Country of the Copper Eskimos 23 



Banks peninsula was near the most easterly point of the mainland reached by 

 any of the members of our expedition; the country beyond is known only from 

 the journeys of the earlier explorers and of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police 

 patrol in 1917, and from the descriptions of the Coronation gulf Eskimos. The 

 eastern side of Bathurst inlet is known as Umingmaktok, while Kent peninsula, 

 to the north is Kiglinguyak. Farther east is Asiak, the country of the Asiagmiut 

 people, while opposite them on the southeast corner of Victoria island is Ekaluk- 

 tok, the home of the Ekaluktomiut. Hanbury says of Asiak that it is a very 

 barren country, though caribou, musk-oxen and fish abound, while in winter 

 polar bears are killed on the ice. This was borne out by the statements of an 

 Asiak native whom I met near Bathurst inlet, but he added that there were no 

 brown bears, although they are occasionally encountered west of Kent peninsula. 



Turning to Victoria island there is the district of Hanerak, opposite Stapylton 

 bay, on the other side of Dolphin and Union strait. This was the country of 

 the Haneragmiut before they ceased to exist as a separate unit; it extends from 

 about Cape Baring {Jkpigyuak) to the pomt marked "CUffs about 80 feet" on 

 Rae's map, nearly northeast of Cape Bexley. Following the coastline around 

 from Cape Baring, the first slight point, which also is marked by Rae "Cliffs 

 about 80 feet," is called Nauyat, from the numbers of seagulls {(nauyat) which 

 make it their haunt. Between Nauyat and Point Pullen {Sinieluk), a rocky 

 promontory connected with the mainland behind by a narrow isthmus of sandy 

 clay, is Bell island (Kikiktaryuk). A. long low sandpit runs out from the west 

 side of Point Pullen towards Bell island, and a ^mall sandy islet lies almost 

 awash half way between the two, but Bell island itself is high and rocky. On 

 it are the ruins of an old wood and sod hut, according to Captain Jos. Bernard, 

 who wintered in a Uttle nook behind Point Pullen in 1913-14. Mount Arrow- 

 smith, directly behind, is called by the Eskimos Annorillit, and a peak just to 

 the west of it is Kingmiktorvik. The Colville hills are here not more than a mile 

 or two from the sea, and two creeks of considerable size have their outlets in 

 Penny bay. One, the Attautsikkiak, rises beside Mount Kingmiktorvik, and rushes 

 down in a narrow bed between high steep banks of clay superimposed on dolo- 

 mite until it reaches the mud flats on the coast. In autumn the stream is dim- 

 inished to a mere brook, though it evidently pours down a great volume of water 

 in spring. The other creek, the Kugaluk, is larger and longer, flowing more from 

 the east and receiving considerable accessions from a number of small lakes. 

 Its banks are wider apart and generally not so high as those of the Attautsikkiak, 

 though in one place, about five miles from the sea, where it cuts through a bed 

 of dolomite running northwest by southeast, it forms a beautiful gorge some 

 300 yards long and from 50 to 100 yards wide, while the cliffs are about 40 feet 

 high. Here the Eskimos often fish in summer, jigging with long lines from a, 

 ledge half way down the face of the cliff into a deep pool beneath. Just below 

 the gorge, nodules of pyrites are found in the creek bed, and from time immemor- 

 ial the Eskimos have come here to gather them, using 'them to strike fire. The 

 Kugaluk also pours its waters into Penny bay, about a mile southeast of the 

 Attautsikkiak. 



The dolomite cliffs of Cape Hamilton (Misumeok) are the most conspicuous 

 feature along this coast. ^ The next small cape a few miles farther east is Niahog- 

 naryuk, and the coast for a few miles east of that again is called Kinaruk. About 

 25 miles east of Cape Hamilton are the dolomite cliffs of Tulukak, the home of 

 "ravens," which have another home in a smaller dolomite cliff just to the west 

 known as Tulukakak. To the traveller sledding along the coast, Tulukakak seems 

 to be about 50 feet high, with its cliffs running north and south, Tulukak itself 

 being a little higher and running approximately east and west. Then follows a 

 shallow bay about 12 miles broad, bounded on the east by the cHffs of Ingnerin 

 ("fire-stone," because, it is said, pyrites exists here also). Zngnenn is sometimes 



'Rae gives them an altitude of 170 feet. 



