Chapter VII: Part 7

The hands are protected with mittens (Fig. 93) made of smoked deerskin. The skin is folded, and along the fold the shape of the mitten is cut so as to leave a part by which the two pieces are joined, and the edges formed in the cutting are sewed together. The thumb is made as follows: A tongue-shaped piece is cut out of the palm and the base of that piece is left as the part to form the under or inner covering for the thumb. A piece is now trimmed that will fit the place cut out and the two parts sewed together.

The thumb of the Indian is, as a rule, shorter than that of the white man, and a pair of native-made mittens are quite uncomfortable until the thumb portion has been recut and sewed. The wrists of the mittens are often gaudily ornamented with strips of red or black cloth. Designs of simple character, such as lines and cross lines producing lattice-work figures, are frequently painted on the back of the mitten. Beads in rows and zigzag lines ornament the wrist, and strands of beads are pendant from the outside seams. The strands are often tipped with tassels of variegated woolen threads. The mittens intended for severe weather are often lined with the thin skin of a foetal reindeer, which has short, soft hair. Great exertion often causes the hands to perspire and moisten the hair, and this freezes the instant the mitten is removed from the hand, and is liable to freeze the fingers within it.

The head-dress of the men for the summer is often a large cotton handkerchief wound turban-fashion around the head to prevent the long hair from blowing over the face. These handkerchiefs are of the most gaudy patterns, and if they are not worn a simple thong of deerskin serves the purpose. The girls and newly married wives often make bands of beads, some of which are quite attractively designed, for their lovers or husbands. These bands are about an inch wide and several inches long. The ends are lengthened with strips of skin. The band is placed over the forehead and tied by the strings behind. These headbands are generally the most intricate designs of bead work which these Indians display (Fig. 94).

A cap of deerskin is often worn, but it always seems to be in the way, and is used mostly in wet weather. A piece of stiff deerskin is sometimes made into the shape of a visor of a cap and worn over the eyes during the spring when the glare of the sun on the snow produces such distressing inflammation of the eyes. It is fastened to the head by means of straps tied behind. The greater part of the men prefer to go without head covering. Some who are able and love a display of fancy colors have a cap made of red cloth and ornamented with beads worked into extravagant patterns. The cap is a high conical affair, and from the weight of beads upon it often falls to one side of the head.

The winter coat (Figs. 95, 96) worn by the males is of different pattern from that worn in summer, and is made of skins with the hair inside.

Two skins, one of which forms the back of the coat the other the front, are sewed by side seams running from the armpit to the bottom of the skirt. On the shoulder a seam runs to the neck on each side, the back skin extending high enough to form the neck while the other skin reaches to the neck in front. Here it is slightly cut out or slit for a distance of several inches to allow the insertion of the head through the neck hole.

Sometimes a =V=-shaped piece is inserted into the slit at the front of the neck. To widen the skirts a similar shaped piece is let into the middle of the back skin; or it may be put between the side seams for the same purpose. The bottom of the skirt is decorated. (Fig. 97.)

At the back of the neck a piece about 8 inches square is attached to the garment. This sometimes serves as a collar, and sometimes it gives additional protection by a double thickness to the shoulders, very often the first part to feel the effect of the piercing winds.

A few of the coats for winter have a hood attached to them (Fig. 98, 99) sewed on the back of the neck, which when drawn over the head serves at once as cap and protection.

The collar and hood are invariably made from the skins on the sides of the head of the deer. If two or more head skins are required they are sewed into the form of the deer's head. The collar is ornamented with fringes cut from the edges of the skin. Sometimes the interscapular protection is cut into three or four points, each one of which is the cheek skin of a deer, and sewed only a portion of the length, the remainder being left free and terminating with a series of long strands or fringes. The sleeves of these garments have nothing peculiar about them.

As the Indian is always in the vicinity of the herds of deer it is an easy matter for him to obtain the skins when in best condition, and from the finer skins superior garments are made. The shape of the Indian's coat is not so well adapted to afford protection as that of the Eskimo; hence, the white men in this region invariably adopt the clothing of the latter in cold weather.

Indians eagerly accept any cast off garment which a white man has worn, and they often procure the clothing offered for trade. Trousers are in much demand. Coats are deemed great prizes, especially in the wet seasons when the moisture would certainly ruin their own clothing by causing the hair to fall off or totally destroy the shape of the tanned skin garments. For underclothing the Indian man uses an additional suit of ordinary clothing or else dons a shirt procured from the trader. Drawers are rarely worn.

That these people are little susceptible to the effects of cold may be inferred from the fact that I have seen them come to the trading post of Fort Chimo in the middle of winter when the thermometer had not registered higher than 20° below zero for weeks, with no protection for their legs except a pair of old buckskin leggings so short that the bottom did not reach within 3 or 4 inches of the dilapidated moccasins. The feet were, so far as could be ascertained, chiefly protected by a wrapping of old baling cloth covered with a pair of moccasins which no white man would have been seen wearing. I observed also that no additional clothing was purchased for the return trip.

