36 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



islands, the particular island each winter being determined by the condition 

 of the ice in the vicinity and the positions of the best sealing grounds. The 

 Akulliakattak Eskimos used to join the Haneragmiut at the same time a little 

 to the west, either on the south coast of Victoria island near Ingnerin, or 'else 

 in the middle of the strait between that place and Cape Bexley. At Christmas, 

 1914, the number of natives at the Listen and Sutton islands was 75, whereas 

 at Ingnerin there were about 40. In the following year about the same period 

 there were no natives at all at the latter place, but 139 at the former, since all 

 the Eskimos in the strait, and even some from Coronation gulf, had assembled 

 at Bernard harbour a short time before in order to trade with the expedition. 

 In February, after the sun returns, the island groups usually move west a few 

 miles to new and unexhausted sealing-grouhds. It was during this month, in 1915, 

 that the two bands in the strait amalgamated, and I was assured that this was 

 their usual custom, though the meeting is frequently postponed until March.' 

 Some time in March, too, they are regularly visited by the Eskimos of Corona- 

 tion gulf, and all the groups undergo reshuffling, some of the visitors remaining 

 in the west to spend the summer in the districts bordering on Dolphin and 

 Union strait, while some of the local natives go east to Coronation gulf. 



Mr. Stefansson mentions several tribal divisions at the west end of 

 Coronation gulf. He states that the Kangianermiut or Uallirgmiut, to the 

 number of about 30, occupy the headwaters of the Rae river; the Pallirmiut, 

 who number perhaps 40, occupy the basin of the same river; the Kogluktogmiut, 

 numbering about 30, inhabit the valley of the Coppermine river, and the 

 Kugaryuarmiut, numbering 25, the basin of the Kugaryuak river, eighteen miles 

 east of the Coppermine. On the opposite side of the gulf, on Victoria island, 

 Mr. Stefansson mentions the Nagyuktogmiut and the Killinermiut, two names, 

 he considers, for a single tribe that numbers about fifty. 



Some of these groups are no longer in existence. Neither myself, nor the 

 Rev. Mr. Girling later, ever heard of a people called Kangianermiut, while as 

 regards the alternative name Mr. Stefansson gives for them, Uallirgmiut (or, 

 as it sounded to me Uwalliarmiut), this was the usual designation of all the 

 Eskimos who gathered for the winter's sealing at the west end of Coronation 

 gulf. Uwalliak or Walliak (for the "U" is always faint and often imperceptible), 

 as nearly as I could discover, is or was a name for Richardson river, which 

 empties into the same estuary as the Rae. More rarely these natives were 

 called Pallirmiut, or Rae river Eskimos. In reality, any division into groups 

 that may have existed formerly has now been obliterated, and even the natives 

 themselves have ceased to make any distinctions. Some men when pressed 

 would say that they were originally Pallirmiut, but often they would add that 

 the Pallirmiut were extinct now; and whenever they gave themselves a name 

 of their own accord if was generally either Uwalliarmiut or Kogluktomiut. 

 Another group name that was sometimes heard was Asiagmiut, from Asiak, 

 a district that lies apparently between the Coppermine and the Kugaryuak 

 rivers; I never heard any natives call themselves Kugaryuarmiut, though the 

 term would be quite a natural one. Nagyuktok, according to most of the 

 Eskimos, includes all the islands off the south shore of Victoria island between 

 about 113° W. and 111° W., north and northwest of the Jamieson islands. Hence 

 they said it was uninhabited in summer, since the natives are unable to exist 

 on small islands at that season, but must go either to the mainland or to Victoria 

 island to the north. On the other hand one or two natives, when questioned 

 as to where they intended to spend the summer of 1916, said they were going 

 to Nagyuktok, meaning the south portion of Victoria island between perhaps 

 Lady Franklin point and the Richardson islands. Thus there would seem to 



'The Rev. Mr. Girling informs me that in 1918 they did not amalgamate at all. The Puivlirmiut and 

 Noahognirmiut were camped near Cape Lambert in March, while the AkuUiakattangmiut were at the 

 Liston and Sutton islands. 



