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116 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

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1949. A travers I'Ungava. Mem. Jardin Botanique Montreal, 4:83—131,
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1955. Le partage du gibier dans la cuisine des Montagnais-Naskapi. An-
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1950. William Brooks Cabot. Proc. Am. Antiq. Soc., 59:8-9.
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1911. Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux. Anthrop.
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1909. The Montagnais Indians. Southern Workman, 38(3): 148-154,
6 fig.

1923. Mistassini hunting territories in the Labrador peninsula. Am. An-
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1926fl. An incident in the Montagnais winter life. Nat. Hist., 26( l):61-67,
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1926fc. Culture problems in northeastern North America. Proc. Am. Philos.
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1931. Montagnais-Naskapi bands and early Eskimo distribution in the
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1935. Naskapi: the savage hunters of the Labrador peninsula. Norman,
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1935. Robert Ridgway. Diet. Am. Biography, 15:598-599.
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1946. The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Bur. Am. Ethnology
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1947. Outlines of the geography, life & customs of Newfoundland-
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1955. Aboriginal populations. In: George H. T. Kimble and Dorothy
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1953. Climatological atlas of Canada. Ottawa: 3-253, 74 charts.
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1910. A Labrador spring. Boston:xi + 262, 32 pi.

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HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA 117

1917. In Audubon's Labrador. Auk, 34(2 ) :133-146, 3 pi.

1918. In Audubon's Labrador. Boston and New York:xiii + 354, 34 pi.,
1 map.

TUKNTER, LUCIEN M.

1888. On the Indians and Eskimos of the Ungava district, Labrador.

Trans. Royal Soc. Canada 1887, 5, sect. 2:99-119.
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Kept. Bur. Ethnology Smithsonian Institution 1889-'90: 159-350,
8 pi., 135 fig.
Wallace, Anthony F. C.

1951. The Frank G. Speck Collection. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc, 95(3):
286-289.
Wallace, Dillon.

1907. The long Labrador trail. New York:xii + 315, 27 pi., 2 maps.
Watkins, H. G.

1930. River exploration in Labrador by canoe and dog sledge. Geog.
Jour., 75(2):97-122, 6 pi., 1 map.
Waugh, F. W.

1919. Canadian aboriginal canoes. Canadian Field-Naturahst, 33(2):
23-33, 2 pi., 3 fig., 1 map.

1925. The Naskopi Indians of Labrador and their neighbors. Trans.
Women's Canadian Hist. Soc. Ottawa, 9:126-136.
WissLER, Clark.

1940. Indians of the United States. Four centuries of their history and
culture. New York.xvi + 319, 16 pi., 1 map.
WiTTHOFT, John.

1950. Frank Gouldsmith Speck, 1881-1950. Southern Indian Studies
2(1):2, 39-40.
Wyatt, a. G. N.

1934. Surveying cniises of H.M.S. Challenger off the coast of Labrador
in 1932 and 1933. Geog. Jour., 84(l):33-53, 1 pi., 1 map.

Addendum

After the present paper had reached the proof stage, the following four
pubhcations were received — too late to be referred to in the preceding pages.
They have particular reference to the Lake Mistassini area and constitute an
unusually valuable contribution to the ethnology of the Ungava Peninsula. All
those who seek infomiation on the subjects discussed will wish to consult these
papers. The Mistassini can no longer be considered "a quite unknown group"
(Tanner, 1947,2:578).

Rogers, Edward S.

1961. Notes on snowshoes among the Montagnais-Naskapi. Univ. To-
ronto, Royal Ontario Mus., Art and Archaeol. Div., Annual, 1961:
57-66, 5 fig.

1962. The canoe-sled among the Montagnais-Naskapi. Univ. Toronto,
Royal Ontario Mus., Art and Archaeol. Div., Annual, 1962:74-76,
125, 2 fig.

1963. The hunting group-hunting territory complex among the Mistassini
Indians. Nat. Mus. Canada Bull. 195, Anthrop. Ser. 63:iv -f 95,
3 maps.

Rogers, Edward S., and Jean H. Rogers.

1960. The individual in Mistassini society from birth to death. Nat. Mus.
Canada Bull. 190, Contrib. to Anthrop., 1960, pt. 2:14-36.

