TURNBK.] 



HUNTING. 



317 



animal uutil the death blow is given, that very instant he certainly 

 will be bitten with teeth so sharp and powerful that the fingers may be 

 snipi)ed from the hand as though witli a pair of shears. The wound 

 thus inflicted is often very severe and difficult to heal, as the bite is 

 not only cutting but crushing. 



Where the water can be drained from the pond or lake 

 in which the beavers' hut is built, the Indians often leave 

 it high and dry by damming off the supply and allowing 

 the water to drain away. As soon as the house is out of 

 water the occupant emerges and is killed. Beavers are 

 sometimes shot while sporting on the water during moon- 

 light nights. 



Some of the animals are captured by means of a net of 

 peculiar construction. This net is of fine deerskin thongs 

 netted into a circle nearly 2 feet in diameter, with meshes 

 about an inch square. The meshes in the outer row are 

 threaded upon a stout thong of deerskin, in length about 

 four times the diameter of the net. This thong is now tied 

 at the ends, and over one end thus tied is slipped a ring 

 made of spruce root and wound with sinew to strengthen 

 it. This ring is about an inch in diameter, only sufficient 

 to allow freedom of the ends of the line. It is fastened 

 to one of the meshes of the net in order to keep its i)lace. 



Where the water is too deep and only a single beaver is 

 in the lodge the net is carefully spread over the mouth of 

 the exit so placed as to form a purse into which the head 

 and neck of the animal will be thrust as it leaves the hut. 

 The mouth of the purse now tightens from the ring slip- 

 ping along the string, and thus strangles the animal or 

 else causes it to drown as it struggles to escape from the 

 tightening cord. 



The net is said to be a very effective means of capturing 

 the beaver and will succeed when it has become too wary 

 to be shot on the surface of the water. 



The flesh of the beaver is considered valuable food by 

 these people. They prize it highly and prefer the flesh 

 of the female to that of the male. 



';l 



Flo. 141.— Crooked 

 kuife, Nenenot. 



MISCELLANEOUS IMPLEMENTS, TOOLS, ETC. 



One of the most important tools used by the Nenenot is the " crooked" 

 knife (Fig. 141). These instruments are made from steel files or knife 

 blades. They are of various sizes depending on the amount of material 

 at hand. The Indian takes a piece of metal and grinds one side of it 

 flat and smooth; the other is edged like a drawing knife. The blade is 

 now heated and bent to the desired curve. Some are more bent than 

 others and some have only the point bent to one side. The few left- 



