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

of the bay are comprised in the latter term. I think this discrepancy is occasioned by the fact that a number of Aivillirmiut had settled in Pelly Bay and some others were related to natives of that locality; the latter Nourse calls the Pelly Bay men, the rest the Sinimiut. The place Sini itself, according to a statement of Hall, is near Cape Behrens, on the northwestern shore of the bay.

      As the winter huts of the Sinimiut have been found four times on the lakes of the isthmus of Simpson Peninsula, we may suppose that they generally spend the winter there, living on the stores deposited in the preceding season and occasionally angling for trout and salmon (Rae I, p. 110) or killing a musk ox. In March they leave for the sea in order to hunt seals and to secure a fresh supply of blubber for their lamps. Their chief subsistence is the musk ox; besides, salmon are caught in great numbers, for they live on dried fish until spring (Rae I, p. 124).

      Boothia Felix and Back River

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The Netchillirmiut

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Following the shore westward we find the interesting tribes that inhabit Boothia Felix, King William Land, and the mouth of Back River. Among them the Netchillirmiut are the most important. Their favorite hunting grounds seem to have undergone a remarkable change since they were first visited by Ross in 1829. At that period their district occupied the southern part of Boothia Felix, particularly the narrow isthmus and the adjoining parts of both coasts. They were acquainted with Bellot Strait (Ikerasaq), which they described as the way the Victory had to take in order to effect a passage to the western sea. A part of the tribe was in the habit of wintering on Owutta Island; they also probably visited the eastern part of King William Land. The southwestern termination of their district cannot be exactly defined, but from their description of the land south of Lake Willerstedt it appears that they visited Shepherd Bay; besides, I find that in June, 1831, a number of families lived south of Netchillik, i.e., probably in Rae Strait or on Shepherd Bay (Ross II, p. 537).

So far as can be gathered from Ross’s account the tribe had three winter settlements, one on the eastern shore of the Isthmus of Boothia, another at Lake Netchillik, and the third on Owutta Island.3 As to the first meeting of the natives with the Victory two contradictory accounts are found. At first it is related (p. 252) that they came from Akugdlit, having been on the road ten days. Later, and this is more probable, it is said that two natives had descried the ship in September, 1829, when passing near Victoria Harbor (p. 309). Being in great fear, they had immediately traveled to Netchillik to communicate with their countrymen. There they met with a woman who had been on board of Parry’s ships, and she had induced all the natives, by her stories, to be on the lookout for the Europeans. At the first meeting, on the 9th of January, 1830, 31 men approached the ship. This would answer to a population of about one hundred and twenty persons, and it is quite unprecedented that such a party should travel for any distance and even beyond the limitations of their own territory and of their customary migrations. Probably a traveling party had joined the Netchillirmiut, who had lived somewhere in Lord Mayor’s Bay, and they all went to meet the ship.

From Ross we also learn that during January and February these natives lived on seals, which were killed with harpoons (pp. 250, 255, 259), but, in addition, they had deposits of venison, seal blubber, and fish (pp. 251, 262). Sometimes they went hunting the musk ox on the mainland farther north, and a small party may have staid there throughout the winter (p. 265). In the first days of March they began to scatter all over the ice (p. 290), in order to have a better chance of sealing and of catching young seals in the white coat (pp. 293, 295). The young sealing commenced about the 10th of March. It is worth remarking that this is the only tribe on the continent of America which pursues the young seal; they are enabled to do this by the extent of the land floe in the large bays. In the last days of March some of the natives started for Sarvaq and Netchillik to fetch their kayaks (p. 315), which they had left there the preceding season. As they intended to hunt deer at the lakes farther north, they were obliged to have their boats at hand at the breaking up of the ice. The further the season advanced the more the settlements were broken up (p. 338), and towards the end of April the first families left for Netchillik to join the other part of the tribe (p. 323). At this season the musk ox and the returning reindeer were frequently hunted (pp. 252, 335, 349). In the first days of May some of the natives went to Netchillik (p. 337), and another party followed a month later (p. 383). They stopped on Middle Lake for a short time to fish for trout (p. 384). A number of families remained near the ship, sealing, catching salmon, and hunting the musk ox (pp. 436, 441, 450, 453) until the beginning of July, when the fishing season ended and they went to the inland lakes to hunt deer and fish for trout in the rapids between the lakes (p. 450). In the summer their principal fishing stations were Lindsay River and Sarvaq.

      The other part of the tribe which had lived at Lake Netchillik were even more numerous than that of the coast, as 21 snow houses were found which had been inhabited by them during the winter (p. 389). The number of inhabitants of this village was about one hundred and seventy, and, since there were a few who lived on Owutta Island and yet others who may have been scattered in different parts of the country, it is probable that the whole tribe numbered 350 persons.

      As they were seen only a few times by the expedition the reports are rather incomplete. In the winter they lived on a plain, which was called Okavit, on the eastern shore of Lake Netchillik (p. 315). The exact position cannot be learned from Ross’s journal. As some mention is made of blubber deposits at Netchillik (p. 388), it is probable that they lived on stores deposited in summer. Toward the end of May and in the beginning of June they were met with at Spence Bay and Josephine Bay. One of their stations was on the island Inugsulik, near Padliaq, the head of Spence Bay. Here their principal food was codfish, which they caught in holes cut through the ice, while the sealing was there a less important interest (pp. 391, 426). The kayaks which were found deposited on the west shore of Boothia as far as Josephine Bay proved that they resorted to this region in the deer hunting season (pp. 406, 407). The families who had been at Owutta during the winter of 1829-’30 were found in June, 1831, in Padliaq, whence they crossed the isthmus and visited Tarionitjoq (p. 431).

In 1830 no natives were seen after the usual time of their departure for the interior of the country, and it was not until April, 1831, that they were found again. They had wintered at Lake Avatutiaq, on the eastern shore of Boothia (p. 511), where they had lived on a large stock of salmon caught in the fall (p. 531) and on musk oxen which were hunted during the entire year in the hilly country near the lakes. Others had wintered farther south, on Lake Owen (p. 524). A portion of these Eskimo set out for Netchillik in April (p. 522), while the others remained in Tom’s Bay and subsisted upon codfish, salmon, and seals (p. 546).

      In June another party left for Netchillik, whence some of the natives, who had not seen the ship before, arrived at Victoria Harbor in July, probably having heard of her new station at this place through the returning families (p. 577). In August the last of them left, going west (p. 592).

      Though these reports are rather imperfect, they enable us to get a fair idea of the mode of life of this tribe.

      In the large bays on the eastern side of the isthmus the natives live just as do the southern tribes of Baffin Land, pursuing the seal at its breathing hole during the winter. Here, as everywhere else, the settlements were broken up early in the spring. The fishing is commenced remarkably early, while in the east scarcely any salmon are caught before the breaking up of the lakes. West of Melville Peninsula the fishing is commenced in March or even earlier. On Boothia the most important means of subsistence for the natives is the codfish, on which they live during the spring and probably during a part of the winter. It is also an important article of food for the other tribes of this region, while farther east it is of no importance. The salmon fisheries of Boothia are very productive, of which Netchillik and Padliaq in Josephine