Plate 1

Fig. 1. — Naskapi country: a \ic\\ iiortlicastward from Clilf Piak alont: tin-
nortlurnmost arm of Indian House Lake, Qut'lu'c. Xott- tlic- shoreline of a
poslglaeial lake below the summit in the center. July 1, 1945. Photoiiraphed

bv Roland C. Clement.

'P

^jik-ic^''-^

,.,\s;.^wv^-;^^

A««.-

• -^r-v^:^>W.

^^tii^,

I-'k.. 2. — -Nhjuta.nnais countr\ : lo,U camp of Josepii (iabriel on Iron Arm. Atti-
kaniauen Lake, Labrador. (Two <;;eological \isitors. ) Jul>- 1, 1953.

Plate 2

|rM|7^^.

f'lG. 1. — Crei- \illagt' and caiiocs, Kastmani, James lia> , iWb. Pliotugraphcd
by Alanson Skinner. (Courtesy ot the Ameriean Museum of Natural History.)

■** • — #•' y

Fin. 2. — Cree men. Eastmain, James Bay, 1908. Photographed by Ahinson
Skinner. (Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.)

Platf 3

'.imiji «K »yy"

Mi A^

pU^>

i

1 1

P'k;. 1. — Cree girls. Eastmain, James Bay, 19()H. Pliotojiraphed by Alanson
Skinnrr. ( Courtcsv of the American Museum of Natural History.)

Fir:. 2. — Cree i)o\ s, with Imjws and arrows. Eastmain, James Ba>-, 190.S. Photo.
h\- Alanson Skinner. (Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.^

Plate 4

' \1

Fig. 1. — Mistassini Cree at Mistassini Post, Quebec, just after the election of
a new chief (standing in foreground), who is addressing the voters. Ballot
bo.xes on table behind him. June 30, 1947. Photo, by Roger O. Standfield.

Fk;. 2. — C.ilhert Snnard's sur\e\ing part\ . Lero>' Lake, Quebec, August 19,

19.53. Left to right: Joseph Georges St. Onge, Raymond Beaudin, Henry

Larouche, Ben McKenzie, J. Laurent Veronneau, Georges Michel, Pierre Cote,

Gilbert Simard. (First, second, fourth, and sixth Montagnais. )

Plate 5

].-,(.. 1. — Xaskapi camp, with four men, Fic. 2. — Xaskapi womrii and children,
caribou-skin tent, and scaffold. caribou-skin tent, and two canoes.

Pif;. 3. — Xaskapi birch-bark canoe ( c/. 1 urner, 1894:pl. o9, upper tijiure).
(Photographs 1-3 taken at Fort Chimo, Koksoak Ri\er. (,)iiebec, by Lucien
\I. Turner. 1S.S2-1N.S4. Courtes\ of the Sniitlisonian InNtiliition. Bureau of

American Ethnology. )

|-h:. }. — .\ Montaunais camp at Matauuk, (Jiu l)ec, July, 19.31. Photographed

In Alfred O. Gross.

Plaie 6

Fig. 1. — Sel)astifii McKfiizie, in Fic. 2. — Seljastirn McKenzie, witli

front of his tent, vvitli sealskin coat, loy on shoulder. Lac Aulneaii.
leggings, and moccasins. Lac Aul- Quebec, July 30, 1953.

neau, Quebec, July 26, 1953.

^"f^^"^

\

Fic;. .3. — Naskapi man and boy, with natixc-built canoe. \'icinit\' ot
Nain, Labrador, July 8, 1934. Photographed by Alfred O. Gross.

Plate 7

Vic. l._\Vilk'. Pincttc. Knol) Lake, Quebec, September 27, 1953.

Fig. 2. — Koni Pinettt' ;mcl taniiK. Asliuaiiiiii Hi\ir, l,al)racl()r, August 26, 1953.

Plate 8

^^T

-•4

^^'^>- ,.^

Fic. 1. — Bastifu Piucttc !:>> tlie Asluianipi River, Labrador. Sfptcmhcr 4, 1953.

f^ 'J,

Fig. 2. — Michel Piiiette tlriiikiiiti from the Ashuanipi River, September 4, 1953.

