The Barren Ground Caribou of Keewatin Part 5

_Influence of insects on distribution_

It is quite possible that the blood-sucking mosquitoes (_Aedes_) and black flies (_Simulium_) and the parasitic warble flies (_Oedemagena_) and nostril flies (_Cephenemyia_) have a definite and important influence on the extent and dates of caribou migration.

As far as I am able to judge from my own experience, mosquitoes are more or less equally numerous and ferocious in the Canadian, the Hudsonian, and the Arctic Zones of the Northwest. Naturally the season begins earlier in the more southerly localities. In two seasons (1914, 1920) at the western end of Lake Athabaska they began to be troublesome about the middle of June, whereas at Nueltin Lake this stage was reached about the first of July. In the Athabaska and Great Slave lakes region (Canadian and Hudsonian Zones) I have never had occasion to regard black flies as serious in respect to either numbers or ferocity; but there is universal agreement that conditions are vastly different and worse on the Barren Grounds. At Nueltin Lake the _Simulium_ hordes become troublesome at approximately the same time as the mosquitoes. Toward the end of August there is a merciful diminution in the numbers of both mosquitoes and black flies on the Barrens, and after the first of September they may be practically disregarded, except on an occasional day of unseasonable warmth.

It may be remarked in pa.s.sing that one of the insect terrors of the Athabaska region, the so-called "bulldog" (a species of Tabanidae), did not come to my attention as a pest at Nueltin Lake though I collected two species of _Taba.n.u.s_. Malloch (1919), in reporting on the Diptera of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-18, does not include a single species of Tabanidae. On the other hand, Twinn (1950: 18) states that 17 species have been found at Churchill; he refers to tabanids as "very abundant in forested regions of the North." The "bulldog" may be presumed to contribute to the summer misery of the Woodland Caribou and the Moose as well as of man.

The season during which the adult warble flies and nostril flies hara.s.s the Caribou probably lasts only a few weeks in July and August. While the adults evidently cause no pain, they no doubt arouse an instinctive dread in the prospective hosts of their larvae. While I have no information as to whether they follow the hosts into the wooded country, it would appear quite likely that they do so if we are to credit statements by Franklin (1823: 242), Richardson (1829: 251), and B. R.

Ross (1861: 438) that these pests infest the Woodland Caribou as well as the Barren Ground species. Furthermore, _Cephenemyia_ has been reported in Pennsylvania as a parasite of the White-tailed Deer (_Odocoileus_) (Stewart, 1930?). The scarcity of available study material may be judged from the fact that the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-18 secured only three adults of _Oedemagena_ and none of _Cephenemyia_ (Malloch, 1919: 55-56).

From the foregoing it may be seen that the wooded country represents a virtually fly-free haven for the Barren Ground Caribou during nearly ten months of the year. Is it any wonder, then, that they hasten throughout August toward or into the shelter of the woods, to gain freedom from the winged scourges of the Barrens? (See also _Retrograde autumnal movement_.)

In the spring migration of 1947 the last of the Caribou pa.s.sed the Windy River area on July 1, just before the mosquitoes and black flies had become seriously troublesome. It might be surmised that the animals keep marching northward in advance of the appearance of these flies, as long as that is feasible; and that when fairly overwhelmed by the winged hordes, they desist from further progress in that direction. The fawns are born at such a time (in late May or June) as to pa.s.s their first few tender weeks before becoming subject to serious insect attacks.

(See also _Retrograde autumnal movement_; _Relations to flies_.)

_References._--Richardson, "1825": 328-329; h.o.a.re, 1930: 33, 37-38; Jacobi, 1931: 193-195; Soper, 1936: 429; Hamilton, 1939: 247, 301; Clarke, 1940: 95-96; Porsild, 1943: 389; Banfield, 1951a: 27-29.

_Effect of combined environmental factors on distribution_

The sum total of environmental factors apparently makes the Barren Grounds a distinctly more favorable summer habitat for the present species than the wooded country, since the latter region is virtually entirely deserted at that season. In general, the wooded country must be a more favorable winter habitat, since the bulk of the animals evidently resort to it at that time; yet its advantages are by no means clear-cut or overwhelming, since a very considerable proportion of the Caribou elect to spend the winter on the Barrens (Hanbury, 1904: 93, 120, 139; h.o.a.re, 1930: 22; Clarke, 1940: 8-9, 11, fig. 4; Anonymous, 1952: 267).

