CONTACT AND ENLIGHTENED CO-OPERATION

A HlSTORY OF THE FUR TRADE IN THE ARCTIC DRAINAGE
LOWLANDS 1717-1821

rr1~1rr~r~r~1~1~~m~~~rr1 1~1~ ~1 1
800156847 6

A Thesis
Presented to
the Fdculty of Graduate Studies
University of Manitoba

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

by
William Alexander Sloan
August 198S

SELK!Rr\ COLLEGE LIBRARY
·

CASTLEGf-i1R, BC

ABSTRACT

This
trade

manuscript

in the eastern

re-examines

the

history

of

the

fur

subarctic and Mackenzie lowlands from

1717 when the first post was established to serve the Indians

in

the

region

to

the

confirmation

the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.
Indians
tory"

have

provided

rather than the

"the

of

monopoly

The assumption

'background'

central

the

focus

has

for

that

the

Canadian

His-

typified

tories of the fur trade in the Mackenzie region.
ans were active participants
ners
in

in

the

the

and

fur

trade.

Policies

Mackenzie

region

were

at

the

very

and

least,

to

the advantage

were a

in

influencing the policies,

and

the

eventual

corporation

shape

his-

part-

companies

accommodated

rejected according
vital agent

the

The Indi-

of the trading

assessed

or

They

of the Indians.

which

of

practices,

evolved

in

the

eastern subarctic and Mackenzie lowlands after 1821.
Changes

which

were

more

than

merely

locational

began

to occur early in the ·fur trade as the Indians adapted from
a nomadic band centered and mainly caribou hunting based to
a trapping or specialized hunting way of

life.

Participa-

tion in the fur trade led to changes in the society of the
Athapaskans as

customs which

had

been

adapted

to

a

migra-

tory

existence

sonal

cyclical

trade.

Changes

dislocation.
of bands,

were

discarded

patterns

The

North

were

West

followed

adapted

to

epidemic and

Company

attempted

new

sea-

the

fur

population
deployment

intimidation of those Indians who were

recalcitrant

and

resisted

pressure

bullied

retaliating,

and

by

By

1820

the

suits.

which

bands

were hurried by an

turned to

the

and

by

opposition

traders.

seeking

the

returning

to

combination

out

opposition,

traditional
of

Indians

Indian

hunting

by
pur-

resistance

to

their methods and the need for conservative resource policy
led

the North ·West

Company to seek union

with

the Hudsons

Bay Comp,any.
To

develop

rahge of

these

focus

The disciplines

t~emes.

ethnography ·and

ideas

linguistics

have

has

of

been

history,

been

studied

placed· on

a

archaeology,
and

supple-

mented by nutritional and wildlife studies of the region to
seek

out

changing

native

relationships

behavioural

and

cyclical

with

their

movements,

environment,
policies

and

manner of operation of the fur companies, and social change
within the band.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis was

begun with

late Professor W.L. Morton.

the

encouragement

of

the

The task of supervisor was as-

sumed by Professor Jean Friesen.

Her patience and support-

ive commentary were essential to its completion.

Professor

Jennifer Brown, external examiner, offered critical insight
which has been most constructive.
I

wish to thank the Hudson's Bay Company for

sion to quote from their records.

In particular,

acknowledged

Smith,

from

Mrs.

Assistant Garon Wells.

permishelp is

Shirley

A.

Aid

research was received with

in

Archivist,

and

appreciation from Victor de Breyne at the McGill University
Special

Collections

and

Staff

of

the

Public

Archives

in

Ottawa.
Many thanks also to Virginia Thorimbert for typing and
to Selkirk College who granted permission for use of their
word processing facility.
Students
College

were

in

Renewable

most

Resources

appreciated

for

share stories of the hunt and family
cial

thanks also

to

Walter

Baya

-

1 -

Technology,
their

Thebacha

willingness

experiences.

of Fort Franklin

to

A spefor

re-

counting

some

of

his

personal

and

family

experiences

and

knowledge of the people of Great Bear Lake.
Last

and

most

appreciated

was

the

support

hou·rs of able proofreading done by Elaine Sloan.

- 2 -

and

many

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF CHARTS.

3

ABBREVIATIONS

4

CHAPTER
I .

INTRODUCTION . . . •

5

II.

ATHAPASKAN LIFEWAYS

37

III.

ADAPTATIONS TO THE EARLIEST FUR TRADE

86

IV.

CONTACT AND DISLOCATION . .

129

V.

COMPETITION AND ENLIGHTENED RESPONSE.

166

VI.

POLICY AND ENLIGHTENED RESPONSE .

210

VII.

RESTORED MONOPOLY: REORGANIZATION,
DEPLOYMENT AND CONSERVATION . . .

239

CONCLUSION.

260

VIII.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . • . . . .

- 2 -

268

CHARTS

Map 1.

Location
contact.

Map 2.

Approximate Bounds of Caribou Herds
Study.

Map 3.

Vegetation Types in Study Area.

Map 4.

Chipewyan Middleman Route to the Coast.

Map 5.

Posts
which
had
Strategic
Bearing
Extension of the Trade 1717-1821 with
of Establishment.

of

the

Athapaskan

- 3 -

bands

prior

in

Area

to

of

Ori
the
the Date

ABBREVIATIONS

HBC Archives

Hudson's Bay Co. Archives

PWF

Prince of Wales' Fort

PAC

Public Archives of Canada

CHJ

Cumberland House Journals

FCPJ

Fort Churchill Post Journal

PWFPJ

Prince of Wales' Fort Post Journal

McGill Ms..s ..

McGill Univ. Manuscript Collectiori

BHPJ

Buckingham House Post Journal

NHPJ

Nottingham House Post Journal

MHPJ

Mansfield House Post Journal

GBLJ

Great Bear Lake Journal

FSPJ

Fort Simpson Post Journal

- 4 -

THESIS

CONTACT AND CO-OPERATION: A HISTORY OF THE FUR TRADE IN THE
MACKENZIE LOWLANDS 1717-1821
(SUMMARY)
This manuscript wiLl re-examine the history of the fur
trade

in

the

tween

the establishment of the first

the Indians

eastern

in the

subarctic

region

and

in 1717

Mackenzie

lowlands

post to serve some of

to

the

establishment

the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.
sumption
for

that

Canadian

typified

the

region.

Like

the

Indians

have

provided

"the

central

history"*

rather

than

the

histories

of

fur

trade

the

findings

the

of .Robin

of Indian-European relations on the
early contact
were active
the

fur

period,

in

Fisher

of

The as-

'background'

the

focus

Mackenzie

in his

Northwest

has

Coast

history
in

the

the Indians· of the eastern subarctic

participa~ts

trade.

be-

and at the very least,

Policies

of ·the

trading

partners in

companies

in

the

Mackenzie region were assessed and accomodated,

or rejected

according

They

to

the

advantage- of

the

Indians.

and

a

vital agent in influencing the

policies:

eventual corporate

evolved in the eastern sub-

shape which

practices

were

the

arctic and Mackenzie lowlands after 1821.

*See Robin Fisher's preface which describes the place
of the Indian in the writing of Canadian history.
Contact
and Conflict, Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774-1890 (Vancouver: Univ. of British Columbia Press,
1977), p. xi, and Harold A. Innis, The Fur Trade in Canada:
An Introduction to Canadian Economic History {Toronto:
Univ. of Toronto Press, 1956), p. 386.

- 5 -

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Writing the history of the early contact period provides unique problems.

Specialists in other disciplines have

been well aware of this
prehistoric

periods,

"gap

in

our

knowledge

studied

by

the

archeologist,

recent period covered by the ethnologist. 11 1 ·
is

thrown· on this period it

bridge can

be provided. by

between

As

becomes clear- that

the

historian;

the

and

more

the

light

the missing

"the more

ethno-

historians work with European sources the more it is apparent

that

much of what

we formerly

regarded

as

Indian

cul-

sources,

the

ture is a culture of th~ contact situation. 11 2
Because

of

history

of

must

b.ased

be

the

nature

of

Indian-European
on

the

available

relations

selected

themes.3

in

this

early

period

Post

journals

are

available from Hudson's Bay Company records but not for ail
North West Company posts.

Some Hudson's Bay Company

in the North were moved or closed,
perspective in those areas.

thus giving us a limited

Ethnographies were not collec-

ted before the 1870's and while valuable for
many aspects of social life,
they

are ·often

bf

little

posts

understanding

toolmaking and yearly· .cycles,

use

for

understanding

when,

to

.what extent'

and

why

particular

changes

occurred.

Avail-

able sources will therefore be re-examined in an -effort
reconstruct the early contact history.

The findings of the

archaeology of the region will be woven into the
ary

history.

Ideas

developed

by

to

linquists

document-

regarding

the

culture and origins of nnrtheastern Athapaskans will be incorporated.
tion
as

and

Studies on wildlife,

scientific

research

relate

to

in

the

ideas focus

research

cultural

on

Athapaskan

ecology

northeastern

epidemic disease,

will. be

Athap~skans.

foods,

as

well

examined

as

they

develop

these

To

has been placed on selected themes.

ves'

relationship

iour

and

fur

companies,

wi ~h

their

environment,

cyclical movements,
and

social

policies

change

of

within

nutri-

The nati-

changing

behav-

.

operation
the

of

the

are

the

dynamic

and

band

themes examined.
Northeastern

Athapaskan

society

has

been

adaptive from the prehistoric period throughout the time of
contact.

It

h,as

already· bee.n

established

that

there

only a difference of opinion with regard to timing.4
adaptations required a competency

in

the

use

of

is

These

tools

and

techniques, and an adaptive social organization, responsive
to

the

different

demands

of

their _tasks.5

For

other

regions William Fenton has established that this process of
adaptation

by

the

natives

extended

into

prehistoric

times

and that it is romantic fallacy to suggest that Indian cul-

- 7 -

tures changed little before the coming of the whites.

This

view,

that

held

by

many

anthropologists

and

historians,

Indian society had been essentially static until the arrival

of

new technologies

the study of

from

archaeology.

Europe
Fenton

has

been

dispelled

summarized wide

works to show that the Iroquois had a long

h~story

by

ranginq
of adap-

I'\

. '

tability to accommodate change.6

In a similar vein Arthur Ray has demonstrated that the
Cree and Assiniboine Indians,

early in the contact period,

had been able to make a series of
the

environmental

and

by the fur trade.7
t he

I n d i a ns

who

cultural

"adaptive responses"

transformations

brought

to
on

Economic specializationB occurred among

p r o g res s-i v e l y

ad a p t e d t h e i r .r o le s · t <;>° t h e

changing character of the fur trade.9

Ray provided a pie-

ture of how the "barter economy" of the Indians was integrated

with

the

market

oriented

enterprise

of

the

Europ-

eans.

The English adopted certain trading conventions such

as the ceremonial gift exchange, then modified and manipulated these institutions to serve their own ends.10

Indian

middlemen in their strong position at times dictated terms
of the trade, insisted upon elaborate and expensive trading
rituals, and demanded high prices.

In a later book written

with Donald Freeman, Ray also accepts the premise that native trade although inelastic, yet in the European sense was
still

governed

by

some

economic

- 8 -

considerations.11

He

demonstrated that this inelasticity was due in part to the
expedients of travelling long distances

in

an

environment

which allowed for carrying only the most essential items.12
It is implicit in his work that after the age of middleman
trade,

Indians

mechanizing.

were

more

Another

accomodating

study

of

the

to

"normal"

early

contact

price

Tlingit

during the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,

indi-

cates that considerable change in social and political organization

occurred

among

the

Indians

of

the

Northwest

Coast, and

it in fa ct succeeds in quest ion ing mu ch of the

previous literature of the Northwest.13
Historians
of

the

the

changes

have generally

Athabasca

Although
richest

the

treated

the Indian

peoples

region

with

only

passing references

occurring to

them

have

been

region

was

in all of the

largely

generally

considered

trade,

became

fur

and

to

the

and

ignored.
be

the

location

for a protracted and vital struggle between the fur trading
giants in the Nineteenth Century, little detailed study and
certainly little serious consideration by historians of the
role of the Indians

in that

struggle has

been undertaken.

The classic study of the fur trade is that of Harold Innis.
His interest was in the "effects of a vast new land on European

civilization, 11 14 and

not

Indian response to the trade.

so much

in

the

details

of

His work touches on the Ath-

abasca and provides one of the central ideas for this thes-

-

9 -

is when he argues that

"the North West Company [was] adapt-

ed to expanding trade over wider areas" but that

this

organizational

new

approach

became

a

handicap

when

same

terri-

tories were unavailable.15
The few historical studies which address the EuropeanIndian relationship in the region have in general concluded
that

amicable

relations

existed

between

the

peoples.

early and detailed history of the fur trade by A.S.
one-half century ago
ans:

"their horses,

fore

and

wrought"

asserted of white impact

drastic

are

discussed.

marked

effects

••• at

the

of

Morton
~ndi­

the

their guns and their small-pox came be-

wrought
not

on

An

the

beginning

change. 11 16
In

fur

of

the North

trade

the

However

as

"a

Eighteenth

he

the

"changes

saw

the

great

most

displacement

Century

when

Crees ••• had become the happy possessors of guns."17

the

Change

was seen as limited to population relocations.

Morton sums

up

"the relat-

their

ions

of

relationships with
the

Northwesters

his assertion that

high

and

low,

with

the

Indians

were of the best," although he did concede the negative effects

of excessive liquor trade. 1 8

History of the

Gordon Davidson

North West Company maintains that

the

in

his

part-

nership of Northwesters and Indians was favourable to both.
He

argues

that

the

destruction

of

animals

and

overuse

of

liquor occurred in times of competition although again little

detail

about

the

Indians

-

is

10 -

provided.19

W.L.

Morton

pointed

out

that

North

West

Company trade

before 1821

was

an extraordinarily' suc~essful union of European and "primitive.1120

"It was this ability of the North West Company to

use the manpower and skills of primitive culture that made
it

at

its

greatest

of all Canadian--perhaps of

all--fur trading companies. 11 21

Cornelius Jaenen has carri-

ed

role

the

height

analysis

the

of the Indian

topic of English and French
He concluded that

further

relationships

"French attitudes

and treats

with

the Indian.

towards native society

were generally more positive than were the English
des of the same period. 11 22

the

attitu-

Although Jaenen's research was

based on

the St.

Lawrence during an

earlier

relevance

because

many

West

Company

servants

origin.

Jaenen

has

in

the Athabasca

of the North

were of

French

period

it

has

also

emphasized that "the fur trade encouraged the sexual laxity
that missionaries greatly deplored 11 23 and
"economic

contact ••. undermined

native

in addition

that

self-sufficiency and

self-reliance. 11 2 4
A few
which
has

recent

papers

have application

demonstrated

how

trea·t

to
the

great

extent

the

across

North

America .25

the

general

of

trade

Mackenzie Basin.

trading

pattern

fur

middlemen

European

Their

dictated

upset

traders who worked so hard to displace them.26
constant

urge

of

Europeans

-

to

cut

11

-

E.E.

expansion

control

costs

by

themes
Rich
to

a

reaching

greatly

the

It was this
reaching

past

the middlemen

that

caused "the trading Indians ••• to

dict-

ate •••• the pattern of trade, and reaction against the monopoly of the trading Indians had dictated the expansion
the trade from the earliest days. 11 27
that

was

formal

of

Rich found "that much

and social rather than

primarily economic

found a proper place in such interchanges, and trade at the
Bay-side posts soon developed the formal and public character of a great social occasion. 11 28
The Athapaskans valued highly their excursions to the
Coast.

In the Athabasca after 1780 the Chipewyan middlemen

seemed

to

be

Company.

displaced

by

the

arrival

of

the

North

West

But when the North West Company traders took ad-

vantage of their monopoly and oppressed the Chipewyans, the
treks to Churchill were periodically revived.
men

thus

maintained

competition

and

helped

The middleto

change

the

trading practices of the North West Company and their successors between 1785-1802, and 1805-16.
The ideas of E.E. Rich have been helpful in indicating
how

traditional

social

practices

were

adapted

adjusted to changes brought by the Europeans.

as

Indians

Rich assert-

ed that "in trade with Indians the price mechanism did not
work. 11 29
trader
were

who

He drew on the experience of Alexander Graham,
reflected that

satisfied

by

the

annual

approximately

needs

70-100

MB.

time an Indian could easily obtain 100 MB.

- 12 -

of

the
In

a

Indian

Graham's

Thi rt y MB were

then left to spend on "waste and dissipation. 11 30

Rich con-

eludes that those furs held in excess of what was considered

optimum

out that

needs

were

traded

for

liquor.

It

was

pointed

"there was only one commodity of which they wanted

unlimited

quantities,

penetrating analysis
transportation

spirits. 11 31
as

routes

to why

led to

a

He

has

also

invigorated
change

in

and

the

provided

a

lengthened

character

of

the trade.
The invigoration of the transport system led to
emphasis on pemmican and on canoe building by
both North Westers and the Hudson's Bay Company,
and when goods and liquor could be got by these
means Indians hunted less for furs.
Those who
kept to the hunt did so more ruthlessly, however.32
He also suggests that as the trade became more complex with
specialized transport
summer and their

the

numbers

beaver

were

given

rapidly declined.

no

respite

in

The above ana-

lysis may have been adequate elsewhere but in the Athabasca
many of the Indian

provisioners prior to 1821 were

dieted to liquor.

With the exception of the Beaver Indians

of

the

Peace

addicted

to

River,
alcohol,

Great

Slave Lake,

into

Fort

liquor.

and

Other

one method

means

to

many

observers

Yellowknife

food

hunters

around

the Caribou-eater Chipewyan

trading

were

not

appear

to

extract

used

ad-

by

the

Resolution

native groups
was

acknowledged

not

furs.

excessively
have

Ab du ct ion

by North West

-

13 -

been

to

regaled
used

of

be

with

with

some

Indian

worn en

Company servants

in

the

Athabasca which later would lead to animosity and conflict.
Rich's conclusion that liquor was the ultimate enticement to obtain furs and especially food from the Indians is
shared

by

many

observers

of

other

regions;33

European

observers and Indians alike conclude that the Indians

bore

no responsibility for the problem of alcohol

abuse.

Edwin

Lemert

asserted

bears

closely

upon

older

the

characterized

"that

drinking

patterns

of

North west

even

today

competition

Coast

cul tu re

and

rivalry

of

the

that

pas_t • "34

Charles Bishop suggests that the Ojibway of the boreal forest

drank

"to promote solidarity"

"socially
native

disruptive

and

"spirit"

European,

of drink

in

but

that

behaviour. 11 35

Social

were

by

escaped

the St.

Lawrence

it

often led to

controls,

giving

over

region.36

both

to

the

Drinking

was also seen as a means to protect against oppressive European behaviour.3 7

It was viewed as a

symbol

whereby

some

tribesmen could gain a measure of respect and solidarity.38
Others
for

have seen alcohol

release

of

use among

tensions.39

of the

their

bottle"

drunken
which

as

a

mechanism

Most

commentators

agree

that

contact

"refused to

accept

the

behavior";

they blamed

"the spirit

natives from their earliest
blame for

natives

was

"responsible

for

any

destruction

or loss of life which ensued. 11 40
However,

alcohol

use

in

the

Mackenzie

lowlands

practice well within the control of the Indians.

-

14 -

was

a

The open-

ing

of

Fort

Churchill

apparently did not
opposite was

to

serve

lead to a

the case.

Athapaskan

binge

of

needs

the

transport

The long journey to

of

liquor

into

1717

quite

the

the Coast

led

drinking;

to paring of excess baggage such as liquor.
after

in

the

In the 1770's

region

the

first

Athapaskan group to be contacted and to live in easy proximity

to

the

observers

posts

agree

as

that

provisioners

was

these

suffered

people

the

Beaver.
from

Most
alcohol

abuse first and most seriously.
In time and with increased competition liquor was made
available to

other Athapaskans.

periodic

regular

or

hunters

herds were slow to imbibe.

of

But
the

the natives

who were

barren-ground

caribou

To the end of the period under

study, the Chipewyans were disinclined to excessive dependence on liquor.
At

least

actively

until 1821

chose

not

to

it

would

indulge

appear

in

Although liquor was pushed on them,

that

excessive

the

Indians

alcohol

use.

particularly in periods

of competition,

it was accepted or refused according to the

circumstance.

At least until the end of the

period

under

study

most

natives

in

the

early

contact

Athabasca

region,

except the Beaver Indians, chose not to overindulge.
Other

studies

which

indicate

active

involvement

of

natives in accommodating new practices suggest that the fur
trade was primarily an institutional extension of the Indi-

-

15 -

an alliance.

Karl Polyani has proposed the theory that the

forms

of

social

systems.41

when

he

exchange

socially

to

that

satisfy

embedded

gift-giving,

trade

Abraham

asserted

commodities

in

had

evolved

Rotstein
Indians

the

their

from

precontact

continued
bartered

immediate

this

for

theme

European

needs

following

practices.42

Competition

"centered

on

dispensation

of

violence

and

free

strong-arm

tactics

system. 11 43

Arthur Ray and Donald Freeman have taken

with

this

suggest
trade,

idea

that

of

"the

and

the

liquor,

manipulation

treaty,

or

of

the

administered

consciously

political

alliance
issue

trade.

They

aspects

of

the

both on the European and Indian sides, diminished in

imp or ta nee at
change. 1144

an early point

in the development

The 'socially embedded'

of the ex-

exchanges of tradition-

al Indian society "were modified to reflect increasing daminance

of

economic

found

that

by

considerations. 11 45

"redistribution"

the

Ray

Indian

and

middlemen

able to disperse the surplus goods for which they
gained

in

a

profit

conscious

manner.46

They

return by social scientists to using the
trade,

but

by

trade,

and administered or treaty trade.

link

for

for

traditional

reassessing

understanding
social

"reciprocity," and

non market

how

Indians

purposes

coi:icepts

lies

"redistribution. rr47

-

16 -

They
market

in
The

the

were

had

call

concept

used

Freeman

barfor

a

of market

of

the

gift

suggest

the

principles
concept

former

of

usually

"involveld] virtually simultaneous giving and receiving of
goods whose values are equivalent."48 Redistribution
can be interpreted as a means of gaining status
and approbation in a basically egalitarian society in which no political or social hierarchy existed to confer such status, where leaders were
obeyed voluntarily or as a result of inducements
rather than by command, and where wealth accumulation (hoarding) was almost impossible and was
considered anti-social behaviour.49
Yet

during

Athabasca

the
a

period

few

of

leaders

the

middleman

gained

in

trade

power

and

in

the

material

wealth; redistribution of their wealth did not always occur
upon return to the band.
A recent detailed study by an anthropologist, Jennifer
Brown,

questioned

much

of the historical literature which

has addressed the North West Company.
the relationship
firmed
She

in

the

viewed

between Company and native which

fur

the

She added insight to

trade

fur

social field 11 50 and

history

trade

of

society

the Mackenzie
as

a

carried this model

is

con-

region.

"semi-autonomous

further

by

stating

that the "Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company constitute[d]
the

two

seriousness

major
with

sub-fields."51

Brown

which

Bay

Hudson's

cast

Company

doubt

on

servants

observed directives forbidding liaisons with Indian women;
permanent relationships increasingly occurred.

The greater

mobility

that

of

the

domestic unions

North

West

Company

men

meant

their

were often more tenuous than those of the

Hudson's Bay Company.
-

17 -

Another study
was forcefully

indicated that Indian

of women, Indian and mixed blood,

son Is

Bay

tinct

entities

tended

that

and

with

"the

between

North

different

Indians

role in ensuring that
tions

the

their

Van Kirk saw

West

social

Company

usual

women

and

practices.

She

con-

played

important

patterns

the

from

the

whites'

ment s •

Ch an g in g

white,

and

in

failure

c on c e r n s

on

particular,

to

t he

rela-

took

the

Conflicts

often

re-

of

increasing

sexual

traders

respect

pa rt

an

for

white

as

the Huddis-

form of sanctioned marital unions. 11 52
sulted

role

two

themselves

the

the

in the development of fur

Like Jennifer Brown,

Company

convention

Sylvia Van Kirk examined

pursued.

trade society.

social

their
bot h

native

arrange-

I n d i an

a nd

hostility

to

the practice of taking Indian wives are seen by Van Kirk as
leading to the decline in these marital unions.53
Active involvement by Indians in accomodating to newly
introduced fur trade practices indicated the dynamic qualities of Athapaskan society.

But much of the generalization

from

anthropological

the

archaeological

and

literature

of

the Athapaskans concludes that there was little fundamental
change during the

eighteenth century,

and basic change did

not occur until the nineteenth century.
ical
to

studies

native

century.

Recent archaeolog-

have

tended

to

see a

low level

lifeways

until

as

late

as

The

fur

trade by that

-

18 -

of

disruption

the

early

nineteenth

time was

seen

as

reducing

migratory

ways

among

the

winter settlements.54

Beaver

Indians

M.W. Morris

in a

encouraging

recent

historical,

ecological

and

demographic

study

Indians

in

the

nineteenth

century,

saw

the

having

an

effect

depletion

of

animals

on

the

of

and

the

Great

Bear

fur

Lake

trade

as

due to the

congregation of large groups of Indians around the posts.55
Another

recent

work

by

Jacques

Cinq-Mars

suggested

that

there was a shift from inland settlements and the seasonal
migration cycle of the nineteenth century to a more settled
riverine existence near established trading
ter.56
G.J.

However,
Fedirchuk

posts

in

win-

the concurrent study by J.F.V.

Millar and

does

significant

suggest

that

earliest

changes may have""occurred with the trading posts from 1790
to 1810 when Euro-Canadian foods became available, initiating a change in basic adaptation as well as economics."57
Others
either

see

nineteenth

insignificant,

or

century
when

settlement

evident,

changes

easily

as

absorbed

within the existing framework thus controlled by the native
hosts.

Cornelius Osgood has inferred that only very limit-

ed change had occurred to northern Athapaskans by the

late

nineteenth century; maintaining that "there has been a tremendous
whole

upheaval,

but

psychological

Honigmann saw that

at

the

same

outlook which

time
is

there

remains

a

intensely

native."58

changes to the Slave Indians

occurring

earlier than the mid-twentieth century "were not abrupt and

- 19 -

appear

to

have

been

accompanied
Similarly

disorganization."59
among

the

Peel

River

by

little
noted

changes

Kutchin,

catastrophic

not

were

by

Slobodin

disruptive.60

Likewise, the Athapaskans of the Snowdrift region according
to

J.

Van

change."

Stone

were

Their

"residence

more - centralized
been

going

initial

on

"not ••. affected

and

more

type,

a

process

or

steadily

since

less

Helm

and Leacock too,

upheavals

was

that

eras. 11 62

not

disruptive and

characterize

Robert

contact

Janes

the

in

to

time

suggested

in

preceding
study

drastic
a

that •.• [had]
the

of

that

the Mackenzie

"lack[ed]

his

or

shifted]

settled

contact."61

which

rapid

patterns ••• [had

the period 1820-1940 saw cultural
Basin

by

the
and

dramatic
following

Nucleation

and

Dispersion developed the thesis that Athapaskan Indians did
not

congregate

around

fur

trading

posts

in

the

Nineteenth

The

demands

of

trapping

and

the

need

to

Century.

supply

foods on a regular basis to posts led to wider dispersal of
native groups.

"In essence the modifications introduced by

Euro-Canadians

in

the

nineteenth

century

added

some

new

dimensions to established native settlement and subsistence
activities,
study
that

of

but

the

not

Fort

"the Chipewyan

qualitative
Resolution
were

not

change

area,
greatly

per

David

se."63
Smith

committed

to

In

a

asserted
the

fur

trade, and politically they were quite independent of white
personnel and institutions"64 until the twentieth century.

-

20 -

Other surveys of Athapaskan history suggest with qualifications

that

change

Van

has

established

Stone

began

with

that

the
the

earliest

fur

Athapaskan

trade.

spiritual

world was disrupted by the shift of emphasis from exploitation of the total environment to that of select

fur-bearing

species

fur-bearing

and

that

"knowledge

of

the

habits

of

animals and their environment was now of greater importance
than

similar

Yet

Van

knowledge

Stone

of

large

game

animals

qualifies

these

remarks

when

and

fish. n65

he

suggests

that until well

into the twentieth century Europeans

large

[were

involved

in

past

extent,

life. 11 66

"Only

the

in]

few

sharing

way

of

have Canadian

and

interpretations was

that

decades

their

"to a

American economic activities intruded. 11 67
Implicit

in all of the above

marked or continuous changes did not occur in the eighteenth century.
orians

Few anthropologists,

subjected

the

eighteenth

historians,

or ethnohist-

century

intensive

to

search and they made the most general of assumptions.
ever,
the

one ethnohistorian who

eighteenth

century

does

based part
see

some

of her

of

trading

1781-84

had

on

these

posts

and

the

significant

inhabitants.68

smallpox

How-

research in
changes;

Beryl Gillespie has shown the disruptive effect that
lishment

re-

estab-

epidemic

Gillespie

saw

of
the

Chipewyans as the aggressors against the Cree as they moved
south and west into the lands emptied by the epidemic.69

-

21

-

Little

analysis

has

been

undertaken

of

the

Beaver

and

Slavey Athapaskan bands who were more likely the prehistoric

inhabitants

Churchill
J.C.

and

Yerbury

Eighteenth
that

of

Lake

Athabasca,

lower Peace River
has

also

Century.

posited

considerable

But

disagrees

he

lands,

had

expanded

River,

upper

Like Gillespie,

areas.70

he believes that the Cree,

ditional

Athabasca

change

with

for

the

Gillespie

in

rather than occupying tra-

into

the

upper

Churchill

and

the Athabasca and Peace River areas at the expense of Athapaskan

bands. 71

however,

as

Both

largely

of

these

scholars

demographic

and

see

the

changes,

locational.

Little

evidence is provided to reveal vital changes in subsistence
and yearly

cycle,

suggested

that

social structure,

"after

which groups are

Mackenzie

example]

lose

the

Chipewyan

[in

their
her

had

begun

to

earlier.

The

rise

captains,

along

with

Indians and Cree,

emphasis

stop

over

changes

on

Chipewyan

and

pillaging the Dogrib

and

However it will

lose

the

be argued

their

posit ion

of

of

the

powerful

Chipewyan

the

peace

established

signalled the end of Cree

the

Chipewyan.

The

for

the

continued

almost

position

view]

Yellowknife tribes. 11 72

1790's

the

Gillespie

in a dominant trading position; the Crees

[for

Cree

or culture.

Chipewyan
to

predominated
dominate

certainly the Dogrib.73

-

22 -

the

that

domina nee

mu ch

trading

between

Beaver

dominance
after

the

over

1780 and

Yellowknife

and

This thesis will therefore

address

the

control

of

central
changes

problem
taking

of

place

the

extent

among

the

of

Indian

northeastern

Athapaskans between 1720-1821 and begins with a description
of

the

vital

elements

of

their

culture

in

prehistoric

times.
The

caribou

was

material

and

of

Mackenzie

the

their

social

the

main

life

of most

lowlands

resource

and

moose,

around

which

northeastern
eastern

life.

Fish

and

bison,

elk

supplied

the

basis

for

other

and

west

margins

of

the

region.

bands

Athapaskans

subarctic

woodland
even

shaped

caribou
on

Social

the

the

and

south

conventions,

religion, and the yearly cycle reflected the imperatives of
a subsistence hunting based and band organized culture.
The earliest variation from the traditional cycle gave
rise to the northern trading bands moving along a nontraditional

east

Company

to

west

pattern

at

Fort

Churchill.

post

usual trading conventions,
year,

gave

leaders,

to

and

from

the

Hudson's

Bay

These groups adopted the

stopped hunting for

increased

authority

and

power

to

became more

dependent

on

European

part

of the

their

trading

goods,

adopted

the use of the dog as a pack animal and exploited their own
women

more

vigorously

furs.

Other Athapaskan bands shifted from a hunting based

existence into a
independence,

in

the

caring

for

trapping lifestyle which

led to

and

packing

threatened

their

increased use of liquor and caused

-

23 -

of

in

creased

conflict

lands.

Those who became known as the Beaver Indians adopt-

ed

aggressive

with

traits

earlier

from

other

tained European trade items,
the

less

fortunate

margins.

or

bands

These

same

aggressive
pillaging

to

stop

the

middlemen

in

the

1760 's.

distinguish

the

of

who

these

had

trapping

earlier

ob-

particularly guns, to pressure

passive Sekani

employed

further

occupants

and

Slavey

tactics

and

were

expansion

on

their

eventually
by

These

adopted

traits

Beaver

Indians

from

the

Cree

tended

their

to

close

cousins the Chipewyans and Slaveys.

the

Epidemic disease and the arrival of European

posts

eastern

the

late

adjustment.

The

1770's

led

subarctic
to

and

widespread

Mackenzie
dislocation

lowlands
and

in

in

Northern trading bands were devastated by the smallpox epidemic of 1781-83 as were the Athapaskan Cree.

This killed

off the most dependent of the Indian peoples in the Athabasca-Mackenzie
lace.

to

that

time,

particularly

the

When the newly organized North West

after the epidemic,
ers took on

were

The

remnants

Company arrived

and Athabasca

of

Athabasca

Cree

employed as provisioners supplying

pemmican obtained from the bison,
the Peace

popu-

employment of native trappers and hunt-

new patterns.

and Beaver Indians

male

River

elk and

areas.

The

caribou

herds

remnants

of

of the

northern trading band, known as Montagners after their traditional

hilly

habitat

on

the north shore of Lake Athabas-

-

24 -

ca,

were encouraged to move south and west

ping

lands

decimated

devoid
by

of

its

smallpox.

Cree

into good trap-

inhabitants

Yellowknife

and

a

who

had

been

few

Chipewyan

traders were encouraged to establish trade with Athapaskans
to the north and west.
By the late 1790's the North West Company had a
ing

organization

projecting

as

far

north

as

the

trad-

mouth

of

the Mackenzie River.

Food supplies were systematically or-

ganized and appeared

sufficient,

particularly when

mented

by

fish

from

Great

Slave

woollen

bountiful

clothing,

apparently
in

Lake.

Population

Indians
European

discarding

European

eyes

was

stocks

some

~ractices

therefore

on

in

the

tools
of

and

such

Athabasca

region

their

the

Lake

were

utensils,
more

as

adopting
and

Chipewyans

into the Athabasca,

Churchill

to

had

extended

the Slaveys,
face

of

around

into

upper

Liard

trap.

area

at

had

upper

Beaver Indians
the

expense

of

and .into the upper Peace River country in the

Sekani
the

the

areas

were

infanticide.

continued to move south and west
and Beaver River

and

"objectionable"

female

increase.

su_pple-

opposition.

posts

The

Yellowknives

on Great Bear Lake to

had

set

up

charge a tariff

on

crisis

the

fur
was

all incoming Indian peoples.
The

first

trade and all
the

opening

signs
of

of

of

those

an

impending

dependent

opposition

-

by

25 -

for

on

it

in

the

region

the

XY

Company

in

1799.

SELKIRK COLLEGE LIBRARY
CASTLEGAR, BC

Already

heavily

taxed

country

food

supplies

of

the Peace

River were overextended with the arrival of the XY in 1799
and the Hudson's Bay Company in 1802.

Company hunting par-

ties competed with one another and with natives for rapidly
depleting large mammal stocks.

The practice of the regale,

granting free liquor in return for food and as a ceremonial
exchange,

was

alike,

attempts

as

indulged to excess
were

made

by Europeans

to maintain

and Indians

loyal ties.

The

Athapaskan practice of polygamy which had been adopted particularly by

"Canadiens" and Metis employees

West Company,

was abused

and

extend

production,

of the North

in attempts to exploit

processing

and

transport

kin

ties,

of

furs.

This practice was resented and openly resisted in the first
decade of the nineteenth century.

Indians rebelled at at-

tempts to deploy them in fur trapping regions and resisted
female hostage taking while being increasingly regaled with
liquor.

A er is is

was

imminent

as

more

natives

died

from

starvation.
In the heart

of the Peace River country where provis-

ions were obtained the Beaver Indians were "regaled" with
liquor.

When attempts were made to pressure them to reloc-

ate or to encourage them to hunt
they

reacted

violently.

The

by abducting their women

Chipewyan

response

to

this

abuse of their women led to destruction of North West Company

outpost.

In

this

-

period

26 -

the

Indian

peoples

of

the

Athabasca

region

practices

and

1814 had

stopped

the North

West

were

starving

united

in

their

hunting and

Company.

Bay

Company

arrived

with

the

Honourable

as

a

resistance
trapping

Later

in

force,

many

company

with

in

result

of

to

furs

1816

fur

them,
for

when

and

trade

the

returned,
its

trade
by

with

Hudson's

but

traded

less

coercive

combined

Hudson's

practices.
Restoration

of

monopoly

under

the

Bay Company in 1821 led to much more conscious rationalization

of the role of Indian

years

of

competition

some quarters,
henceforth

plunder

in

the

fur

demanded

trade.

The

conservation

in

redeployment of bands in others.

attached

than bison or

and

peoples

specializing

in

than

Peace

this

was

hunting

the

eater Chipewyans.
located
new

Indians

Indian

rather

Fort

and

by

Caribou

as the most likely source for provisioning the trade.

provisioning

seen

posts.

alike

rather

was

particular

and Europeans

Resolution

fish

to

Bands were

River

became

to

be

supplied

of

that

The

center

only

animal,

by

the

for

bands

caribou-

from trapped-out areas were re-

by closure of posts thus

establishments.

the

inducing

imperatives

of

them

to

move

to

the fur trade

had

transformed the yearly cycle, led to a change in or altered
the

degree of dependence on hunting any one specie,

changes in certain important
dependence

on

new

animal

social

species.

- 27 -

practices,
Indian

and

people

caused
brought
of

the

eastern

subarctic

Europeans

had

and

accepted

Mackenzie
the

lowland

efficacy

of

region

as

these

changes

actively cooperated in bringing them about.

-

28 -

well

as
and

I
N 0 T E S

1Bruce Trigger, Children of Aataentsic; a History of
the Huron People to 1660 (Montreal: McGill-Queens, 1976),
p • 11 •
2William Fenton, "Huronia: An Essay in Proper Ethnohistory," American Anthropologist, 80 (1978), p. 926.
3Robin Fisher discusses the problem of dealing with
thehistory of one group on the basis of the writings of another.
See p. xiii, in Contact and Conflict, Indian-Euroean Relations in British Columbia
1774-1890 (Vancouver:
Univ. of British Columbia Press, 1977 •
4James Van Stone, Atha askan Ada tations
Hunters and
Fishermen of the Subarctic Forests
Arlington Heights: Aldine, 1974), pp. 3-6.
5Ibid., pp. 39-41.
6 Fenton,

pp. 923-35.

7Arthur Ray, Indians in the Fur Trade, Their Role as
Tra
ers
Hunters
and Middlemen in the Lands Southwest of
Hudson's Bay, 1660-1870
Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press,
1974), pp. 46-48.
8Ibid.,

p. 89.

9Ibid., p. 228.

- 29 -

10Ibid., pp. 61-68,

137-43.

11Arthur Ray and Donald Freeman, Give Us Good Measure,
an Economic Analysis of Relations between the Indians and
the Hudson's Bay Company before 1763 (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1978), pp. 232-33.
12Ray, Indians in the Fur Trade,

p. 68.

13William L. Ostenstad, "The Impact of the Fur Trade on
the Tlingit during the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," M.A. Diss., Univ. of Manitoba, 1976.

Univ.

14Harold A. Innis, The Fur Trade
of Toronto Press, 1962), p. 383.

in

Canada

(Toronto:

15Innis, ibid., p. 262.
16A.S. Morton,· A History of the Canadian West to 187071 (1939; rpt. Tor9nto: Univ. of. Toronto Press, 1973), p.
16.
17Ibid., p. 12.
18A.S. Morton, The Journal of Duncan M'Gillivray of the
North West Company at Fort George on the Saskatchewan 179495 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1929), pp. lxxi and 47.
19G.C.
Davidson,
The North West Company
Un iv • of Ca 1 i f or n i a P r es s , 1 9 1 8 ) , p • 1 6 8 •

(Berkeley:

20w.L. Morton, "The North West Company: Pedlars Extraordinary" in Aspects of the Fur Trade, ed. Russell W. Fridley, St. Paul: Minnesota, Historical Society, 1967, p. 9.
21 Ibid., p. 14.
22cornelius

Jaenen,

"French
- 30 -

Attitudes

toward

Native

Society" in Old Trails and New Directions: Papers of the
Third North American Fur Trade Conference, eds. Carol M.
Judd and Arthur J. Ray (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto, 1980),
p. 70.
23cornelius Jaenen, Friend and Foe, Aspects of FrenchAmerindian Cultural Contact in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976), p. 108.
24Ibid.,

p. 92.

25E.E. Rich,
"Trade Habits and Economic Motivation
among the Indians of North America," Canadian Journal of
Economics and Political Science, 26 (1960), 35-53.
26E.E. Rich, "The Indian
301 (winter 1970), 4-20.

Traders,"

The

Beaver,

Outfit

27Rich, "Trade Habits," p. 42.
28Ibid.
29Rich, "Indian Traders," p. 17.
30Made Beaver,

the value of a prime beaver skin.

31Ibid., p. 18.
32E.E. Rich, The History of the Hudson's Bay Com~an1,
1670-1870, II (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1 58,
p. 189.
3 3 See f n • 1 8 a n d- 1 9 on t he i n f l u e n c e of l i q u or in t he
fur trade according to A.S. Morton and G. Davidson respectively.
34Edwin
Lemert,
"Alcohol
and
the
Northwest
Coast
Indians," University of California Publications in Culture
-

31

-

and Society II,

No. 6 (1954),

p. 324.

35Charles Bishop, Northern Ojibwa and the F.ur Trade,
"Ethnohistoric Research
in
the
Central
Subarctic:
Some
Conceptual and Methodological Problems."
Western Canadian
Journal of Anthropology, 6,.No. 1 (1976), 116-44, p. 41.
36Jaenen, Friend a·nd Foe,

p.

1.14.
:1 : .

See also Andre Vachon, "L'Eau:...de-Vie dans la societe
indienne,"
Canadian Historical Association Annual Report
(1960), 22-3~2~.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~

37Nancy 0. Lurie, "The World's Oldest On-Going Protest
Demonstration: North American Indian Drinking Patterns,"
Pacific Historical Review, 40 (Aug. 1971), 311-32.

--38craig McA.ndrew and Robert B. Edgerton, Drunken Comportment: A Social Explanation. (Chicago: Aldine, 1969), p.
111.
3 9 S e·e Do n a 1 d Ho rt o n , " Th e Fu n ct i o n of Al co h o l in Pr i mi tive Societies: A Cross Cultural Study, "Quarterly Journal
of Studies in Alcohol, 4 (Sept. 1943), p. 223; Edward P.
Dozier, "Problem Drinking Among American Indians: I.he...Role
of Sociocultural Deprivation," ·Quarterly Journal of Siudies
on Alcohol, 27 (Mar. 1966), 72-87; and R.F. Bales, "Cultural
Differences in Rates of Alcoholism,"
Quarterly Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 6 (Mar. 1946), 480-99.
4 0Calvin Martin, Keepers of the Game: Indian and Animal
Relationships and the Fur Trade (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1978), p. 64.
See also Jaenen, Friend and Foe, p. 114; Andre Vachon,
"L' Eau-de-Vie dans la Societe indienne, "Canadian Historical
Association Annual Report: (1960), pp. 22-32; Donald Horton,
"The Function of Alcohol in Primitive Societies: A Cross
Cultural Study." Quarterly Journal of Studies in Alcohol, 14
(Sept. 1943), p. 223 and Lurie, pp. 311-32.
4 1Karl Polyani, "The Economy as Instituted Process" in
Trade and Market in Early Empires, eds. Karl Polyani, C.M.

- 32 -

Arensburg, and
pp. 243-70.

H.W.

Pearson

(Glencoe:

Free

Press,

1957),

42Abraham Rotstein,
"The Fur Trade and Empire,
an
Institutional Analysis," Diss. Univ. of Toronto, 1967, pp.
13-16.
43Ibid., see summarY..,
'f

p.

1.

II

4 4Arthur Ray and Donald Freeman, Give Us Good Measure,
an Economic Analysis of Relations between the Indians and
Hudson's Bay Company before 1763 (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto
Press, 1978), I?· 236.
4 5Ibid.

--46Ibid.
47Ibid.,

p. 243.

48Ibid., p. 244.
49Ibid., pp. 244-45.
50Jennifer Brown, "Company Men and Native Families: Fur
Trade Society and Domestic Relations in Canada's Old Northwest."
Diss. Univ. of Chicago, 1976.
The idea that the fur
trade has. given rise to a unique culture and society is a
major contention of John E. Foster, "The· Country-Born in the
Red River Settlement: 1820-50," Diss. Univ. of Alberta,
1972.
Fritz Pannekoek, "The Churches and the Social Structure in the Red River Area, 1818-70," Diss. Queen's University, 1973 and Sylvia Van Kirk, "The Role of Women in the
Fur Trade Society of the Canadian West, 1700-1850," Diss.
Univ. of London, 1975.
51srown, p. 161.
52Sylvia Van Kirk, Many Tender Ties, Women in Fur Trade
- 33 -

Society, 1670-1870 (Winnipeg,
p. 40.
53Ibid.,

Man.: Watson and Dwyer, 1980),

p. 93.

54w.R. Ridington, "The Environmental Context of Beaver
Indian Behaviour," Diss. Harvard Univ., 1968 (Ann Arbor: Ann
Arbor Microfilms, 1968), p. 35.
55M.W. Morris, "The Situation. after European Contact,"
Part II of "Great Bear Lake Indians: A Historical Demography
and Human Ecology," The Musk-Ox, 12 (1973), 58-80.
5 6 Jacques Cinq-Mars, Preliminary Archaeological S~udy,
Mackenzie Corridor, Report of the Environmental-Social Committee Northern Pipelines, Task Force on Northern Oil Develop men t , No • 7 3 - 1 0 ( 0 t t aw a : In for mat i on Ca n a d a , 1 9 7 3 ) , pp •
30-31.
See also ibid., Second Report, No. 74-11.
5 7 J.F.V. Millar and G.J. Fedirchuk, Report on Investigations: Mackenzie River Archaeological Survey, Report of
the Environmental-Social Committee, Northern Pipelines, Task
Force on Northern Oil Development, No. 74-47 (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1975), p. 33.
58cornelius Osgood, Contributions to the Ethnography of
the Kutchin, Yale University Publications in Anthropology
No. 14 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1970), p. 171.