Plate 9

JRiL— .^

■- V

>■"*-<

Fig. 1. — Micln'l and Bastieii Pmcltc plaxuij; imiiiiljlLacycg. AsJiuaiupi i\i\L'i,

Labrador, Septemhrr 4, 1953.

f^W^ I

Fig. 2. — Miclu'l Piiicttc and his sisters. Aslmanipi River, Lal)rador, ScptLiiiljcr

4, 1953.

Plate 10

mm

Fig. 1. — Michel Pincttc, with mooseberries {Viburnum cchde).
Ashuanipi River, Labrador, September 4, 1953.

..'^-■•J

^

1.

^■"^'fe' 'i^f':

Fig. 2. — Kom Pinette's wife. Ashuanipi River, Lalirador, Septem-
ber 4. 1953.

Plate 11

Kic. 1.— l\'ic J. K. Beaiidet, O. M. I. (1902- ), with Ojilnva>- papoose,

Simon Lake, iirar Scnneterre, Abitihi, Quebec. Photo, liy Bloom Studios, Val d'Or.

Fic. 2. — Jerome St. Onge and family. Moisie, Quebec, October 10, 1953.

Platk 12

Fig. 1. — Alexandre McKenzie and his wife. Moisie, Quebec, October 10, 1953.

r

] 1

M ' -S

; '?!.

Fic. 2. — Montagnais boys and dogs. Moisie, Quelicc, Octolier 10, 1953.

Plate 13

Fic;. 1. — Group ot Montagnais school boys. Moisie, Quebec, October 10, 1953.

1^'

Vic. 2. — Croup ot Moiila^ynais scliool ,u;irls. Moisie. (^)ucl)cf. OitoWcr Kt, 1953.

Plate 14

Fig. 1. — -Young Montagnais, with snowshoes.
Month of Xatashqnan Ri\er, Quebec, 1927. Photo-
graphed li> How aid Cleaves.

Fig. 2.— Lueien McShan Turner (1848-1909).

(Courtesy of tlie Smitlisonian Institution, Bureau of

American Ethnology. )

Plate 15

Fic;. 1. — 1^. M. Turner in his winter quarters at Fort Chinio, Quebec-. February,
1884. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Etlmology. )

0

0 V

Pig. 2. — All)ert Pi'ter Low ( 1801-1942) (center), with four Montagnais canoe-
men from Lake St. John, liauhng supplies on Winokapau Lake, Hamilton River,
Labrador, in the spring of 1894. ( Covntesy of Geolojiical Sur\e>- of Canada.)

Plate 16

F^iG. 1.— Henry Youle Hind (1823-1908).
From Illustrated London News, Octdbrr
2, 1858, p. 318. (Courtesy of the Puhlie
Arehive.s of Canada, tlirouyli tlie National
Gallery of Canada Ottawa. )

Fig. 2.— \\^illiam Brooks Cabot (1858-
1949). From National Cyclopaedia of
Aineiican Bio'^raplui (38;pl. opp. p. 537,
1953). (Courtesy of James T. White &
Company. )

Plate 17

Fic:. 1. — Charles WiikIcII 'lOwiisciul ( 1859-

1934) (rij,'lit), Willi Julian IIuxlcv. Ipswich,

Massac-hiisrtts, 1932. ( Courtesy of" NIrs. Wendell

Taher. )

Fig. 2.— Frank G. Speek a.S81-195()), with

two Algonkian Indians, Tiniagami, Ontario,

1913. (Courtesy of Aiuerieau I'hilosopliiea!

Soeiety. )

Plate 18

-\aiiiu Tanner ( liS(Sl-194<S ), witli Eskimo assistants at Hebron,
Labrador, 1937. (Courtesy of E. H. Kranck. )

1886-1925) (left), with yonnu naturalist
friends, on the Isaae Wort farm, Ross\ ille, Staten Island, New York, Oetober
3, 1909. Pliotographed b> Howard Clea\es.

Plate 19

r. .')