_Relations to man_

The Caribou dominates the thoughts, the speech, and the general human activities of the Barren Grounds. As the chief food resource of that region and the adjacent timbered country, it plays a highly important role in the economy of both primitive and civilized man. As long as those regions were occupied only by native Eskimos and Indians, employing such primitive weapons as bows and spears, the species was in no danger. Its vast numbers were maintained steadily from generation to generation, and were perhaps limited only by the grazing or browsing capacity of their range.

With the advent of civilized man and the placing of firearms in the hands of the natives, the situation has deteriorated at a rate that becomes accelerated with the pa.s.sage of time. If it had not been for the encroachment of civilization and the introduction of its instruments of destruction, the natives would have been a.s.sured of a proper meat supply for an indefinite period. Here and there some of them would miss a caribou migration and starve to death; yet the animals have been so generally available that many of the natives even today lack the foresight to put up an adequate supply of fish as an alternative winter food.

Almost everywhere the annual slaughter is both excessive and wasteful.

Few inhabitants of the North, whether native or white, stay their hands while Caribou are present and ammunition is available. There is undue reliance on a continuation of past abundance, and an indifference to the welfare or rights of posterity. The whole culture of the inland Eskimos and the northern Indians (the Caribou-eater Chipewyans in particular) is so thoroughly based upon Caribou that the decimation of these animals would mean a fundamental modification or virtual extermination of their culture.

The average trapper of the Barren Grounds apparently aims at killing annually at least 100 Caribou. Only a small portion is required to feed himself and his family. The rest is designed for use as fox bait and dog feed. In September he goes over his trap-line, perhaps 100 miles long, and endeavors to kill Caribou at convenient intervals throughout its length. (In October, 1944, a single trapper killed 90 during two days of a big movement.) The animals are left where they fall. Presently spells of warm weather may render the meat unsuitable for any one with more fastidious tastes than a hardy man of the Barrens. In any event, the beasts of the field evidently get the lion's share, even when the trapper endeavors to cover the carca.s.ses with rocks or spruces. Bears, Wolves, Foxes, Weasels, Wolverines, Lemmings, Rough-legged Hawks, Ravens, and Canada Jays help themselves to the free feast. Bears in particular are likely to consume the whole carca.s.s; in the autumns of 1944 and 1947 they thus disposed of about 70 and 40 caribou bodies, respectively, within a few miles of the Windy River post. If the season turns out to be a particularly poor one for Arctic Foxes, the trapper may abandon his trap-line for that winter, and dozens or scores of Caribou will have been sacrificed in vain.

Fish, which are available in abundance nearly everywhere, would serve well enough for both fox bait and dog feed. But the average trapper prefers to secure Caribou--a less laborious matter than putting up a winter's supply of fish; at the same time he may admit that fish are easier to handle in feeding and are preferable from that point of view.

Charles Schweder has rarely found Caribou along his trap-line between the upper Kazan River and Dubawnt Lake. By using fish (out of the Little Dubawnt River) for fox bait, he avoids the necessity of making an early fall trip over that long distance to secure Caribou for his winter operations. A trapper from northern Manitoba informed me that the local Indians were complying with a recent government regulation that each owner must put up a certain number of fish for the consumption of his dogs--but, they were still feeding them with Caribou. The Split Lake band of Indians on the Nelson River, Manitoba, were reported to have killed 4,000 of the animals during the winter of 1946-47; the greater part of these were utilized ingloriously as dog feed.

The hunting of such an extraordinarily unwary animal as the Barren Ground Caribou calls for extremely little skill. Scarcely anything more is required of the hunter (at least in southwestern Keewatin) than to place himself on their line of march and to await their arrival. No concealment is necessary, but quick movements are to be avoided, and the direction of the wind should be such that it will not carry the dread human scent to the animals. Even in perfectly open terrain one may generally walk slowly up to within shooting distance of resting Caribou.

But if they are on the march and have already gone past, the hunter may not succeed in getting close to them. Pursuing them on the run is likely to send them off in a panic. (There is some evidence that on the Arctic Coast and in the Barren Grounds of Mackenzie, where hunters are probably more numerous than in southwestern Keewatin, the Caribou are usually much more wary--_cf._ Amundsen, 1908, +1+: 103; Stefansson, 1913b: 278; Blanchet, 1925: 34; Ingstad, 1933: 88.) In the section on _Disposition_ the destruction of about a quarter of a herd of 100 or more by a single hunter is described. On September 9 an Eskimo boy killed 13. On November 3 eight out of a herd of 50 were secured by another hunter in a few minutes' time. During the autumn migration of 1947 one of the Eskimos on the upper Kazan had killed 85 before the end of September. This band of Eskimos is said to have once slaughtered 500 animals, half of them in the river, where they did not even bother to pull them out; they had killed for the sheer delight of killing rather than for utilization. It is customary for them to spear more animals than they shoot. A trader's family in the Nueltin Lake region used to kill 500 Caribou per year for their own use and for their 23 dogs. In one instance a number of Caribou were shot from across a river; several hours elapsed before a canoe became available, and by that time the bodies were frozen so stiff that no attempt was made to use them. It was reported that tractor crews operating between Reindeer Lake and Flin Flon brought out many hind quarters to sell illegally at the latter point, leaving other parts of the bodies along the way. In the winter of 1944-45 Nueltin Lake was said to have been covered with the bodies of Caribou that the Chipewyans had shot for "fun" and had neglected to utilize. It was also reported that in May, 1947, there were many neglected bodies in the vicinity of Duck Lake, the local Chipewyans having killed the animals during the previous fall; meanwhile the spring migration had commenced and was furnis.h.i.+ng all the fresh meat required.