59John J. Honigmann, Ethnography and Acculturation of
the Fort Nelson Slave, Yale University Publications in Anthropology No. 33 (New Haven: Department of Anthropology, Yale
Univ. Press, 1946), p. 97.
60R. Slobodin, Band Organization of the Peel River Kutchin, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No.
T79(0ttawa: National Museums of Canada, 1962), pp. 83-84.
61James W. Van Stone, The Changing Culture of the Snowdrift Chipewyan, Bulletin No. 209, Anthropological Series 74
(Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1965), p. 112.
-

34 -

62Ju.ne Helm and Eleanor Burke Leacock, "The Hunting
Tribes of Subarctic Canada," North American Indians
in
Historical Perspective, eds. Eleanor Burke Leacock and Nancy
0. Lurie, (New York: Random House, 1971), p. 353.
6 3Robert Janes, "Dispersion and Nucleation among Nineteenth Century Mackenzie Bas in Ath a pas kans: Ar.chaeol og ical,
Ethno-Historical, Ethnographic Interpretations," Microfiche,
Diss. Univ. of Calgary, 1975, p. 344.
64David Smith, "Fort Resolution People: An Historical
Study of Ecological Change," Diss. Univ .. of Minnesota, 1975.
65James Van Stone, Athapaskan Adaptations, pp. 101-02.
6~Ibid.,

p. 91.

67Ibid.
68Beryl C. Gillespie, "Territorial Expansion of the
Chipewyan in the Eighteenth Century," in ed. A.M. Clark,
Proceedings: Northern Athapaskan Conference 1971, II, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 17 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975), p. 351.
69Ibid., 374-75.
See also. Beryl Gillespie, "An Ethnohistory of the Yellowknives: a .Northern Athapaskan Tri.be,"
in ed. D.B. Carlisle, Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology,
Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 31
(Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975), pp. 207-08.
70A.S. Morton, Canadian West, p. 12.
See J.C. Yerbury,
"The Post-Contact Chipewyan: Trade Rivalries and Changing
Territorial Boundaries," in Ethnohistory, No. 23-3 (Summer
1976), 239, 247, 251.
See also E. Petitot, "On the Athabasca· District of the Canadian Northwest Territory," Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 40 (Nov. 1883), 651.
71Yerbury, "Post-Contact Chipewyan," ~·

- 35 -

237.

72Gillespie, "Ethnohistory of Yellowknives," p. 207.
Gillespie is referring to the 1780' s when Sir Alexander
Mackenzie was resident in the Athabasca.
73Gillespie says that the Yellowknives were dominated
until sometime in the period 1795-1805 when they began act~
ing as middlemen to the Slavey.
Ibid., pp. 212-14.
J.C.
Yerbury, "The Social Organization of Subarctic Athapaskan
Indians: an, Ethnohistorical
Reconstruction,"
Diss.
Simon
Fraser Univ., 1980, pp. 206-08.

-

36 -

CHAPTER I I
ATHAPASKAN LIFEWAYS

The Athapaskan people of the Arctic lowlands occupied
a

region

dominated

by

the

basin

of

the

lived in a climate where winters were
summers were short and hot.

Mackenzie

River,

long and severe and

Vegetation was

predominantly

wooded; conifers were found throughout the Mackenzie Basin
while in the northeastern borders of the region trees were
limited to sheltered valleys and glacial eskers projecting
into the barrens.

Berries were plentiful in summer and the

variety

were

of

fauna

of

economic

significance

to

the

Indians.1
The vast region
paskan

languages

inhabited by the people of

stretched

from Alaska

to Hudson

from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to
plains with a fragment

the Atha-

the

edge

Bay

and

of

the

of Athapaskan-speaking people along

the southern Rocky Mountain states.

The divergence of the

main Athapaskan culture into two or more segments occurred
sixteen hundred to two thousand years ago.2 Salmon was the
natural

resource

Athapaskans

of

most

vitally associated with the western

interior

Alaska,

northern British Columbia.

parts

of

the

Yukon,

and

The Athapaskans of the eastern

subarctic,

boreal forest,

distinguished by
ing

the

large

and Mackenzie River lowlands were

their migratory

hunting existence follow-

importantly

mammals,

the

barren

ground

caribou.3
Northeastern .Athapaskans

b~rrens

of the

and Mackenzie

lowlands! 1nave been accepted by ethnographers as being di vided

into

Slavey,

seven

groups:

Dogrib,

Hare,

Chipewyan,
and

the

Yellowknives,

Loucheux

or

Beaver,
June

Kutchin.

MacNeish defines Athapaskan bands as:
a set of peoples living in physical conti_nguity
(but not together) speaking a mutually intelligible tongue (though often with regional dialectical variations), sharing a common culture (though
not necessarily one distinct in essentials from
neighbouring.tribes), and having at least a vagu~
sense of common identity which may be based in
whole or in part on the·foregoing conditions.4
From this definition and the opinions of some Athapaskan specialists a sense of eastern Athapaskan ·cultural continuity
of

is

discernable.

Athapaskan

range

social

of environmental

virtually

all

Athapaskan

Adaptations

Van Stone

saw that

life ••• extended
zones ••• :The

subsistence

across

same

techniques. 11 5

"emphasizes

the

"many aspects

is
His

the

also

of

true

major

essential

homogeneity through~ut the area. 11 6 Cycles

entire
for

work,

cultural

abundance and

scarcity in this relatively simple ecosystem have been seen
as leading to a high degree of mobility and hence fluidity
of

culture. 7

Catherine

McClellan

- 38 -

has

suggested

that

the

eastern

Athapaskans

Eskimo

in

that

may

be

dialect

considered

and

analogous

culture

in

the

with

the

prehistoric

period were more fluid and uniform than unique.8
Some

eastern

Yellowknives
range.
wyan,

Athapaskans,

notably

distinguished

only

were

Dialects
Beaver,

differ

Kutchin

by

considerably

and Slave are

the

Chipewyans

their

geographic

although

the; 1 Chipe-

not

so

''

linguistically

dissimilar as once thought.9 Hare and Dogrib

comprise

of

though

another

group

which

reflect

"ancient"

groupings."10 Even the Kutchin whom Osgood and
"stood out 11 11

gested

from

normal alignment

in recent studies to have a

and·

part

"loose

others

sug-

have been found

high percentage of shared

cog-

nates with Beaver, Slave and Chipewyan languages.12
The common quest for the major and most
game

resource,

between
links

the

caribou,

northeastern
between

Eskimos

who

Chipewyans

met

to

Athapaskans

Kutchins,

met

led

at

the

the

and

bountiful

sharing
also

of

traits

to

trade

led

Yellowknives,

Hare,

Dogribs

west

Great

Bear

Yellowknives

end

and

of

sometimes

big

and

Lake. 13

Eskimos

in

the

summer on the Thelon and Dubawnt Rivers.14 In winter Chipewyans,

Beavers,

and Slaveys met at Lake Athabasca.15

chins alternatively
Other

logical meeting

rivers:

the

of

Slave,

the

fought

and

places

the

the

Athabasca-Peace,

juncture

-

with

Eskimos.16

were the confluences of major

confluence of the
and

traded

Kut-

39 -

of

the

Liard,

the

outlet

Keele,

and

Great

Bear

Rivers

with

the

Mackenzie.17 Caribou

~reat

constrictions such as those at the east .end of
Lake, at each end of Lake Athabasca,
the

Coppermine

River

places

favourite

around

and
fall

for

migration
Slave

near the headwaters of
Point

Lake

provided

meetings.18

Thomas

Simpson

relates in 1836:
From some of the Chipewyans I learned that they
had, in the course of the preceding [sic] summer
•.• met with a party of Esquimaux at the confluence of the noble Thelew or Thelon River with the
Doobawnt of Hearne ••. This meeting was of the most
amicable character, and they spent the great part
of the summer together .••• They also informed me
that, in 1832, some of the. Athabasca Chipewyans
accompanied the Church i 11 branch of their tribe
on their annual meeting with other Esquimaux at
Yath Kyed, or W~ite Snow Lake of Hearne.19
Birket-Smith

relates

that

the

bartered

dogs

in

return

for

moccasins

and

and soapstone with

the

snowshoes.20 Osgood

suggests

that

canoe

routes were "good"

and

between

the

north

arm

of

dictated

the

Athapaskan

hunting

and

territorial

saw

regular

use

Eskimo

Chipewyans

Great

Slave

Lake and McTavish Bay.21
The
seasonal

barr~n-ground

cycle,

·carLbou

"determined

organization

of

culture and

became the focus

oral

the

group,

literature. 11 22 .Many

the
was

central

to

their

material

of their religious belief and

Athapaskans_ came

ire

contact

with

other hunting bands as they congregated at seasonal hunting
locations in wait for the caribou migration.

- 40 -

The

Bathurst

and

Bluenose

Herds

regularly

wintered

the

north

east

shores

Great

the

latter and Great Slave Lake.

Indians,
herds.
the

and

of

near

Bear

each

Lake

other

and

on

between

The Yellowknife and Hare

possibly also the Loucheux

regularly

hunted

those

The eastern range of the Beverley Herd lay close to

western

range

of

the

Kaminuriak

winter close· to each other.

Herd

leading

them

to

Calving grounds of the Beverley

Herd were not far rembved from the wintering grounds of the
Bathurst
both

Herd

herds

and

bands

without

of

hunters

following

the

conceivably

full

exploited

migratory

range

of

either.23
The
sµ~ing

carihou

usually

migrated

from winter ranges

on

or

early

the edge of the forest

to the

in

foraging

large groups
on

their

on

main

late winter

~arly

tundra where calving occurred in
elling

in

the barrens

source

of

to mid-June.

Trav-

in July and August,

food,

the

caribou reversed direction

by late August.

ember they approached the

woodlands.

By

lichens,

the

In early Septearly

fall

their

winter coat was replenished and free from warble holes thus
suitable for making winter clothing. 24
The fat of the large mammals was essential to northern
survival.2~

Caribou, very high

in protein but

low

in

fat,

would leave those who had feasted on their lean frame starving

from

grease

a

lack of

of the

back

calories
fat,"

later

-

year.

"The

called "depouillez"

by the

for

41

-

much

of

the

Canadians which was· found between the ribs and the skin was
prized

for

its

flavour

and

especially

for

its

fat

con-

tent .26 It was collected and rendered in the fall,

becoming

vital· to the

use was

diet

in

to preserve meat;

times

of want.

they

lose

nothing

brought home and

important

it was poured over the dried pounded meat

thus keeping it through damp
ity

An

of

periods.

the

animal,

"In times

of

even

blood

the

scarc-

is boiled with grease. 11 27 Fat was a

trade

item

in

the

which

was

traded

pre-contact

from

the

and

Beaver

early

and

contact

Cree

is

vital

periods

Indians.

They

often had a surplus of depouillez from the many buffalo and
elk

who

fattened

in

the· upper

Athabasca

and

Peace

River

over a

"cold"

areas.28
Caribou m·eat was sun dried or suspended
or

"slow"

flame,

especially

particular marrow and fish
were

sometimes

roasted

in

winter.

Fresh

were eaten raw.29 Meat

fresh

over

most often were boiled using hot

an

open

depended

Indians

in

the

on

large

mammals

southwest

on

other

bison,

and

and

fire

fish

bark

re-

Some Athapas-

than· caribou:
elk and

in

although

stones placed in

ceptacles or in a tied-off animal stomach.30
kans

meat

moose

Beaver
and .the

Slave and Hare on moose.31 But all turned to fish as a secondary food staple.32
Meat supplies were normally
winte·r

and

spring

by

fish.

The

- 42 -

supplemented

in

the

early

Athapaskans

preferred

to

make their fishing nets of woven willow bark,

but sometimes

used rawhide.

Nets were dyed various

colours:

and

Those

bark of the willow,

bronze.33

made

[were]

twisted

and

twine;

it

stronger

is

particularly
from

a

when

"knot

of

plaited

carp,

they

about

and

prepared· in
the

pine

sometimes birds claws."
red

"of the fine

were

the

size

red,

[ofJ

Holland

net

thread,

preferable

to

winter. 11 34

Hooks

tree

inverted, 11 35

yellow

were

made

"bones ••. and

Set under the ice and baited with

visited each morning.

In

winter

"the

stomach of the whitefish [was used] for bait which must
kept

very

clean. 11 36

An

early

North

West

Company

partner

observed that
the great Lakes of their country yield the finest
fish, and when the Deer fail they readily take to
angling,
altho' _it affords them no clothing.
They are in possession of many secrets of _making
baits for taking the different kinds of_ fish;
which they would not impart to me; but being in
their company something was seen.
The bait for
the Trout, the largest fish of the Lakes, was the
head half of the White Fish, well rubbed with
Eagles fat, for want of it, other raw fat; . but
not grease that had been melted by the fire: The
Pike and Pickerel take almost anything, even a
red rag; but the pride of these people is to
angle the White Fish, an art known to only a few
of the men; they would not inform me of its
composition, the few baits I examined appeared. to
be all the same, and the castoreu~ of the Beaver,
worked into a thick paste, was the
principal
i tern; around were the fine red feathers of the
Woodpecker, a grain of Eagles fat was on top of
the bait, and the hook was well hid in it; the
bait had a neat appearance.
The art of angling
White Fish is to them of such importance, a young
man
offered
a
gun
for
the
secret
and · was
refused.37

- 43 -

be

Prepared in "wattap kettles 11 38 or roasted over the fire

for

immediate

for

use,

the

fish

is

are

general

in

also

dried

and

"Whether fish or meat,

winter consumption.
required

were

carefully

put

very

by

for'

the

industrious

whatever is not

next

and

stored

meal. 11 39

excellent

"They
econo-

mists .1140
Those

peoples

who

had

fish

as

their

main

protein

state

nor

in

observed

in

source were neither·poor in their nutritional
their

food

supply.

later

years

as

Their

being

general

better

health

than

that

was

of

the

meat

eat-

ers .41 In most seasons fish were available and for the many
proficient
In

late

Athapaskans

fall

to

late

fishing
spring

was

the

through the summer months streams
Fowl
short
and

also

was

a

periods

from

spring

geese

were

" ducks ••• [were]
included snipes,

protein
to

hunted

in

by

the

far

wer~

were

a vai lab le for

fall.

Ducks,

loons,

most

old

swans,

fish

were

fewer;

imp or tan t • "4·2

Minor

b i rd s

spruce hens,

prai-

plovers,

thrown

women. 11 43

and

successfully fished.

the spring when

semi-palmated

proliff¢

and was

ptarmigan and owls.

the

lakes

bountiful.

source

rie chickens,
to

seasonally

Gulls were "said to

Birds'

eggs

were

much

be

sought

and eaten in spring.
Fruits

and berries were also available for

short

iods.
The fruits of this solitary
- 44 -

region

are the

poire

per-

[service berry, Amelanchier canadensis], gooseberry, rasberry [sic], strawberry, moose berry,
rose buttons, red and black currants, thimbleberry,
hukleberry,
bearberry,
choakberry
and
another berry, the name of which I do. not know
except _.in --the Indian language, which they call
ouh-kachwa.
They bud about the latter end of
May, flower about the 15th of June and ripen near
the 20th August, when they are deemed wholesome
to the body and delicious to the taste. 44
Berries and fruits were consumed fresh

in season and

large

amounts were dried and added to the dry meat.
The shape and manner of construction of their shelters
were dictated

by the availability

of

food.

Athapaskans lived in temporary shelters.
access

p lent i f u l

t o

shelters

consisted

supp lies
of

of

large

"circular

lodges

Most

For those who had
ma mm al s
or

for

tents,

around about with dressed animal skins to screen
the

inclemencies

of

middle. 11 45 Other
to

the

weather,

peoples,

often

the

more

lived

Lo ucheux,

in

brush

shelters,

semi-subterranean

or,

pit

hides ,
covered

them

from

fire •.• [was]

in

sedentary

unable

obtain hides since they subsisted on fish

mals

northern

in

the

and

or

one

fhe

small mam-

case

houses which were

of

the

probably

copied from the Inuit.46
A so-called cabin iodge was common along the Mackenzie
River, among the Mackenzie Mountain people as well as south
and west on the Liard.
cabin

It was rectangular in shape like a

with

the

sides

sloped

slightly

constructed

of

poles

covered

with

left

roof

in

the

as

a

chimney.47

-

45 -

inward,

and

sod.

A square

These

cabins

a

roof

hole

was

apparently

were

seldom

used

by

people

who

were dependent

on

caribou.

T~ey were sit~ated near reliable fall fishing places.48

Hunting
dexterity
white

and

methods

demonstrated

inventiven~ss

observers were

of

the
the

considerable

manual

Athapaskans.

particularly observant

Early

of their soph-

isticated methods ~f taking beaver:
by setting nets under the ice made of line cut
from the skin of the c~ribou [sic] in its green
state about the thickness of Sturgeon twine: it
extends quite across the river: one man attends
-while the others proceed to beat through its
house, vaults etc., so as to drive him out whereby he may run [swim] and entangle himself in the
net which is immediately drawn out otherwise he
would soon cut his way with his teeth.
Another
method is by cutting .a hole in the ice of 4-1/2
feet long by 3-1/2 broad·; when this [is] done
they proceed to drive stakes of dry wood around.
the hole in an oval form excepting a place for
the door which slides up and ·down it being finely
smoothed so that the Beaver cannot get-hold of it
with his teeth; it is drawn up for some days to
let hi~ go out and a large weight is put above
the door which fixes it down._ .. as .. --soon as he •••
[triggers it].
A piece of poplar.branch which is
put through at a little distance from the door
which no sooner falls down than he is almost dead
by the shock and is shortly drowned as the ice is
too thick above him whereby he might. force his
way through.49

---

Large mammal hunting techniques were similarly ingenious.

The

~onths

of greatest success

for the chase are those of April, August and the
beginning of September, the former on account of
the quantity of snow upon the ground which enables the Natives to fatigue them by
pursuit;
the latter being the month in which the horsefly
is most prevalent, droves of reindeer are forced
to take shelter in the lakes in order to avoid
that annoying insect.50

-

46 -

In

other

seasons

in

the wooded

was chased into enclosures with

parts

of the

openings51

country,

in

which

game

snares

were placed.52
In summer and winter, they pursue them with dogs
into snares; these are ropes ·about three fathoms
long made of large babiche well twisted with a
spring knot at each end.
These they tie upon a
small tree on the tracks of the animals which,
when:' taken, carry off the sling until the little
tree to which it is fastened happens to catch
against or between two large trees.
The animal
finding itself stopped, makes such efforts .as to
put an end to its life.
The flesh is then very
bad being overheated and full of blood.
Fall hunting also required care in taking
the animals without tainting the meat.
In the
rutting season, which always happens in autumn,
the natives rub the shoulder blaae of an elk
against a tree, at the same time imitating the
cry of an elk; this brings the animal quite
close, when they are easily killed with bows and
arrows; The chace [sic] of the caribou in rutting
s ea son i s · q u it e d i f f e rent".
Wh en a._ man · k i 11 s a
female, he raj.ses the skin off the 'he.ad from· the
thickest part of the neck to the extremity of the
nose, this is stuffed with straw or rather with
hay and put to dry.
When perfectly dry ·they fix
the horns, which had [sic] been severed from the
head, in their proper place and then go hunting.
They run their arm in this skin which is so well
arranged that it perfectly imitates the animal
itself.
When they see a drove of caribous in the
distance they wave this skin and imitate the
cries and tricks of the animal and bring males
close to them.53
Tools
[were]

were

simple

possessed

of

though
great

Principal

"tools ••• [were]

crooked

With

knife.

f_abricated]

as

might

used.

patience"

and

the

these
make

expertly

file,

they ••• [made

items

believe

- 47 -

that

men •••

perseverance.

the

one

axe,

"The

they

and
so

the

neatly

had

been

made

by

the

hands

utensils

were

castoreum

and

of

a

professed

"varnish[ed]
grease

with

mechanic. 11 54

a

substance

which •.. [gave]

them

a

colour." 55 An early observer asserted that
of

their

mechanical

genius

seemed

powers

and

to

be

centered

causes." 56

Tools

and

composed

of

deep,

glossy

"the whole

in

After

bent

that

art .•. of

contact

·Ptheir

anvil •.• [was] a stone and the hammer of the same substance;
with these alone they •.• reduce[d] both old axes and chisels
into thin plates

of iron which they convert[ed]

ous uses. 11 57 Other weapons

included axes,

into vari-

daggers,

spears,

bows and arrows.
Their axes were of stone shaped in the form of a
pickaxe, the middle of which was scalloped in
·order to fit to the end of a stick, which when
we 11 f as t e n e d a n s we r-e d. t he p u r .P o s e of a ha n d l e ;
thus arranged they could hew or rather hack down
the largest tree.
A pole of about nine feet long
with a bone blade at one end, furnished with a
row of barbs, composed their spears; these bones
are arranged and polishe.d with beaver teeth, of
which they also make use in making their bows and
arrows.
Their bows are made of dried willow at
the end of which is fixed a small pointed bone
furnished also with a barb on each side, as also
at the extremity of their arrows, which inflict a
mortal wound, being something similar to chewed
ball.
With these they are dextrous, being able
to shoot an elk almost as far as with a gun.58
Stone tips were obtained in
favourite

was

about

a

days

numerous locations,

travel

west

of

Fort

but

Liard

a
on

"the Bis-Kag-ha river or Sharp Edge River, ••• so called from
the

flint

stones

very

common in that

- 48 -

place, _and which

the

inhabitants

the Na

ha

ne tribe, made use of as

knives

and

axes. 11 59
Tools were adapted in a manner unique to the forest
tundra in which they were to

be used.

were straight

long,

"the

design

down one side,
shows

Beaver Indians

a

greater

Chipewyan

snowshoes

with an upturned

dexterity

than

or

the

end;60

Crees

and the women also perform the part

or

of mat-

ting them in a neat manner. 11 61 Sleds were "about eight feet
long ,
an

one in breadth , made of birch or pine boa rd s

inch

in

thickness made

knife." Very sturdy
good

loads

Northern
bow.

as

in

with

axe

construction,

it ••• [slid]

Athapaskans

the

pretty

had

an

croaked

[sic]

"they ••• [could]

bring

well

unique

and

of ha l f

over

manner

the
of

snow. 11 62
using

the

"All the Natives of North America ••• hold the Bow in a

vertical,

or

upright

Chipewyans, ••• [hold]

position, ••• but

the

Bow

in

culture

of

a

the

contrary,

'Dinnae',

or

or

horizontal

northeastern

Athapaskans

position ••.• n63
The
had

material

developed

in

sensitive

the

response

to

their

environment.

Commentaries that they were poverty

stricken

their lack of material possessions.

Little or no consider-

ation was

of

obtain

given

food

to

the

supplies

great

and

range

that

travel

consequent

centered

upon

necessary

material

to

posses-

sions were confined to those indispensable items which were
light,

easily packed thus transportable.

-

49 -

In their
sed a
not

band society the eastern Athapaskans

loose social

rigidly

unit.64

posses-

organization.

Lines

of

authority

outside the

family

of

the

defined

Hunting and trapping

were

fundamental

relationships were

generally

based on family affinity.65
Athapaskans

were

concerned

that

hunted animals were not offended.
were never allowed to

lay

The

remains

animals,

the

bear,

of

were

other

treated

dogs
in

a

spirits

could

devour

particular

the

special

kind

In precontact times wolves were not hunted.
were

hunted

because

they

of

considered

were

their
to

accorded

ferocity

have

close

of

the

The bones of the caribou

where

with

the

but

of

them.66
wolf

and

reverence.

Although bears

great

respect

not

only

because

their

spirit

was

affinity

with

the

Dene.67

After

the kill certain parts of the animal were eaten first,
because

of

religious
animal
and

their

spirits.

world

that

gourmet

are

appeal,

Athapaskans
linked

animals

others

to

satisfy

believed that the "man and

together

possess

and

some

in

special

some

mysterious

powers

which

way,

they

may

grant to man if he seeks them in the proper manner. 11 68 The
supernatural
sought

in

relationship

boyhood

when

of

man

the

and

animal

animal

realm

was

sent

usually
power

or

medicine in the form of dreams69 and was maintained through
observance
revealed.70

of

certain
"Every

eating

man

stood

-

taboos
in

50 -

which

special

could

not

be

relationship

to

animal."71

some

relationship

Emile

Petitot

found

the

Mackenzie

lowland

among

the

medicine-animal
tribes

had

three

characteristics:
first a relic animal which has been revealed in a
dream, is carried ~n the person; secondly the man
performs some secret practice that is meant to
please the medicine animal which has shown in a
dream that it wishes to possess the individual;
thirdly, there is a taboo against injuring, killing..?. and particularly eating, the medicine anima 1. / 2
Animals gave medicine to
those

who

lived

by

the

people who were fish-eaters while
chase

receh>ed

hunting

medicine. 73

"To reveal the details of the 'hunting medicine',
it often,

destroyed the force. 11 74

Though formal

lines

of authority were not

fined among the Athapaskans,
hun·ting,

or to use

trade,

and

war

rigidly de-

major discussions

were

resolved

in

relating

lengthy

to

council

"They have

sessions usually dominated by .the male elders.

no regular government, as every man is lord in his own family,

they are

influenced more

ples

which

to

general
of

crises

selves,
and

principles

governing

When

conduce

or

meeting." 76

certain

princi-

general

benefit • 11 75

These

loosely

constructed

process

"affairs

of

consequence"

the

whole

Men

of

the

subjects

co ncen su s

all

by

include

on

When

a

less,

did

"the Old

deliberate

their

in vo 1 v ed

which

or

51

camp

the

tribe.

presented

them-

imminent

-

of

[would]

which ••• [had]

was

-

members

assemble,

caused

a ft er

their

hours

and

sometimes
brought

days

out

of

deliberation,

and

passed

young

men,

which

the

took

place.

"resembles

The
that

a

ceremonial

A general

around.

pipe

was

discussion

women

and

children

were

decision

was

made

a

fashion

which

old,

each

family

of

the

Patriarchs

in
of

party

to

then

making a distinct community, and their Elders have only the
right of advising but not dictating."77 In these final discuss ions
the Sage Councils of these old Patriarchs would
act as a Counterpoise to the impetuosity of
youth.
Some of them are great Orators ••• particularly [when] they apply their speeches more to
- the passions than to the understanding •.•• they
make a fixed point of never interrupting one another while speaking.78
Respect
was

for

the

rules

of

conduct

norm.

"In

Deference

came to

outlined

general

by

the

[the]

young

had

acquired

male

elders

respect

the

aged."79

of others.
ship

by

strength

those

who

the

respect

"The leader was not elected but assumed leadervirtue

of

categories

of

general

character
of

leaders

ability

and

and

supernatural

were

known

as

knowledge

power. "80

the

plus

The

two

"bekabanthdeli,"

and the "inkonze."81 In secular matters leadership was provided by the "bekabanthdeli," the bossman or best hunter. 82
It

has

order

by

been
the

suggested
chief

that

claiming

refractory
the

wife

men
of

a

were

kept

in

miscreant

who

usually came to the conclusion that submission was the best

- 52 -

policy.83
The
primary

elders
role

in

of

the

their

Athapaskan

people's

tribes

religious

who
life,

filled

the

and

the

in

spiritual education of the young were referred

to

as

"ink-

onze". 84

A respected

was

also

their

medicine

man,

McKenzie,

who

lived

Chipewyan

explained

to

chief

Roderic

who

seventeen years among them at Fort Chipewyan, the commonly
held Athapaskan
mals

and then

view of the creation.

man

For

emerged from the ocean:

him

first

"from Dogs came

Chipeweans [sic]."

This,

never

of that animal. 11 85 The creator

eat

the

flesh

he asserted,

was

"the

great bird" who

came from the sky "all on fire,

lightning,

wings

its

sounded

ani-

like thunder,

reason

eyes
it

the ocean and the earth [as it] emerged from

was

the

we
"a

like

touched
deep,

it

touched the earth and [thus] appeared animals. 11 86 The great
bird then

made

an

arrow,

Chipewyans

disobeyed

which

and

the

old

man

was

not

to

great

bird

was

lost

explained

the

belief

that

northern

homeland

the

eternal

friend.

The

prior

their

migration

to

troubled

times.

to

Athapaskans

had

their

"In

be

ancient

used.

The

as

times

the

their

ancestors lived until their feet were worn out with walking
and their throats with eating. 11 87
They speak of the Deluge, by which they saved
themselves by ascending to the summits of the

-

53 -

highest Mountains and add that they originally
came from another continent which was inhabited
by wicked people-that they -traversed the great
Lake the same as the Rein Deer, where it was narrow and shallow, full of [rocks] and Islands--.88
hard~hips,

They underwent great
the

snow

which

trees," ·and

was

"when

experienced "no summer,

perpetual,

they

first

overtopped
came

to

the

the

and

tallest

Copper

Mine

Country they found the Copper on rocks above the surface -but now through length of time,

it has sunk a man's

length

into the ground. 11 89
"Inkonze"
guardians

spiritual

both

religious

"Ornamented

with

loon

skins,

claws

of

elegant

and

of

d~spensed

birds

"singing,

necks,

the

Feathers

sucking

&

life

c,

C

'

and

a.nd

and
the

II

and

physical

stripes

Eagle,
&

solace,

of

a

being.

and

otter

of

rare

and

men

undertook

mystical

gestures,

medicine

performing

the

well

mink

variety

were

mixing a little reprimand in song at the conclusion of each
avowed offence against moral r~ctitude. 11 90 To guard against
evil
each man has a small leather bag in which he deposits some things for which he has regard, and
ever afterwards it is looked upon as sacred ••••
The women must not touch it; for were they to
touch it, they think that it would immediately
lose all its virtue.91
The Athapaskan.people believed in an afterlife,

and in

the concept of good and evil.
After

death ••• there

is

a

state

- 54 -

of

rewards

and

punishments •••• The ideas they annex to good are
activity and dexterity at hunting, a charitable
disposition in regard to worldly effects, and not
destroying of any of their nation.
Those that
possess
those
qualifications
are
accounted
righteous,
and after death they believe them
conveyed across a River in a Canoe made of stone
into a fine country.92
If

possessed

by

of happi~ess;

good

the

individual

stayed

plays of emotion and self-mutilation

huard

"recommend

[osprey],

to

the

deceased

conduct

island
its

oc-

Exaggerated dis-

by Athapaskans were a

to

the

Otter

and

Loon,

over

the

Great

Lake

that

When a death occurred,

close

him

leads to the other world."93
relatives,

this

if by evil the stone canoe sank with

cupant and eternal struggling took place.

means. to

on

particularly

the female sex related to the deceased will
bewail and howl [for] him for more than a year
every morning at dawn, and again as the sun goes
down.
The Relations cut, bite and scarify the
flesh of the body in a shocking manner, and destroy all the occasional, [sic] property [in a]
•.• parade of sorrow.94
All

personal

grave.

property

accompanied

the

deceased

The dead were placed on scaffolding,

to

the

or were buried

in shallow graves.
Laws

were

not

formally

set

down

though

patterns

of

conduct indicated a means of resolving conflict and ability
to

maintain a

form

of

stability.

steal

from fellow tribesman,

thing

from

the

Europeans

seldom

known

to

they would readily steal any-

and

-

Though

55 -

would

pillage

from

other

tribes.95 Moral stricture against the spillage of the blood
of

a

tribesman

checked

differences.

Yet

from

their

outside

murder

and

in

resolving

the Athapaskans would cruelly kill those
tribal

circle.96 When

murder

wrestling

vengeance

was

sometimes

staved

buying

the

victim's

relatives.

off

aided

off

by

Pride

and

did

or

served

conflict.
ring to

as

an

The

have

effective

means

Athapaskan was

his

body

beaten

of

resolving

observed

as

black

blue,

and

11

by

saving-of-

face dictated that some ~orm of penalty be exacted.
ling

occur

Wrest-

potential

always

prefer-.

rather

than

to

which

they

physical appearance.

The

dist-

have his face marked. 11 97

were

Individua.L

tribes

concerned

with

inctive
blue

mark

bands

of

the men than
when

young

their

all

tatooed

varied· in

Athapaskan

on

each

the

degree

tribes

cheek,

was

black

or

more often occurring

on

on the women or children.

as

a

lasting mark

three

"They

to distinguish

are

and

tat ooed

recognize

them among strangers, should they by accident go astray. 11 98
Some

"pluck

their

beards"

for

the

others

"cut

their

hair"

for

appearance

better

when

they

hunt." 99

not

The

sake

of

appearance;
but

"to

following· description

hear
of

a

Beaver Indian by an early fur trader gives an impression of
Athapaskan peoples.
The men are commonly of the middle size, have
well proportioned limbs, regular features and are

- 56 -

fairer in complexion than any other Indian nation
I have seen.
They wear their hair long behind,
and short before like the Canadians; those who
desire to appear greater bucks than the rest; tie
their hair, 'wear ornaments such as feathers,
beads in their ears, and pa·int or ta too their
faces •••. Around their head they wear a piece of
beaver, otter or martin skin' decorated
with a
bunch of feathers before and behind.
The rest of
their dress consists of a beaver robe, a capot, a
brayet,_ and leggings of dressed moose deer skin.
Their
robes
and
capots
are
ornamented
with
several bunches of leather strings garnished with
porcupine quills of different colours, the ends
of which are hung with beaver claws • . About their
neck they have a well polished piece of carribou
[sic] horn, which is white and bent around the
neck; on t~eir arms and wrists they tie bracelets
and arm bands made also of porcupine quills;
around their waist they have also a porcupine
quill belt curiously wrought and variegated with
quills of different colours. 1 00
A common
was

a

it em

of

clothing· among

traditional

attached and was

one-piece

north eastern

lower

gar_ment

At ha p~s kan s-

with

footwear

"characteristic of the Alaska-Yukon Atha-

paskan area. 11 101 Usually the sum~er shirt was made of caribou skin,
a

sometimes tanned

waistband around

pointed in

the

"beautifully white,"

middle.102 The Kutchin

secured to
shirts were

front. 103 Shirts worn by wo'men were longer, and

their skirts,

reaching from waist almost to the knee,

often

were decorated. 104 In winter hooded caribou skin coats tanned with the hair inside were worn.105
have

been

used

as

trim

on

the

hood. 106

Wolverine
Wint er

fur

may

moccasins

were similar to summer ones, but "larger, to permit the insertion of the duffel,

which was commonly the whole skin of

-

57 -

the rabbit turned inside out."107 Mitts were made of tanned
moose

hide,

without

the

hair

and

trimmed

with

beaver

or

other fur~.108
The women are in general of a lower stature than
the men, wear their hair and ornaments like them,
and are reckoned handsome.
Their dress in winter
is a cotillon, woven like a mat, of thongs of
hare skin and a robe of the same ••• ; on their
heads
they
have
a
cap
shaped ••. of
the
same
stuff.
Their leggings are long and made like
trousers except in the front vvhere an apperture
·[sic] is left to attend the calls of nature.
Their summer dress consists of a leather cotillon, leather robe, leggings, & c, as in winter.109
Beaver Indians were not unlike other Athapaskans in general
appearance.110 Their use of the beaver for clothing distinguished

them

southerly
straits

and

from

other

westerly

the Hares

used

Athapaskans

and

indicated

their

in

relatively

dire

range.

When

the

of that

skin

animal

fo-r

cloth-

ing.111 But-··fhe Chipewyans, ~ellowknives, Dogribs and Loucheux

dressed

primarily

in

more

distant

from

barren.-ground

moose or woodland

the

caribou

caribou

skins.112
caribou,

The

Slaveys,

dressed

in

skin.113 Dressing skins and mak-

ing and decorating clothing were the domains of the women.
The skin they scrape and dress in~o leather; they
take the brains of the animal and rub it upon the
skin to make it pliable and soft; afterwards they
smoke it well and then soak i t in warm water for
a night in order to render it easy to work with a
piece of iron made for that purpose.
This laborious process is done usually by the women. 114
Some of the Athapaskan

women

had developed decorative work

- 58 -

to

a

high

level.

Loucheux,116

and

Because
to

a

of

this

lesser

skill

the

extent,

the

Dogrib, 115
Slavey

and

Beaver117 women were considered by early European observers
to

be

very

attractive.

The

designs

they

worked

into

the

clothing were intricate and colourful.
The dyes made use of by the Indians to stain porcupine quills and feathers, which are the only
things they stain, are the roots of a plant which
the Canadians call Savoyan; its colour is of an
orange cast.
This root, boiled with cranberry,
. dyes a beautiful light red.; the dyes for yellow
are another small root which they gather in marshy plains. 118
Life

of

Athapaskan

women

varied

with

subsistence and extent of band nomadism.
cult

was

the life of a Chipewyan woman

campwork,
~oralizing

the

manner

of

Especially diffiwho

did

all

of the

pack.ing and preparation of food and .clothing.

A

fur trade observer related.

The women are very heavily loaded; the men with
little else than their gun and their fishing tackle, ·even a girl of eight years will have her
share to carry; while the Boys have some trifle,
or only their Bows and Arrows •.•• By the time a
girl is twelve years of age, she is given as a
Wife to a man of twice her age.119
This

division

of

continuous

migratory pursuit of the barren-ground caribou.

Men ranged

alongside

the

of

labour

arose

route while

from

women

a

life

proceeded

directly

to

the

next campsite.120 Women of the more sedentary Kutchin, ·oogrib,

Beaver,

aspects

of

and Slavey
Athapaskan

bands
culture

-

had

an

showed

59 -

easier
a

lot.121

clear

Other

tendency

to

male supremacy.
The women .•. are very often upon lean and short
allowance.
Bear's flesh is scarce and consequently reckoned ·delicate.
The women dare not touch
this, otherwise as they are told they w-e-uld die.
Other kinds of meat such as the nose of a moose
Deer & c. are forbidden. 122
Women

in all Athapaskan

communities were considered a bur-

de~; '.in

difficult times;

"in times of scarcity

ent ly

their

left

lot

to

They were the first
of

plenty. 124

A

be

without

a

single

to starve and the last

number

of

taboos

about

parturition made life extremely difficult
were

not

allowed to

camp

for

fear

of

it

the

animal

frequ-

morsel." 123

to eat

in times

menstruation
for

and

women.

They

on

in

break new trails or tread

offending

is

paths

spirits.125

They

lived apart in specially built huts during menstruation anq
parturition. 126
Marriage for the northeastern Athapaskans was based on
very practical grounds.
marriage
her

only

aptitude

the
for

"The Northern Indian consider'ed in

material
work

and

characteristics
potentiality

for

of

the

woman,

bearing

child-

ren,127 competence, and endurance." Wives were dragged away
after

being

won128

by

contests.129 Polygamy was
of many wives was

the

stronger

males

in

wrestling

readily accepted,

and

possession

considered a

measure

of a

as a hunter. 130 Polyandry was rare 'though' a
were

noted

among

the

Bea~er,131

-

60 -

Kutchin,132

man's

success

few instances
and

Slave133

where brothers were known to share a wife.
Marvin Harris argues that the practice of infanticide
was a favourite means of birth control among hunting peoples; 134

the

custom

northeastern
children.

found

widespread

Athapaskans135

and

~ractice

mainly

among

concerned

the

female

an effective means of popu!I.~tion con-

This was

trol and of ensuring the requisite number of males for warfare

and

hunting.136

Accordingly,.

the

Beaver

Indians

often destroyed the female ·children when just
born.
The only reason they give is that it is a
great deal of trouble to bring up girls, and that
women are only an en.c.u.1J1brance, useless in time of
war and exceedingly vor~cious in time of want.137
Among

the

Hare

and

·Dogrib,

nourishment for the first four
make

them

hardy.

No

children

not

given

a practice designed to

~ays,

doubt

were

the

weak

died

in

this

interva1138 and thus ensuring a more hardy populace as well
as helping to check overpopulation.
Northeastern Athapaskan social life was
family.

They

Larger

groups

hunting

places

in

of

the

families
autumn

or

would

sometimes

met

to share

- 61 -

immediate relatcongregate

sometimes

gather at fishing spots in the spring.
bands

the

one or more wives depending

hunting ability and perhaps his

ives.

ferent

in

lived in small groups for much of the year

which were composed of a man,
upon his

based

bands

at

key

would

At these times difresources,

trade

and

intermarry.
sibility

fell

Leadership was loose although usually responon

the

best

hunter

possessed religious knowledge or

or

the

male

"powers."

elder

who

Population was

controlled mainly by infanticide of female children, and to
a

lesser

limit

extent,

of

population.

the

elderly.

Labour

of

Warfare also worked to

male

afid, female

was

sharply

divided and reflected the imperatives of a band society.
In summary, northeastern Athapaskan life was rooted in
their migratory hunting exLstence and heavily influenced by
its family based social organization.

They lived in small

groups

their

much

of

the

gathering tasks.

year,· performing

hunting

and

At selected times of the year they would

expand their primary groups in response to certain external
ne e ds

s u ch° as

riage.

s ha r i n g·· o f

Leadership,

r es o u r c e s ,

religion,

t ra e,

a nd

population

in t er ma r -

control,

division of labor reflected the patterns of a

and

band society

and its complex of activities.
The seasonal cycles of activities

of

the

prehistoric

Athapaskans of the eastern subarctic and Mackenzie lowlands
was dictated by the vagaries of the hunt.
closely

regulated

by

the

migratory

fish.

Variations

in

these

patterns

Activities were

patterns

of

occurred

game

and

because

of

weather irregularities and other natural conditions such as
animal

migrations,

and

Subsistence on caribou,

cycles

of

scarcity

bison, moos_e,

-

62 -

and

abundance.

elk, migratory fish,

birds,

and

other

game

in

some

to these seasonal, annual,
Spring

was

Athapaskans.

As

families

the

packed

near to the winter
tion.

grew

their

was

of

considerable

longer

the

mobility

family

or

In

among

groups

hunt

or the

late

winter

caribou

After the beginning of the fur trade this

muskrats.

due

of

gear on toboggans an.ct left the sites

volved the widespread practice of the
of

unpredictable

or geographic changes.

season

days

years

prehistoric times

kllling

only a

migra-

phase in-

and

skinning

few were

taken.

The meat was boiled or roasted and eaten and the sinew from
the tail

was used for making clothing.

from

birch

the

Liard Rivers.

tree

in

Used

in canoes,

or fish drying sheds,

the

Peace,

Bark was collected

Athabasca,

ba.skets,

and

house construction

it was also produced for tradirig with

people living along the edge of the barrens,
able birch trees.

Slave,

beyond avail-

Spruce and cottonwood bark was collected

by the Slave Indians.
Spring fishing camps were next attended where assembly
of

temporary

such

as

shelters,

preparation

place.

Whitefish

of

traps

caribou

and

hides

ongoing
for

activities

clothing

were available in abundance at

of year.

Fish were

attached,

hung

on

fish

filleted

drying

leaving

racks,

then

the

heads

either

took

this time
and

tails

bundled

for

moving, stored in birch bark containers or placed in raised
caches

for

the

lean

months.

It

63 -

was

also

in

this

season

that

men

and

women

particularly

in

regions

kenzie,

and probably .the Peace and Liard

spruce,

cottonwood or birch bark.

were

used

hunting

along

the

leads

in

migratory

Bears were taken

at

the

water

this

built

the

Mac-

canoes

from

At this time the canoes

ice and

open

lake

shore• for

on

their

return

flights.

soon

after

fowl

time

along

hibernation

when

the meat was particularly palatable.
The summer seasonal round of activity began about midJune when

camps were moved to the vicinity

or rivers.

of larger

Several households were likely to meet

monly frequented· junctures to exchange gossip,
feasting~

and

these congregation

or

streams.

These

points

were

sites

of

the

Kutchin,

Slavey,

Dogrib,

wyan,

Yellowknife

and

more

mobile

skin

dwellings

after

large

mammal

populations.

built,

willow

habitations,
and

some

the

more

particularly

those

Beaver

people.

Beaver

people

tended

for

bark

Sinew

nets

were

fowl

during

their

moult

locally

drives.
or

made

Men
a

not

-

or

and

new

64 -

prefer

caches

rawhide

assembled

of

to

Fish

storage

gill

and

in

in

these

weapons

movement

nets

to

were

obtain

late summer
tasks

or

were

in preferred

used

employed

the

Chipe-

of

employed

variety

of

flexibility

and fish traps were manufactured and set

rabbit

permanent

some

locations.
water

trade goods,

favourite rivers,· lakes

Athapaskan

made,

com-

or at

eastern

or

at

Summer fishing camps were either established

at

refilled

lakes

hunted

implements.

Women

aided

in

drying

and

storing

fish

and

were

throughout the summer in the preparation and
clothing

for

both

sexes,

making

babiche

utilitarian objects such as quivers,

game

tumplines

and

the

with

first

the

baby

carriers.

frosts

the

Near

sweetened

decoration

of

for

snare.s,

and

bags,

dog

end

and

employed

of

packs,

summer

ripened

and

berries

were picked and eaten or dried for storage.
In autumn the eastern Athapaskans moved
fishing

large

fish

traps

or

nets

while

were

hunted

while

on

their

autumn migration

near

fording

areas,

at

dry,

drained

upland

ridges

tended

Caribou

close

geographic
or

and also moose were caught
In

mammal

hunting

to

often

sites

to

passageways.
the

men

constrictions,

eskers.

Most

in special

fences

or

Women
hunted.
at

or

often

or

or

aloJ;lg

caribou

surrounds.

late autumn as the ca~ibou began their southward migra-

tion families moved to fences or good hunting locations and
filled their meat
repeated

just

and hide requirements.

before

spring.

Mackenzie and southwest

In

some

areas

of Great Slave Lake,

paskans exploited small herds of the
land caribou, or moose,

This pattern was

less

west

ibou,

and

Smaller

the

eastern Atha-

gregarious wood-

elk and bison.