Nask.tpi Indian cxliihit in United States National Museum. (Courtesy ol the

SmitlisoniaTi Institution. )

Plate 20

A "cracky cl(),u with cropped cars, liclcl liy a forest ranger of the Quebec

Department of Lands and Forests. Others of the group are iXIontagnais Indians.

St. Augnstin, OucIh-c, August, 1961. Photograplied In' Henri OucUet.

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS OF UNGAVA

119

Index

Academy of Natural Sciences of Phil-
adelphia, 112

Alcock, Frederick J., Ill

Alo))cx la^opiis, 63

American Museum ot Natural Hist()r\ .
Ill

American Philosoj-jlu'cal Society, 111.
112

Amory, Copley, 93, 94

Anderson, J. \V., 112

Andre, Nhithieu, 64

Animals, M()nta<inais names of, 62-65,
81-86

Arctic Institute of North America, 110

Baird, Spencer F., 100, 102
Bear(s), (black), 22, 27, 48, 49, 66,

73-75
brown, 66
Beaudet, Fere J. E., 80, 81, 83, 111.

112; pi. 11, fiu. 1
Beaudin, Ra\ mond, pi. 4, fij^. 2
Beaver(s), 22, 25-27, 48, 49, 54, 60,

63, 74
Bendire, Charles E., 105
Birches, canoe, 94-98
Blacker-Wood Library. 112
Blaker, Mrs. Margaret C, 100. 111. 112
"Bonhommc, le," 71, 72
Bow(s) and arro\v(s), 22, 31, 46, 50,

69
Brewer, 'I". M.. lOl
Brewster. W illiam, 104
Brown, Mrs. .Matjuie, 103
Buhl) vir^iuiuntts, 80
Bureau of American Ethnolouw 106.

Ill
Ihiico l(i<^()i)u\ .s(in(iii(ili(iiini.s. 67

Cabot, William Brooks, 6, 8, 98; pi. 16.

fi,ti. 2
CdiKicltitcs niiuidciisis. 74
Cdiiis /(//H/.v, 63, 74
Canoes, bidian, 94-98
Capclld <i(iUi)i(ino dclicata, 80
Caribou, Cabot's, or Labrador Barren
Ground, 11, 12, 17, 18, 25, 31-33,
35-37, 39-43, 50. 56, 58-60. 63.
65, 66, 70, 82, 89-92, 99, 102.
103, 105
ea.stern woodland, 12, 17, 18,20-22,
26, 45, 46, 48-50, 53-55, 60, 63,
68, 69, 72, 74, 75, 77, 82, 92, 93
{■sec also Deer; Reindeer)
Castor ca)ia(Icnsis, 63, 74
Catostonius catostomiis, 74

coiiiDicrsonii, 74
Cats, 87

Chipe\\'ayan Indians, 98
Cleayes, Howard. 98. HI, 112
Clement, Roland C, 111; pi. 1, fig. I

Clethrionomijs gappcri, 65

Climate, 16, 17

Collins, Henry B., Ill

Cooke, Alan, 112

Coolidge, Harold I., Ill
Mrs. Joseph R., ill

Corcnonus chipeaformis, 67, 74, 77

Cote, Pierre, 69; pi. 4, fig. 2

Cree Indians (Eastern, East Main,
James Bay, Little Whale Ri\er,
.Mistassini, Moose River, or
Swampy), 3-10, 12, 14-27, 30-
32, 38, 42, 61, 64, 69, 90, 92-97
(western),78, 92, 94

Cristivonicr iianiat/cusli, 63, 70

Crocker, William 11.. Ill

Dance(s), Indian, 92-94

.Montagnais, 73, 78
Dayis, William T., 110
Deer, ( = caribou), 29-31, 33-35, 37,

41-43, 45, 48, 102
Dicrostonyx luidsoiiius. 56, 70, 80
D()g(s), Eskimo or Iluskv, 41, 86-91

Indian, 27, 63, 67, 68, 70, 74, 81,
86-92; pi. 12, fig. 2; pi. 20
Dogrib Indians, 22
l)omeni(iue, 74, 75
Ducks, 22, 48

