312 



THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 





shoe to avoid a stumble. In descending the body must be thrown well 

 back or a pitch heels over head ensues, and sometimes the 

 frames strike the back of the head. 



To put them on the feet the foot must enter the loop from 

 forward towaid the rear, and when the loop is on the foot 

 the latter must be turned within the loop and then passed 

 under the toe band. 

 I Everybody wears snowshoes — men, women, and children. 



Without them travel in winter would be an impossibility, 

 and as the capture of furs is made iu winter and the ground 

 to be hunted over must of necessity be of great area, the 

 snowshoe becomes a necessity as much as the canoe in sum- 

 mer. 



I collected two peculiar pairs of snowshoes, made of flat 

 spruce boards(Fig. 131). Theyare shaped exactly like netted 

 snowshoes of the "beaver tail" pattern, and the arrangement 

 of the foot strap is the same as usual. 



They came from the Little Whale river Indians, who in- 

 formed me that they were worn on soft snow. 



In the spring of the year, when the snow is rapidly melted 

 by sun, the netted snowshoes become clogged with slush, 

 rendering the weight very fatiguing. Wooden snowshoes 

 are admirably adajjted for that season of the year, and may 

 be made in a few hours, while the netted ones require sev- 

 eral days' assiduous labor. The Indians of the Koksoak val- 

 ley do not use the wooden snowshoes. 



WEAPONS. 



Iu former times these Indians used the bow and arrow 

 exclusively, but they have now nearly discarded these wea- 

 pons for the guns which they procure from the traders. 



The bow and arrow is, however, still used to kill ptarmi- 

 gan, hares, and rabbits. The bow (Fig. 1.32) consists of a 

 piece of larch or spi'uce wood of 1 to 6 feet in length. It is 

 only slightly narrower and thinner at the ends, and nearly 

 an inch thick and an inch and a half wide at the central por- 

 tions. But little ingenuity is displayed in the construction 

 of these weapons. They have considerable elasticity, and if 

 broken it is easy to obtain a piece of wood from the forest and 

 fashion another. The string is a strand of dei'rskin, twisted 

 or rolled. It is rare to find a bow that has a single string. 



The arrows are usually 2 feet or 30 inches long, and feath- 

 ered with three ptarmigan feathers. (Figs. 133-130.) The 

 head is usually an egg-shaped knob, terminating in a slender 

 point which soon breaks oft'. 



This weapon is used for small game, as the cost of ammu- 

 ■^Nenel^?""' "^ition is too great to spend it upon game as readily procured 



