ETHNOLOGY OF THE UNGAVA DISTRICT, HITD- 

 SON BAY TERRITORY. 



By LuciEN M. Turner. 

 (Edited by John Murdoch.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



TJngava bay is on the northern coast of old Labrador — the last great 

 bight of the strait between the ocean and the mouth of Hudson bay. 

 Its chief affluent is Koksoak or South river, which is several hundred 

 miles long and takes its rise in a picturesque festoonery of lakes looped 

 through the highlands half way down to Quebec. 



FORT CHIMO AND THE SURROUNDING REGION. 



Fort Chimo is in longitude 68° 16' west of Greenwich and latitude 

 58° 8' north. The post is on the right bank of the Koksoak river, 

 about 27 miles from its mouth. The elevation o f the level tract on 

 which the houses are situated is but a few feet above high-water mark. 

 The location was selected on account of its comparative dryness, and 

 also because the river affords a safer anchorage in that vicinity than 

 lower down. 



The early Moravian missionaries, long before established on the At- 

 lantic coast, desired to extend their labors for the conversion of the 

 Eskimo to their teachings. About the year 1825 a vessel ascended the 

 Koksoak river for the purpose of selecting a new missionary station. 

 Nearly opposite Fort (Jhimo is a beacon, yet standing, erected by the 

 people of that vessel. Their reception among the natives was such 

 that they gave a glowing account of it on their return. The Hudson 

 Bay Company immediately took steps to erect a trading post upon the 

 river, and a small party was sent in the year 1831 from Moose Factory 

 to establish a trading post where the trade would appear to promise 

 futm-e development. The men remained there, obtaining a precarious 

 subsistence, as the vessel delivering them supplies visited that place 

 only once in two years. Their houses were simple, consisting of a 

 single structure for the ofificial in charge, another for the servants, and 

 two more for the storage of goods. A palisade was erected around the 



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