Black, 77

Eels, 11

Eider, 52

Flton, Charles, 1,94, 112

Erctliizon dorsattiiu, 63, 74

Eskimo(s) (Esquimaux), 12, 18, 28,

35, 36, 38-40, 42, 43, 63, 86, 91,

99, 105
Esox liiritis, 63, 74
V.uarclos aiucrkanus. 74

Farah, Fred, 18. 69. 75, 76, 79, 112

Fisher, 74

Fox(es), 48, 54, 60, 70, 75

arctic (or white), 32, 63

red, 32, 74
Free Library of Philadelphia, 112

Cabriel, Pierre, 56-60

C'.avia itiiaicr. 72

Ceese, 22, 48

Geological Sur\ev of Canada, 111

Godfrey, \Y. Earl, 111

Goode, G. Brown, 105

Grenfell, Wilfred T., 107

Grinnell. Joseph, 9

Grizzh', Unga\a, 66

Grosbeak, Pine, 80

Gro.ss, Alfred O., 94, 111, 112

(; rouse, 48

Spruce, 41, 74
(w//() liiscus, 74

120

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.

Hare(.s) ( Siiowslioe ral>bits), 11, 22,
58
arctic, 41
Harper, Bertram H., 112
Harrisdii, J. M., Ill
Hawk, Rouuh-leuKcd, 67
Hind, Henry Yonle, 99: pi. 16, fig. 1
Hnntington, Ellsworth, 94
Hn.xley, Julian, pi. 17, fig. 1

Iron Ore Company of Canada, 111
InKjuois Indians, 19, 22, 25
Isotherms, 16

Jay, Canada, 66
Jenness, Diamond, 6

Kennedy, William, 29
Kranck, E. H.. Ill

Labrec(iue, Jean P., 62

L(iilo]nis sp., 74

Lanius cxciihitor horcalis, 66

Larix laricina, 66

Larouehe, Henry, 69; pi. 4, fig. 2

Laurent, Pere, 80

Leechman, Douglas, 6

Leiteh, Adelaide, 89, 112

Lemmings, Labrador varying, 65, 70,

71, 80 ^
Lemoine, Pere George, 82
Lcpiis amcricdutts, 63. 74
Lewis, Harrison E., 93, 98. 112
Library of Congress, 112
Library of Parliament, Ottawa, 112
Life-zone, Arctic, 16

Canadian, 16

Hudsonian, 16
Loon(s), 22

Common, 72
Low, Albert Peter, 97, 108, 109; pi. 15,

fig. 2
Lutra canadensis, 60, 74
Lntz, Mary E., 106
Ltjninaca, 11
Lynx(es), 22, 48, 70

Mannota nionax, 11

Marten(s), 32, 38, 48, 60, 63, 70, 72,

74, 75, 79, 80
Martes ainericana, 63, 74, 79
Maiics ))ennanti, 74
McGill University, 112
McKenzie, Alexandre, 68, 69; pi. 12,
fig 2
Ben, 8, 50, 60, 69-73, 83; pi. 4, fig. 2
Erancis, 62-64, 67, 83; cover
Sebastien, 18, 20, 31, 38, 63-69, 76,
79, 83, 91, 95; pi. 6, figs. 1, 2
Mci)liifis ))tc))J}itis, 74

Mice, meadow, 65

red-backed, 65
Michel, Georges, 69-73; pi. 4, fig.2
Micmac Indians, 98
Microtus i)cnnsi/hdnicus, 65
Mink, 38, 48, 63. 70, 74, 75
Mollusks, gastropod, 77
Montagnais alphabet, 49

Indians ("Mountaineers"), 1-21,
23-25, 29-33, 36, 38, 40, 41, 45-
90, 92-94, 98, 99, 107-109, 111;
cover, pis. 1, 4-15, 20
Moose, 11, 12, 22, 27, 55
Mooseberries, 78
Moss, A. E., Ill
Mouse, spruce, 71
Nhiskrat(s), 48. 54, 70-72, 74, 80
Must da crntineu, 74

vison, 63, 74

Naskapi Indians ( Nascapees, Nascau-
pees, Naseopies, Naskaupee, Nas-
kaupis, Naskopi, Naskopies, Nas-
quapees, Nenenots, or Nescau-
pick), 1, 3-23, 25, 28-41, 43, 46,
48-50, 53. 61, 62, 64-66, 69, 79,
82, 89-95, 99, 105, 107-109, 111;
pis. 1, 5, 6, 19

National Archives, 111

National Gallerv of Canada Ottawa,
111

National Musi'um of Canada, 112

National Science Foundation, 110

Nelson, E. W., 102

Office of Naval Research, 110
Office of the Surgeon General, 110
Ojibwa(v) Indians, 96-98; pi. 11, fig.