The garments worn by the women in the warmer season consists of thin dresses of calico purchased from the traders. Thin shawls serve to protect the head and shoulders. The feet are incased in moccasins. Some of the women are able to purchase dresses of cloth, and these are cut into a semblance of the dresses worn by the women of civilized countries. It is not rare to see a woman wearing a skirt made from the tanned skin of the deer. The lower portions of the skirt are often fancifully ornamented with lines and stripes of paint of various colors, extending entirely around the garment. A piece of baling cloth is often fashioned into a skirt and worn.

The females appear to be less susceptible to the sudden changes of the summer weather than the men. At least they exhibit less concern about the thickness of their apparel. It is not unusual to see a woman whose only clothing appears to be a thin dress of calico. During the winter the women dress in the most comfortable skins (Fig. 100), blankets, shawls, comforts, leggings, and moccasins. During exceptionally severe weather, they appear as traveling wardrobes, doubtless carrying their all on their back, and in some instances presenting a most comical appearance as, loaded with clothing of most miscellaneous character, they waddle over the snow. The winter cap is similar to that worn by the men, but is not so peaked. It is an object on which they expend a great amount of labor. The material is usually a kind of cloth locally known as Hudson bay cloth, either red, dark blue, light blue, or black. The caps of the men and women are usually made from the better grades of this cloth, while the dresses of the women and the leggings of the men are of the inferior grades.

If the cap is to be all one color, in which case it is always red, the cloth is cut in two pieces only, and put together so as to produce a cup-shape. Sometimes five or six pieces are cut from two or three different colors of cloth and the strips sewed together. Over the seams white tape is sewed to set off the colors. In the center of the strip is a rosette, cross, or other design worked with beads, and around the rim rows of beads variously arranged.

The body is covered with a heavy robe made of two deerskins sewed together. This robe is often plain, and when ornamented designs are painted only on the bottom of the skirt. These robes are always of skins with the hair on. The flesh side is often rubbed with red ocher while the extreme edge may be painted with a narrow stripe of the same mixed with the viscid matter obtained from the roe of a species of fish. The edge stripe of paint is always of a darker brown than the other colors from the admixture of that substance with the earth.

This garment is put upon the body in a manner impossible to describe and difficult to understand even when witnessed. It is held together by small loops of sinew or deerskin. A belt around the waist keeps it up.

The women also wear in winter a sleeveless gown reaching little below the knees and as high as the chin. The sleeves are put on separately, like leggings. They are usually made of red or black cloth.

The gown is often extravagantly decorated with paint. The flesh side of the skin is rubbed with red ocher, on which are painted in describable designs. A strip of deerskin dotted with beads borders the gown, and from the edge of the strip hang strings of these ornaments, terminating in variously colored tassels of thread.

The leggings of the women differ from those of the men. They extend higher and the bottoms cover the tops of the moccasins. They are made of skin or cloth, the latter black or red. To cut out a pair of leggings requires skill. The cloth is doubled and then cut nearly in a circular form. A size sufficient to fit the limb is sewed up leaving the crescent-shaped remainder a flapping ornament. The "wings" are often edged with cloth of a different color and on the outer border rows of beads complete the decoration. The two crescents are left free, and as the wind separates them they flap most fantastically. They are always worn so as to be on the outer side of the legs. The bottoms of the leggings are heavily loaded with numerous rows of fancy beads.

Moccasins are alike for both sexes.

As additional protection from cold the shoulders are covered with a mantle of soft skins from young deer. Blankets purchased from the traders are also sometimes thrown over the shoulders or around the waist.

Children are clad like adults, excepting that their apparel is less carefully made and they often present a disgusting appearance, with their clothing glazed with filth and glistening with vermin.

Infants usually have their garments made in the "combination" form. The cap forms a separate piece and is fitted so closely that it is not removed until the growth of the head bursts the material of which the cap is made.

When traveling men and women smoke or snuff a good deal. Tobacco and a few other necessary articles are carried in a bag known as "fire bag." These are made of cloth and trimmed with beads, and are often quite tastefully ornamented.

The detailed figures which I have presented show much better than any description the designs used in ornamenting their clothing. Some of the patterns are rude copies of the designs found upon cheap handkerchiefs, scarfs, and other printed fabrics.

I have already spoken of the headbands worked for the men by their wives and sweethearts. Such a headband, made of sealskin procured from the Eskimo, is shown in Fig. 101 (No. 3449). The headband is used to support the weight of a load carried on the back, relieving the strain on the shoulders and making it easier to breathe. The band passes over the forehead to the back, where it is attached to the load. Various forms of these headbands or portage straps are made. Sometimes a piece of birch bark is placed under the strap where it touches the forehead. It is said that the bark does not become wet from the moisture induced by the severe exertion and thus burn the head.

