Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History

CARIBOU ESKIMOS

OF THE UPPER

KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN

by

FRANCIS HARPER

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Illustration on front cover: Pamala (shaman) with his Husky dogs and
sleigh. Rita and Anoteelik standing by. November 26.

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CARIBOU ESKIMOS

OF THE UPPER

KAZAN RTV^ER, KEEWATIN

CARIBOU ESKIMOS

OF THE UPPER

KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN

BY
FRANCIS HARPER

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
LAWRENCE • KANSAS

o " I •

University of Kansas
Museum of Natural History

EDITOR: E. RAYMOND HALL

Miscellaneous Publication No. 36, pp. 1-74, 10 pis.
Published April 20, 1964

Biological investigations in Keewatin and
Manitoba in 1947 were supported by the
Arctic Institute of North America (through
contractual arrangements with the Office of
Naval Research). The results have been
prepared for publication under grants from
the National Science Foundation.

Publication in whole or in part is permitted
for any purpose of the United States Gov-
ernment.

MUS. COMP. ZOOL
LJRRA^Y

HARVARD

I/O ijU^l* I [

IN
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THE ALLEN PRESS

Lawrence, Kansas
1964

CONTENTS

Page

History, Environment, Economy 9

Anoteelik

Rita

Pamala _

Other Eskimos

Acknowledgments
Literature Cited ....
Index

17
27
31
36

Dr. Robert F. Yule's Reports, 1947 51

Postscript

Notes

54
65
68
70

73

History, Environment, Economy

During the six months that I spent in 1947 with the household of
a little trading post on Nueltin Lake in faraway Keewatin ( Harper,
1949:225 and 226, figs., and 1956:pl. 1, fig. 1), our nearest neigh-
bors were a band of Padlimiut Eskimos on the upper Kazan River —
some 50 or 60 miles to the northwest. This band constituted the
southwesternmost group of the inland Eskimos; they had no contact
with, and perhaps no tradition of, the sea. The Padlimiut in general
are said to be the most primitive of all the Eskimos. They are a good-
natured, happy-go-lucky people, and are generally rated as more
agreeable than their Indian neighbors on the south.

The first white man to visit the country they have subsequently
occupied was Samuel Hearne, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany at Fort Prince of Wales (later Churchill), who made a remark-
able series of journeys across the Barren Grounds during the years
1769 to 1772. It is worthy of note that he crossed the Kazan River at
two places between Ennadai Lake and Yathkyed Lake, and yet
reported (1795) no evidence of Eskimos in that territory. It was
then the hunting ground of the Chipewyan Indians, who have now
ceased to range northward from Ennadai and Nueltin lakes. In the
meantime the Eskimos gained, and long held, possession of this
portion of the Barren Grounds, and apparently their pressure forced
the Indians back into the timbered country. Ancient antipathies
have kept the two races apart and, in large measure, have prevented
their hunting territories from overlapping simultaneously.1- 2>3.4>5-6
( For the notes to which these and other superscript numerals refer,
see pages 65 ff.; see also J. B. Tyrrell, 1897:131-132, and Downes,
1943:216-218.)

Little more than a century ago the famous and widely experienced
Arctic explorer, Sir John Richardson, was quite unaware of the exis-
tence of Eskimos in the interior of Canada. He remarked (1852:
203) that they are truly a littoral people, not wandering inland. The
distributional area of the Padlimiut, as it was constituted several
decades ago, is indicated by Birket-Smith (1929a: map) and by
Marsh (1947:91, map).

After Hearne, no other man of science reached the upper Kazan
until 1894, when J. Burr Tyrrell (pi. 9, fig. 3), of the Geological
Survey of Canada, explored and mapped the river. The Eskimos he

9

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

met with there were the ancestors of the present generation, and
some of them bore names similar to certain ones that I found still
in use. In those days the Eskimos seem to have occupied the land
as far south as the north end of Nueltin Lake and as far west as the
area south of Dubawnt Lake. In order to supply themselves with
ammunition, tea, and tobacco, they formerly made annual trips
of some 300 miles south to Reindeer Lake (J. B. Tyrrell, 1895:440;
Buchanan, 1920:156; Downes, 1943:117).

"The tribe of Eskimos met with in the summer of . . . 1894, live
almost entirely on deer [caribou], which they spear from their
kyacks while the animals are swimming in the water. Several hun-
dred carcases of deer might be seen around one camp, and what
were not immediately used, were piled in heaps, and buried under
large stones, so that they would be safe from wolverenes, and
available for use during the following winter. Their clothing, both
for winter and summer, is made of deerskin, and their kyacks, or
single canoes, are made of deerskin parchment, sewed over a light
wooden frame." (J. B. Tyrrell, 1897:167.)

About 1920 a succession of small trading posts began to operate
about the north end of Nueltin Lake (cf. Downes, 1943:211-213),
and thereafter it was unnecessary for the men of the Kazan to make
the long trip to Reindeer Lake.

In 1926 Captain Thierry Mallet, of Revillon Freres, accompanied
by Del Simons, made a trip from Ennadai Lake down the Kazan
River and return. He has left (1930; 1950) some interesting remi-
niscences of the Eskimos he met.

The group with which I became acquainted had its camps scat-
tered along the river at distances of perhaps 15 to 30 miles below
Ennadai Lake. While this group apparently did practically all of
its trading at the little post at the northwestern end of Nueltin Lake,
its downstream neighbors, in the vicinity of Angikuni and Yathkyed
lakes, probably obtained their supplies from Padlei, on the upper

Maguse River.

In the summer of 1947 the upper Kazan River band comprised
only 19 members, divided among about seven families. Not more
than two or three of these families, as a rule, seemed to congregate
on a single campground, on the shore of either the river or some
nearby lake (see pi. 1). They shifted ground occasionally, as when
a site became unbearable from the stench of rotting caribou bodies
and from hordes of blowflies and maggots.

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAX RIVER, KEEWATIN 11

Near the mouth of Windy River two types of ancient structures
may indicate former possession of this area by Eskimos. One type
consists of two tent-rings on a promontory on the north side of the
river at its mouth; they are perhaps a hundred yards apart. Each is
approximately 15 feet in diameter (cf. pi. 3, fig. 1). The stones
composing the rings have, for the most part, a long axis of about 8
inches to two feet. On one side of each ring they almost touch each
other; but on the opposite side there are wide gaps. These sites are
strategically located near crossing-points of the caribou on the
Windy and Little rivers.

While I am not aware of any certain criterion (other than the
excavation of archaeological remains) for distinguishing between
Eskimo and Chipewyan tent-rings, the other type of structure is
perhaps more definitely Eskimoan. It consists of a semicircle of
rocks, piled up to a height of several feet, on the summit of a hill 1.5
miles northwest of the mouth of Windy River (Harper, 1955:93,
fig. 27). This "Pile o' Rocks," so called, commands a wide prospect
over the surrounding Barrens, and it is the best location in the vicinity
for the observation of caribou herds migrating southward in the late
summer and early fall.

Harp (1959:50-51) describes both types of Eskimo sites in other
parts of Keewatin:

"The sites themselves were of two types: habitation areas occu-
pied totally for some period of time by a family or group of families,
and lookout-workshop sites. ... A few [of the habitations] were
situated directly at a water-crossing, apparently in the path of on-
coming caribou ....

"The lookout-workshop sites, on the other hand, were all situated
on high vantage points that commanded a splendid view of the
country for miles around. Frequently they were on top of eskers or
drumlinoid hills. It may be presumed that the chief function carried
out at these stations was game-watching, but it is doubtful if we
could have discovered them had it not been for the residue of their
secondary function as workshops. Judging from the tremendous
quantities of stone chips and artifacts, most commonly quartzite,
littering the surface of some of them, the hunters put long hours of
waiting to good use. . . .

"Their [the modern Caribou Eskimos'] campsites are readily ob-
servable and require little description. The stone tent rings are
generally on rocky or gravelled surfaces, odds and ends of trading

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

post goods lie scattered about, and there is a Utter of fresh food-bone

Vdid not notice— nor in fact look for— any artifacts at the "Pile
o' Rocks." The tent-ring sites were too ancient to reveal any surface

debris. . ,

Although the environment on the upper Kazan is predominantly
Barren Grounds, little patches of hardy spruce and tamarack timber
push northward along the river. Thus this band of Padlimiut may
be said to have lived on the forest border; and their material culture
was considerably influenced thereby. They made use of forest prod-
ucts to an extent beyond the reach of their kin along the northern
and northeastern coasts of Keewatin. The timber not only provided
them with raw material for their sleighs, kayak frames, harpoons
drums, and various tools, but it also brought them into contact with
various forest-inhabiting mammals and birds, such as Red Squirrels,
Black Bears, Spruce Partridges, and Canada Jays.7- 8

The primary source of food and clothing for the Padlimiut and
several neighboring tribes in the interior of Keewatin has been the
Barren Ground Caribou (Rcmgifer arcticus arcticus).*-* Conse-
quently these tribes are known as the Caribou Eskimos.

From the air, in summer, the territory of the upper Kazan River
band (pi 1) appears as a most attractive green expanse of tundra,
dotted with a myriad bodies of sparkling blue water, varying in size
from Ennadai Lake to smaU tundra ponds. Streams, other than
channels connecting ponds, seem to be comparatively few The ter-
rain is actually not so flat as it appears from some 1,500 feet in the
air- some of the numerous rounded elevations are said to rise as
mu'ch as 100 feet above the general surface. The patches of scrubby
timber here and there may be readily made out from a plane, as may,
also, many well-marked caribou trails on the eskers and other ridges.
Unfortunately I had no opportunity to observe this Eskimo country
except from the air. My only contact with the people was at the
trading post and its vicinity at the mouth of Windy River on Nueltin

' Eskimos are said to occur no longer in the Dubawnt Lake area,
where they were found by J. B. Tyrrell ( 1897:11) and J. W. TyrreU
( 1908:94 ff.) in 1893. In 1947 there was just one man (Katello, aged
about 55) left in the upper Kazan River band who remembered his
people residing or camping on the Little Dubawnt River, which par-
allels the main Dubawnt on the east and enters Dubawnt Lake from

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 13

the south. There were said to have been six or more families on
the Little Dubawnt, where Charles Schweder, the trader at Nueltin
Lake (Harper, 1953:5, fig. 3, and 1955:56, fig. 17; also pi. 9, fig. 1, of
the present paper), reported many old campsites and graves. The
discovery in 1947 of an ancient, half-buried, lichen-covered paddle
at a small lake near Windy River suggests their occupation of that
area a good many years ago. As with various wild animals, restric-
tion of the Eskimos' range seems to be correlated with reduction in
their numbers.

The nomadism practiced by the Kazan Eskimos seemed to be of
rather limited extent. I gathered that their normal range extended for
only a few miles along the river and about some of the nearby lakes.
Further wandering or shifting of campsites is scarcely necessary
in years of normal caribou abundance. Their camps were doubtless
located, for the most part, in strategic proximity to the points where
the caribou were in the habit of converging to cross the river. Their
individual traplines in winter may have extended only 10 miles or
so, in contrast to the far longer traplines of the whites and the half-
breeds. Indolence was said to be a large factor in their limited
trapping activity. Furthermore, there was virtually no incentive to
pile up wealth in the form of goods that could not be readily carried
about in their nomad existence. In times of stress, as when the
supply of caribou failed, the Eskimos might move to a considerable
distance. For example, in the starvation winter of 1946-47 two
families came to the Windy River post and camped there for several
months. Apparently only the men and the older boys, as a rule,
undertook the brief trips from the Kazan River to the trading post
to secure supplies; the number of such trips may have been two to
five per year.

Downes (1943:207-218) found three of the Kazan River men in
July, 1939, on a trading trip to the "Old Post" on Red River, some 10
miles southwest of Windy Bay on Nueltin Lake. Fred Schweder, Sr.,
the father of Charles, was then in charge of the post.

The following bits of information concerning the past trading
relations of the upper Kazan River folk have been pieced together.
When J. B. Tyrrell and R. Munro Ferguson explored their territory
in 1894, probably only a small proportion of the inhabitants had ever
seen a white man previously. Tyrrell says (1895:440): "About
Christmas-time a few Eskimo came in [to Brochet on Reindeer Lake]
from the far north, bringing robes and furs to trade for ammunition

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

and tobacco." He refers specifically to an Eskimo going to trade
at Brochet from as far north as Angiloini Lake, on the middle course
of the Kazan. Annual trips to Reindeer Lake were still being made
up to 1914, at least (Buchanan, 1920: 156 ).8-9 According to Birket-
Smith ( 1929a: 66), eight or nine Eskimos from the vicinity of Ennadai
Lake were present at Putahow Lake, west of Nueltin Lake, in 1922.
Now that the Eskimos of the upper Kazan River have been removed
to the coast of Hudson Bay, it seems doubtful whether any of those
living farther down the river resort to a trading post at the south
end of Ennadai Lake.

It is noteworthy that the Eskimos should have formerly ventured
as far south as Reindeer Lake, in view of their dislike and distrust
of the Chipewyan Indians, through whose territory they were obliged
to pass. On the other side of the picture, J. B. Tyrrell records
(1897:131) a party of Chipewyans from Churchill invading Eskimo
territory to a point below Angikuni Lake in 1894, for the purpose of
hunting caribou. Their operations in this area dated back at least
to Hearne's time ( 1770 ) .

According to Fred Schweder, Jr. (Harper, 1949:228 and 231, figs.;
1955:34, figs. 3 and 4; and 1956:pl. 6, fig. 1), "Husky" Harris traded
about 40 years previously with Eskimos at Ennadai Lake; his post is
thought to have been somewhere about the north end. Charles
Schweder thinks it was about 1917 that traders or trappers first came
to Nueltin Lake, "Husky" Harris being one of the first, if not the
very first. At one period he remained in the region for 15 years with-
out going "outside." He then took his Eskimo wife out to Winnipeg.
Jack Hogarth was another of the early traders. He had some
buildings at Hogarth Lake, west of Windy Lake, but it is not certain
that that was the site of his post. He had been in that general area
for 25 years when he told P. G. Downes in 1937 that "the last time
the Huskies brought in musk-ox robes was at Windy Lake about
seven or eight years ago" (Downes, in litt., June 15, 1957). At the
Windy River post I saw a geological hammer and some caribou
spears once belonging to Hogarth; they had been bought at Brochet
when Hogarth's effects were sold there.

The Kazan River Eskimos began coming down to the Windy River
area to trade about 40-45 years ago. One of the trading posts was
that of Del Simons, on Simons' Lake, about 10 miles above the
mouth of Windy River, which flows in a northeasterly direction
into the northwestern extremity of Nueltin Lake. His post building,

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 15

sturdily constructed of squared timbers, had been put up originally at
Windy Lake by his manager, Alfred Peterson; but eventually it was
dismantled and rebuilt at Simons' Lake, where I occupied it for
several days in October. Simons' post was in operation about 1927.
When I. H. ("Windy") Smith had an establishment in the 1920's on
Smith Bay ( a northerly arm of Windy Bay, Nueltin Lake ) , Eskimos
came to trade there.

About 1927 the Hudson's Bay Company established a post on Red
River about 3 miles southwest of Simons' Lake. At the same period
Revillon Freres had a post about a mile lower down the Red River.
When Revillon was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company, the
latter transferred its local business to the former Revillon post, and
its original post (on "Hudson Bay Hill") was presently dismantled.
Fred Schweder, Sr., was the manager of the Hudson's Bay Company
post for several years up to 1939; his successor, James A. Trafford,
remained for about three years. ( Both men appear in the pages of
Downes' Sleeping Island, 1943:208-271, passim.) This "Old Post" is
now abandoned and much dilapidated. When the Eskimos traded
there, they would come down Little River (a tributary of Nueltin
Lake) to a point about 20 miles above its mouth, then proceed over-
land to the '"Old Post." (See Harper, 1955:map 1.)

In 1939 Schweder became an independent trader, with a summer
camp at the mouth of Windy River and a winter camp about 10
miles to the northwest, on Four-hill Creek. Since about 1942 his
family ( or some members of it ) had lived the year round at the mouth
of Windy River. During 1947 those in residence were three sons:
Charles (22), Fred, Jr. (18), and Mike (10) (Harper, 1949:228,
fig., and 1955:34 and 35, figs. 3-6). The Kazan Eskimos had con-
tinued to trade at this place; there had been, for some years past, no
other trading post within many miles.

"The time I have lived with my family in the north among the
native Eskimos will always be a pleasant memory to me" (Fred
Schweder, Sr., in litt., March 12, 1956).

While the present band had apparently never been investigated
by an ethnologist, their kindred on the lower Kazan and about Yath-
kyed Lake were studied by the Fifth Thule Expedition of 1921-
1924, and excellent reports on them have been published by Birket-
Smith ( 1929a, 1929b, and 1940 ) . These reports cover several neigh-
boring tribes to the north ( Qaernermiut, Hauneqtdrmiut, and Har-
vaqtormiut) as well as the Padlimiut. The center of the Padlimiut

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

territory seems to lie about Padlei and Yathkyed Lake. Some of this
tribe apparently lived about South Henik Lake, south of Padlei
toward the Thlewiaza River. Several bands were in the habit of
ascending this river from the coast in the fall to pass the winter
somewhere below Edehon Lake. Their language is so distinct that
it is scarcely comprehensible to a trader (Charles Schweder) who
converses very readily with the Kazan people.

Birket-Smith ( 1940:7-9) remarks on a serious change in conditions
for the Caribou Eskimos since the time of the Fifth Thule Expedition

(1921-24):

"The railway has been run through to the mouth of Churchill
River, and every summer it carries a stream of fur traders up there,
to be spread along the coast. It is beyond doubt that this will soon
make its impression on the composition and racial type of the aborig-
inal population, as it has already done in their economy. Accordingly,
this short work is not only the first to deal with the Eskimos in the
territories west and north of Hudson Bay from the anthropological
aspect, apart from a few sporadic observations in earlier times; in all
probability it will also be the last to describe the population when
it was still free from foreign admixture. . . .

"The census we took gave as its result that the Caribou Eskimos
comprise no more than 432 people, children included; there were
some other families, however, on the upper Kazan, but we were
unable to get particulars of them. The total thus reaches about 500,
and of this number about half is represented by the Padlimiut. Since
the Fifth Thule Expedition, however, the Caribou Eskimos have
been visited by a disastrous epidemic of influenza, and it would seem
that this small group, occupying culturally an outstandingly inter-
esting position among Eskimos generally, is already practically ex-
tinct."

A brief contact by Manning (1948a: 163; 1948Z?:1, fig. 1) with
Caribou Eskimos on the Kazan River in 1945 was apparently at a
point some miles north of the normal range of the group under dis-
cussion here.

