10 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



opposite side of the strait, with whom several days were spent. I visited the latter 

 Eskimos again early in December, and Uved with them for about three weeks. 

 The greater part of January was spent in their winter settlement at the Liston 

 and Sutton islands,. and time was found to pay a brief visit to another group 

 of Eskimos who were living on the south coast of Victoria island some fifty miles 

 to the northwest. In February I accompanied Dr. R. M. Anderson, the leader 

 of our party, up the Coppermine river, and on the return journey visited the 

 Eskimos of western Coronation gulf. Many of these gulf people accompanied us 

 to Bernard harbour, and settled down beside us, so that it was possible to carry 

 on researches at our own station. Towards the end of the month I accompanied 

 Mr. Cox on a short survey trip along the coast to Locker point, and had an 

 opportunity of pajdng another visit to the Eskimos in that region. 



In April, 1915, the Eskimos, who had been hving in large communities on 

 the sea ice all through the winter, began to break up into small bands and slowly 

 travel towards the land at various points along the coast. As they would be 

 hunting and fishing inland throughout the summer, and would probably seldom 

 come near our station, I decided to attach myself to one of their parties during 

 that period and to share their migratory life. An old couple adopted me into 

 their family, and from May to November we wandered about in the southwest 

 of Victoria island. By that time the strait was frozen solidly again and I was 

 able to rejoin the expedition at Bernard harbour. 



A large band of natives settled beside our station in the middle of November, 

 and for a month researches were carried on among them without going further 

 afield. They crossed over to the Liston and Sutton islands early in December, 

 and I followed them and spent the greater part of that month and of the follow- 

 ing January in their settlement. In February, 1916, accompanied by the Rev. 

 H. Girling, an Anglican missionary who had entered the country the previous 

 summer, I travelled east to the Jamieson islands in order to visit the Bathurst 

 inlet natives. Very bad weather was encountered on both the outward and the 

 homeward journeys, so that we did not reach Bernard harbour again until 

 March 18. A large train of natives from all parts of Coronation gulf followed us 

 to our station and settled down beside us for a month, a very welcome pro- 

 ceeding, as it saved me from the necessity of living in their settlements. On April 

 20, Mr. Girling and myself set out for his station some 120 miles to the west, at 

 Point Clifton, the topographers of the expedition having reported near this 

 point some ancient houses built of wood and sod after the manner of the western 

 Eskimos. I returned on May 15,' and continued my ethnological work among 

 some Eskimo families who had camped beside our house. June was a very busy 

 month, as all our specimens had to be packed and the ship loaded in preparation 

 for our departure as soon as the ice conditions should render navigation possible. 

 Nevertheless, towards the end of the month, I journeyed overland to Cape 

 Krusenstern to examine an old stone house in that vicinity, and to visit the 

 various bands of Eskimos who were trapping salmon in different creeks along 

 the coast. Finally, on July 13, 1916, after spending rather less than two years 

 in the region of Coronation gulf, the expedition sailed out of Bernard harbour 

 on its return journey to civilization, and our field-work came to an end. 



I was greatly handicapped during our first year in this Copper Eskimo 

 country by the lack of an interpreter. We had been able to secure the services 

 of only one western native when we entered the region, the Mackenzie river 

 youth Palaiyak. This boy had but the merest smattering of English, and more- 

 over much of his time was inevitably taken up with miscellaneous duties around 

 the station, such as hunting. During the seven months spent with the 

 Copper Eskimos on Victoria island I had no interpreter at all. Conditions were 

 much more favourable in the second year, for Dr. Anderson was able to engage 

 a half-breed Eskimo boy named Patsy Klengenberg to help me in my work. 

 Patsy could neither read nor write at first, but he had a fair conversational know- 



