TURNER] FOLK LORE. 267 



thing living on the earth from going to the region beyond. There is 

 the source of light and heat. The dome of tlie sky is very ('old, and at 

 times covered with crystals of frost which fall in the form of snow or 

 frost films to the earth, and then the sky becomes clear. The clouds 

 are supposed to be large bags of water, controlled by two old women 

 who run with them across the sky, and as the water escapes from the 

 seams it falls in the form of rain to the earth. The thunder is their 

 voice and the lightning is their torch. If a spark falls from this on 

 anyone he dies and goes to the region above. 



The winds. — At each of the corners of the earth there dwells an im- 

 mense but invincible spirit, whose head is many times larger than all 

 the remainder of his body. When he breathes the wind blows and 

 his breath is felt. Some breathe violent storms and others gentle 

 zephyrs. The male spirits dwell at the north, northeast, northwest, 

 and west. The females dwell at the remaining points, and each princi- 

 pal spirit lias innumerable intermediate and less powerful attendants. 



THE NENENOT OR " NASKOI'IE." 



The Indians of the Ungava district are locally known as iSTaskopie, 

 a term of rcproat^h applied to them by the mountaineers (the Montagnais 

 of the early Jesuit missionaries) during the- earlier days when the 

 former acted falsely in one of their c<mcerted strugtrles with the Eskimo 

 of the eastern coast. 



The name given to themselves is Nenenot, a word meaning true, or 

 ideal red men. To the west of these peojile dwell a branch of the tribe 

 along the east shore of Iliulson bay. To the southeast dwell the moun- 

 taineers. 



The western people differ greatly in customs and many words of 

 their language from the Neuenots. The mountaineers differ but little 

 in their customs, and only in speech as much as would be expected 

 from the different locality in which they dwell. 



These three tribes have distinct boundaries, beyond which they seldom 

 wander. Of late years, however, a gradual influx of the western people 

 has poured into the Ungava district, due to the decrease of the food 

 supply along that portion of the eastern coast of Hudson bay. 



The Nenenots appear, from the best information I could obtain on the 

 subject, to have been driven to their x^resent location during the wars 

 waged against them by the Iroquois in times long gone by and remem- 

 beied only in tradition. 



They assert tiiat their original home was in a country to the west, 

 north of an immense river, and toward the east lay an enormous body 

 of salt water. The former was supposed to be the St. Lawrence river 

 and the latter to be Hudson bay. When they came to their present 

 place they say that they found Eskimo alone, and these only along the 

 coast. They^ are a branch of the Cree stock, as their language clearly 

 indicates. 