The winter season began with the end of the
ratory hunt.

of

fall

mig-

Men continued to hunt large game: moose, car-

bears

mammals

which
and

were

killed

ptarmigans

-

65 -

were

while
taken

in
by

hibernation.
all

family

members in

snares,

deadfalls and nets.

taken through the ice using spears,

Fishing was under-

lures,

traps,

and when

the ice grew thick an ingenious jig was used which linked a
net through two holes under the ice.
ations

including

log-pole

lodges,

Semi-permanent habit-

brush

were employed near good

fishing

or

driven

be

mobile

by

necessity

to

more

and skin

hunting

shelters

sites.

used

Others

double

walled

tents.1 39
Athapaskans of the barrens and Mackenzie lowlands were
exclusively hunters and gatherers, although there were differences in emphasis on the use made of various natural resources

by

n at u r a l

res o u r c es in vol v e d h u n t in g or fishing •

bou

the

was

people

in

chief

different

resource

reg ions.

for

Dogribs and possibly the Hares.
of primary
Kutchin,

the

barren-ground caribou.
always

important

to

Chipewyans,
Moose,

these

The · car i -

Yellowknives,

bison or elk were

to the Slave, Beaver and Loucheux or

impo~tance

although

Basically

latter

also

took many

woodland

and

Fishing and hunting small game were

the

Athapaskans

and

provided

support

especially in periods of scarcity when principal food

sup-

plies declined.
In the Mackenzie Basin and Arctic lowlands

success in

hunting and fishing depended on detailed specialized knowledge of the land and its resources.
cal

adaptations

was

achieved

-

This range of ecologi-

through

66 -

familiarity

with

a

complex of

variations

and climate.

These

in topography,

adaptations

season,

involved

a

animal habits
high

degree

of

community mobility so material culture was therefore simple
and

highly

emphasizes

portable.

The

how dependent

yearly

cycle

the location

\'

population was upon

it~ 1 availability.

- 67 -

in

quest

of

food

and concentration of

i'.

r-·... ........

'I 1t

~

~L..._
·~':'
Legend: Vegetation lypes in Study Area.

Map ts adapted from Stewart Wallace (ed.),
Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the
-+-' -.
Hudson's Bay l erritor~, (Toronto: the
.:t -f"
~
,
. .
Champlain Society, 19 2) See folder map in
~c
,.~~-·
·I\
-t
-r',
~
1
,
TUNDRA
,
--,
0
~~
\{
-r-{•:
,. ~ cover.
.
1.....--J
. ,. ' 8o4 "~ -1' · ~. . .Y~'
Sub-arctic ("transitional)1. _ '
_,
"
Forest
~
1"
~,·
Boreal forest
nr."'o.1
~ I
\
.............
-t
Parkland
1::-.::j
... -

-t

,\

.... • - -.

i -

L

J\

A
A

A

I

1
I
I

~

i:

.J,\
;(
o-1
00

P<

\.0

~

U

U D

+
..J.

.,.

. N~L
.

~

'"

'-

.
Bluenose Herd ·

~

', \::.1)/

I

-~
10

Approximate Bounds of Caribou H.erds
in Area of Study.
For references, see Jacobson ( 1974), Ke lsa 11
. I'" (1968), Thomas (1969) and Banfield (1954) in

,•, • 1 , r.-~bibliography.
·~·,:.---.:....,. ~·~.j
y Hap is adapted from Stewart Wallace (ed.),

'? '

•

.

Legend:

,,~

Notes of a Twenty-five Years• Service in the
{Toronto: The
Champlain Society, 19 2) See folder map in
cover.
·

~,:~ Hudson's Bay Territor~.

/

1 e1ar L.

•.

Ci' ~0.R

B thurst Herd

~

/

/(

·ii

'··!

,~~__,

N

p.,

ell

;:;.::

::·:,~

~

°'

}J\
·~
':-'?

l.O

'.'')

U;"•

H

,.~

.";E"~/
<··;I(

U D

'1j'-~~

···t;:

1
\•

•

\.,

~

'\t!!~\
r·t;;/
)i

Ir"
.·.. i~_.... ;
'.J./1?;!-(

d-;-.,.....1
-..·, .......,

~~ ~\~~~
1" .,_,c-.J
"J.
"'~I f

~
or>-1._,.,

~

•

.

.

'~· .

•

v~

/

/'

II
N 0 T E S

1w.E. D. Halliday, "A Forest Classification for Canada,"
Forest Service Bulletin No. 89 (Ottawa: Canada Department of
Mines and Resources, ·1937), p. 13 gives _a summary of the
region's flora.
See also Eleanor !3. Leacock and Nancy 0.
Lurie, eds., North American Indians in Historical Perspective (New York: Random House, 1971), pp. 343-44.
2It has been variously estimated by linguists
and
archaeologists that the Athapaskans split fifteen hundred to
two thousand years ago.
A. M. Clark "Northern Athapaskan
PrehistoFy,"
The
Athapaskans:
Strangers
of
the
North
(Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1974), p. 18.
Southern
Athapaskans diverged from Northern Athapaskans less than
o n e t h o us an d ye a rs ago an d as r e c e n t ·as s ix · h u n d re d ye a rs
ago.
Ibid., p. 18.
See also D.W. Clark, "Summary of
Northern Athapaskan Prehistory," Ibid., pp. 19-20.
See also
J. Van Stone, Athapaskan Adaptations, Hunters and Fishermen
on the Subarctic Forests (Chicago: Aldene Publishing, 1974),
pp. 5, 7, 40, 133.
Cornelius Osgood, one of the few ethnographers to study
both Eastern and Western Athapaskans provided the two-fold
cultural division: western people of the Pacific drainage
culture, and eastern ones of the Arctic drainage culture.
He went on to say: "There is generally among the groups of
the Pacific drainage a dependence on
salmon,
which
is
entirely lacking among those of· the Arctic drainage.
With
salmon fishing goes an elaborate complex of traits connected
with the catching and use of this fish."
The same attachment to large game could be said of the culture of the
Arctic drainage.
See The Distribution of the Northern
Athapaskan
Indians,
Yale
University
Publications
in
Anthropology, No. 7 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1936), p.
31.
3caribou "the staff of life of the region" was vitally
important in aboriginal times for food and just as important

- 70 -

as a source of clothing and shelter.
See J. Alden Mason,
Notes on the Indians of the Great Slave Lake Area, Yale University Publications in Anthropology, No. 34 (New Haven:
Yale Univ. Press, 1946), pp. 11-12, 15 and Kaj Birket-Smith,
Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology (Copenhaqen: Glydendal,
1930), pp. 14, 17-19, 26-29.
See also Cornelius Osgood,
Contributions to the Ethnography of the Kutchin, Yale University Publications in Anthropology, No. 14 (New Haven: Yale
Univ. Press, 1970), pp. 33_3·4 and "Ethnography of the Great
'"Bear Lake Indian," Bulletin No. 70 (Ottawa: National Museums
1 1 1 of
Canada, 1931), pp. ·38, 40, 41, 44, 47.
Also Beryl C.
' Gi1lespie, "An Ethnohistory of the Yellowknives," Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology, ed., D.B. Carlisle, Mercury
Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 31
(Ottawa:
National Museums of Canada, 1975), p. 193, J.G.E. Smith,
"The Ecological Basis of Chipewyan Socio-territorial Organization," Proceedings, Northern Athapaskan Conference, ed.,
A.M. Clark, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper
No. 27 (Ottawa: National Museums of _Canada, 1971), p. 589
and D.W. Clark, "Northern Athapaskan Prehistory," pp. 20.
Shiela J. Minni, "The Prehistoric Occupations of Black Lake,
Northern Saskatchewan," Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology
Service Paper No. 53 ·(Ottawa: National Museums of -Canada,
1 9 7 7 ) sh ow s Bl a c k L a k e was o c cu p i e d d i s c on t in u o us l y .s i n c e
6000 B.C. by a series of cultures depende·nt on the barrenground caribou herds.
Extensive study of the barren-ground
caribou has led to the naming of four populations after
areas traditionally used for calving.
Banfield identified
sixteen mainland populations in 1954, many of which were
found to be segments of four pop-ulations; the Bluenose,
Bathurst, Beverley and Kaminuriak.
See A.W.F. Banfield,
Preliminary Investigation of the Barren-Ground Caribou, Canadian Wildlife Service Wildlife Management Bulletin, Series
1, No. 10A (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1954), and G.C.
Thomas, Population Estimates o.f the Barren-Ground Caribou
March to May, 1967, Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series
No. 9 (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1969).
4see June Helm MacNeish, "Leadership among the Northeastern Athapaskans," Anthropologica, 2 (1956), 133.
See
also June· Helm and Eleanor Leacock, "The Hunting Tribes of
Subarctic Canada," in Leacock and Lurie, pp. 343-44.
Svan Stone, Athapaskan Adaptations, p.

- 71 -

123.

7For a picture of the linkages between a simple ecosystem, cycles of abundance and scarcity of various subarctic
animals, and cultural mobility, see Eugene P. Odum, Fundamentals of Ecology (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1971), p.
194.
See also Helm and Leacock, "Hunting Tribes of Subarctic Canada," p. 347.
·s"The linguistic and tribal classifications of the northern Athapaskans are due for a new look• •.. If widespread
continuity of dialects is distinctive of hp~thern Athapaskans, their situation becomes in some respects ~ore analogous
to that of the Eskimos." Catherine McClellan, "Culture Contacts in the Early Historic Period in Northwestern North
America," Arctic Anthropology, 12, No. 2 (1964), 6.
Osgood
also points out that "the Athapaskans do not consider themselves as composing neat political or cultural units." Northern Athapaskan Distribution, p. 3 and pp. 221-22.
A recent article reiterates "boundaries among Northern Athapaskan groups are indistinct in many ways, and cultural differences are not nearly as marked as Osgood's map of group terr i t or i e s mi g h t s u g g e s t ( 1 9 3 6·b ) .
Dif f e re n c es i n st at us of
women, then, cannot be attributed to underlying differences
in traditional culture and must instead have arisen. from
most recent conditions associated with the historic experiences of the groups ·involved."
Richard J. Perry, "The Fur
Trade and the Status of Women," Ethnohistory, 26, No. 4
(Fall 1979), 365.
Joel S. Savishinsky points out that prior
to European contact Indian groups lacked the kind of unity
that is implied by the tribal names such as "Hare".
See
Trail of the Hares: Life and Stress in an Arctic Community
(New York: Gordon and Brach, 1974), pp. 46-47.
9 w.R. Fowler Jr., "Linguistic Evidence for Athapaskan
Prehistory," The Athapaskan Question, eds., J.W. Helmer, S.
Van Dyke and F.J. Kense (Calgary: Univ. of Calgary Press,
1977), pp. 103-04 draws on Harry Hoijer's "The Chronology 6f
the Athapaskan Lan9uages," International Journal of American
Linguistics, 221 (1956), 219-32; his "Linguistic Sub-groupings by Glottochronology and the Comparative Method," Lingua, 22 (1962), 192-98 and "The Athapaskan Languages, 11 ·S"tU"dTes in the Athapaskan Languages, eds., Hoijer et al., University of California Publications in Linguistics, No. 29
(Berkeley: Univ. of California, 1963), pp. 1-29 as well as
I. Dyen and D.F. Aberle, Lexical Construction: The Case of
the Proto-Athapaskan Kinship System (London: Cambridge Univ.
Press, 1974), p. 12.

- 72 -

10Fowler, "Linguistic Eviden~e," p. 103.
11osgood, "Northern Athapa~kan Distributions," pp. 21-22
and Kutchin Ethnography, p. 13.
See also Edwin S. Hall,
"Speculations on the late Prehistory of the Kutchin Athapaskans ," Ethnohistory, 16, No. 4 (1969), 318.
12Fowler,

pp.

103-04.

130sgood, Kutchin Ethnography, pp. 47-48, 60-61 and A.M.
Clark, "Traditional Northern Athapaskan Lifeways,"
Strangers of the North, p. 26.

.

14K. Birket-Smith, p. 36.
See R.R. Janes, "Indian and
Eskimo Contact in Southern Keewatin:
an Ethnohistorical
Approach," Ethnohistory, 20 (Winter 1973), 39, 48-9, 50, 53.
1 5Richard Glover, ed., Samuel Hearne: Journey
Northern Ocean .•. (Toronto: Macmillan, 1958), pp. 58,
121, 201.

to
8~,

the
91,

16Diamond Jenness, "The Indians of Canada," Bulletin
No. 65 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1932), p. 399.
17R.R. Janes, "The Athapaskans and the Fur Trade,"
Western Canadian Journal of Anthropoloqy, 5, No. 3-4 (1975),
179.
1 Son the way to the Coppermine Hearne and Matonabbee
"followed a route directly-west following a well beaten path
through the 'stony Hills'."
This was not as Hearne thought
a route to the "mines" but a route followed by Indians
around Great Bear Lake to and from hunting and trade.
Glover, Hearne, p. 126, see also p. 85.
For another example
of how the caribou hunt .led diverse peoples see Birket
Smith, p. 30.
He also· suggests that collective hunts at
caribou crossings were of greater importance than individual
hunting.
Glover, Hearne, p. 3.
19Thomas Simpson, Narrative of the Discoveries on the
North Coast of America (London: R. Bentley, 1843), p. 71.

- 73 -

20Birket-Smith, p. 36.
210sgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 33.
22 Douglas Leonard "A Biblio9raphy on Bilaterality in
Band Society for the Northeastern Sub-arctic Region of Canada, North America," The Chipewyan, Section II (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, Xe·rox, n.d.), p. 2.
For an excellent
description of Eastern Athapaskan band groups and their
liftks with seasonal caribou movements see A.M. Clark, pp.
20-29.
See also Birket Smith, p. 29.
23Ernest Burch Jr. asserts that because of erratic caribou migration and movement of up to 800 kilometers in six
weeks the hunters were unable to keep up, thus caribou were
unreliable sources of food and were intercepted only at the
most dependable crossing places.
"The Caribou/Wild Reindeer
as a Human Resource," American Antiquity No. 3, (1972), 33968.
A recent study illustrates how close the winter range
and summer calving of Bathurst and Beverley herds were~ See
Roy Jacobson, Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat in the _Great
Slave and Great Bear. Lake Regions 1974-77, Environmental
Studies No. 10 (Ottawa: Department of Indian and Northern
Affairs, 1979), Figures 7-10, 11-14.
24Kaj Birket-Smith, p. 29 and J.P. Kelsall. The Mig~at­
ory .Barren-ground Caribou of Canada, monograph No. 3 (Ottawa: Canadian Wildlife Service, 1968), pp. 106-07.
2 5 "W he n the De e r fa i l they re ad i l y t a k e to an g l i n g , al·tho' it affords them no clothing."
Richard Glover, ed.,
David
Thompson's
Narrative
(Toronto:
Champlain
Society,
1962), p. 128.
26 11 An entirely protein diet is nutritionally inadequate.
This the eskimo recognizes and the rule of a mouthful
o·f fat for a mouthful of lean meat prevails •••• " A.H. Lawrie, "A Barren Ground Caribou Survey," Canadian Wildlife
Service Report, C8'73 (1948), cited in Kelsall, p. 209.
See
also Birket-Smith, p. 32 and C.A. Heller and E.M. Scott, The
Alaska Dietary Survey, 1956-61, Public Health Service Pub'IT-="
cation, No. 999-AH-Z (Anchorage, Alaska: Alaska Public Health Service, 1967), pp. 2, 182-83 and Otto Schaefer and Jean
Steckle, Dietary Habits and Nutiitional Base of Native Popu-

- 74 -

lations of the Northwest Territories (Yellowknife, N.W.T.:
Science Advisory Board of the Northwest Territories, 1980),
pp. 15-16.

-=-~~~~..,....,.--,~~~-:::-~---,,..--,,.~.....,-~~~__,...~

27An Account of the Athabasca Indians by a Partner of
t h e No r t h we st Co mp any , 1 7 9 5 , at t r i b u t ed. t o Jo h n Mc d o n n e 11
but probably from writings of Alexander Mackenzie, Ottawa,
PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 55, p. 22.
28"The Peace River Indians are as fond of-liquor as any
tribe and part with their provision as freely, it consists
of Buffalo fresh and cured such as beat meat and render.ed
fatt."
Philip Turnor in J.B. Tyrrell, ed., Journals of Samuel Hearne and Philip Turnor (Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1934), p. 45·1.
29Birket-Smith,
Thompson, p. 113.

p.

3·1.

See al so Richard Glover,

o·a v id

30oavid Merrill Smith, "Fort Resolution People: An Historical Study of Ecological Change," Diss.,
Univ. of Minnes o ta., 1 9 7 5 , p • 4 7 •
He a r n e c a 11 e d t he d i sh " bee at e e " , " cert ainly.the most delicious ••• that can be prepared from a deer
only."
See Glover, Hearne, p. 92.
31John J. Honigman, Ethnography and Acculturation of
the Fort Nelson Slave, Yale University Publications in Anthropology, No. 33 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1946), p. 38.
See also J. V. Wri.ght, The Prehistory of Lake Athabasca: An
- Initial Statement, Mercury Series, Archaelogical Survey of
Canada Paper No. 29 '(Ottawa,: National Museums of Canada,
1975), p. 137.
32Some suggest that due to decline of the caribou numbers, fish had become the most fmportant s1:aple protein
source by the 20th century.
See Osgood, "Great Bear Lake
Indians," p. 39 and E.S. Rogers, "Subsistenc·e Areas of the
Cree-Ojibwa, the Eastern Subarctic: A Preliminary Study,"
Contributions to Anthropology 1963-64, Bulletin 204, Part 2
(Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1967), p. 87.
33Lake Athabasca, An Account of the Chipewyans •.• in
1793, attributed to John Macdonnell who appears to have com- 75 -

pleted it from the writings of Alexander Mackenzie.
PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 52, p. 38.

Ottawa,

3 4 George Keith, Letter to Roderic McKenzie; The Forks
of the Mackenzie River, 7 Jan. 1807, ed., L.R. Masson, Les
Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest,: II (New York: Antiquarian Press, 1960), p. 67.
35Macdonnelli Ori~in, Manners and Customs of the Athabasca Indians, Montreal, McGill Mss., CH22, S58.
See also
Franz Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, Forks of the Mackenzie
River , 2 7 Mar • 1 8 0 7 in Mas s on , I , p • 8 4 •
36J. Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians,
C1, Vol. 52, pp. 38-39.

2352,

37Macdonnell,
p. 1.

ibid.,

Montreal,

Ottawa,

McGill

Mss,

PAC,

MG19,

CH22,

S58,

38"Wattap" were the roots of the young white spruce
trees.
See Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages. from Mon~real
through the _continent of North America (1801; rpt.· Edmonton,
Alta.: Hurtig, 1971), p. 313.
39Glover, David Thompson,

p. 106.

40 Mac donne 11, Chipewyan Ind i-ans, Montreal, McGill Mss,
CH23, S59, 2414, p. 77.
Fish taken at the Forks of Mackenzie River were "the large and the salmon trout, inconnu,
white fish, white and red carp, pickerel, pike, bluefish,
tolliby, and Loche." F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie,
Forks of the Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, in Masson, I,
p. 84.
41 "It is remarkable ••• that the Can~dians who ••• live altogether on venison, have a less heal thy appearance than
those whose sustenance is obtained from the waters.
At the
same time scurvy is wh.olly unknown among them." W. Kaye
Lamb, ed., The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie
(Cambridge: HaKluyt Society, 1970); p. 131. ·

- 76 -

42osgood,

"Great Bear Lake Indians,"

p. 42.

43Ibid.

44F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Fi:>rks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, Masson, I, p. 80.
See also
ibid., p. 43 and Sir. John Richardson, Arctic Searching Expedition •.. , (1852; rpt. London: Longman, Brown, Green and
Longmans, 1951), p-. 135; Sir John Franklin, Narrative of a
Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea ••• ( 1828;
rpt. Edmonton, Alta.: Hurtig, 1970), p. 19.
45G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, Bear Lake Post, 19
Nov. 1812, Montreal, McGill Mss, CH23, S59, 2414, p. 78.
Also see Birket-Smith, p. 45.
46osqood, "Great Bear Lake Indians,"

p. 47.

47Wentzel, Forks of the Mackenzie River, 27 Mar •. 1807,
Masson, I. p. 90.
See also G. Keith, .Bear Lake, 19 N·ov.
1812, Lbid., II, pp. 116 & 121.
48osgood,

"G"r·eat Bear Lake Indians," p. 48.

49Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1,
1
Vol. 52, p. 51-52.
50G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie,
Nov. 1812, Masson, II, p. 117-18.

Bear

Lake Post,

22

pp.

Os-

51Ibid.
52Birket-Smith, p. 21; Glover, Hearne,
good, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 41.

49-50;

53F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, Masson, I, pp. 81-82.
See
also Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 41, Simpson, p.
208, Emile Peti tot, Exploration de la Region du Grand Lac
- 77 -

des Ours (Paris: Tequi, Libraire Editeur, '1893), p. 283 and
John Richardson in Franklin, Second Expedition, p. 275.
54Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Ottawa, PAC, MG19,
Vo-1. 51, p. 1:5.
55Ibid., p.

C1,

16.

56Macdonnell,
CH22, S58, No. 4.

Athabasca Indians,

Montreal,

McGill

Mss,

57Ibid.
58F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, Masson, I, p. 91.

of the

5 9 G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, 7 Jan. 1807, Masson,
II, p. 66 •
.60Birket-Smith, p 36-38.
See also eds., £.E. Rich and
A.M. Johnson, James Isham's Observations and Notes, 1743-49
(London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1949), pp. 311-12.
61Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1,
Vol. 52, p. 17.
See also ed., W. Kaye Lamb, Mackenzie, p.
154, see also Birket Smith, pp. 36-37, and Sir John Franklin, Narrative of a Journe
to the Shores of the Polar Sea
(1823; rpt. New York: Greenwood Press, 1964 , p. 134.
62Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1,
Vol. 52, p. ·22.
Also see Samuel Hearne, A Journey from
Prince of Wales' Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Great
Bear Lake Indians ( 1795; rpt. New York: De Capo Press,
1968), p. 32·4, Birket-Smith, p. 38 and Osgood, "Great Bear
Lake Indians," p. 54.
63Glover, Thompson,

p. 129.

64osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 70.
- 78 -

65Ibid.
66Athapaskans believed man was descended from a dog.
Others that man oriqinated from beaver, otter O!:._._ muskrat.
Petitot, Grand Lac des Ours, p. 405.
Osgood·; "Great Bear
Lake Indians, 11 pp. 83 and 88.
French voyageurs who later
came among the Chipewyans were feared and despised for their
liking of dogmeat, Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 27.
Birds and animals of prey were not eaten because they scavenged on the
dead, e.·g;, foxes, wolves, ravens.
Osgood, "Great Bear Lake
Indians," pp. 79-80.
67Great Bear Lake people would not eat wolf.
Ibid.,
p. 82.
Dogribs would not eat the bear.
See Richard King,
Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean
(London: Richard Bentley, 1836), p. '168.
Also see Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 83.
68Jenness, "The Sekani Indians of British Columbia,"
Bulletin No. 84 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1937),
pp. 67-68; see also Honigman, pp. 76-77, Osgood, Kutchin
Ethnoqraphy, p. 158 and "Great Bear Lake Indians," pp. 82-85
as well as Petitot, Gra~d Lac des Ours, p. 353 and Warburton
Pike, The Barren-Ground of Northern Canada (London: Macmillan, 1892), p. 104.
69Jenness,

"Sekan.t

Indians,"

p.

68,

and

Honigman,

p.·

77.
70Honigman, p. 77.
71osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," pp. 83-84.
72[. Petitot, Monographie des Dene
E. Leroux, 1876), p. 36 cited in Osgood,
Indians," p. 84.
73Jenness, "Sekani Indians," p. 68.
74-Ibid.

- 79 -

Dindjie (Paris:
"Great Bear Lake

75Lamb, Mackenzie,

p. 154.

76Macdonnell, Athabasca Indians, Montreal, McGill Mss,
CH 2 2 , S 5 8 , No • 7 , no • pa g •
0 s good was info rm e d at Good Hope
of 2 types of chiefs among the Hare.
"The first was the
'Oldest Man' and it was unlucky not to obey hlm.
The second
was the 'Best Hunter' of ·moose and caribou.
When the 'Oldest Man' gave inadequate advice, then the 'Best Hunter' was
turned to, but the iatter never equalled· the first ehief in
11
·1 1.power.
"Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 74.
Wentzel des 1cribes
. 'the chiefs of the Beaver or Slave similarly.
Wentzel, in
Masson, I, p. 92.
77Macdonnell, Athabaska Indians,
CH22, S58, No. 7, no. pag.
78Ibid.

Montreal,

McGill Mss,

---

79Ibid.
SOHo~igman,

p. 6S.

8 1 Sm it h , p • 7 3 •
82osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," pp. 40

& 74.

83Smith, p. 75 and Franklin, Second Expedition, p. 258.
84Honigman, p.
Smith, pp. 73-74.

77,

Petitot,

Etude,

1868,

p.

168

and

85Roderic McKenzie, An Ac~ount of the Athabasca Indians
by a Partner of the North West Company, 1795, Montreal, McGill Mss, CH23, S59, 2352, p. 8.

8 7 I b i d • , CH 2 3 , S 5 9 , 2 3~5 5 ,

No • 4 ,

- 80 -

p • 13 .

89Ibid.
90G. Keith, Letter to R.
Mackenzie River, 15 Jan. ·1814,
S59; 2431, No. 29, p. 114.

McKenzie,
Montreal,

The Forks of the
McGill Mss, CH23,

Iii

91Macdonnell,
CH22, S58, No. 2.

Athabasca Indians,

1

1

Mont r.eal,

McGill

Mss,

92Ibid.
9 3G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks
Mackenzie River, 28 Feb. 1810 in Masson, II, p. 89.
94G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie,
Nov. 1812, Montreal, McGill Mss, CH23,
See also Glover, Hearne, p. 213.
95Macdonnell,
CH22, S58, No. 8.

Chipewyan Indians,

of

the

Bear Lake Post, 19
S59, 2415, p! 80.

Montreal,

McGill

Mss,

96Glover, Hearne, pp. 98-108 and Vital Thomas, June
Helm, "Tales from the Dogribs," The Beaver, Outfit
297
(Autumn 1966), p. 19.
Also see ed., W. Kaye, Lamb, Journals
and Letter of. Sir Alexander Mackenzie (Toronto: Macmillan,
1970), p. 153.
97Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Montreal, McGill Mss,
CH22, S58, No. 8.
Hearne remarked that "murder is seldom
heard of among Chipewyans."
Glover, Hearne, p. 69.
98R. Glover, ed., Andrew Graham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1767-91 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society,
1969), p. 195.
Also see Rich and Johnson, Isham's Observations, p. 312.

~....,.....~~....,..,...........,.~___,,..-~,,,-~--=~~--,....,.....~....,.....,..._..~~

99R. McKenzie, Athabasca Indians, Montreal, McGill Mss,
- 81 -

CH23, 559, 2355,

No. 4,

p. 13.

100F. Wentzel, The Forks
Mar. 1807, Masson, I, p. 86.

of

the

Mackenzie

101osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians,"
Keith in Masson, II, pp. 109 and ·12·1.

son,

pp.

p.

River,

27

See

G.

43.

1020sgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p.
p. 248.

44 and Richard-

103osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p.

44.

104Ibid., Richardson,
109 and ·121.

in

p.

249

and

Keith

Masson,

II,

105osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 44.
106Ibid.
107Ibid., p. 45.
108Ibid.

109F. Wentzel,

Mss,

in Masson,

I, p. 87.

1105ee R. McKenzie, Athabasca Indians,
CH23, 559, 2352, p. 7.

Montreal,

McGill

1110sgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," pp. 43-45 and A.
Mackenzie, Great Bear Lake Journal, 16 June 1806, Montreal,
McGill Mss, CH180, 5162, No. no.
112osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," pp. 43-44~ Richardson, pp •. 211 and 248 and Keith, in Masson, I, pp. 109 and
121 •

- 82 -

113f. Wentzel,
'114Macdonnell,
CH22, 558, No .. 5.

in Masson,

I,

p. 87.

Chipewyan Indians,

Montreal,

McGill

Mss,

115osqood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 64 and Russell,
1898, p. 168.
Frank Explorations in the Far North.
Being a
report of an expedition under the auspices of the University
of· Iowa during the years 1892, '93 and '94 ([Iowa City?]:
The University, 1898), p. 168.
116osgood, Kutchin Ethnography,

pp. 40-41.

117F. Wentzel in .Masson, I, p. 79.
1·18F. Wentzel, Le'tter to R. McKenzie, The Forks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, in ibid., p. 80.
119Glover, Thompson's Narrative, pp. 105-06.
120osgood found among the Great Bear Lake Indians that
while women bore the camp, men had seldom more than a
rifle.
"Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 49.
121see Osgood, Kutchin Ethnography, p. 132, Richardson,
p. 226 and Michael H. Mason, The Arctic Forests (London:
Potter and Stoughton, 1924), p. 66.
122G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie,
Nov. 1812, in Masson, II, p. 106.

Bear ·Lake Post,

19

123Glover, Hearne, p. 57.
124Ibid., p. 35.
125osgood, "Great
pp. 38-39, 69-70.

Bear

Lake

Indians,"

- 83 -

p.

77

and

Smith, -

126osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 77.
See also
Sir George Back, Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to
the mouth of the Great Fish River and along the Shores of
the Arctic Ocean .•. (1836; rpt. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1970), p.
214; Petitot, Grand Lac des Ours, p. 378 and Russell, .p.
163.
127osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 78 and Petitot,
Dene-Dinje, p. 32.
128see
Matonabbee's
Hearne, pp. 35 and 57.

comments

to

Hearne

129osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians,"
Masson, II, p. 107 and Richardson, p. 256.

p.

in

78;

Glover,

Keith

in

130 11 Polygamy is permitted amongst them, and is intended
as a means of satiating their passions, and to serve convenience more than to propagate the species."
G. Keith, Letter
to R. McKenzie, Bear Lake Post, 19 Nov. 1812 in Masson, II,
p. 107.
See also Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p_. 79,
Kutchin Ethnography, p. 143 and Macdonnell, Athabasca Indians, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vo-1. 52, p. 24.
131 F. Wentzel, Letter to ·R. McKenzie, The Forks
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807, in MassoJ'}, I, p. 86.

of the

132osgood, Kutchin Ethnography, p. 143.
133F. Wentzel, in Masson, I, p. 86; G. Keith, ibid., II,
p. 69 and Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 79.
134Marvin Harris, Cannibals and Kings
Books, 1977), pp. 18-23, 59-60.

(New York: Vintage

135see Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 76; Keith
in Masson, II, pp. 107, 119; Franklin, p. 64; Simpson, pp.
187, 202, 323; Lt. W.H. Hooper, "Ten Months in the Tents of
the Tuski, Etc" (London: n.p., 1853), p. 319; Petitot; Grand
Lac des Ours, p. 110; F. Wentzel in Masson, I, p. 86 and
William L. Hardisty, "Notes o.n the Tinneh," p. 312.

- 84 -

136Harris, pp. 55, 58, 59-60. · "Both infanticide and
warfare, as well as the sexual hierarchy that went with
these scourges, were caused by the need to disperse populations and depress their rates of growth."
Ibid., p. 64.
137F
Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. ·1807, in Masson, I, p. 86.
138s.R. Ross, "The Eastern Tinneh," in Hardesty, p. 305
as cited in Osgood, "Great Bear Lake Indians," p. 75.
139see A.M. Clark, "Northern Athapaskan Prehistory," in
Strangers of the North, pp. 25-27, and J.F.V. Millar and G.
J. Fedirchuk, Report on Investigations: Mackenzie River
Archaeological Survey. Report of the Environmental-Social
Committee, Northern Pipelines, Task Force on Northern Oil
Development No. 74-77- (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1975),
p. 33 for a review of the seasonal cycle of the eastern
Athapaskans.

- 85 -

CHAPTER I I I
ADAPTATIONS TO EARLIEST FUR TRADE
I I

~

I

The

first

Athapaskans

with

the Europeans

by

Cree

their

encompassed

area

as

from

into

people

extended

commonly

Chipewyans.1

the

mouth

of

Chipewyan

as

south

line

drawn

influence

from

the

contact

referred

Their

territory

Churchill. and

to

the

extended

headwaters

valley

as

of

far

the

The culturally

related

but

of

west

Thelon

past the east end of Great Slave Lake to the northwest
of Lake Athabasca.2

to

the

great arc around the treeline

the ·coppermine.
a

come

those

neighbours

an

followed a

were

to

end

geographi-

cally distinct Yellowknives occupied the area from the east
end· of Great

Slave Lake

knife

and

River

Lake.3
south

north

west
to

to

the

the

mouth

eastern

of

the

of

Great

tip

Chipewyan influence predominated over
as

the

northern

tip

Sandspit

and

the Seal River

of

Reindeer

to

the

Lake,

C-oast.

YellowBear

lands

as

east

through

Access

to

far

the

Coast for Chipewyans had been opened with the establishment
of Fort

Churchill

driven

north

from

Chipewyans

with

The

who

Cree,

in 1717.
the

their

By

mouth

newly

historically

1721
of

the

acquired
occupied

the

Eskimos

had

been

Churchill

by

the

European
the

middle

fire~rms.4

and

upper

Churchill5

were- persuaded

by

Hudson's

Bay Company men

to

allow the Chipewyans a~cess to the mouth of the Churchill. 6
By the 1720's the Chipewyans were making regular trading expeditions to Churchill,7 overcoming with extraordinary effort the distance and the·resistance of the Cree to
their

admission

to

the

By

post.

the

mid

1720 's

several

Chipewyans had taken wives from among the Cree in order to
cement
the

relationships.8

Cree

of

the

There

Chipewyan

was

grudging

presence

at

acceptance

by

mouth

the

the

of

Churchill yet war raged on against the Athapaskans inland. 9
By

1760

the

Athapaskans,

very

likely

the

Beaver

tribe10,

had been driven from the height of land between the Churchill and the Athabasca Rivers.

They were pressed ovei into

the Athabasca

drainage,

in

and

the Sekani

and Dogrib

possibly

turn

pushing

back

peoples.

the

Slavey,

Sometime

in

the early 1760's, due in part to counterattack by the Beaver Indians a shaky truce was made between Cree and Athapaskans at Peace Point on the Pea~e River. 1 1
The

Chipewyan

people

at

that

time were

oriented

ward the patterns of the barren-ground caribou herds.
only

exceptions

were a

few

bands of Chipewyans

close to the Bayside post,

ranging

barren lands trapping areas

northwest

Churchill River.

Inland

patterns were followed.

from

along

the

who

edge

toThe

lived
of

the

of the mouth of the

the Coast more traditional

"Speci fie links between· Chipewyan

- 87 -

territorial and band groupings and the migratory and noma- die

habits

of

the

caribou"

can

be

made. 12

The

Chipewyan

Indians who later became known as Caribou-eaters had occupied the region between Hudson's Bay, west to the headwaters
of

Seal

River,

and

north

to

the

valleys

of

the

Dubawnt,

Kazan a~d the Thlew-a-dezza or Thelon Ri~ers.

Archaeologi-

cal

and

surveys

Lakes

at

Little,

Shethanei,

indicate Chipewyan

reaching
visit

back

to

1000

by a European,

Indians

were

or

a

Egenwolf

related

cultural

At

time

A.D.13

the

Samuel Hearne,

living

seasonally

on

or

occupation

of

as many as
near

Nueltin

.

the

first

six

hundred

the

Dubawnt

Lakes, and another two hundred on the Kazan River. 14
people
tterd,

lived

in

the

center

of the range

of the Kamiriuriak

aRd were close to the calving grounds of

Herd at Beverly Lake.

and

another

the Beverly

Hearne also encountered a small band

of Indians further west
Lake15

These

on the eastern edge of Great Slave

southeast

of

the

lake.

They

probably

hunted the Beverly Herd as it passed by a short distance to
the east on its yearly migration.16
At the time of Hearne,
near or among the
Lake

larg~

Athabaska. 17

several

bands were

encountered

herds of caribou at the east end of

These

Chipewyans,

who

eventually

were

labelled by the N6rth West Company men as "Les Montagnais"
because
east

they

spent

their

of Lake Athabasca,

winters

in

the

hills

north

hunted caribou seasonally at

- 88 -

and

pass-

ageways

near

Lakes.18

They were excellent fishermen,

at

the whitefish

taking

the

north

end

of

Wollaston

and

Reindeer

particularly adept

from Lake Athabasca

and a

variety

of fish from the other waters in the area.19 This trait was
important

in

the

early

years

Chipewyans supplied fish
In
Great

taiga

tundra

Bear

Lakes

lived

Though similar

they

were

their
on

the

place,

trade

as

between

Great

Tatsanottin~

in dialect,
from

or

appearance and

other

Chipewyans

by

population

was

Yellowknife. River,

which

was

excellent

to

Point

gated

seasonally

the

caribou

Lake.

Other

to

the

hunt

side of the Lockhart

passageway

near

Point

with the Dogribs.20
and

hunting

travelling

caribou

and

the

barrens

the Bear Lake Indians to the north,
barrens to the headwaters of
mine divide.

moved

Caribou

The Yellowknives,
on

p·eople

that

Contwoyto

~he

Lake

the

in

the
the

shared

adept

at

Dogribs

or

ranged north across the

Bear Lake River -

Some of them h1Jnted

past

was

more

took

congre-

hunting

much
than

fishing

season~lly'

Yellowknife

River.

Lake

that

customs,

mainly

of

an

and

Yellowknife

center

close

these

Slave

Their

near

living

fur

territory.

place

east

lands
the

distinguishable

separate

the

in winter to the Europeans.

the

bands.

of

the

Copper-

Bluenose Herd

which

ranged into this region for calving21.
Seasonal congregations of Chipewyan
crossing

places

were

an

important

-

89 -

means

people at

caribou

of

contact

social

and

of

facilitating

immediately
River,

to

the

Nejanilini,

trade

with

west

of

Nueltin

favourite places.22

other

peoples.

Hudson
and

For

those

the

upper

Seal

lakes

areas

were

Bay,

Dubawnt

An excellent fishing place and caribou

hunting ground made Dubawnt Lake especially attractive for
Chipewyans.23
Esquimaux

at

Occasionally

they

confluence

of the

the

"met

with

a

At other times they met

Esquimaux

or

Yathkyed

White

of

noble Thelew or Thelon

River with Dubawnt. 11 24
at

party

Snow

"with other

Lake. 11 25

Dogs

and

sometimes soapstone were bartered in exchange for moccasins
and

snowshoes.26

occurred
half

in

of the

Considerable

contact

prehistoric times

in

culture

of the Chipewyan

are common to the

elements

Caribou

this

with

the

region.

Eskimo."27 At

a

Eskimo

"More

thari

(about 54%)

small

unidenti-

fied lake near the northeast end of Lake Athabasca a permanent
as

pound and

two

canoe building place was

hundred

families

congregated

located.

there.28

As

many

"Depouillez"

or back fat was traded,

likely from the Peace ·and Athabasca

Rivers,

hide and snowshoes as wel1.29 Trade

was

possibly moose

conducted

Indians

and

between Yellowknives,

occasionally the

the Coppermine.
exchange
center
east

of

for

for
the

Chipewyans,

Eskimos

on

the

Bear

Lake

headwaters

of

Copper was the principal item of barter in

flint

hunting

from

the

Liard

and

trade

was

Coppermine.31

-

A major

90 -

River
on

the

area.30

Another

Burnside

River,

congregation

point

for

the

fall

Lakes.

caribou

hunt

was

between

Point

and

Contwoyto

Copper, moose hides and tools of various kinds were

potential items of trade.32
Chipewyan

people

wer.e

able

expansive

areas,

and

contact

with

This

"can

explained

with

ranging

band groups.

to

maintain

be

familiarity

diverse

and

in

wide

terms

of

the winter and summer ranges of the major herds of barrenground

caribou. 11 33

ex o g am o u s

This

contact

re la t i o n s h i p s

with blood ties.

whi c h

resulted

bo und

t he

in

far-reaching

,d is pa r a t e

gr o up s

By 1750 the majority of Chipewyan people

were still living mainly along the edge of the barrens following the caribou.

They hunted

they

moved

through

the

when

winter

range

in

the

tundra

where

lichens

the migrating animals as

transitional

th'e

boreal

zone

forest

flourished

about

was
and

mid-June

abandoned
spring

for

calving

occurred away fro~ the flies of the forest.34 Again in late
August

the caribou were

the forest shelter.

intercepted as

they moved back to

Thus centers of population were locat-

ed within ·easy access of major caribou passageways.35
Techniques

for

hunting

and

preservation

meat were critical to Chipewyan survival.

of

caribou

First mention ·of

a process for making a specially prepared dry meat, a vital
element

in

Nineteenth

west Canada,

Century wilderness travel

came from Chipewyan

experience.

cutting into long thin strips, the pemm~can as

- 91 -

in

north-

Prepared by
it came to

be known was dried by the sun over a "cold" fire and pounded

in

mortars

over

the

to a

powdered

powder.

Rendered

dry

in

meat

often added for taste.
year

or

more.

lez,

was

a

rare

was

then

poured

paunch

and

berries

were

In this form the meat would' last a

Pemmican

during periods of

a

fat

low

was

made

in

humidity.

commodity

in

the

northern

Rendered

fat

regions

or

depouil-

caribou country thus

in

high

demand.36
Chipewyans

made ·the

from the caribou.

The

principal

hides were

part

of their

taken

in

the

clothing

early

fall

when nature was restoring the winter coat and there were no
warble fly holes which riddle the skins in spring and early
summer..37
The Chipewyans were exc~llent fishermen and used th~ir
ski 11 s

to

though

subject

extreme
Cree

to

great

pro t e in

their

looked

down

upon

"prided
made

it

Cree
fish

themselves
their

on

study;

.. '.'.J hes e

rat ions .

vicissitudes

than

who

have

their

hunger 11 38

Chipewyans
and

augment

yet

suffer

neighbours.
eaters
being

the

excellent

great

lakes

readily take to angling,

al tho'

it

affords

them

dependent

on

access

to

was

primary

supplies

of

food

and

from

as ·inferior,

fish,

Survival

less

Unlike the

country yield the finest

ing. 1139

pe o p 1e

the

anglers,
of

their

and when the Deer fail they

clothing,

supplementqry food source.

- 92 -

and

to

no

cloth-

caribou
fish

for
as

a

Ease

of

travel

was

also

Arctic

travel,

as

could

only

undertaken

be

some

vital

Europeans
with

to

were

Chipewyan

survival.

slow

recognize,

relative

to

ease

in

certain

seasons of the year.40 The most efficient way to ·move heavy

·1

packs

over

long

snow.

But

the

distances
severe

by

cold,

land

long

was

by

periods

sledge

of

on

the

darkness

and

departure of the caribou into the forests reduced considerably the prime time for travel.

The optimum period is from

late March when the days begin to lengthen and warm,

until

early

had

been

in

this

May,

after

which

the

warm
sea

sun

firmly

packed

snow

into

a

spring

period

that

the

Chipewyans

turns

of ·slush.

what
It

would

was

undertake

their

lengthy treks with loaded sledges.41
After the establishment of Fort

Churchill

some of the

Chipewyans began making regular trading expeditions down to
the post. ---·rhcise who came furthest

began

th~ir

tween Great Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca,

journeys be-

passed along the

height of land between the Black and Taltson Rivers,
by

the north end of Reindeer Lake,

Seal River system down

to

the

and then

Coast .42

treked

paralleled the

This

route

roughly

paralleled the migratory path of two major herds of barren-ground

caribou

-

the

east of Lake Athabasca,
extended as
in

the

far

Beverly

Herd

which

wintered

to

the

and the Kaminuriak Herd which once

south as York Fort

Dubawnt-Kazan-Baker

Lake

- 93 -

in

winter

triangle.43

and
This

summered
region

also

corresponded

with

the

homeland

of

the

Chipewyan

peoples who came to be known as Caribou-eaters and Les Montagnais.

When

almost

entirely

trips with

en

route to trade,
by

land,

synchronizing

their

east-west

seasonal migrations of the caribou and

able snow conditions.
gradually

these Indians travelled

increase

favour-

These expeditions would continue and

until

the

late

1770's

when

European

trading posts were established in the Athabasca and Mackenzie drainages •.
The geography
made

of
it

the

land

possible

through

west,

rather than pursue their traditional pattern of fol-

Seal River,

travel

migrations of the caribou.
fro~

north of a rough line drawn
River to

to

trading

ranged

tson

them

the

band

lowing the north-south

for

which

the height

of

land

just

north

huge bodies of water blocked

the Churchill River.

To

to

the

the headwaters of the Tal-

However,

it

of the North

land travel.

the south of that line a passage east and west
along

east

was

To

is apparent
dominated

by

the Cree in the prehistoric and early contact periods,44 as
well as being blocked by many

rapids,

particularly

on

its

lower reaches.45 Even the Cree avoided it when possible for
the. Hayes-Nelson,

or

Burntwood

route,

which

also

lay

in

bodies

and

the

Cree-dominated territory.46
In

between

Churchill River

the

great

northern

water

is a height of land formed by a series of

-

94 -

glacial

moraines

and

glacial

rivers

called

eskers.

These

eskers angle to the northeast while forming an east to west
height
game

of

trails,

few

providing

and

bande~

They are
a

land

pines

easy

viewpoints

routes

to

of

travel,

reconnoitre

the

natural
country.

by clumps of birch, larch, black spruce and

which

are

used

for

tool-makin~. I ,and

shelter,

fuei.47
The

usual

route

Coast was by land.
were used
or

in

in a

cases
it

coming

chiefly

caribou

by

lived

come

has

land

in a

no

were

followed

into a

not

t he

con v en i ency

making

floats

were ·n ot

land poorly adapted to

the
They

freshet,

landlocked
of

to

only

to

use.

stream in

and

erials for canoe building.

down

cross a

Creeks an d Rivers . "4 8 Ch i pew ya n s
canoe but

to

Canoes were of little or

Nat iv es

area.

Chipewyans

few instances to

where

These

for

canoes ,

cross

the

u neasy

in

a

providing mat-

When the Cree appeared by canoe

with their women and children "you depend upon their having
few

goods; 11 49

women

packed

whereas
the

on

great

Chipewyan

proportion

land

of

expeditions

the furs

which

the

freed

the men to provide food.
Women
the

played

Chipewyan.