1
Ondatra zil>ctliictis\ 74, 80
Ottawa Public Librarv, 112
Otter(s), 32, 38, 54, 60, 70, 74, 75
Ouananiche, 48

OulU't, Henri, 89. 90, 111, 112
Ouls, C;reat Horned, 80

Parknian, Francis, 1
Partridge, Spruce, 79
Partridges, 22, 50, 69
Partridges (= Ptarmigan ), 28
Pcrisorctis canadensis, 66
Plicndconiijs unpaid crassiis, 71
Phoca vitulina concolor, 76
i'ike, 22, 63, 74

Pinette, Bastien, 76-78; pi. 8, fig 1;
pi. 9, fig. 1

Kom, 73, 7.5-79, 83; pi. 7, fig. 2

Mrs. Kom. 7.5-78; pi. 7, fig. 2; pi. 10,
fig. 2

Michel, 76-79; pi. 8, fig. 1; pi. 9,
figs. 1,2; pi. 10, fig. 1

Wille, 7.3-75; pi. 7, fig. 1

HARPER: THE FRIENDLY MOXTAGXAIS OF UN(;AVA

121

Pinicola emicleator eschatosus, 80
Porcupine (s), 11, 30, 46, 48, 58, 59,

63, 74
Powell, J. W., 101
Prosopiuni ryliinlraccum tjuadrilat-

erale, 70, 77
Ptarmigan, 30-32, 48, 74, 80 (see

also Partridges )
Roek, 41, 71
Willow, 41
Piiblie Arehives of Canada. 1 1 1

Hal)l)it(,s ), (snowshoe), 22, 27, 41, 63,

74
llan^ifer cahoti, 17, 63, 82

caribou caribou, 17, 60, 63, 74, 82
Re«i.s, Remi, 79, 82
Heiiideer ( = earihou ), 20, 30, 31, 48
Hiduwav, |oliii I.., 101

Robert, 100-105

Mrs. Robert, 104
Reisenberg, S. H., Ill
Ryerson Press, 1 12

.St. On^e, Jerome, 66, 73, 79. 83; pi. 11,
fiK. 2

.Mrs. Jerome, 79-81; pi. 11, V\)X. 2

Joseph Ceoryes, 71, 79; pi. 4, fiu. 2
.Salmon, 1 1

Salvelinus fontiiuili.s, 63, 77
Sehaehter, .Mrs. J., 101, 112
Seheips, Paul J., 100, 111
Seal(s), 11, 22, 2.5, 46, 54, 68, 77

luubor, .36, 76
Seiler, .Marion, 1 1 1
Shrike, Northern, 66
Simard, Gilbert, 62, 69, 71, 72, 79, 93,

112; pi. 4, fiu. 2
Skinner, Alanson, 6, 98, 110. Ill pi

18, tig 2
Skunk.s, 74
Sled, 31
Sledge, :56

Smithsonian Institution. 103, 105. Ill
Snipi', Wilson's, 80
Snowshoe(s), 31, 36, 48, 107; pi. 14,

fig. 1
Songs, .Montagnais, 47, 64
Speek, Frank G., 69, 98, 109-110;
pi. 17, fig. 2

Mrs. Frank G., 62, 111, 112

Squirrel(s), red, 71, 74, 80
Standfield, Roger O., Ill
Stejneger, Leonhard, 103
Sturgeon, 22
Suckers, Gray, 74
Red, 74, 77

