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 Imew 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, 



