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people display the greatest affection toward the children, laughing at 
their antics and sympathizing with their sorrows. They will seldom force 
a child to do anything if it cries, and the child is its own doctor when there 
is a decision to be made in the matter of taking medicine. 
The sick and aged are humanely treated within the limits of their 
guardians’ understanding and the possibilities of the circumstances. Grey 
hair is comparatively infrequent among the Satudene and apparently 
has no particular significance. 
Lying. Lying is one of the most talked of characteristics of the 
northern Indians and one of the most disliked by white commentators, 
since they are apt to be placed in an unpleasant, if not dangerous, position 
as a consequence. Richardson says (1852, page 148) of the Hares and 
Dogribs that they can scarcely be said to esteem truth a virtue, which is 
probably more true than he realized. As Morice has already pointed 
out (“Anthropos,” vol. 5, page 22) “a Dene is never supposed to tell the 
truth in his first account of anything.” A Satudene hunter or trapper 
will always first say that he has not killed anything, although his bag 
may be filled. This type of story telling is considered an art, but can 
hardly be said to mislead another Indian. The man’s wife may exhibit 
signs of sorrow and put the kettle on at the same time, but it is much more 
difficult for the stranger to know what is implied, and in some cases the 
native has undoubtedly learned how to use this trait to his own advantage. 
If an Indian visits for a definite purpose and the reason is asked, he will 
answer ‘ekuri” — no reason — but a few minutes later he may say that 
he wants medicine for a child that has badly cut itself. 
The use of the word “sondi” is interesting in this regard. The word 
is forced to convey three meanings, “I know”; “perhaps”; and, “I know 
but I will not tell you.” An enjoyment of the climactic effect of anti- 
thesis seems to be fundamental. 
Despite this characteristic lying, the people cannot be truly said to be 
dishonest, and it is interesting to note that the same Richardson who 
considered the lying as darkening the Indians’ character, comments on 
their strict honesty and compares their regard for the property of white 
people as differing favourably from that of their northern neighbours, 
the Eskimo, and their southern, the Crees (See Richardson, 1852, page 
253). 
Tribal Organization. The tribal organization of the Satudene is extra- 
ordinarily simple and their existence as a tribal entity may not be very 
old. There is undoubtedly a great deal of admixture from the various 
Hare bands to the north and the Dogribs to the south. At the present 
time there is living, in close contact with the Satudene, a band of Dogribs 
known as the Bear Lake Dogribs, who left Rae in 1914 as a result of an 
epidemic of sickness there. They had previously hunted as far as the 
south shore of the lake and even across McVicar and McTavish bays. 
They have not since returned to Rae as a group, and will probably become 
more mixed with the Satudene. It is also possible that some of the Yellow- 
knives mixed with the Satudene. Most likely the basis for the tribe as 
it exists today was a group living in the country between Keith and 
Smith bays and known as the eta-tco-dene, “People of Big Point.” 