In the Windy River area nearly all the Caribou were secured with rifles.

A few, however, were speared by the Eskimo boy as they swam across Windy Bay. The spears used here are manufactured articles of iron, fitted to a wooden shaft.

Katello, a Kazan River Eskimo, informed Charles Schweder that his people used to construct snow-covered pits for the Caribou to fall into. The present generation is considered too lazy to undertake such a task.

Although information is lacking in the present case, urine may have been employed to entice the Caribou into these pits, as reported by Hanbury (1904: 114-115, 123, fig.).

A general deterioration of antler size in the Barren Ground Caribou seems to const.i.tute a case parallel with that of the European Red Deer (_Cervus elaphus elaphus_). The reason is evidently the same in each case--the long-continued selection by hunters of old males with the best "heads." Only the motive differs decidedly in each case: the European hunter looks upon the antlers themselves as the main prize; the Eskimo and the Indian are indifferent to these ornaments, but realize that the bucks with great antlers provide the most meat and _fat_. The bucks are said to become much fatter than the does. The Eskimos are especially keen on getting the big bucks. According to Charles Schweder, the old antlers left at the river crossings from bygone days are superior in size to those of the present day. He himself has never secured a set of antlers equal to one (fig. 25) lying on the sh.o.r.e of Simons' Lake; it may have been there for 20 or 30 years prior to 1947.

From about mid-September to nearly mid-October the flesh is counted upon as being in especially fine condition. In August, 1947, the animals had scarcely any fat, but by the middle of September the roasts were delicious. On October 8 the fresh strips of back fat from several bucks weighed about 5 to 10 lbs. each. A good many of these strips were put in a storehouse at Windy River for winter use. Charles Schweder remarked on having seen such a piece of fat 3 inches thick. At the rutting season, which commences about mid-October, the bucks become very poor and thin.

They neglect their feeding and do not have full stomachs, as earlier in the season. Their fat becomes tinted with red, and the flesh becomes so musky that even the dogs and the Wolves disdain it. (See also the section on _Fat_.)

In some cases, when a local Caribou is being dressed, a part of the stomach is utilized as a receptacle into which the blood is dipped from the body cavity with the hands, in Eskimo style. The blood goes into the making of soup. The tripe also is relished. Once I found the children of our camp boiling up a section of the aorta as a delicacy. The ribs are commonly impaled on a stick thrust into the ground and roasted in front of an open fire. Leg bones may be cracked to render the raw marrow accessible; if they are cooked, the marrow may be blown out of the open ends with the mouth. The Padleimiut consume much of the meat in the raw state, and frequently wash it down with hot tea.

Much needless wounding and suffering of the Caribou, as well as waste of valuable resources, result from extensive use of such a small-calibred rifle as the .22. It may seem remarkable that such a large animal should succ.u.mb at all to such a slight weapon; but it does happen, usually after a number of shots. For example, an Eskimo boy secured 13 Caribou in a single day with a .22. On the other hand, many of the animals must get away from the hunter, only to die, after much suffering, at a considerable distance, where they are not likely to be recovered and utilized. The absolute outlawing of the use of the .22 on such large game would seem to be in order.

Once Charles Schweder shot a doe whose jaw had been broken by a bullet.

A piece of the bone had "grown into the tongue" but the jaw was healed.

At the Windy River post, in the latter part of summer, portions of the caribou bodies are placed in the river not merely for refrigeration, but for protection from blowflies. Such meat is used mainly for the dogs.

The Eskimos are said not to engage in this practice. Consequently, some of the caribou bodies lying about their camps become ma.s.ses of maggots.

