271 
lake Nichikun, and a second from lake Nichikun to Ungava bay, with 
the exception of the narrow belt of coast-line from Ungava bay to 
the strait of Belle Isle, which w^as controlled by Eskimo. 
Both the Montagnais and the Naskapi, like the Micmac, w’ere 
nomadic peoples ignorant of agriculture and living exclusively by 
hunting and fishing. Their dialects w^ere almost identical, and their 
customs so closely alike that the twm tribes w^ere hardly distinguish- 
able. Such differences as did exist arose in the main from differences 
in their environments, for the Montagnais country w'as a wxll-wmoded 
area abounding in moose, wdiereas much of the Naskapi territory was 
54,584 
Camp of a Xaskapi family. (l*liolo hi/ F. IV. Waiujh.) 
open plateau covered wdth grasses and lichens, the natural feeding- 
ground for herds of barren-ground caribou. The Montagnais, there- 
fore, covered their conical wigwams wdth birch bark and hunted 
principally the moose durijig the wdnter months, moving down the 
rivers in the spring to spear salmon and eels, and to harpoon the seals 
that wTre then plentiful along the shores of the St. Lawu'ence. The 
Naskapi, on the other hand, covered their wdgw'ams wdth caribou 
skin, and hunted the caribou from midsummer until early spring, 
wdien some of them moved dowm to the coast, like the Montagnais, 
while others remained inland to fish in various lakes and rivers, and 
to hunt hares, porcupines, and other small game. 