About 1917 the band on the upper Kazan numbered some 40
people; in 1941-42, about 30. At the beginning of the winter of
1946-47 they had become reduced to 27 souls; but by the time the
caribou returned from the south during the following spring, eight
of these had met a grim end. With characteristic improvidence, the
band had gambled on the local occurrence of caribou during the gen-

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 17

eral southward migration in the fall of 1946, and had neglected to put
up a winter's supply of the abundantly available fish. But they lost
this gamble, and with it nearly one-third of their population. It is
significant of the Eskimo male spirit of self-preservation that only
women and girls succumbed during this period of starvation. Even
some of the dogs survived.

Notes were obtained on seven of the men and boys who visited
the Windy River post at various times in 1947, and on two of the chil-
dren who had recently been rescued from starvation and adopted by
Charles Schweder, who maintained the trading post. (Charles is of
German-Cree ancestry. An account of him as a 14-year-old boy may
be found in Downes [1943:208-271, passim]; he had reached the age
of 22 in the spring of 1947. It is chiefly through him that I have
secured the information presented here, aside from that derived
from direct observation. )

Anoteelik

The two Eskimo children were Anoteelik (Harper, 1949:228, fig.;
1955:35, figs. 5 and 6, and 56, fig. 15; Life 40(9):cover and 80, fig.,
1956), a boy of approximately fifteen, and Kukwik (Harper, 1949:
226 and 228, figs.; 1955:34, figs. 3 and 4, and 56, fig. 18; and 1956:pl. 6,
fig. 1), a girl of approximately five. Several years previously their
father, Angoliah (rated as one of the better type of Eskimos), had
died, and their mother had thereupon become one of the two wives
of Hikwa. Although there is apparently little admixture of alien blood
in the band as a whole, the mother's father is said to have been a white
trapper who visited on the Kazan probably 30 or 40 years previously10
(cf. Marsh, 1947:pl. 8, upper fig.). This mother and one of the teen-
age daughters of the house, as well as the other wife of Hikwa, did
not survive the disastrous winter of 1946-47.

When Charles brought out the news of starvation to Reindeer
Lake in February, 1947, the government took prompt action and
sent supplies for the Kazan band by air as far as Nueltin Lake.
(Thomas Lamb, of The Pas, was the pilot.) Charles thereupon
undertook to transport the supplies by dog sleigh to the Kazan, and
spent some weeks in the operation, without thought of material re-
ward. Most of the Eskimos' own dogs had meanwhile starved to
death; by the following summer there were said to be just seven left,
out of a normal number of probably at least 40. These could scarcely
have been in fit condition to share in the hauling.

On one of Charles' visits to the Kazan, Anoteelik, who was then in

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

much reduced condition, begged to be taken to Windy River. Charles
not only agreed, but told Anoteelik to bring along his thin little
sister. None of the other Eskimos were consulted and none offered
any objection. Rita ( as the erstwhile Kukwik was now called "for
short") reminisced during the following months on how very hungry
she had been at the time, and how very little there had been to eat.
She would occasionally cry for her mother and older sister, not being
aware of their fate.

The children had been at Windy River since March, and I first
saw them in early June. By that time they seemed to be in good
condition, except for a chronic cough of Anoteelik's. At his age (or
earlier) an Eskimo boy evidently assumes a man's full responsibility
in hunting, fishing, trapping, driving dogs, and the like. Anoteelik
faithfully attended to all such duties, and others besides, such as
gathering and chopping wood and curing hides (Harper, 1955:35,
fig. 6); he was always ready to smile, and cheerfully performed
any task requested of him. Rita, for her part, undertook tasks far
beyond the ability of an average white girl of her age— skinning
caribou, paddling a canoe, chopping wood, sewing, etc. In general,
she was an amiable and exceptionally well-behaved child. Both
children were inveterate smokers of pipe and cigarettes— a habit
acquired apparently in babyhood in Eskimo land. A pipe was shared
between them.11 ( The slightest notion of hygiene is evidently beyond

the ken of an Eskimo. )

In summer Anoteelik's clothing consisted mainly of overall pants
and jumper, with probably a shirt and perhaps underwear in addi-
tion. He apparently gave no thought to changing when soaked with
rain. He was much pleased with the gift of a light waterproof U. S.
Navy parka. Summer footgear consisted of woolen stockings and
rubbers. In addition to these factory-made articles, he had a caribou-
skin coat (with hood) and trousers of native manufacture, for use
in cold weather. As typical Eskimos, both children were extremely
indifferent to cold. In zero weather Rita was capable of running
about outdoors in such scanty clothing as would suit a white child

at, say, 60° F.

Rita's summer clothing was very similar to Anoteelik's. In the
warm weather she was perfectly comfortable with nothing more
than a heavy undershirt on the upper part of her body; she also wore
overall pants, stockings, and rubbers similar to her brother's. In cool
or rainy weather she placed over the other garments a cloth parka,

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 19

made for her by Charles. The peak of the hood was decorated with
beadwork. In winter she added an extra cloth parka, the hood trim-
med with fur. One of the women on the Kazan also made for her a
caribou-skin coat, but she had grown to such an extent during the
summer that she could not get into it. Doubtless a larger one was then
ordered for her.

The winter footgear of these children consisted, I believe, of
moccasins of tanned caribou skin, made by Chipewyan Indians at
the south end of Nueltin Lake. At home on the Kazan they doubt-
less would have worn komik, of tanned caribou skin, with the fur
inside except on the bottom piece of the sole. These make extraor-
dinarily warm footgear.

Through 1947 Anoteelik apparently retained most of the eating
habits of his people, while Rita, being so much younger, readily
adopted more civilized ways. In the early part of the summer these
two carried on their housekeeping separately from the rest of the
camp on Windy River. They occupied a little log hut, where a home-
made stove ( originally an oil drum ) was available for cooking. Since
they ate their fish raw, and their caribou half raw, segregation from
the rest of the camp at mealtimes was understandable. They used the
stove for making bannock, tea, and a sort of thick gravy composed of
flour and lard. Anoteelik still ate, and liked, raw caribou warbles
(the larvae of the parasitic warble fly, Oedemagena tarandi), while
Rita soon abandoned the habit. In early August, noticing the fresh
head of a big Lake Trout in the Eskimo hut, I remarked that I sup-
posed they would boil it. "They eat that raw," responded Charles.

During the summer Rita had an occasional meal with the rest of us
in the main cabin; and on several occasions, when all the others were
away from camp, she was my supper guest. Though a little awkward
with some of the utensils, she acted very nicely. On suggestion, she
readily went to the riverside and washed her hands and face before
a meal. In the early summer her nose seemed almost constantly in
need of something it did not receive — the application of a hand-
kerchief; by autumn, however, she carried a handkerchief in her
pocket and showed almost no neglect in its use. Anoteelik did not
appear to acquire any regular habit of washing, although at least
once he took a sort of half -bath in the river.

In July I spent some days of solitude at Josie's Bay, half a dozen
miles by water from the Windy River post. Meanwhile the two pals,
Anoteelik and Mike, came by canoe on an overnight visit. When they

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

secured nothing but Red Suckers (Catostomus catostomus) in a
gill net, all three of us partook of these fish, although they are ordi-
narily disdained by the local residents. As the boys were about to
depart, I noticed a crudely fashioned wooden spoon that Anoteelik
had been using, and I asked Mike if he would ask Anoteelik to let me
have it. The latter, evidently having understood the gist of what I
said, immediately reached for the spoon, to give it to me.

Windy weather prevented Fred from coming at the appointed
time in his 16-foot canoe to fetch me back to the main camp. One
evening, however, he appeared in company with Mike and the two
Eskimo children. The wind still continuing, they had been obliged
to leave the canoe on the opposite side of Josie's Hill, nearly two
miles away. As soon as I had packed up the more essential parts of
my outfit, we set out in a straggling file across the Barrens to the
500-foot summit above Hawk Cliff, each bearing a load according
to his capacity. ( Rita carried a Flit-gun. ) During a pause at the top
of the cliff in the arctic twilight gloom, the boys amused themselves
by tossing rocks over the edge.

When we embarked in the overloaded canoe, Anoteelik crouched in
the bow to handle one of the paddles; Rita was immediately behind
him, rubbing elbows with me and occasionally scratching for cooties.
Once she nudged me to point out a couple of screeching Herring
Gulls overhead, and now and then she exchanged a few words with
her brother.

In the fall, when Anoteelik left for a visit to his relatives on the
Kazan, Rita transferred to the main cabin for both eating and sleep-
ing. And when Anoteelik returned in November, he did likewise.

In setting off for the Kazan on September 23, Anoteelik took two
dogs with travois (cf. Downes, 1943:230); a sleeping bag but no
tent; and a little flour and tea. According to Charles, a hunter spurns
the idea of taking meat with him at the start of such a trip; he secures
it along the way. In the lack of a tent, Anoteelik was expected to
utilize several trapping camps along his route. He spent his two
months' visit with one of the better Eskimos, Angwokook, rather than
with his stepfather.

In the early part of the summer much of Rita's nervous activity
went into scratching her head and body to alleviate the itching of
anopluran parasites (Pediculus capitis and P. hunmnus).12 One
might then have seen her capture a specimen in her fingers, crunch
it between her teeth, and swallow it— all in typical Eskimo fashion.

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 21

When the government medical inspector (Dr. Robert F. Yule)
came on a visit by plane in late July, and took note of the situation,
he clipped the long black hair of both children and left a bottle of
head lotion to be applied. Thus they obtained a very good measure
of relief, even if total eradication may not have been accomplished
at once.

With clipped hair, the Mongoloid shape of their heads was striking.
Their complexion might be described as pale coppery— about the
same as that of an Indian halfbreed child. Their hair was jet-black.
Rita's eyes were deep brown. Anoteelik's lips were less thick, and
his nose perhaps less broad and flat, than those of the other Eskimos
on the Kazan, who were presumably full-blooded.

To an Eskimo mind, an animal or a bird evidently has use only as
food or clothing. Anoteelik apparently did not, or could not, compre-
hend anyone's desire to spare certain individuals ( such as Ptarmigan )
in the vicinity of camp for the purposes of study and photography. He
was amazingly dexterous in hitting objects with thrown stones; he
would thus collect ducklings and young Willow Ptarmigan. He would
wade into a rapid in early summer and capture spawning Red Suckers
with a stick. Once, when out of ammunition or with a jammed rifle,
he even attempted to knock down a buck caribou with a rock. The
buck turned on him and forced him to climb a small spruce or tam-
arack, while his 10-year-old hunting companion, Mike Schweder,
looked on. This was possibly the first case on record of a man ( es-
pecially an Eskimo! ) being treed by a Barren Ground Caribou, al-
though Birket-Smith (1929a: 106) mentions an instance of a buck
attacking a man on a small island north of Southampton Island. One
of Anoteelik's amusements was to keep three stones tossed into the
air at once with his two hands (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929b : 119).

In midsummer a favorite pastime with him and his two companions
(Fred and Mike) was a game of tag, in which they pursued each
other over the roofs of the log huts. The game was generally begun in
the evening twilight (when the black flies would be subsiding for a
few hours of semidarkness ) , and was kept up for I know not how
long, for I would be retiring soon after the game commenced.13 They
also played "hide and seek" in the long grass ( Calamagrostis cana-
densis) of the river meadow. Indoors they were fond of playing
"Who's got the button?" or at least a very similar game.

In November Anoteelik began playing a peculiar sort of solitary Es-
kimo game, known as a ring-and-pin game. He had a slightly curved

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

piece of caribou antler, 105 mm. long and 24 mm. in widest diameter,
with a small hole drilled clear through its middle. At each end a cord
was attached, extending vertically, one to the roof of the cabin, the
other tied around some steel traps held down with his foot. The cords
were stretched taut. (When the game was finally finished, these
cords were replaced by a loop of caribou sinew passing through a
hole drilled in each end. ) In his hand he held a rounded wooden
shaft 401 mm. long and averaging about 18 mm. in diameter. A piece
of caribou antler, tapering to a point, was fitted to one end of the
shaft and fastened with sinew. It is 116 mm. long and projects 43 mm.
beyond the shaft. The opposing surfaces of the two parts are pared
down diagonally and fit snugly together. One or both pieces of
caribou antler are said to have been chopped into shape with an axe!
Anoteelik kept thrusting quickly at the target piece, endeavoring to
fix the point in the middle hole; but he did not succeed while I
watched. ( Eventually I secured this game as ethnological material.
See pi. 8, fig. 1.) According to Charles, one of the Kazan Eskimos,
Ohoto, could plant such a spear in a hole at practically every thrust.
A slightly similar game is figured and described by J. W. Tyrrell
(1908:154-155); an identical one, by Birket-Smith (1929a: 275, fig.
103) and by Marsh (1947:96, fig.).

The young folks of the camp, both Eskimos and those of Cree
blood, never seemed to want for ways to amuse themselves. In late
September I noticed Rita and Mike throwing small rocks to demolish
the ice caps on projecting larger rocks in the river's edge. Sometimes
the two were hilarious for a considerable period without any visible
or comprehensible reason. Rita's low, rippling laughter was one of
the commonest sounds in camp. The boys frequently threw stones
as far as they could into or across the river.

One September evening, while we were having our "cup o' tea"
before retiring, there was talk of Eskimo and other songs. As an
inducement to Anoteelik to give us a sample of his musical wares, I
first volunteered with "The Flap-eared Mule," a song from the piney
woods of Georgia. Presently Anoteelik commenced, as he sat on a
trunk in the middle room of the cabin. His song consisted in part of
real words, in part of mere musical notes (probably as a refrain) . It
was a fairly lengthy performance, lasting for perhaps several minutes.
Charles, despite his familiarity with Eskimo speech, could not tell the
subject of the song except that there was mention of a rifle, hunting,
etc.; the song words were evidently more difficult to make out than

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 23

ordinary conversation. It was a treat to gain first-hand acquaintance
with this primitive music, though it was certainly not particularly
melodious.

After a time Rita piped up in the inner room with a low song, so
little of the sound reaching me that I could not make much of it.
Several evenings later she entertained herself (and the rest of us)
with one or more Eskimo songs. It was a monotonous sort of singing,
but entertaining enough. It was quite different in theme from Ano-
teelik's song; but the refrain seems to be the same in most or all of the
songs — a sort of yoy-yoy-yoy, yoy-i-yoy, etc.

Drum dances were much in vogue among the Cree Indians
on Lake Athabaska in 1914 and in subsequent years as well. But
native customs have been changing rapidly in the North, and these
affairs seem to be no longer practiced among the Chipewyans of the
Nueltin and Reindeer lakes region (fide Charles Schweder). (For
an account of dances among the Cree at York Factory more than two
centuries ago, see Drage, 1748, 1:220-221; and for accounts of those
among the Chipewyans, as derived from either the Cree or the
Dogribs, see Hearne, 1795:334-335, and Birket-Smith, 1930:75.)
Preble (1910:329) gives a slight account of a Cree dance in 1900 at
Oxford House in the present Manitoba. It represented, however,
a considerable departure from the primitive form, for it was held
indoors and fiddles rather than drums provided the music.

Meanwhile the primitive and isolated Padlimiut have kept their
own distinctive drum dances going (on the coast as well as on the
Kazan River). In the latter area Charles has attended them perhaps
a dozen times. All took place at night; on one occasion, in summer,
a dance continued till one o'clock in the morning. They are con-
ducted indoors at any time of year when there are enough people
about to beat the drums and sing. He has seen approximately 20
persons crowd into an igloo for a dance. In winter the igloos are the
places of assembly; in summer, the big skin tents, not the small canvas
ones. The men take turns, one at a time, in beating the drum, while
standing up in the middle of the igloo or tent and apparently per-
forming some sort of a dance (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 268-271, fig.
101; Marsh, 1947:89, fig., and 96; Barnett, 1956:91, fig.). The women
sit around in a circle, and merely sing. The girls, even those as
young as Rita, sit in the circle with the women and join in the singing.
The men awaiting their turn at the drum do not sing.

Charles described the construction and use of an Eskimo drum as

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

follows. A hoop, usually about 3 feet in diameter, is made of spruce,
and a piece of caribou skin is stretched over it (of. Marsh, 1947:89,
fig. ) . A wooden handle, with a notch wide enough to fit over the rim
of the drum, is attached. The outer side of the wooden rim is grooved,
in order that the braided caribou sinew, holding the skin on the frame,
may fit into it. When the drum is not in use, the skin is taken off the
frame. When preparing to use it again, one man wets the skin and
puts it over the whole frame; then winds the sinew around it, over the
groove, two or three times, and draws it as tightly as he can by
himself. He then turns the drum upside down, so that the flaps or
edges of the skin project upward. Thereupon one or several of the
men tighten the skin as best they can with their hands, or with the
handle. Eventually about four men take the drum in their hands and
turn it around slowly. One man holds the sinew tight as the drum goes
around. One end of the sinew is meanwhile hooked on the handle;
and finally the other end is tied fast. When all is ready, the flaps of
the skin project somewhat beyond the hoop. It takes about three-
quarters of an hour to get the skin on.

A round drumstick, about 10 inches long, is made of tamarack or
spruce. The distal portion (comprising about two-thirds of the
drumstick) is about 2% inches in diameter; the proximal portion, for
grasping with the hand, is about 1 inch in diameter. With this drum-
stick the rim of the drum is struck on each side of the handle, alter-
nately. Meanwhile the drum is rotated with the left hand, first in
one direction, then in the other, with the handle as an axis, in order
that the rim may meet the drumstick halfway, so to speak.

A final detail in putting the drum in order, not explained by
Charles, was exhibited by Anoteelik after dark one November day,
in the cabin on Windy River. Taking a mouthful of water from a cup
he squirted it bit by bit on the stretched skin of the drum, and rubbed
it in with the flat of his hand. This operation presumably makes the
skin tight and resonant. A day or two previously I had noticed him
executing a sort of stationary dance while beating the drum.

This particular drum was made by Charles himself, modeling it
after those he had seen on the Kazan River. It was evidently much
smaller than the average Eskimo drum, having an inside diameter of
only about 16 inches. It was presumably made chiefly for the sake of
Rita, who was fond of beating it. However agreeable the sound
may be to an Eskimo's ears, and however it may satisfy the primitive
natures of these people, I confess it impressed me, when long con-

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 25

tinued, as monotonous and even depressing, more suitable for a
dirge than for a dance.

Both Anoteelik and Rita seemed to enjoy listening to the radio-
probably for the sake of the music, since their familiarity with
English was too slight for an understanding of the words.

Once I noticed Anoteelik practicing a custom that is said to be
general among his people— striking a match on the teeth. Placing the
head of the match behind his upper incisors, he jerked it forward
several times, till it flamed. Although the matches used were labeled
"not poisonous," one can hardly refrain from speculating on possible
harmful results from this custom.

