POINT OF VIEW TO THE VARIOUS CHIPEWYAN TRIBES- 259 



natives of these regions. The Slave Indians, dwelling along the McKenzie 

 and Liard's Rivers, are reckoned the most skilful fabricators of this manu- 

 facture. The things made out of them consist of belts, bands, garters, 

 bracelets ; and they are also used for ornamenting bark-work, dresses, and 

 shoes. In manufacturing belts, &c, a frame-work of sinew-thread is first 

 laid, through which the quills are interwoven in squares, something in the 

 manner of Berlin-wool work. The articles, when finished, are very pretty, 

 and some of the women are sufficiently adepts, to follow any angular 

 pattern which may be set them. The dyes used are procured principally 

 from the vegetable kingdom, though the natives residing in the vicinity of 

 the Ports often apply to the wives of our servants to tint the quills with 

 imported dye-stuffs. 



The Rabbit. (Lepus Americanus.) — This animal, so essential to the 

 welfare of the Ghipewyan nation, is spread all over the district, except 

 upon the barren grounds. It is subject to periodical failures, which occur 

 with great regularity, and which cause no small amount of privation and 

 suffering to the Indians, when they happen. When the animals are 

 numerous, the Tinne tribes of the McKenzie valley subsist altogether on 

 them, and the skins furnish almost entirely their winter clothing — robes, 

 shirts, capotes, mittens, and socks being made, which afford a sufficient 

 protection against the most severe cold, though they do not form lasting 

 garments, as the hair falls out very quickly. 



The Moose. (Alces Americanus.) — Is found, in greater or lesser num- 

 bers, throughout the wooded portions of the district. Its food consists of 

 the coarse grass of the swamps, and the shoots of various kinds of willows. 

 It produces from one to two at a birth. In size it is rather larger than a 

 horse, and a buck in its grease will weigh as high as 800 lbs., without the 

 offal. When in good condition, the flesh is sweet and tender, and is 

 highly esteemed as an article of food ; but should the animal be poor, or 

 have been subjected to violent exertion previously to death, the meat is 

 scarcely eatable. The nose or moufle is considered by some the greatest 

 delicacy of the north-west, contesting the palm with bear's paw, beaver 

 tail, reindeer tongue, buffalo boss, and sheep ribs. The Indians sometimes 

 snare the Moose ; and in the spring, when the action of the sun has formed 

 a thick crust upon the snow, they drive them into drifts, and spear them 

 in numbers. It is not a gregarious animal, and to hunt it requires more 

 skill than is necessary in the pursuit of either reindeer or buffalo. In the 

 winter, for some time before the hunter comes on his chase, he removes his 

 snow-shoes, and despite the thermometer many degrees below zero, some- 

 times takes off his leggings ; he then makes his approach cautiously, 

 cutting such twigs of willows as may be in his way with his teeth, and 

 avoiding, when possible, dry brush and fallen timber. As the slightest 

 unusual sound is sufficient to frighten this animal, the chosen period for 

 hunting it is during the continuance of a heavy gale of wind. During the 

 rutting season, which happens in the fall, the males are rather dangerous 

 to follow, and instances have occurred of native hunters having been 



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