OF THE POLAR SEA. 241 
could now, by the produce of little exertion, ob- 
tain whatever they demanded from either esta- 
blishment. 
_ At the opening of the water in spring, the In- 
dians resort to the establishments to settle their 
accounts with the traders, and to procure the ne- 
cessaries they require for the summer. This 
meeting is generally a scene of much riot and 
confusion, as the hunters receive such quantities 
of spirits as to keep them in a state of intoxica- 
tion for several days. This spring, however, 
owing to the great deficiency of spirits, we had 
the gratification of seeing them generally sober. 
They belong to the great family of the Chipewyan, 
or Northern, Indians, dialects of their language 
being spoken in the Peace, and M‘Kenzie’s 
Rivers, and by the populous tribes in New Cale- 
donia, as ascertained by Sir Alexander M Kenzie 
in his journey to the Pacific. They style them- 
selves generally Dinneh men, or Indians, but each 
tribe, or horde, adds some distinctive epithet taken 
from the name of the river, or lake, on which they 
hunt, or the district from which they last migrated. 
Those who come to Fort Chipewyan term them- 
selves Saw-eessaw-dinneh, (Indians from the ris- 
ing sun, or Eastern Indians,) their original hunt- 
ing grounds being between the Athabasca, and 
Great Slave Lakes, and Churchill River. This 
Vou. I. R 
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