Of course hunting is the prime pastime as well as the livelihood of
an Eskimo. As long as caribou were in the vicinity, or expected there,
Anoteelik was daily afield with a rifle. In the early fall, when the
chief caribou movement was on, he was evidently in his element. He
and Mike would go off and camp by themselves for days at a time, at
distances up to several miles from the base camp. In their enthusiasm
for this sort of life, they spent one night in cold weather with no
more covering than some fresh caribou skins. One reason for their
staying overnight in the vicinity of caribou carcasses was to guard
them against several marauding Black Bears (Euarctos americanus) ,
which consumed some 40 of these carcasses during the fall.

Anoteelik would take a .30-.30 rifle when it was occasionally avail-
able, but for the most part he utilized a .22 rifle, with which he
naturally wounded more caribou than he killed. Whenever he re-
turned from a successful excursion, we could judge the number of
animals he had secured by the tongues he would fish out of his pocket.
He dried some of the meat obtained in August.

On the last day of August I visited the boys and Rita in their camp
(pi. 4, fig. 2) on the far side of Little River, scarcely more than half
a mile from the base camp. They were having an orgy of feasting on
caribou. At two fires they were enthusiastically frying, roasting, and
boiling meat, and apparently eating more or less continuously. One
tidbit in a kettle aroused my curiosity; it was apparendy an aorta.
Rita, who was there on a visit, was nibbling on a half -raw leg. Sev-
eral caribou bodies had been thrust into the edge of the river, partly
for refrigeration, partly for protection from blowflies. Tripe and
blood soup are prized delicacies, though I may not have noticed
them on this occasion. Some days previously Mike had exhibited on
another caribou his technique in securing these portions— something

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

very likely learned from Anoteelik. After taking out the tripe, he used
what appeared to be another part of the stomach as a receptacle into
which he dipped with his hands the blood that had collected in the

abdominal cavity.

Before I left the camp on Little River, two unwary caribou ap-
proached, whereupon Anoteelik stole forth a few rods over the open
Barrens and downed them both with successive shots of a .30-.30, at
ranges of about 60 and 100 yards. He and Mike dragged the first
one into camp, and in a matter of minutes had it stripped of its hide.
Much of this operation was accomplished with fingers after the
initial cuts had been made with knives.

Anoteelik kept up the ancient Eskimo practice of spearing caribou
in the water. For example, on August 25 he secured two fawns in
this manner by pursuing them with a canoe on Windy Bay. ( Rita
proceeded to skin one of them by herself.) Nowadays the spear is
a manufactured article of iron secured from the trading posts (cf.
Birket-Smith, 1929a: 109-111, fig. 25; Downes, 1943:145; Harper,
1955-49 fig. 15). It has a sharpened head and a hollow base, into
which a pointed pole is thrust as a shaft, and secured with a nail (pi. 2,

lSOn a day in early September, Anoteelik secured 13 caribou. On
such occasions he would bring in the tongues, then harness up sev-
eral dogs with travois, and return to the Barrens to fetch some of the
meat to camp (Harper, 1955:35, fig. 5). It was amazing how deftly
he could cut a carcass apart with a small knife. He and Mike would
also use the travois for transporting their slight equipment when
going off to camp overnight. These travois were in use by the
Schweder family on Windy River, and were occasionally borrowed by
their Eskimo friends. It is especially interesting that such a mode of
conveyance, employed by the Plains Indians in bygone days, should
have found its way in late years to this part of the Barren Grounds.
It is said to have been introduced by the late "Eskimo Charlie (cf
Downes 1943:160-161, 230, 22nd pi. following p. 296), a trapper of
apparently Czech nationality, whose headquarters were at Putahow
Lake, west of Nueltin Lake.

One day I met with Anoteelik in a spruce thicket a quarter of a
mile from camp, where he had laden himself with parts of a freshly
killed caribou. The skinned hindquarters were across his shoulders;
a leg stuck out in front on each side, and the separate skin was draped
over the top. Somewhere he was carrying a .22 rifle in addition.

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 27

Anoteelik handled a canoe paddle with exceptional vigor. This
was particularly evident when he and Fred, in the canoe together,
went in pursuit of some such game as a duck. It would have been very'
interesting to see him handle a kayak, with a double-bladed paddle
(cf. Barnett, 1956:81, 86, figs.). According to Charles Schweder, all
the Kazan River Eskimos still had kayaks, and canoes as well. Some
of them continued to make double-bladed paddles for the kayaks.
His brother Fred remarked that, for canoe paddles, they merely
nailed a blade to a handle. Dr. Robert F. Yule found kayaks (pi. 10,
fig. 1 ) in use as late as 1954.14

Rita

My first glimpse of the Eskimo children came on the morning of
June 5, when they had just returned with the two younger Schweder
boys from a trip by dogteam to the southern part of Nueltin Lake.
At the sight of a kabloonah (white man), Rita shyly retreated up the
ridge above camp, but Anoteelik kept at his task of chopping wood.
Both children were ragged, unkempt, and unwashed. They seemed
to stay outdoors most of the day, and Rita apparently took a nap on
the bare ridge in near-freezing weather. By the next day she had so
far recovered from her shyness as to accept a rubber ball and a piece
of cornbread and even to smile at me.

During my six months' residence at Windy River, Rita made con-
siderable progress in her comprehension of English, yet scarcely
ventured to utter more than a few single words in that language in
addressing me. For the most part she communicated with me in sign
language. One day she came into the cabin to tell me something.
She indicated a moderately small object by holding her hand a little
above a stool, and pointed down the river. Then she waved her arms
like a bird flapping its wings, and presently, with an appropriate
movement of the hand, indicated that it dove (under water?). The
bird she had seen was quite possibly a merganser; or, if the down-
ward movement had been from the air to the surface, it may have
been a gull or a tern.15

Rita and Charles habitually conversed in Eskimo, but he reported
her using more and more English words. A very curious feature of
her talking with Charles was that she spoke almost altogether in
whispers; she did likewise to some extent in talking with Fred. I
could not fathom the reason for this habit, and Charles himself could
not explain it. I wondered if it could be an indication of affection

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

such as Rita might have displayed toward her mother; but on this
point I obtained no light.

During the summer, when the resident members of the camp gen-
erally slept until the middle of the day, Rita would usually come in
from her hut and waken one or more of the sleepers, to the accom-
paniment of considerable giggling or laughter.

The long black, unkempt, cootie-infested tresses that had been
hanging down over Rita's face up to August, were then shorn by the
kindly medical inspector. With a close-cropped head, she exhibited
a certain resemblance to photographs of Tibetans. A further step m
the civilizing process came about in a few more days, with the acqui-
sition of a clean new outfit of clothes brought in from the trading
post at Brochet. Thereafter her face and her clothes were kept cleaner

than previously.

Rita was more handy at various tasks than most white children ot
twice her age. She would wield an axe either in chopping wood (pL
2 fig 3) or in cutting up a caribou carcass for dog feed; she would
spread out caribou hides to dry and peg them down with nails driven
through their edges into the ground. She frequently served as a
partner for one of the other members of the camp in using a crosscut
saw on firewood. She could paddle a canoe rather expertly, either by
herself or in partnership with one of the boys. On frequent occasions
she would thus accompany one of them in visiting and lifting the gill
nets I was further impressed with her dexterity in another direction,
when I noticed one day how she was amusing herself by taking
mouthfuls of water, squirting it into a couple of quite narrow-necked
bottles, and scarcely spilling a drop in the process. She would fre-
quently drum on a tabletop with her fingers.

When several of us were skinning one of the first caribou taken
on the southward migration, in mid-August, Rita applied herself
to the common task with a sharp little knife, and helped appreciably;
her technique was first-rate.

Her facility in copying the ways of others, together with a desue
to help in the collection of specimens, led her to set mousetraps in
the vicinity of camp. She would bring me various mice and small
birds thus captured, and would be rewarded for her pains. She was
also adept at capturing sculpins (Coitus cognatus) and very imma-
ture graylings (Thymallus signifer) in the river's edge, with no more
elaborate outfit than a cup or a tin can. She pointed out to me a nest
of Harris' Sparrow (Zonotrichia querufo) with several callow young

HABPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewatest 29

ones, on which I was able to make some observations of interest.

She was fond of wiping dishes after one or the other of the boys had
washed them. To open the door of a hot stove, she would pull a sleeve
forward over her hand and use that as an insulating pad. Charles
remarked on this last as being a regular Eskimo trick. One day
during the absence of the older boys, when Rita suffered a little
abrasion on her chin from falling against a stove, she came to me for
first-aid attention.

On August 20 I was stationed on a hill ("Pile o' Rocks") a mile
from camp, filming a few passing caribou. Meanwhile Rita had
accompanied her playfellow Mike, who was hunting caribou with a
small-caliber rifle, and both joined me for a time. I let her look
through my fieldglasses, and she would point out distant caribou to
me. She remained very quiet when any of them approached within
photographic range. In walking back to camp over the Barrens I
pointed out to Rita a ripe cloudberry or muskeg berry (Rubus chamae-
morm), and suggested that she eat it, since the residents in general do
so, though the taste is somewhat insipid. I was surprised when
after putting it in her mouth, she made a wry face and spat it out It
occurred to me that perhaps it was merely this individual berry that
did not suit her; for I believe I saw her eating cloudberries on a later
occasion. On the other hand, this may have been an example of an
Eskimo taboo.™ She and the other children were quite fond of crow-
berries (Empetrum nigrum) and mountain cranberries {V actinium
vitis-uuiea), and they frequently went a-berrying for them. Anoteelik
and Mike even canned some of the mountain cranberries in glass
jars. The children doubtless ate also the better-tasting but less plenti-
ful bog bilberries ( V actinium uliginosum). On the other hand, they
disdained alpine bearberries (Arctostaphylos alpina).

One evening, while I was sitting in the doorway of the cabin to take
advantage of the twilight in making some entries in my journal
Rita was looking over my shoulder ( as she frequently did ) . Presently
she nudged me and pointed out a long-horned beetle crawling over
the ground at my feet. This desirable specimen was promptly popped
into a cyanide bottle.

On a later and similar occasion, after we had had supper together
she nudged me, then patted her tummy with both hands, obviously
as a sign that it was pleasantly full.

As an indication of comprehending the nature of writing, she
would occasionally point to the writing in my notebook, then to the

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

printed matter on, say, a package of cornmeal.

By September, Rita had become civilized enough to do her laun-
dry, apparently taking a certain amount of pride and pleasure in it.
Her bandana seemed to be washed out every couple of days; larger
articles not quite so frequently. By this time she was also learning to
sew; among other things, she made a very creditable pillowcase. This
year (1947) she probably had the first whole bath of her life. She
not only tolerated it, but in the autumn and winter she was practically
demanding a hot bath before retiring every night.17 This was cheer-
fully provided by her indulgent foster father. It marked a semifinal
stage in her transformation, within a few months' time, from an
unkempt little child of the Barrens into an engaging and fairly civ-
ilized youngster. She was now saying "good morning" to me; there is
apparently no such word in Eskimo.

When Charles, Mike, Rita, and I started in mid-October on a week's
excursion to Simons' Lake (cf. Downes, 1943:223), about 10 miles
up the Windy River, Rita alone remained in the canoe to steer it,
with competence and assurance, through some strong rapids, while
the rest of us towed it from the shore or kept it pushed off the rocks
in the river's edge. The 16-foot canoe was so heavily laden that
some of us were nearly always traveling on the land. When Rita came
ashore for a time, she doubtless had her first experience in riding
piggyback on a kabloonah across a couple of bogs, where her feet
would have gotten wet, since she was wearing low rubbers for foot-
gear. She was exceedingly nimble on her feet, and could trip across
the rough tundra at a better rate than I could with a load on my back.
After we had arrived at Simons' Lake and established camp in the
abandoned old trading post, Charles and Rita sat outdoors one eve-
ning to watch for "flying" (that is to say, shooting) stars. Though the
temperature at sunset had been 40° F., Charles was in shirt sleeves
and entirely comfortable. Rita was somewhat similarly clad. The
Eskimos, according to Charles, call shooting stars the ghosts of birds
or animals, while the Cree look upon them as the spirits of dead

people.

In early November, when Charles set off for his winter trapline
between the Kazan River and Dubawnt Lake, Rita accompanied him.
It was amazing how lightly she was clad to face the rigors of an
arctic winter while riding on an open dog sleigh— just a thin, unlined
canvas parka over not much more than house garments, together with
mittens and moccasins. Yet she was doubtless more comfortable

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 31

than a white child would have been in garments twice as thick. ( She
was expected to pick up a caribou-skin coat at the Kazan River; but
the maker had not allowed for her rapid growth during the summer,
and it proved too small for her. In consequence of this slight mis-
calculation on the part of Tablo, wife of Angwokook, the coat
designed for Rita may now be seen at the Reading Public Museum
in Pennsylvania. )

In camp Rita was fond of wearing a headband, consisting of a
strip of shiny metal and beads. It was perhaps an inch and a half
broad, and rested across her forehead. I did not learn who had made
it. I believe Charles said that the wearing of such headbands was
common among the women on the Kazan River.18 (Cf. Marsh,
1947:95, fig.; pi. 1, upper fig.; pi. 8, lower fig.; and 1951:65, fig.;
Birket-Smith, 1940:pls. 12, 13; Mallet, 1950:24, fig.)

Rita was so devoted to her foster father, and followed him about
so closely, that I called her his shadow. When he would go off on a
journey, leaving her in camp, she would have a crying spell. ( In gen-
eral, however, she was so little given to tears that I scarcely ever
noticed them. )

Rapid as the metamorphosis of this child of the Barrens had been,
it was not in any sense a forced process, thanks to the understanding
and indulgence of the very exceptional young man who had become
her guardian angel.

Pamala.

I had begun to hear of Pamala before I left home. Thomas Lamb,
airman of The Pas, had written to me, describing him as "a greasy!
good-natured Eskimo" living at the mouth of Windy River on Nuel-
tin Lake. This, however, turned out to be a merely temporary abode,
to which Pamala had resorted during the starvation winter of 1946^
47. He was a member of the band on the upper Kazan River, and
had returned there before my arrival at Windy River in late May.
He was said to have come originally from the vicinity of Baker Lake,
into which the Kazan River empties; but to have been "run out" of
that area because of thievery. This record did not prevent him from
joining the band on the upper Kazan and becoming their medicine
man or shaman [cf. Marsh, 1947:93). In fact, it might be said that
it fitted him for taking on that role, a prime feature of which seems
to be imposing on the other members of the group and requisitioning
some of their rightful property.

When the caribou forsook their accustomed course and did not

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

appear in any numbers on the upper Kazan in the fall of 1946, it meant
starvation for the local Eskimos. Charles Schweder then invited them
to move to the vicinity of his trading post at the mouth of Windy
River, but only Pamala and one other Eskimo ( Alakahaw) responded,
bringing their families with them. Pamala's household consisted of
two wives (probably Kazan or Padlei people) and several children,
some belonging to each wife. Pamala was said to consort for the
most part with the older one of his wives. The father of one of the
children was said to be Hikwa, who lost his own two wives during the
starvation winter. The walls of Pamala's igloo, only partly melted,
were still in evidence when I arrived at the mouth of the Windy on
May 31. (Charles Schweder informed me that he had never seen
an igloo of the Kazan River Eskimos constructed entirely of snow;
the roof is made with the support of caribou skins19 [cf. Parry, 1824:
358, 428; Hanbury, 1904:75; Stefansson, 1914:40; Marsh, 1951:64, fig.,

and 66].)

On August 11 Dr. Robert F. Yule, the government medical inspec-
tor, returned to Windy River from a brief visit to the Kazan Eskimos
in Thomas Lamb's pontoon plane. As the plane came to anchor in
the edge of the river, Alf Noakes, the mechanic, sang out, "We've
brought an Eskimo for you!" Not taking him seriously, I scarcely
glanced at the figure that had just climbed down to one of the pon-
toons; I merely thought of him as Fred Schweder, Jr., who had
gone on the plane flight as a local guide. In a few moments, however,
it was most evidently not Fred, but Pamala! He was in such need of
tea, tobacco, gill nets, and a few other trade articles that he had
ventured into a plane for the first time, and was planning to walk
back overland to the Kazan.

Here indeed was fair game for my cameras. I fairly commandeered
Pamala, posing him here and there for both still pictures and movies,
in color as well as in black and white (pi. 5, figs. 2-3). Though
quite anxious to complete his trading and to be off for the Kazan at
the earliest moment, he was good-natured in submitting to the pho-
tographic manhandling. At his frequent grins, his leathery face was
scored with wrinkles. I rewarded him with a pound of tea from the
stock in the storehouse. While there, he spied a can of coffee, pro-
nounced the word ( just as if he had read the label! ) and intimated his
desire to have it. At this point, however, I had to refer him to Fred,
to whom the coffee belonged. A little later, noticing a couple of
strips of oilcloth that had been spread on the adjacent hilltop for a

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazax river, keewattn 33

plane signal, he made motions of using them for a covering while
asleep. He was again referred to Fred, who later admitted that
Pamala had had his way in acquiring the several articles.

Pamala was short and squat, the top of his head coming just to my
chin; this gave him a height of about 63-64 inches. His age was
roughly estimated at 60.

In departing, he borrowed from Fred a dog with a travois for help
in transporting his outfit back to the Kazan. However, his nerves
were possibly so undone by the photographic ordeal, that he finally
started off with his pack slung across his shoulders, rifle in hand,
and several gill nets draped over his arm, while the dog was drag-
ging an empty travois! I wondered how many miles he went thus
before recovering his wits sufficiently to transfer some of his load
to the travois. (The late Prof. Frank G. Speck cautioned me that
this was merely my impression of the affair, whereas Pamala may
have had his own good reasons for what he did. We know none too
much of what goes on in the mind of primitive man. ) Several months
later Charles informed me that the Eskimos had bestowed upon me
a nickname signifying "the man who works so much with his camera."
I have little doubt that the name was of Pamala's coinage.

His rifle was protected by a case made of the thin belly skin of
a caribou. He was said to be a good hunter and to shoot well. ( Dur-
ing the fall migration of 1947 he was said to have secured 85 caribou. )
His outfit, other than the rifle, was packed in a dunnage bag, with
small ropes passing from one end to the other. These were used as a
tumpline, but they passed across his chest rather than across his
forehead.2021 Caribou-skin boots (komik) were about the only na-
tive clothing that I noticed on him; all the rest, including a becoming
old slouch hat, seemed to be of civilized manufacture. Presumably
he carried a caribou-skin sleeping bag in his pack.

Charles could not tell me how the office of medicine man passes
from one incumbent to another. He thought that Pamala realized
the false nature of his practice, but the other Eskimos believed in it
as genuine and feared to oppose him. Charles seemed to know
nothing of his putting on any hocus-pocus to cure sickness or to ex-
orcise evil spirits.