PREPARATION OF THE SKINS FOR CLOTHING.

Having now given a general description of the clothing of the Nenenot, I may proceed to describe the process of preparing the skins of which this clothing is made. The skins of the deer, which are to be converted into buckskin and parchment, are laid to one side in a heap, just as they came from the bodies of the animals or after they have gone through a process to be subsequently described.

When the skins have laid in this heap for several days decomposition sets in and loosens the hair so it will readily pull out. When the pelt is ready for scraping it is thrown over a round stick of wood some 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 3 or 4 feet long, one end of which rests on the ground while the other is pressed against the abdomen of the woman who is doing the work. Then she takes a tool like a spoke shave (Figs. 102, 103, No. 3162) made from the radius of the deer, by cutting a slice off the middle part of the back of the bone, so as to make a sharp edge while the untouched ends serve for handles, and with this scrapes off the loosened hair.

The sharp edge of the bone instrument coming against the hairs pushes or pulls them out but does not cut the skin.

The flesh side of the pelt is now worked to free it from particles of flesh and blood, together with as much of the moisture in the skin as may be hastily done, for if the person has a great number of skins to attend to she must work rapidly lest they decompose too much and putrefy.

Where the hunter has great success in killing deer many of the skins are left untouched because there is no one to attend to them and they are thus wasted.

When the pelts of the deer or other large animals have been taken from the carcass they are allowed to dry with the adherent flesh, fat, and ligaments until a convenient opportunity occurs to remove those portions from the skin, which must be moistened to permit them to be more readily scraped off. If the fresh skins are to be cleaned immediately, they are operated upon in the same manner as those previously dried. All the skins of fur-bearing animals and those furnishing skins for clothing and other purposes must be scraped, otherwise they would soon be soiled by the infiltration of the fat among the hairs.

To remove the adherent particles on the flesh side of the skin a peculiar instrument has been devised. The tibia, or large bone of the hind leg of the reindeer, is used for this purpose (Fig. 104). The peculiar shape of the bone renders it particularly well adapted to form a combination of saw, chisel, and gouge at the same time. The lower portion of the bone is cut squarely off. A part of one side of the remainder is cut so as to leave one side (the inner side of the bone) in the shape of a chisel, having either a straight edge or else slightly rounded. On this edge are cut a number of fine notches, which give the edge of the instrument a serrated form. Some of the bones have a spatula-shaped piece of iron or steel cut with the serrations upon it and the metal piece set in the cavity of the bone. If the leg of a deer is not convenient a wooden handle shaped like the long handle of a mortising chisel is fashioned, and to it is affixed the metal point by means of stout lashings (Fig. 105). Around the upper portion of the wooden shaft a notch or groove is cut, and in this is tied a stout thong in such manner as to form a loop to prevent the hand from slipping down the smooth bone when the blow is struck.

The manner of using this instrument is peculiar and effective. The skin is thrown, with the flesh side up, over a stake 2 or 3 feet high driven firmly into the ground. The person kneels down before the stake, and when the skin is placed so as to afford a convenient portion to begin upon, an edge is taken between the fingers of the left hand and lifted slightly from the ground. A blow is given with the tool which separates the subcutaneous tissue, and by rightly directed blows this may be separated from the skin entire. The skin is then laid aside for further working. The subcutaneous tissue is washed and dried, after which it is used for a variety of purposes, such as coverings for bundles of dried meat and other articles.

The skin is worked over with this instrument to free it from a portion of its moisture and is now ready to receive the tanning material which consists of a mixture of putrefying brain, liver, and fat. They sometimes soak the skin in wine, which is reputed to add greatly to the lasting qualities of the leather, but the odor of that liquid lasts as long as the skin.

The tanning material is laid on the flesh side of the skin in a thin layer and by rubbing with the hands it is well worked in. Several hours or days elapse and the superfluous matter is scraped off. The skin is then scraped and rubbed between the hands, the harder portions with a scraper resembling a small scoop, until all the skin is worked into a pliable condition. If the skin is yet too oily a quantity of powdered chalk, clay, calcined bone, or even flour, is thoroughly rubbed over it to absorb any fatty matter yet remaining.

The skins having the hair on, for clothing, or those intended for buckskin, are treated in this manner. Those intended for parchment are simply rubbed with a quantity of fat, and then allowed to dry in that condition, being of a yellowish or pale glue color.

Where a great number of skins have to be prepared, and some of the more energetic men have as many as two or three hundred buckskins and parchment skins for the spring trade, a constant application to this labor is necessary in order to prepare them in season. This, in a manner, accounts for the number of wives which an energetic or wealthy man may have in order that the products of the chase falling to his share may be promptly attended to.

