Native Americans: 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies. James Mooney

the party brought their boats to the floe edge in order to follow the seal and walrus, which were swimming in the water or lying on the drifting ice in great numbers, while others preferred sledging on the land floe and shooting the basking seals (p. 181). After the breaking up of the ice, whales were seen, and kayaks and boats were made ready for their pursuit. In September most of the natives returned to North Pole Lake to hunt deer at the lower narrows (p. 202), where the meat was deposited for winter use (p. 204).

On the 19th of October the last deer was killed (p. 205), and most of the natives returned to the bay. They located at Naujan, the men in the party numbering 43 (p. 216). During the winter no kind of hunt was kept up, only a few salmon and trout being caught in the lakes (p. 210). Towards the latter part of March the settlement was broken up and its members scattered for the purpose of hunting and fishing (p. 227). Salmon were caught in North Pole Lake and deer shot in the narrow passes (p. 227). The sealing did not begin until the first of April (p. 239). In the summer, deer, seal, walrus, and salmon were caught in great abundance. In the following years the mode of life was about the same, but it maybe remarked that in August the natives lived at Pitiktaujang and afterwards went to Lyon Inlet (Maluksilaq) to hunt deer (p. 323). Part of them returned to Repulse Bay, where walrus were caught on the drifting ice during September. In the ensuing winter (1867-’68) 55 natives had gathered in a village about twenty miles east of Fort Hope (p. 333), where they lived on the stores deposited during the preceding summer. After the breaking up of the ice they succeeded in killing several whales, which afforded an ample supply of meat and blubber (p. 363). Subsequently, they hunted deer west of Repulse Bay (p. 364) and near Lyon Inlet, where probably the greater part of the families had staid since the previous year.

      In November, Hall found near the head of this inlet a number of natives who came to Repulse Bay towards the end of the year, having heard that a whale had been taken there. By this addition the village of Repulse Bay suddenly increased in population to 120 inhabitants (p. 369). This was the only winter in which the natives, began sealing in January (p. 371). In March they built their huts upon the ice and scattered early in the spring for sealing and catching salmon.

      From these reports and some more general accounts of these travelers, an idea can be formed of the mode of life of this part of the Aivillirmiut during the different seasons. In the spring, when the seals commence to bask upon the ice, the tents are established on the floe of Repulse Bay, the large winter settlements being broken up into a number of smaller ones. During this season they begin to store away blubber, which is carefully put into sealskin bags. Besides, reindeer are killed in the deer passes. In July a great number of the natives leave the ice and resort to the salmon rivers, where an abundant supply of food is secured, but the sealing is also continued until the breaking up of the ice. At this time of the year (i.e., in August), walrus and seal are taken in large numbers, and thus an ample stock of provisions for winter use is collected. In some seasons a few whales are caught and stored away at once. In September, most of the natives move to the lakes or rivers, particularly North Pole Lake, to hunt deer as well as the musk ox on the hills. Other favorite localities for deer hunting are west of Repulse Bay or near Lyon Inlet. Large deposits of venison are made, and when the deer go south the natives settle in the center of their summer’s hunting ground, building their snow houses on the lakes in order to have a supply of water near at hand. About January most of them gather in one settlement, which is established at Uglariaq, Naujan, or Inugsulik. Those who come from Lyon Inlet do not always join the Repulse Bay tribe, but may be identical with Parry’s Winter Island Eskimo, who move to the bay south of Lyon Inlet in winter. They go sealing in winter only in case of need, for the hunt seems to be unproductive, and they subsist on the stores deposited during the preceding summer. Towards the latter half of March the settlements are broken up and some of the natives go to the lakes to fish for trout and salmon, while others begin the sealing.

Another winter station of the Aivillirmiut is Akugdlit, which, however, has never been as important as Aivillik itself. Rae found some families here in August, 1846. They hunted the musk ox on the western shore of the bay, and later in the season, upon the pack ice which filled the sea, they hunted the walrus (Rae I, p. 58). They reported that the bay was very unfavorable for any kind of chase, as it is usually filled with closely packed ice, which prevents the visits of animals and endangers the boats of the natives (p. 49). In July the salmon creeks of Akugdlit (Committee Bay) were visited by these families, who extended their hunting ground from Colville Bay to the most northern parts of Melville Peninsula (p. 145). According to Hall a number of families live here at times. They were in the habit of staying at Repulse Bay during the early part of the summer and went to Akugdlit in the autumn to hunt the musk ox and deer. In the winter they transferred their deposits of blubber from Aivillik across the lakes to their settlement. Probably these families returned to Repulse Bay about the first of March, at which time their deposits were always exhausted (Hall II, p. 383). In some seasons the natives journey much farther south, that is, to the country between Cape Fullerton and Wager River. Klutschak’s report upon this subject, which is extracted from his observations during Schwatka’s search for the Franklin records, will be found tolerably correct (Deutsche Rundschau für Geographie und Statistik, III, 1881, p. 422). The report contains the following statement:

      In the spring of every year these Eskimo live on the land floe of Hudson Bay, at some distance from the point where the tides and winds carry the pack ice past the shore. Here is the favorite feeding place of the walrus, and the Eskimo confine themselves to the pursuit of this animal. They settle near one of the numerous islands situated near the shore.

      Later in the season they live in tents, and the hunting of seals and walrus is continued as long as the presence of ice permits. The greater part of the Aivillirmiut live near Depot Island (Pikiulaq). Here, on Cape Fullerton, and near the northern entrance of Chesterfield Inlet, the natives deposit their stores for winter use. As soon as the ice is gone they resort to the mainland, where deer, which descend to the shore at this season, are hunted. When the snow begins to cover the country they move inland, where they continue the deer hunt. In October they settle near a deer pass or a lake which is crossed by the herds migrating southward. In December all the deer have left the country and the natives live upon the stores deposited in the fall. Towards the beginning of the new year part of them return to the sea and live upon the deposits of walrus meat or disperse over the land floe, where seals are killed in their breathing holes. Another part take to the hills near Chesterfield Inlet and Wager River, a favorite feeding ground for the musk ox. They only return to the bay in March or April, to hunt seals until the breaking up of the ice. If the supplies of walrus meat are very abundant the Eskimo gather in one large settlement.

      It appears from Klutschak’s own journal that this report is not quite complete, and I shall therefore add those of his own observations which seem to be important:

      The natives who had hunted deer in the fall returned in December to Depot Island, where ten inhabitants lived at that time. They hunted walrus at the edge of the floe during the whole winter, but did not exclusively use their old stores (Klutschak, p. 32). In summer whales were hunted by means of kayaks, the blubber and meat being immediately stored for future use (p. 269). It is interesting to learn that a single family spent a whole year in the interior of the country, about two or three days’ journey west of Depot Island, living on the flesh of the musk ox most of the time (p. 196). He does not say what kind of fuel they used.

      In Klutschak’s chart of Hudson Bay, which is published with his essay, a winter settlement is marked on Wager River, where the natives probably lived on seals caught in the breathing holes.

      The mode of life of this tribe, as observed by Hall during his stay among them in 1864, differs in some material points from Klutschak’s account. It is particularly important that Hall found them at Wager River.

      About forty Eskimo are said to have lived in Nuvung during that year, while others were at Depot Island. Large depots of deer meat were scattered over the country around the settlement (Hall II, p. 76) and were brought in by the natives one by one. In the middle of November, after having finished the work of currying their deerskins, they commenced the walrus hunt, but meantime they frequently fed on deer meat from their depots (Hall II, pp. 102, 128, 132, 133). Towards the end of February they commenced to disperse, at first