12 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
Secondly, it would furnish an important means of subsis- 
tence to those whose work carried them into those regions 
where transportation and food supplies constitute a serious 
problem. If reindeer could be employed for hauling pur- 
poses they would prove superior to dogs, owing to their abil- 
ity to find food available, such as the northern mosses and 
lichens, whereas the food question in the case of dog trans- 
port is always a serious one. Thirdly, the presence of such 
a food supply would enable us to keep those regions pop- 
ulated to a greater degree than would be otherwise possible, 
thus facilitating the task of developing those areas to the 
extent that their valuable natural resources, particularly 
minerals, render desirable. ‘The musk-ox is also an animal 
of undoubted potential value in the development of our 
northern and arctic territories, and its utilization is dis- 
cussed in later chapters. 
Relation of Natives to Wild Life-——The necessity of a na- 
tive food supply in northern Canada demands serious con- 
sideration. Among the important aids at the present time 
in the utilization and development of the northern terri- 
tories are their natural inhabitants, the Indians, and, to a 
lesser degree, the Eskimos. Further, our moral obligations 
to the Indians render it necessary that means shall be taken 
to ensure them an adequate food supply and a potential 
source of revenue. This opens up the large question of 
the relation of the Indians to wild-life conservation to which 
further reference will be made later. But it cannot be too 
often remarked that the Indian, when unspoiled by white 
men, is traditionally a conserver of wild life, that is, he 
uses it but does not exterminate it. The Indians and the 
Eskimos knew what the results would be if they conducted 
a policy of extermination, and they took common-sense 
precautions accordingly. The Indians had their traditional 
hunting-grounds, and under the guidance of the recognized 
trading companies, particularly the Hudson’s Bay Company, 
