54 
boy scarcely two years old who “was so fond of these painful appendages 
that he hugged them as a plaything, and bawled lustily when his mother 
attempted to take them from him,” 
Toboggans were constructed of two or three hewn boards of birch, 
necessarily narrow because of the lack of large timber. They were shorter 
and narrower than the imported toboggan now in use and the head was 
less upturned. The original breed of dog in this region was very small, 
and not used for dragging the toboggans. When larger breeds were 
introduced in post-European times, three dogs were considered sufficient 
for a team, but now five or six are used. To drive fewer would be to lose 
caste. The harness is of the type used for horses and is obviously not 
of native origin. The dogs always are hitched tandem. 
In the springtime on the great lake sledges now partly supplant the 
toboggans for use on the glare-ice. The sledge consists simply of two 
heavy runners from 4 to 12 feet long, connected by boards or slabs of 
wood. These cross boards, which give the sledge a width of from 2 to 3 
feet, are tied in place with rope or babiche. Flat iron runners, purchased 
at the trading post, finish the construction of the sledge, for there is no 
framework above the carrying platform. The Greenland sledge may 
become common in the future as it was introduced by white men in 1928. 
Sledges have certain definite advantages; they raise the carrying surface 
out of the slush of melting snow, are capable of carrying greater loads with 
less traction, and do not suffer so much mutilation from rough ice as do 
the surfaces of toboggans. If toboggans are used in the spring, runners are 
always added. 
Travel is by no means easy, even with the aid of dogs. The snow in 
the timber country does not bear the weight of the toboggan except for a 
few days in the spring when the daytime thaw freezes to a supporting 
crust at night. Consequently, it is necessary ordinarily to go ahead of 
the toboggan and break out a trail with snow-shoes, an arduous perform- 
ance. I\ew trails require considerable cutting of timber and since the 
Indians cut no more than is absolutely necessary, considerable manipula- 
tion of the toboggan is demanded to keep it from smashing or catching 
on trees and stumps. Thus travel under adverse conditions is limited 
to a very few miles a day, whereas on the glare-ice of the lake in the spring, 
75 miles is not impossible. When the men go alone they travel much 
faster than when accompanied by their families. All trails are divided 
into “spells,” a distance that varies greatly but averages about 5 miles. 
Generally, at the end of each spell, the order of travel, is changed so that 
the leading team is rested. 
Trails are blazed, but very indistinctly, the native making use of his 
memory in a way that seems uncanny to white men who find only monot- 
ony in the endless timber. A gnarled tree or a clump of bushes is a dis- 
tinctive sign post for the Indian and he feels assurance while in his own 
country that he cannot go very far without recognizing his location by 
some familiar land mark. 
The extent of travel among members of the Satudene group has prob- 
ably increased in recent years with the assured peacefulness of their 
neighbours. A fair number have visited Rae, on Great Slave lake; some 
have been to Coronation gulf, jon the Arctic coast; and quite a few have 
hunted in the country west of the Mackenzie for a season. 
