180 H. P. STEENsBY. 
to help them?, The man’s only task was to make the toboggan, and 
if he was too lazy to do so, the woman had to put up with carrying the 
luggage on her back, or — as HEarne* reports — with wrapping it 
up in skin, and pulling it along the ground. 
Canoe, snow shoes, and toboggan are contrivances which, on ac- 
count of their exact adjustment to the conditions of nature, have been 
able to maintain themselves even to this day. On the other hand most 
of the real hunting-implements disappeared fairly early, in the same 
ratio as trading with the Hudson Bay Co. advanced, but even in 1789 
MAcKENZIE found bows and arrows, as also the lances for hunting big 
game, in use along the Mackenzie River. HEARNE likewise mentions 
and illustrates a spear of this kind used for “killing reindeer in the water.” 
Other implements which ought to be mentioned are the two or | 
three-pronged fish-spear; another fish-spear which was used both for 
throwing and thrusting, being provided with a line which was held fast 
in the hand or tied to the stern of the canoe; harpoon-forms where the 
point is released with the thrust; harpoon-arrows which are shot with 
a bow; a club, which, according to Mackenzie, was of reindeer antler 
and ¥% metre in length; and an ice pick which was used for making 
holes in the ice, and was for all the northern Indian tribes an indispen- 
sable instrument, as their fishing through holes in the ice during the 
winter was dependent on it. Nowadays the natives buy iron picks 
or axes, and the original form is known only from one single report, 
through the legends, and from some archeological discoveries. It con- 
sisted of a single branch from the antler of the elk or reindeer, which 
was fastened to a shaft of wood*® 1—1*/2 m. in length. 
For the sake of completeness it must be mentioned, moreover, that 
the Indians here mentioned knew fishing nets, which they made of wil- 
low bast. Without doubt, however, it is a late acquisition of culture. 
Besides large nets, the bag-nets on a frame-work fastened to a long stick, 
and well known from the Eskimo, were employed. Fish-hooks were also 
known. Even Hearne‘ observed fishing with hooks through holes in 
the ice; and Mackenzre® saw fishing-lines made from the sinews of 
animals, and hooks of wood, horn and bone. The personal outfit was 
not complete without a knife. Mackenzie observed at the Mackenzie 
River that the Indians were in the habit of carrying a knife in a sheath 
which hung from the neck®, 
* Mackenzig, p. 120; Franxuin, I, pp. 160—-61; Ricuarpson, I, Vol. II, pp. 
15—16, 92—95; Hewry, p. 301. 
* Hearne, I, p. 849. 
* Scnootcrart, Vol. 1, pp. 88—89; Hearne, I, p- 116; Kine, p. 152. 
* Hearne, I, p. 45. 
® MacKenzie, p. 387. 
ae cannot refrain from pointing to what a degree the old North Indian copper 
knives, for which the material was native copper procured from copper 