Pamala did impose various taboos on individual members of the
band (cf. Marsh, 1947:93). For example, when I asked Charles if the
Eskimos ate "black berries" (Empetrum nigrum) and mountain cran-
berries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), he answered, "All but Angwokook."

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

"Why?" "Pamala told him not to." Angwokook was one of the few
men who did not bob their hair, but let it grow long. The reason:
Pamala told him he must let it grow if he wanted to have a child
(which was not yet forthcoming, apparently years after he had taken
a wife) (cf. Harrington, 1952:232). Pamala also told Rita not to eat
the marrow from caribou bones; but she did after her removal to
Windy River. Furthermore, he told Anoteelik he mustn't shoot loons;
but up at Loon Lake Charles induced the boy to shoot a Red-throated
Loon (Gavia stellata). This breaking of the taboo seemed to make
Anoteelik very quiet after the shooting and at bedtime. Thus there
was an undercurrent of conflicting authority between the shaman
and the "uncrowned king" of the Kazan River band.

In the latter part of November, Pamala came on another visit to
Windy River, this time with a sleigh and a team of four or five dogs
(cover). His sleigh was of the usual Eskimo type (which Charles
had adopted himself), quite distinct from the Indian toboggan with
a carryall and an upturned front (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 173-179;
Harper, 1949:231, fig.). The wooden runners of the Eskimo sleigh
are made of spruce or tamarack (I don't know which); they are ap-
proximately 4 inches high and 2 inches wide (or perhaps a little
more in each of these dimensions) and perhaps 12 feet long. They
are straight, except that the front end is whittled or planed on the
undersurface into a curve for overriding small obstacles, such as
rocks. Crosspieces of wood are lashed on top, at intervals of perhaps
15 inches, with cord or perhaps caribou sinew. The wooden runners
are shod (at least on Charles' sleigh) with strips of steel. Wet muck
is applied to the bottom and, when frozen, is smoothed down with a
plane. It stands a great deal of wear and makes for smooth sliding
over the surface of the snow. Whereas Charles hitched his dogs to
the sleigh in a single line, with manufactured leather harness, Pamala
and presumably the other Kazan men fastened a rope (a double one
in this case) to the front of the sleigh, and with shorter pieces of rope
hitched their dogs to it (alternately?) on each side; presumably only
the leader of the team is straight in front (cf. Marsh, 1947:94, fig.).
Pamala's dogs were frisky and confident, reflecting the good treat-
ment accorded them.22

It is apparently not the policy of a trader to offer food or drink
in his own domicile to a visiting Eskimo. On this occasion, Pamala
was accommodated in a log storehouse, where a homemade stove was
hastily set up for him (with an outside temperature of -15° or less).

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATEN 35

One evening I found Pamala, Joe Highway (a visiting halfbreed
Cree from down toward Reindeer Lake), and Fred Schweder, Jr.,
chatting there. The first two were also smoking. The next evening,
after Joe Highway had left for home, I inquired of Charles as to the
possibility of Pamala's becoming lonesome over in the storehouse.
He responded that he had just sent Anoteelik over with a pack of
cards, and that the two would probably play poker.

It is possibly worthy of note that Pamala made both trips to the
Windy River by himself, not in company with any other Eskimos.
Does the shaman discourage too much familiarity, holding himself a
bit aloof from his fellows? Or was it merely their lack of dogs that
prevented others from joining him on the November trip?

Pamala was said to be planning a trip in the near future to the north
of Padlei, to fetch a new wife for his neighbor, old Katello. The latter
had bargained for the woman three years previously, and had ap-
parently paid the necessary price, but she had not lived up to her
part of the bargain. Katello had thereupon secured another wife (his
third), who succumbed during the starvation winter of 1946-47.
Thus he was now ready for a fourth. What commission or premium
may have been due Pamala for his part in the affair, is not on record.
When I showed Pamala a prepared specimen of a Raven ( Corvus
corax principalis), he gave his name for the bird— something like
Aquoila.

On his last day in camp, I was in need of a partner in sawing
stove wood in the dusk, and Charles sent Pamala out to help. (The
temperature was about -15° F.) He had probably had previous ex-
perience with the thin, wobbly blade of this crosscut saw, mounted
on a metal frame, for he knew just how to proceed slowly and care-
fully until the groove was started straight; he then pulled a hefty
stroke, and we had a good pile of wood in short order.

In this wintry weather Pamala was wearing an outer coat and
trousers of caribou skin, with the fur outside. Presumably he was
garbed with an inner coat as well as the outer coat, with hood, that
shows in a photograph (cover). On each side of the coat, near the
lower border, was an ornamental bunch of strips of white fur. It
occurred to me to ask Charles if they were weasel tails. No, he said;
they were strips of white caribou fur, but were called "weasel tails"
because of their resemblance to such articles! On his feet were the
regular komik. At a temperature of -11° (when the photograph
was taken), rime adorned his scraggly mustache.

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

During this visit of Pamala's I heard that he was planning to mix
some leaves of the common bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) with
his tobacco, in accordance with a common Eskimo and Indian cus-
tom, for the purpose of "stretching" his supply of the manufactured
article. I knew of one patch of this plant within 50 yards or so of camp,
but of no other within several miles, and I was at a loss to figure how
he could possibly locate the plant under the deep snow then covering
the land. Presently, however, he had a supply of the leaves and was
toasting them in a pot over an outdoor fire. I concluded that he must
have known the location of the bearberry from some previous season,
when it had not been covered with snow.

When the provisions provided by the government for the starving
Padlimiut of the upper Kazan in 1947 were brought to them and
distributed by Charles, Pamala is said to have presumed upon the
power and prestige of his office as shaman to go to the various igloos
and to requisition for his own use one-quarter of their flour and
perhaps other supplies. Those so victimized were in such awe or fear
of him as to make no protest.

Other Eskimos
In the fall of 1947 six of the Kazan men and boys walked overland
to the Windy River post, carrying their packs on their backs, since
they had lost most of their dogs by starvation during the previous
winter. They arrived on October 3, in two separate detachments.
They were said to be carrying a small tent, in which presumably all
six slept at night; perhaps they broke up into detachments during
their marches by day in order to improve their chances of encoun-
tering caribou.

First to arrive were Katello (ca. 55 years old) and Alakahaw (ca.
25), with two boys, Kakoot (ca. 14) and Amelook (ca. 13). Kakoot,
bearing the same name as his deceased father, had been adopted by
Pamala. (In 1894 J. B. Tyrrell [1895:443] found one "Kak-kuk"
living on the Kazan below Ennadai Lake. ) Amelook was a son of
Katello. These four were at camp as I returned from inspecting a
line of mousetraps. The first of the newcomers to notice and greet
me was Alakahaw, a pleasant-looking fellow with a dense thatch
of bobbed hair and a small mustache. In civilized clothes and haircut
he might, I thought, have passed down Broadway without attracting
so much as a second glance from most of the passers-by. Not so with
old Katello, who presently came around the corner of the cabin,
greeting me with a grin and a handshake; his long, straggly locks,

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewattn 37

shriveled-apple face, and somewhat bleary eyes that had faced so
many arctic blasts, marked him at once as a specimen out of the
ordinary. On the whole, however, he bore such a marked resem-
blance to Pamala, that for the first couple of hours I mistook him
for that worthy and addressed him by the wrong name; only I was
puzzled at his possessing more whiskers than Pamala had had a
couple of months previously. Eventually he tried to correct my mis-
take, placing a forefinger on his broad nose and saying "Katello"
(cf. Jenness, 1922:168; Birket-Smith, 1929a:286); even so, it was not
until young Fred Schweder came down from the fish camp a couple
of miles up the river, that I was finally set aright. Fred remarked that
Pamala, Katello, and still another of the band looked very much alike
Meanwhile Katello began making known his wants in the matter
of tea and tobacco; but I could scarcely undertake the trading in the
absence of Charles and all the rest of our "family" at the fish camp
However, I invited them to make use of Anoteelik's hut as a bunk-
house. Moreover, on one of his visits into the cabin, Katello wheedled
me out of a temporary supply of matches and tea, as well as a hunk of
the first and none too successful bannock I had made that season
(having always baked cornbread until the supply of cornmeal ran
out). Then I conducted him a hundred yards down the river to the
remains of a caribou doe that had been utilized as a specimen some
days previously, and I indicated that he might have the tooktoo He
promptly shouldered the carcass (minus head and hindquarters)
and carried it up to the hut.

In approaching the camp soon after the Eskimos' arrival, I had
passed close to a gill net hung up to dry, and happened to entangle
m it some twigs from an armful of firewood I was carrying. When I
sought to disentangle the twigs, several of the Eskimos (Alakahaw
Katello, and Kakoot) fell to and helped. Such a spirit seems char-
acteristic of these people of the Barrens.

Presently Katello and Alakahaw each produced a matchbox stuffed
with crude, flat skins of varying lemmings (Dicrostonyx groen-
landicus richardsoni), ducklings, Semipalmated Plovers (Charad-
rius semipalmatus), and Lapland Longspurs {Calcarim lapponicus)
—without legs, of course without data, and generally useless scien-
tifically. Having heard of my concern with natural history specimens
they evidently thought they might do a little trading with me. I
could only tell them to wait until Charles arrived, when he would
explain. Meanwhile I showed them some of my own birds and mam-

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

mals, stuffed, labeled, and pinned to a beaverboard while drying,
in order that they might get a glimmering notion as to the essential
procedure with scientific specimens.

After dark Katello came into the cabin to fetch me, holding up
two fingers and saying "Hikwa" and another name, doubtless "Ang-
wokook." I followed him with a flashlight to the hut, and there were
two additional Eskimos. I was not exactly pleased at having in camp
an Eskimo with such an unsavory reputation as Hikwa's. On the
other hand, Angwokook, a son of Katello, was a first-rate fellow, he
and Alakahaw being rated as the very best in the band.

It may be appropriate at this point to quote the following remarks
by Binney (1929:13, 15) on the contrasting characters of Indians

and Eskimos:

"The Indian of the woods and lakes differs very widely in character
and in mode of life from the Eskimo of the Barren Lands. The one
is subtle under the deep shadow of the forests; the other is clear-cut
in the open spaces of the tundra. . . .

"It is a curious fact that, in marked contrast to the open counte-
nances of the Barren Land Eskimo, the Padlimiuts who dwell on the
fringe of the forest country have in their features the reflection of
Indian craft and subtlety."

A study of the expressions of the six visitors from the Kazan River
(pi. 7, fig. 1) suggests that Hikwa, more than his companions, may
exemplify Binney 's characterization of the Padlimiut. There is also a
discussion by J. B. Tyrrell (1897:166-167) of a difference in moods
between the Padlimiut and their Chipewyan neighbors.

Back in the main cabin, still in the mistaken notion that Katello
was Pamala, and for the fun of showing the supposed medicine man
a trick that was beyond his own powers, I removed and replaced my
"store teeth," whereat he was much surprised and amused. He
watched as I wrapped a ptarmigan specimen in cotton and pinned it
down on a beaverboard; and then I prepared some sedges for the
plant press. Seeing me strip off some of the old basal leaves, he did
likewise with another of the plants. Here was one more illustration
of an Eskimo's knack for imitation.

After I had finished supper, Angwokook came in, and accepted my
invitation to sit down. I told him (without, of course, expecting him
to understand) that it was too bad we couldn't talk much; that
Charles or Fred ought to be there as interpreters. Meanwhile I
showed him some of my specimens and sketches. Angwokook was

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewatin 39

wearing a ragged-edged parka, apparently of caribou skin with the
fur inside, and with the hood thrown back. His long black hair was
hanging down over his ears and neck; he was prevented from cutting
it by one of Pamala's taboos, as already explained. His breeches were
apparently woolen, and of a military cut. In commenting on a photo-
graphic portrait of Angwokook, Prof. Frank G. Speck spoke of the
impression it gave of looking through and through one. Who can
tell to what far horizons the look of a primitive man may extend?

When Eskimos come indoors, a distinctive and not very unpleasant
aroma permeates the atmosphere; it may be derived not so much from
their unwashed bodies as from their skin clothing, more or less
smeared with fish oil and animal grease.

None of the Eskimos seem to know their own ages. The approx-
imate ages of this group ( as estimated by Charles or myself) and their
measured heights (with 10 mm. deducted for footgear) were:

laul° JS 1618 mm' Alakahaw f25* !605 mm.

Hikwa (40) . . 1622 „ KaJcoot (14) 1433 „

Angwokook (30) . .1595 „ Amelook (13) _ .1373 „

Thus the heights of the four men varied little more than an inch
(between 62% and 64 inches). After one or two of the group had
been measured in the cabin, the others seemed to come flocking
in, as if not to be left out! Or perhaps they just wanted to be accom-
modating.

The hair of all, including old Katello, was raven-black, and quite
unkempt. Katello had the most whiskers. Angwokook's locks hung
down on the front of his parka to within about 6 inches of his waist.
The hair of the others was more or less trimmed. Alakahaw had an
exceptionally thick bobbed thatch, suggestive of one of Kipling's
' Fuzzy- Wuzzies." General complexions were distinctly lighter than
those of full-blooded Indians. Kakoot's eyes were fairly light brown
Thick lips and broad, somewhat flattened noses were characteristic of
the group as a whole. However, the bridge of Hikwa's nose was re-
markably narrow ( cf. Jenness, 1959:708), and his lips were noticeably
thin in comparison with those of the others (cf. pi. 7, fig. 1). Their
lips seemed to be more generally parted than closed— whether from
adenoid trouble or something of that sort, I could not say.

The parkas worn by most of the group were of caribou skin (fur
inside) with a swallowtail rear. One or two also had parkas of duck
(canvas), worn separately or over the skin parkas. The Eskimos
did not seem to bother to pull up their hoods during rain. Hikwa

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

alone had the border of his hood decorated with rows of beads.
Katello wore something like a lumberman's plaid shirt beneath his
parka. Most of the parkas were provided along the bottom with a
fringe consisting of small strips of caribou hide, perhaps four inches
long and %e inch wide. Charles Schweder said these strips were or
belly skin, and that they originally had the fur on, but this wears off

The trousers in general seemed to be of overall (manufactured)
material. Footgear consisted chiefly of komik of tanned caribou skin,
with the fur inside; they reached nearly to the knee. (The komik for
summer use are of raw caribou skin, without the fur, and are more
or less waterproof.) The trade price of komik varies according to
the quality of the hide, not the workmanship. One of the boys Ka-
koot) had merely rubber overshoes for footgear. Much of the cloth-
ing was worn, tattered, and patched.23

These Eskimos do not use snowshoes. During the greater part or
the winter the snow is packed so hard by the wind that snowshoes
are unnecessary.24

Their principal article of diet is obviously caribou meat— not too
well cooked. The frozen meat may be eaten quite raw (Marsh,
1947-pl 2) along with hot tea.25 The caribou are not present on the
upper Kazan River the year round, but merely pass by on their an-
nual migrations. They are normally absent during part of July and
from, say, October to April. In good years enough may be killed
in the fall to last through the winter.26

Fish are doubtless next in importance. The Common Whitefish
(probably Coregonus atikameg manitobensis) is the prmcipal food
fish of the upper Kazan River. Originally the people do not seem to
have had gill nets of their own manufacture; but now they use com-
mercial nets. They also use spears, hands, and probably hooks for the
capture of fish. These are commonly eaten raw.

Ducks and Ptarmigan are evidently secured as opportunity otters.
Tea is an important item in their fare. Flour is used occasionally,
and even salt to a slight extent. Charles Schweder sold a 24-lb. sack
of flour to the group of six in October, on condition that they would
carry half of it to their folks on the Kazan.27 All, unless under a taboo,
eat such wild fruits as crowberries and mountain cranberries. The
leaves of the common bearberry are used for mixing with tobacco;
their name for the species is "Whisky Jack berry." The primary
articles of trade are tea, tobacco, matches, and rifle ammunition
(mostly .30-.30); somewhat less frequent are rifles, gill nets, tel-

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 41

escopes, watches, and doubtless axes or hatchets. Some of the Es-
kimos are even said to carry thermos bottles! They have little to
offer in exchange except furs, chiefly arctic foxes (Alopex lago-pus
innuitus), red foxes (Vulpes fulva), wolves (Canis lupus hudson-
icus), and caribou-skin clothing. All are said to scratch matches on
their teeth.

As an example of their improvidence and gluttony, there is the
case of a group of five who consumed 30 pounds of tea in a month,
and then probably went for an indefinite period without any.28
^ According to Charles Schweder, the children on the Kazan are
"always" engaged in some game or other. On October 4 I noticed
Mike Schweder and one of the Eskimo boys playing tag. The latter
was so quick and dexterous that, when tagged, he could almost invar-
iably tag Mike back without moving from his position. Later in the
day the two Eskimo boys, with Fred and Mike, were amusing them-
selves at the river's edge, in the rain, by throwing stones. Some they
bounced off the larger rocks projecting above the surface, or used as
missiles in attempting to hit smaller projecting rocks; others they
tried throwing across the river (here 50-60 yards wide). Their ex-
pert marksmanship was obvious; it must come from long practice,
and perhaps also by inheritance. They also threw stones by means'
of a sling, which presumably belonged to one of the Eskimo boys.
Birket-Smith (1929a: 116, fig. 29) mentions the use of this implement
by the Caribou Eskimos. Charles Schweder states that these people
use a sling very commonly, endeavoring to strike such targets as
gulls, but he has never seen them succeed in their efforts.

The following day Kakoot and Amelook engaged in a sort of tug
of war while sitting opposite each other in the cabin. They had a
double loop of strong cord, like small tent rope, and each took hold
of an end with one hand, generally pulling down a sleeve over that
hand as a sort of mitten or pad. Then each would pull toward himself
with flexed elbow, frequently bracing the other hand on his oppo-
nent's shoulder. Angwokook joined in a time or two and easily won,
strong though his boy opponent was. There is apparently no end to
the simple ways in which these children of the Barrens amuse them-
selves. All games seemed to be played with the utmost good nature.
On one occasion, when Kakoot wandered into the cabin, I in-
vited him to sit on a bench. Presently he began an aimless, tuneless
whistling, and kept it up for some time. It was just about such
whistling as a white boy of his age might indulge in. Then he sang

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

a little— perhaps no words, but just sounds ( as we do ) .

On the morning after the arrival of the Eskimos, they were not in
evidence when I arose. They were said to have played poker till at
least 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. The next evening Alakahaw was
playing checkers in the cabin with Charles Schweder.

Some years previously, Alakahaw had suffered a fracture of his
leg near the hip, through the overturning of a dog sleigh on a caribou
hunt. He was brought in by one of the other Eskimos, and recovered,
but the injury resulted in a pronounced limp. Thus he went by the
nickname of "Limpy." He carried a walking stick, the head of which
was in the form of a figure 4. Despite his physical handicap Alak-
ahaw was rated the best traveler in the group after Angwokook.