"weighing

more

a

vital

Camp
than

role

was
150

in

broken

lbs.

journeys of

and

with

loads

through

[the]

[were

••. snows. 11 50 The men and older boys
in search of food.

the trading
sledges

hauled]
ranged

along

the

route

Since the sledges were loaded with furs

- 95.-

for

trade,

along with tent

and poles they brought

provis-

ions only "sufficient to serve them a day or two. 11 51
contributed to the hardships of the

journey when

This

food was

unavailable.
The life of women in Athapaskan society was much more·
arduous among the Chipewyans who traded with the Bay post.
Women,

"well

shap'd

when

young,"

were

"for

the

most

part

short and thick" at matuvity, and were chosen by the trading "captains" for their size and strength.52 The custom of
trading

or

dealing

in

women

became more

pronounced

trading Chipewyans than among other Athapaskans.

among

"To

the

strongest [went] the lovely prize. 11 53 Trading leaders took
many

wives

and

were

jealous

although

when

they

their

treated

women

were

them

with· severity

interfered

with

by

others.
Dogs, which were venerated by most Athapaskans,54 and
not

generally

used

as

beasts

of

carrying trade by the 1760's.
of

the

travois

With the

carrying

trade,

dogs

made

tent

poles,

of

burden

were
or

were

~rowing

employed
were

used

to

in

the

importance
pull

fitted

out

loaded
with

packs.55 The traditional Indian dog, rather emaciated, physically resembling the coyote,
with

was

bred

whenever

possible

the Eskimo sled dogs.56 It is presumed that with the

growing

exploitation

of

the

dog

by

the

trading

bands

increased breeding of Indiai dogs with the wolf was experi-

-

96 -

mented

with.

This

more

utilitarian ·use

of

the

dog

would

last until establishment of European posts in the Athabasca
Mackenzie

r·egion.

Only

the

Chipewyans

adapted

dogs

as

carrying animals in this period~ 57
For the Northern Indians

who traded at Churchill many

of the traditional means of livelinood were at
orarily

abandoned for
European

Flint,

discarded.

iron toois.

clothing

stone

and

antler

Trade muskets

replaced

skins.
o~

fact the cosmetic reflections

least
were

replaced

These

temp-

quickly
the

changes

bow.

were

in

vital practices which were

to affect their ability to survive.58 The caribou hunt traditionally

undertaken

as

a

primary

reduced to

secondary

importance

activity

in

because of the

season

was

imperatives

of the lengthy trek.59 Prehistoiic movements had been timed
in rhythm with the caribou migration,

usually on a north to

south basis;

and

hunts

less

yearly

excursions

successful.

If

weather

caribou accurately located,
a

rapid

trip

realized.

predictable. · The

Beverly

east

food

But

rendered

was favourable

supplies were

the

or

west

caribou

Kaminuriak

the

and the

assured

and

were

not

always

Herds

were

some-

times missed.60 Hundreds of miles then had to

be traversed

with nothing but ptarmigan or hare for food.
The post traders also were a factor in the changes affecting
long

the trading

journey

were

band.

The

especially

-

rewards
important

97 -

at

the

for

end

the

of

the

leaders.

Outfitted in European-style clothing and allowed access inside

the

fort,

they

were

treated

royally.

"Trade

at

the

Bayside posts soon developed the formal and public character of a great social dccasion. 11 61 First encounters involved
an exchange of presents which included a dram and a ceremonial pipe.
The political organization of the Chipewyans was changed

in accordance with the demands of

1770

Hearne

realized

that

European

the Indians

were

trade.

In

bestowing_ rank

very astutely on one of their numbers in order to obtain an
impressive

reaction

among

greater remuneration.
1791-92 that

the

Europeans,

Fidler noticed

thus

obtaining

at Lake Athabasca

in

the North West Company was doling out copious

quantities of liquor to "chiefs" in order to lure

in their

"followers."62 Thomas Stayner stopped treating many of the
Chipewyans as chiefs at Fort Churchill when

he

found

there

were

The

trading

people

the

European

the

wilderness

more

became

than

"followers. 11 63

particularly adept

ference
would

"chiefs"

for

rank.

appear

that

practice.

Upon
the

Leadership

at

exploiting

returning

Chipewyans

devolv~d

to

reverted

to

preit

indigenous

to the elderly who were elo-

quent and had achieved widespread respect.

In times of war

or

arose

on

the

hunt

individuals

of

competence

leadership roles.64 The strongest men,
wrestlers,

obtained

the

most

-

-

98

to

take

those who were

good

sought-after

women,

those

being the strong packers, talented clothes-makers, and camp
providers .65 Good

hunters

and

warriors

were

respected

and

gained a following.
But only among the trading Indians did there develop a
relatively

consistent

bee was the most
who

surfaced

as

and respected

famous
a

trading

result

the English Chief,

or

leadership.66 Matonab-

leader.

of the

trade

Other
in

the

Chipewyans
period

were

"Ageenah, 116 7 Captain Mist-a-poose, 68

Black Meat, and Captain Too-Toose, a trading leader who was
Akaitcho was a

also known as a war chief of some reknown.

Yellowknife trading chief well known at the North West Company posts.
In
to

many

other

ways

the Hudson's

Bay Company was

Rules

to

the ways of the Indian.

monopoly

over

trade

and

protect

the

inhibit

relationships

between

Indian women and white traders were

ineffective at

best.69

The ultimate compliment
cement

a

partnership

their

wives,

ment

was

thus

offered

to

designed

bent

for Northern Indian peoples was to

or

bond

implying a
and

by

offering

blood tie.

rejected,

it

was

the
When

favours
the

of

compli-

interpreted

as

a

gross insult.70 Attempts to eliminate liquor from the trade
also

had

little
of

little

though

friendship,

impact

on

participated
a

the
in

demonstration

Chipewyans.

the
not

regale

as

an

only

of

a

but of a lasting alliance and commitment.71

-

99 -

They

drank

expression
trade

bond,

In the period of the Northern middleman trade the Hudson's

Bay

Company

carry only a
the

was

able

to

convince

bare minimum of trade items.

"wants of these people are few,

hatchet,

an

the

ice-chissel,

a file,

Chipewyans

to

In the interior

and easily

and a knife,

supplied,
are

a

all that

is required to enable them, with a little industry, to procure a

comfortable

livelihood. 11 72 Distances were great

for

the trading band and items of marginal utility had no place
in treks of up to seven hundred miles.

Interior Chipewyans

obtained all of their clothes from the caribou.
desire was for

iron-edged tools.

tion for them,73 again
lengthy

For

treks.

Liquor had little attrac-

because of the

the

same

Their main

reason

requirements
decorative

of

such

beads

and

trifles were not a major part of the trade:

-

always drest in Dee'r Skins, drink no manner
of Spiritous Liquors, and barter their skin
only for necessaries such as Ammunition, Iron
and
Cutlery
wares,
never
purchasing
much
Cloth,
Bead,
or
any
other
superfluous
Articles.74
Environmental limitation was the critical factor ·in shaping
Chipewyan trading
for

such uses,

practice

but what

sary' s for life,

which

"seldom traded any finery

they traffic for

is

chiefly

neces-

such as powder [and] shot guns. 11 75

The musket was not an essential tool
among the interior Indians.

for

food

hunting

Of the many methods of obtain-

ing their food supplies the caribou "surround" or pound was

-

100 -

most important.

Firearms were seldom used to dispatch the

caribou

trapped

within

spears,

and

snares

stampede

the

caribou

the

were

enclosure.76

more

into

silent

breaking

Bow

and

the

and

less

arrow,

likely

pound,

or

to

excite

them and ruin the meat by engorgement with blood.77
Although iron was an important item of trade

from the

1720's and was much so-ught after by interior people,

it by

itself did not give the trading "captain" a lever for gaining

pre-eminence.

The

item

which

did

was

the

musket.

Traditional lack of deference accorded the Chipewyan trading leaders evolved into an attitude of grudging respect as
power,

in the form of the musket became available to trade

captains.78
Muskets were used by
middlemen

to

extend their

of western Athapaskans.

both Cree and Chipewyan

trading

influence throughout

region

Cree middlemen

had

the

prevented the

Chipewyans from coming in to York Fort to trade throughout
most of 1680-1717.79 The Chipewyans in turn had ended trading

journeys by the Dogribs and Yellowknives to Prince of

Wales'

Fort by 1725.

The few Yellowknife Indians who

did

manage to gain access to the Bay fort to trade were plundered

by

the

Chipewyans

"soon

after

they

left. n80

Others

gave

tribes

were killed en masse by those with arms.
Control
first

over

the

trade

in

firearms

the

contacted and particularly those who arose to domin-

- 101 -

ate

it,

unprecedented

defenceless
own

guide

power

Athapaskan

in

"general bullying

neighbours. 11 81

Matonabbee,

Hearne

mentions

were obviously happy to trade and act
of

carriers

to

the

rest.

In

It

has

in

been

of their

addition

to

his

those

Indians

who

the

arduous

role

suggested

that

"a

strong motive prompting Indian leaders to make these trading journeys between the forts on the coast and their fellow natives up country was

vanity. 11 82 Certainly vanity was

important,

the

particularly

in

early

years

of

the

trade.

But by the early 1760's, after an agreement was made by the
Chipewyan to transport furs and arms to the Athabasca Cree,
the trading band of Matonabbee assumed unprecedented influence among the Athapaskans.
Matonabbee was

of

the

Chipewyan

relationship

with

the

post

traders, and of his domination of the carrying trade.

Seen

leaders

by

because

Hearne

and

of

the most
his

observed

influential

unique

by

later

writers

as

a

"remarkable

Indian 11 83 who had the capacity for "benevolence and universal humanity to all the human race, n84 Matonabbee was able
to

impress

of

the

favourably

unparalleled

Europeans and
power

he

Indians

commanded

in

alike
the

because

interior.

Impressions of this powerful trader are mainly dependent on
the not always balanced perception of Hearne.

These comp-

liments were in part a result of comparison to the personal

-

102 -

treatment
as

a

accorded

result

able

to

of

him

the

command

referred to as

by

his

high

from

previous

level

the

of

guides

respect

At.hapaskan

"the greatest man

in

and

in

part

Matonabbee

was

Indians.

the

He

country. n85

was

It

is

significant that this most "humane" Indian in Hearne' s eyes
was

also

female

responsible

packers,

to

for

beating

death

after

one

she

of

murder

the

packers.87

This

trQ.ditionally
He was

abl~

customary

husband

of

a

woman

"wives,"

questioned

to provide for more than seven women.86
to

his

he

He also

wanted

as

behaviour

occurred

in

a

reproved

of murder

of

one's

had

att~mpted

one

own

to silence demands.of visiting Indians

dram

or

tobacco

regale

in

barrens Hearne
in great part

return

for
to

had been fortunate to escape with
due to the relative lack of

Matonabbee

was

able to

ability

of

community

through their country.89 In previous attempts

guide.

his

his

which

band.88
for

the

passage

cross

the

his life,

influence of

"dictate the

or

his

course of the

expedition, even to dictate [to Hearne] its conduct

in some

matters.which were repugn-ant" to the trader.90
The only people who were not intimidated by Matonabbee
were the Athabasca Cree.
shore
Lac

la

of

Lake

Biche

Athabasca
and

From their location on the south
and

Pembina

the

River

Athabasea,

Lesser

areas

travelled

they

lengthy journey to the coast either by the Churchill
the Hayes River.91

Slave,

or

the
by

With arms from the Hudson's Bay Company

-

103 -

they

had

the

Athabasca,

Indians
Slave

driven

from
Lake

connivance
of

the

Beaver Indians

and

had

the

Slave

onto

the

of

Chipewyan

plundered
River

traders

would

overland to Churchill.
against

such

peace treaty

Chipewyan
arms.

the

In

or

of

trade

were

this

time

separated

Cree, however,

that

from

pressed
south

was

and

the

of Great

whereby

return

the

Cree

would

for

the Cree

was

the

party

and

this time.94

Mackenzie

River

and

Sekani

reach via

their

"lake Indian ·road"

wage

in

any

to

the

access

to

aga.lnst

It may have also

affiliated

would continue to plunder

not

warring

passive ·s1avey

closely

the

peltry

unique

continued
Cree

the

initiative

Cree

arrangement,

of

Slavey

Through

reached

resistance

the

the

shore

.River.92

Company

the more

the

headwaters

the

practice,
fierce

the

carry

the Beaver Indians ended at
been at

the

Chipewyans. 93 Crucial

middlemen

Because

Bay

agreement

an.

war

to

and

Mackenzie

the Hudson's

Matonabbe~,

from

Beaver.

t~e

Indians

and Sekani
The

Slaveys on the

whom

they

would

from Lesser Slave Lake

to the Peace River.95
It
treaty

was

within

around

Athabasca

short

period

and

ending

with

in 1779 that

was greatest.
Matonabbee's
regarding

1763

this

the

beginning

Pond's

influence

of

with

arrival

the

their
on

trading

the

bands

Thus Hearne's observations while he was with
trading

their

band

routes

take

and

-

on

methods

104 -

special
of

significance

travel,

peoples

contacted,

means

of

food

support

and

changes

in

their

traditional practices.
For the Indians who

regularly

posts,

access to European

higher

standard

vast

distances

of

goods

living.

without

to

the

delusion

exigencies

for

the

of

of

cycles

of

caribou

starvation.96 Even when

caribou

led to

were found,

time was at a premium and seldom did this

to

prepare

adequate

amounts

of

dry meat

Trading Indians thus

became dependent

and the Bay post

food.

ployed as fort

for

hunters

found

on

Even the Indians

that

for

the

not

do

without

the

than

the

English

without

fact

lost

was

more
upon

who

Indians
were

em-

Seasons

Indians

any

pemmican.

affected

"Those

English,

band

themselves adversely

specialization.
can

or

upcountry

by

forts,

a

travelling

migrations

stop

frequent

led

The

concern

habituated the Bay-side

the Europeans

who

hunts

at

assistance

for

of

the

them. 11 97

This

several

decades

after arriving in the Mackenzie area attempted to

foster a

lifestyle for the Indians centered around particular posts,
which

led

to

severe

hardships

among

the

people.

This

not to suggest that the demands of the trade led to
ering
bou

in

in

large groups.

the

barrens

in

Numbers congregating to
aboriginal

times

were

hunt

much

is

clustcarilarger

than the groups of post hunters.
During the period of the increasing influence over the
lives

of

Chipewyans

by middlemen,

-

105 -

harvest

of merchantable

fur animals was encouraged.

The traditional Chipewyan land

along the edge of the tundra was limited in its ability to
support

fur-bearing animals.98

more

importance

into

the

full

bor-eal

were common.99
of

1781-83

interior

Chipewyans

forest

where

moved

south

and

west

beaver, marten

and

lynx

Somewhat later, after the smallpox epidemic

decimated

movement for

As the trade goods took on

the

Athabasca

some took the form

earlier period "what

furs

Cree

of a

population,

migration.100 In

the Northern Natives

bears, cubs, wolves, wolverines,

this
the

brough.t was

and about 150 martens with

some cats and a small quantity of beaver. 11 101 By 1774 trade
at

Churchill

"amounted

of

vis its

la r g e

by

to

15,846 beaver

part i es

of

mainly

the

' Northern Indians '

result

who

came

down to the post every two or three years. 11 102 In 1776 when
three
the

hundred Chipewyans

reorientation

shifted

to woodland

of

arrived

their

at

Prince

of Wales'

Fort

trade

was

complete

and

had

animals.103 An

even

greater

return

in

beaver pelts was realized in 1777.
While
into

Matonabbee

the Athabasca

was

beaver

extending
country,

the

Chipewyan

influence

wintering

partners

opened trade with the Indians of the Athabasca on the portage

between

In

1770,

some

the Churchill

William Pink,

Beaver

Indians

a

and

the

Hudson's

who ' were

-

going

106 -

Saskatchewan

Rivers.104

Bay Company trader,
down

the

Churchill

met
to

t rad e wit h the

11

p e d 1 a rs" at P in e I s 1 an d La k e port a g e • 1 0 5 By

1775 Moses Norton was aware that "our trade is also intercepted by the inland pedlars, who is making their encroach-·

ment more and more at the back of this place. 11 106 In· order
to

prevent

the Athabasca

Cree

from

trading

son'',s ;Bay Company in 1774 Louis Primeau
,/

with

the

Hud-

"and 17 others •.•

'.

called

the

Atha-pus-cow

b o in e

I n d i a n s , - a 11 i e s

Indians. 11 109

o· f

t he

Cr e e

In

1776

we re

at

the
war

Assiniwit h

t he

Beaver Indians, presumably to prevent direct trade with the
pedlars,

thus

attempting

to

safeguard

the

role

of

the

middlemen. 110 Robert Longmore was informed in 1776 that the
greater

part

of the

Athabasca

Cree

would

be

trading

with

the pedlars at Pine Iilan~.111
Arrival of the pedlars on the portage

the Sas-

bet~een

katchewan and the Churchill Rivers provoked a rapid decline
in the trade of the m-.rd-i:fTemen to Fort Churchill
it appeared to be reaching a zenith.

just

w_hen

By 1777 the trade had

peaked at 12,682 made beaver112 at Prince of Wales'

Fort.

In 1779 only thirty Indians accompanied Matonabbee,113 and
in 1780 there were fewer.114 As the Chipewyans moved south
to hunt fur bearers and to trade with the pedlars at Cumberland House which

had

been

established

in 1774,

the

re-

turns in "venison [caribou meat] is the scarcest ••• [Hearne]
ever knew at Churchill only_250 lb. traded this winter. 11 115
Overall trade at Prince of Wales' Fort was "much worse than

-

107 -

last

year."116

Matonabbee's

r e t u r n i n 17 79 ,

but

gang

brought

in

a

He a r n e s u g g e st e d t h at " t he .p e d la rs ha v e

already

intercepted

and

ans."

He added that

"I

traded

many

now fear

of

that

our Northern
Chu re hi 11

shortly be

reduced."117 Peter Pond had returned

ering

the

on

sizeable

Athabasca

River

in

1779

Indi-

wi 11

very

from wint''

r~ported

and

to

William Walker at Cumberland House that he had traded "with
the

Northward

along

with

Indians

Mi t ' tee ' n a

that
pew

Mr.

Hearne

and his .9 an g. "

"upwards of 8400 made Beaver.
his

Samuel

was

Pond

[with,]·

had traded

He had traded the Cloaths on

back the Indians are so--distressed and eager for Euro-

pean Goods. 11 118

Arrival

the

the

decline

of

of Pond

carrying

on

trade

the
to

Athabasca
Fort

hastened

Churchill·.

By

1781 smallpox had finished ihe process.
Matonabbee and most of the principle [sic]
Northern Indians are all dead, together with
that valuable tribe of Southern Indians called
the Athapascow Indians, for though they seldom
of late have come to any of the company's
forts themselves yet they procured the greatest part of the furs that the northern Indians
used formerly to bring to this place and for
more than 10 years past, at least 7 /8 of the
whole_ trade. 119
Traditionally Chipewyans had
lationship

with

their

lived

environment;

the

in a

central

factor had been the barren-ground caribou.
ments
ratory

sensitive

re-

sustaining

Seasonal move-

of population were planned to coincide with the migpatterns

of

the

animals

-

108 -

and

the

fish

stocks

which

were a secondary food source for the Chipewyans. Aboriginal
life was not

one of unremitting toil

and those

people who

lived on the barrens and followed a subsistence pattern of
existence

were

relatively

well

off

when

compared

to

the

_people who trapped or traded for a living.120
Chipewyans who traded to Church{!~ ~ttempted to adapt
I.

the

traditional

caribou

dependency to ·their

erse across the barrens.
left

little room for

lengthy

trav-

Sleds which were loaded with furs

reserve

food

supplies.

Lengthy ea st

to west forays to the Coast reduced the likelihood of contacting the caribou.

Metal-edged tools and European cloth-

ing replaced traditional ones.
as

charges

were

expanded

and

Traditional roles of women
trading

number of· "wives" as pa:·ckers which
and social relationships.

captains

emplo'yed

a

led to weakened· family

Traditional veneration for dogs

was ignored and they were used for packing.

Trading capt-

ains

the Bay post

who

had

been

only

figureheads

while at

were attracted by the powers to be realized by monopolizing
and

dominating

interior

Indians

with

their

ets.121 Trading captains influenced changes
politics.

trade

mark-

in intertribal

This led to pressure exerted by interior Indians

to restore the imbalance of power by seeking muskets.
The traditional Chipewyan lands along the edge of the
tundra although bountiful in a subsistence economy, were 122
deficient

in furs valued by that trade and some Chipewyans

- 109 -

began

a

forest
the

movement
where

arrival

to

the

south

beaver,

martin

of

Montreal

the

and

and

west

lynx

based

toward

were

the

boreal

common.

After

on

middle

pedlars

the

Churchill in 1770, the establishment of Cumberland House by
the Hudson's Bay Company in 1774,

and the smallpox epidemic

of 1781-82 which obliterated the Athabasca Cree population,
this

movement

Chipewyans~

ans

they

lifestyle

migration.

Century

considerable distance from the environment

traditionally
in

The Eighteenth

both trading bands and later the interior Indi-

had moved a

which

food

became a

which

their

inhabited.123

The

primary concern was

supply to one where the

primary

fur trade had begun. 124

-

110 -

concern

move

from

a

following the
was

with

the

("")

p.,

~.

......

°'

c

U D S

Legend: Location of Athapaskan bands prior
to contact.
Map 1s adapted from Stewart Wallace (ed.),
Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the
Hudson's Bay Terrttor~. (Toronto: The
Champlain Society, 19 2)· See folder map 1n
cover.

fl

•'

)''.

r-l
r-l
r-l

-::t

it

;;::

... y"

.iK~

0..

':j

J
<J

~

.

\

L0
•.-0!~

·:·:l'

'"/

I

1

~\;j

/,:_.:_/

i\f!.k_
:t::"·;;
t'.1·,

J

. ·~

1\ 4~

:~,11;:<

~.'::i-01

>:;Y;J
ti . "
v\y
,;{;..-.,./

·.~'~i~-,,

,1 . . .

-~..;'.,

..

.

• • ~,'....,.?

H

I

/

j

·-

U D 5

.C

LEGEND: Chipewyan Ddddleman route to
the coast.
Hap i1 adapted from Stewart Wallace (ed.)
Note• of a Twenty-five Year•' Service in
the Hudson'• Bay Territory, (Toronto:
The Champlain Society, 1932) See folder
map in Cover.
·c

~

r-l
r-l

N

III
N 0 T E S

1 11 Chipewyan" was a Cree word meaning "pointed skins."
See Diamond Jenness, The Indians of Canada (Toronto: Univ.
of Toronto Press, 1977), p. 385.
2one summary of archaeological investigations indicates that the western end of Lake Athabasca was a transitional zone, "with influences from the plains, the boreal
forest, and the n_orth."
J.G.E. Smith, "The Ecological
Basis of Chipewyan Socio-territorial Organization,"
Proceedinqs: Northern Athapaskan Conferenc·e, ed., A.M. Clark,
Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 27
(Ottawa: National Museums of Cana-da, 1971), p. 396.
J.C.
Yerbury, "The Post-Contact Chipewyan: Trade Rivalries and
Changing Territorial Boundaries," Ethnohistory, 23, No. 3
-(Summer 1976), 251, asserts that "the area adjacent to Fort
Chipewyan, including Lesser Slav·e Lake, Lake Athabasca,
Slave River, Peace River, and the shores of Great Slave
Lake, was originally the habitat of the Slave, Dogrib, and
Hare."
J.V. Wright's recent archaeological investigations
of the Lake Athabasca area would seem to support Yerbury's
contention that northern cultural influences predominated
on the western end of the lake.
See The Pre-History of
Lake Athabasca, Mercury Series, Ai;chaeological Survey of
Canada Paper No. 29 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada,
1975).
3Beryl C. Gillespie, "An Ethnohistory of the Yellowknives," Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology, ed., D.B.
Carlisle, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper
No. 31 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975), p. 195.
4 11 So that a tract of land of more than three hundred
miles extent from north to south was cleared."
Joseph Robson, An Account of Six Years Residence in Hudson's Bay
(Edinborough: Pater - Nofton-Row, 1752), pp. 175-76.
Eskimo had lived on the coast as far south as Churchill.
R.
-

11 3 -

Nash, "The Prehistory of Northern Manitoba," ed., W. Hlady,
Ten Thousand Years (Altona, Man.: Manitoba Historical Society, 1970), p. 90.
S"The Churchill drainage in late prehistoric times
must be viewed as an area of Cree occupation, rather than
as Chipeywan."
J.G.E. Smith, "Preliminary Notes on the
Rocky Cree of Reindeer Lake," Migration and Anthropology,
American Ethnological Society (Ottawa: Univ. of Ottawa,
1970), p. 175.
See alsb',J.V. Wright, "Cree Culture History
in the Southern Indian lake.Region," Contributions to Anthropology VII: Archaeology, Bulletin No. 232 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1968).
6 Approximately six thousand Indians were estimated to
have been killed along the border between Cree and Chipewyan.
The excessive killing prompted the Hudson's Bay Company to make several efforts to establish peaceful relations between the parties.
York Factory, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, B239/a/2, fo. 28 and B239/a/3, fo. 16d.
See
also J.B. ·Tyrrell, ed., Documents Relating to the Early
H1st or y of Hu d s o n Ba y ( To r on t .o : .C ha mp la in So c i et y , 1 9 3 4 ) ,
pp. ·265-66.
7The more distant Chipewyans came down to Prince of
Wales' Fort to trade every two, or sometimes three years.
The trip took "3 months" to go to Lake Athabasca under good
circumstances.
See John Macdonnell, An Account of the
Chipewyan Indians ••• , Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 52, p.
17.
See fn. 33, chap. II for note re authorship.
8Thomas McCliesh, Letter to Governor and Committee,
Albany Fort, 16 July 1716, Letters from Hudson's Bay, 170340, ed., K.G. Davies (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society,
1965)' p. 75.
9Periodic plunder and murder of the Chipewyans occurred inland.
In 1725 while at the Coast to trade, the families of the Chipewyans were killed.
Richard Norton, Letter
to Governor, PWF, 1725, in Davies, pp. 111-12.
See also
Anthony Beale, Letter to Governor, Churchill River, 26 July
1729, ibid., p. 139.
War again occurred in 1738 which inhibited the Chipewyans.
E.E. Rich and A.M. Johnson, eds.,
James !sham's Observations and Notes, 1743-49 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1949), p. Sn, and Arthur Ray,
-

114 -

In d i a n s in t h-e Fu r
1974)' pp. 3-23.

Tr a d e

( To r o n t o : Un i v • o f To r on t o P r es s ,

10In 1770 the Beaver Indians were travelling from the
Upper Churchill to Pine Island Lake on the portage to the
Saskatchewan to trade.
J.B. Tyrrell, ed., Journals of
Hearne and -Turner (Toronto:. Champlain Society, 1934), p.
11.
Joseph Hansom saw a "House in the Great River [Churchill] where Indians passes from all parts of the Country."
This fort on the Churchill River was frequented by Beavers,
Crees, and Chipewyans, as well as Blackfeet.
Joseph Hansom, Letter to Governor and Committee, PWF, 23 Aug. 1774,
ibid, pp. 240n-41n.
Beaver Indians were bordering the
Piegan Blackfoot and arrived with them in 1776.
Mathew
Cocking, Letter to Governor, 13 May 1776, E.E. Rich and
A.M. Johnson, eds., Cumberland House Journal and Inland
Journal,' 1775-79, I (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society,
1951), p. 45.
War had occurred in that year between the
Beaver and Cree/Assiniboine.
Ibid., p. 46.
They would not
be mentioned as trading in either the post of the pedlars
or the Bay men until after the establishment of a pos.t in
Athabasca River in 1779.
W. Kaye Lamb, ed.,.The Journals
and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie (Toronto:_ Macmillan,
1970), p. 125.
See also Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from
Montreal ••• to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans (1B01; rpt. Edmonton, Alta.: Hurtig, 1971), pp. lxxxi-lxxxii, A.S. Morton, A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71 (1939; rpt.
Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1973), pp. 11-12, and Yerbury, "Post-Contact Chipewyan," pp. 251-52·.

the
27.

11Richard Glover, ed., Samuel Hearne: A Journey to
Northern Ocean ••• (Toronto: Macmillan, 1958), pp. 225Also Morton, pp. 294-95.
12smith, Ecological Basis, p. 396.

13w. Noble, "Archaeological Survey and Sequences in
Central District of Mackenzie, N .W. T. ," Arctic Anthropolo..91.' 8, No. 1 (1971), 102-35. Also Ronald Nash, "Archaeology in. Northern Manitoba," Hlady, passim.
14Glover, Hearne, p. 23, and E.E. Rich, The History
of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670-1870, II (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1959), p. 51.

-

115 -

I j I

15since the trading band of Matonabbee did not know
them (i.e., they were not linked by consanguineal ties),
they were plundered.
Glover, Hearne, pp. 176-78.
16Ibid., p. 175.

17Ibid., p. 177.
18see L.A. Prud'homme, Les Montagnais ou Tchippewayan
(Montreal: Revue Canadienne, 1 909), passim.
19Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians, Lake Athabasca, OtPAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 52, p. 38.
See also R. Glover,
~d., David Thompson Narrative (Toronto:
Champlain Society,
1962), pp. 123-24, 128.

tawa,

_2 0 Gi 11 e s p i e ,
201-02.

" Et h n o h i st or y of

t h e Ye 11 o wk n i v es , "

pp •

21Glover, Hearne, pp. 76-77.
The characteristic abi~
lity ~f-the Chipewyans and Yellowknives to live and roam on
the barrens for extended periods distinguished them from
the other eastern Athapaskan bands.
Dialect was also an important distinguishing factor.
Slave, Beaver, Dogribs, Hare and possibly the Sekani and
Sarcee spoke a similar dialect.
The aforementioned differed from the Chipewyan and Yellowknife dialects.
Catherine
McClellan suggests that in lig'ht of the above "the linguistic and tribal classifications of northern Athapascans are
due for a new look ••• if widespread continuity of dialects
is distinctive of the northern Athabaskans, their situation
becomes in some respects more analogous to that of the Eskimos."
"Culture Contacts in the Early Historic Period in
Northwestern North America," Arctic Anthropology, 12, No. 2
(1964), 6.
22Smith, "Ecological Basis," p. 424.
23smith suggested Hearne spent
hundred Indian? hunting near Nueltin.
-

116 -

the winter with six
Since they had just

moved northwest of Yathkyed Lake
near Dubawnt Lake.
Ibid.

they

were

probably

at

or

2 4 Thomas Simpson's comments as cited in Kaj BirketSmith, Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology (Copenhagen:
Gyldendal, 1930), pp. 35-36.
25Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27Ibid.,

p. 108.

See also pp. 102-03.

28 Glover,

Hearne,

pp. 54, 62-63, 180.

29smith, "Ecological Basis," p. 425.
30George Keith related that about a day's traveI west
of Fort Liard was "t°he Bis.,.kag-ha River or· Sharp _Edge
River, not far distant from the Fort, and so called from
the flint stones very common in that place, and which the
inhabitants, the Na ha ne tribe, ·made use of as knives and
axes.nGeorge Keith, Letter to Roderic McKenzie, Liard
River, 7 Jan. 1807, L.F.R. Masson, Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Quest, II (1889-90; rpt. New York: Antiquarian Press, 1960), p. 66.
31Glover, Hearne,

pp. 85, 91.

32 Ibid.,· pp. 104, 113, 114, 131.
33smith, "Ecological Basis," p. 416.
34 John P. Kelsall, The Mi rator
Barren-Ground
bou of Canada, Monograph No. 3
Ottawa: Canadian Wi
Service, 1968), p. 177.
"During the second week of
the births in .that week making up approximately three
ters of the entire calf crop."
Ibid.

-

117 -

Carid i e
June,
quar-

35caribou used well
recog~ized
migration
routes.
"Concentration points, mostly well known to natives and
used in hunting, occur where unfrozen rivers or lakes divert the animals and funnel them to crossing points."
Ibid~,
p. 114.
Favourite areas for regular caribou travel
are "high and lightly. forested country" and "along tops of
eskers and glacial r:idges." Ibid., also pp. 106-07.
See
Birket-Smith, p. 29.
36Peter Pond, cited by Alexander Henry in "Me~orandum
on an Overland Route to the Pacific," to Joseph Banks, Montreal, 18 Oct. 1781, in L.J. Burpee, The Search for the
Western Sea (Toronto: Macmillan, 1935), p. 592.
See also
A. Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal through the Continent
of North America
(1801;
rpt. Edmonton,
Alta.:
Hurtig,
1971),
pp.
cxxxin-cxxiin,
and
Lamb,
Mackenzie,
p.
1~2n.

37It was estimated that 250 caribou per year were
needed to feed a family of four and their dogs.
See A.H.
Lawrie, "Barren-Ground Caribou Survey,"· Canadian Wildlife
Service Report, C873, 1948, ·cited in Kelsall, pp. 207-09,
211 •
38Glover, Thompson,
p. 209, and Birket-Smith,
39Glover, Thompson,

p. 128.
Also Lawrie
pp. 19-23, 26-28.
p~

in Kelsall,

128.

40McClint.ock is· considered to be the first European
to recognize and exploit in a systematic manner native
knowledge of arctic travel.
He developed· a relay system
which allowed his men to cover hundreds of miles on early
spring snows, solve the riddle of the lost Franklin party,
and travel to the north pole.
See Francis McClintock, A
Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin
and His Companions (1859; rpt. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1972),
pp. 217-34, 278, 282-83.
_41Glover suggests that the Chipewyans came in to
trade at any time.
Upon examination, this does not appear
to be the case.
Between 1725 and 1738, of the nine bands
recorded as arriving· from the interior, seven arrived in
spring or early summer and two in August.
Since the jour-

118 -

ney from Lake Athabasca took a minimum of three months,
this would place the major part of their journey in the
early spring. See Glover in Davies, p. xxxvi.
See also
pp. 111, 117, 119, 155, 186, 201 and 249.
· 42 Thomas Stayner, FCPJ, 1 May 1794, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, B42/a/119, fo. 19.
"Those from the Athapiscow or thereabouts never can visit York for they are obliged for the sake of subsistence to keep to the North Side
of Seal River and do not cross it until they come near the
·mouth of the River, from thence they have ~ther two Rivers
to cross and then walk along the bayside to this Factory."
0 n 9 Ju 1 y 1 7 9 4 , Th om a ,s St a y n er wh i 1 e exp 1 o r i n g t he S ea 1
River records: "Seal River was formerly known to the sn
Indians and Athapescow Indians but the introduction of Canadians to their Country, the great havock made by the
smallpox among the natives 12 years ago and the destruction
of the old Factory occasioned the track to be forgotten."
Ibid., 9 July 1794, fos. 27-28.
Fidler also mentions meeting some Athapaskans who remembered passing above Lake Wollaston and down the Seal River to the mouth of the Churchill.
Peter Fidler, Journal, 19 June 1807, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, E3/5, fo. 16.
43Kelsall, Map N"o. 22.
44 see n. 5.
45 11 The Rivers & c. to and from Churchill are excessive and particularly this River occasioned by the number of.
Falls which is in it; which greatly obstructs the passage
for Canoes: and are obliged to carry their Canoes over
twenty carrying places and track them past the edges of
several other Falls in this river." J. Hansom, Letter to
Governor and Co mm it tee , P WF , 2 3 Aug • 1 7 7 4, in Ty r re 11 ,
Hearne and Turnor, pp. 240n-41n·
46 Rich, Hudson's Bay Company II,

and P.

pp. 418-19.

47Mackenzie, Voyages through North America,. p. lxxix
Turnor in Tyrrell, Hearne and Turner, pp. 477-78.
48Rich and Johnson, Isham's Observations,

-

119 -

p. 319.

49Ibid., p. 208.
50John Macdonnell, .An Account of the Athabasca Indians; Origin, Manners, & Customs, Montreal, McGill Mss.,
CH22, S58, No. 9.
See n. 33, chap. II re authorship.
51 Ibid.
52Rich and Johnson, !sham's Observations,
53Macdonnell,
Athabasca
Mss., CH22, S58, No. 7.

Ind{ans,

pp. 79-80.

Montreal,

McGill

5 4 Athapaskan peoples believed that they were descended from a dog.
C. Osgood, "Ethnography of the Great Bear
Lake Indians," Annual Report of National Museums of Canada,
1931, Bulletin No. 70 (Ottawa: Department of Mines,1932),
p. 83.
See also E. Petitot, Exploration de la Region du
Grand Lac des Ours (Paris: Tequi, Libraire Editeur, 1893),
p. 405, and Glo.ver, Hearne, pp. 219-20.
55 11 The tents made use· of by those Indians, both in
Summer and Wint er, are gen era 11 y composed .o.f deer-skins in
the hair; and for convenience of carriage, are always made
in small pieces, seldom exceeding five buckskins in one
piece.
These tents, as also their kettles, are always carried by dogs, which are trained to that service, and are
veri docile and tractable.
Those dogs are of various sizes
and colours, but all of the fox or wolf breed, with sharp
noses, full brushy tails and sharp ears standing erect ••
These dogs are equally willing to haul in a sledge, but as
few of the men will be at the trouble of making sledges for
them, the poor women are obliged to content themselves with
lessening tf)e bulk of their load, more than the weight by
making the dogs carry these articles only, which are always
lashed on their backs, much after the same manner as packs
are, or used formerly to be, on pack horses."
Samuel
Hearne, A Journey from Prince of Wales' Fort in Hudson's
Bay to the Northern Ocean ( 1795; rpt. New York: De Capo
Press, 1968), pp. 322-23.
r

5~Birket-Smith noted
buy Eskimo dogs," p. 90.

that

-

"very

120 -

often

the

Chipewyan

57In 1819 Franklin wrote that five years previously a
"superstitious fanatic [among the Chipewyans] so strongly
pressed upon their minds the impropriety of employing these
animals, to which they were related, for purposes of labour, that they universally resolved against using them any
more; and, strange as it may seem destroyed them." Sir John
F r a n kl in , . Na r rat i v e o f a Jo u r n e-y-- t o t h e Sh o r e s o f t h e P o l a r
Sea (1823; rpt. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969), p. 160.
Anomalies still exist in the Athapaskan attitude to dogs.
See June Helm, "The Lynx Point People," Bulletin No. 176
(Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1961), p. 119.
See
also Joel Savishinsky, The Trail of the Hare (New York:
Gordon and Breach, 1974), pp. 188-89.
58Glover in Davies,

pp. xxvi-xxvii.

5 9 some Chipewyans became increasingly dependent on
the posts for food supplies.
See Malcolm Ross, Lake Athabasca Journal, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B9/a/1, fas.
16 and 36.
In 1738 the trading band brought food thre~
hundred miles t'o feed the traders at Churchill.
George
Spurrell and Others, Letter to the Governor and Committee,
P WF , 1 Aug • 1 7 3 8 ,
Dav i es , p • 2 4 8 •
By th ie time of Hearne
the trading band regularly· experienced hunger.
Glover,·
Hearne, p. 190.
Marshall Sahlins has demonstrated that in
many instances hunters and gatherers worked l~ss, with more
leisure than those in more abundant and highly organized
societies •. See Stone Age Economics (Chicago: Aldine/Atherton, 1972), p. 14.
60Ernest Burch Jr. suggests that the high level of
mobility of the caribou made it humanly impossible to keep
pace with the herds.
While it was not impossible, the concern with carrying trade made it so.
"The Caribou Wild
Reindeer as a Human Resource," American Antiquity, 37, No.
3 (1972), 339-68.
61E.E. Rich, "The Indian Traders," The Beaver, Outfit 301 (Winter 1970), 4-20.
See also Rich, "Trade Habits,
and Economic Motivation among the Indians of North America," Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science,
26 (1960), 50-51, and Abraham Rotstein, "Fur Trade and Empire," Diss., Univ. of Toronto, 1967, p. 2.
62Fidler
p. 453.

in

Tyrrell,

Hearne and

-

121 -

Turner,

3

May 1792,

63T. Stayner, FCPJ, 27 Apr. 1794, Winnipeg,
Archives, B42/a/119, fo. 17.

Man.,

HBC

glamorized leadership of the individual trading
captains was temporary at first.
See Glover in Davies,
pp. xxix-xxx and Fidler in Tyrrell, Hearne and Turnor, 1
Mar. 1792, p. 543.
5
6 Osgood , "Great Be a r Lake'./ Indians , " p • 7 8 and E •
Petitot, Monoqraphie des Dine-Dindlie (Paris: E. Leroux,
1876), p. 32, as cited in Osgood, 'Bear Lake Indians," p.
77-79.
Also see Matonabbee's comments to Hearne in Glover,
Hearne, pp. 35 and 57.

66Tyrrell, 2 Mar. 1792, Hearne and Turnor,
6 7 3 Feb-.;- 1792,

ibid~, p. 541.

682 Mar. 1792,

ibid.,

p. 499.

p; 449.

69Rich;··"Trade-Habits," pp. 4-2-43, and Sylvia Van
Kirk, Many Tender Ties (Winnipeg: Watson and Dwyer, 1980),
pp. 37-73.

70van Kirk, pp. 78-79.
Philip Turnor wrote in 1779
"the Masters of most of your Honors Inland settlements particularly those belonging to York Fort would labour under
many difficulties was they not to keep a Woman as above
half the Indians that came to the House would offer the·
Master their Wife the refusal of which would give great
offence to both the man and his Wife though he was to make
the Indian a present for his offer the Women would think
her self slighted and if the Master was to accept the offer
he would be expected to Cloath her and by keeping a Woman
it makes one short ready answer (that he has a Woman of his
own and she would be offered) and very few Indians make
that offer when they know the Master keeps a Woman and
those Women are useful as men upon the Journeys."
Tyrrell,
Hearne and Turnor, p. 593.

71 Rotstein asserts that the
trade was not distant
impersonal function as in Europe, but "a highly personal
-

122 -

activity."
pp. 2, 33.

Rotstein,

72Glover,

"Fur Trade," p. 47.

Hearne,

See also ibid.,

p. 51.

73Ibid., p. 75.
74 Andrew Graham, : "Observations
on
Hudson's
Bay,"
1775, cited by Rich a'nd' Johnson, Isham's Observations,
Appendix B, p. 312.
75Ibid.,

p. 177.

76Hunting within a surround mainly involved use of
bows and arrows "if any gun-men attended on those occasions, they are always placed behind the other Indians ,--n1
order to pick up the deer
that escape the
bow-men."·
Glover, Hearne, p. 207.
Hearne suggested tha·t the Chipewyans were already losing their independence by a decline
in their hunting skills.
"They have so far lost the art of
shooting with ·bows and arrows; that I never 'knew any 9f
t h em who·· co u l d ta k e t h o s e we a p o·n s on 1 y , • an d k i 11 e i t he r ·
deer [caribou], moose, or auffalo, in the common, wandering, and promiscuous method of hunting."
Ibid.
77See Cornelius Osgood, Contributions to th·e Ethnography of the Kutchin, Yale University Publications in
Anthropology, No. 14 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1970),
pp. 24-25, 3 6.
A ready supply of arms did not immediate 1 y
lead to an "orgy of destruction" as postulated by Peter
Farb, Man's Rise to Civilization (New York: Dutton, 1968),
pp. 82-83. Chipewyan technology and mor.e importantly, sensitive proximity to their major food supply was the reason
for greater success at the hunt in aboriginal times.
78 Hearne's
journal
reflects
the
unmatched
power
attained by Matonabbee who as a trading Indian, plundered
several parties en route to the Copper Mine.
At no time
was he seriously challenged by either interior Indians or
other trading "captains".
Glover, Hearne, pp. 74, 79, 176.
79SeeDavies, p.·1.

-

123 -

80Hearne cites the incident of "Captain" Keelshies;
plunder and abandonment of several Yellowknife Indians on
an is land where they were left to die.
Glover, Hearne,
pp. 116-18.
See also R. Norton, Letter to Governor and
Committee, PWF, 1725, in Davies, pp. 111-12.
"Several
attempts to induce Copper and Dogrib Indians to_ visit the
Company's Fort ••• yet the Northern Indians have always plund~red
them of the whole soon after they left the Fort."
Rich and Johnson, Isham's Observations, p. 115.
81June Helm et al, "The Contact History of the Subarctic Athapaskans," Proceedings: Northern Athapaskan Conference, ed., A.M. Clark, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 27 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1971), p. 303.
8 2Glover in Davies,

p. xxviii.

83Rich, Hudson's Bay Company,

II,

p. 53.

84 Ibid.
85Glover, Hearne,
8 6 Ibid.,

p.

p. 66

170 and Rich,

Hudson's

Bay

Company,

II,

p. 53.
87Glover, Hearne,

p. 66.

88see Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 154 and Macdonnell, Chipewyan Indians , 0 t ta wa , PAC , MG 19 , C1 , Vo 1 . 5 2 , f o s • 3 5 - 3 6 •
89Glover, Hearne,

p. 64.

9 oRich, Hudson's Bay Compa~y, II, p. 53.
Andrew Graham "honoured Matannappee the great Northern leader with a
farewell salute of three-pounders, and Mr. Wills and my
self conveyed him a little distance from the Fort."
FCPJ,
29 June 1774, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, 842/a/88, fo. ·
22d.
In a few instances Matonabbee was challenged.
These
-

124 -

affronts_ were tolerated only in the light of traditional
Chipewyan practice of wrestling competitions for possession
of additional women.
See Glover, Hearne, p. 71.
91R.

Norton,

Letter

to

Hearne,

5

May

1770,

ibid.,

p. 7 2.

92Yerbury, "Post-Contact Chipewyan,"
Lamb,-Mackenzie, p. 174.

p.

3.

See al so

93Glover, Hearne, pp. 225-27.
To see the extent of
influence by Matonabbee at Prince of Wales' Fort see Arthur
Ray and- Donald Freeman, Give Us Good Measure (Toronto:
Univ. of Toronto Press, 1978), pp. 199-200.
94Lamb, Mackenzie,

95Ibid.,

pp. 249-53.

pp. 249 and 279.

Also seen. 10.

9 6 In 1 7 3 8 Richard Norton co mm en t e d on the trading
pe:ople: "The whole trade is brought in by two or three
bo'dies of Indians, and those are obliged to get their trade
and· be gone as soon as possible they can in order to provide food for t hems el v es , t hey never bring in g w it h them
provisions than is sufficient to serve them a day or two."
R. Norton, Letter to Governor and Committee, PWF, 17 Aug.
1738, in Davies, p. 255.
Isham mentions in the'1740's "its
to be observed that those Indians that hunts at Seasons for
the forts, can not do without them, for the Chief of· our
Living is this Country ' s product & c • & c • "
Ibid • , p • 7 8 •
Hearne describes how the Indians who remained inland lived
much better.
Glover, Hearne, p. 51.
97 Rich and Johnson,

Isham's Observations,

p. 78.

98Hearne observed that marten, fox, otter, wolverine,
and wolf could be had in Chipewyan country.
Glover,
Hearne, pp. 135-36.
99 Hearne met the Chipewyan leader Thlew-sa-nell-ie
returning from a trading trip south and west of Lake Atha-

125 -

basca.

Ibid.,

p. 175.