When the skins intended for sale are selected they are bundled up and covered with parchment skins or the subcutaneous tissue.

The skins intended for use among themselves are generally inferior grades, such as those cut in the skinning process, or else those obtained in the earlier or the later part of the season.

A species of gad fly infests the deer, puncturing the skin on both sides of the spine, and depositing within the wound an egg which in time is transformed into a grub or larva. These larvæ attain the size of the first joint of the little finger, and at the opening of the spring weather work their way through the skin and fall to the ground, where they undergo metamorphoses to become perfect insects.

A single animal may have hundreds of these grubs encysted beneath the skin, which, on their exit, leave a deep suppurating cavity, which heals slowly. The skin forming the cicatrices does not have the same texture as the untouched portions.

When the skin is dressed it reveals these scars, and of course, the value of the skin is diminished according to their number. The Indian often endeavors to conceal them by rubbing flour or chalk over them.

The season when the skins are in the best condition is from September to the middle of December. The freshly deposited eggs have not yet produced larvæ of sufficient size to injure the skin, and the wounds produced by those dropping out in the month of May have healed and left the skin in condition.

Certain skins intended for special purposes must be smoked. The process of smoking tends to render it less liable to injury from moisture. The pyroligneous vapors act as antiseptics and thus at least retard decomposition of those articles most exposed to wet. The tents and foot wear are always tanned with the smoke and this process is always subsequent to that of bringing the skins into the pliable condition.

The process adopted by these Indians in smoking the deerskins is as follows: The woods are searched for rotten wood of a special character. It must be affected with a kind of dry rot which renders the fibers of a spongy nature. This is procured and thoroughly dried. The skins to be smoked are selected and two of nearly the same size and condition are chosen, and sewed into the form of a bag with the hairy side within. The after portions of the skin are suspended from a convenient pole and the head and neck portions left free or open. To the edges of these is sewed a cloth, usually a piece of baling cloth, and this is also left open. The rotten wood is placed in a pan or vessel and as it smolders, never burning into a blaze, the pale, blue, pungent smoke is allowed to ascend within the cavity of the deerskin bag. The cloth is merely to form a conduit for the smoke as the skin should not be too near the fire.

As the process continues the skins are inspected between the stitches of the sewing and when the operation has progressed sufficiently they are taken down. It will now be found that the surface has assumed a pale, clear brown color, the shade of which depends on the length of the exposure to the smoke.

The cloth is removed and the skins are immediately folded, with the smoked side within, and laid away for several days to season. If, however, the skin be left to the influence of the air the coloring matter immediately disappears leaving it of a color only slightly different from what it was before it was smoked.

The scars, made by the larvæ of the insects, do not "take" the smoke as well as the healthy portions and so present a pitted or scaly appearance. From the skins having an abundance of the scars are made the tents and inferior grades of moccasins and the tops of the better class of footwear.

The paints used for decorating the buckskin garments are applied by means of bits of bone or horn of a peculiar shape best understood from the figures (Figs. 106-110).

Those with two, three or four tines are used for making the complicated patterns of parallel lines, and are always made of antler, while the simple form is sometimes of wood.

A block of wood with one or more bowl-shaped cavities cut in it (Fig. 111) serves to hold the mixed paints, especially when several colors are to be used in succession.

Small wooden bowls are also employed. (Figs. 112-113.)

The pigments used are procured from different sources. From the traders are obtained indigo in the crude condition or in the form of washing blue, vermilion in small buckskin bags, and a few other colors. An abundance of red earth occurs in several localities. The pigments are reduced to the finest possible condition and kneaded with the fingers until ready for the addition of water often mixed with a slight quantity of oil or tallow. A favorite vehicle for the paint is the prepared roe of a sucker (_Catastomus_) abounding in the waters of the district. The female fish are stripped of the mass of ova which is broken up in a vessel and the liquid strained through a coarse cloth. The color is a faint yellow which becomes deeper with age. The fluid is allowed to dry and when required for use is dissolved in water. It has then a semiviscid consistence and in this condition is mixed with the various pigments. When a yellowish color is desired the fish-egg preparation is applied alone. The albumen gives sufficient adhesive quality to the paint and produce a rich glaze, giving a good effect to the otherwise dull colors.

