75 
page 164) speaks of these chiefs among the Dogribs striving to increase 
their prestige by liberality in sharing the gratuities received from the 
traders. There seems to be some resentment among the Indians at the 
formalizing of the chieftainship and several of the chiefs have said that 
the office brought bad luck. 
Undoubtedly, the medicine men had considerable influence, more 
perhaps than other individuals, since all were subject to the fear of shaman- 
istic power. 
SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
Birth. Birth is a comparatively easy process for Satudene women, 
as with most primitive peoples. The mother continues her normal activ- 
ities up to the time immediately before birth takes place. The necessary 
period of rest following birth is extraordinarily short and cases are known 
in which a birth on the trail has delayed the party less than a day. 
Richardson (1852, page 295) cites an instance in which a woman of this 
region gave birth to her first child and set out two hours later dragging a 
sledge and with her newborn baby suspended between her shoulders. 
The idea of reincarnation is common, the newborn child being spoken 
of as ‘natlfi (born again). The child is considered the reincarnation of 
some individual generally designated by an old man or woman or the 
parent who recognizes the characteristics of the deceased. This belief is 
mentioned by Petitot (1893, page 277), who writes that the first child 
conceived after a decease in the tribe (Hare) is considered as a reincar- 
nation of the dead one. Reincarnation is clearly stated as a concept 
accepted by the Beaver (Slave) according to Wentzel (1890, I, page 88). 
Mackenzie says the Chipewayans also had some notions of transmigration, 
believing that if a child is born with teeth it is the reincarnation of some 
person who lived to an advanced age and who has assumed a renovated 
life with these extraordinary tokens of maturity (See Mackenzie, A., 1802, 
intro, page cxviii, and Petitot, 1876, page 59). 
There were probably in former times a great many taboos and pro- 
hibitions connected with birth, only a few of which continue to the present. 
It was considered a very bad omen for a woman during pregnancy or for 
her husband to kill an animal or bird with claws. If a man did not stay 
away from his wife for eight days after childbirth, his luck would be spoiled 
for everything. Richardson speaks (1852, page 295) of a Great Bear Lake 
woman following birth as being forced to break a new trail through the 
snow, lest ill-success in hunting or some other calamity would beset an 
Indian who incautiously should tread in her footsteps. Ross (“Notes on 
the Tinneh . . . .”, page 305) gives the custom among the Hare and Dogribs 
of not giving nourishment to babies for the first four days, that they might 
better be able to endure the starvation periods of future years. He also 
says that the nails of female infants were not cut until they reached the 
age of four years, it being believed that the girl on arriving at womanhood 
would not be lazy and could embroider well in porcupine work. Wentzel 
says (1890, I, page 305) of the Beaver (Slave) that, “whenever the women 
bring forth a male child, they have a rule of pulling its legs every night 