On the last day of September I observed how Charles Schweder prepared a fresh caribou body in the field and endeavored to protect it from beasts and birds. First he cut off the head with his hunting-knife; then the hind legs, which were severed very readily at the hip joint. Next he opened the body cavity and pulled out the viscera, setting aside a ma.s.s of fat (apparently the omentum). The hind legs were placed beneath the body, and the head was thrust into the opening of the abdominal cavity, as an obstacle to such scavengers as Herring Gulls, Rough-legged Hawks, Canada Jays, Ravens, and Foxes (_cf._ Downes, 1943: 227, 228). The skin was left on the body, and the whole was covered with small spruce tops.

An interesting device in the hunting of Caribou consists of "stone men"

(Harper, 1949: 231, fig.). They are made of rocks, piled one upon another in such a manner as to faintly suggest a human figure. "Moss"

(either moss or lichens) is added to some of them to enhance the human appearance. A considerable number may be seen in the Windy River area, where they are generally placed along the summits of the ridges.

Construction was probably begun many years ago by natives, and has been continued by the present residents. When Caribou, in fleeing from a hunter, catch sight of these "stone men," they are likely to pause in suspicion of the figures, and to be deflected from their chosen course.

This may give the hunter a chance to come within range of the animals.

The Kazan River Eskimos are said to use converging lines of such rock piles to direct migrating Caribou to certain river-crossings, where the hunters lie in wait for them. Occasionally a single pile is erected merely to mark the spot where a caribou body is left until the hunter can return with a dogteam to fetch the meat.

[Transcriber's Note: "... stone men": Inuksuit (sing. inuksuk).]

On first securing one of the animals, the hunter makes a practice of cutting out the tongue and carrying it to camp in a pocket or a game-bag. On a subsequent trip, if there is sufficient snow on the ground, the meat is generally transported by dog sleigh or toboggan (_cf._ Harper, 1949: 231, fig.). Occasionally a hunter will carry it on his shoulder (fig. 4) or in a pack.

In all the Canadian North, as far as I am aware, the Windy River post is virtually the only place where summer transportation is accomplished by dog-drawn travois (fig. 5). This device, consisting of two trailing poles, with a small platform midway, is recognizable immediately by readers of Parkman's _Oregon Trail_ (1849), where its use by Indians of our Western Plains is mentioned again and again. The travois was introduced into this region by the late Charles Planchek?, a Czech?

trapper of somewhat sinister repute, whose headquarters were at Putahow Lake. He was the "Eskimo Charlie" of Downes (1943: 160-161, pl.). In years gone by he took a travois with him on a visit to the Windy River area, and it was thereupon copied and subsequently used regularly by the Schweder family. Their Eskimo friends of the upper Kazan will occasionally borrow one, but I am not aware that they have made any travois of their own. During the summer the two younger boys of the Windy River post made a practice of hauling in caribou meat from the surrounding Barrens by means of travois.

In the latter part of summer some small pieces of caribou meat were occasionally laid on a stone for drying, in front of the door at the post. Other pieces were said to have been hung up in the air for the same purpose, without fire or smoke, out in the field where the animals were killed. Apparently blowflies did not pay much attention to this meat. No considerable quant.i.ty seemed to be preserved locally in this way. Three Caribou-eater Chipewyans from the south end of Nueltin Lake, who visited our camp in late October, were carrying dried meat with them as travel rations and eating it without cooking.

The larvae of the warble fly (_Oedemagena tarandi_), found beneath the skin of the Caribou, are relished by the Eskimos, being eaten apparently while alive and raw. The Eskimo boy of our camp continued this practice after his little sister had given it up. Hearne (1795: 197) reported the Indians as eating the warbles in his day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9. A band of Caribou swimming across Little River at its mouth and landing on the western sh.o.r.e. Toward the left, a doe standing broadside and enveloped in a cloud of spray being shaken off. August 28, 1947. (From a 16-mm. motion picture.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10. Two Caribou bucks standing in the edge of Little River at its mouth after swimming across. August 28, 1947.

(From a 16-mm. motion picture.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11. A one-horned doe, a hornless doe, a fawn, and a two-horned doe among a band of Caribou approaching the camera within a rod after swimming across Little River. August 28, 1947. (From a 16-mm. motion picture.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 12. A band of Caribou (chiefly big bucks) swimming across Little River at its mouth. August 28, 1947.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13. Camp Slough, with trails showing the recent pa.s.sage of Caribou through the sedge growth (predominantly _Carex chordorrhiza_). Black spruce in the foreground and distance. August 29, 1947.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14. A Caribou _Elysium_: a hornless doe approaching within 15 feet of the photographer at the mouth of Little River. August 30, 1947.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15. Anoteelik in caribou-skin clothing, holding a caribou spear. A buck on the skyline. Mouth of Windy River, September 7, 1947.]