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twigs, if once pulled releases a sprung willow or branch of a tree, thus 
strangling the rabbit. The bottom of the loop, which has a simple slip 
knot, is raised a palm-width from the ground. When the rabbits are in 
season immense numbers can be caught with ease by this method. Snares 
for lynx are made in much the same fashion, only babiche is used instead 
of sinew and the snares are more protected at the side by brush to force 
the animal to enter at the right place. Caribou were formerly snared 
in the openings of long brush fences. Three-ply twisted babiche was 
used for this purpose and the animals were killed outright by the natives 
who awaited them. Bear snares are made of twisted babiche of many 
strands, but it is considered somewhat dangerous to catch them by this 
method. 
The steel trap has been adopted almost exclusively as a practical 
substitute for all other kinds. Only for marten does one occasionally 
see the prehistoric deadfall. This type, on a slightly different scale, 
presumably served for other animals. Two trees of about 6-inch diameter 
are felled and cleaned of brush. One is laid on the ground near the tracks 
where the trap is to be set and the other is put on top of it, separated 
at the mouth of the trap about 8 inches by a vertical stick. A small 
brush shelter or lean-to is built behind this stick so that the animal can 
only take the bait through the separated logs. The bait is on the end of 
a horizontal stick which extends into the trap-house. This bait stick 
also holds up the vertical support of the raised log, and the whole is so 
arranged that when the animal takes the bait he upsets the vertical 
stick, and the upper log, which is weighted with one or more cross logs, 
falls and crushes him. An experienced native can make a trap of this 
kind in a few minutes. A piece of dry fish is usually the bait. 
A peculiar trap for foxes is sometimes used on the great lake. A 
large block of ice is held from falling by a frozen fish, generally a herring 
about a foot long. When the fox pulls the fish out, the block of ice falls 
and crushes him. 
Eating Utensils. Eating utensils form a very limited part of the 
implemental culture of the Satudene, Spoon-like ladles were made out 
of musk-ox horn, cut, and expanded by the use of heated stones. Mountain 
sheep horn, also, was used for this purpose. Food was placed on mats 
of birch bark, for it was said that devils would hold the food if not placed 
on something. Food was eaten for the most part only with the aid of 
the fingers, but occasionally with the assistance of a knife. 
Metal Working. It is possible that the Satudene used native copper 
before the coming of the white man and not unlikely that they procured 
some of it themselves on trips to the country of Coppermine river. Native 
copper may have been used for arrowheads and for decorations. The 
Chipewyans are known to have collected copper (See Mackenzie, A., 
1802, page 75), and at the time of Mackenzie’s descent of the river of the 
same name, the Loucheux were obtaining iron from the Eskimo, who got 
it in turn probably from the Russians ( See Mackenzie, A., 1802, page 45) . 
Fire Making and Smoking. The Indians today have forgotten the most 
ancient methods of making fire, but it is highly probable that iron pyrites 
was used. Keith gives us the earliest and most authentic account of fire 