100Beryl C. Gillespie, "Territoral Expansion of the
Chipewyan in the 18th Century," Proceedinqs: Northern Athapaskan Conference, ed., A.M. Clark, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 27 (Ottawa: National Museums
of Canada, 1971), pp. 368-75.

101R.· Norton,
Letters to Governor and Committee,
PWF, 6 Aug. 1728 [1727], in Davies, p. 120.
Similar
returns were obtained in 1733; see pp. 184 and 201.
102Glyndwr Williams, ed., Andrew Graham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1767-91 (London: Hudson's Bay Record
Society, 1969), p. 348.
1 03s. Hearne,
Letter to
Nov. 1776, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Jan. 1777, ibid.

Humphrey Martin, . PWF,
Archives, B4 2 I a I 9 4 and

10426 Jan. 1777, and 2 Aug. 1777,
1

05Tyrrell,

30
26

ibid.

Hearne and Turnor, 28 May 1770,

p. 11.

106Moses Norton, Letter to A. Graham, Fort Churchill
1773 in Williams, p. 249n and Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, A11/15, fo. 1.

107ryrrell, 5 Aug. 1774, Hearne and Turnor,

p. 106.

1 0 8 S • Hearne , Lett er to Governor and Co mm it tee ,
23 Aug. 1774, ibid., pp. 240n-41n·
10923 June 1775,

45.

110M.

Cocking

ibid.,

p. 158.

in Rich and Johnson,

-

P WF ,

126 -

CHJ,

I,

pp.

36

&

111R. Longmoor
1776, pp. 66-67.

quoted

by

Cocking

in

ibid.,

112s. Hearne, Letter to H. Martin, PWF, 2 Aug.
Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B42/a/94, n. fo.
11 3 1 O Ju 1 y 1 7 7 9 ,

i bi d • ,

B4 2 I a I 9 6 , n • f o •

11426 June 1780,

ibid.,

B42/a/97,

n.

2

July

1777,

fo.

1
1 5s. Hearne, Letter to Governor, PWF, 18 Jan.· 1778,
Winnipeg, Man., HBC ·Archives, B42/a/23, fo. 4. ·
11615 Aug. 1778,

ibid.,

117s. Hearne, Letter
i b i d • , B4 2 I b I 2 3 , f o . 4 •

p•

1•

fo.

11.

to

H.

Martin,

16

July

1779,

118Rich and Johnson, CHJ,

I,

pp. 5-6.

S ee . Wi 11 i a.m s ,

119H. Martin, Remarks and Observations on the Inland
Jaurnals, York Factory, 4 Aug. 1780, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, B239/a/78, n. fo.

120s. Hearne, Letter to H: Martin, PWF, 10 July 1779,
Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, 842/a/96 and.B42/a/97, n. fo.
121FCPJ, 2 May
842/a/103, fo. 25.

1784,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

Archives,

122calvin Martin, following up on the ideas of Marshall Sahlins (see n. 59), suggests that the idea of "primitive aboriginal technology" needs reassessment.
He uses examples from E.S. Rogers' work The Quest for Food and Furs:
The Mistassini Cree, 1953-54, Publications in Ethnology
No. 5 {Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1973), p. 80, to
illustrate his point that traditional big game hunters were
successful, hence had considerable leisure time.
See Mar-

12 7 -

tin, Keepers of the Game (Berkeley and Los
of California Press, 1978), p. 13.

Angeles:

Univ.

123Ray and Freeman show in their economic analysis of
the fur trade out of Hudson's Bay before 1763, how "the
Company was seen as a valuable trading partner from the
point of view of power politics because the Company was a
reliable source of firearms and ammunition."
See p. 41.
\.

1i4~lover, Hearne, pp. 135-36.

-

128 -

CHAPTER IV
CONTACT AND DISLOCATION
I\ I

Changes
the

in

Mackenzie

the

living

Basin

patterns

of

continued

in

the

the arrival of the Europeans.

As

early

Frobisher, a trader from Montreal,

late

on

the

Churchill

River.

.BY

Indians
1770 's

as 1773

in

with

Joseph

had been intercepting

Indians bound for Prince of Wales' Fort,
age

the

the

near Frog Port-

mid 1770's,

"pedlars" arrfved to intercept the Indians

of

other

the Atha-

basca

region

"which by account they did with great.- sue-

cess,

so that few of that valuable tribe of Indians

are

gone down to Churchill this year".1

In 1778, Peter Pond

passed over the height of land from

the Churchill River

into Athabasca

basin

and

cut

further

into

the

Hudson's

Bay Company trade.

The trading band of Chipewyans cont-

inued

to

the

Bay,

from

the

poorer

their

obta-ined

treks

mostly

but

with

reduced

fur-producing

packs

regions

further down the Mackenzie Basin.
The
and

arrival

Mackenzie

of Pond

Rivers

and

brought

his

men

about

on

the

Athabasca

the

most

dramatic

changes in the fur trade with the Indians of that region
since

the

arrival

of

the

Chipewyans

at

Fort

Churchill

after

Disease

1717.

arrived

with

the

Europeans

which

within three years devastated the Cree and Chipewyans, and
led to the destruction of whole segments of their society,
As a

especially those most acculturated.

result European

traders were forced to pull back and reorganize their food
supply and transportation
bands to relocate.

systems,

which

led

Previously restricted European trade

goods, particularly arms and ammunition,
able

to

the

Indians

changes

in

yearly

treks

tribal
of

throughout

relations

the

were virtually ended.
panded,

some Indian

the

and

Chipewyan

were made avail-

region

hunting

trading

which

led

patterns.

bands

to

to
The

the

Bay

As the number of trading posts ex-

some bands adopted

a more sedentary

proximity to the posts both to control

lifest'yle

the trade

in

to more

distant peoples and to gain employment as provisioners.
As the North West Company expanded their trade northwest into the boreal forest the problem of food supply had
become crucial.
Henry

with

one

Previously.

in

1775,

hundred men

and

twenty

Pond

canoes,

fish en route, .took twenty-eight

days to

nipeg

wintering

and

just

reached

their

and

Alexander
forced

to

cross Lake Winplace

before

freeze-up.2 In the next two years T~omas Frobisher, depending mainly on fish, was able to reach Ile-a-la-Crosse but
no

further.

Pond

reached

the

Athabasca

River

only

by

working in concert with the Frobishers who gave him their

-

130 -

extra

winter

so

that

he

would not have to return to Grand Portage.3 Thus

freed

to

winter

supplies

among the

of

food

Indians

and

equipment

of the Athabasca

River,

he

dis-

covered a key to the problem of food supply from the Athabasca Cree, who had probably acquired the method of making
pemmican from

the Beaver or Chipewyan.

By

the

time Pond

was able t~-arrive in Athabasca
the season ••• [was] advanced, it will be necessary to prepare for winter, ••• imploy the natives
to hunt, for the. subsistence of the men which is
mostly flesh, dry'd buffaloe meat, and mousedeer,
it is not only the provisions for the winter
season, but, for the course of next summer, must
be provided which is dry'ed meat, pounded to a
powder and mixed up with buffaloes grease, which,
preserves it in the warm seasons here every information must be procured· from the savages. 4
(rom the. time of the firsi arrival of the traders the
Athabasca

Cree were· heavily

involved

in

the

provisioning

trade.5 These Cree apparently did little trapping and when
not provisioriing reverted to a

middleman

tariffs

brought to the

on

what

other Indians

role

few Crees that are here have done little or
three

years.

They are always

in

the same

of charging
fort.

"The

nothing

t~ese

place close by

the fort and they have ruined it. 116
Some

of

the

Cree

middlemen

in

the

trade

1680's.

By

1715-20

country

into

the

had

since

they

boreal

moved

had

its

131

from

and

-

York

establishmen.t

expanded

forest

-

west

had

from

the

moved

Fort

as

in

the

muskrat

along

the

edge

of

the

barrens

in

the

northwest

to

the

plains in the southwest.

Between 1715 and

ment

Fort on Athapaskan

of Prince of Wales'

plundered

the

furs

and

warred

into the upper Churchill
the

edge

of

the

were

1760

Chipewyan
to

trap

who

to

were

also

and

to move

were

pressing

Beaver

Indians

or were pillaged

access

to

being

the
the

with

the

pedlars'

the traditional

Europeans

After

that

time

the

as

way

over

the

Lake.

. As

late

the

region

posts.·

inhabitants

as

and

the

mid

Cree

Methye Portage
as

by

This
of the

who had traded regu-

recently

Assiniboine

pressed

boreal. forest

the Beaver India.ns,

larly

Island

Chipewyans

The

driven north

into

displac~

blocked _their

establish-

land the Cree

the 1750's

River.

slo.wly

gain

upper Churchill,

Pine

Cree

moved

would furthei

by

the

prehistoric residents of the Atha-

eventually

the

and

the

of

women and children. 7

of their furs,
By

and

Athabasca

and possibly the Slave,
basca area,

the

After 1720 the Cree continued

other Athapaskans.

on

with

edge

May ·of

1770's .•

periodically
to

1770

a

traders

at

party

of

Beaver had left William Pink to go down the Churchill presumably

to

Prince

of

Wales'

Charles

Isham wintered

with

Fort.8
Beaver

Robert

Longmoor ·and

and Piegan

Indians

at

the headwaters of the Beaver River in Alberta in 1775-76.9
In the winter of 1776 the Beaver Indians were blocked from
going

to

Cumberland

House,

-

probably

132 -

as

a

result

of

war

with

the

Assiniboine

Cree. 10 It

was

completed the

in

the

and

possibly

their

allies,

decade of the 1770 's

displacement

that

the

the
Cree

of the Beaver Indians and pro-

bably their cJose kin, the Slaves from the Athabasca River
region.

Cree

expansion

in

the

checked by the peace treaty
wyan trading leader,
the

Cree

from

the

region

been

partially

between

the Chipe-

Matonabbee and the Cree.

This freed

lengthy

the Saskatchewan

Rivers

erty

Cree

negotiated

had

journey

via

the

Churchill

af!d

to Prince of Wales' Fort.
It is
.
apparent that the Beaver Indians were not allowed the libof

crossing

land

to

the

pedlars'

post

on

the

Churchill.1 1
At th e s a me t i me- th e Ch i p e wy an s
rich 'furs

of

the

boreal

region;

des i r e d a cc es s · to th e

after

approximately

1766

they were able to ·infiltrate peacefully the land newly acquired

from

the Beaver Indians by the Cree.

In

turn .the

Cree had hesitated to venture beyond the Peace River probably as much due to the fierce actions of the Beaver-Indians, with their newly acquired arms as to the peace established.

Although

Cree and their

the

Chipewyan

prehistoric

areas of the upper
epidemic

of the

that

precedent

for

began

the

earlier

and

occupants;

Churchill

smallpox

would

and

later

the Beaver,

gathered

-

movement

momentum

133 -

with

it

would

south
the

the

in many

the Athabasca· after

early 1780's,12

Chipewyan

succeed

the

appear

and

west

equilibrium

established in the mid 1760's to early 1770's.
From the time of the Peace,

the Chipewyans

regularly

frequented the Cree camps where they obtained furs

in re-

turn for a full complement of trade goods.

ammu~

nition

which

the

were

available

Light

prime furs

Chipewyans

to

the

denied

Cree

as

to

part

Guns and

other

Athapaskans

of

agreement.

the

were traded since the distance overland

dictated that only ·those of high value in relation to bulk
be considered.
Some of the Cree continued to engage in frequent marauding

and

looting

expeditions

on

their

frontiers .13 The

Cree of the Saskatchewan and upper Churchill Rivers moved
over their trail from Lesser Slave Lake to the Peace River
wh e r e
the

t h e Sek a n"i

trading

a n d Be a v er

partner

was .o..f

thing bordering on fa i r
referred

to

Slave River,

as

their

we re

p i 11 a g e d . 1 4

sufficient

strength

tr a de u n de rt a ken •
"war

road".

0 nl y

Th i·s

Expeditions

wh er e

was

any-

r o u t e was
down

the

over Great Slave Lake and down the Mackenzie

River as far as Fort Norman were undertaken.15 These parties

engaged and

most

often

pillaged

the

Slave

Indians,

Dogribs, and possibly a few Yellowknives or Beaver Indians
of the Liard River.
The nature of the fur trade in the Athabasca Mackenzie region had been greatly altered by a series of events
in the first two years of the 1780's.

- 134 -

A post on the Sask-

atchewan-Churchill River portage built in 1770 by the pedlars,

soon to become the North West Company,

beachhead

in

the

area.

Incursion

by

established a

the

pedlars

from

-·

Montreal seriously reduced the numbers and quality of furs
available from the northern trading bands to the middleman
Chipewyans.

Th is

counter

pedlars

the

induced
by

the

Hudson's

establishing

Bay

their

Company
own

post

to
at

Cumberland House in 1774 on the Rat River neai Pine Island
Lake,

which

drew

the

Chipewyans

around Ile-a-la-Crosse and
The

presence

River

south

of
of

these
the

from

from

posts

outlet

upper

Churchill

the Reindeer Lake area.16

as.

of

the

a~

well

Reindeer

one

Lake

on

Mali gne

precipitated

the change ·in the Chipewyan's tole from middleman t6 trapper

which

in

turn

secured

their

dependence

upon

Europi::an

trade goods.
wer~

No Athapaskans
adjusting

to

their

more

changing

adept

than

Chipewyans 17

at

world.

For

a

the

end of their role as trading middlemen was

very

few,

disruptive and

they were unable to adapt to the new tools and techniques.
But
came

for

others,

relatively

the

shift

to

easily.

ma inly a

Some

of

trapping

them

moved

west,18

increasingly

occupying

the

boreal

near

newly

posts

spent

less

the

built

and

existence
south

forest
time

and

lands

following

their prehistoric and major pro~ider, the caribou.
The

Chipewyans

trapped

-

on

135 -

the

tributaries

of

the

upper Churchill as far south as the Beaver River draining
present-day northern
from the caribou.

Alberta,

which

drew

them miles

away

Only lengthly.trips to the caribou win-

tering grounds around Reindeer Lake allowed them to obtain
supplies of meat.
as a source of

This resulted in caribou being replaced

ci~pthing

by European

duffle.

Tools which

were fashioned from caribou hor8 or bone were also graduIn the

ally supplanted.
began

the

supplies

of

buffalo encountered

---

ful.

But

years after this migration

e~~ly

woodland

in the

parkland

the Chipewyans were
i

They

expertise

use

of

They

possessed

these

the

animals.

were

the

moose,

country

not

snare

able
and

guns

but

to

newly

adopted

nutritional wants.

regions

and

bounti-

when

proci:ir.ed

adapt

caribou
in

Chipewyans were not effective in their use.19
the

were

elk,

not traditional hunters of

these large mammals.
in

caribou,

did

their

pound· to

general

the

Animals of
provide

for

As the stocks of large mammals declin-

ed, fish were obtained in quantity.
Another in the series of events altering the shape of
the fur trade and the nature of the Indians'
terns occurred between 1781-84.
tion,

and small

trinkets

came

an

unseen

the

Cree

were

killed

-

136 -

passenger

The most devastating

was smallpox but others such as measles
of

pat-

Along with guns, ammuni-

European communicable disease.

Most

living

by

-

the
one

took their toll.

smallpox

and

although

Chipewyans
duced,

in

contact

many more

with

from

the

the

posts

were

severely

At ha bas ca-Black Lake

area

rewere

unaffected and moved south to trap in Cree lands.
A few traders witnessed the smallpox epidemic but the
main accounts are provided by the Indians20 and almost all
are by heresay.
the

Cree

and

Hearne's
being

then

Atha pa skan

down

groups

and

effects

lived

north

south

in

first,and

by

passed

the

north

to

Chipewyans.21

of

ninety

percent

of

the

population

has

been

assessed

as

too

high .• 22

are

be! iev ed

dynamic

seem that Hearne' s

basca

contacted

and considering that

conspicuous

its

smallpox apparently
was

estimate

struck

result,

The

in

to

have

d isa pp ea red

as

the Chipewyan µopulation
the

ensuing

period,

it

No
a

was

would

estimates were based on observation of

on

particular

and

east

1778-81.

groups.

One

of

Lake

Athabasca23

Since

the

disease

such

group

and

had

moved

strike

them

would

had

next be spread to the Indians of the Lake Atha-

region,

the

effect

was

relatively

severe.

The estimate by David Thompson that

one-half of

the Cree

population

died

on

these

in

the

people

epidemic,

may

be

a

fair

that

the

judgement of its overall effects.24
It has

been pointed

out

by

Beryl Gillespie

disease as it extended to the Mackenzie region was largely
contained within the Cree and Chipewyan
"obvious,

primary

reason

is

-

that

137 -

the

population.25 The
Cree

and

Chipewyan

were in far greater contact with traders and trading posts
and, therefore, their losses were reported and visible."26
She

further

spots

points

[congregation

out

"trading

points]

for

posts

were

Indians

which

the likelihopd of their acquiring contagious
By

1780,

due

to

other Athapaskan

the

power

politics

of

localization

the

increased

diseases."27
fur

t :ta de
I

group came to the posts to trade.

of the disease would heighten that avoidance.

I

no

News

In fact the

Yellowknives harried often by the Chipewy-ans to this time,
begin to gain ground after the smallpox epidemic,
ally to become
The

~mportant

Indians

most

eventu-

middlemen in the fur trade.
frequently

contacted

posxs were devastated by the epidemic.

at

trading

Apparently; those_

who remained at a distance from the··· posts avoided cont.act
with

the

disease.

A year

after

the

disease

had

first

swept by Cumberland House
five men and three women arrived from the
northland with furs and provisions to trade,
these inform that they have heard nothing of
the disorder that is raging in this quarter for
which reason.
I had a tent pitched in the yard
to keep them from six invalids.
Women and
children that has got over the smallpox now
laying on the plantation Starving.28
The disease was passed through

the posts and

the

traders

did

of

to

restrict

attempt

a

primitive

spread of the disease.

form

quarantine

Despite precautions, the smallpox

apparently victimized the older male population much more

-

138 -

than

the

younger

men

or

Thompson

observed

that

the

women

"more

men

and

died

children.

David

in

than

proportion

women and children. 11 29 William Walker remarked of the northern

plains

women

and

being all

that,

"the

most

part

that

has

recovered

is

children

these

are

still

more

wretched,

women

one,

and

he

very

bad, 11 30 William

but

is

they

Tomison replied that at Cumberland House there was "hardly
an Indian man alive. 11 3.1.
our

in

the

Because of the division

of lab-

native society women were ill-equipped to take

over the role of hunters.

As a result,

in extreme instan-

ces at Fort Churchill "6 or 7 men were left to provide for
upwards of 30 women and children. 11 32 It was also

at

Chur-

chill that "some of the Indian women came to the ho~se for
a

little oatmeal and

ammunition

for

the

support

of

them-

selves and families. 11 33 One result of the additional

bur-

den

the

on

the

male

hunters34

was

that

in

ensuing

years

fur companies were unwilling to hire them.
Though they were formerly employed as Goose
Hunters but there [sic] families at present are
so great that it will be impossible for me to
employ many of them on that service tho they
came here on that view.35
The

natives

on

problems of food
to

drive

the

creased their
ened

their

the

northern

plains

had

exacerbated

the

supply by burning the plains in the fall

buffalo
value as

chances

of

from

the

trading

hunters but had,

su~viva1.36

- -1 39 -

posts.

This

ironically,

Weakened

by

in-

less-

illness,

many were

unable to travel the extra

distance

to

hunt

the

game.
The low morale also contributed to widespread starvation.

William Walker suggested that this was true of the

Assiniboines,

but

it

was

equally

true

of

the

Chipewyans:

"they fancy themselves ailing and so have no heart to hunt
anything. 11 37 Mitchell Oman

in

a

back-handed complement to

the Indians'

dexterity at the hunt documents the poor mor-

ale.

"They

say

there

false,

for I

know

when

One,

they

was

to

if

is
us

hunt

no

beasts

Englishmen
with

about,
can

dexterity,

but

murder

a

.that's
Chance

they might

keep

themselves and us too. 11 38
Some

fur

traders

who

observed

in this period attributed it to a
sources.

widespread

starvation

decline in the game

re-

David Thompson comments on how the wolves became

diseased by feeding

on

human

remains.

He also

remarks

on

the extent of the decline in animals of all species including the caribou, a

condition which appeared to last for a

number

years.39

But

were

noted

of

ceptions
Neither

did

not

they

have

the Europeans
for

the

their

experience

accurately ·measure the game resources.
of

the

eased,

example

of

the

there appears

to

with

hunting
nor

which

be

biological

sage of the disease to large game.

-

140 -

a

few

ex-

abilities.

inclination

to

With the exception

wolves
no

only

were

obviously
reason

for

dispas-

Far more likely an ex-

planation

for

the

male

population including many excellent hunters had died.

The

dearth

few

of

the

starvation

hunters

remaining

able

placed great

men

to

was

that

most

of

responsibility

reconnoitre

as

well

on

as

the

to

supply

food for the many.
The
Indians

smallpox
of

which

opened

land

in

the

epidemic

Athabasca

the

following

way

of

1781-84

country

for

years40

affected

most

the

Cree

severely

of

all

Chipewyan

penetration

of

Cree

and

was

this

confirmed

by

an

account in 1809.
The countries thro which it [Churchill] runs
from the head of the Beaver River and including
all its other head branches to its mouth, are
inhabited by the Knisteneaux [Cree] .•• Within
these
thirty
years
however,
the
Chipewyan
tribes have immigrated in considerable numbers
from Athabasca and the barren land ••• to the
banks of the Missinippi
[Churchill River],
finding the country more suited to their purposes •••• It is not so easy to ascertain the
number of this tribe who reside on the banks of
the Missinippi as they are continually changing their ground between this and their own
country.41
Pond's map of 1785 based on his experiences at Pond's Post
1778-84

indicates

that

the

Chipewyan

were

well

north

of

Lake Athabasca.42 His map shows Chipewyans

north

and east

of Lake Athabasca while Philip Turnor's map of 1790 shows
them

having

moved

permanently

to

that

lake.

A map

which David Thompson

the Arrowsmith map of 1795 shows

the

south

and

east

of

incorporated into

the Chipewyan

as

having

extended to the west of Lake Athabasca on the Peace River,
-

141 -

and

south

the

to

area.43

Ile-a-la-Crosse

Gillespie

contends that "the depopulation of this area probably made
Chipewyan movement southward easier and faster. 11 44
The

Cree

of

the

River

region

had

been

posts

consequently

disease.

regular

almost

all

the

Athabasca

visitors

to

had

exposed

been

estimates

trading
to

the

shadow

strength.

The

of

the

thus apply mainly to the Cree who were reduced to a
former

extreme

and

would

their

most

Churchill

mortality

of

The

upper

remaining

around Pond's Old Establishment

on

the

few

congregated
.
.

south

edge

of

the

Athabasca delta exacted a middleman price from any Indians
who

ventured

North

West

to

that

Company

post.

to

spot

close

between Chipewyan,
1784,

the

few

to

the

River

areas

Indians

were

ma in

sources

posts.
and

to

fuel

were

tribal

south

boundaries

mainly

the

of

fur

dry

towards

the

end

meat

brigades
on at
of

the

After

employed

dominated mainly

This food trade was carried

increasingly

onto

The Athabasca River and

the Peace

used

the

extant

remaining

cularly

was

first

the

and then to the north shore in a

trappers or provisioners.

which

forced

Beaver, Slave and Cree Indians.

Cree

the

eventually

relocate,45

shore of Lake Athabasca,
strategic

This

by

and

and

as

partiBeaver

pemmican

supply

the

Ile~a-la-Crosse

1780 's

at

Fort

Chipewyan on the north shore of Lake Athabasca.46
There

is

little doubt

-

that those people in sustained

142 -

contact with

Europeans

relationship

and

therefore

when

was

disrupted.

contact

had been

highly dependent

suffered
The

on

tremendous
French,

by

that

hardship
capturing

Prince of Wales' Fort contributed to this trauma and were
informed

by

the

captives

Hearne

and

Marten

and

by

the

Indians themselves that the latter ~~~re utterly dependent
.'
'
on their annual trade with the Europeans.
It had become
an absolute necessity to them,

they

had

lost

hunting with

bow and arrow. 11 47 The French

ouse

Marquis

and

the

de

la

Jaille

the

art

of

leaders Laper-

appreciated

and

were

concerned about the negative impact their raid would have
on the natives_.

"At York Fort the French left a cache of

lead and of powaer just outside the post to help the Indians through their troubles. 11 48 An English captain en route
to

Churchill

the French,

was
that

informed

by

he

give

should

Hearne,

with

powder

and

permission
shot

to

of
the

Churchill Indians, thus allowing them to hunt their way.49
The

Indians

who

had

frequented

Churchill

and

York

Factory as well as the upper Churchill River posts and who
were

de pen dent

on

Europeans

for

mo st

necessities,

selectively eliminated by the smallpox epidemic.

were

Arrival

of the Europeans with trade goods in more variety and volume then ever before had given sustained access to a number of new bands.

The ~dvantage of this contact had mixed

blessings as the Europeans appeared to be the vehicle for

-

143 -

the transport of the virulent smallpox into the region.
Smallpox struck and

reduced with

unrelenting severity

the

natives

at

posts.

the

older

who

traded

population,

European

consequently

ceremonial practices,

as well

state

been

and

trade

have

the

Reduction
decline

as disruption

mentioned

of

of

certain

of affairs of

elsewhere

as

due

in

that

ravages

of

part to smallpox epidemics.SO
The suggestion

by

Calvin

Martin

the

devastating epidemics such as that of 1781-83 was responsible for a re-evaluation of their relationship with nature
was

not

a

factor

with

1700 the Cree

had

dominated

trading

by

1717 and 1750 were
as

in

the Indians

moved

from

a

subsistence

concerns.52

to

one

Chipewyans

between
directly

fur

trading,

the case of the trading band,

or

indirectly by de-

on

the

new

drawn

Many

cycle

By

into

pendence

also

of the Athabasca.51

tools

made

available

by

trade.

No

epidemics of significance are on record as having occurred
in the late prehistoric or early historic period.

At

the

same time both the Cree and Chipewyan displayed little reserve in plundering their
stripping marketable
Cree and

their

fur

allies

own

or

associated

resources

bands,

or

from the Bayside.

the Assiniboine

shortly

in
The

moved

into

the plains away from the Bay, and into the Athabasca River
country.53 Chipewyans moved south and west
try

to

trade,

sometimes

to

plunder

-

144 -

and

into

fur

generally

counto

ex-

ploit

the richer

fur lands.S4 The extent and

their

quest

furs

for

changed

little after

intensity of

the

subsidence

of the vicious epidemics.
It

is apparent that the epidemic devastated the male

population

of

There

also

appeared

males

of

the

the

hunting
to

trading

people were by then

Indians

close

to

heavy

mortality

the

forts.

among

older
these

be

a

band

in

general.

But

since

closest

contact,

the

epidemic may

in

have temporarily slowed that process of change •. More conservative Indians,

often

subjugated

by

those

who

had

ac-

cess to trade and especially to a supply of guns, surfaced
once again

in positions

by movement

to

of

influence.

This

is

confirmed

the south and west which accelerated after

the epidemic.SS Rather than the disease devastating traditional

beliefs

and

in the short term,

thus

speeding change

it

may,

at

least

have had the opposite effect.

Much has been said, deservedly so, of the drastic impact of the smallpox epidemic of 1781,

but

it

that

at

in

dire·ct

contact

with

Europeans

from

shortly

before

least

the

northern

Athapaskans

periodically were

ill

is apparent

this time through the 1820's.

A Chipewyan trading leader,

Idosliazer and

his

twenty-five

of

people

died

in

October

1768.S6 By January of that year thirty were dead and many
more were sick.S7 In the spring of 1769 Churchill post was
supporting

some

ninety-one

-

ChipewyansS8

145 -

and

a

year

later

many

were

still

sickly.59

In

1792

the

Chipewyans

were

found destroying their property in lamentation of the many
dead among them.60 Influenza broke out
in

1800

disease

struck.62

In

1807

in 179861 and again

at

the

Forks

of

the

Liard, "disease rageld] with astonishing fury among them of which several die[d]."63 A year later many Beaver hunters died.64 In 1810 "not less than 8 of ••• [the] best hunters" died during the winter of disease.65 Another smallpox
epidemic struck the Beaver and Chipewyan in 1820.66 .
The

disruption

which

the

smallpox

caused

to

Indians

in the early 1780's brought on by the arrival of the Europeans
The

had

unsettling

pedlars

led

effects

by Pond

into

on

the

fur

traders

the Athabasca

as

region

Establishment had not moved beyond there by 1785.

well.
at

Old

Indeed

through most of that seven year period they barely averted
starvation.

Implementation of the knowledge that Pond had

accumulated about
had to
the

be

overcoming the

postponed

dislocation

in

because
its

of

problems
the

aftermath.

of

smallpox

provisioning
epidemic

and

The Cree Indians,

who

prior to the epidemic had been dominant over all other Indian people except possibly Matonabbee's trading band congregated around Old Establishment

and

man

The Beaver of the Peace

share from all Indian trade.

and Liard drainages,

the Yellowknives,

extracted a

the Slaves

middle-

and

the

Dogribs of the lower Mackenzie all avoided the trek to the

-

146 -

Old Establishment and the pillaging of
The English at

of

the Churchill were also

in difficulty in ·the early 1780's.

The increased share of

fur returns taken by the pedlars

the previous ten years

was

suddenly

the mouth

middleme~.

rendered

~n

insignificant

when

tured Prince of Wales' Fort in 1782.67
ished what

the French

cap-

The smallpox

fin-

the French had begun and the returns

from the

Athabasca were virtually nonexistent until 1785.68 By that
time the Canadians had returned to

the Athabasca and the

Indians traditionally tied to Churchill were trading many
of

their

prime

furs

to

the

pedlars.69

Provisioning

was

also a problem,70 in considerable part due to the scarcity
of good hunters, but also due to the apparent scarcity of
ca r i b o u

in

p r ox i mit y t o t he

t r a d i ng

po st • 7 1 T h·e

I nd i a ns

were still experiencing hardships in 1787.
Several of the Northern Indian goose hunters
came to the Factory with their guns and feather
bags as no geese are to be got and their wives
and children half starying.72
·
But by that summer the Northern trading Indians in considerable numbers began to renew contact with Churchill.
Four Northern Indian men and their wives came
to the Factory with a few furs.
Traded with
them and give them some presents to carry to
some principal leaders of the Northern Indians
who are now begining [sic] to dran [drain] out
from the Athapuscow Country in order to renew
their trade w~th this Factory. 7 3
The

spring

of 1788 saw the

beginning of a return

- 14-7 -

to the

prosperity

that

had

not

been

evident

since

the

late

1770's.74 It was observed at Fort Churchill that the Chipewyans

were

very

prompt

at

paying

the

accumulated

when beaver were available.75 Some of the Indians
been

in

to

Churchill

for

five

years.76 At

the English Chief was attempting to
North

West

Company

by

promising

Fort

endear

that

he

debts

had

not

Chipewyan

himself
would

to

the

"stop

all

his ·people from going to Churchill. 1177
Peter Pond enroute from the Athabasca in 1786 communicated to the young Alexander Mackenzie the principal message

he

intended

to

relay

to

the

partners.

He

believed

the posts should be placed away from any particular tribal
influence,

within access

post

on

the

1786

an

ab..1,1.Ddance

followed

Peace

to adequate food

River
of

established

bison

by scarcity as

the

in

by

spring

animals

lands during extremes of weather.

supplies·:

Charles

At a

Boyer

in

and

fall

had

been

moved

into

the

wood-

By mid-winter the Cana-

dians who were unwilling to eat fish except in emergencies
faced starvation when the fish proved impossible to catch.
Pond

then

Boyer

and A .N.

and

ordered

Macleod

organize food

brigades.

He

the

post
up

closed

the Peace River

supplies

then

temporarily

for

attempted

winter
to

to

reserve

encourage

as

and

sent

locate meat
and

summer

provision-

ers78 some strategically located Indian people particularly

the

Cree

on

the Athabasca79 and the Beaver Indians

-148 -

on

the

Peace

River.

Buffalo

and

moose

were

particularly

plentiful in both areas as well as considerable numbers of
elk

in

the

Peace

area.

Pond

recommended

that

meat

be

·-dried and pounded into pemmican in the fall, both to serve
as a winter food supply and for the summer voyage to Grand
Portage.
Despite

heeding

advice

the

brigade

unable to reach the Athabasca80.

The

post

1786

by

also

recommended

and

a

Laurent

new post

his

Leroux
that

was

abandoned

the Old

Athabasca near to Cree,

Chipewyan

to

prevent

of

The

Cree

domination

were

the

temporarily.81

Beaver,

be

south

by

shore

any

Slave_y

was

Pond

of Lake

one

and

in

abandoned

and Beaver Indian

the· trade

preventing

1787

established

Establishment

be established on

of

lands

band.82

Chipewyans

from coming into the post and trading directly with Pondis
men.

Similar

problems

were

encountered

at

Great

Slave

Lake where the Chipewyans were dominating all Indians who
came to trade.83
As

Pond

began

to

succeed

in

solving

the

problem

of

food supply and attempted to reduce the middleman restriction

on

trade,

trapping activity expanded once more.

ports

indicated

Chipewyans

lands

along

edge

the

of

living

the

in

barrens

their
were

traditional

moving

Lake Athabasca area, the Ile-a-la-Crosse region,
to

the Great Slave Lakes post.

-149 -

Re-

to

the

and north

By 1788 the Chipewyans so

surrounded Ile-a-la-Crosse that

bands

were

discour-.

_aged from trading.84 The post at Big Island

near

the

out-

Slave

Lake

was

let

of

the

Mackenzie

River

attractin·g Chipewyans.

other

from

Great

--

Beaver Indians brought in niuch fur

- as much as two thirds of all the goods at

the Athabasca

pqs 1t.85

Chipewyans were also still going down to the Bay,

probably

from

Seal

River

th.e

region

between

The

drainage.

North

Reindeer
West

Lake

Company

and

was

the

disap-

pointed that it was unable to attract these people to Fort
Chipewyan.86 In an attempt to entice their trade the North
West Company built t~e Rat River post
at the south end of Reindeer Lake.
to

draw

them

the

away

Chipewyans

from

their

post at Churchill,

up the Maligne River

This post _was expected

(Caribou-eaters·)

treks

to

the

south

Hudson's

Bay

and

wean

Company

but it was unsuccessful.

About one ha1r·11a·d been to Hudsons Bay in the
summer and took credits there which,
I
am
afraid they will wish to go and pay in the
spring.
However if they do, it will [not be]
because
I could not help it, as I shall use
promises and menaces if first fail to deter
them from their purpose. I have seen 40 men of
different ages including 3 Chipewyans/one of
whom is the Chief who wanted the canoes to Lac
du Caribou last spring at the Riviere Mal~
igne.87
In all of the
of

the

trade

the

foregoing
essential

attempts
Indians

to

were

garner
the

the

bulk

Chipewyans.

In the aftermath of the smallpox epidemic's devastation of
their trading

partners,

the Cree,

-

150 -

the pedlars appeared to

be

establishing

posts

to

Chipewyan predominance.
oned

in

favour

the

south

of

shore

established on
I

~

reflect

reality

of

a

The ffld Establishment was

Slave Lake

of

the

Lake

Fort

and Fort

Athabasca;

Fort

new

aband-

Chipewyan

Resolution

the mouth of the Slave River at

on
was

the north-

ern edge of Chipewyan lands.

Another move of.'lf/ort Chipe-

wyan

Lake

\ I

to

the

Chipewyan
English

north

shore

influence

Chief,

cultivated

since they indicated a

Athabasca

contemplat~d.

was

was

of

to

lead

considerable

carriers • 8 8

He

was

also-sent

to

Slave

to

take

t r a de

th e

Lake

from

further

into

A Chipewyan,

the

the

Yellowknives

inclination

the· north

to

arm

act

of

Ye 11 ow.kn iv es ,

as

Great

and

the

Dogribs.
Powerfully seated aft·e·r reorganization of their Athabasca

operation

pedlars were

and

still

not

yet

suffering

faced
in

with

their

opposition,

relations

the

with

the

Indians from the precedents established by Pond,

his part-

ners

with

the

towards

the

and

the

Athapaskans.

Canadians
As

the

end of the 1780's
the

Bay.

threats.
age

taking

The

in

their

first

trade

began

to

some Chipewyans

North

West

began.

improve

revived

Company

When the treks continued,

contacts

their

responded

by

treks

to

use

of

the practice of

Their example was

a

source

of concern

to their own leaders.89 Even one of the

responsible

ners

if [I]

resorted

to

"promises

-

and

menaces

151 -

host~

first

partfail

to

deter

pressure

them
and

from
use

purpose. 11 90

their

of

Chipewyan middlemen

With

the

North

West

threats

from

the

journeyed

in

greater

increased
Company

numbers to Chur-

chill. ·"None of ·the above Indians have been here for many
year

past.

Three are

old· leaders that

used

to

come with

Mittanappy [Matonabbee]. 11 91 Of the I~djans who traded with
I

William
Lake,

McGillivray

at

Rat

River

Fort

south

of

Reindeer

"about one half had been to Hudson's Bay in the sum-

mer.1192 To offset

the

limited success of their endeavours

among the Chipewyans,

the pedlars expanded their influence

across

to

the

Yellowknives

had

been

established

the

lake

"English Chief"
among

the

Yellowknives

and

a

and
as

Dogribs.

a

rendezvous

trading
was

The
leader

established

near the ~it~ of wha~ would become old Fort Pr6vi~ence

on

the Yellowknife River.93
Peter Pond's

organizational

genius

solving

the

problem

of

food

supply

treating

the

Indians

did

not

bear

of

pedlar's

early

example

the

had

but

succeeded

his

fruit.

arrogance

manner

of

1786,

an

In

was

in

his

remarks

after reprimanding an Indian by striking him with the flat
of

his

sword.

"Pond

Indians

belonged to

pleased

and

no

told

him

other

and

person

him

that

the

Country

he

could

do

with

should

Many of the Canadians took Indian
force.

meddle

wives,

them

with

some

and

of

as

the
he

them. 11 94
them

by

Forced seizure of Chipewya~ women began a pattern

-

152 -

which led further

to resentment and distrust of the North

West Company in this first decade of contact and would become increasingly important as a cause of conflict between
Europeans and Indians of the Athabasca country.
When the Montreal traders dropped

offered to

p~ices,

take only the most valuable prime furs, then used intimidation to obtain them,

the Athapaskans revived their Ieng-

thly treks to Churchill.

Had the natives of the Mackenzie

region

been

a

needs,

it would have been most easy to trade

kenzie basin.

governed

by

desire

to

satisfy
in

immediate
the Mac-

At the same time, had they been governed by

the desire to preserve desirable political alliances,
treks to Churchill would have
termittent.

be~n

annual rather

Indians were attempting

to

make

t~an

the
in-

adjustments

to difficult circumstances.94
The decade of the 1780's was a

period of disruption

and adjustments for the Indians of the Athabasca and upper
Mackenzie River regions·.

Arrival of the Europeans on the

Athabasca in 1778 had confirmed to the Chipewyan middlemen
and especially to
any,
of

their partners,

the Hudson's Bay Comp-

that their trade was in jeopardy.
the

south

Lake

Athabasca

into forest

and

Reindeer

Chipewyan Indians
Lake

lands to trap and trade.

regions

moved

The small pox

epidemic of late 1781 afflicted and killed a great propor-

-

tion, at least one half of these trading Indians, and pos-

-

153 -

sibly

90

percent

Chipewyan
died.
and

the

males.

Most

of

middlemen

and

trappers

were

among

epidemic

left

the

Europeans

with

further

expansion

were

The
any

Indian

plans

women

of

for

and

children

experienced

the

Cree

and

those

who

few

postponed.

widespread

tion since most of the good hunters had died•

hunters

starva-

Some of the

Indians were so demoralized that they lost their initiatives to seek food.
_ally

return

by

A modicum of stability would eventu-

1788 and

a

few Indians

ping.

Many Chipewyans uninvolved

to

epidemic

the

replaced

those

in

returned to

the

fur

trap-.

trade

prior

smallpox,

and

killed

by

posts

south

began

to

Lake,

the Ile-a-la-Crosse and Lake Athabasca regions.

congregate

around

the

the late 1780's the pedlars had returned,

of

Reindeer
By

relocated posts,

organized a food supply, and moved to serve the newly involved Chipewyans by expanding north to Great Slave Lake.
They also moved to involve the Yellowknives and to a lesser extent the Dogribs in the trade.
For some Chipewyans at least the European arrival had
temporarily ended the trading middlemen role.

For others,

treks to Churchill were revived to obtain better terms for
their furs.

-

154 -

IV
N 0 T E S

1samuel Hearne, 5 Aug. 1774, in J.B. Tyrrell Journals
of Samuel Hearne and Philip Turnor (Toronto: The Champlain
Society, 1934), p. 106.
2 A.S. Morton, A History of the Canadian·West to 1870
-1871 (1939; rpt. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1973),
pp. 310-11.
3Ibid., p. 328.
4Alexander Henry recounted Pond's observations in a
letter to Joseph Banks, Montreal, 18 Oct. 1781, in H.A.
-Innis, ed., Peter Pond (Toronto: Irwin and Gordon·, 1930),
p. 87n.
5 cuthbert Grant was quoted on 22 Apr. 1786: "One of
the Crees arrived with a train load of Caribou meat which
he traded."
Old Establishment Journal, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, F2/1, fo. 5.

