E. Petitot on the Athabasca District. 51 



From Athabasca the Chipewyans spread north by degrees 

 towards the shores of the Great Slave Lake, and east and north- 

 east towards Hudson's Bay, where, having met with vast herds 

 of wild reindeer, they settled on the Barren Grounds, living from 

 that time in common under the names of Yellow-knives ("T'altsan 

 Ottine"), and Caribou-eaters ("Ethen eldeli"). Such of thes e 

 as remained attached to the Churchill traders took the name of 

 the latter, and are still known to their western fellow-tribesmen as 

 " The-ye Ottine." Finally, many of them even ventured south to 

 Lake La Biche, Cold Lake, Lake La Ronge, Cross Island, Heart 

 Island, &c, where they bear the name of " Thi-lan Ottine " (Men 

 of the end of the head) . 



When leaving the fertile plain watered by the Peace R'ver 

 and its affluents, the Chipewyan Tinneys were hard pressed by a 

 tribe still more warlike than themselves, namely the Secanais or 

 " The-kke Ottine " (Men who live on the mountains) who in 

 their turn had come from the western slope of the Rockies, where 

 they left tribes identical with themselves as to language and 

 customs. 



As to the Beaver Tinneys, they crossed the mountains to the 

 south and reached the plains of the Saskatchewan, where still 

 lives a remnant of this people, the Sarcis (in Cree " Sarsewi ") 

 whose Black-foot name means bad (from " Sa-arsey," not good). 

 Hearne permitted the association of some Chipewyans on his 

 expedition to the Copper-mine River, a tributary of the Arctic 

 Ocean, with a result that is well known, as is also the massacre 

 committed by his followers among the Eskimo. 



The Hudson's Bay Company wasnotlong in founding a trading- 

 post on Lake Athabasca, establishing one under the name of 

 Wedderburne on an islet near Fort Chipewyan. This remained 

 till 1821, when the rival companies united their interests and put 

 an end to their regrettable hostilities. 



Commerce and religion have materially civilized the manners 

 and character of the Cree, Chipewyan, and Beaver Indians inhab- 

 iting the Athabasca district. They are at present quiet, peaceable, 

 inoffensive, and friendly to the white man, but very much dimin- 

 ished in numbers, the failure of animal life, and the extraordinary 

 decrease for many years in the waters of the rivers and lakes, 

 which has destroyed the fish to an immense extent, and driven 



