182 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



Grand Rapids, No. 9,612, is of bone. It is 5.6 inches long and 

 0.3 inch wide in the middle whence it tapers to a rather 

 sharply pointed end. The babiche passes through a hole in 

 the center. 



Rabbit Snares. The northern hare is taken in snares made 

 of wrapping or netting twine. To avoid the exposure of the 

 hands, in setting them with slip knots to trip the spring, they 

 are provided with short sticks which act as levers. A typical 

 specimen, No. 9,617, is of wrapping twine 25 inches long with 

 a slip noose at the lower end and a loop at the upper to pass 

 over the end of the spring. The catch stick is 3 inches from 

 the loop and is 2.7 inches long by 0.25 in diameter. It is fas- 

 tened by a simple knot at each end. 



Pack Saddles. The collection contains two frames from the 

 Piegan reservation near Macleod. One of these, No. 11,230, is 

 of two curved slabs of pine joined at the ends by strongly 

 arched sections of deer antler. The sides are 18.5 inches long 

 by 5.25 wide and curved to fit the back of the horse. They are 

 firmly lashed to the arches which rise 4 inches above them and 

 hold them 5 inches apart. The whole is covered with a single 

 pice of rawhide. The girth was attached to thongs passed 

 through two holes at each end of the side pieces. 



Snow-shoes. There is a pair of small or " tripping " snow- 

 shoes in the collection, No. 10,826, from Grand Rapids. They 

 were intended for use on hard snow, either upon Lake Winnipeg 

 or in traveling behind a loaded sled through the bush. The 

 frame is of birch wood, 42 inches long and 9 wide. The sides 

 curve upward in front meeting in a point. Each piece is 0.8 

 inch wide and 1.25 inches deep. There are three bars; the 

 smallest serves to spread the frame at the upward curve; 7 

 inches back of this is the toe bar, which is 1.2 inches wide and 

 0.3 inch thick, with its edges well rounded. It is 12 inches 

 from this to the heel bar, which is somewhat smaller. The 

 sides are fastened at the rear by a single heavy screw, the 

 point of which is cut off flush with the surface. They are not 

 "rights and lefts;" such shoes are not met with among the 

 Wood Crees. Along the sides of the toe and heel spaces, a 

 pair of holes a half inch apart appear at intervals of 2 inches, 

 through which a strand of babiche is fastened in a simple knot 

 holding a tuft of colored worsted on the outside of the frame 



