Page:The American Indian.djvu/32

10 The Indians of this area, chiefly the Déné and Northern Algonquin tribes, are an inland people occupying the sub-Arctic tundra and the sparse forest belt below it, which gradually shades off into the denser forests of southern Canada. Among these tribes we find the typical caribou culture. Vivid pictures of the prehistoric caribou hunting life have been penned by Hearne and its surviving form by Warburton Pike. In southern Canada the moose and other deer were also available and in the far North the musk-ox; wood bison were also found in a few localities, and hares and other small animals were eaten when needed. Though not reaching the seacoast at any place, these inland tribes had within their range lakes and rivers well stocked with fish, and in season frequented by water fowl. As with the Eskimo, these sources of supply were drawn upon in season. Yet all these foods were merely supplementary, for the people pinned their faith to the caribou and developed their whole feeding and clothing complex around this animal. Consequently the failure of the caribou in any locality for even one season alone would spell disaster.

The methods of hunting are fully described in the descriptive literature of the several tribes, but, as always, such methods are largely dictated by the habits of the animals themselves. Among both the Eskimo and the Indians, the method of killing caribou is to drive or stampede them into artificial or natural lanes or defiles where the hunters are concealed. A variant of this is to run them into deep water, where they are at the mercy of swift canoe men. Snaring is also highly developed, even the largest game being caught in this way. Fishing of whatever kind is with three forms of appliances: the harpoon, the hook and line, and the net. These methods were both known to the Eskimo and to the Indian, though not used by both to the same relative degrees.

The cache is an important invention of this area and has found its way into our own culture. The name is usually applied to an elevated or a subterranean enclosure for storing dried or frozen meat. The caribou, living in great herds, must move forward as they graze over the almost barren