﻿392 KUTCHIN. 



passion for beads. A supply of them is indeed sent 

 to all the trading posts frequented by the 'Tinne, but 

 they are mostly purchased by the wives of Canadian 

 voyagers or half-breeds residing in the establish- 

 ments, and if desired by the natives for the same 

 purposes they are given to them as presents, or ex- 

 changed for articles of small value, and never, I be- 

 lieve, for furs. The Kutchin, on the contrary, will 

 not part with their furs unless they receive most of 

 the price in beads or shells, as they have not yet 

 learnt to value English cloth and blankets above 

 their skin dresses. Ammunition, by the instruc- 

 tions of the Hudson's Bay Company, is given in 

 exchange for provisions, or, when the natives are 

 in want, gratuitously, that they may be able to 

 support themselves. 



Each family possesses a deer-skin tent or lodge, — 

 the skins used in winter being prepared without 

 removing the hair, that the cold air may be more 

 effectually excluded. In summer, when the family 

 is travelling in quest of game, the tent is rarely 

 erected. A winter encampment is made usually 

 in a grove of spruce firs. The ground being 

 cleared of snow, the lodge- skins are extended over 

 flexible willow poles, which take a semicircular 

 form, and are transported with them from place 

 to place. The hemispherical shape of their lodges 

 is not altogether unknown among the Chepewyans 



