306 
extending as far north as Ungava Bay on 
the east and the region surrounding Rich- 
mond Gulf, on Hudson’s Bay, which forms 
the southwestern boundary of the Eskimo 
hunting ground. 
The two tribes are more or less closely 
connected by intermarriage, though en- 
tirely different in physique. The Montag- 
nais have apparently a large admixture of 
white blood, having intermarried with old 
courieur du bois and the French and English 
traders; the result is seen in the better 
physique of the tribe, the men being much 
more muscular than their northern relatives. 
The Nascaupees, as they inhabit the in- 
terior, have come in contact with the white 
man but little, and exhibit more the 
characteristic build of the pure-blooded 
Indian. The northern Nascaupees are, as 
a rule, the tallest men in Labrador, many 
of them being six feet and over in height, 
but slightly built and incapable of carrying 
half the loads of the more stockily built 
Montagnais. They still have a tradition 
that their people originally dwelt far to the 
south on the north side of a great river and 
were driven northward by the Iroquois. 
The language of all the Labrador 
Indians is various dialects of Cree, or a 
mixture of Cree and Ojibwa; the differ- 
ences in dialect in the same tribe are slight, 
so that an Indian speaking pure Cree can 
make himself understood among all the 
Indians of the coast and interior. 
The majority of the Montagnais spend 
the entire summer on the Gulf coast, coming 
out early in the spring and remaining until 
late fall. Brought in contact with the white 
trader for such lengths of time, they have 
lost many of their primitive traits and cus- 
toms, given. up, to a large extent, their 
nomadic life and settled down in log houses 
that frequently are furnished with many of 
the comforts of civilization. From these 
permanent settlements, during the winter 
they make their annual hunt into the back 
country, subsisting at such times principally 
upon supplies hauled from the coast, and 
thus, unlike their northern kindred, being 
practically independent of the movements 
of the deer.* } 
Though professing Christianity, the Mon- 
tagnais still adhere to many old supersti- 
_ *Caribou. 
RECREATION 
tions and beliefs—the conjurers, or medicine 
men, of the heathen Nascaupees, who they 
secretly believe can, if they wish, work harm 
by the aid of the evil spirits, still maintain 
great influence over them. During the past 
winter a young man killed his father in ac- 
cordance with an ancient superstition that, 
if the old become demented they turn 
cannibal; the father himself urged the deed, 
threatening in a period of madness to kill 
the whole family if his son did not comply 
with his wishes. The young fellow on his 
arrival at the Post told the Factor, with 
tears in his eyes, how he had made three 
attempts before he summoned courage to 
do as his father wished. And yet these 
same Montagnais travel hundreds of miles 
every year to meet their priest and are very 
strict in the observance of the rites and 
ceremonies of the Church. 
One branch of the Montagnais has en- 
croached on Nascaupee territory to the 
north, which is supposed to be bounded by 
the region surrounding Hamilton Inlet on 
the southeast. These families seldom visit 
the coast, their only communication with 
the traders being flying visits of the young 
men, who tramp to Davis Inlet on the 
Atlantic coast to trade for tea, tobacco and 
ammunition. This branch, hunting in the 
vicinity of Lake Michikamats, is much less 
civilized than that of the coast country, and 
has an even thinner veneer of Christianity, 
though professing the Roman Catholic 
religion and wearing the emblems of that 
faith. Their very existence depends solely 
on one thing, the deer, and should they miss 
these in their annual migration they are 
soon reduced to starvation, and many die. 
Even when in dire need they refuse to act 
as guides into the interior of the country, 
but whether this is due to laziness or fear 
of having their hunting territory opened up 
to trappers and prospectors I cannot say. 
Their demands for articles obtainable at 
the posts are confined to tea, tobacco, rifles, 
ammunition and articles of summer clothing 
which are procured in trade. The materials 
for winter clothing are furnished mainly by 
the chase. In the curing of skins the women 
are very expert, reducing them to the soft- 
ness and pliability of chamois. Their snow- 
shoes are of the finest workmanship, the 
weave being very close, fine and strong, 