The process of preparing the crude mineral colors is quite tedious as the attrition is produced by rubbing the substance between two smooth stones, a little water occasionally being added to hold the particles together. The prepared paints are put in the vessels already described, and when ready for use a quantity is taken with the finger and placed in the palm of the hand while the other fingers hold the instrument by which it is to be applied. The paint stick is carefully drawn through the thin layer of paint spread on the other palm and a quantity, depending on the thickness of the layer, adheres to the edges of the appliance and by a carefully guided motion of the hand the lines desired are produced. The eye alone guides the drawing, however intricate it may be. The artist frequently attempts to imitate some of the delicate designs on a gaudy bandana handkerchief or some similar fabric. The principal source of the hematite is a lake near the headwaters of George's river where it occurs as a mass of disintegrated rock along the margin. The water has by freezing split great quantities from the mass and when there is a strong wind from the opposite direction the water is often lashed into a blood-red foam.

DWELLINGS.

The Nenenot live, both in summer and in winter, in deerskin tent, (see Fig. 114), which are constructed in the following manner: A sufficient number of small poles cut from the woods are deprived of their branches and brought to the camp site. A location is selected and the poles are erected in a circle, with tops leaning toward the center so as to form a cone 10 to 14 feet in height, having a diameter at its base of from 10 to 18 feet. The skins forming the cover are those of the reindeer, and those selected for this purpose are usually of an inferior grade. A sufficient number are sewed together to form a strip long enough to reach around the poles when set up. As the tents differ in size according to the number of people who occupy them, the skins sewed together may be from eight to twelve. The first strip is made for the lower part of the poles and is attached to them by means of strings fastened within. A second strip is made to go around the upper part of the poles, and is, of course, correspondingly shorter. It is placed last so as to overlap the lower breadth and thus prevent rain and snow from blowing in. The door is usually made of one large skin or two smaller ones. It is tied to the poles at the upper corners and at the lower has a small log of wood as a weight to prevent it from flapping. The poles at the apex are not covered and through them the smoke from the fire built in the center within ascends and finds exit.

The interior of the tent is arranged to suit the occupants. The floor is usually covered with the branches of young spruce, and when carefully laid these form an admirable protection from the cold ground and a soft carpeting.

The women who lay this flooring display great taste, and certain of them are noted for their skill in disposing the branches. The center of the tent is reserved for the fire which is built there among a few stones.

The occupants arrange themselves according to the importance of the place they occupy in the family. The owner or head man is always to be found on the side opposite the fire. This is considered a place of honor, to which all guests who are to be complimented are invited to a seat.

The other members of the group arrange themselves along the sides of the tent, and those who have been adopted into the family occupy positions next the doorway.

Over the fire may be poles reaching across the tent, and on these will be suspended kettles and pots obtained from the traders. The cooking utensils are few in number, one vessel serving various purposes.

The hunting gear and the skins of animals, together with the articles belonging to the females may be seen suspended from various portions of the interior. Around the edges are the blankets of deerskin, and those bought from the traders, lying in disorder. The outer edge of the interior is slightly raised above the center, and affords a convenient slope for those who desire to sleep. The occupants always sleep with their feet toward the fireplace, around which there is no brush, lest it be set on fire during sleep and destroy the tent.

They have regular hours for sleeping, but as these are only for a period of short duration, it is not unusual to find half the inmates asleep at any time a tent is visited.

The preparation of the food appears to go on at all times, and there are no regular hours for partaking of their meals, as each person eats when convenient. The food is taken directly from the pot or kettle, and each one helps himself. Forks are not used, and the food is divided with a knife or torn with the fingers.

SWEAT HOUSES.

The Nenenot are in the habit of taking steam baths, for which purpose they use a sudatory or sweat house, constructed as follows: A number of flexible poles of small size, usually willow or alder, which grow to sufficient size along the banks of the streams, are bent to form a hemispherical or dome-shaped structure, which is covered with tent skins. A sandy locality is selected or one free from snow in winter, and a fierce fire is built. When it is well under way a number of stones are thrown into the fire to heat. When the heat is sufficient the fire is removed and the structure is quickly erected over the hot stones and some one from the outside fastens down the edges of the tenting with stones to prevent the loss of heat. A kettle of water previously placed within the bath house is used to pour over the stones, when heat rises to a suffocating degree and produces the desired perspiration. Water is not used to bathe in, though sometimes a slight quantity is poured upon the head only. The bather remains within the hut until the heat has nearly exhausted him.

These baths are frequently taken, and often when he has just started on a journey the head of the family will be seized with a desire to have a bath. Everything must await this operation before the journey is resumed.

An amusing incident occurred at Fort Chimo in the spring of 1882. That season the reindeer were extremely numerous at that place, as they were crossing to go to the northeast to drop the fawns. Often when the herds or bands were panic stricken they rushed among the Indian tents, the houses of the station, and, in fact, everywhere, with yelping dogs and screaming women and children at their heels. An old man and wife were in the sweat house at a time when a very large drove of the deer, in their frantic endeavors to escape their pursuers, headed directly for the bath. Some one screamed to the occupants to look out for the deer. The man and wife made their exit just as a score or more of the animals reached the spot. The man tore up the tenting of the bath house and whirled it in the air, while the old woman cut the most astonishing antics. The whole population witnessed the occurrence and did not fail to help increase the tumult. Signs of former sudatories are quite common along the paths where the Indians have traveled for many years.

HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS, ETC.

Each household is supplied with sundry wooden vessels of various sizes (Fig. 115) which serve for buckets for holding water and for drinking cups. They are made of strips of thin boards cut from spruce or from larch trees, the wider strips being as much as six inches wide and one-third of an inch thick. They are steamed and bent into ovoid or circular forms and the ends of the strip overlapping. Then they are sewed with split roots from those trees. A groove is cut near the lower edge and into it is placed a dish-shaped piece of wood for a bottom.

These vessels are identical in shape and function with those manufactured by the Yukon river Indians of Alaska.

They also use berry-dishes or baskets like Fig. 116 made from the bark of the spruce peeled in the spring of the year. At this time the bark is quite flexible and may be bent into the desired shape. The corners are sewed with coarse roots from the same tree and the rim is strengthened by a strip of root sewed over and around it by means of a finer strand. These baskets serve a good purpose when the women are picking berries, of which they are inordinately fond; and during that season it is a rarity to see a woman or man without a mouth stained the peculiar blue color which these berries impart.

Baskets of this shape frequently have a top of buckskin sewed to them, closed with a drawstring, as shown in Fig. 117 (No. 3485). Such things serve to hold trinkets and other small articles.

Large objects are carried in bags, either long or basket-shaped, made of the skins of deer legs. The leg skins are scraped and worked to a moderate degree of pliability and their edges sewed together until a sufficient number have been joined to make the bag of the required size. This bag is used to hold the clothing, furs, and other valuables. When on a trip they are invariably carried. If the journey be performed on foot the two ends are tied with a thong and the bag thrown over the shoulder.

In preparing food stone pestles of various sizes were formerly used of the shape shown in Fig. 118. These pestles are now mostly out of date and superseded by cast-iron ones with steel faces, procured from the traders. The metal pounders, however, are so heavy that they are objectionable to people who have to make their burdens on the portages as light as possible.

Spoons to lift pieces of floating meat from the hot liquor in which it is cooked, are made of reindeer antler and of wood. The pattern of these spoons is shown in the figures (Fig. 119). One shape (No. 3351, Figs. 120, 121, 122), was perhaps copied from a civilized ladle. Pots are suspended over the fire with pothooks of reindeer antler hung up by a loop of thong. These pothooks are also made of wood.

STONE TOBACCO PIPES.]

TOBACCO AND PIPES.

Like all other Indians, these people are inordinately fond of tobacco for smoking, chewing, and snuff; the latter, however, is used only by aged individuals, especially the females, whose countenances show the effect in a manner quite disgusting. The men consider a supply of tobacco of as much importance as the supply of ammunition for the prosecution of the chase. The first request upon meeting an Indian is that you furnish him with a chew or a pipe full. Little satisfactory intercourse can be had with him until he is mollified by a gift of tobacco. The first thing that an Indian receives when arriving at the trading post is a clay pipe and a plug of tobacco. The pint of molasses and the three or four hard biscuit (which have received the local name of 'Canadian padlock,' doubtless because they are so difficult to open), are of secondary consideration. When the spring arrivals are camped at the station it is not unusual for several to contribute a number of plugs of tobacco and a gallon of molasses. These are boiled together and then water is added to the mixture. This villainous compound is drunk until a state of stupefaction ensues. The muddled creature under the influence of that liquor seems like an idiot. The effect is terrible and does not wear away for several days. The pipes used for smoking are made of stone obtained from river pebbles, usually a fine-grained compact sandstone. The color of this stone varies from a dark reddish brown nearly the color of clotted blood to a lighter shade of that color. The red stones often have spots of every size and shape of a yellowish drab which form a strange contrast with the darker colors. The darker the stone the less spotting it will have. The best of all the pipes and those most valued are of greenish sandstone having strata of darker colors which appear as beautiful graining when the pipe is cut into form and polished.

Other pipes are of hard slate and very dark without markings. All the material is hard and the effect of the fire within renders them harder and liable to crack if used in very cold weather. These pipes vary but little in shape (I have figured three--Pl. XXXVIII and Fig. 123--to show the pattern), but there is considerable difference in size. The largest ones are made of the green stone, while the smaller ones are made of other stones. The stem is of spruce wood and is prepared by boring a small hole through the stick lengthwise and whittling it down to the required size. It is from 4 to 8 inches long and is often ornamented with a band of many colored beads.

The rough stone for a pipe is selected and chipped into crude form. The successive operations of wearing it down to the desired size are accomplished by means of a coarse file or a harder stone. The amount of labor bestowed upon a pipe consumes several days' time before the final polish is given.

