Walrus are less plentiful than in earlier years, but they are the 

 major source of dog food. The Eskimos prefer seal meat, which 

 is their staple diet in the coastal eastern arctic. There are several 

 species, but the ringed seal and the bearded seal are the most 

 numerous. They feed along the coasts and in the fiords on plank- 

 ton, and usually stay near the open pack ice. Whaling in the 

 eastern arctic almost disappeared with the extinction of the larger 

 whales. White whales and narwhal have some local importance. 



Fish are not as plentiful as had at one time been supposed. 

 Arctic char is the most common food fish and an important part of 

 the Eskimo diet. In the spring and autumn the char are caught 

 in the streams, but in the summer they usually go out to sea. Fish 

 grow slowly in far northern waters and attempts to develop a fish- 

 ing industry has not been successful because of the fairly rapid 

 depletion of fish in any one area. 



In the summer geese and ducks nest in the swampy areas and 

 many birds are to be found throughout the mainland and island 

 sections. 



Fur trade is a somewhat unstable economic factor in the eastern 

 arctic. The fur of the arctic fox is the chief export. Total fur 

 yields, including white, blue, and red fox as well as some others, 

 range in value from $250,000 to $700,000 annually. 



RESOURCES 



Detailed exploration has not been made in the Eastern Arctic to 

 ascertain all possible mineral resources. Some deposits of nickel, 

 copper, platinum, gold, and silver have been found along the weSt 

 coast of Hudson Bay. An extensive iron ore deposit has been 

 found recently in central Ungava, and plans are going forward for 

 its exploitation. In the Belcher Islands iron bearing formations 

 have been assayed as containing too much silica to make them 

 profitable for commercial development. Some low grade coal and 

 lignite have been a source of local fuel in northern Baffin Island 

 but they lack commercial value. More thorough surveying and 

 prospecting may disclose mineral wealth unknown at present to 

 bring industry and population into this region. 



HUMAN GEOGRAPHY 



The present population is small, although four-fifths of the total 

 Canadian Eskimo population live in the eastern arctic. The cli- 

 mate, topography, and resources have limited, and to some extent 

 have determined, the spread and density of the population. The 



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