On the morning of October 6 the group put their packs together and
set off for the Kazan. Angwokook had borrowed a dog and a travois
to help out with their burdens. Even so they were rather heavily
laden. Katello had the biggest pack in the lot, weighing about 50
pounds, and Fred carried it for him the first quarter of a mile. When
the old fellow had gotten up from his bunk that morning he did so
slowly, with hands on his knees, as if the latter were stiff. The lot
of an aged Eskimo is not an enviable one.

The packs, in general, consisted of sleeping bags, with probably
other possessions rolled up inside. They were tied together with
small ropes or leather straps, and suspended on the back by means
of ropes or straps passing either across the chest or over the fore-
head or both ways simultaneously (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 184 fig.
56) 'Small rope seems to be doubled when thus used. Hikwa
shifted his rope tumpline from chest to forehead, and perhaps others
did likewise. The chest position seems to be the more habitual one,
uncomfortable as it may be. This position doubtless gives a traveling
hunter more freedom to move his head about in the constant lookout
for game. (I noticed Fred Schweder, Jr., carrying his own pack m

AfTeTproceeding about % mile, the group divided, Katello and
Angwokook going by themselves. This was presumably to facilitate
hunting during the day's march. I accompanied the Eskimos tor
about a mile, to secure photographs. Charles said they took seven
days for the down journey of about 60 miles; they might easily spend
a longer time on the homeward journey, with the additions to their
loads. For example, each was carrying 5 pounds of tea ( among other
trade goods) to the Kazan. Among the supplies were two dolls for

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWAT1N 43

the children. There were about six inches of snow to trudge through
The two boys were bent under loads that seemed bulkier than the
average. That was verily a strange, wild scene as I bade farewell
to these very primitive representatives of mankind on the snowy
Barrens. They set forward, undaunted and uncomplaining, to con-
tinue their sometimes unequal struggle for survival in that harsh
environment. They knew none other or better; and they were ad-
justed to it.

The Kazan residents, like other Eskimos, are distinctly friendly
good-natured, likeable people. On the other hand, certain of the*
tribal traits are far from being in harmony with civilized standards
Personal cleanliness, including bathing or even hand-washing is
apparently beyond their ken. "The most dirty Eskimos I have seen"
is Birket-Smith's characterization (1929a: 223) of the Padlimiut The
floors of their dwellings are too filthy to set a dish on-almost to set
foot on. When Charles visits and eats there, he holds his cup on his
knee, while sitting on a bed of snow, and manages to cook meat in
his own kettle on their stoves. The Eskimos cook their meat in a
kettle then put it on a wooden serving tray; they pick out a piece
with their fingers, seize one end in their teeth, and cut off a mouthful
with a knife right in front of the nose (cf. Birket-Smith 1929a- 147-
Marsh, 1947:90-91), while the onlooker watches to see if a piece of
the nose will go, too! The regular place for defecation seems to be
in the immediate rear of their tents or igloos.

They pilfer from one another as well as from outsiders. They may
complain to a trader about their neighbors' stealing of foxes out of
their traps, but say nothing to each other. (They do not maintain
individual trapping territories.) In a time of starvation some of the
men allow their women and children to succumb, even while main-
taining some of their dogs. In fact, there was a dark suspicion of
anthropophagy during the winter of 1946-47, when two women
and a girl disappeared from one family; no graves were subsequently
noticed in the neighborhood, where they would have been located
under normal circumstances. When government rations were dis-
tributed to an old woman and a child at this time, others deprived
them of these rations and allowed them to starve. In recent years
there have been a couple of cases of a father destroying a newborn
girl baby. In the last case the man had had no children by two
previous wives, and only this one by his third wife.

The men buy their wives from the fathers of the latter. In one

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

case the price was 12 arctic fox skins, at a time when they were
worth about $30 apiece. In 1947 one of the men, who had lost both
his wives during the previous winter, wanted Charles to mtercede
for him in obtaining one of the two wives of the medicine man. On
the other hand, the medicine man was said to want also the sole wife
of one of his neighbors. As far as known to outsiders, there is no
temporary sharing of wives by mutual agreement, even in the pres-
ent shortage of women. t

The men's laziness is brought out by Charles Schweder s state-
ment that they sit down cross-legged and drink tea all day, while the
women and children do all the work. The wives do not rebel; they
would get beaten if they did. Each Eskimo can apparently do what
he pleases with his own wife. Half a dozen years previously the
elder Kakoot (now deceased) came down to Windy River with the
younger of his two wives. On their return to the Kazan, he struck her.
In the night she got up, walked away, and was never found. Perhaps
her injury had been serious enough to have contributed to her death.
On the other side of the picture, Angwokook and Alakahaw are said
to treat their wives well; both of the latter survived the previous

starvation winter.

A good many of the Kazan people seem to have pulmonary disease.
It would naturally spread fast in the utter lack of sanitation.

The present Kazan River group is split up into several different
camps. Katello and his son Angwokook generally camp together,
as is natural. Charles has seen as many as four families living m
one igloo. They do not usually accumulate more possessions than
they can move in one trip as they shift from place to place in their

nomad existence. .

The people do not seem to feel or show any concern over their
dwindling numbers. In the preceding twelve years only about three
children are known to have been bora among them, and only two

of these survived.

According to Charles, these Eskimos carry telescopes wherever
they go, for use in hunting. Angwokook was carrying his in a little
cloth case made of overall material. It was slung over one shoulder
and under the other while he was hunting. It was evidently a cheap
affair, with no maker's name on it; it was in about four sections, with
a length of perhaps 16 inches when extended. The brass ring to Ka-
tello's pipe came from a telescope.

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 45

A few years previously "all" the Kazan Eskimos had watches.
These apparently wore out and were discarded.

Fred Schweder, Jr., said he had known Eskimos to count up to 50,
and that they have a word for each separate number (cf. J. B. Tyrrell'
1897:199; Stefansson, 1914:58; Jenness, 1922:229). Charles said
they have a name for every bone in an animal's body (or their own);
also for the stars (for example, the Big Dipper is a buck). Also that
they have imaginary "little men" (that is to say, fairies or rather
elves ) that live about in the muskegs and peat bogs.

Their word for "Thank you" is mat-nah' '. Whenever I spoke this
this word to one of them, he would generally respond with the same
word, as if perhaps it meant something like "You're welcome" as well
as "Thank you."

Other Eskimo (Padlimiut) words: tooktoo, barren ground car-
ibou; aka-dyuk, ptarmigan; komik, caribou-skin boots; ooloo, wom-
an's knife; pahloot, mittens; attigi, inside coat or parka; piksiah,
good; ah! -ho, enough. Their name for mushrooms is said to signify
"caribou food."

When I looked into the face of one of the boys to ascertain the
color of his eyes, and made a sign for him to look at me, he opened his
mouth! This was probably the effect of the medical inspector's
visit a couple of months previously. (He did not go so far as to sav
"Ahh.") y

Some of the Eskimo women do hunting and trapping. One of
Pamala's wives has been known to go off for three or four days, by
herself, on a caribou hunt.

Katello has had three wives. One, with two daughters, was lost
by falling through the ice. Another succumbed during the starvation
winter of 1946-47. Angwokook and Amelook are his sons by differ-
ent wives.

On the first evening of his stay at the Windy River post, after
sitting in the cabin for a time, Angwokook went out in the dark and
the rain, chopped a lot of wood, and brought in a couple of armfuls.
He very thoughtfully attended to the fire in the stove a good part of
the next day. Such a good deed seemed characteristic of the Eskimo
visitors. During the previous winter Alakahaw and Pamala had
hauled a lot of wood to the cabin with their dog sleighs. Alakahaw
brought me a red squirrel that he had shot, and I prepared it as pos-
sibly the only scientific specimen of that species ever collected by a

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

Canadian Eskimo! There are few localities where the two occupy the

same habitat. > ,

The medicine man, Pamala, was not the only one m the band that
imposed on other members. A mere "big shot," the late Kakoot was
a somewhat similar grafter. He got an arctic fox from one of his
neighbors, and simply gave a Hudson's Bay cf™^.™^*
was presumably this Kakoot concerning whom Mallet (1930:S3-1UA
pi opp. p. 83) has written an interesting chapter.

Charles has heard from Pamala that the Eskimos used to make
bows of musk-ox horns (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 103), putting grease
on them and holding them over the fire and bending them, until they
became nice and springy. They probably also thinned them down.
He thinks Pamala said they used two to make a bow. This was said
to have been done in Pamala's own time (his age was about 60); and
probably at his original home, down toward Baker Lake, not on the
upper Kazan River. (An Eskimo reported seeing two musk-oxen at
Angikuni Lake on this river several years previously; but Charles
remarked that he doesn't believe everything an Eskimo says.) The
Eskimos also used musk-ox horns for the lateral pieces on a fish spear
(cf. pi. 6, fig. 2)— not for the point between them.

I had no opportunity to check personally on a point raised by
Stefansson: that, contrary to many published statements, Eskimo
women do not carry their babies in their hoods (cf. Marsh, 1947:87).
However, when I put the case before Charles Schweder, he was
rather emphatic in stating that the Kazan River women do carry their
babies thus, at least up to the age of a year or two.29 Corroborative
information has been received from Dr. Robert F. Yule (in litt., Sep-
tember 18, 1962). Furthermore, a film produced by the National
Film Board of Canada, pertaining to Eskimo life in the Chesterfield
Inlet area, definitely shows babies being carried in hoods. Pos-
sibly there is a regional difference in this custom.

The Eskimo women have a peculiar sort of knife, called ooloo
(see Birket-Smith, 1929a: 140-141, fig. 41; Marsh, 1947:95, left-hand
fig and 1951:66, upper fig.; Harrington, 1952:240, fig.). They use
it for skinning caribou and for cutting out pieces of hide for footwear
and clothing. Little Rita had one that had been made by Pamala.
The blade, shaped somewhat like the segment of a circle, was
made from an old saw, and its curved edge had been filed down
for cutting. A section of caribou horn, placed parallel to the middle
of the cutting edge, served for a handle. Connecting the handle and

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewaten 47

the apex of the blade was a double strip of aluminum, wedged into
the middle of the horn and riveted to the blade with sections of two
nails.

On the use of "Eskimo lamps" or "Eskimo candles," with caribou
fat for fuel, see Birket-Smith (1929a: 90-93, fig. 21b-c) Weyer
(1932:103), Marsh (1947:88), and Harper (1955:60).

Among the visitors in October, Angwokook alone had an ear
pendant (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 229-230, fig. 87d-e; Marsh, 1951:65,
fig.). Originally he had a pair, but had lost one. The remaining
pendant consisted of three strands of trade beads (white, red, and
black), each strand about 60 mm. long, exclusive of a caribou incisor
at the tip, with a tiny hole drilled through its base.30-31 They were
fastened at the top to a thin strip of caribou hide passing through a
hole in Angwokook's ear lobe. Charles thought the hole had been
made with a red-hot needle, then kept open with a stick until it
healed. The pendant had been made by Angwokook's wife. At first
Charles thought he better not ask the owner to give it up, but even-
tually he brought it to me, with the remark that he could get anything
he wanted from the Eskimos! When I jokingly suggested to Charles
that Angwokook's wife might not beat him up when he returned home
without the beads, he made it very plain that obstreperous action on
the part of an Eskimo wife was rather unthinkable.

Later Angwokook unfastened another bead ornament (pi. 8, fig. 2)
from the peak of the hood on his parka, and passed it on likewise.
This consists of four strands of white, red, and black beads. Three
of the strands average about 70 mm. in length, exclusive of a caribou
incisor fastened at the tip. The fourth strand is a little longer and
terminates in a small loop, without a caribou tooth. The incisors are
fastened to the beads with caribou sinew. Similar bead ornaments
are said to be worn on each breast of a parka or a shirt.

Among the ethnological material secured was a pipe shared by
Katello and Angwokook— a sort of family affair. It was made by
Katello. The bowl is of pipestone, obtained probably between Padlei
and the Kazan; the top, about 22 mm. in diameter, is rimmed with
brass from a telescope. The bowl had been gotten into very symmet-
rical shape with a file. Its bottom is wrapped with caribou sinew. The
stem is of willow, with the pith twisted out. A brass rifle shell (.44-
.40) caps the distal end of the stem. (Cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a:148-
149, fig. 47; Downes, 1943:214.)

Charles eventually gave me a demonstration of the method of

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

removing the pith from the willow. He took a branch or stem perhaps
20-24 inches long and half an inch in diameter, and he may have
peeled the bark from it. Four or five inches from one end he cut a
circular groove through the wood down to the pith. He then heated
the shorter portion over a fire for the purpose of loosening the pith.
When that operation is done properly, the pith may be twisted out
by rotating the longer, unhealed portion of the branch with one
hand while holding the shorter, heated portion in the other. (Gf.

Manning, 1948a. )

Similar pipes were secured from Alakahaw and Hikwa (pi. 8, tig.
2) Alakahaw's was presumably made at his camp on "Yule Lake
northeast of Ennadai Lake. The stem is similar to the others, and
wrapped with sinew. It is ornamented with brass from a rifle shell
The top is about 20 mm. in diameter. A hole in the side of the bowl
is repaired with a bit of aluminum as an inset. Hikwa's pipe was just
being smoked by Amelook. It was made on the Kazan River. The
brass rim of the pipestone bowl, 25 mm. in diameter, was from a tel-
escope. The pipestone probably came from the same locality as
Katello's. The stem is of willow.

The base of each of the three pipes is formed differently. All are
noteworthy for their small capacity. The exposed portions of the
stems vary from 70 to 151 mm. in length; they average about 13 mm.

in diameter. noon

A three-pronged fish spear (or "leister," as Birket-Smith [1929a:
119-120, fig. 31] calls it), made by Pamala, was secured from him.
The broken shaft, of spruce, is now only about 4tt feet long and
VA inches in diameter. (Charles Schweder has seen spears up to 15
feet in length. ) The two lateral pieces were originally parts of a steel
fox trap; they are tied to the shaft with braided caribou sinew, and
held in place by nails. A backward- and inward-pointing barb in
one of them is a piece of iron; it is supported by a piece of caribou
horn riveted to the lateral prong with a nail. The corresponding
barb' on the other side is lost. The middle point in the spear was
probably part of a bucket handle, of galvanized iron; it is inserted in
the split end of the shaft. With such a spear (pi. 6, fig. 2; see also
Barnett, 1956:80, fig.) an Eskimo would secure any large fish hap-
pening to appear in the Kazan River, where the principal species are
Common Whitefish and Lake Trout (Cristivomer namaycush). He
holds onto the spear, not throwing it clear.

The caribou spears seen at Windy River, and used by Anoteehk

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewatin 49

(pi. 2, fig. 2), are of minor interest, being of civilized manufacture
and secured through the trade (cf. Birket-Smith, 1929a: 109-111 fig
25; Barnett, 1956:80, fig.). The metal part is about 18 inches long
Its base is a slender, hollow cone, into which a wooden shaft is thrust-
a nail driven through a hole in the base holds the shaft in place'
The middle portion of the metal is slender and round. The tip is
somewhat diamond-shaped, flattened and sharpened. The shaft used
by Anoteehk was about 4% feet long (Harper, 1955:56 fig 15)
Two drills (pi. 8, fig. 1) were secured from Pamala at his camp

o« fct^ ' northeast of Ennad*i Lake. The wooden shafts are
255 and 282 mm. long, and about 20 to 25 mm. in diameter. One has
been turned on a lathe, and may have been an old broom handle
picked up at Windy River, or perhaps brought to the Kazan by an
aerial survey party several years previously. The other is apparently
of native spruce roughly rounded. The heads are made of nails,
flattened and filed into drill points. They project 62.5 and 64 mm

1956:83 fig ) (C/' Birk6t"Smith' 1929fl:239' ** 90' Bamett>

Another tool, also made by Pamala, might be called a hole-cleaner
(p 8 hg. 1 ), since its function is to draw sawdust out of a hole being
drilled in wood. The handle is a forked piece of caribou antler 156
mm. in length with a base 33 mm. in diameter. Into this, a straight
round piece of metal, perhaps originally a bucket handle, has been
thrust; it projects 213mm. The inner end of the metal has been
ntnd? T^V T Y uy hammerinS) for ^ertion into the bone

n£L H V ™rg T- th?rSt °f ltS length ** metal Piece has been
nicked (with something like a butcher knife, as suggested by Charles)

in numerous places, so that it will catch the sawdust and draw it out
Single caribou antlers may be put to a peculiar use as brakes for
a dog sleigh, when the excited dogs in harness attempt to pursue a
caribou .(cf. Marsh, 1947:94). Such an antler has a notch or groove
chopped in it near the base with an axe. A rope, perhaps a couple
of feet long^ is ; fastened to this notch at one end and to the sleigh at
he other. To halt the dogs, the driver merely presses the downward-
turned points of the antler into the snow or against the ice. A spec-
imen, of Pamala's manufacture, was secured at Windy River

Anoteelik's ring-and-pin game, already described on pages' 21-99
was also obtained.

A snow knife, for making igloos and arranging snow about traps
was made by Angwokook on the Kazan River and brought down to

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

Windy River. The handle consists of a straight piece of caribou
antler, planed down. It is 286 mm. long, 50 mm. wide, and 17 mm.
thick. One end is cleft for the insertion of the blade. It is wrapped
with back sinew from a caribou. The metal blade is part of a sleigh
runner. It projects 228 mm. beyond the handle, and it is 51 mm. wide.
One side is filed down to a cutting edge, and the tip is somewhat
pointed. (Compare Birket-Smith, 1929a:78-81, fig. 12.)

There is also another snow knife (pi. 8, fig. 1), made by Pamala
for use in setting traps, a short time before December, 1946. The
handle is a section of a caribou antler, 248 mm. in length; the main
part varies from 25 to 35 mm. in width. It is wrapped with friction
tape and riveted to the blade with what appear to be the heads of two
nails. The metal blade is 347 mm. long, slightly tapering toward the
rounded tip from a base 45 mm. wide. Both sides and the tip are

filed down to an edge.

