MAMMALS OF XORTIiERX CAXADA lOr, 



this and subsequent winter trips to the coast, we observed 

 fresh traces of reindeer, while the Eskimos informed us that 

 some animals were occasionally seen, and a few shot, almost 

 every winter, very close to the ice-covered sea. The Fort 

 Indians usually snared a number of reindeer in spring and 

 summer, but their big annual hunt was made in the fall, 

 when they frequently shot and speared them by the hundred. 

 During the winter season they always succeeded in killing 

 a few individuals now and then, but more, of course, when 

 the snow happened to be deeper than usual. 



W^'hen the fall of snow is light and the weather severely 

 cold, the reindeer are almost constantly on the move, and 

 are then very difficult of approach. At such times, especially 

 when rabbits are scarce, the " caribou-eating " Indians fre- 

 quently suffer much privation for want of food while follow- 

 ing them for a living in their winter peregrinations. The- 

 skin of the reindeer furnishes the Eskimos with nearly all 

 of their summer and winter clothing. The hair or fur is 

 never removed in this connection; the made-up skin of the 

 fawn forms the inner shirt, with the fur side next the body. 

 (The skin of the musquash is sometimes iised in a similar 

 manner.) The outer tunic, shirt, or capote, with hood at- 

 tached, is made from selected portions of adult late summer 

 or early fall skins, with the hair outside and having the 

 borders trimmed with a thin strip of the fur of the wolf or 

 wolverine. A sufficient number of similarly scraped but un- 

 dressed skins are sewed together and mounted on poles to 

 form a summer tent or lodge, and also for sleeping robes or 

 blankets for personal and family use. These robes are as 

 flexibly prepared as the tunics, and are very comfortable on 

 a cold, windy night. The Indians are also generally in- 

 debted to the reindeer for winter robes and capotes, and 

 likewise for tents and dressed leather for making moccasins, 

 gloves, tunics or shirts, trousers, game bags, and women's 

 and children's dothing. Certain inferior and many fly-cut 

 skins are converted into " babiche " for lacing snow-shoes, 