Tabanasks (toboggans), 58

Tabaskhan (flat .sled), 31

Taber, .Mrs. W'endell, 111

Tamarack, 66

Tamiasciurus Juul.sonicus, 74, 80

Tanner, \'aino, 6, 110; pi. 18, fig. 1

Tete de Boules, 82

Toboggan(s), 36, 58

Todd, W'. E. Clyde, 67

Tom-cod, 36

Townsend, Charles Wendell, 98, 108;

pi. 17, fig. 1
Traders, 37, 38
Trout, 41,48, 63

Brook, 70, 77

Lake, 67, 70, 74
rurner, Lucien .MeShan, 99-107, 111,
112; pi. 14, fig. 2; pi. 15, fig. 1

Samuel, 102

I'nited States Army Signal Historiciil

Office, 111
United States .National Museum, 99,

102, 106, 107, HI. 112
Uni\crsit\ of Xortli Ciirolina, 112

\'eronneau, J. Laurent, 27, 69, 93, 97,

112; pi. 4, fig. 2
Viburtutm edule, 78
\'i///)rv fulva. 74

Warren, B. H., 103
Waft, lames, 26

Mrs. Maude, 26
Weasel, 54, 70, 74
Whales, 22

white, 25
W hite, James T., & Company, 111
Whitefish, Common, 34, 67, 70, 74, 77

Round, 70, 77
W'ol\crine( s ), 48, 74
Wolves, 48, 63, 74
VVoodchuck, 77

University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publications

Institutional libraries interested in publications exchange may obtain this
series by addressing the Exchange Librarian, University of Kansas, Lawrence,
Kansas.

Requests of individuals are handled instead by the Museum of Natural His-
tory, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. There is no provision for sale of
this series either by the Library or the Museum. However, when individuals
request copies from the Museum, the amoimt indicated below should be in-
cluded for the puri^ose of defraying some of the costs of producing, wrapping
and mailing.

Nos. 6, 12, 17, 27, 36, 37 and 38 obtainable only from the Arctic Institute.

*1. The Museum of Natural History, the Uni\ersity of Kansas. By E. R. Hall and Ann

Murray. Pp. 1-16, illustrated. January 5, 1946.
*2. Handbook of amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. By Hobart M. Smith. Pp. 1-336,

233 figures in text. September 12, 1950.
*3. In memoriam, Charles Dean Bunker, 1870-1948. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 1-11,

1 figure in text. December 15, 1951.
*4. The University of Kansas, Natural History Reservation. By Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 1-38,

4 plates, 3 figures in text. February 20, 1952.
*5. Prairie chickens of Kansas. By Maurice F. Baker. Pp. 1-68, 4 plates, 15 figures in

text. March 10. 1953.

6. The barren ground caribou of Keewatin. By Francis Harper. Pp. 1-163, 28 figures.
October 21, 1955. Copies, paperbound, S1.50 postpaid from the Arctic Institute of
North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washingson, D. C. 20009.

7. Handbook of mammals of Kansas. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 1-303, illustrated. De-
cember 13, 1955. Paperbovmd, $1.50 postpaid.

8. Mammals of northern Alaska, on the arctic slope. Bv James W. Bee and E. Raymond
Hall. Pp. 1-309, frontispiece colored, 4 plates, 127 figures in text. March 10, 1956.
Paperbound, SI. 00 postpaid.

9. Handbook of amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. 2nd [revised] edition. Bv Hobart
M. Smith. Pp. 1-356, 253 figures in text. April 20, 1956. Paperbound, $1.50 post-
paid (cloth $4.00).

*10. The raccoon in Kansas. By Howard J. Stains. Pp. 1-76, 4 plates, 14 figures in text.

July 6, 1956.
*11. The tree squirrels of Kansas. By Robert L. Packard. Pp. 1-67, 2 plates, 10 figures

in text. August 20, 1956.
12. The mammals of Keewatin. hy Francis Harper. Pp. 1-94, 6 plates, 8 figures in text,

1 map. October 26, 1956. Copies, paperbound, 75 cents postpaid from the Arctic
Institute of North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NVV, Washington, D. C.
20009.

*13. Museum of Natural History . . . University of Kansas. By Roy R. Moore and

E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated "flier," 14V4 in. X 8% in., printed on both sides,

and folded twice.] June 1, 1957.
14. Vernacular names for North American mammals north of Mexico. Bv E. Raymond

Hall, Sydney Anderson, J. Knox Jones, Jr., and Robert L. Packard. Pp. 1-16. June

19, 1957.
*15. The ecology of bobwhites in south-central Kansas. By Thane S. Robinson. Pp. 1-84,

2 plates, 11 figtires in text. September 6, 1957.