On July 30 Fred Schweder, Jr., found an ancient, lichen-covered,
double-bladed Eskimo paddle (pi. 6, fig. 2) at a lake about 3 miles
northwest of the Windy River post. "The ground was almost grown
over it." Charles Schweder said it was made of spruce, and he esti-
mated its age at 40-60-100 years; he further remarked on its being
the first definite evidence that had come to his knowledge of the
former occupation of the Windy River area by Eskimos. The paddle
is 7 feet 107/s inches in length. One of the blades is 25% inches long
and 2% inches wide; the other, 26y8 inches long and 3% inches wide;
each is % inch thick. The distal ends of the blades are rounded; the
proximal ends are constricted, and succeeded by a slight circular
ridge or boss at either end of the main shaft. The purpose of these,
it was said, is to prevent water from running down from the upraised
blade onto the paddler's hands. The shaft is roughly rounded, about
lVs by 1% inches in diameter.
The following Eskimo clothing was obtained from the upper

Kazan River area:

A pair of komik or boots, made by one of Pamala s wives, of
tanned(?) caribou skin (autumn). The fur is on the inside except on
the extra, untanned sole piece, where it is on the outside and wears
off rapidly with use. The seams are sewed with back sinew. The tan-
ning(?) process is not known; possibly the skin is only scraped. A
thin strip of caribou hide, about 2 feet long, is fastened on each side
of the boot, below the ankle, and is used for lacing around the leg

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 51

part. The height of the boots is 14-15 inches. (Compare Downes
1943:215.)

A similar but shorter pair of komik (pi. 8, fig. 2), made by Ala-
kahaw's wife.

A coat or parka, with the fur outside (pi. 6, fig. 4), made for a man
(a woman's coat extends farther down at the back). This is of
tanned caribou skin, apparently a doe or a small buck, and probably
secured in September. A hood is attached. There is also a pair of
caribou-skin trousers. Both garments were made by one or the other
of Pamala's wives.

A girl's parka (made for Rita by Angwokook's wife Tablo, but
found too small in view of Rita's rapid growth during the summer
on the Windy River). It is made of caribou doeskin (probably se-
cured in September). The back of the hood is of white fur, from the
belly. The fringe along the bottom of the parka is made of thin skin
(perhaps from the belly), cut into strips with knife or scissors.

A pair of mittens (Eskimo, pahloot) (pi. 8, fig. 2), made by one
or the other of Pamala's wives from the leg-part of the caribou
( probably a November skin, since the hair is long ) . The thumbpiece,
made to fit an Eskimo, is too short for an Anglo-Saxon.

Dr. Robert F. Yule's Reports, 1947

Dr. Robert F. Yule, Medical Superintendent of The Pas Agency,
Department of National Health and Welfare, for 15 years until his
retirement in 1957, has very kindly allowed me to present the fol-
lowing summary of his reports on the Kazan River Eskimos for the
year 1947.

On a trip to Brochet on Reindeer Lake in February of that year,
Charles Schweder reported to Dr. Yule on the deplorable condition
of his Eskimo friends. Some of those on the Kazan River, being
without food, had moved to his little post on the Windy' River.
Before starting for Brochet on February 7, he had turned over to them
all the caribou meat and other food supplies that he felt he could
spare. All but three or four of their dogs had died. Charles sug-
gested the immediate need of 700 pounds of flour, 75 to 100 pounds of
lard, 25 pounds of baking powder, and a quantity of tea and matches
to relieve the distress of the Eskimos.

For his own part, Dr. Yule predicted that within the next five years
the caribou would have ceased to be a major factor in the economic
life of the Eskimos. In covering a large part of northern Manitoba by

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

plane flights during recent weeks, he had noted caribou only by tens
where they formerly occurred by hundreds, and in large areas he had
seen no animals at all. Among the factors in their disappearance, he
noted indiscriminate slaughter by all the residents along their mi-
gration routes, the large number of unnecessary dogs being fed on
caribou, and wolf predation. He stressed the need of some alternative
means of support for the Eskimos of Keewatin and for the Chipewyan
Indians of northern Manitoba.

On March 12 Dr. Yule set out from The Pas in a plane piloted by
Thomas Lamb and carrying 1,100 pounds of food. At Brochet, the
next morning, they took aboard Fred Schweder, Sr., as guide and
proceeded north. Owing to a limited gas supply, they landed on
Nueltin Lake opposite the mouth of Putahow River, unloaded their
goods, and then returned to Brochet for more gas. The next day they
started north again and landed near the Windy River post. Two Es-
kimo families were living close to the post, while four others had
remained on the Kazan. Charles Schweder offered to take his dog
team and fetch the food supplies left near the Putahow River.

Dr. Yule was the first medical man that this group of Eskimos had
ever seen. He remarked that they were pagans, and that "the only
God they have is this young chap" (Charles Schweder). He did
not consider it advisable to supply them with food regularly, since
it would result in a tendency for them to "sit around and wait for a
handout." If the caribou failed, "they simply could not live in their
present habitations in a white man's clothes." Meanwhile he was
arranging for Mr. Lamb to take in another full load of supplies in
late March (1947).

Alfred Peterson, a trader then residing at Brochet, informed Dr.
Yule that there had been a failure of caribou in 1927 and that
consequently many of the Eskimos had died of starvation.

On July 31 Dr. Yule flew in once more to the Windy River post in
Mr. Lamb's plane, with a load of supplies on board. He was ac-
companied by Mrs. Yule, who thus became the first white woman to
visit Nueltin Lake. At this time Charles Schweder informed Dr. Yule
that two trips with dogs had been made to the Putahow River area
to bring in the supplies left there in March. He and his brother
Fred had then made four trips to carry these supplies northward to
the Kazan River to relieve the starving Eskimos there. On his first
trip Charles found that three women and one child had died of
starvation, and that the others would have soon met a like fate. He

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewaten 53

described these Eskimos as selfish and individualistic; the stronger
ones take the food and let the women and children die. He also
reported them as opposed to being transported to Padlei and as not
mixing with the natives there.

His loads had consisted all told of 1,275 pounds of flour, 120
pounds of milk powder, 210 pounds of lard, 100 pounds of beans, 160
pounds of rolled oats, 1 case of ammunition, 20 pounds of tobacco,
2 cases of baking powder, 2 cases of tea, and 24 packages of cigarette
paper.

On the next plane trip (August 9 to 11, 1947) Dr. Yule took a
supply of fish nets and ammunition for the two Eskimo camps along
the Kazan River. On the latter part of the way he was guided by
Charles Schweder. At the first camp the people were found to have
plenty of caribou meat; but at the second, only a little. In order to
accustom them by degrees to medical examinations, he looked them
over only superficially on this occasion, finding that they had good
teeth, normal tonsils, and no skin conditions. Their appreciation of
nets and ammunition was "almost pathetic"; and their general cour-
tesy and thoughtfulness were noteworthy.

Between the two camps a visit was made to the grave of the
renowned Kakoot at a lake named for him. This mighty hunter has
been memorialized by Mallet (1930:83-102). He had died about
three years previously. His body, resting on the ground and wrapped
in caribou hides, was surrounded by stones and had been originally
covered with a canoe (subsequently blown off). Around the grave
were probably $500 worth of goods, consisting in part of two canoes,
an outboard motor, household utensils, an Edison gramophone, an
alarm clock, and an uncounted number of traps. According to
Charles, at no other grave in that area was such an accumulation of
material to be found. (See Mallet, 1930:24-26.)

Dr. Yule concluded that lack of essential supplies, such as ammu-
nition and fish nets, had been a big factor in the Eskimos' deficiency
of food. He felt that nothing should be given them that they have
been in the habit of making out of caribou hides. He suggested that
they be supplied with the following articles: needles (with eyes
large enough for the insertion of caribou sinew), small axes, gilling
twine, rope, small tin stoves (with pipes), ammunition, pots, pans,
traps, fish nets, hooks and lines, tea, tobacco, candles, and dogs.

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

Postscript

The starvation winter of 1946-47 was by no means unprece-
dented. , .,

"One of the principal causes of [the Caribou Eskimos ] declme is
the terrible periods of famine which have ravaged the country. One
of the worst is said to have been the winter of 1919; people were
then living between Hikoligjuag and Eskimo Point, but this stretch
is now almost deserted. ... The Hudson's Bay Company employees
believe that at least 100 people perished that winter; but every wmter
some people here or there seem to die of hunger and, unless vigorous
measures are taken from the outside, the day is not far distant when
the Caribou Eskimos will have to be entered on the sad list of extinct
tribes." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 68.)

It is perhaps no mere coincidence that at approximately this same
period there was a catastrophic decline in the vast herds of the Lab-
rador Barren Ground Caribou (Rangifer caboti) (Harper, 1961:130,
138). The cause has never been satisfactorily explained; apparently
no human agency was appreciably involved. Possibly it was an
epizootic that affected the two widely separated species of caribou

at this period.

These periods of famine in Keewatin "have doubtless become
worse during the lifetime of the last generation, which is perhaps
due to no small extent to the introduction of the rifle among both the
Eskimos and the Indians, because it is liable to mislead them into
heedless slaughter. Probably a great deal of the responsibility must
also be laid upon the intensive fox trapping, which makes the Eskimos
entirely dependent upon the shop. The man who dies of hunger
among fox skins to a value of $500 is hardly an unknown phenom-
enon

"During the summer caribou hunting is continued .... A lively
fishery also goes on in the lakes, particularly since the introduction
of nets. The gathering of eggs, and later of berries, must also be
mentioned. And yet the Eskimos are by no means safe from periods
of starvation even in summer." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 135.)

For a further discussion of the relations of Rangifer arcticus arc-
ticus to the Caribou Eskimos, see Harper (1955:5, 47-61, figs. 3-6,

15,16).

Since the 1947 tragedy there has been considerable discussion ot
the future of these Eskimos. One of the early suggestions was to
move them to some other area in the Barrens, such as Padlei— thereby

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 55

overpopulating that district; or perhaps even down into the forested
country— an altogether unnatural environment for an Eskimo There
was also talk of supplying them regularly with government provi-
sions. These were something less than ideal solutions from the
viewpoint of ethnologists. The latter would perhaps be right in
maintaining that the only worthwhile Eskimo is one living on his own
native heath and providing for himself by his own labors and re-
sources. A blow at his independence has already been made by
extendmg to him the scheme of family allowances

One means of enabling these natives to survive after a caribou
migration during the late summer and autumn had not materialized
sufficiently would be to keep them supplied with fish nets. In any
year of caribou failure they would doubtless be aware of the emer-
gency facing them at least several weeks before the "freeze-up"
They would then be generally able to put up a sufficient supply of

month^Tr1 yi7hit6fiSh) t0 kst th6m *™& succeeding
months They could even set the nets beneath the ice to some extent

during he winter. Apparently the starvation winter of 1946-47

caught them without a sufficient supply of nets. They do not make

their own nets, but depend upon the manufactured article

Even if the fish as well as the caribou failed them, they could get

word of their plight to some trading post or radar station, where it

could be passed on to suitable government agencies. In such an

emergency supplies could always be shipped in by plane. But the

Eskimos will not be benefited in the long run by pauperization- they

should be given to understand that they must stand upon theu oZ

JflTl ^i GVT P°SSiule Gff0rt Sh°uId be made to rest0^ the
car bou to their former abundance on the Barrens. The restoration

or the Eskimos independence and self-respect would then follow
almost automatically. It would be well worthwhile to endeavor to
inculcate m them a few elementary principles of caribou conser-
vation However, they evidently do not see themselves as others see

o^Jn 1 Tim Y feCl ^ PartiCUlar C°nCem °Ver their Perso-'
or tribal future, dubious as it may be.

After 1947 there were recurrent scarcities of caribou. For example
Charles Schweder wrote from Nueltin Lake on March 15, 1948, that
the Eskimos are getting hungry again." The next spring, however
he reported: "Lots of deer stayed up all winter . . . between Kazan
and Nueltin.

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

On May 5, 1950, Dr. Robert F. Yule, of the Department of National
Health and Welfare, wrote: The upper Kazan River band <have
been staying near the weather station erected last year at Lake En-
nadai. They missed the caribou, so were starving. The Department
brought them out [by plane] to Nueltin Lake. There has been a
fishing post there this year.

"The caribou came down early and traveled fast last fall. They
came farther south than ever before. As a result we had to feed die
Brochet and Duck Lake Indians most of the winter. .1 think that
the deer are rapidly decreasing in numbers in the last five years.

During the same season there was starvation and death among the
Padlimiut of the Eskimo Point and Padlei areas. A grim record of the
situation, by word and picture, has been presented by Harrington

(1952:199-270).

"Bishop Donald B. Marsh believes sanatoria m the Arctic [rather
than in southern Canada] would help in the fight against tubercu-
losis among the Eskimos. ...

"Bishop Marsh, who has served twenty-seven years m the Arctic, is
a member of a committee that will advise the Federal Government
[of Canada] on Eskimo affairs. He says the white man s gifts, in-
cluding the baby bonus and the old age pension, rob the Eskimo of
the spirit of independence that enabled him to survive amid the bleak
wastes across the top of the continent." (New York Times, April 3,

1953.) , t, .

"The Caribou Eskimoes of Keewatin constitute one of the most

primitive groups. They number approximately 400 persons, all

living inland and being entirely dependent upon the caribou tor

their livelihood. ... ,

"The Caribou Eskimo were . . . visited by missionaries but, on the
whole their culture has been very little modified by contact with the
white man and their life continues its simple, primitive pattern.
There is no tribal organization. ...

"The number of caribou needed to support the average family
varies widely. Among the more provident, it is about 125 per annum,
but others are more wasteful and kill many more animals The
number of dogs to be fed, the skill of the hunter and the number of
shells he has available are some of the factors involved. ...

"The size of the earlier Caribou Eskimo population is a matter ot
dispute. From the varying reports, however, it must be concluded

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewatin 57

that their numbers have greatly decreased since 1900 and they may

well be on the way toward extinction. . . .

"Increasing contact with the [white] newcomers in . . . Keewatin

• . . threatens these people with the complete loss of their culture if
not with virtual extermination. ... The process of submergence in a

new community would lead to extermination

"The Eskimo people who are still happy, strong, independent and
reliable in spite of adversity, should be helped to survive for purely
humanitarian reasons. We have a moral obligation to help them
since their economy has almost been destroyed by the use of white
man s weapons and because their health has been affected by disease

mtn^f* introduced ^ ** newcomers." (Michie and Neil,
iiJoo: 66-39.)

In 1954 Dr. Robert F. Yule (in litt, September 5, 1956) made a
trip to Ennadai Lake to X-ray the approximately 50 Caribou Eskimos
(including our old friends from the upper Kazan) who had congre-
gated there, evidently attracted by the radar station. By that time
they had no caribou clothing, but "a conglomeration of clothes sent
in by some charity organizations from the south. It appeared to me
to be a pathetic sight. Especially for one who had seen them in their
native outfits.

"Those Eskimos around Nueltin are just as you left them. Possibly
a httle more dirt around their tents. Always laughing and good-
natured. I always take them up some tobacco and a few fish hooks."
( I nomas Lamb, in litt., July 27, 1956.)

rapSrf °U ^ ^ n°rthem Can&d&] are shrinkinS with alarminS

A W TeR YT^n he'ds,have decreased almost 70 per cent. Dr.
tn'I' / ' ^^ SCni0r mammal°g*t, estimates that in

1950 the dominions caribou population was around 650,000 and
tiiat today there are only about 250,000. Mortality has been greater
than the increase every year since 1949.

"A low rate of calf crops, for reasons not determined, is a factor
contributing to the decrease. But the greatest single threat is over-
slaughter by hunters." (New York Times, July 1, 1958 )

"As far as I can ascertain, the Kazan River Eskimos are at present
settled m some houses along the coast. These houses are built by
the Department of Northern Affairs for their use. Some of the Es
kimos are working at the Rankin Inlet nickel mines. Others have
tried their luck at commercial fishing and whaling. Whenever they

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

fail to make both ends meet, the government stands by to give them
a handout. Whether or not this practice will prove beneficial to
their well-being, only the future can tell." (Fred Schweder, Sr.,

inlitt., February 10, 1961.)

In discussing the problem of the Eskimos, Nicholson remarks

(1959* 23 24):

"How may this changeover [from an earlier state of living to a
wage economy] be made without smothering and ruining the dignity
and self-confidence of the Eskimos? ...

"The long-term objectives of all who have the real interest of the
Eskimo people at heart must I think be two-fold: the survival of
the Eskimo as a people, and their continued domicile as Canadians in

the Canadian north."

Nicholson points out that, in 1957 and 1958, 320 of these people
were moved from Eskimo Point and Chesterfield Inlet to Rankin
Inlet, where 107 of the men found work in the nickel mines. (These
mines are at least partly underground. )

On the subject of "Integration or Disintegration?," Bishop Marc
Lacroix (1959) gives a sound, thoughtful presentation of the Es-

lcimos C8.sc

' More than a decade ago Philip H. Godsell, with a clear vision of
the impending fate of the Eskimos in general, made a most moving
plea for their protection against ruthless exploitation by the agencies
of "civilization." On the basis of a report by Commissioner Stuart T.
Wood, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he stated ( 1952:57) :
"The once self-sustaining people of the polar spaces have been
brought to the point where they are forced to depend more and more
on a handout from the very people who, by their thoughtlessness and
avarice, have destroyed the game and other resources upon which
the native population depended solely for their existence."

This tragic theme is further developed by Harp ( 1959:48-49, 56) :
"At the end of this present decade ... the last regular inhabitants
of the Barren Grounds are being evacuated to the fringes of civ-
ilization .... It is unlikely that the aborigines who dwelt there
throughout several thousands of years will soon be followed by
other men. ... The primitive hunters of the Barren Grounds were
totally adapted to that environment ....

"The recent drastic reduction of the once numberless caribou is
now the decisive factor in their gradual extinction and emigra-

tion.

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewatix 59

"At the cultural level of the primitive, nomadic hunters, the caribou
made subsistence there [on the Barren Grounds] not only feasible,
but no doubt eminently satisfying for those who knew the necessary^
way of life. Now, after five or six millennia, the herds have waned to
near-extinction, and with them have gone the hunters. The new
order of civilization has come to the Barren Grounds, but it makes of
the land a vast emptiness."

One of the gravest threats confronting the Eskimos today in the en-
tire Nearctic region is the rapidly lessening chance of survival as a
pure race. By unheeding mixture with alien races from many quarters
of the globe (as represented particularly by trappers, traders, pros-
pectors, miners, and sailors), they manifest a disastrous lack of racial
pride, while the hybrid offspring naturally possess a lesser degree of
constitutional and psychological adaptability to the climatic rigors
of the Arctic. The Eskimos are further weakened by tuberculosis
syphilis, measles, smallpox, influenza, and other bodily ills bestowed
upon them by civilization. Alcohol, tobacco, white flour, and sugar
contribute their deleterious effects. Only some of the most remote
and isolated groups have enjoyed a comparative immunitv so far
When the last pure-blooded Eskimo is gone, the race will have
suffered "extinction through dilution."

More or less complete mongrelization of all races is the bleakest
prospect now confronting mankind. No wild animal, without the
interference of man, will normally degrade itself bv hybridizing
with distinctly dissimilar animals. Nature herself protects the purity
of species by inflicting infertility upon hybrid offspring. Her great
failure consists in not visiting the same penalty upon hybrids between
such dissimilar representatives of mankind as Caucasian and Bush-
man, which would rate as distinct species on practically all criteria
other than fertility of the offspring of mixed blood.