6A. Mackenzie, Letter to Agents of the North West
Company, Athabasca, 22 May 1789, in W. Kaye Lamb, ed., The
Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie (Toronto:
Macmillan, 1970), p. 438.

~~~--,,~~~--.......,....,-~~~-..,,....-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7see chapter III,
8see entry
Turnor, p. 11.

for

Cocking,

28

note 91.
May

Letter,

-

1770

in

Tyrrell,

Cumberland

155 -

House,

Hearne

and

Oct.-May

1775-76, ibid.,
10M.

p. 36.

Cocking,

Letter,

Cumberland House,

22

Jan.

1776,

ibid.
11see Richard Glover, ed., Samuel Hearne, A Journey to
the
Morthern
Ocean ••• (Toronto:
Macmillan,
1958),
pp.
226-27.
See also Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal through the Continent of North America ( 1801; r pt.
Edmonton: Hurtig, 1971), p. 123.
12Arthur Ray,
Indians in
Univ. of Toronto, 1974), p. 98.

the

Fur

Trade

(Toronto:

1 3Alexander Mackenzie found evidence of Cree marauding
far down the Mackenzie River.
See entries for 7-9 June
1 7 8 9 , in Lamb , Mackenzie , p . 1 7 4 , 1 Ju l y 1 7 8 9 , p • 1 7 9 a n d 3
July 1789, ibid., p. 181.
14 1 Jan. 1793, ibid., p. 249; see also 5 Apr. 1793,
p. 253.
Mackenzie warily passed by a recent Cree encampment near Rocky Mountain Portage.
18 ·May l75i°3, ibid., p.
2-6, 1 June 1793, ibid., p. 279.

15~ July 1789, ibid., p. 181..
16Ibid.,

pp. xxxi - xxxii.

17 James Van Stone shows the ability of the Athapaskans
to adapt to change.
Atha askan Ada tations: Hunters and
Fishermen of the Subarctic Forests
Chicago: Aldine, 1974 ,
Chap. 8, passim.
18 Beryl Gillespie, "Territorial Expansion of the Chipewyan in the 18th Century," A.M. Clark, ed., Proceedings:
Northern Athapaskan Conference, Mercury Series, Canadian
Ethnology Service Paper No. 27 (Ottawa: National Museums of
Canada, 1971), pp. 350-78.
19see

Chapter

V,

note

82.
-

156 -

See

also

G.

Simpson,

in

E.E.
Rich,
ed.,
Simpson's
Athabasca
Champlain Society, 1938), p. 75.
20Ibid.,

Journal

(Toronto:

p. 374.

21oavid Thompson was informed by Mitchell Om~n that it
was contacted from the Sioux and Ojibway.
See Richard
Glover, ed., David Thompson: Narrative (Toronto: Champlain
Society, 1962), pp. 49, 92, 236-38.
22Gillespie, "Expansion of the Chipewyan," p. 374.
Also see J.C. Yerbury, "The Post-contact Chipewyan: Trade
Rivalries and Changing Territorial Boundaries," Ethnohistory, 23, No. 3 (Summer 1976), p. 250 and E. Petitot's
comment: "There were as many as 1200 Redskins settled on
the lake.
But the white man brought with him the horrible
d is ease of s ma 11 po x , t i 11 t hen unknown to the Amer i cans ,
which made great ravages among the Tinney, and more than
decimated the Crees, driven .to the southern part of the
lake by the warlike attitude of the Chlpewyans.
Influenza,
the epidemic catarrhal infection attacking the tribes at
regular intervals of about seven years, completed th~ work
of the smallpox.
Reduced to ~· ve~y small number, the Crees
ceased all hostile action ag'ainst the Chipewyan •••• " "On
the
Athabasca
District
of
the
Canadian- North
West
Territ~Iy," Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society,
XL (Nov. 1883), 651.
23The term "Montagners" has little meaning until after
1821 when an era of population and commercial stability was
established in the region.
24J.B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thom son's Narrative of his
Exploration in North America
Toronto: Champlain Society,
1916), p. 109.
Macdonnell estimated that "owing to their
wars with their neighbours, the smallpox of 1780-81 and
other misfortunes, the third of the nation does not now
remain."
John Macdonnell, "Some Account of Red River about
1797 ," in L.F .R. Masson, Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du
Nord - 0 u est , I ( 1 8 8 9 - 9 0 ; r pt • New Yo r k : Ant i qua r i an P res s ,
1960), p. 277.
Heidenrich arrives at a similar estimate of population
loss due to smallpox among Huron agriculturalists.
C.E.
Heidenrich, Huronia: A History and Geography of the Huron
-

157 -

Indians 1600-50 (Toronto:
pp. 98-99, and pp. 100-06.

-

McClelland

and

Stewart,

1971),

25Beryl Gillespie, "Ethnohistory of the Yellowknives:
No.rthern
Athapaskan
Tribe,"
Contributions
to
Chipewya,n
Ethnology, ed., D.B. Carlisle, Mercury Series, Canadian
Ethnology Service Paper No. 31 (Ottawa: National Museums of
Canada, 1975), p. 208.
26Ibid.

28William Tomison, 1 Mar. 1782 in E.E. Rich and A.M.
Johnson, eds., Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journal, 1775-79, II (1779-82; rpt. London: Hudson's Bay Record
society , 1 9 5 2 ) , p • 2 4 o_.
29oavid Thompson in Glover, Thompson,
30 william Walker, Letter to W.
14 May 1782, in ibid., p. 254.

p. 236.

Tomison,

Hudson House,

31 "At noon five more arrived from above, these are
still more wretched, they being all Women but one, he is
W. Tomison, in Rich and Johnson, CHJ, II, 24
very bad."
~Jan. 1782, p. 239.
34 Hearne noted: "Sickness and famine has made such
havock amongst my home Indians during my absence that out
of 69 that I left all well only 32 is around here safe,
amongst whom there is but 6 men and boys that can Ii ft a
gun, the Remainder being all women and Children."
Dec.
1783, ibid., 842/b/26, n. fo.
3 5 2 8 Ap r • 1 7 8 5 ,

i b i d • , 84 2 I a I 1 o4 ,

f o • 19 •

36w. Walker, Hudson House, 17 Oct. 1781 in CHJ, II,
p. 262.
Walker .said, "the Barren Ground is all burnt nigh
hand so that there is no beasts resting."
-

158 -

37w. Walker, 10 Jan. 1782, ibid., p. 275.
See also
entries for 29 Oct. 1781, ibid., p. 264 and 23 Oct. 1781,
p. 263.
38Mitchell Oman, 10 Jan. 1782 in ibld.,

P•

275.

39 Glover, Thompson, p. 237.
"About 70 half Starved
Northern Indians came in for trust but had Nothing for
''
Except 50 hares a few lbs. of Venison." S. Hearne,
:r i Trade.
FCPJ, 14 Oct. 1785, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B42/a/
106, fo. 7.
40 11 The surrounding country abounds with Buffaloe and
Deer Beaver and other Animals valuable for their furs are
also numerous in its vicinity.
Some years ago it was
numerously inhabited by Crees, but the Small Pox, Measles
and other contagious diseases have made ravages among them
nearly tantament [sic] to extermination." George Simpson,
18 May 1821, in Rich, Simpson 1 s Journal, p. 362.
4 1william McGillivray, Trading 'Expedition to the Eng-:lish River, 22 Jan.-14 June 1809, Ottawa, PAC, MG19., C1,
No. 5, pp. 5-16.
42see Pond~~_map in Gillespie,
of Chipewyan," -fig". 2, p. 376.

"Territorial Expansion

43Ibid., pp. 378-80.
44 Ibid. ,

p. 3 7 5.

45Despite being good provisioners the Cree' were avoided in the placement of the post because they tended to dominate the middleman trade.
46see Alexander Henry, Letter to J. Banks, Montreal,
18 Oct. 1781 in L.J. Burpee, Search for the Western Sea
(Toronto: Masson, 1908), pp. 578-87.
See R. McKenzie,
Letter to A. Mackenzie, Athabasca, 2 Dec. 1787, Ottawa,
PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 32, No. 15, n. pag.

-

159 -

47[ .E. Rich, The History of the Hudson's Bay Compan),
1670-1870, II (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1959 ,
p. 87.
48Ibid.,

p. 88.

49Ibid.,

p. 87.
:1

50Bruce Trigger asserted that smallpox swept away 50
percent of the Huron population in six years.
The Children
of Aataentsic: a Histor
of the Huron Peo le to 1660 (Montreal: McGill-Queens, 1976 , Chap. 8.
51Epidemic disease is asserted to be the cause of a
dramatic reversal in native belief structures leading to
the destruction of game resources.
Calvin Martin, Keepers
of the Game (Berke1.--e-y: Univ. of California Press, 1978),
pp. 19-21.
52Ray,

pp. 3-23.

53Ibid., p. 19.
54Ibid.,

p. 23.

55Gillespie,
passim.

"Territorial

56pwFPJ,
Oct.
842/a/74, fo. 13.

74,

57Ibid.,
fo. 36.

1768,

842/b/15,

5813 Apr. 1769,

Expansion

Winnipeg,

fo.

3;

Man.,

see also,

fo.

of

HBC

Chipewyan,"

Archives,

10 and 842/a/

ibid.

5 9 rn part, an attempt to revive the trade (interrupted
by the sickness) was a motive for Hearne's journey to the
-

160 -

Co pp ermine •

1812,

I b i d • , B4 2 I a I 7 7 ,

60p. Fidler,
p. 541.

in

fo• 7•

Tyrrell,

Hearne

61see FCPJ, 2 Mar. 1798, Winnipeg,
842/a/124, fo. 11d.

and

Turnor,

1

Feb.

Man., HBC Archives;

62James Mackenzie, Fort Chlpewyan Journal,
1800, Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, 5157, n. no.

17

Jan.

63F. Wentzel, Journal, the Forks of the Mackenzie
River, 9 Feb. 1807, ·Ottawa, PAC,. MG19, C1, Vol. 24, p.
9301.

64G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, Biskaga River Post,
1 Dec. 1808, ibid., Vol. 51, p. 18.
65FCPJ, 8 Mar.
B42IaI135, f o. 6 d.

1810,

Winnipeg,

~an. 1

HBC

Archiyes,

66 For a view of the 1820 epidemic see George Simpson's
account in Rich, Simpson's Journal, 13 Oct. 1820, pp. 8081.
67The French capture of Prince of Wales'
ponds exactly with the smallpox epidemic~

Fort

corres-

68rhe pedlars pulled back to Fort Chipewyan and closed
the Fort Resolution and Peace River Posts.
69 11 Traded with the Remainder of the Northern Indians
found them to be very poorly Goaded, owing as some of them
say to not having the necessary iron work for taking Beaver
Be." Fort Churchill Journal, 29 Apr. 1785, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, 842/a/104, fo. 19.
70"17 Canoes of Nelson Indians came to the factory
with some Furs, but like the others seem to be very poor,

-

161 -

---

having before traded all the prime of their Furs
Canadians." Ibid., 3 July 1785, fo. 28.

with

the

7 1 He a r n e , 3 0 0 ct • 1 7 8 5 , i b i d • , B4 2 I a I 1 0 6 , f o • 9 •
See
also a comment of significance: "I have not received 20
Skins as yet nor do I expect any more till the Northern
Indians can hear of our arrival which must be the next summer at least." S. Hearne, Letter to. H. Marten, PWFPJ, 19
Jan. 1784, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B42/b/26, fo. 10.
72see FCPJ, 26 May 1787, Winnipeg,
B4 2 I a I 1 0 8 , f o • 9 •
73Hearne,

ibid., 14 July 1787,

Man.,

HBC Archives,

fo. 25.

74 11 six Northern Indians brought 601 Beaver - another
small group brought 400." Ibid., 3-4 May 1788, B42/a/110,
fo. 22.
"On May 7, 2 more bring 701 Beaver." Ibid., fo.
22; "14 brought 700 beaver," ibid., 10 June 1788, fo. 25.
75Ibid., 5 June 1788, fo. 25.
76 11 Twenty Northern Indians that has been here before,
since we last arrived [1783] brought an account that a
leader and his followers will be here in a few months."
Ibid., 6 July 1788, fo. 28.
"The Wechepowack [Chipewyan]
Indians ••• arrived at the head of whom where [sic] two Old
Leaders who said they came with a view to reinstate the
former friendship between your Chief and them" and brought
614 beaver.
Ibid., 24 July 1788, and 31 July 1788, fo.
31.
"An old Northern Indian leader and his tribe that has
not been here before since we last arrived brought 219 in
Beaver." Ibid.

77see A. Mackenzie, Letter to R. McKenzie, Athabasca
Fort, 8 Oct. 1788 in Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 435.
The English
Chief was apparently successful.
"There came a number of
Indians to the Lake who say they were at Hudson's Bay and
from what I could learn there went upwards of twenty five
packs there last Summer from th is country - these Indians
were ~even months in their journey - they were well received and seem to think that they were well rewarded for their
extra trouble - which I am afra.id will entice many others
-

162 -

to try their fortune that way next summer." A. Mackenzie,
Letter to Agents of the North West Company, Athabasca Fort,
15 Feb. 1789, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 32, No. 1, n.
pag.
78 A •. Mackenzie, Letter to R. MacKenzie,
ents, June 1787, in Masson, I, p. 19.

Lac des Serp-

7 9 Fort o-f the Forks, or Pond's Post, was built close
.to the Cree provisioners.
Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 129.
In
1786 Cuthbert Grant commented that "one of the Crees arrived with a train load of Caribeau meat which he traded."
Athabasca Journal, 8 Apr. 1786, Winn.ipeg, Man.·, HBC Archives, Misc. papers, F2/1, fo. 3.
80Pond' s ideas are written up in a letter from Alexander Henry to Joseph Banks, Montreal, 18 Oct. 1781 in Burpee, pp. ?78~87.
See also A. Mackenzie, Letter to R.
McKenzie, Ile-a-la-Crosse, 1 Feb. 1788 in Masson, I, pp.
19-20.
81A. Mackenzie, Letter
Dec. 1787,: ibid., p. 21.

to

R.

McKenzie,

Athabasca,

2

82Roderic McKenzie chose the site of Fort Chipewyan on
the south shore where "we were to make a new establishment
and depend on our industry in fishing for a
living."
Ibid., p. 27.
Masson suggested that it "was so called
because it was intended more particularly for the trade of
that nation." Ibid., p. 27n.
But Pond's assertion, restated by Alexander Mackenzie, that the Cree were exacting
tribute from all who came into the Old Establishment, and
his desire for a less partisan positioning of the post were
the key reasons for its removal.
See ibid., p. 22.
830n Great Slave Lake "as far as can be judged from
present appearances, there will be no possibility of establishing a fort there to advantage, nor could the produce
come out the same year.
I am certain if the Chipewyans
could be drawn away from there, the other nations would
draw near, and if a rendez-vous could be established, an
advantageous t:rade would be carried on every summer." A.
Mackenzie, Letter to the Agents of the North West Company,
Grand Portage, 1 Feb. 1788, Ile-a-la-Crosse, ibid., p. 24.
-

163 -

84Ibid.
SSA. Mackenzie, Letter to R •. McKenzie, Athabasca, 18
Mar. 1788, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 32, No. 2, n. pa,g.
86see A. Mackenzie, Letter to R. McKenzie, Athabasca,
22 May 1789 in Masson, I, p. 30, where he makes the comment
"The Chippeweans a~e in the habit of trading in Hudson '_s
Bay."
87w. McGillivray, Rat River Fort Journal, near Riviere
Maligne, 9 Sept.·1789, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 5, p. 1.
See also A. Mackenzie, Letter to R. McKenzie, the Forks of
the Peace River, 8 May 1793, Masson, I, p. 42.
88A. Mackenzie, Letter to R.
2 Mar. 1791, ibid., p. 36.

McKenzie,

Fort Chipe~yan,

89 11 The men who had remained with the Indians last Summer were and still are of great injury to the interest, by
their bad exa·mp le and inf 1 uence."
A. Mackenzie, Letter to
the Agents at Grand Portage, Athabasca Fort, 15 Feb. 1789,
in Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 437.
90 w. McGillivray, Rat River Fort Journal, near Riviere
Malign·e, 9 Sept. 1789, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 5, p. 1.

9 1william Jefferson, Letter to Governor and Committee,
FCPJ, 18 July 1789, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B42/a/
112, fo. 25.
92w. McGillivray, Rat River Portage Journal, near Riviere Maligne, 9 Sept. 1789, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 5,
p. 1 •
9 3A. Mackenzie, Letter to Agents
Company, Athabasca, 22 May 1789, ibid.,
pag.

-

164 -

of the North West
Vol. 32, No. 6, n.

94c. Grant,
Papers, Winnipeg,

Athabasca Journal, 5 Apr. 1786,
Man., HBC Archives, F2/1, fo. 3.

Misc.

Arthur Ray shows how this was especially true during
the period of middlemen trade.
See Indians in the Fur
Trade, p. 70.
Indians were not particularly concerned
about political alliances, and often exploited their own
people.
See ibid., p. 200, fig. 42-45, for increases in
gift giving expenses during periods of competition.
Also
see E.E. Rich, "The Indian Traders," The Beaver, Outfit 301
(Winter 1970), 15.

-

165 -

CHAPTER V
COMPETITION AND ENLIGHTENED RESPONSE

Trade goods which had been actively
men

sought

by middle-

seven hundred to one thousand miles to the east at the

Hudson's
should

Bay

coast

during

the

previous

seventy-five

have

been

favourably

received

established

trade

centers

the Athabasca

in

by

Indians

years

at

newly

region. 1

How-

ever circumstances developed in the fur trade of the region
which

raised

critical

time

apprehensions

among

was

1799

between

the

and

Indians.

1804 when

The

most

competition

exaggerated prob !ems which had earlier begun to

form.

In-

creasing use of alcohol among the Beaver Indians,

intimida-

tion

women

of

the

Chipewyans

children

by

traders,

and

as

abdu.ction

well

as

the

of

their

tendency

from many bands to congregate around posts to
goods

became

issues

of

concern

to

Indians

of

Indians

obtain
and

and.

trade

Europeans

alike.
Since the smallpox epidemic of 1781-83 and the capture
of Prince

of Wales'

Fort

by

the

French

a

Indians of the Athabasca-Mackenzie region
to journey to Churchill.
any

posts

on

Lake

year

later,

the

made few efforts

Proximity of the North West Comp-

Athabasca,

and

after

1786,

at

Fort

Resolution

and

on

the

European

trade

goods

however,

the

prices

manner

of

consider

the

Peace

had

easier.

By

of

goods

pedlars'

returning to

River,

those

the

treatment

made

access

end

of

and

especially

the

few

to

led

a

the

to

decade

Indians

the Hudson's Bay Company post

at

the
\'

Bay.

i I\

''

For

some

this

meant

passing

over

Methye Portage

and

down the Churchill River to Cumberland House.

Others head-

ed east on the long trek to Fort Churchill.

The increas-

ing tendency of the Indians to seek out the Bay traders
the

early 1790's

developing

an

route,

the

Seal

route

to

led

the Hudson's

inland

post

River.~

Reindeer

Lake

up

Bay Company to

consider

Chipewyans'

favourite

the

Exploration
into

in

the

of

east

the

end

Seal

of

River

Athabasca

Lake3 was

undertaken.

The North West Company responded by

attempting

to

the

attract

Chipewyans

Lake.

"I·wish him to

by

des

Carriboufs

the

energy

of

directed

toward

defying

Lac

Much
was

of

trek

to

via

Reindeer

undertake the discovery of the Route
It

will

Hudson's

the

Bay

trading

direct

route

into

the

taken

by

Philip

south

Bay

the

of

Peter

more

Company

geography

centers.

Athabasca

Turnor,

be

in
of

Efforts

country

Fidler

advantage."4
the 1790 's
the
to

were

lengthy

explore

thus

and

Malcolm

Turnor

and

a

underRoss

in

1790-92.
The

Chipewyans

met

by

Fidler,

-

167 -

Ross

were

hard bargainers who
the Europeans;

brought

"what they

forth

derogatary comments from

Brings

is

always

in

scrapes

and

handfuls and if they are not Paid as much for that as if it
were twice the

value

and

Traders

say

other

The usual

fare traded

not

was

they

an

call

him

are

much

more

for

provisions was

rum 6 but

exchange

for

food

"the

Chepawyan

effective

Chipewyans.7

Turnor

observed

immediately

ungenerous

charretable

that

[sic] • 11 5
liquor

'

will not trade Liquor consequently are not

from

the
tribe

fond of pa!ting

with their provision, but powder and shot will draw it from
them."8
Chipewyans and Yellowknives both
on

the

where

prices
furs

since

they

received

had

higher

had some

travelled

prices.

to

perspective

Fort

Churchill

Peter Fidler

observed

that "The red Knive Indians did not come to our House but I
heard

[what]

they

receive

from

the

skins is not worth their notice."9

Canadians

for

their

The Chipewyans consent-

ed to trade but they were never satisfied and

"ha[d]a cus-

tom

tho' ••• [they

of

asking

for

everything,

they

see

and

were given] a great deal indeed,

some of them were not

together

contented. 11 10

Fidler

remarked

acumen.

"The

Indians

burnt

the

they

said

person

should

Canoes
from

as

them & that

them. 11 11

no

they would

While Fidler and

-

not
the

be

on

greater

the

Chipewyan

part

of

receive

here

al-

next

their

any

benefit

year

to

use

other Hudson's Bay Company

168 -

people were in

competition

withheld

furs

to

Chipewyan

in

all his furrs
their
try

with the pedlars the Chipewyans

capitalize

speaking

to

on

Fidler

future

high

"said

he

had

not

but had laid part of them up as

tribe in hopes of a better market

or

prices.

carry

them

to

party."12

With

their

knowledge

of

felt

were

some

of

the Chipewyans

the

commodities

they

Churchil).;' when

they

desired:

does most

they

the

"they

brought
of

in their own coun-

'.

to

A

can

form

Churchill

not
say

able
it

is

a

market

to

obtain

not

worth

troubling themselves with hunting furrs for they cannot buy

---

Cloth with them unless they go to Churchill. 11 13
The
trade

Hudson's· Bay

in

the

Company

Athabasca

area

decided

which

led

not

to

to

a _request

post 'fo·r the Chipew·-yans on the Seai River.
ans [have] ••• represented

it

saying many of their

resort

rather

their

[sic]

than

trade

the

for

.a

"Northern Indi-

[Seal River] as a

to build a house at,

contest

proper

place

countrymen would

with

Canadians. 11 14

This historic path was

passable down to the Coast.

"Indi-

ans ••• importuned

have

by the

Bayside,
men

me

to

a

House

at

they told me that great Numbers

would

come

from

Athapiscow

Lake

and

Seal River

of their Countrytrade

there •••• "

But from the mouth of the Seal south to Fort Churchill

the

Chipewyans experienced great difficulty from late spring to
fall.

-

169 -

They acknowledged that the distance was not great
but that the road was excessive bad and no provision to be got on the way exclusive of three
pretty large rivers.
They had [to] cross in
Canoes which often endangered the Lives of their
Families and many times they lost their goods
after trading them at this Factory. 15
The Hudson's Bay Company proceeded

to

set

up

a

post

near

the mouth of Seal River.

The Canadians countered by adding

to their already existin_g

posts around Reindeer Lake

overland route to the Bay. 17

to the Chipewyan
the pedlars'

near

To counter

efforts another attempt was made by

the Hud-

son's Bay Company to reach Reindeer Lake via the Churchill
River with boats but

it

was

found

to

be

too

hazardous.18

Later that summer on Chipewyan advice, Thomas Stayner went
up the Seal and the South Seal Rivers

and

arrived

Sand Lake

just to the east of Reindeer Lake.19

point

returned

he

and then through

by

portaging

over to South

at

Big

From this
Indian

Lake

its outlet and back via the Churchill.20

A later journey in the fall was less successful.21

Compe-

tition with York Factory22 over the allegiance of the Indians,

the

Reindeer

geographic

advantage

Lake23

the

and

of

difficulty

competing
of

pedlars

navigation

region led to marginal trade with the Bay.24

to

from
the

Pedlars from

the Rat River post south of Reindeer Lake boasted that they
got

their

furs

"from the

door of Churchill. 11 25

Hudson's

Bay Company factors then returned to a policy of increased

- 170 -

credit

in

an

attempt

to

draw

the

natives

to

the

Bayside

posts.
North West Company methods for obtaining furs from the
Chipewyans
The

usually

successful

had

been

were

incensed

at

use

of

intimidation

share

of

the

the

decade

Indians

obtain
in

though

North

fall

The

furs.
West

North West

increasing

Company

Hard

off.

hands

bargaining

Company

the

and

early
by

since

in

the

Indians

liquor

was

resented.

fur

trade

began

infuriated

not

an

to

to
the

inducement

to ply furs from the sober Chipewyans their women were held
as

hostages.

threats

William

alone

would

McGillvray

not

work

to

had .early
prevent

realized

trade

with

that
the

Hudson's Bay Company.
About one
summer and
they will
However if
not
help
menaces if
purpose.26

half had been to Hudsons Bay in the
took credits there which, I am afraid
wish to go and pay in the spring.
they do, it will be ••• because I could
it,
as
I
shall
use
promises
and
first I fail to deter them from their

Force had become a key part of North West

Company attempts

to shape trade relations with the Chipewyans.
The Canadians' practice of treating Chipewyan women as
chattels

was

no

doubt

borrowed

from

historic

Athapaskan

practice.
It has ever been the custom among those people
for the men to wrestle for any woman to whom they

-

171

-

are attached; and of course the strongest party·
always carries off the prize. A weak man, unless
he be a good hunter and well beloved, is seldom
permitted to keep a wife that a stronger man
thinks worth his notice! for at any time when the
wives of those strong wrestlers are heavy..:.laden
either with furrs or provisions, they make no
scruple of tearing any other man's wife from his
bosom, and making her bear a part of his luggage.
This custom prevails throughout all their
t r i be s ' . an d ca u s es a g re at de a 1 0 f emu la t fo n
among their youth, who are upon· :all occasions,
from their childhood, trying their strength and
skill in wrestling.
This enables them to protect
their. property, and particularly their wives,from the hands of those powerful ravishers. 27
To be taken as partner of a fur trader
tages to Indian women.
by

the

amenities

of

some advan-

offere~

Certainly their lot was made easier
the

trading

posts

and

assistance provided by the European males.
Indian .women provided their many

indigen~us

the
In

return

of

the

Europeans

in

the

Athabasca,

the

skills and kin-

ship links with the Indian trappers and traders.
arrival

greater

Since the

conjugal

ties

with key Indian people had been used to cement trading networks.

Post women often went out to trap with their Indian

relatives and were expected to guarantee loyalty and ensure
that credits would be repaid.~8
Philip Turnor

had

been

informed

in

1792

of

the

lars' methods of obtaining Chipewyan women:
The
method
by which
they get most
of the
Che-pa-wy-an Women is by the Masters seizin them
for their Husbands or Fathers debts and then
selling them to their men from five hundred to

-

172 -

ped-

two thousand Livres and if the father or Husband
or any of them resist the only satisfaction they
get is a beating and they [are] frequently not
satisfied with taking the woman but. their Gun and
Tent likewise.29
Another

Hudson's

Jepawyan Indians
them

by

force;

the

Bay

Company

complains

Canadians

in

observer

told

was

very much of the injustice
taking

their

women

from

"The
done

them

by

some of the Canadians keeps no less than 3 women and

several 2."30
Chipewyans

were

less

compliant

present in the Athabasca.
so

insolent

to

them

when

competition

was

"The Che-pa-wy-ans never behaved

before. 11 31

As

early

as

1792 trading

leaders "threaten[ed] vengence against the Canadians."
Their [sic] seems a settled dislike to the Canadians amongst the whole of them which would most
likely manifest it self in once the Hon'ble Company had good settlements amongst them.
Some few
of the Chepawyans begin to love liquor.32
Turnor,

though

less

than

objective,

felt

that

the Hudson's

Bay Company represented more than an alternative market.
Increased

interest

efforts

Hudson's

intimidate

Bay

to

greater

Mr.

McGilvery had informed them that

England for a

to

in

the

Company

Indians:
Mr.

trade
"they

Small was

Medicine to kill all the Englishmen

we were all lost."

They went

on to say that

is likewise to kill all the Chepawyans that

led
said

gone to
and

that

"the Medicine
go to

the Eng-

lish .1133

Another Indian who contacted smallpox was told by

a

that

pedlar

it

was

because

-

173 -

he

went

from

one

company

to another.34
The
from

use

the

of

alcohol

Indians

had

as

an

mixed

inducement
benefits

to

in

obtain

the

furs

Athabasca.

Arthur S. Morton used the famous quote of Duncan McGillvray
to illustrate the value of liquor in the trade:

i~we of Rum
indusi~y..
They

The

is their first inducement to
undergo
every
hardship
and
fatigue to procure a Skinful of this delicious
beverage, and when a Nation becomes addicted to
drinking, it affords a strong presumption that
they will soon become excellent hunters~35
Morton concluded that "rum was the cornerstone on which the
fortunes

oi the fur magnates were built."36

to

trade

with

the

returns.

They

would

return

provisions.

for

Chipewyans
trade

But u~e of rum

did

not

result

in

mainly

for

shot

and

had

little

However,

in

focused

efforts

room

for

nonessentials

the Peace River
to

powd_er

in

Long inured to lengthy journeys to

Ch u r ch i 11 a n d to t re ks in s ea r c·h of t he ca r i b o u ,
wyan' s

immediate

obtain

region

t he C h i p e -

such _as

liquor.

where European

traders

prov is ions,

liquor

was

increas-

ingly poured.
The Beaver Indians
trast

with

the

of· the Peace River country in con-

Chipewyans

would

trade

for

liquor.

"The

Peace River Indians ar.e as fond of liquor as any tribe and
part

with

their

provisions

as

freely. 11 37

The

Beaver

and

Cree around Lake Athabasca had not journeyed the long distances

to

trade

at

the

Bay

since

-

174 -

the

Chipewyan

middlemen

began

acting

as

carriers

in

the 1760's and the arrival

their locale of the North West Company

traders

The

from

Beavers

cluding
that

had

adopted

imbibing.

time acted

In

many

practices

contrast

to

the

in

after 1778.

the

Cree,

Chipewyans

in-

who

at

as middlemen or trappers,

the Beaver Indi-

ans were mainly employed as provisioners.

North West Comp-

any policy then was to trade rum or provisions.
The Beaver Indians were the buffer between the aggressive Cree

and

middleman

trade.

Beaver

other

Indians

and

Athapaskan
By

the

the

Cree

bands in

peace
in

the

period

established
the

o.f the

between

late 1760 's

the

the Peace

River became a Beaver preserve.38

But the Cree were appar-

ently

accorded

the

of

passing

over

their

road",

a

from Lesser

Slave

Lake

the

junction

trail

privilege

the Peace and Smoky Rivers,

historic Beaver

Indian

This trail was apparently

linkage

between

the Peace

River

and their pre-contact lands on Lesser Slave Lake.39
ander

Mackenzie

believed that

and Churchill Rivers were not
ranged

freely

Cree

retained

Indians

until

through

the

after

the

Alex-

the Cree of the Saskatchewan
part of the

area.40

considerable

of

whence they raided the Indians

of the Rocky Mountains for furs.
an

to

"war-

It

is

inf luence41

smallpox

peace

treaty

certain
over

epidemic

that

the

and
the

Beaver

devastated

them

in 1781-83, and possibly as late as 1790.
The

origins

of

the

Beaver

-

Indians

175 -

has

been

a

subject

of

debate.

The

idea

the

people

known

neighbours

were

of the

same aboriginal

given

credence

River 4 2

and

much

by

sometimes

cited as

among

Athapaskans,

the

that

the first

Beaver,

the

classed

together

on

Diamond

Jenness

believed

the

from

seventeenth

century"

"their

speech

Beaver Indians. 114 4

the

Indians

of

Peace

Slave

Indians

by

their

not

been

as

group

Emile

Petitot,

the

three

linguistic

and

the

Sarsi

should

basis

of

linguistic

that

the

Sarcees

north

probably

to live

that

Slave

differs

has

modern anthropologist

believed

the

Saskatchewan

Beaver

anthropologists.

groups,

since

the

"towards

very

similarity.43
drifted

the

separating
little

be

end

from
from

the
that

to

the

of

the

Beaver
of

the

He also noted that both bands recounted

the same legend for their common origin.45

Early explorers

perpetuated

to

confusion.

Mackenzie

Beavers as Rocky Mountain Indians,
for

the Sekani.

referred
a

name

Daniel Harmon who was

the

western

usually

reserved

in contact with the

Rocky Mountain Indians commented:
They call themselves Sicannies [Sekani] but it is
supposed that formerly they belonged and were a
part of the Beaver Indian Tribe
who on some
quarrel separated themselves from their Countrymen by leaving their lands to come higher up the
[Peace] River.46
But

Mackenzie also

placed

the Slave Indians

in

the

Lesser

Slave Lake area along with the Beaver prior to Cree expansion.47

The name Slave was a designation obtained

-

176 -

from

the

Cree.48

Petitot

refers

to

at

least

two

groups

of

Slave,

the "Etcha-Ottine" who lived between the Liard River on the
north

and

the

drainages

of the Black and Beaver Rivers

the southwest and east.

He also

situated a

west

of

the

Mackenzie,

the

lived

in

the

upper

reaches

of

believed

that

these

were

Beaver

band of Slaves

"Ettcheriedie-Gotti-ne,"

the

the

on

Liard.49
Indians

who

Honigmann
of

Wentze150

and Keith.51

He concludes that the Fort Nelson-Liard was a

transitional

area52

and

transitional people.
as

the

Fort

Nelson

Slave

were

a

Jenness also saw the Beaver and Slave

having affinity and has dealt with the distribution and

subdivisions of the Beaver Indians.53 The linguists Aberle,
Hoijer

et

al.,

have

recently

classifying the Chipewyan,
as

on~

lent

Beaver,

credence
Slave,

to the

Sarsi

idea

by

and Sekani

group.

Yet

the

natives

at

Liard River

informed Wentzel

that

they "pretend[ed] to be a branch of the tribe of the Beaver
Indians

of

separated

Peace
and

River,

the[n]

from

driven

whom

they

this

way

enemies the Crees. 11 54

The natives'

discarded

because

of

Wentzel' s

customs

of

the

Liard

people

Indians

are very

not

unlikely that

self-selecting

effeminate

by

been

their

which

-

had

been

further

comment

that

the

different;

never

separated

177 -

inveterate

testimony

wage

the

"for

war. ,.55

such minor differences were

process

formerly

own

were

and

had

a

meek

these
It

is

of

a

part
from

the

more

aggressive

Cree.

during

the

long

period

During that conflict those most

attackers

who

became

resisted: and adopted

known
traits

as
of

of

with

accessible

Beaver
the

war

Cree

to

the

their

Indians

fiercely

in

to

sur-

Peace

River

order

vive.56
By

the

1790's

the

Beaver

Indians

of

the

had become to observers an amalgam of traits.
and

prehistorians

Slaves.

the

Beavers

differed

To linguists

little

from

the

Many of the traits which have come to be recogniz-

ed as distinguishing the two peoples may have been

the

re-

sult of direct or indirect Beaver Indian contact with European

culture

in

the

earliest

period

ion •

By 1 7 9 2 t he Be a v er India n s

Cree;

"they

speak- their

hair,

paint,

and dress like them,

of

trade

of the P ea c e

language,

as

well

by

and

nasty disposition when

were

the 1790 's

all

traits

of contact

were

also

assumed- to

alt hough

reg-

Ri v er '.spoke
their

anq possess their

immod-

known

abused

the

cut

erate fondness. for liquor and tobacco. 11 57
ans

.in

for
and

have been

p rot ecti v eness

The Beaver Indi-

their
on

as

fierce

liquor.58

acq·uired as

toward

their

a

pride
These
result

worn en

was

considered unique in the region.59

"They differ very much-

from the Chepawyans and Knisteneaux,

in the abhorrence they

profess of any carnal communication between their women and
the white people. 11 60
The Beaver Indians were affected most by the events of

-

178 -

the late 1780's and early 1790's in the Athabasca country.
Well-organized
River

region

proposals
as

the

by

Peter

principal

Pond

trapping

ground were in operation by 1790.

to

use

and

the

Peace

provisioning

The Beaver Indians were

the key people in supplying the labour for hunting and drying meat in summer and trapping in winter.61

Food supplied

from Peace River was transported to Fort Chipewyan from the
"two settlements which ••• [were] the support

of

try[.]

provision$

its there they get all

their

dried

this

counfor

their journeys and without a settlement in this river they
would not be able to get their furs out."62

Almost all es-

sentials

of

were

available

from

the

Indians

the

River, much of it in trade for liquor.
The Peace River Indians are as fond of liquor as
any tribe and part with their provisions as freely it consists of Buffalo flesh both fresh and
cured such as beat [sic] meat and rendered fat
its from that River that the Canadians procure
all dried provisions for their different purposes
[sic] its at the first settlement up the Peace
River where they procure the provision.
I am informed that they go to it in fourteen days from
the Athapescou Settlement and from that Settlement to the next in twelve days at which place
Buffalo is full as at the other ••.. the Slave
Lake, Peace River and Athapescou River Canoes are
supplied Lwith provision from the Athabasca Settlement] in the fall of the year and reserve a
stock of provision for the Spring and they have a
two years stock of the most material trading
Goods, Birch rind fitt for building large Canoes
is very plenti full both in the Athapiscow and
Peace Rivers and the finest Pine that I have seen
in the Country grows near the Lower part of the
Athapiscow River.
Nothing is wanting in these
parts but Cedar for building Canoes/the Canadians

- 179 -

Peace

build of the largest size used in the North out
of Pine but they never bring them in again ••.•
they always have occasion for more Canoes to come
down that River [Peace] than what they take up.63
The Peace River

was

the source of essential

food

and

wood

for the fur trade in the Athabasca and Beaver Indians were
vital to its supply.
The

picture

developing

of

Indian

involvement

fur

trade

of the Peace River

in

the 1790' s

cate

"a secondary commitment

to

the

·Indians

of the P·eace

congregating
endless

around

supply

of

trade. n64-

River were spending most
the

posts

liquor

in

order

dispensed

to

by the

Subsistence hunting was

pean traders.

does

portance although hunting to

provide

the

not

in di-

The

Beaver

of the· year

partake

in

the

competing Euro-

not

dry

in

of

meat

primary
for

im-

the fur

trade in exchange for liquor did take up much of the Beaver
Indians'

time.

The tendency to cluster temporarily around

the fur trade posts in the Peace River in the 1790's led· to
depletion of gam€ resources, forced relocation of the posts
and reallocation of Indian hunters.
Inter-tribal
celerated

relations

became

more

hostile

as· an

encouraged

the

Beavers,

trade

in

arms

and Yellowknives

to

exploit

new-found power.

In 1797 the Beaver Indians moved

Peace

attacked

River

and

more

and

remote

looted

tribes

ac-

Dogribs,

with

their
up

the

the

Sekani.65

Two

years later the Beaver Indians attacked and

killed a

small

band of Ojibways near Lesser Slave Lake in retaliation for
-

180 -

their being pillaged of goods the year before.66
er Indians
for

of

the Forks

were

also

killing Duncan Livingston

Past

[sic]

the

Last

blamed

by

The Beav-

James

Porter

in 1799: "the Red Knives who

winter

and

summer

among

the

Beaver

Indians of Mckenzies River had seen the Place where the deceased

Mr.

Livingston

and

his

People

had

they found a great deal of Powder Shot
Toward
developing

the
in

role the fur

end

the

of

the

Beaver

trade

decade

Indians

determined

for

killed

and

& Ball."67

some
to

been

of

the

enter

reticence

freely

them was

into

a

exacerbated

by

conflict with other Indians moving into the Peace River to
trap.
the

In 1798 "a war party ••• kill'd and wounded several of

Beaver

Indians. 11 68

The Beavers were

the advancing Chipewyans.69
use of alcohol increased.
is

no

possibility

it."70

Conflict

of

As

in

conflict

with

competition

increased

the

"He is going .•• for rum As there

keeping

resulted.

the

B[eaver]

Indians

The

"Peace River Indians were

at war and killed some of the people of the Rocky
which

has

shortened

the

summer

return

of

without

Mountain

t-ha t

Country

extract

furs

in

Furs and Provisions. 11 71
But
other

force

was

used

regularly

sub-arctic Athapaskans. 72

to trade

provisions

the future,

for

to

When

the

Indians

from

refused

reasons of scarcity or concern

for

the goods were taken.73

A native who sent word

that he would not be bringing furs

into trade was threaten-

-

181 -

ed

by

a

North- West

Company

Canadian to take away
taken
The

away

only

from

who

who

offered ·to

his woman who was

another

people

trader

Chipewyan

apparently

said

the

still

to

have

previous

did

not

"send

a

been

year. 11 74

respond

to

threats

were the Beaver.

Like the Cree from whom they had

absorbed

many

Beaver

of

woinen,

their

traits:i the
and

when

the

were

much

more

protective

Canadian Labrie attempted to

use force against one of them he was killed.

---

The Beaver Indians do not imitate the mountainers
or Chipewyans in the least, as the former is a
brave bold Nation, although not above two hundred
men in number from the age of 15 years to 70 which scattered from the entrance of Peace River
to the Rocky Mountains in which space the North
West Company has 5 settlements they are very
troublesome ·at the Houses when in· liquor and wish
to have everything they ask given to them for
·nothing if denied they are affronted, and wish to
take ·things wright or wrong, they are always
armed Drunk or sober as it is a Custom among them
to go with a large Bayonet in there [sic] hand, a
knife hid ·under there Stockings ai:i.!=i __ sometimes two
- but when they are sober they are very quiet and
behave very well to the white people, but will
not allow any white man to take there furs or
Provisions from them by force, but will give it
to any one they please. 75
By

1800

throughout

the

the

effects

of

Athabasca

competition

country.

The

their needs for European goods easily met.
worked

worse

visible

already

It will soon
or

compel

than

the

that

preceding
they

will

one

into

any

Chipewyans

felt
found

"Last year they
this

year

it

work less

than

la st

year -

either

reason

of any Man

good. 11 76

-

being

and

be beyond the power

them

were

182 -

Many

Chipewyans

is

were

inclined to return to their lands immediately to hunt caribou. 77

European traders were exasperated but were compel-

led to give credits to attempt to hold onto their allegiance. 78
Gave Pouces the value of 164 skins not consideration of his past behaviour which deserves no reward but on condition of his behaviour w[h]ile
here this summer in every respect becoming a broken chief who wished to be restored to his former
Dignities.79
Others "wintered w[h]ere there is a great deal of Beaver but did not work through fear of the Crees."80
Chipewyans coming from the land east of Athabasca and known
to

frequent

Churchill,

enticements

were

given

to

attract

them south to the pedlars' posts.81
Although

trade

more sedentary

goods

were available in

existence around

the

fur

abundance the

trading

brought the Chipewyans close to starvation.
Chipewyan movement to lands suitable for
eloped

over

two

decades.

Observers

were not as adept at hunting
had been on the barrens.82
a

more

limited

area

post

had

The process of

trapping had dev-

commented

that

in the boreal forest

as

they
they

Concentration of population in

further

complicated

their

subsist-

ence.83
Fur returns also declined as
the

competing

Ojibways,

companies

Ottawas, 84

and

basic needs were met

proferring

goods

Iroquois

were

Athabasca and Peace River areas to trap.
- 18 3 -

on

the

brought

by

Indians.
into

the

The Ojibways were

reputed to be better trappers and were able to secure furs
on land abandoned by other bands.85

But the Beaver Indians

of Peace River responded in 1799 by attacking them: "2 men,
2

women and 3 children

height

of

Companies

(Bungees)

were

killed. 11 86

between

the

XY

competition
the

Beaver

refused

access to the Peace River.
more

trappers

invade

to

allow

and
the

At

the

North

"New

West

Company"

They were concerned lest any

their

lands

where

had

Iroquois

previously been brought in by the North West Company.87
An abundance of trade goods,

especially arms had en-

couraged some bands to take on the new role of middlemen.
The Beaver Indians had begun to pressure the Indians of the
Upper

Liard

for

furs.88

The

Yellowknives

and

around Lac la Martre and Fort Providence with

Dogribs

their

newly

acquired supplies of arms were travelling down the Mackenzie to obtain furs from the Slaveys and Hares.89
ed

overland

trading

the

short

rendez-vous

distance

with

the

from
Hare

Lac

la

Some passMartre

and ·. Loucheux

on

to

a

the

southwest shore of Great Bear Lake.

The North West Company

moved

to

by

Post

near this rendez-vous in 1799.

maximize

their

advantage

building

Bear

The new power of the

middlemen trade dominated the Slaveys and Dogribs.
The Red Knives, ••. very generally make free booty
of any little property collected for the purpose
of traffic, in order to procure a few necessaries.
If the aggressors are resisted, they will
force or carry off their women, and it is natural
- 184 -

Lake

to conclude that, the first being the least of
the two evils, the property is sacrificed with
the best grace possible.
In consequence of this
vexation, those most exposed generally sequestrate themselves in less danger .•• Exiled in a
way from their country, they often seek refuge in
barren recesses, where the want of necessaries,
combined with other causes exposes them to much
hardship.90
These latter
taken

by

comments

European

reflect

observers

the

often

mistaken

that

natives

always

attitude
suffered

when removed from proximity to the ports.
Entry
place.

of

The

"caught a

new

faces

Slaves

and

slight

in

the

middleman trade was

Dogribs

when

able

to

obtain

tincture of the same propensities,

is certain that they act upon the same principles
dealings

with

the

Beaver Indians
the

present

establish

a

taking

Big

were

or

Long

m-oved

to

Arrowed

kill

arms

for

it

in their

Indians."91

The

Livingston

near

Duncan

site

of

Fort

Norman

when

he was

post

for

the

Slave,

Loucheux

preparing

and

Hare

to

Indi-

ans.92
Attempts were made by

the North West

Company

to

dis-

perse the Indians who had clustered around the posts in the
"Everything which any of the

time of intense competition.
young Men

kill

but

whatever

that

while

near the fort

they

would

kill

belonged to the trader
inland

was

his

Due."93

By this means the traders induced the Indians to spread out
to

new

trapping

effectively.

areas

and

to

deploy

the

Indians

more

Trading chiefs were also actively involved in

-

185 -

rationalizing the placement of bands:
Our lately created Chief Marlin, has undertaken
not only the reformation of the Chipewyan grievances at his own post but· also that of the Grievances of Chipiweans [sic] at other posts
The
present Complaint is that the Montagners of Slave
Lake are too numerous for the quantity of Goods
sent there every Fall Then Marlin's question was
whether it would not be better .to bring all the
Montagnards to winter between this post and Grand
Marrais [on the Peace River] and to leave the
Slave Lake for the Red Knives.94
Native
ed

from

leaders

overhunting

recognized

the

and

comprehensive

had

a

problems

which

result-

knowledge

of

the region.
In the period of the greatest competition from 1799 to
1804 apparently

some

Chipewyan

quit

plait

tribe,

fur

refused.

of

the

the

natives,

fur

trade.
many

bearing

particularly
When

Chipewyans

asked

of

the

to

ex-

apparently

They

arrive here two months before they should and the
very best season for working Beaver - The Montagners - last year they worked worse than the preceding one and this year it is visible already
that they will work less than last year - It will
soon be beyond the power of any man either to
reason or compel them to any good - I have been
haranguing them all this day not to return any
more to their lands •••• 95
As fur returns diminished the traders increased pressure _to
trap. 9 6
Fort

Conflict

Chipewyan

reasons

for

the

often

resulted.97

"explained"
increased

in

trade

of the Indians to that trade. 9 8

-

186 -

James

unrestrained
in

women

Mackenzie

at

terms

the

and the

response

It will assist to discharge the debts of a man
unable to do it by any other means .•. the second
is that it may be the means of thickling some
lecherous miser to part with some of his hoard.
I therefore kept the woman to be disposed of in