The value set upon these pipes is according to the color of the stone, as much as the amount of labor expended in making them. They are always filthy, partly on account of the bad quality of tobacco used. The ashes and other accumulations within are removed by means of a bodkin-shaped instrument of bone or horn. The back of a broken horn comb is a favorite material for making a decorated pipe-cleaner (Fig. 124). The ornamentations consist of cruciform and quadrate figures on the handle. The tobacco used for smoking is the commonest black plug of very inferior quality, soaked with molasses and licorice. This moist tobacco is cut into pieces and a coal of fire placed upon it. They prefer this quality, and purchase the lighter and drier kinds only to serve as kindling for the darker sort.

They do not know how to brew or ferment liquors of any kind, and as the importation of intoxicants is wisely prohibited, the native has no opportunity to indulge in his craving for liquors, the supply of which was plentiful in former years. A spruce beer is made by the servants of the company for the holidays, and a taste is sometimes given to a favorite Indian, who is so easily affected that a pint of this mild beer will send him reeling and happy to his tent, where it soon becomes known that beer is to be had. The importunities for drink are now so frequent, that the barrel must be emptied of its contents in order to avoid the constant beggings for it.

BIRCH-BARK CANOE, NENENOT, KOKSOAK RIVER PATTERN.]

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION.

BY WATER.

All the Indians of this region use birch-bark canoes, of the pattern shown in the figure (Pl. XXXIX, from a photograph; the collection also contains six wooden models of these canoes). The style of canoe used by the Little Whale river Indians of the eastern side of Hudson bay has very much more sheer at the bow and stern than those used in the valley of the Koksoak. The canoe of each individual differs from others according to the personal taste or need of the maker. The requirements are that the canoe shall be able to transport himself and family, together with the household property, whenever it is desired to change camps. Some of the canoes are small, others large, often possessed by two or more individuals in common.

These canoes are constructed in the following manner: Trees are selected which when split will afford a number of straight-grained slats free from knots. These slats are shaved to the required thickness and laid aside to season. They are 3 or 4 inches wide and less than one-third of an inch in thickness. The exterior or longitudinal strips are placed so that their edges will touch each other. The inside strips or ribs are placed about their own width apart, and of course are placed at right angles to the longitudinal slats. They are thinner than the side strips and become almost like shavings at the bow and stern. The two layers of slats form a kind of shell upon which the skin of bark fits tightly. The first process with the bark is to free it from the outside scaling layers; the next is to soak it for several days in fresh water to soften it; otherwise, when dry it would crack like an eggshell. When it has macerated a sufficient time it is taken out and laid over a form of clay or other earth, which has previously been roughly molded to the shape of the interior of the canoe. The bark is now sewed along the edges of the strips with roots of the spruce tree. These are long and tough, and resemble splits of rattan when properly prepared for the purpose by splitting and shaving with a knife. Various sizes of these roots are used for the different portions. The threads are also soaked in water until they become so flexible that they may be tied into a knot without breaking.

When the bark skin rudely conforms to the shape of the mold of earth, the rails or round strips of wood along the inner edge of the canoe are placed in position and the ends of the bark strips laid over it and sewed. A second rail is now laid upon the first and drawn down to it by means of the root thongs. A piece of wood is shaped for the bow and one for the stern and inserted in position, and the end seams of the canoe are sewed over these pieces.

The interior is then ready for the longitudinal strips, which are placed at the bottom first and gradually built up on each side until the rails are reached. The ribs or transverse strips are next placed in position. Five or more crosspieces, or thwarts, are fastened to the side rails to give stiffness to the sides and to prevent collapsing, and they may be set either below or above the rail. The greatest care must be exercised to give to both sides of the canoe the same shape and to have the keel evenly balanced. This is rudely regulated by the eye during the process of construction. After all the strips are put in, the boat is allowed to season and dry. This causes the bark to shrink, and while drying the whole is frequently inspected to discover any splits or cracks in the bark. The Indian often wets the canoe, lest it dry too rapidly and split under the tension. When the form and make are satisfactory the seams are smeared with a mixture of spruce gum (or resin bought from the traders), mixed with seal oil to render it less easily broken. This mixture is while hot laid upon the dry surface with a small paddle.

After the gum has seasoned for a day or so the canoe is put upon the water and tested for its speed and seaworthiness. All leaks and needed repairs are immediately attended to, and it is at length ready for use.

Many persons have not the skill needed to construct a canoe, and they employ those who have had experience and are known to build an excellent boat.

There are two kinds of canoes in use among those Indians, differing only in the shape of the stern and prow. The original form was nearly flat along the rails and had the bow and stern but little turned up. Of later years intercourse with some of their neighbors has induced them to modify the nearly straight edge canoe into an intermediate shape between their own and that of the East Main Indians, whose canoes are very much turned up, and are acknowledged to be far superior vessels to those of the Ungava Indians.