The possibility that radioactive fall-out may be a serious factor
in the progressive decrease of the caribou herds does not seem to
have been sufficiently explored. The fact that this decrease coin-
cides pretty closely with the series of nuclear explosions that have
taken place during the past dozen years or so may be of direct sienif
icance. Kelsall (1960) does not seem to touch upon the subject in
his comprehensive studies of the Barren Ground Caribou of north-
western Canada.

Gorham ( 1958 ) found a very great increase in the radioactive fall-
out in numerous plants of the English Lake District. "The biological

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

significance of these results lies in the indication that plants which
have a low mineral intake and grow on extremely acid soils accum-
ulate radioactive fall-out to an extraordinary degree. The high
concentration of strontium-90 in the bones of upland sheep may well
be due in part to their reliance on such plants for fodder, especially
in hard times." A comparison of plant specimens collected m 1956
with others collected prior to 1947 indicated that the radioactivity
of those low in ash had increased as much as fifty-fold over a decade
Gorham mentions specifically the moss, Sphagnum papillosum. It
would seem especially desirable in this connection to investigate the
lichens of the genus Cladonia, which constitute a highly important
element in the food of the caribou. They grow abundantly on the
Canadian Shield, which consists of "mainly acid" Archaean and
Proterozoic rocks (Map 1045A, Geological Map of Canada, Geo-
logical Survey of Canada).

"It is now well established that radiostrontium-levels in the bones
of children are higher than in adults, and this is clearly related
to the rate of deposition of new' calcium in the skeleton. The rapidity
with which the antlers of deer are formed, coupled with the fact
that these animals [in Scotland] normally graze on upland pastures
which are known to contain relatively high levels of fall-out radio-
activity suggested that antlers might well show particularly heavy
contamination with radiostrontium." (Hawthorn and Duckworth,
1958 ) These authors state that the antler of a deer shot on the
island of Islay, Scotland, in 1957 was found to have a far higher level
of radiostrontium than the antlers of one shot in the same area in

1952

A later paper by Gorham (1959) indicates that the intake of fall-
out in lichens is on about the same level as in mosses. He says (p.

391): r *. i • *v

"The chief practical conclusion to be drawn from this work is that

animals feeding on mosses and lichens may well exhibit high intakes

of radioactive fall-out on this account. In this connection a few

reindeer bones from Norway have been shown to contain markedly

greater concentration of radioactive strontium-90 than sheep bones

from the same country."

Findings by Commoner (1961) concerning the effect of fall-out
on the caribou and the Eskimos of Alaska probably have more or
less equal significance for those of Keewatin:

"Caribou ... are unusually high in Sr90 content." Their bones

HARPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 61

and antlers contain "100-200 strontium units . . . , while bones of
domestic animals raised elsewhere in the U. S. average about 25
strontium units. . . .

"Thus, the caribou appears to absorb unusually large amounts of
Sr90 from fallout. . . . Apparently caribou . . . have some way of
selectively absorbing Sr90, or tend to eat food that is relativelv rich
in it." (P. 9.)

"A key to this puzzle is provided by the particular food habits of
the caribou . . . , and by the unique biology of their major food-
lichens. . . .

"Thus one may conclude that because of the unique biological
properties of lichens, and because of the fondness of caribou for
lichens as food, these animals will tend to absorb Sr90 in unusually

large amounts Measurements of the bones of Alaska Eskimos,

who use a great deal of caribou in their diet . . . , show relativelv
high Sr90 levels." (P. 10.)

According to "the most recent recommendations of the Interna-
tional Commission on Radiological Protection, . . . any increase in
radiation exposure may carry with it some added risk of biological
harm in the form of an increased rate in the incidence of genetic ef-
fects, or of radiation-induced disease such as cancer.

"The present levels of Sr90 in caribou bone— about 100-200 stron-
tium units— are probably the highest found in any known food ani-
mals, and are, of course, well over the suggested limits for humans."
( r . 1^,. )

Schulert (1962) presents a further discussion of the problem in
Alaska:

"Strontium-90 concentrations have been determined in a variety
of foods used by the native population. Caribou from the tundra
carry 10 to 20 times the level of domestic cattle. Eskimos for whom
caribou is a staple in the diet are found to have four times the stron-
tium-90 content of the average for the world populations of the
North Temperate zone."

"Lichens were the predominant group" of plants on a fawning
ground at Beverly Lake, Keewatin (Kelsall, 1960:35).

"Lichens absorb man-made radioactive fall-out along with the
natural nutrients [from the air] ... . They . . . retain virtually 100
per cent of the radioactive particles which fall onto them.
Because of their slow growth lichens now contaminated will prob-
ably remain liot' for many years." (Pruitt, 1962:25. )

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

Although the plants commonly grazed by domestic cattle evidently
contain a far lower level of fall-out than those consumed by caribou
(especiaUy on their fawning grounds), the amount of fall-out trans-
mitted to human beings in cow's milk is sufficient to cause serious
concern. How much more dangerous to the newly born fawns must
be the high concentration of fall-out in the only food they receive
during the early days of their life!

The normal hazards of severe weather, predators, accidents, and
disease that always cause a certain incidence of mortality among
the fawns are nothing new. The caribou have faced and survived
these dangers for thousands of years. Consequently, what likely
or possible factor, other than fall-out, can have brought about the
sudden and alarming decrease in the numbers of both old and young
caribou during recent years?

If information were available concerning the numerical status
of Palaearctic Reindeer during the past dozen years or so, and if
such information revealed a similar drastic reduction in numbers in
that part of the world, it might lend considerable weight to the hy-
pothesis that fall-out is a very important causative factor. For it
would be more or less equally operative on both continents.

Should not the reduction, or rather the elimination, of the fall-out
hazard be a paramount objective of all who are concerned for the
preservation of both caribou and Eskimos? From this hazard, ra-
diation biologists apprehend eventual genetic effects of much greater
seriousness than any that have appeared as yet.

All told, present conditions and future prospects alike are rather
cheerless for the Caribou Eskimos. Such are civilization's "gifts" to
primitive races. Their lethal effects have rarely been demonstrated
so effectively as in the case of the Swampy Cree at Winisk, Ontario,
after several years of contact with the personnel of a nearby radar
station. That harrowing tale of demoralization and debauchery has
been courageously told by Liebow and Trudeau (1962). A similar
crisis is evidently confronting the Padlimiut, especially since the
exhaustion and closing down of the mines at Rankin Inlet in 1962.
The conversion of these people into a race of veritable Ishmaelites
is not of their own doing; their present degraded state must lie on the
conscience of civilization. Details of the generally deplorable con-
dition of life among the displaced Caribou Eskimos at Eskimo Point
and at Rankin Inlet in recent years are presented by Van Stone and
Oswalt (1959) and by Dailey and Dailey (1961), respectively.

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewattn 63

While we are dispensing billions in aid to overseas aliens, would
it not be reasonable to provide a tiny fraction of such amounts to
save from extinction small groups of worthwhile native Americans—
the Eskimos— for whose tragic plight we are directly responsible?
A project of immediate urgency would be to keep them supplied
with meat products other than strontium-contaminated caribou,
until such time as the fall-out concentration may have subsided below
the danger level.

The treatment of the inland Caribou Eskimos is the more deplor-
able in that they have remained, up to the last dozen years or so,
among the most primitive, the most isolated, and the least contam-
inated of all the native peoples of North America. Could not such
treatment have been avoided by the exercise of altruism and fore-
sight?

It may be of interest to trace briefly the subsequent fortunes of the
members of the household on the Windy River as it was constituted
in 1947. Letters from Charles, his father (Fred, Sr.), and his sister
*reeda have provided most of the information.

During the next couple of years Charles and Fred gave up their
trapping and trading operations in the Nueltin Lake area and estab-
lished themselves in Churchill. In January, 1949, Charles guided a
tractor train of the Royal Canadian Engineers to Ennadai Lake in
preparation for the establishment of a radar station. He then stayed
temporarily at his camp on the Kazan 10-15 miles below Ennadai
Lake and conducted his trading from there. He also looked over
his traphne extending far up toward Dubawnt Lake. Both he and
Anoteelik, who had accompanied him, returned to Churchill on
one of the tractor trains.

In 1949 and in 1956 Charles worked for the Foundation Company
of Canada. In 1952 he joined a party of the Geological Survey of
Canada (under the direction of C. S. Lord) that was making a re-
connaissance in southern Keewatin. The following year he was at
Rankin Inlet, engaged in prospecting and mining activities. In 1956
he was assisting in the construction of the DEW line above the Arctic
Circle. During the following year or so he was a foreman in mining
operations in western Ontario; he then returned to Churchill, where
he has since been engaged in construction work. He was married
in Winnipeg some years ago, and had six children by 1961.

Fred, Jr., is married and living in Churchill, where he is engaged

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

in a taxi and trucking service. How often must his memory revert
to those exhilarating days as a young trapper on the wonderful Bar-
rens of Keewatin!

After Anoteelik had spent a season or two in Churchill (where he
was employed for a time at the huge grain elevator), the appeal of
his native habitat called him back to the Kazan. There he acquired
a wife, and a baby boy was born to them in the spring of 1952. The
family came to international attention through an illustration (in
colors) on the cover of Life for February 27, 1956; it portrayed Ano-
teelik's wife and a new baby as well as himself. By that time he was
living at Ennadai Lake or vicinity. His instinctive preference for
remaining a genuine Eskimo on the Barrens rather than becoming
an imitation white man in civilization would no doubt have the
hearty approval of ethnologists. However, in 1961 he was working
in the Rankin Inlet nickel mines. Apparently the continued scarcity
of caribou in inland Keewatin had rendered that area virtually un-
tenable as a permanent habitat for the Padlimiut.

At Churchill Rita had the devoted care of her foster father, at-
tended school, and by 1954 was in the fourth grade. She remained
in school for about two more years. In January, 1959, she was in
Winnipeg for a time, and a few months later she was staying at the
Eskimo settlement in Churchill. In that year she was married, and
two years later she was presumably at Rankin Inlet, where her
husband was working in the mines.

HABPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN river, keewattn 65

Notes

1 "The territories of this tribe [Chipewyan] and the Caribou Eskimos overlap
on the southern Barren Grounds. It is true that it was the rule to avoid each
other, and this principle was mostly only departed from, when one of the sides
felt strong enough to make a victorious attack; but the contact has at times led
to peaceful trading." ( Birket-Smith, 1929a:36.)

2 "The Caribou Eskimos have always been hostile towards the Indians. In the
first half of the eighteenth century they often warred against the Cree for
as the latter ascribed all evil events such as sickness, unsuccessful hunting
etc. to the Eskimos, there was of course enough to be revenged for. The wars
entirely consisted of brutal ambushes and attacks against each other When
the Chipewyan later on placed themselves in between the Cree and the Es-
kimos, the relations between the latter and their new neighbours became no
better than they had been with the old ones.

"Franklin says that the fights between them [Chipewyan and Eskimos] had

moc , ,«, t'iT' and thCy haVC SCarCely been reSumed since-" (Birket-Smith,
lyzyfl: 163—164. )

"The timber line may be regarded as the most southerly boundary of the
Eskimos in these regions [Keewatin, etc.]. They look upon the forest as being
something living, full of magic and weirdness, and no one dares to pitch a tent
tor more than ten days among trees. At one or two places close to the
timber line trading posts have now been established, and they will undoubtedly
attract the Eskimos; but even in the most southerly part of the Barren Grounds
they formerly moved only with caution, for until a few years ago their hereditary
enemies, the Chipewyan Indians, regularly made hunting trips even well up
towards the north, for instance to the region around Hikoligjuag [Yathkyed

"West of long. 100° W., where the Dubawnt and Thelon rivers meet, Eskimos
seldom, or never, live. [But they did, up to the 19.50's, inhabit the upper Kazan
Riyer, which lies west of 100°.] Hanbury met with the most westerly of the
Eskimos at . . Beverly Lake .... Roughly, lat. 65° N. . . . may be put as the
Inorthern] boundary." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:29-30. )

4 "All in all, the Caribou Eskimos have, despite the central situation of their
country, remained remarkably isolated throughout time. On the one side they
had tribes to which they were closely related in language and race, but whose
culture they could only partly benefit from-on the other side nations from
which they felt themselves so different in most respects that the tension
between them oftenest developed into a state of belligerency. On the west
great, uninhabited stretches which were seldom or never livened up by a
camp fire-on the east the billows of Hudson Bay. A remote spot off the path
of the culture drift, well suited for the retention and preservation of an old type of
culture. (Birket-Smith, 1929a:38.)

5 "We have seen how the life of the Caribou Eskimos has been like an un-
daunted struggle against distances, against climate and against the scarcity of
food, and how, in that struggle, they have been victorious over nature by bending
to it while undergoing a far-reaching process of adaptation. Their life is founded

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

upon a primitive technology which, in itself, is very greatly dependent upon
what their surroundings can yield and what they require. ( Birket-Smith,

L9?"It2is the animal products, and among them again those of the caribou,
which entirely predominate in the technology of the Caribou Eskimos. Skin for
clothing, bags and thongs, sinews for thread, bones and antlers for various im-
plements, teeth for ornaments, fat for lighting, are all working materials from
the same animal, the meat of which also forms the principal food. (Birket-

Smith, 1929a: 232.) .

7 "In contrast to all the others [Eskimos] the Caribou Eskimos are in every
respect an inland people, apart from the fact that a third of them every year
come down to the sea." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 36.)

s "In the south the Caribou Eskimos have some knowledge of the torests,
which they have acquired by having seen them during their trading visits to
Churchill, and, formerly, Reindeer Lake. They also know some of the more
prominent forest animals such as the moose, lynx, black bear, and beaver.
(Birket-Smith, 1929a: 155.)

^ "Within the area of the Caribou Eskimos the Hudson s Bay Company, at
the time the Fifth Thule Expedition visited the country, had posts at the mouth
of Chesterfield Inlet, Baker Lake, Eskimo Point and Ennadai Lake .... Revillon
Freres had a post at Nueltin Lake." n

The Padlimiut "who live more to the south go to Ennadai and Nueltin Lakes.
(Birket-Smith, 1929a: 167-168.)

10 "There are only very few [halfbreeds] among the Caribou Eskimos. . . .
Alcohol has never obtained a footing in these regions. ... The Caribou Eskimos
are practically untouched by [venereal disease]." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:33.)

11 "The Caribou Eskimos smoke tobacco almost from the time when they can
hold a pipe, and without regard to sex. It is no uncommon thing to see a mother

put a pipe in the mouth of a four or five year old urchin This much too

early tobacco smoking will certainly gradually make its mark upon their skill
as caribou hunters, for this occupation requires good lungs." (Birket-Smith,
1929a: 148-149.)

12 "There is hardly one Caribou Eskimo that is not infested with lice: Pedic-
ulus vestimenti [= P. humanus L.], P. capitis or both. Phthirius pubis and
fleas on the other hand are unknown." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:224.)

13 "Big children [among the Caribou Eskimos] often run about and play
throughout most of the night in summer and sleep by day." (Birket-Smith,

1929a: 267.)

* "Communication by water only takes place to a small extent, because the
Caribou Eskimos lack the means of transport for this. Originally the kayak was

their only vessel In the interior some have commenced to acquire canoes of

Canadian make." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 151.)

In shape and design the local kayak very closely approaches the Netsihk and
Coronation Gulf type, but it is very different from the Labrador-Baffin Land
type and that among the Polar Eskimos. The frame is of wood, and m the inte-
rior of the country the cover is always of unhaired deerskin. The most important
use is in caribou-hunting at the crossing-places. No Caribou Eskimo can turn

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 67

completely over in his kayak like the Eskimos of Greenland and Alaska. The
kayak has been abandoned by most of the other tribes west of Hudson Bay.
(Birket-Smith, 1929a: 185-189, fig. 59.)

15 Mallet (1930:97) records a story told him by Kakoot, one of the Kazan
River Eskimos, about a man being killed by a wolf. The telling was mostly by
means of gestures. Later a white trapper, who understood Eskimo well and
knew the story, corroborated all the details that Mallet had gathered from
Kakoot's pantomime. On the other hand, Birket-Smith states (1929a: 190):
"There is no real sign language [among the Caribou Eskimos] as among the
North American Indians."

16 "Most of the taboo rules only affect the women .... Little girls and

old women ... are exempt. Women must not eat the meat of the wolverine, nor
eggs, cloudberries or whortleberries." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 130.) Cloud-
berries are not eaten by the Copper Eskimos (Jenness, 1922:97).

17 "The Padlimiut are without doubt the most dirty Eskimos I have ever seen

They never bathe and only few know how to swim; those who can swim dog

fashion. . . . Only very seldom are face and hands washed." (Birket-Smith
1929a: 223-224.)

18 "The women often wear a brow band consisting of a brass fillet which is
widest in the middle and narrows off to both sides. It reaches almost to the
ears and is fastened at the back of the neck with a thong. The brass is hammered
out of old telescopes. It is practically only seen now among the Padlimiut, but
seems to have been the fashion a few years ago among other Caribou Eskimos
too. ^ (Birket-Smith, 1929a:77, fig. 10, 226, fig. 87a.)

19 "Tent poles from the summer teepees sometimes served as rafters. Caribou
skins from the tents were often used for roofing." (Marsh, 1947:88.)

20 "Besides the dog sledge and the kayak, the Caribou' Eskimos also know
tump-lines and pack bags for the dogs" (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 151).

21 "On [summer] journeys they carry good-sized burdens, the women no less
than the men. For this purpose they use rump-lines, which are laid over both
forehead and breast." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 184, fig. 56.)

22 The dogs of the Caribou Eskimos "are all of the common Eskimo breed with
thick coat, pointed snout and pointed ears, and tumed-up tail." These dogs
"are slightly bigger than those of the West Greenlanders, but they are thinner
and have not nearly so much spirit. They are never heard howling with im-
patience to start It is asserted that wolves sometimes mate with bitches" in

heat. ... As to disease, distemper is not rare, and sometimes rabies seems to
occur.

"The Caribou Eskimos have only a few dogs, one reason being that it is
impossible to keep large numbers of them when their feed consists entirely, or
almost entirely, of caribou meat. It does not contain nearly as much nutriment
as seal or walrus meat ....

"The Caribou Eskimos treat their dogs neither better nor worse than other

uncivilised Eskimos They are rarely so directly cruel to them as I have often

been told by whites about the sub-arctic Indians. . . .

"The Caribou Eskimos are very poor dog drivers. . . . Their journeys are a
steady plodding to the accompaniment of an incessant shouting and use of the

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

whip." (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 170-172.)