the season when the Peace River bucks look out
for women, in the month of May ••• They desired
that
we
should
trade
no more women
on
any
account.
I told them that we would do as we
thought proper, for it was not their business to
prescribe rules to us •••• 99
When Indians resisted the will of the
to

trade

were

their

furs

seized. 1 0 1

In

'Canadien'.

they

were

traders

beaten100

retaliation

the

or

and

hesitated

their

Chipewyan

women

killed

a

Relations were exceedingly tense;

The Montagners, being much afraid, come all into
the house to enquire whether we intended to revenge Lafrance' s death upon them, or not.
In
order t o keep t hem hereabout a 11 summer •
I
thought it necessary to assure them that none of
those who were here now should suffer the lea st
injury on that account while they behave themselves as they ought, but that if any d
nd
rascal of them deserted this summer with any of
the Frenchmen's women he and she would both lose
their heads.102
Attempts to hold the native allegiance had

led

to

excesses

which were to have deep seated consequences.
The effect of the intense competition was soon felt
the

trading

companies.

Their

returns

expenses mounted104 and the Indians

by

fell

off, 103

their

refused

or were

unable

to bring in provisions.105 The North.West Company increased
their incentives:
Several Indians went to the Old Company
and
they rigged 7 Chiefs, from whom it is said they
did not get 15 MB each - What a contrast betwixt
now and 4 years ago when they made the Indians
pay a beaver for 1 Gun flint, or 5 ball and 2
-

187 -

Beaver for a Knife - and the greatest Chief of
the Chipewyans used only to get 10 1 /2 pints of
mixed rum for nothing ••• they preferred such before they would undertake the long & hazardous
journey to Churchill, al tho they got at least 10
times more for their skins; now every one that
gets a Chiefs Coat gets an 8 Galoon Keg also of
him for nothing
they will not be able to go
this way 3 years, to a moral certainty as the
things the Indians gets for nothing is extravagantly great. 106
Despite the wealth of incentives thrust

on

prov is ions

were

forth coming.

"all

from

River

starving. 11 107

Peace

Hudson's

Bay

Company

men;

"both

near starving up Peace river,
doing

very

little,

so

By

that

1802

the Indians
our

men

was

not

only

applied

to

old

and

new

Company

are

& that

they as

abandoned

came

This

the Beaver Indians are
well

as

ourselves

go out with lit"tle in the canoes next Spring.il108
the Peace River

few

by the Hudson's

"as the Indians there is such very great

will

In 1803

Bay. Company

drinkers

and

they

are so liberally supplied by both old and new Company that
they will

kill

profits

of

1000

year

years

P.

few furrs. 11 109

each

share

of

before this

decreased

the

Fidler
Old Co.

that

which

genera 11 y

was

came

in

was

to only 150 which was

not

so much

of their clerks has p.

New Co.

observed

for

"the

these 2
as

many

year. 11 110

An outbreak of infectious disease afflicted hunters in
the Athabasca

region

in

Lake Athabasca

were ill;

1803.

The Chipewyans

from

across

"the great mortality amongst

this Summer has damaged their spirits so much,
-

188 -

that

them

little

may

be

expected

from

"great

mortality"

least

not

the

which

directly,

although

killed

connected

It

would

with

appear

the

By

enza.114
as

well

the

summer

many

winter -

the

that

Beaver

Indians

sides

will

go

of

the Chipewyans

not,

victims

idleness,
.

This

an

but

more

would

thro'

indirect

Many hunters

I

ill,

at

competition,

deat~~~113

neither were they
die

of

influ-

both Northern & Southern

are

all

was

trade

fallen

"Indeed all the Indians
as

the

that

upper Athabasca were not

trapping.

winter. 11 111

thirty-seven

result of competition, led to some
on

this

have

Jepawyans

"some

hunger. 11 112

survivors

kill.ing

out

few

lightly

furrs

loaded

this

in

the

spring." 115
Many more

returned

to

the

barrens.

They "did not kill one Beaver."

This was

in

part

due to a

quest

for

attitude

of

despair

great

number of their Relations Died

the

fall,

rest

is

food

and

also

their

doing nothing. 11 116

available

from

the

and

in

a

few

and

competing

companies

instances,

on

yet

the

frustration

Dependence on tools,
clothes,

brought

back to the posts.
Eight Chipewyans came to the old Co's last night,
they have come from their lands, and brought
riothing with them, they never bring furrs from
that quart er.
They go there in Summer and very
seldom return before this Month to supply there
wants in Cloathing which they make from the Deer
Skins.117
.

-

a

Most of their necessities were

drove many to return to the barrens.
weapons

in

"as

189 -

them

Their return was governed in

~art

of

ease

the

hunt

but

also

by

period of competition.

the

by despair at

the failure

of

goods

obtaining

in

a

"They have very little occasion to

work as they are liberally supplied."118
The

one

except ion

the 110 Iroquois

was

brought

by

on

the

the

up per Peace· River

North

West

Company

where
packed

in over one-third of all furs for the Athabasca department.
Another

band

forty-six

of

Iroquois

were

responsible

for

.

of a

total eighty-four packs received

trading

out

of the

region by the XY Company. 119
As
West

the Indians

Company

pattern

of

returned to the barren lands the North

partners

movement

by

attempted

to

influence

the

yearly

resorting

to

all

forms. of

dissua-

sion.
The usual excuse of those people who went to
their lands was that there was no Beaver of their
lands that therefore there is no
use giving
Credits •••• that if any ••• would Content himself
with going to his Lands with· only one of his sons
he would get a few Credits but that on~ Old Fool
was worse than ten young ones for each of them
has no less· than 4 or 5 Sons, 5 or 6 Guides - 9
or 10 nephews who must all follow him. 120
At

Slave

Lake

the

same

occurred

"the

most

of

them

[Chipewyans] goes to the Carribou Country but they have all
promise~

the

Fall

to return in Canoes
in

order

to

& to

return

to

be here at our arrival in
the

Beaver

Cou~try. n12 1

James Porter, Factor at Slave Lake, went on to bemoan that,
"the Carriboeuf is so numbrous [sic] this year that it will
-

190 -

no

doubt

induce

a

great

many

follow

their

of

them

to

Stay

there

all

winter." 1 2 2
Rather

than

until summer,

they

spring of 1804.

left

for

the

usual

pattern

barren

lands

of
in

waiting

the

early

They went "directly for their Lands to the

Eastward and will not be in before next November." 1 23

They

were apparently

older

making

an

attempt

to

return

to

the

more reliable pattern after the trade attachment had failed
them. 124
Some

were

not

On Lake Athabasca,

content

with

mere

where hard drinking,

passive

withdrawal.

unpredictable James

Mackenzie was in charge, the usually quiet Northern Indians
attacked

the

seasonal post

the summer of 1804,

at

the east

end of

the

killing four of the Canadians

lake in
and

troying the settlement.125
Not a single Jepawyan has been here since the beginning of June, and I doubt whether or not any
will come of that notion this winter - they killed 4 of the Old Co. Man & all the Goods, they
burnt it down.
This they are doing in retaliation for the numerous insults and very bad useage
they receive from the Old Co. who pillage everything from them either furs or Provisions whenever they happen to meet them - and as they are
so numerous very few escape their grasp.
This
usuage the Old Co. has well verited ever since we
have been here, & perhaps before.
They will not
suffer a single Indian to go and trade at any
other House - should they do that privately and
a ft erwar d s be known
They was al ways sure of
getting a very severe drubbing at least.
This
kind of conduct of the Old Co. has drove these
Indians to the above mentioned autrocities [sic]
in vindication of their own rights.126

-

191 -

des-

Fidler's

view

that

the

problem was

caused

by bullying

ex-

plained in part renewed treks to Churchill in 1804.
But
goods

some Chipewyans were

that

they

immediately

Churchill. 127

"The

Nn

considerable

quantity

so dependent
renewed

the

Indians

of

of

furs.

fine

on the European

historic

the 23d

trek

arrived

They

are

to

with

a

chiefly

strangers ••• from the vicinity of Athapuscaow Lake. 11 128

The

Chipewyans were met by Fidler on his last trip out from the
Athabasca; they promised "to lay up their winters hunts for
us next summer, 11 129 which would probably have been at Reindeer

Lake.

Fort

Churchill

better

An

trade

unusually
in

here

August

large

trading

where

this Year

in the spring of 1808, and

William Auld

than

place was settled in 1783. 11 130

party

has

ever

arrived

realized
been

since

at

"far
the

Another large party arrived

it was clearly stated as to why

they went to such sacrifice: "irritated against the Canadians they promise me I

shall never be ashamed at

the

small-

ness of my trade. 11 131
Others

began

to

withdraw

from

the

southwest

regions:

"Part of them belong to the Country about Isle a la Crosse,
but

said they

had

flung

that

part

away

on

account

ill usage they received from the Canadians. 11 132
Coupe,
his

an excellent

wife

taken,

hunter,

the

quit

trader

offered

problem:

-

W.R.

192 -

Wentzel
his

of

the

When Pouce
after

analysis

having
of

the

This is the consequence of letting men have their
will with Indians ••• such men ought to be punished
severely for their disobedience - for it not only
breeds quarrels with the Indians
but Peoples
lives are in danger of falling a sacrifice to the
rascallity of one single man.~.an example of
which ••• the misfortune that befol '+ men at Athabasca last summer all through the means of two
discontented Indians & for the same thing with
this difference those above had their women pilladged & were Scoundrels.133
In

an

earlier

chapter,

the

inelasticity

of

fur

trade

demand was seen to be a result of limited transport capability.

By the first

decade of the 1800's other factors per-

petuated a static demand for European goods.
cant

was

the

Athabasca

excessive

contesting

number

over

a

of

European

limited

fur

Most signifitraders

in

supply.

This

"trade war!' for

dominion of the Athabasca

trade

overabundance of liquor as· an . inc en t 1 v.e to

goods,

an

ply furs

from the Indians, a

very

prices_ for

low

furs.

Often

Mackenzie

in this

area

depletion of game

European

commodities

period

Indians

obtain

and

exchange

for

the

Athabasca-

no

le·a v ing

them

returned

idled

all

supply,

ties from Eu rope an trade rs for little or
A few

to

of

of

necessi-

free.

able

the

in

grut

perceived

mu ch

were

led to a

the

but

many

its

devices

effort

to

their

traditional and familiar ground.
The

trading

system

with

for

linking

the

barter system of the Indians with the market-oriented economy

of

the

competition.

Europeans

was

breaking

The relatively fixed
-

193 -

down

in

standard

this
of

period

barter,

of
the

Made

Beaver,

meant

little

in

a

time

of

intense

tion.

Prices were repeatedly cut.

change,

an accepted ceremonial and ritualized

meeting

of

the

liquor

was

poured

two

cultures
out

in

competi-

The regale or gift ex-

was

rendered

attempts

part

of the

meaningless

to· buy

the

as

Indians'

allegiance in one direction or the other. 134
Inter-marriage
compatibility.
ages

however

in

the

period

gave

A close look at the
reveals

that

an

appearance

nature of

abduction,

these

link-

intimidation,

force were often the means of obtaining the women.

of

and

Because

women were vital in maintaining ties with their Indian kin,
there was an air of expediency to many of the marriages.
Indians

of the Athabasca-Mackenzie were

committed to

the trade connection by the time of the European
Chipewyans and to a lesser extent,

arrival.

the Beaver and Yellow-

knives, having been previously exposed to European trading
practice at the Hudson's Bay Company post of Fort Churchill
knew the relative value of furs and had become used to the
decorum

of

that

Company.

Those

depended

on

most

by

the

North West Company drew on past experience of Bayside trade
to

compare with

pedlars adopted
native

their treatment by the pedlars.
an

passivity,

Indians

which

When the

approach

to

the

assumed

acceptance

of

aggressive treatment,

and

the rule of monopoly trade, the perspectives gained by earlier experience came into play.

- 194 -

Natives of the Athabasca-

Mackenzie

refused

to

unilateral

decisions

accept

trade

by

fur

the

which they did not agree.

-

195 -

practice,

trading

prices,

companies

or
with

LI)

~

,,1I

~

j(
.'.~:t
1);(~

ljj~1J! I

:0&

;~l

:!S1r)

-~

ro,. 1 Al
I

.

.

·

."

•,

~,:

'"

'
Legend: Posts are included which had
·
strategic bearing on the extension of
the trade 1717-1821 along with the
·
date of establishment.
·
Map is adapted fro111 Stewart Wallace (ed.).
- - 1 , £Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the
j{~ ~~;
:...r;(, Hudson's Bay Territor~. (Toronto: The
Champlain Society, 19 2) See folder map in
cover.

N ~L

· ~ \)

'~J ~

~Je

'"< c

l:

'IDrfl).-,ri

('"°'.
.

•....

~

•.

\0
O'I

r'f\

U D

I

I{

r-1

~

"\

l'

Q

!?At:.

/E?J) \

~i,o/'1 "'\

~\~.v;t
u~!/;

'._h,

I
_.'.r-),
i~?
.u?il-f
d-'....;
s.f.

·C--'

~·~"
v>
\-

~.'\,.J'

f'1~~
~
.~J

v
·

I

J

I~

N 0 T E S

'i

1The Indians received many times the price for their
goods in the Athabasca.
Philip Turnor traded 317 lbs. of
meat "which cost more than 6 times the quantity would have
done in any part of the country I
ever saw before."
Turnor, 13 Apr. 1791 in J.B. Tyrrell, ed., Journals of
Hearne and Turnor (Toronto: The Chall)plain Society, 1934),
p. 363n.
2 Tyrrell,

Hearne and Turn or,

pp. 86--87.

3Europeans first learned of the Back River known to
the Athapaskans as Thlew-a-dezza or Great Fish River; as a
result of these inquiries • . Ibid~, 3 Mar.· 1791, p. 362.
See also ·the entry for 25 July ··1791-on p. 418.
"An old
'Indian informed me that he had heard that there is a
passage out of the Slave Lake on the East side which leads
to the Sea, that he was once at the Slave Lake to have
accompanied the Chipewyan and Red Knife or Copper Indians
to War against the Esquimays but did not proceed farther
with them.
He said they informed him that they were going
down a River on the East side to the Sea but he was not
certain that the River run out of the Lake."
Ibid., 23
May 1791, p. 365.
A man known as Peche (reputed to have
killed John Ross in 1787) also mentioned "a very large
river which ·runs to the Eastward .•• I suppose to be a branch
of the Wager."
Ibid., 22 July 1791, p. 417.
4A. Mackenzie, Letter to Roderic McKenzie, The Forks
of the Peace River, 8 May 1793, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1,
Vol. 32, n. pag.
See also the letter of 8 May 1793 in W.
Kaye Lamb, ed., The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander
Mackenzie (Toronto: Macmillan, 1970), p. 451.
5James Porter, Slave Lake Post Journal, 1 July 1800,
Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 6, n. pag.
-

197 -

6Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 125.
Malcom Ross relates: "2
Indians accompanied the Canadians tells as the ground is
all burnt upon the other side of the Theen't nelly not neth
or (Methye carrying place) where any provisions was to be
got, the Indians used to be there is all gone down to the
Athapescow as they could [not] live upon their own ground."
Lake Athabaska Journal, 2 June 1791, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, 89/a/1, fos. 17-27.
7Lamb,

Mackenzie,

8Turnor,

2

p. 125.

May 1792

I

in Tyrrell,

~

I ~.

Hearne and

Turnor,

p. 451.
9p.

Fidler,

Slave Lake,

12 Mar.

17·92,

in

ibid.,

p.

447.

10w. McGillivray, Trade of the Posts on the English
River, Rat River Fort Journal, Sept. 1789, Ottawa, PAC, MG
19, C1, Vol. 4, p. 3.
1 1F i d1 e
p. 514.

r , -2 0 ct • 1 79 1 , in T y r r e 11 , He a r n e an d Tu r n or ,

12Ibid., 4 May 1792, p. 453.
13Turnor, ibid., 2 May 1792, p. 451.

116,

14FCPJ,
n. fo.

1792,

15T. Stayner,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

Archives,

842/a/

ibid., 29 July 1793, 842/a/118, fo. 23.

16Ibid., 18 Sept. 1793, fo.

1 7 I b i d • , 2 3 Ma y 1 7 9 4 ,
1794, fo. 16.

-

3.

84 2 I a I 1 1 9 ,

198 -

f o • 15 a nd 2 2 ,

Apr •

Man.,

18George Charles, Journal, 8
HBC Archives, 883/a/1, fo. 1d.

July

1794,

Winnipeg,

19 Ibid.
20T. Stayner, FCPJ, 9 July 1794,
Arc h i v es , B4 2 I a I 11 9 , f o s • 2 7 - 2 8 •
21William Auld,
f 0.

ibid.,

Winnipeg,

10-13 Sept.

1794,

Man.,

HBC

B42/a/121a,

1•

22stayner,

ibid., 30 Dec. 1794.

23rbid., 11 May 1795, fo.

15.

24E.E. Rich, The Histor
of the Hudson's Ba
1670-1870, Vol. II
London: Hudson's Bay Record
1'959)' p. 171.

~.,....,....~......,...~__....,_,_.......,.~---:~-,,,~~-=-~~-'!--,,,..~...,_.__.'--'-_

25 T. Stayner, FCPJ, 19 Aug. 1796, Winnipeg,
Archives, B42/a/121a, fo. 15d.

Man.,

HBC

26w. McGillivray, English River Posts, Rat River Fort
Journal, near Rivie.re Maligne, 9 Sept. 1789, Ottawa, PAC,
MG19, C1, Vol. 5, p. 1.
27Richard Glover, ed., Samuel Hearne: A Journey from
Prince of Wales' Fort in ~udson's Bay to the Northern Ocean
.(1958; rpt. Toronto: Macmillan, 1972 , p. 67.
2 8 J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 20 Aug. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, 5157, n. pag.
See also entry
for 13 Aug. 1800.
29Turnor, 2 Mar. 1792, in Tyrrell, Hearne and Turnor,
p. 449.
30M. Ross, 28 Apr. 1792,

-

ibid.,

199 -

p. 446n.

3 1 Turnor, 2 May 179-2,

ibid.,

p. 449.

32Ibid., 3 May 1792, p. 479.
33Ibid., 17 June 1792,

p. 479.

34John Thompson,
Journal, Riviere Rouge on Peace
River, 14 Aug. 1.798, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 15, p. 24.
35A.S. Morton, ed., The Journal of Duncan M'Gillivray
of the North West Com an_ at Fort Geor e on the Saskatchewan, 1794-95 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1929 , p. ixxi. "Spirits,
as the Hudson's Bay man had long realized, were the one
known means of turning the tables on the Indian," in Rich,
Hudson's Bay Company, II, p. 228.
36A.S. Morton,

pp.

ix-xi.

3 7 Turnor, 29 June 1791 in Tyrrell, Hearne and Turnor,
p. 398.
38A.

Mackenzie,

13

Oct.

1792 in Lamb,

Mackenzie,

p.

238.
3 911 The high banks of the Slave Indian Lake - or more
properly Beaver Indian Lake can be plainly seen •.• and
appears about 30 miles off."
James Bird, Letter to P. Fidler, 31 Aug. 1799, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B104/a/1,
fo. 38d.
Fidler corrected Bird by suggesting the distance
was perhaps "50 to 60 miles betwixt the Northern shores of
this Lake & the South Branch or Forks of the Peace River."
Fidler Journal, 27 Jan. 1800, Miscellaneous Papers, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, E3/2, fo. 59.
40 11 They proceeded West by Slave Lake •.• on their war
excursions which they often repeated, even till the Beaver
Indians had procured arms, which was in the year 1782.
If
it so happened that they missed them, they proceeded Westward till they were certain of wreaking their vengeance on.
those of the Rocky Mountain[s], who being without arms, became an easy prey to their blind and savage fury.
All the
-

200 -

European articles they possessed,
previous to the year
1780, were obtained from the Knisteneaux and Chipewyans,
who brought them from Fort Churchill, and for which they
were made to pay an extravagant price."
A. Mackenzie, 5
Apr. 1793 in Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 253.
Se.e also ibid •. , 1
Jan. 1793, p. 249; 24 May 1793, pp. 275-76; 1 June 1793,
p. 2 79.
41Ibid., 5 Apr. 1793, .P· 253.
Peter Fidler said that
the Beaver were one half civilized.
"They are more .ferocious than any other Indians in these parts, but half civilized."
P. Fidler, NHPJ, 14 Oct. 1802, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, B39/a/1, fo. 9.
4 211 Natives
of
this
Establishment
call
themselves
Beaver Indians a· name which they claim, on account of their
origin, which they affirm to proceed from the Beaver Indians in Peace River from whom they were separated some ages
ago when attacked by enemies; the terro.r of such a sudden
attack induced them to fly for safety to the northwestward;
another reason that they give for this name is that they
generally were and still are clothed in winter with the fur
of that animal."
G. Keith, An Account of the MacKenzie's
River Department to R. McKenzie, 7 Jan. 1807, Ottawa, PAC,
MG19, C1, Vol. 51, p. 6.
Keith mentions that though ignorant of their language he did not believe it was the same as
the Beaver language of Peace River.
Ibid.
43E. Petitot, Etude Sur la Nation Montagnaise ou Tchippewayne (Lyon: Les Missions catholiques, 1868), Vol. I,
pp. 79-80 and 136.
44 Diamond Jenness, "The Sarcee Indians of Alberta,"
Anthropological Series No. 23, Bulletin No. 90 (Ottawa:
National Museums of Canada, n.d.), p. 3.
45Ibid.
46 Daniel Harmon, 21 Oct. 1810 in W. Kaye Lamb, ed.,
Sixteen Years in the Indian Country: the Journal of Daniel
Williams Harmon 1800-16 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1957), p. 131.
47sir

Alexander

Mackenzie,

-

201

-

Voyages

from

Montreal

••. to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans ..• (1801; rpt. Edmonton,
Alta: Hurtig, 1971), p. 123.
48John J. Honigmann, Ethnography and Acculturation of
the Fort Nelson Slave, Yale University Publication in Anthropology No. 33 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1946), p. 23.
49Emile Petitot, Autour du Grand Lac des Esclaves
(Paris: Savine, Editeur, 1891), pp. 318, 363, 344-58 and
Exploration de la Region du Grand Lac des Ours (Paris:
Tequi, Libraire-Editeur, 1893), p. 312.
50F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807 in L.R. Masson, Les Bourgeois
de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, Vol. II (New York: Antiquarian Press, 1960), p. 85.
51G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, Mackenzie's
Department, 7 Jan. 1807, ibid., pp._66-68.

River

52Honigmann, p. 25 and pp. 129-31.
53Diamond Jenness, The Indians of Canada (Toronto:
Univ. of Toronto Press, 1977), p. 384 and "The Sekani Indians of British Col~mbia," Bulletin No. 84 (Ottawa: National
Museums of Canada, 1937).
See also C. Osgood, The Distribution of the Northern Atha askan Indians, Yale University
Publications in Anthropology No. 7
New Haven: Yale Univ.
Press, 1936), p. 8.
54F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, The Forks of the
Mackenzie River, 27 Mar. 1807 in Masson, II, p. 85.
55Ibid.
5 6 catherine McClellan is of the belief that too much
is made of the differences between Eastern Athapaskans.
See "Culture Contacts in the Early Historic Period in
Northwestern North America," Arctic Anthropology, 12, No. 2
( 1 964) ' 3 - 15 •

-

202 -

240.

57A.

Mackenzie,

19

Oct.

1792 in

Lamb,

Mackenzie,

p.

58"They are more vicious and warlike than the Chipewyans ."
Ibid., 5 Apr. 1793, p. 253.
59Ibid.,

pp. 252-53.

60Ibid., p. 255.

\'
! l

\

I

1
6 Alexander Mackenzie informed Turnor that he obtained sixty packs of beaver from the Indians of Peace River.
See Turnor, 1 June 1791 in Tyrrell, Hearne and Turnor, p.
369 and ibid., 29 June 1791, p. 398n.
62Ibid., 5 July 1791,

p. 401.

63Ibid., 2 May 1792, p. 451.
6 4 Robert Janes suggests that visits were irregular
until about 1900.
"Dispersion and Nucleation among Nineteenth Century Mackenzie· Basin Athapaskans," Diss., Univ.
of Calgary, 1975, p. 182.

65"The Peace River Indians were at war and killed
some of the people of the Rocky Mountain which has shortened the summer return of that Country in Furs and Provisions." A. Mackenzie, Letter to Messrs. McTavish, Frobisher
& Co., Mackinac, 4 June 1799 in Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 475.
66p. Fidler, 27 Jan. 1800, Miscellaneous Papers Journal, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, E3/2, fo. 57.

67J. Porter, Slave Lake Post Journal,
Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 6, pp. 70-71.

15

Dec.

1800,

68J. Thompson, Journa 1, Riviere Rouge or Grand Marrais, 4 Nov. 1798, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 7, p •. 17.

-

203 -

69 Ibid., -10 Feb. 1799, p. 30.
70Ibid.·, 22 July, 1799, Vol. 15,

p.

12.

71 A. Mackenzie, Letter to Messrs. McTavish, Frobisher
& Co., Mackinac, 4 June 1799 in Lamb, Mackenzie, p. 475.
7 2 11 8 Canoes of Ottaways & Bungees arrived at the
French House from the Athapescow river - but as soon as
they came near the shore - all the Canadians ran into the
water & took everything from the Indians by force & would
not let them give us a single skin or even a bit of meat ••
"
P. Fidler, Journal of a Journey from Cumberland House
to Red Deer's Lake, 30 Sept. 1799, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, 13104/a/1, fo. 14.
73"Chennele arrive from the Indians ••• he Me[t] Morneau along the way who struck him & threw him into a fire.in
an Indian Lodge then Pillaged him of a Considerable Quantity of Dry-d & pounded meat[;] one of the poor felLows hands
is very much burnt."
P. Fidler, 4 Feb. 1803, Winnipeg,
Man., HBC Archives, B39/a/1, fo. 16.
74 J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 23 Mar. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, S157, n. pag.
7 5Thomas Swain, 10 Jan.
Archives, B224/a/1, fo. 19.

1803,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

76J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 22 Feb. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, S157.
77.,I have been haranguing
return any more to their Lands."

them all
Ibid.

78 Ibid.
79Ibid., 23 Feb. 1800.

-

204 -

this

day

not

to

.I

80Ibid., 28 Feb. 1800.
81rbid., 31 Mar. 1800.
82p. Fidler,
Turnor, p. 517.

30

Oct.

S3Ibid., 4 May 1792,

1791

in

Tyrrell,

Hearne

and

pp. 455-56.

84Fidler said that "5 canoes of Ottaways went away to
winter in the Athapiscow river."
Journal of a Journey from
Cumberland House to Red Deer's lake, 29 Jan. 1800, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B104/a/1, fo. 24d.
See also
ibid., 7 Oct. 1799, fo. 615d.
85Arthur Ray,
Indians in the Fur
Univ. of Toronto Press, 1974), p. 102.

Trade

(Toronto:

86p. Fidler, Journal from Greenwich House
lake, 27 Jan. 1800, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
E 3 I 2 , f-o. 5 7 ·•

to Lesser
Archives,

Slave

87T. Swain, MHPJ, 4 Oct. 1802, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Arc hi v es , B4 1 I a I 2 , f o • 1 •
S e e al so i b i d • , 6 0 ct • 1 8 0 2 •
88Refer to n. 65.
89A. Mackenzie, letter to Messrs. McTavish, Frobisher

& Co., Mackinac, 4 June 1799 in lamb, Mackenzie, p. 475.

90G. Keith, letter to R. McKenzie, Bear lake Post, 19
Nov. 1812 in Masson, II, p. 112.
91Ibid.
92Refer to n. 45.

-

205 -

93J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 6 Apr. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, S157, n. pag.
94Ibid., 9 Apr. 1800.
95Ibid., 22 Feb. 1800.
96For analysis of the effects of competition in the
fur trade on Europeans and on Indians, see F. Wentzel,
Letter to R. McKenzie, Forks of the Mackenzie River, 27
Mar. 1807 in Masson, II. pp. 95-96.
The 648 packs carried
out of the Athabasca by the North West Company in 1799 were
reduced to 182 in 1803.
P. Fidler, NHPJ, Winnipeg, Man.,
HBC Archives, B39/a/1, fo. 23.
97 In 1799 the Chipewyans killed LaFrance when he
t r i e d t o st op th em f r om ta k in g an I n d i a n woman aw a y from
another Canadian.
J. Mackenzie, Athabasca District Journal, 17 Apr. 1800 in Masson, II, p. 387.
98Ibid.
99Ibid., 9 Apr. 1800, p. 385.
100J. Porter, Journal, 18 Feb. 1800-14 Feb. 1801,
Slave Lake, 8 Mar. 1800, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 6, p.

4.
101J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 23 Mar. 1800,
Mont r ea l , Mc Gi 11 Ms s • , CH 1 7 5 , S 1 5 7 , n o • pa g •
In ·a n o t h er
incident Swain relates "The Old Company took him [an Indian
trapper] away, and threatens to take his wife from [him] if
he hunts for us."
MHPJ, 27 June 1803, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, B41/a/1, fo. 3.
See also ibid., 30 June 1803.
102J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal,
in Masson, II, p. 387-88.
103see n. 96.

- 206 -

17 Apr.

1800

104J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 13 Aug. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, S157, no. pag.
105Ibid.

106p. Fidler, NHPJ, 31 Mar. 1803, B39/a/1,
107Ibid., 23 Jan. 1803,

fo.

fo.

19.

15.

109Ibid., 12 Sept. 1803, fo. 4.

110T. Swain, Chiswick House Post Journal, Slave Lake,
6 May 1805, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, 839/a/4, fo. 17.
111p. Fidler, NHPJ, 22 Sept. 1803, Winnipeg,
Archives, B39/a/3, fo. 6.
112Ibid., 24 Jan. 1803,
113F. Wentzel,
Masson, I, p. 95.

ler,
a/3,

B39/a/1,

Letter to R.

fo.

Man.,

HBC

15.

McKenzie, 27 Mar.

1807 in

114Many more died of influenza in the summer.
P. FidNHPJ, 3 Sept. 1803, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B39/
fo. 6d.

115Ibid., 28 Mar. 1804, fo.
116T. Swain, MHPJ, 20 Dec.
Archives, B41/a/1, fo. 11d.
117Ibid., 11 Dec. 1803,

fo.

14.
1803,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

11.

118p. Fidler, NHPJ, 23 Jan. 1804, Winnipeg, Man., HBC
Archives, B39/a/3, fo. 11n and 9 Aug. 1804, B39/a/4, fo. 1.
119Ibid., 20 May 1804, fo. 21.

-

207 -

120J. Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan Journal, 31 Mar. 1800,
Montreal, McGill Mss., CH175, S157, no. pag.

PAC,

121J. Porter, Slave Lake Journal, 3 Apr. 1800, Ottawa,
MG19, C1, Vol. 6, p. 11.
122Ibid., 30 Nov. 1800, p. 65.

123p.· Fidler, NHPJ, 19 Mar.
Archives, B39/a/4, fo. 15.

1804,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

124rhe Chi pewyans of Great Slave Lake de pa rt ed: "a 11
those Indians are now set off direct for their own Lands & speak of going to war against the Esquimaux - & that they
will not return here before the middle of next winter."
Ibid.

125Ibid., 22 Aug. 1804, fo. 2.
The Chipewyans told
Fidler "they all go to Churchill to trade there."
Ibid., 7
Sept. 1804, fo. 3.
126Ibid., 11 Sept. 1804, B39/a/41, fo.4.
1 2 7 Ibid.
1 8
2 w. Auld, FCPJ, 25 Apr.
Archives, B42/a/132, fo. 14.

1807,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

129p. Fidler, 7 July 1807, Miscellaneous Papers Journal, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, E3/3, fo. 17.
130Ibid., 4 Aug. 1807, fo. 20.
131w. Auld, FCPJ, 17 Mar.
Archives, B42/a/133, fo. 4.

-

1808,

208 -

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

132p. Fidler,

ibid.,

Nov. 1804,

B42/a/129,

133F. Wentzel, Grand River Journal,
Otta"1a, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 8, p. 42.
134Ray,

Indians in the Fur Trade,

-

209 -

p. 68.

13

fo. 3d.
Jan.

1805,

CHAPTER VI
POLICY AND ENLIGHTENED RESPONSE

Unopposed

between

Company's domination

1805

and

1815,

of the fur trade

lowlands would prove to be illusive.
exploitation
weaknesses

the

of untapped

fur

in

adapt~d ·to

revealed

in this period of depleting

West

the Mackenzie

Methods

supplies

North

serious

resources.

Fur

resources were rapidly reduced without concern for conservation

and with

limited

concern

the Indian trappers of the region.

for

the

welfare

of

Conditions in inter-

national trade, in Red River and in Canada combined with
the depleted resources to weaken the North West Company
position

in

Athabasca

and

encouraged

the Hudson's

Bay

Company to embark on a more forceful, concerted, and ultimately

successful

entry

into

the

Mackenzie

lowland

region.
North West Company methods in the Athabasca did not
alter markedly in the first two decades of the nineteenth century.

They were observed to be "'proceed[ing] up-

on a systematic plan of violence, to prevent the Indians
from trading with us.' 11 1
ferently

Men who may have behaved dif-

in conventional society were moved to comment:

Could I have considered myself as a private
man, divested of any other employment or duty
than that of an independent man, then I would
not do what I have done, but being a clerk in
the North West Company, bound to forward their
interest in every respect to the utmost of my
power, I could not in consequence, think it
consistent with my duty or their interest to
make them lose a pack or two by ill-treating
these Indians for the sake of a man who never
gained them one farthing in his life, and whom
we could not revive. 2
Col in

Roberts on,

an

ex-North

West er

was

convinced

that

the Athabasca was both the strong and weak link in their
trade system.
Failure there would throw the whole of their
pretentious economy out of gear; the 'ostentatious display of wealth' which gave them so
much consequence ••• was based upon a concept of
dominating the whole country, and Robertson was
convinced that 'the Company are far too advanced to retreat.
They must push on.
No other
alternative is left them.
As to arrangements
on the basis of a line of boundary, that may be
adhered to until our opponents recover their
strength, but not one hour longer. 1 3
By 1810 the North West Company were extended to the furthest reaches of the Athabasca-MacKenzie region.

No un-

exploited

in

the

had

been

fur

sources

remained

to

be

trapped

North West.
In

comparison,

the

Hudson's

Bay

Company

retrenching and keeping overhead costs
taining a frugal operation.
nineteenth
economy
burn,

and

century
the

it

was

In the first
under

conservative

Lord Selkirk's

the

policy

brother-in-law.
-

down while main-

211 -

decade of

the

influence

of

of

Wedder-

Andrew

the

Ideas of bringing

in

more

were

men,

doomed

or
to

embarking on
"in

failure;

mare aggressive
the

present

policies

state

of

the

change

in

ap-

Company's finances it would be madness. II 4
Wedderburn's policy also

involved a

proach to the Indians; he took on responsibility for the
Red River Settlement,

a

haven for

their country-born offspring.
was encouraged.

retired

servants

and

The education of children

"This change in approach to the .Indian

marked a reversal of policy, but in itself it was not so
important as the care for

the servant's

families

which

plainly entailed support for settlement."5
Th es e ch a n g es

in p o 1 icy

to the North West Company.

rep res en t e d a

du a 1 t h r eat

Location of a major settle-

ment close to the path of the fur
an obvious and ominous problem.

brigades

represented

Other related changes

which recognized mixed bloods as a separate people were
put

in

place

between

1800

and

1810,

and

had

sweeping

effects.
The services of ••• Native Youths are becoming
every year more and more conspicuous ••• they are
almost our sole dependance [sic] both for supplying and supporting the Inland Stations, as
well as otherwise opposing the Canadians.6
Increased employment of native servants strengthened the
Hudson's Bay Company's influence among Athapaskans

just

as it did in other regions among other Indian peoples.
The old Hudson's Bay Company policy of maintaining

-

212 -

"At heart they

the quality of goods had been continued.
nursed
the

their

Old

or

old
the

conviction

New

that

Canadian

the

goods

'either

of

Company'

were

inferior

to

those which they supplied their traders,

and even during

the Napoleonic War they were as careful as ever in securing

') i'

first

quality tr~de

In

goods."7

the

first

dec1ade

during periods of extreme competition the combination of
expensive goods and limited sales had
nces

for

dividends;

held or rose.
to

four

fell

in

and -oy

1801

was

for

reduced

1809

no

To counteract· declining profits, a

incentives

conseque-

and _prices

The annual dividend was

percent

paid.8

profits

alar~ing

goods

from

six

dividend

was

new sy_stem of

introduced9

aggressive approaches to

which would encourage more
·.
the Irid{aris with quality Engl-

ish goods.
It had also been basic to Hudson's Bay Company policy

to

refrain

Company.

from

It was

retaliating

against

"'not the intention

the

or the

North

West

interest

of

the Company to create Contentions either with the Natives or the Canadians,
and

mischevious

harassed

which may produce

consequences.' 11 10

servants

did

react

against

In

the
a

North

most
few

serious

instances

West

Company

bullying, but in general the "insistence on avoiding incidents, ••• the wish to evade direct legal challenge, and
the willingness

to

talk 11 11

with the opposition was

213 -

fol-

lowed.

Their belief, held for one and a half centuries

was that the geographic ~dvantage of sitting on the Bay
while

supplying

prof its.

high

quality

goods would maintain

high

This was coupled with their quiet and tolerant

policy toward the Indians.

It was not until the second

decade of the nineteenth century that this policy began
begin to

pay dividends

in

the Athabasca

country.

The

last untapped supplies of furs were reached in the first
decade

of the

nineteenth

century.

During the

time

of

competition the pedlars had extended regular trade down
the

Mackenzie

River

to

Norman

was

Lake.

Fort

Indians

although

some

Loucheux ventured to it.

Fort

Norman

and

frequented
Mountain

to

Great

Bear

mainly

by

Slave

Hare,

and

Indians,

The pedlars moved near to the

mouth of the Mackenzie River where they met a number of
Loucheux

whom

beaver.

"The-y-- said

fort[,]

they

offered

a

post

they were

that they often wanted

if

not

they

able

to

would
hunt

themselves. n12

trap
for

a

However

the North West Company pushed on to establish Fort Good
Hope at the mouth of the Blue Fish River in 1805.
Attempts

to

establish

trade

north

of

Lake were unsuccessful until about 1805.

Great

Slave

A post at Old

Fort Providence had been temporarily established in 1789
for

the Dogribs and Yellowknives,

the following year.13

only to

be abandoned

In 1793 a post was

built at Lac

- 214- -

la

Martre

by

Duncan

three

years

for

a

Post,

eighty miles

Livingston

more

but

central

was

abandoned

establishment

at

below the Great Slave Lake.14

in
Old

Three

years later one was established on Bear Lake for Yellowknife,

Hare,

major posts

Slave and Loucheux Indians.15 By 1804 two
had

been

built

on

the Mackenzie River,

at the Forks of the Liard,16 and

one

on

Bear Lake.

1805 the post on Blue Fish River was followed
same year

by a

mouth

the Nahanni. 17 Initially

of

returns

West

makeshift,
were

In

about

the

established at Fort Liard near the
low,

"a ft er 1804 the

with

the

amalgamation

and X Y Companies.

But

the

rapidly 11 18

increased

the North

then

post

one

located

to

maximize

relocated

as

beaver

short-term

supplies

of

posts

were

returns

and

dropped

or

mid-

to

trade

dlemen closed off direct access.
The Bear Lake Post
the Yellowknives.

Not

catered

mostly

numerous,

the Yellowknives

long history of involvement
with

its methods,

excellent
trade

and

had

in the

acquired

at

of

had a

were familiar

become adequate trappers

and

In

their

knowledge

the

the

hands

of

provisioners.19

mainly

trade,

the

the

of

Chipewyans,

they were active trappers but acted also as middlemen to
associated

tribes.20

As

a

result

they

hovered

around

Bear Lake Post charging a tariff to the Indians who came
in.

At

Nahanni

River,

George Keith

-

215 -

related

that

"had

not
a

the Yellowknife robbed them [the Beaver Indians] of

part

would
the

of

their

have

Liard,

Hunt

by

working

been much

better than

the

mention

mere

of

the
it

Beaver
is. 11 27

the

Lodges

it

Further up

Yellowknives

threw

the Beaver or Slaves into a state of terror.22
The red kn i v es with ma u v a is Loup at their he a d
had pillaged them of all the furs they had &
besides had taken 3 of their women from them This is the old Custom of the red knives they
wish to revive former times - if they should
unfortunately meet with my Indians above the
Old Fort ••• Adieu all hopes of returns for next
year.23
.
Methods used
tle

from

by the Yellowknife middlemen differed lit-

the North West

Company's

manner

of

conducting

trade.
The Yellowknives not only were dominating Bear Lake
Post

but

spread

down

the

Mackenzie

George Keith

to

the south side of Great Slave Lake,
and

reported

up

the

Liard

from Nahanni

Rivers.

River

In

that

1807

"the Red

Knives of Slave Lake have overrun the whole of the upper
department in quest of Beaver and that they have greatly
hurt the Trade with [local] Natives.24
methods

similar

middlemen

to

those

imposed

in early years

of the

They were

on

them

trade

and

by

using

Chipewyan

practised

by

the pedlars since.
It was in these recesses of the Athabasca
kenzie

lowland

region

that

the

-

216 -

primary sources

and Macof

rich

furs were obtained in these years.

The North West Comp-

any

Settlements

"returns

in

Furrs

North

of the

Methy

the

greatest

by

from

their

carrying

place

far

ever

had been

known

to

this

amounting

the

winter
to

850

'Packs. 11 25 These returns were deceptive since it took two
years

for

a

catch

to

years

earlier

mately

two

returns

were

be

combined,

removed;
that

then

It

the

was

also

X Y and

supplemented

approxi-

North

West

the

furs

by

extracted from the Hudson's Bay Company men.
Blatant

signs

of

a

growing

Indian

reluctance

to

trade were becoming evident.

A North West Company rule

to forbid marriages to Indian

women26 and

not

to

allow

families into the posts was largely resisted and ignored
by

the

cement

Canadians.27
trading

alone

or

with

winter

with

The

Indian

relationships.
their

the

Canadian

Indians.

To

women were key to the trade.
three Indian women

wives

had

served

to

Often

they

were

sent

husbands
many

to

trap

of the

for

the

pedlars,

the

In 1808 at Bear Lake Post

deserted their trader husbands "with

a great and valuable Booty 11 28 and made their way
River

to the Peace

de Lievres

lands.

that an Indian "woman Clerk has not
tolled

as

one

of the

in charge of a Post

long ago

best Tools that
for

the Summer

tion was changing.

-

217 -

Wentzel

11

'

up

the

lamented

been ••. ex-

could

be

employed

29 but

that

situa-

The Peace River region was overhunted in the period
of competition.
affected

by

Indians came

The Beaver Indians were most

overhunting

declining

into Pine River Post

them

everything ••• [that]

their

behaviour,

Fort

in

the

and

and

Spring

and

returns;

three

the master

"told

would

make

them

threatened

them

of

as

well

as

adversely

beating,

ashamed

of

abandoning

the

and

them

using

like dogs if they did not work better for the future. 11 30
At

Beaver River

Fort,

A.N.

Mcleod

gave

his

hunters

"a

very severe reprimand; .•• he took hold of one of them by
the hair and tossed the other from one side of the room
to

the

began

other. 11 31
taking

The

exception

Indians,
to

although

intimidated

treatment.

th~

In

another

incident at Pine River Post:
L'Homme Seul's band arrived ••• ! began to harangue them, and told them everything I thought
could make them ashamed of the scandalous hunt
they have made since they were here last.
After abusing them as much as I possibly could
with words, I stepped to L' Homme Seul in order
to pull his ears, but he rising suddenly took
hold of one of my hands whilst his Son and
several others surrounding me held the other,
without however attempting to do me any harm or
injury.3 2
The

post

master

Seul's

band

shall

be

went

on

to

verbally

abuse

the

them

if

they

not

hunt,

beaten

and

telling

abused,

have

These practices culminated in the
the

Beaver Indians

did

their

Ears

L' Homme
"they
cut . 11 33

killing of

traders by

which occurred near Pine

River Post

-

218 -

in 1823.
In

the older

its

effects

had

Company

traders

contemplated

and

fur-producing
been

underscored the effect
noting

the

benefits

areas

greatest,
the

a

where competition
few of North

problem.

F.

West

Wentzel

of competition on the traders

which

were

realized

but

he

by

also

bemoaned the personalities who gained influence in times
of competition.
From competition arises a variety of circumstances which, for a moment, promote the interest·
of many, in augmenting wages and unfurling capacities
which,
without
this,
would
perhaps
never have been demonstrated, tho' it is often
prejudicial to morals and equally injurious to
the character of many.
Besides this, several
people who are roguish in private and dissemblers in public ••• are the most noticed.3 4
He

further

suggested

that

the

period

of

competition

though bringing short-term benefits in higher prices for
furs

and lower costs

for

goods was ultimately destruct-

ive to the Indian for whom there were few long-term benefits.
With respect to the Indians, the care and attention that is paid ••. to them for the sake of
their skins renders them much more civilized
and cunning.
By this, they take a footing
which , wit h time , induces them to co mm it act ions which otherwise they would not have dared
to mention.
Indolence, robbery and murder are
the consequences of an opposition in trade:
people would suppose it would rouse their attention to industry, having goods at a lower
price, but far to the contrary; drunkenness,
idleness and vice are preferred •••• Thus no good
can be derived from the turbulent struggles of

-

219 -

opposition i-n this country; it destroys trade,
creates vice, and renders people crafty, ruins
good morals, and almost totally abolishes every
humane sentiment in both Christian and Indian
breast.35
Much

of

the

violence

occurred

the loyalty of the Indians.

in

attempts

to

maintain

The use of force though in-

itially successful, was not tolerated in the long run.
The most

telling evidence

ion

with

North

the

persistent

"the

Northern

the

treks

the

Company

in

the

Athabasca

were

Indians

to

the

Bay.

1807

by

Indians ••• arrived

quantity of fine
from

West

indicating dissatisfact-

furs.

vicinity

with

a

In

considerable

They ••• [were] chiefly strangers

of

the

At

Lake. 11 36

Athapuscow

the

newly established post on Hay River the North West Company

master,

Edward

Smith,

leader Grand Blanc and

was

many

told

of his

that

the

Chipewyan

relations

"intended

to leave the River and go to there [sic] Lands. 11 37

An-

other

leader

his

.band

have]

at

that

plans

post

laid

"the Three

down

to

go

next Season with his hunt. 11 38
Black Lake must
Indians

have filtered

expectantly

waited

come to the Athabasca

to

Thumbs ••• [and
Chu rchi 11

Factory

Word of Fidler's trip to
northwest for many of the

for

the

region.39

At

English
F o rt

traders

to

C h u r c h i 11 ,

in

part due to Chipewyan trade "Mr. Auld has got a far better

trade

place was

here this Year

than

settled in 1783. 11 40

-

220 -

has

ever

been

since

the

The Hudson's Bay Company

moved to

capitalize on

the North West
Lake.
over

Peter

Indian

Company

Fidler

the Portages

by

reluctance

travelling

followed

being

very

an

old

little

Canadians settled in the Athapescow,

to

trade

west

to

route

"the

with

Wollaston
tracks

used •••• Before

the

and some Beaver and

Northern Indians used annually to pass this way in great
numbers

on

Fidler

passed

which

leads

Lake. 11 42
[which]
the

their

"thro'
into

He
is

down
the

the

the

place

to

Churchill

Deer's

to

[Reindeer]

Eastern

part

of

the

establish

a

post

at

preferred

about

chose to

Athapuscow

route who

way

Lake. 11 43

He

met

1

trade. 11 41
Lake

c.

Athapuscow
"Black

days

several

&

Lake

walk

from

Chipewyans

en

promised to "lay up there [sic] winters fiunts

for. us next summer. 11 44

Fidler 's pilot "after we parted"

was given "a very severe Drubbing and had even broke two
of his ribs 11 45 by the North West Company master at Reindeer Lake.