*16. Natural history of the prairie dog in Kansas. By Ronald E. Smith. Pp. 1-36, 4
plates, 9 figures in text. June 17, 1958.

17. Birds of the Ungava Peninsula. By Francis Harper. Pp. 1-171, 6 plates, 26 figures
in text. October 15, 1958. Copies, paperbound, $2.00 postpaid from the Arctic
Institute of North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington. D. C.
20009.

18. Furbearcrs in Kansas: A guide to trapping. By Howard J. Stains and Rollin H. Baker.
Pp. 1-100, 2 plates, 13 figures in text. November 19, 1958. Paperbound, 50 cents
postpaid.

*19. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated
"flier," 14% in. X 8U. in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] Mav 29. 1959.

20. Handbook of gastropods in Kansas. By A. Byron Leonard. Pp. 1-224, plates 1-11.
87 figures in te.xt. November 2. 1959. Paperbound, $1.00 (cloth $2.00) postpaid.

21. Management of channel catfish in Kansas. By Jackson Davis. Pp. 1-56, 8 figures
in text. November 2, 1959.

22. Hand-list of the birds of Kansas. By Richard F. Johnston. Pp. 1-6 [folded twice].
May 7, 1960.

*23. Directory to the bird-life of Kansas. By Richard F. Johnston. Pp. 1-69, 1 figure
in text. August 31, 1960.

*24. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated
"flier." 141/0 in. X 8% in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] October 19, 1960.
25. Guide to the panorama of North American mammals. Bv E. Raymond Hall, et al.
Pp. 1-31, silhouettes in black and white of panorama, life-zones, and taped com-
mentary for each zone. December 15, 1960.

( Continued on outside of back cover )

''Out of print.

(Continued from inside of back cover)
26. Beaver in Kansas. By F. Robert Henderson. Pp. 1-85, iUustrated. December 16,

32

27. Land and fresh-water mammals of the Ungava Peninsula. By '^'^^°"^o^n^nn;tr,afd
1-178, plates 1-8, 3 figures in text. August 11, 1961. Paperbound, $2.00 postpaid
from the Arctic Institute of North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Wash-

28. Hfndbo?k ^funiS mussels in Kansas. By Harold D. Murray and A. Byron Leonard.
Pp 1-184, 45 pU tes, 42 figures. Mav 3 0,1962. Paperboimd, $1.00 postpaid.

29. Farm ponds in Douglas County, Kansas. By Claude E. Hastmgs and Frank B. Cross.

30 CoilectTng and^prt paring'study specimens of vertebrates. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp.
1-46, 34 figures, vlav 21, 1962. Paperbound, 50 cent.s postpaid.

31. Natural History Museum. Pv Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged illus-
trated "flier," 14V; in. X 8Vi in., printed on both sides, and folded twice. J June 1,

1962.

The^bobwhite in ICansas. By Gary Packard. Pp. 1-12, illustrated. November 16,

33. Spiders of the University of Kansas Natural History ReservaUon and Rockefeller Ex-
perimental Tract. By Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 1-202, 104 figures m text. December 20,

34. Habits of the red fox in northeastern Kansas. By William C. Stanley. Pp. 1-31, 3
plates, 3 figures in text. December 21, 1963. „ „ ^, „ ^ . j -n ,. » j

35. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall [An unpaged iHufrated
"fher " 14i/o in. X 8^/2 in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] March 2, 1964

36. Caribou Eskimos of the Upper Kazan River Keewatm. By Francis Harper. Vp.l~ii,
10 plates April 20, 1964. Paperbound, $1.50 postpaid from the Arctic Institute ot
North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, D. C 20009.

37 The friendly Montagnais and their neighbors in the Ungava Peninsula. By t rancis
Hiiper Pp 1-120 20 plates. April 20, 1964. Paperbound, $2.00 postpaid
from the Arctic Institute of North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20009.