61 
making among the Hares. He says (Keith, 1890, II, page 122): “They 
make use of two pieces of metallic ore, with a kind of spongy substance 
found upon the bark of the smooth poplar tree, to make fire.” This 
method is also mentioned by Wentzel (1890, I, page 79) as being used by 
the Beaver (Slave) at the same period. Fire steel and flint ore early took 
the place of the original method. For touchwood the Indians used a 
fungus from birch trees or, according to Keith, from poplar. Nothing 
may be found today but matches. 
Smoking appears to be an intrusive art among the northern Atha- 
paskans. Mackenzie says (Mackenzie, A., 1802, page 31) that the natives 
did not appear to know the use of tobacco. There is no record of any 
stone pipes among the Satudene, but Russell (1898, page 180) reports 
having seen and collected, during his trip among the Hogribs, two, one 
of which was of fine-grained sandstone. King (1836, vol. I, page 123), 
speaking from his camp on the north shore of Great Slave lake, comments 
on seeing “a variegated marl of greenish grey colour, in all probability 
washed from the rock whence the natives obtain their pipe-stone, situated 
according to the Indian's statement, in a direction due north of our 
station.” It would thus appear that smoking was definitely established 
by 1835. The Satudene today, if necessary, will make a pipe out of 
spruce or willow wood. It is said that they smoke the dogwood plant, but 
Pike says (1892, page 29) that the Slave Lake Indians (probably referring 
to Dcgribs) prefer the inner bark of red willow. 
Snow Glasses. No aboriginal form of snow glasses could be found 
among the Satudene or surrounding tribes, although the natives are not 
immune to snow-blindness. It is said that wooden ones of Eskimo type 
were formerly used by the Hare Indians at Good Hope. Simpson (1843, 
page 235), however, speaking of Indians who probably belonged to the 
Hare tribe, says that, unlike the Eskimo, they had contrived no pre- 
caution against ophthalmia and that almost everyone who arrived had it. 
Whitney (1896, page 286) figures a pair of snow glasses which may have 
been in use by Dogribs. They appear to be simply two wooden disks 
with a T-shaped aperture cut into them, held in position over the eyes 
by narrow bands of soft leather in the fashion of heavy motor goggles, 
but there is little evidence to believe them an Indian adaptation. 
Weapons. The Satudene used the bow and arrow, and knives and 
spears pointed with bone and possibly with native copper. The bows 
were made almost exclusively of dried willow and were generally about 
5 feet long. They were about lj inches wide, concave on the outside 
surface, and flat on the inner. All bows among these people, except toys 
of the children, carry a guard about \ inch thick, the width of the bow, 
and If to 2 inches long. The bows when at rest have very little arc, so 
that the bow-string lies against this guard. The bow strings are made of 
twisted sinew or, less commonly, of a single strand of light, twisted 
babiche. The sinew is wetted, rolled on the knee, and then attached 
to the opposing V notches at either end of the bow. The bow-string 
becomes rough with use and it is common to see the men who are about 
to shoot the bow licking with their tongues the little dry ends of sinew. 
The bow is generally held in the left hand, palm upwards, at an angle 
nearer horizontal than vertical. The arrow is held against the bow- 