As the forests in the vicinity of Fort Chimo do not contain birch trees, and none are found until the headwaters of the Koksoak are reached, where they are too small to afford bark of sufficient size and thickness, the Indians are compelled to procure the bark from the traders, who import it from the St. Lawrence river and gulf stations to Fort Chimo. It comes in bundles large enough to cover a single canoe of moderate size. If a canoe is to be very large two bundles are required. The value of a black fox skin purchases a bundle of bark.

During the spring months, while the weather is somewhat warm, the men are engaged in preparing the strips and bark for the canoe which is to convey them up the river when the ice breaks and the river is open for navigation.

The paddle has a single blade with a handle scarcely more than half the length of the paddle. It is used with both hands, the strokes being given on alternate sides as it glides through the water.

When it is necessary that a portage be made the voyager takes the canoe upon his shoulders by letting one of the center thwarts rest on the back of the neck. The hands are thrown backward to hold up the end of the canoe from the ground. A headband, such as I have already described, of birch bark or cloth, often fancifully ornamented with beads, fits over the forehead and is attached to the sides of the canoe by means of thongs, which prevent the canoe from slipping off the shoulders as the porter quickly traverses the narrow pathway through the trees and bushes. The ground is often so uneven and rough that long detours have to be made by the porter, while the rest of the party may go a shorter path to the place where the canoe will again be placed in the water. A part of the necessary equipments for a trip in a canoe are pieces of bark, root threads, and gum to repair any damage resulting from an accidental contact with a stone or snag.

Without the birch-bark canoe the Indian would have difficulty in obtaining his living, as it is even more necessary than the sled, and nearly as useful as the snowshoe.

The paddles used with these canoes are about 5 feet long, having a blade about 30 inches long and 4½ wide. The handle terminates in a sort of knob. The paddle referred to, for applying the gum and grease to the seams of the canoe, has the shape of a flattened spoon with rounded bowl (Fig. 125). The gum is heated, and while hot is poured along the seams and pressed into the interstices of the stitches with the paddle. When a patch is to be applied over a fracture or broken place in the bark, it may be made to adhere by the sticky properties of the gum alone, if the distance to be traveled is not great. A fire is then made and the wax heated; the piece of bark is edged with the gum and pressed firmly over the rent. A second coat is applied over the edges of the bark, after the first has become cold. A few minutes suffice to repair an apparently alarming hole.

BY LAND.

For carrying loads over the snow all the Indians of this region use large sleds (Figs. 126, 127) called tá-bas-kán, which is a word equivalent to the well known name "toboggan." These sleds, as used among the Indians under consideration, differ very greatly in size according to the use for which they are designed.

The method of construction is as follows: A tree is selected as free from knots as possible and two boards of less than an inch in thickness are hewed or split from it. These boards are further dressed to the required thickness and width. The final operation consists in shaving them down with a "crooked knife" to little more than half an inch in thickness. One edge of each board is then straightened and the two edges placed together. The length is rarely more than 13 feet. The front end is steamed or heated in a kettle of hot water until the boards become flexible. The ends are turned up to the desired curve and then bent over at the end, where they are held in position by a transverse bar of wood. This bar is slightly concave on the side next the sled and gives the nose a curved shape. The curved portion of the front may rise as much as 18 inches above the surface over which the sled travels. At the place where the curve begins a second transverse bar is placed, and at a distance behind it a third, fourth, and fifth bars are fastened. Sometimes an additional bar is to be found on the upper side of the bottom. These bars are all fastened to the two bottom boards by means of thongs of parchment deerskin, and run through holes on the bottom boards. On the under side the thongs are let into places cut out between the two holes, so that the thongs will not be worn when passing over the snow. They are usually fastened in four places, one at each end of the bar and one on each side of the crevice between the edges of the two boards. From the nose of the first bar run a pair of very stout thongs or else twisted sinew, which are drawn tight enough to prevent the nose and curve from straightening out. From the end of the first bar to the last one on the heel of the sled is run a stout twisted thong under the end of each bar, which there has a notch cut on the under side for the line to pass through. This line serves to strengthen the sides and prevent the two boards from slipping past each other when passing over inequalities of the ground. At the ends of the first bar and connected with the side lines are two long stout thongs of twisted skin, often 25 feet long. These are used as traces, by which the sled is dragged. The shape of the bottom is often fashioned after all the remainder of the work has been done. The width of the nose is rarely more than 9 inches; at the first bar it is about 14 inches and as much as 18 inches between the first and second bars. From the widest part to the heel it gradually narrows to a width of 5 to 7 inches.

NENENOT SNOWSHOE--"SWALLOW-TAIL."]