23 "In the summer nearly all Caribou Eskimos now wear ready-made cloth-
ing; only the boots are of their own fabrication" (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 213)

»* "Snowshoes are an acquisition from the Indians and are only used by a few
[of the Caribou Eskimos] in the short period between winter and spring" ( Birket-
Smith, 1929a: 151).

25 "Raw meat is eaten to a rather great extent Caribou, seal and hsn are

some times eaten raw and fresh immediately after they have been killed." ( Birket-
Smith, 1929a: 141.)

26 "Caribou meat is the staple food, whilst fish and, at the coast, walrus and
seal, (and in former days the musk-ox) take second place. ... Of less impor-
tance ... are hares, ptarmigan and birds on the whole. Wolves, wolverines,
foxes and marmots [= ground squirrels, Spermophilus] are seldom eaten. . . .
Plant products occupy such a subordinate place . . . that even their dietic role

is doubtful.

"The almost exclusively animal food does not seem to have any deleterious
effect upon the people. It may be assumed that . . . they receive complete
protein nourishment, and the fat is eaten in abundance." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:
137-138. )

27 "Since the coming of the white traders the Caribou Eskimos have learned to
relish certain foreign foods. So far, however, it is only flour, tea, sugar and
molasses which really are of any importance to their food, and as a rule
only during the period immediately after a trade journey." (Birket-Smith,
1929a: 139.)

28 "Tea has now become the favourite drink of the Caribou Eskimos, and the
quantity they consume in a day is almost incredible" (Birket-Smith, 1929a: 148).

29 "The back of the [women's] frock is enlarged so much that there is room
for an infant child to be inside it. This enlargement is to be seen on the frocks
of all women." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:214.)

30 "Sometimes both men and women wear ear ornaments, consisting of sev-
eral strings of beads knotted together at the top. Frequently only one ear is
ornamented in this manner." (Birket-Smith, 1929a:229, fig. 87d-e.)

31 "Ear ornaments of several strings of beads have formerly been worn by the
Cree, from whom they seem to have spread to the Caribou Eskimos' (Birket-
Smith, 1929&:39).

Acknowledgments

The support of the Arctic Institute of North America and the National Science
Foundation has been gratefully acknowledged at the beginning of this paper.
Dr. A. L. Washburn, the first director of the Arctic Institute, was particularly
considerate and helpful in furthering my work.

The six months at Nueltin Lake were made pleasurable and rewarding by the
unostentatious but extraordinarily effective hospitality of those remarkable
young wilderness dwellers, Charles Schweder and Fred Schweder, Jr. It would
be difficult to say enough of their generosity in granting me the privilege of
sharing their quarters and their exhilarating adventures on land and water. Those
were some of the most memorable days of my life. Charles, in particular, con-
tributed so liberally of his knowledge of the Kazan River Padlimiut that he is

harper: caribou Eskimos of upper kazan river, keewatin 69

virtually entitled to be considered a co-author of this report. The more youthful

members of our strangely assorted household on the Windy River Anoteelik,

Mike, and Rita — did their part faithfully and cheerfully in promoting the general
welfare; and it is pleasant to recall their many little acts of friendship and
kindness.

The seven visitors from the Kazan— Pamala, Katello, Angwokook, Alakahaw,
Kakoot, Amelook, and Hikwa — deserve a meed of praise for their patience in
being photographed and their willingness to part with some of their possessions
to enrich the ethnological collections of the Reading Public Museum and Art
Gallery.

That museum, through Dr. Earl L. Poole, its able director and an esteemed
friend of many years' standing, provided auxiliary support for the season's
investigations. His successor, Mr. Samuel C. Gundy, has generously made and
presented photographs of the ethnological material that appears in plate 8.

Dr. Robert F. Yule, of the Department of National Health and Welfare,
while on his way to investigate the medical needs of the Kazan River band, gave
us the great pleasure of several brief visits. He was accompanied by his graciou?
wife, the first white woman to reach Nueltin Lake. They came in a plane flown
by Thomas Lamb, of The Pas. In the years that followed, Dr. Yule has provided
me with some very useful reports on the conditions of life among our Eskimo
friends; these, together with several of his photographs, have been gratefully
utilized in the present paper.

In expressing my gratitude to the air pilots, John M. Rourassa and Gunnar
Ingebrigtsen, who brought me safely to and from Nueltin Lake, it is sad to
recall that each of them, within a few years and in widely separated localities,
lost his life in arctic or subarctic flying.

Dr. Kaj Birket-Smith, of the National Museum (Copenhagen), has very
kindly allowed me to quote a number of passages from his monumental works
(1929a, 1929k) on the Caribou Eskimos, besides supplying a photograph of
himself taken on the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921-24 (pi. 9, fig. 4).

Professor Eville Gorham, from two of whose papers on the fall-out problem I
have quoted, has very generously contributed further information and sug-
gestions through correspondence. Dr. Douglas G. Humm has also helped in
discussing the problem with me.

The Beaver and Dr. William O. Pruitt, Jr., have kindly granted permission to
quote a few lines from his recent paper (1962) in that journal.

To the Royal Canadian Air Force I am greatly indebted for permission to
include among the illustrations an air photograph of the Kazan River country
(pi. 1); and to Freeda Schweder, for the opportunity of presenting photo-
graphs of two important members of the little household on the Windy River
(pi. 3, fig. 3, and pi. 9, fig. 1).

The Library of the University of North Carolina has been my principal re-
source in consulting the literature on the subject of this investigation.

All photographs, unless otherwise specified, were taken at or near the
mouth of Windy River, in the year 1947.

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

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

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Plate 1

Eskimo country along the upper Kazan River at approximatel) hit. 6122' N
Long. L00°36' W. The ana shown is about 5 x 3.2 miles in extent. A vertical
photograph from an altitude of 18,000 feet above sea level |nl\ 5 L949 (Cour-
tesj ot Royal Canadian Air Force I

Plate 2

pIG. i. — Anoteelik and Mike. July 26.

Fig. 2.— Anoteelik fastening the head of a caribou Fig. 3.— Rita chopping wood. Sed
spear to its shaft. Mike looking on. September 7. tember 15.

Plate 3

-r, - ^-j.-

Fig. 1. — Rita and Fred sitting within an ancienl tent-ring (Eskimo or Chip-
ewj an? I on a promontory. July 2 \.

Fig. 2.— Rita at the doorway of hei
cabin. July 24.

Fig. 3. — Rita with husky dogs. Church-
ill, 1950. (Courtesy Freeda Schweder. I

Plate 4

Fig. 1. — Mike, Rita, and Anoteelik setting out on an overnight caribou hunt.

August 31.

Fig. 2. — The young caribou-hunters in camp on Little River. August 31.

Plate 5

Fig. 1. — Charles and his adoring ward. September L9.

Fie;. 2. — Pamala, the genial shaman. Fig. 3. — Pamala with pack and rifle
August 11. August 11.

Plate 6

Fig. 1. — Angwokook.
October 6.

Fig. 2. — Kakoot (with paddle) and Am-
elook (with fish spear). October 6.

,>

Fig. 3. — Alakahaw, resting on

a march across the Barrens.

October 6.

Fig. 4. — Caribou-skin clothing; ■"mod-
eled" by F. H. while wielding an ice-
chisel at a water-hole. December 3.

Plate 7

Fig. 1. — Eskimos in the Windy River post. Left to right: Angwokook, Katello,
Kakoot, Alakahaw, Amelook, Hikwa. October 5.

-

Fig. 2. — Eskimos setting out across the snowy Barrens for their homes on the
Kazan River. Front to rear: Hikwa. Angwokook, Alakahaw. Amelook, Katello.

October 6.

Plate 8

Fig. 1. — Beginning at top: two parts of Anoteelik's ring-
and-pin game; Pamala's snow knife; hole-cleaner and
two drills made by Pamala. (See pages 21-22, 49-50.)

1

h

¥

f

„•

v

'-;'

Fig. 2. — Pipes of Alakahaw (above) and Hikwa (below); Ang-
wokook's ear pendant (left) and hood ornament (right); palm
side of caribou-skin mitten made by one of Pamala's wives; one
of a pair of caribou-skin boots (komik) made by Alakahaw s wile.

(See pages 47-48, 51.)

Caribou Eskimo ethnological material.

(Courtesy of Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery. )

Plate 9

f>

I'u.. 1. — Charles Schweder, .in out-
standing man <>t the Keewatin Barrens
and authority on (lie Kazan River Es-
kimos. Churchill, L954.
(Courtesy of Freeda Schweder. '

*

IP*

-*.

.— «— &~

Fic. 3.— J. Burr Tyrrell I L858
1957), a pioneer explorer ot the
Barren Grounds, in an Eskimo suil
worn on a tramp from Churchill to
Lake Winnipeg, L893 I see pages
9-10). (From I. W. Tyrrell,
1908: pi. opp- P- 202. )

Fig. 2. — Dr. Robert F. Yule and an
Eskimo couple. March, L9 IT.
( ourtesj of Dr. Yule.

Fig. 4.— Kai Birket-Smith (1893-. . .

on the Fifth Thule Expedition, 1922:
author of The Caribou Eskimo (1929):
chief keeper of tlie Ethnographic De-
partment of the National Museum
( i ipenhagen ).
(Courtesy of Dr. Birket-Smith. I

Plate 10

Fig. 1. — Two Eskimo youths and a kayak. One with a double-bladed paddle:

the other a deek passenger. Ennadai Lake. |uly, 1954.

(Photograph by Dr. Robert F. Yule.)

Fie. 2. — Eskimo women and a four-year-old nursing child. Ennadai Lake,
1954. (Photograph by Dr. Robert F. Yule. )

II \HPER: CARIBOU ESKIMOS OF UPPER KAZAN RIVER, KEEWATIN 73

INDEX

Alakahaw, 32, 36-39, 42, 44, 45, 48,

51, 69; pis. 6, 7
Alopex lagopus innuitus, 41
Amelook, 36, 39, 41, 45. IS. 69; pis. 6. 7
Angoliah, 17
Angwokook, 20, 31, 33. 34, 38, 39. 41.

42,44-47,49. 51, 69; pis. 6, 7
Anoteelik, 17-27, 34, 35, 37. 48, ll).

63, 64, 69; cover, pis. 2, 4
Arctic Institute <>f North America, 5,

0, 68
Arctostaphylos alpina, 29
twa-ursi, 36

Hear, black, 12. 25. 66
Bearberry, alpine, 29

common, 36, 40
Beaver, 66

Bauer, The ( magazine ), 69
Berry, muskeg, 29

"Whiskey lack." I(»
Bilberry, hoy. 29
Birket-Smith, Kaj, 69; pi. 9
Bourassa, John \h. 09

Calamagrostis canadensis, 21
Calcarius lapponicus, 37
Canis lupus hudsonicus, 1 1
Canoes. L9, 20, 26-28, 50. 00
Caribou, Barren Ground, 10-1 1. 10,

21, 22. 25. 20. 28, 29, 31-55. 55.

37, 39-12. 15-63, 00-08; pi. 1
Labrador Barren ( Jround, 5 I
Catostomus catostomus, 20
Charadrius semipalmatus, 37
Civilization, effects on Eskimos, 50,

52, 54-64, 66, 68
Cloudberry, 29. 07

Coregonus atikameg manitobensis, 40
Corvus corax principalis, 35
Cottus cognatus, 28
Cranberry, mountain, 29, 53. to
Cristivomer namaycush, 48
Crow hen v. 29. 10

Dances, drum, 23

"Deer." Sec Caribou.

Dicrostonyx groenlandicus richardsoni,

57
Dow nes, P. G., 11
Drum, Eskimo, 12. 23, 24
Ducks, 40

Empetrum nigrum, 29, 33
Eskimo clothing, 18, 19, 31, 35, 59. 40,
50, 51, 05; cover, pis. 2-10
(lo.us, 17, 18, 20, 55. 34, 42, 43, 51.

52, 56, 67; cover, pis. 3, 7
ethnological materials, 21. 22. 17.
48, 07-69; pi. 8

food. 10. 13, 10, 17. 19, 20, 25, 26,
29. 32. 33. 34, 50. 57. 40-44, 48,
51-59, 61. 65. 07. 68
L'aines. 21, 22, 41, 42, 49; pi. 8
words. 19. 27. 5(1. 33, 55. 57. 40, 15.
10. 50. 51
"Eskimo Charlie," 20
Euarctos americanus, 25

Fall-out, radioactive, 59-63
Ferguson, R. Munro, 15
Fifth Tliule Expedition. 15, 10. 09
Fishes. 19-21. 28. 18, 55. OS
Ideas, 66

Flies, black, 21
Fox, arc tic. 4 1. II. 10
red. 41

Gavia stellata, 3 1
Gorham, 15 ille, 69
( !raj ling, 28
Gull, Herring, 20
( lundj . Samuel C, 09

I [arris, 'I [uskj .'" 14

Harvaqtormiut, 15

Hauneqtormiut, 15

He, one. Samuel, 9

1 Iighv\ ay, [o<

Hikwa, 17. 32, 58. 39, 42, 48. 69;

pi. 7
Hogarth, Jack. 1 1
Hudson s Ba) ( iompanj . 15, 66
Ilumiu, Dr. Don-las (';.. 69

Indians | Chipewyan I, 9, 1 1. 19, 2:5,
38, 52, 56, 65
(Cre< I, 22. 50. 65

Dogribs), 25
I Sw ampy (lice i. 02
Ingebrigtsen, Gunnar, 09

Jay, Canada. 12

Kakoot i elder I, II. 10. 55. 67
Kakoot | younger I, 50-4 1 . 69; pis. 0. 7
Katello. 12. 55-1(1. 42. 44. 45. 47. 18

69; i>1. 7
Kayak (or ksack I, lo. 12. 27. 00, 07;

pl. 10
Kukwik. 17, 18

Lamb, Thomas, 17, 51, 82, 52, 57, 09
Lemming, varying, 57
Longspur, Lapland, 37
Loon. Red-throated, 54
Lynx, 00

Mallet, Thierry, 10

Moose. 00
Musk-ox, 14. 40. 08

National Science Foundation, 5, 0, 05

74

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

Oedemagena tarandi, 19
Office of Naval Research, 5
Ohoto, 22
Ooloo, 46

Paddle, Eskimo, 13, 50; pi. 6
Pamala, 31-39, 45-51, 69; cover, pi. 5
Partridge, Spruce, 12
Pediculus capitis, 20, 66

humanus, 20, 66

vestimenti, 66
Peterson, Alfred, 15, 52
Phthirius pubis, 66
Plover, Semipalmated, 37
Poole, Earl L., 69
Pruitt, William O., Jr., 69
Ptarmigan, 40, 45, 68

Willow, 21, 38

Oaernermiut, 15

Rangifer arcticus arcticus, 12, 54
caboti, 54

Raven, 35

Reading Public Museum and Art Gal-
lery, 31, 69

Reindeer, Palaearctic, 62

Revillon Freres, 10, 15, 66

Richardson, Sir John, 9

Rita, 18, 19-23, 25-31, 34, 46, 51, 64,
69; cover, pis. 2-5

Royal Canadian Air Force, 69; pi. 1

Ruhus chamaemorus, 29

Schweder, Charles, 13-20, 22-24, 27,
29-53, 63, 64, 68; pis. 5, 9

Fred, Jr., 14, 15, 20, 21, 27, 32, 33,
35, 38, 41, 42, 45, 50, 52, 63, 68;
pi. 3

Fred, Sr., 13, 15, 52, 63

Freeda, 63, 69

Mike, 15, 19-22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 41,
69; pis 2, 4
Sculpin, 28
Seal, 68

Simons, Del, 10, 14
Smith, I. H., 15
Snowshoes, 40, 68
Sparrow, Harris', 28
Speck, Frank C, 33, 39
Squirrel, red, 12, 45
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 46
Suckers, Red, 20, 21

Tablo, 31, 51

Thymallus signifer, 28

Traders and trading, 13-17, 32-34,

37, 40-42, 47-53, 55, 63, 66, 68
Trafford, lames A., 15
Trout, Lake, 19, 48
Tyrrell, J. Burr, 9, 13; pi. 9.

University of North Carolina, Library
of, 69

Vaccinium uliginosum, 29

vitis-idaea, 29, 33
Vulpes fulva, 41

Walrus, 68
Washburn, A. L., 68
Whitefish, Common, 40, 48, 55
Whortleberries, 67
Wolf (or wolves), 41, 67
Wolverine, 67

Yule, Dr. Robert F., 21, 27, 32, 46,
51-5.3, 56, 57, 69; pi. 9
Mrs. Robert F., 52, 69

Zonotrichia querula, 28

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 amount indicated below should be in-
cluded for the purpose 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 University 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, SI. 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. Paperbound, $1.50 postpaid.

8. Mammals of northern Alaska, on the arctic slope. By James W. Bee and E. Ravmond
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. By 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. By 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, NW, Washington, D. C.
20009.

*13. Museum of Natural History . . . University of Kansas. By Roy R. Moore and

E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated "flier," 14% in. X 8% in., printed on both sides,

and folded twice.] June 1, 1957.
14. Vernacular names for North American mammals north of Mexico. By 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 figures 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. Furbearers 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. Paperboimd, 50 cents
postpaid.

*19. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated
"flier," 14% in. X 8% in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] May 29, 1959.

20. Handbook of gastropods in Kansas. By A. Byron Leonard. Pp. 1-224, plates 1-11,
87 figures in text. November 2, 1959. Paperboimd, $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," 14% 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, illustrated. December 16,
1960.

27. Land and fresh-water mammals of the Ungava Peninsula. By Francis Harper. Pp.
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-
ington, D. C. 20009.

28. Handbook of unionid mussels in Kansas. By Harold D. Murray and A. Byron Leonard.
Pp. 1-184, 45 plates, 42 figures. May 10, 1962. Paperbound, $1.00 postpaid.

29. Farm ponds in Douglas County, Kansas. By Claude E. Hastings and Frank B. Cross.
Pp. 1-21. May 17, 1962.

30. Collecting and preparing study specimens of vertebrates. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp.
1—46, 34 figures. May 21, 1962. Paperbound, 50 cents postpaid.

31. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illus-
trated "flier," 14V& in. X 8V> in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] June 1,
1962.

32. The bobwhite in Kansas. By Gary Packard. Pp. 1—12, illustrated. November 16,
1962.

33. Spiders of the University of Kansas Natural History Reservation and Rockefeller Ex-
perimental Tract. By Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 1-202, 104 figures in text. December 20,
1963.

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.

35. Natural History Museum. By Roy R. Moore and E. R. Hall. [An unpaged, illustrated
"flier," 14y2 in. X 8V2 in., printed on both sides, and folded twice.] March 2, 1964.

36. Caribou Eskimos of the Upper Kazan River, Keewatin. By Francis Harper. Pp. 1—74,
10 plates. April 20, 1964. Paperbound, $1.50 postpaid from the Arctic Institute of
North America, 1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, D. C. 20009.