up,

Although Fidler's efforts were not

the interest shown

by

the Hudson's

Bay

followed

·Comp~·rny

and

the contacts made with Indians en route served to entice
them down to the Bay in ensuing years.
By 1808
effort

to

grounds.

a

few

ensure

Indian

food

bands

stocks

were

rather

relocating

than

good

an

trapping

Yellowknife Indians in particular were hunting

the regions of the Upper Liard46 and west of Great
Lake.47

in

Bear

Chipewyans were hunting in the Peace River area

-

221 -

as

far as Pine River Fort.

in

the Liard area and had moved

to trade.48 Traders

were

bands

regions

in

defined

Beaver Indians were hunting
over

to Hay

River

attempting to align
centering

on

post

particular

a

particular

post.49 The ability of the pedlars to deploy Indians
particular
middleman
tribes.

areas
bands

was

from

only

the

successful

Chipewyan

They had regular access to

with

in
few

a

and

the Yellowknife

arms

and ammunition

and were familiar with all aspects of the trade.
Locational

changes

with

periodic

extremes

able

hardship

which

and

seasonal

cycles,

combined
consider-

of

climate

had

led

to

could

possibly

be

relieved

only

attempting to retain some flexibility of movement.

by

This

occurred to the Indians around the Forks of the Liard in
1807.

"The

and

Porcupine

place]

-

removal
Lakes

took

they being unable to find food elsewhere,

the-

to

[our

it

for

subsistence

is to be feared will

benefit]."50

The

Liard region were starving51 until
Rock
and

Mountain ••• or

not

[Upper]

Liard

some food. 11 52 A favourite

rived
be

vowed

in

the

able
to

Willow

[recently

[se] sad disasters
ribute

of the Indians to the Great

fall
to

move

off

to

some

he

cont-

of

lower

sixteen

"Capet

feared
for

lands

familiar.

- 222 -

the

from
skins

Rouge"

that

subsistence
more

the

"young men

brought

hunter

saying "that

find

Indians

little

he

would

Fort. n53
The

ar-

He

North

West Company trader disagreed with this plan:
I
desired them to abandon hunting any more
Animals this spring to apply themselves to the
Hunt
of
Pel tries
until
the
Animals
gets
Fat •••• They think that I am very hard upon them
for Beaver[;] great complaints are made for
which I do not care a curse.54
A continuing
led

Wentzel

to

His

efforts were

ently still

in

problem

attempt

of

food

growing

supply

a

on

the

vegetable

Liard

garden .55

of limited success as they were appar-

dire

need of

provisions.

It

was

neces-

sary to send a Canadian off
with orders to come as soon as possible with
what Provisions he could possible make the
Indians bring to the Fort as they may perhaps
otherwise
eat
the whole
themselves
without
remembering that we are equally in want of
them. 56
Some Indians

traded

what

little

order to get ammunition.
ling,

particularly

moose.

provisions

they

had

in

But game resources were dwind-

the large mammals -

buffalo,

Time which had previously been spent

elk and

in trapping

beaver was spent in attempts to replenish food supplies.
The problems of the Beaver Indian were increased in
1808 when a conflict with the Mountain or "Goat" Indians
occurred.
in

to

often

The Mountain Indians were

trade

from

excluded

Yellowknife

a

remote

from

the

middlemen

region.
trading

from

whom

attempting
They

posts
they

had
by

traded

to

come

been

most

Beaver

and

or

some

in

instances were plundered of their furs.

The

Mountain

Europeans,

Indians

trading

directly
-

223 -

with

specter

of
and

particularly

the

possibility

of

their

trading

in

arms

was fiercely resisted by the Beaver Indians.
There were numbers of beaver filtering down through
the middlemen.

Chipewyans in particular were intercept-

ting these furs

and opting to take them out to Hudson

Bay rather than receive prices and possible abuse

from

the pedlars.
The stresses of maintaining the

level

of

fur

re-

turns and of obtaining a basic food supply increased and
were channelled into intense pressure on the Indians.5 7
By the fall

of 1807 Wentzel issued a threat suggesting

that traders on the Lower Mackenzie placed a prohibition
[on] ••• all kinds of Pel tries except Beaver
they promised to work that Animal - as soon as
the Ice is taken over the Grand River they say
they will go above to the Red Knife River - I
also told them that if they did not stand to
this pledge of their Faith - I had orders from
all the Chiefs of Athabasca to shut up my shop
and Trade no more but send the goods in the
Spring to the Loucheux who would give us Beaver
in exchange.58
This threat was issued at a time when these same "Indians •.• were so poor that they Traded Moose Deer Sinews•.• for Beaver - For Making Hare Snares. 11 5 9
Depleted resources of the region pushed Indians to
the limit.
pedlars

On the Peace River

abused

the

Beaver

the North West

Indians

when

they

Company
did

bring in the desired amount of provisions and furs.

-

224 -

not

The trader at Dunvegan post ill treated them
both for not having worked better than they
have this winter and assured them that they
will be severely punished if they do not act
better for the future and that they might not
doubt of the truth of what I told them I pulled
their ears and gave each a few slaps.60
At

Hay River

to

ignore

When

their

three

Indian
were

in

who

killed.62
and

credits

Canadians

women

Slaves

1807 some

of the Chipewyans

and

were

had

deserted

of

the

to

sent

A Chipewyan

Beaver

go

the
out

barren
to

return

Liard

in

was

killed

the

same

peak that

d'Orignal

of

women,

the

latter

by

the

"or Gens

including

men,

[and] children were barbarously slaughtered."64

In

March

of

1808

brought

considerable

William

Auld

secure

the

please

them,

cal."65

some

Indians

amounts

of

furs

be

from

the

Athabasca

out

to

Churchill.

declared

that

"let

nothing

be

undone

to

approbation

of

these

people.

I

strive

to

clear

and

their

gratitude

is

unequivo-

He was told that the natives were "wonderfully

irritated against the Canadians they
never

they

same year when

the Mountain Indians

twenty-two

their

spring.63

the Beaver quarreled with
and

lands .61

from Bear Lake Post

trapper

Trouble on the Liard reached a

threatened

ashamed

at

the

smallness

promise me I
of my

shall

trade. n66

No

doubt there was exaggeration in the promise to trade all
with

the Hudson's

Bay Company in that they were telling

Auld what he wished to hear.

But there is little

- 225 -

doubt

in

the

accuracy

They had
avoid

of

the

perception

just travelled

the

Canadians.

seven
By

of

their

irritation.

hundred

miles

or

1810

Auld

had

more

received

to

more

Chipewyans from the Athabasca and welcomed
the arrival of many Northern Indians from great
distances_in the fall of the year and over whom
I am anxious to exert my influence in fixing
their regard towards at this critical time
while the Canadians are by their hard dealings
barely enabling the poor wretches to exist.67
Auld decided "to give a

bounty to the natives who

the more

exclusive of the usual price· for

them."
draw

valuable

He

furs

believed

down

the

this

Beaver

would

act

"as

hunters

from

the

a

new

bring

motive

to

Athapuscow

and

Slave Lakes. 11 68 Apparently the Chipewyans were

bringing

prime beaver for

"at no former

year [did Auld] •.• remem-

ber

a

fine

seeing

such

the Seas on."

He

quantity

gave

a

of

bonus

furs ••• so

of ammunition and

early

in

tobacco

for every ten Beaver Skins.69
The Indians

of the Mackenzie

lowlands

increasingly

displayed behaviour which reflected their disenchantment
with the
any.

The

fur trade as practiced by the North West· Compnot

always

sympathetic George Keith

observed

at Nahanni Forks on the Liard.
The natives of this Establishment entertain
very just ideas betwixt right and wrong and
decide matters of this nature as cooly and
impartially as could be expected from a set of
people who are much attached to the most distant relations and have no determinate principal

- 226 -

or principal
ters. 70
Disenchantment

person

with

the

for

settling

trading

practice

such
of

matthe

North

West Company was augmented by a downturn in trade caused
by widespread starvation in 1811.

This negative turn of

events was experienced from the Mackenzie Mountains
the Hudson Bay Coast.

to

At the Bay, William Auld was

completely
mortified
and
depressed
at
the
thoughts of the shocking situation of our
affairs in almost every quarter but what is
still more afflicting we hear that our Indians
have one and all much less success in killing
furs this year than ever known before and in
the latter end of that month and the beginning
of May several came in, in a state even worse
than our fears had led us to expect.71
Yet Indians st i 11 trick 1 ed in 7 2 from
Slave

Lake

areas73

despite

being

"in

the Athabasca
a

very

and

starving

condition [due to the] scarcity of Deer [caribou]. 11 74
The distress which had been periodically afflicting
the
1811.

Indians

struck

the

pedlars

of

the

Athabasca

in

Franz Wentzel was the only European man to surv"From ••• [Dec. 13] to the

ive at the Forks of the Liard.

11th of March, we lived upon nothing else but dried beaver

skins •••. upward

of

three

hundred •.• besides

a

few

lynx and otter skins. 11 75 Three men and a child died.76
The reasons given were the failure to contact the migrating

caribou

;Lack of fish.

combined with

a

"die-off of

hares"

and

a

In addition there were "poor returns all

over the country. 11 77

- 227 -

Between

1812

and

1814

the

fortunes

of

the

North

West Company in the Athabasca declined further.

The de-

struction
went

a

principal

establishment

by without

penalty.

"Athabasca

dwindling
want

of

of

down to

beaver,

try)."78

The

nothing.
(the

the

Indians

itself

is

in

fact

The Indians complain of the

Iroquois

pedlars'

by

having

continued

use

ruined
of

the

coun-

Iroquois

trap-

pers in the Athabasca

had long been resented.

As a

sult

continued

traders,

of

starvation,

abuse

from

the

re-

and competition from the Iroquois the natives
formed a conspiracy last Spring to massacre all
the whites of Fort Chipewean and Big Island, in
the Peace River, as well as Moose Deer Island
Establishment at Slave Lake.
The Chipewean
tribe appears to have been the first instigators, and altho' the affair seems to have been
laid aside and forgotten, still we are alive to
the most painful apprehensions for the safety
of our lives.7 9
Although there were generally unsettled conditions among
the
West

natives

of

Company

immediate

and

the
men

region
still

at

least

believed

temporary

problem.

some
it

of

grew
Fort

the
out

North
of

Chipewyan

resident traders believed that the Indians
intended .•. to destroy the house and all its inhabitants.
They had been instigated to this
rash design by the delusive stories of one
among them, who had acquired great influence
over his companions by his supposed skill in
necromancy.
This fellow had prophesied that
there would soon be a complete change in the
face of their country that fertility and plenty
would succeed to the present sterility; and
that the present race of white inhabitants, un-

228 -

an

less they became subservient to the Indians,
would be removed, and their place be filled by
other traders, who would supply their wants in
every possible manner •••• None of these menaces,
however, were put in execution.
They were probably deter red from the attempt by perceiving
that
a
most
vigilant
guard
was
kept
over
them. 80
From

a

relationship

of

trust

in

the

people of the Athabasca-Mackenzie
ves in a relationship of great

earliest

region

years

found

the

themsel-

insecurity.

On the lower Mackenzie the relationship was equally
In

unstable.

1813

the

Loucheux

arrived

at

Bear

Lake

Post with a supply of pelts to trade.

When they discov-

ered a meagre supply of trade goods,

particularly decor-

ative beads,

they tried to withdraw with their furs.

attempt

made to stop them and a massacre nearly re-

was

sulted.8 1
West

Wentzel

Company

were

was

of

finished

the
as

opinion
a

that

An

the

North

trading concern

in the

North.
One thing kept pace with another in the decline
of once famed At ha bas ca, for mer l y the delight
and school of the North.
The Canadians, who
were ever fond of the place and thought seldom
or ever of their native country, are now disgusted at the treatment they receive and gather
their money as fast as the squaws gather berries, in order to get rid of the 'S •••••• pays
maudit. 11 82
George Keith

was

of

a

similar opinion

and

a

year

later

he commented that "the returns these years have unfortunately sunk to such a degree that one has no pleasure
mentioning

them.

I

hope,
-

however,
229 -

that

they

have

in
now

reached their lowest ebb." 83
One of the pedlars openly stated that the plight of
the North West Company was as much due to deteriorating
relationships

with

the

natives

as

to

dwindling

fur

stocks.
I cannot account for it, but, by some fatality
or other, the Natives have taken a dislike to
the Whites, and the reductions of the returns
may perhaps be as much attributed to this unfortunate circumstance as it may be to the pretended ruined state of the country.84
Yet he went on to say that the partners believed that a
lack of beaver was their justification for shutting down
the Mackenzie River Department in that year.
the partners were unable or unwilling to

Apparently

recognize the

extent of hostility to their methods.
A year later the North West Company evacuated the
Mackenzie River posts.
mer

[of]

1815 to

the

All personnel left "in the sumgreat

hazard

of •.• [their]

lives,

for the natives having obtained a knowledge of our intentions had formed the design of destroying us on our
way out. 11 85

Wentzel did return the following year with

only one large canoe and was received with "extravagant
demonstrations of joy. 11 86
The years 1812-14 had been critical years for
fur trade of the Athabasca.

the

The end of the Napoleonic

Wars was in sight and the markets of Europe were to open

- 230 -

up to

In North America the

the Hudson's Bay Company.

War of 1812 began and the Americans captured Detroit and
disrupted North West Company transport and supply.
By 1814 the Hudson's Bay Company resolved to oppose
the North West Company in the Athabasca.

In that year a

study and inventory of returns had indicated that interior posts where North West Company opposition was experienced had produced better returns than posts by the Bay
where opposition was
cate that
tion,
to

negligible.

lethargy was more to

This seemed to
be

feared

than

indi-

opposi-

and a plan to extend incentives and link salaries

productivity

Northwesters

was

should

introduced.
be

replaced

"Appeasement
by

active

of

the

opposition,

even in Athabasca."87 The results of this study set the
stage

for

the

last

phases

of activity

Bay Company in the Athabasca.
took place.

of the

Hudson's

A more active opposition

Aggressive tactics would be countered.

position to all North West Company posts was
couraged.

- 231 -

to

Op-

be en-

VI
N 0 T E S

1E.E. Rich, The History of the Hudson's Bay Company,
1670-1870, II (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1959),
p. 273.
2 Ibid.
3colin Robertson,

as cited in ibid., p. 340.

4Ibid., p. 291.
5Ibid., p. 295.
Jennifer Brown postulates that
prior to approximately 1790 the offspring of native mothers
were brought up as "English" or "Indian".
After that date
the need for educated servants led the Bay to encourage the
mixed bloods advancement as a separate people.
See J.
Brown, Strangers in Blood, Fur Trade Families in the Indian
Country (Vancouver: Univ. of British Columbia Press, 1980),
pp. 157-58.
6John
Thomas,
"Moose
Servants
Requests
and
Resolves, 1803," Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, 8135/f/1.
7Rich, Hudson's Bay Company,
8Ibid.,

p. 264.

9Ibid., p. 270.
10Ibid., p. 257.

-

232 -

II, p. 256.

11Ibid., p. 221.
12A. Mackenzie, Great Bear Lake Journal, 2 July 1806,
Montreal, McGill Mss, CH180, S162, n. pag.
This was Sir
Alexander Mackenzie's nephew.
13A. Mackenzie in _L.F.R. Masson, Les Bourgeois de la
Compagnie du N,ord Ou est, I ( 1889; rpt. New York: Antiquarian Press, 19q9), pp. 292-93.
The Dogribs were not very
successful as ~1ddlemen in these years.
14F. Wentzel to R. McKenzie,
River, 23 Mar. 1807, ibid., p. 95.

Forks

of

the

Mackenzie

15Ibid.
16F. Wentzel, Fort Enterprise, Winter Lake, 26 Feb.
1826, cited in H.A. Innis, The Fur Trade in Canada ( 19 30;
r pt • Tor on t o : Un i v • o. f T-o r on t o , 1 9 6 4 ) , p • 2 0 1 •
17This was located near Fort Good Hope.
A. Mackenzie, Great Bear Lake Post Journal, 26 Oct. 1805, Montreal,
McGill Mss., CH180, S162, n. pag.
18Innis, Fur Trade, p. 202.
See fragments
Keith's Biskaga
[Nahanni] River Journal,
4 June
Ottawa, PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9338.

of G.
1807,

19 11 Mr. Rochblave has been pleased to inform me that
the Red Knives will probably· possess the Beaver Country
again the ensuing summer and winter."
F. Wentzel, Journal,
Forks of the Mackenzie River, 1807, Montreal, McGill Mss.,
CH176, S158, n. pag.
20The Slave Indians near Wentzel could not be reassured that the Yellowknives would leave them alone.
"This
however will not be enough to satisfy the timorous minds of
my Indians."
Ibid.
21G.

Keith,

Biskaga

River

-

233 -

Journal,

13

May

1807,

Otta-wa, PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24,

p. 9337.

22F. Wentzel, The Forks of the Mackenzie River,
Mar. 1808, Montreal, McGill Mss., CH176, S158, n. pag.

15

23Ibid., 19 June 1808.
\'
I j:

24Ibid., 25 Sept. 1807.

25p. Fidler, 6 June 1807, Miscellaneous Papers Journal, 1807, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, E3/5, fo. 2.
Fidler goes on to say "whereas the other year 1799 when the
greatest returns came out only [there] was then 648 packs."
26sylvia Van Kirk, Many Tender Ties
and Dwyer, 1980), p. 92.

(Winnipeg: Watson

27simon Fraser, Letter to James McDougall, Makasteh,
21 Dec. 1806, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, A9, Vol. 2, n. pag . .
28Wentzel, Journal, The Forks of the Mackenzie River,
6 Mar. 1808, Montreal, McGill Mss., CH176, 5158.
29rbid.

30Pine River. Post Journal, [Fort St. John],
1808, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9375 .

26

Jan.

..-31Alexander N.
1807, ibid., p. 9380.

1

Mar.

Mcleod,

32Ibid., 12 Apr. 1807,

Beaver

River

Fort,

p. 9384.

33rbid., 13 Apr. 1807, p. 9385.
3 4 F. Wentzel to R. McKenzie, Forks of
River, 27 Mar. 1807, in Masson, pp. 95-96.

-

234 -

the

Mackenzie

35Ibid.,

p. 96.

36FCPJ, 25 Apr.
B42/a/132, fo. 14.

1807,

Winnipeg,

Man.,

37Edvvard Smith, Hay River Post Journal,
Ottawa, PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9341.

HBC

Archives,

21

May 1807,

38Jbid., 23 May 1807, p. 9341.
9
3 Ibid., 12 Oct. 1807,

p. 9345.

40p. Fidler, 4 Aug. 1807, Miscellaneo~s Papers JourWinnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, E3/5, fo. 20.
See also
~., 29 July, 1807, fo. 17.
nal,

41Ibid., 19 June

1807~

fo. 6 and ibid., E3/3,

42w. Auld, FCPJ, 16 Nov. 1806,
Ar-chives, 842/a/132, fos. 5 and 5d.

Winnipeg,

fo. 8.

M-an.,

HBC

43Ibid., 2 Aug. 1807, fo. 21d.
Fidler commented:
"This way we have come is very short in comparison by passing the Isle a la Crosse and Methy Portage - but th~ water
is much shoaler."

44Fidler, 7 July 1807,
ibid., E3/3, fo. 17.

45Ibid.,

Miscellaneous Papers Journal,

15 July 1807, fo.

13.

46

G.
Keith,
Biskaga River Journal, . 13
Ottawa,_ PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9337.
47

wentzel, Forks of the Mackenzie River,
treal, McGill, Mss., CH176, S158, n. pag.

- 235 -

May

1807,

1807,

Mon-

48E. Smith, Hay River Post,
PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9346.

15

Oct.

1807,

Ottawa,

50F. Wentzel, Journal, Forks of the Mackenzie River,
5 Aug. 1807, Montreal, McGill Mss., CH176, S158, n. pag.
51Ibid., 16 Aug. 1807.
52Ibid., 17 Aug. 1807.
53Ibid., 17 Sept. 1807.

54F. Wentzel, Journal, Forks of the Mackenzie River,
6 Apr. 1806, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9303.
55 "Everything in the
ibid., Sept. 1806, p.· 9298.

garden

comes

up

pretty

well."

56F. Wentzel, Journal, 9 Sept. 1807, Forks of the
Mackenzie River, Montreal McGill Mss., CH176, S158, n. pag.
5 7 Wentzel
"Several of the
Martin, Pichoux,
had told them in

told the Indians only to hunt beaver.
Indians had thrown away great numbers of
and Carcajoux skins - on account of what I
the Fall."
Ibid., 8 Nov. 1807.

58Ibid., 15 Oct. 1807.
59"The scarcity of animals never appeared among these
people more severely than this year.
Some of them are
greatly in danger of starving this winter from want of sinews to make hare snares."
Ibid.

60ounvegan Post Journal,
MG19, E1, Vol. 24, p. 9279.

-

5

236 -

Feb.

1808,

Ottawa,

PAC,

61E. Smith,
Ottawa, PAC, MG19,
62wentzel,

Hay River Post Journal,
E1, Vol. 24, p. 9348.

17

Oct.

1807,

ibid., 19 June 1808.

63Ibid., 28 June 1808.

64c. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, Biskaga River
Post, 1 Dec. 1808, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 51, p. 19.
65w. Auld, FCPJ, 17 Mar.
Archives, B42/a/133, fo. 5d.

1808,

6 6 Ibid •
See also i bi d • ,
fo. 7d. and 22 May 1809, fo. 8d.

B4 2 I a I 1 3 4 ,

6 7 I b i d • , 1 6 Au g • 1 8 1 O ,

Winnipeg,

B4 2 I a I 1 ~ 6 a ,

68Ibid., 15 Sept. 1810, fo.

10.

69Ibid., Oct. -

fo.

Nov. 1810,

26

Man.,

Apr •

HBC

18 0 9 ,

fo• 1•

12.

70Kei th goes. on to relate two speci fie instances of
this sense of justice in action.
G. Keith, Letter to R.
McKenz_ie, Biskaga River .Post, 28 Feb. 1810, Ottawa, PAC,
MG19, C1, Vol. 5_1, pp. 3839.
71w. Auld, FCPJ, May 1811, B42/a/136a, fo.

21.

72FCPJ, 25 Oct. 1811, B42/a/137, fo. 2d.
73Ibid., 29 Oct. 1811, fo.

3.

74Ibid., 19 May 1812, fo.

10.

75F.

R.

Wentzel,

Letter

to
-

237 -

McKenzie,

Forks

of

the

Mackenzie River, 30 Apr. 1811,

in Masson,

I,

p. 106-07.

11

76 Poudrie, Pillon and Wm. Henry, _all Canadians, and
the child of Poudrie," G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie,
Great Bear Lake Post, 5 Jan. 1812, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1,
Vol. 51, p. 48.
77Ibid.,

p. 49.

78F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie,
28 Feb. 1814, .in Masson, I, p. 109.

Bear Lake Post,

79 Ibid.
8 0 Si r John Frankl in , __N....;a_r_r....;a..;.._t....;i_v....;e__o_f_a__J_o_u_r_n_e_..y_....;t....;o__t_h_e
Shores of the Polar Sea ( 1823; rpt. New York: Greenwood
Press, 1969),. p. 152.
81F. Wentz~l, Letter td R. McKenzie,
28 Feb. 1814,: in Masson, I, p. 109.

Bear Lake.Post,

8 2Ibid.
83G. Keith, Letter to R. McKenzie, Mackenzie's River,
4 Feb. 1815, Ottawa, PAC, MG19, C1, Vol. 51, n. pag.
84F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie,
6 Mar. 1815, in Masson, I, p. 114.
85Ibid.,

pp. 114-15.

87Ibid., p. 312.

-

238 -

Bear Lake Post,

CHAPTER VII
RESTORED MONOPOLY: REORGANIZATION, DEPLOYMENT AND
CONSERVATION

Arrival of the Hudson's Bay
aggerated the

critical

Company

problems which

Mackenzie lowland region.

after 1815 ex-

were

plaguing the

Most severe were in the Peace

River country where the implications of the exploitation
of

the

This

previous

region,

traders

down

pemmican

to

disarray.

twenty-five

once

the

the

Mackenzie

fuel

fur

years

storehouse

of

River

brigades

to

was

most

food

and
Fort

Large mammals had almost

evident.

support

for

source

of

the

William,

was

in

disappeared

and

fur

returns were marginal.

During the winter of 1815-16 at

least

starved

sixteen

employees

to

death

on

the

Peace

River.
Most Indians realized from the earliest days of the
fur

trade

worth

of

the

value

their

furs

goods down.1

of
and

competition
in

keeping

in
the

enhancing
price

Alternative marketing of furs

of

the

trade

at Prince

of

Wales'

and Churchill Forts had periodically been exerci-

sed

realize

to

practice

of

the

higher
North

returns
West

or

escape

Company.

the
The

predatory
period

of

competition between 1799-1805 had for the first

time im-

pressed

resulting

upon

the

Indians

the

mixed

benefits

and some were actively looking with favour on the stability which might be derived from a return to monopoly.
Competition

had

led

to

extremes

of

treatment

and

excesses which had come to be identified with the interludes when
incident

occurred

upon

the

arrival

Company

in

"One

of

the

North

West

Clark

A typical

competing markets were available.

1815,

saying

the

of

the Hudson's

Bay

came

to

Mr.

them ••• and

was

Indians
had

armed

up

Endeavouring To Prevail on them to destroy us all. 11 2 At
Fort Resolution it was observed that
the North West are following up their usual
custom of running after the poor Indians in all
directions with armed men and drives them before them like a flock of sheep to their fort
and treats them as they think proper.3
In the first

year of revived competition after 1815 the

Indians were mainly concerned that the Hudson's Bay Company

had

the

those

who

traded

join

us

as

resolve

it.

afterwards

we

but

North

they

strength
became

if we

had

would

increased

more

stay

with

North West
West

to

and

the

power

"They

said

it

could

protect

to

protect

was

hard

to

them

from

the

an

equal

[strength]

with

the

soon

join

us. 11 4

As

the

Bay

the

natives

between

ca le u lat ing

1816

in. the

corporate direction.

-

240 -

and

1819

event

of

a

change

of

As George Simpson observed all their measures
are regulated by political views, they know the
value of Opposition and dread the termination
of it, therefore in order to encourage both
parties, knowing that it must very soon cease
to
exist,
if
they
attached
themselves
altogether to either side; they settle among
themselves who are to join the French and who
the English: the head of a numerous Family
almost invariably attaches so many to one side
and so many to the other, and individuals
frequently take credit at each Fort and divide
their hunts.5
But the Indians were also applying
to

carry

than

greater

ever

proportions

before.

North

of

pressure by choosing

their

West

Company

reduced to ninety packs by 1818.6
by

1819

They

were

placing

their

"desire ••• [their

Indians

having

returns

Bay
were

Some were fearful and
hidden

might

be

sent

for:

the

bringing

either

furs

or

meat

between

the

since

the

opposition

commenced."7

By

1819

the

"nearly 3/4 of

the

in

themselves,

area,

to

stocks

stocks]

declined

furs

the

Indians
total"

of

were

the

caches.

Companies

Peace

trading

River

with

the

great

pa rt

with

the

Hudson's Bay Company.

due

The

fur

trade

been

in

disarray

to

the

disillusionment

of

the

trade.

other

much

to

in

natives

"In fact the Natives are so much disorganized in

Athabasca,
in

had

that
parts

say

if they are

in the same train

of

the

North

that

the

fur

West,

trade

it

[is]

will

of
not

ruined

living
be

for

too
some

years to come. 11 8
As late as 1819 the Indians were
- 241

-

still contemplat-

ing

the

attempt

whites.
the

to

rid

the

Mackenzie

"An old Cree communicated to Mr.

Indians

spoke

of

killing

all

that vicinity this year." The same
to

remark

"'A pretty

aware

1811.

of

the

the

of

all

Prudens,

that

white

people

individual was

state we shall

goods you bring us.' n9
well

region

be

in,

of

some

Indians

as

had

the
been

early

as

In that year a tower had been built "for the pur-

poses of watching the motions of the Indians,
ded ••• to
The

moved

without

The North West Company

intent

in

destroy

native

would

be a

the

house

and

all

its

who inten-

inhabitants. n10

leader at that time had forecast

that

"there

complete

their

coun-

change

in

the

face

of

had

little

try." 11
Native threats appear to have

impact

on

the

behaviour

of the North West Company because as late

as

1820

"a

when

over this

North

West

Chief

(Whiskey

morning with the intention of

Jack)

came

joining us [the

Hudson's Bay Company] ••• Keith detained his wife and sent
two Halfbreeds
peated
sess

his

but

after

him. 11 12

contention
a

faint

that

F.W.

"the

resemblance

Wentzel

whites

of

at

that

in 1812 represent

influence

poswhich

they formerly turned so well to their own emolument
thereby

also

to

the

benefit

ives were starving who

"for

of

their

country. 11 13

some yea rs

Nat-

[had]

been

considered ..• the best hunters of the[ir] tribe. 11 14

With

- 242 -

pa st

and

their

fort

hunters

starving,

reduced

Chipewyan

were

years.15

Athapaskans
and

stances

stopped

to

the

the

residents

shortest

became depressed

hunting,

thus

of

Fort

provisions
in

such

in

cir cumto

the

struck

the

contributing

malaise.16
To

further

the

dislocation,

smallpox

native people of the North West

in 1820.

Fully "1/5 of

the

Lake

Athabasca

population

between

Rainy

[estimated to be]

destroyed."17 At

of

according

the

their

survivors

to

and

was

Fort Resolution many

their

custom

"destroyed

property and stopped hunting - the consequence of

which was they have not procured a single skin, and have
starved ever since."18 George Simpson commented at Lake
Athabasca

that

the

disease

"carried

and

they

are

now

dispersing

in

that

a

change

of

residence

may

all

away

whole

bands,

directions,

hoping

arrest

the

progress

of

the contagion. 11 19 On the Peace River many became sickly
as they

"are naturally

of a

delicate

so much addicted to spiritous liquors,
ten

dies

of a

an

Iroquois,

rapid
and

decline. n20

constitution,
that

and

nine out of

"Many Beaver Indians,"

three

North

West

Company

of

once

formidable

servants

died. 21
The

decline22

the Peace River was

the

complete.23

resources

In 1823 when

of

the Hud-

son's Bay Company attempted to close the posts and with-

- 243 -

draw

their

Indians.
other

personnel
Four

was

killed

closed.24 The
and take

men

up

they

were
at

were

attacked

killed

at

Fort

Dunvegan

in

freemen

were

Iroquois

by

the

St.

John.

1824

when

convinced

Beaver
An-

it
to

was
leave

residence at Lesser Slave Lake and remnants

of the Beaver bands relocated near the post at Fort Vermflion. 25
Further

dislocation

of

the Yellowknife

dominance as

Dogribs.

had

They

been

the

natives

occurred

middlemen was

subjugated

by

when

ended by the

the Yellowknives

since the 1790's.26
We suffered our Wives, our Daughters and our
Brothers to be taken from us with their Children.
Our Furs also, this we considered of little importance, they were only skins of Animals, but even our Nets upon which our existence
depended, were likewise taken from us, and frequently our Axes, Guns and whatever was most
useful or necessary to our maintenance.2 7
Arrival

of the Hudson's Bay Company with their

provisions from the Dogrib country led to

need for
in

arms

and a much stronger and prosperous native presence.

The

Yellowknives,
eventually

led

by

abandoned

River and moved

to

Akaitcho
their

the

were

locale

east

end

trade

dispersed.
on

the

They

Yellowknife

of Great Slave Lake

or

southeast of Fort Resolution.28
The

predominance

evidence

of the

and

consequent

the

of

Dogrib

depleted food
turn

to
-

over

stocks

bountiful
244 -

Yellowknife

on

was

the Peace River

caribou

herds

on

the

edge

of

Dogrib

lands.

depleted

of

large

mammals

The
and

Peace
the

supply adequate amounts of meat.
ers,

the

Cree

starving.

and

Beaver

River

had

been

Athabasca

did

not

Traditional provision-

Indians,

were

periodically

"There is more danger to be apprehended from

Starvation here than in any part of North America,

and

unless the greatest precaution is taken the people must
inevitably
Loucheux

perish."29

desired

Although

restoration

the

of

Slave,

trade,

Hare,

there

and

were

no

attempts "to penetrate further on account of the danger
of famine."30
In 1819 the
switched

their

fur

main

traders

and

dependence

to

many

native

trappers

caribou meat.

John

Franklin found in that year that Old Fort Providence was
mainly a provisioning depot "for the convenience of the
Copper and Dogrib Indians,

who

generally

bring

such

a

quantity of rein-deer meat that the residents are enabled, out of their superabundance, to send annually some
provision to

the Fort at

Moose -

Deer Island."31

Dogribs became vital to the reorganized trade,
at

Fort

Resolution

on

the

south

shore

of

The

although

Great

Slave

Lake, remnants of the Yellowknives and Chipewyans traded
in caribou meat.32
Necessity had turned the fur traders and Indians of
the region to hunt the large caribou herds.

-

245 -

A division

of

labour

leading

the

native

specialized

roles

was

encouraged

Company.

The Company,

people
by

to

adopt

further

the

Hudson's

Bay

and George Simpson in particular,

was responsible for the labelling of the Chipewyan bands
which we know today.33 He was the first Euro-Canadian to
use the term "caribou eater."
The Carribeau Eaters are those who confine
themselves to their own barren lands and so
called from the circumstance of their devoting
the whole of their attention to hunting the
Carribeau or Rein Deer.34
Simpson related that the caribou-eaters and Yellowknives
mainly traded at Fort Resolution.

"The Post at Montagne

Island is the provision depot of Mckenzie River .•• provisions is ••• the main object,
ate

terms

in

great

which they obtain

abundance

so

that

they

the miseries

of Famine.35 The

Yellowknives

there

they

from

after

were

driven

the

on moder-

seldom
also

vicinity

feel

traded
of

the

Yellowknife River by Dogribs; there they "exchange provisions and the few furs they collect. 11 36
The third group of Chipewyans noted by Simpson were
the

Montagners.

"The

Mountainees

been

in

for

many

the

habit

years

are
past

those
of

who

have

Trading

with

the North West principal Establishments, are chiefly Fur
hunters,

and

previous

industrious. 11 37
"'homeguards'

This

[and]

to

the

group

opposition
was

devoted their

termed

were
by

attention

tolerably

Simpson

as

exclusively

to Fur Hunting except when in search of immediate suste-

246 -

nance."38

They

were

"expert

Beaver

hunters"

and

had

in

earlier years indulged in lengthy journeys "in search of
that

valuable

hunting

l \

into

Grounds •••• [They

Carribeau
J

animal

Lake;

to

the

Westerly to the Banks

the

Cree

made]

South

of

a

by

and

Beaver

circuit
Isle

the Peace

a

Indian

easterly

by

Crosse;

and

la

River. 11 39

Their

ex-

tensive range led to conflict with other bands since the
Chipewyans

were

paid

a

higher

price

than

any

saving often as much as five skins for a gun.

others,

"They can

afford to barter their property with the Slaves and have
handsome

profits."

followed

up with some disagreeable consequence ••• it_be-

ing

for

the

the

Indians

mixing

with

"If

not

timely

stoped

benefit

of

the

Concern

in

at

River

distinct

and

this

Chipewyans. 11 40

additional incentive for

These

division

[this]

general

from

provided

labour and

be

to· keep

separate

conflicts
of

may

an

organi-

zation of bands around particular posts.
Attempts were made to regularize relationships with
Cert~inly

the natives.
George

Simpson

attempted
treatment.
and

held

to

the Hudson's Bay Company led by

was

firm,

induce

a

Women
hostage

even

sometimes

harsh;

relationship

based

and

children

were

no

in

exchange

for

furs.

on

longer

but

more

it

fair

abducted

"Simpson

was

emphatic that the use of spirits ranked alongside improper familiarity with Ind.ian women as a cause of serious

-

247 -

differences

with

the

Indians."41

He

worked

to

end

the

scenes of debauchery which had formerly marked post life
and

by 1825

distressed
one

end

chased
to

remarked
by the

that

"we are

recollection

of the country there
by

the

liquor. 11 42 Simpson

Athabasca-MacKenzie

now thank God

of

such

scenes,

is

not

was

speaking

single
in

from

skin

pur-

reference
1821

Simpson had succeeded in cutting

"the quantity of

spir-

its

less

into

the

country ••• to

only,

as

by

taken

region

a

merely

yet

than 1 /12 part

of

that which the two companies had taken in during opposition. n43 He
the

believed that the liquor traffic was one of

critical

nine out

elements

of

the

problem

of

contact.

"In

of ten where serious differences arise between

the natives and the people of the Establishments I am of
opinion

that

the

cause

may

be

traced

to

ourselves. 11 44

This was certainly an oversimplification of the problems
associated

with

fur

trade

in

to the liquor trade would
ions

brought

on

by

previous

lead to a

drunkenness,

years

but

reduction

an

in

particularly

end

tensin

the

Peace River country.
The decision to cut back on the liquor trade was in
part

the

ca u s e

John

in 1823.

of

a

s er i o us

confront at ion

of

the

tressed

in

supply

the

Fort

St •

The Beaver Indians who had since contact

been under the influence
at

at

cutback

-

248 -

liquor
and

trade

were

dis-

struck

out

when

they

also

discovered

their

closed

in

favour of Rocky Mountain Portage. 45 When this post

and

Fort

were

Dun vegan

was

and

food stocks of that section of the Peace River area

to

to

to

allow

the

the Beaver Indians were forced to move down to

Fort Vermilion.
ed

closed

be

to

fur

recover,

later

post

Lesser

The freemen from the region were removSlave

Lake

and

the

Peace

River

country

quickly recuperated.46
Native people had a long history of exposure to attempted organization of the trade.

Specialization

been

encouraged

the

West

Company

since

the

time

establishments

in

of
the

earliest

Athabasca

had

North

region.

Cree Indians had been encouraged to be provisioners andwere limited to that role after the smallpox epidemic in
1781-84.47

Beaver

Indians

had

been

encouraged

to

hunt

primarily the buffalo, moose, and elk in the Peace River
area. 48 Yellowknife Indians took the role of middlemen
in the peripheral areas and began provisioning Bear Lake
Post and Fort Resolution with caribou meat.49 The Montagner band of Chipewyans originally from the Lake Athabasca area were encouraged to range over the Upper Churchill,

the Athabasca and Peace River

drainages to

trap

furs.SO
Acute problems of depletion by 1821 revealed these
earlier attempts to encourage specialized roles as hap-

- 249 -

hazard

and

By 1821

the depletion

of food

stocks

consider

alternative

hunting

regions.

when it

had succeeded

in the

early

by

speed

the

in

need

and

of

revision

extent

of

region and was

due,

ning,

no

small

part

the

early

fur

but

followed

in
in

periodically

with

strict

observance.

caused Indians

hampered

occurring

policy

of

to

rapacious

the

to

Specialization

period was

changes

not to a

faced

and

in

long-term

the

plan-

policies

period.

Indians

were

dislocation

due

to

the

disorganization

of

the

fur

trade

major

rapid depletion of resources.
By

1819

the

extent

of

trade in the region was recognized by
pean alike.
his

der's

perspective:

form,

it

whole

happens

of

their

any

part

have

that

from

both

they

attention

themselves and Families and
liquidate

problem

"when they

frequently

the

and Euro-

George Simpson placed in the Company record

growing awareness of the

devote

natives

the

fur

tra-

duties

to

per-

are
to

compelled

the

support

to
of

in the spring are unable to

of their Debts. n51

But

European

and

Indian alike were aware of the need for a more conservative policy
stances

in

gravitated

Other

groups

changes

for

Natives

the Athabasca.

were

to

new

regions

actively

redeployment

of

to

involved
bands.

had

in many in-

relieve
in

hardship.

recommending

Changes

which

re-

flected attempts to relieve hardship brought on by prof-

- 250 -

ligate practices were well

underway by the time of the

arrival of George Simpson in 1819.

As Chief Factor for

the Mackenzie region, Simpson was responsible for carrying out the reorganizations already underway and recorded

the

changing

realities

of

the

fur

trade

of

the

examined

the

potential

for

period.
Simpson

methodically

each of the trading

regions.

Some areas

he

preferred

not to re-establish and allow to recruit.52 Other areas,
particularly the rivers dra fning

into

Great

fur

Slave Lake,

and trade was

were

rich

encouraged

by

River and on the Liard.53

in

the sout hside

and

establishing

food

of

resources

posts

at

Hay

Simpson was aware of the pot-

ential for agriculture in the area of Fort Vermilion and
recommended

"extensive

gardens •.•• "

"Crops

of

Grain,

Potatoes, and other Vegetables and its contiguity to the
Buffalo

hunting

grounds

renders

it

the

most

desirable

abode in this part of the Country. 11 54 Gardens were also
recommended

for

Fort

Dun vegan

and

St.

Mary's

Post .55

Freemen, Iroquois and discharged servants who were "more
expert

in

huhting the Buffalo

ves1156 were encouraged to

and Deer than

locate

in

regions

the Natiwhere

re-

turns were poor.
In areas where native confidence in the fur

trade

had reached a low ebb the hunters were given encourage-

- 251 -

ment.

"In order to regain the confidence of the Beaver

Indians

and

Free

Iroquois

about

Peace

River

and

the

Rocky Mountain"57 an attempt was made to restore stability.

Food supplies in the Lake Athabasca area were

assessed

and

"ha[d]

never

Simpson's

reorganized;
yet

confidence

since in 1821
•.. [the
North

been

"many

Bay's]

West

not

believed

lead to

that

and

three

starved

to

they

attended

to. 11 58

immediate

changes

the Beaver Indians ••• [,]

Iroquois,

Company 11 59

was

sufficiently

did
of

it

re-

one

of

to

the

late

as

belonging

death.

As

1824, he concluded the Chipewyans "can never be rendered
dependant [sic] much less become stationary •••• 11 60 Still
the deployment went on.
to

go

down

encouraged
hunting

the
to

Some Chipewyans were encouraged

Mackenzie

move

out

'reindeer, 1 62

River

onto

in

the

especially

1825.61

barrens
those

Others

to

of

were

subsist

Peace

by

River.

Simpson linked the problems of conservation and the need
to help rehabilitate the Beaver Indians with the murders
on the Peace River in 1823.63 The Peace River was effectively

closed

removed,

by

River,
fluence

"the

compulsion

and the
to

and

if

Company's

persuade

the

freemen

were

necessary,

to

ordered

to

be

Canada

or

Red

their

in-

servants ••. [to]

use

Chipewyans

return

to

to

the

Barren Lands and live off deer. 11 64
Large

mammal

food

stocks

-

in

252 -

the

Mackenzie

lowland

region were subject to rapid depletion in selected areas
after

approximately

historic

path

to

1790.

Regions

Churchill

in

proximity

were. subjected

to

to

the

hunting

pressure in the earlier middleman period of trade.

But

as

into

the

Montagner

Chipewyans

moved

south

and

the rich trapping grounds after the 1750's,
decline

in

pressure

on

caribou

Beverley and Kaminuriak.
these

herds

occurred

herds,

Further

after

the

with

the

establishment

of

there was a

particularly

the

easing of

pressure

on

smallpox

epidemic

of

1781-84 reduced the Chipewyan population.
1788

west

Fort

It

was after

Chipewyan

as

the

main provisioning depot for the Athabasca on the edge of
the

rich

Athabasca

these areas

were

Food

in

stocks

Delta

subject
the

near
to

Peace

the

intense

River,

Peace

River,

hunting

Athabasca,

that

pressures.
and

Upper

Churchill Rivers, which were so plentiful at the time of
European

arrival,

were

quickly

stocks of Buffalo, moose,

Bountiful

reduced.

elk and woodland

c~ribou

which

were referred to as the "grand magazin" of the Athabasca
in

the

1790's

were

no

longer

available

in

sufficient

numbers to support the additional population after 1805.
Native trappers after 1805 returned in considerable
numbers

in

proximity

to

bountiful

food

stocks.

A few

moved to the south shore of Great Slave Lake where fish
were available.

Many returned to the edge of the barren

-

253 -

caribou

were

regions

were

scarce

in

beaver

and

marten

provided

few

marketable

furs,

the

fur

and the Indians obtained a

available.

Since the latter

grounds where

minimum of

the

trade
trade

natives

suffered,
goods.

By

1821 the bands were willing to trust in the organization
of

the

Hudson's

Bay

Company.

The

desire

to

obtaining the benefits of the fur trade and at
time have some assurance of food

stocks led a

continue
the

same

number

of

them to accommodate to specialized trapping or hunting.

-

254 -

VII
N 0 T E S
\.
I I\

·'
1Fort Wedderburne J~urnal, Athabasca Lake, 18 Sept.
1815, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, 839/a/6, fo. 18.
2Ibid., 28 Sept. 1815, fos. 17d-18.

3Fort Resolution Journal, 1 Nov.
Ma-n., HBC Archives, 8181/a/1, fo. 14.

4Ibid., 6 Oct. 1816, fo.

1818,

Winnipeg,

14d.

Sc. Simpson, L~tter to Governor and Committee, 18
May 1821 in E.E. Rich, ed. Simpson's Athabasca Journ.al
(Toronto: Champlain Society, 1938), p. 358.
6F. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, Great Slave
Lake, 15 Apr. 1819 in L.F.R. Masson, ed., Les Bourgeois de
la Compagnie du Nord-Quest, I (New York: Antiquarian Press,
1960), p. 122.

7sir John Franklin, Narrative of a Journey to the
Shores of the Po 1-a r Sea ( 1 ""'8..,,,2'""3,....;--r-p"""t-.-.....N.,...e_w_"""'Y"""o-r-.,...k-:--,i;G_r_e_e_n_w_o_o_,.d
Press, 1969), p. 126.
St. Mary's Post Journal, 1819,
Archives, 8190/a/2, fos. 8 and 17.

Winnipeg,

Man.,

HBC

SF. Wentzel, Letter to R. McKenzie, Mountain Island,
23 May 1820 in Masson, I, p. 127.
9 Franklin,

p. 117.

-

255 -

10Franklin,

p. 152.

11rbid.

12Fort Wedderburne,
Journal, p. 74.

5

Oct.

1820

in

Rich,

Simpson's

\'

13Ibid.

I I\

14G. Simpson, Fort Wedderburne, 9
Simpson's Journal, p. 197.

Dec.

1820 in Rich,

15Ibid., 20 Dec. 1820, p. 202.
16Ibid., 11 Jan. 1821,
p. 197.

p. 223.

See also 9 Dec. 1820,

17F~ Wentzel, 23 May 1820 in Masson, I, p. 130.·
18William Brown, Fort Resolution Jourr:ial, 12
1820, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B181/a/2, fo. 61.

Jan.

19c. Simpson, Fort Wedderburne, 13 Oct. 1820 in Rich,
Simpson's Journal, p. 81.

20John Clark, St. Mary's Post Journal, 24 Apr.
Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B190/a/2, fo. 92.

1820,

21c. Simpson, Fort Wedderburne,
Simpson's Journal, p. 338.

Rich,

May

1821

in

11

22 There has been a great mortality amongst the
Beaver Indians" and "we have lost many valuable hunters."
G. Simpson, Letter to Duncan Finlayson, Fort Wedderburne,
Sept. 1820, ibid., p. 61.

23rhe

post,

Pierre au
-

Calumet
256 -

had

been

abandoned

in

Dec. 1818 "on account of the resictents not being able to
procure provisions from their hunters, having been disabled
by the epidemic sickness which has carried-off one-third of
the Indians in these parts." Franklin, p. 137.
Ibid., May
1821, p. 338.
24E.E. Rich,
Company 1670-1870,
1959), pp. 474-75.

e d • , T h e His t o-r y o f t h e Hu d s o n ' s Ba y
II (London: Hudson Bay Record Society,

25 Ibid.
26oogrib Chief Kanoohaw
speaking to
F.
Wentzel,
Letter to John Mcleod, Fort Simpson Journal, 8 Apr. 1824,
Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B"200/a/4, fos. 4-6.
27George Back, Arctic Land Expedition to the South of
the Great Fish River (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1970), pp. 456-57.
See also Rich, Simpson's Journal, p. 252n.
28Back,

p. 457.

29G. Simpson, Fort Wedderburne,
Simpson's Journal, p. 392.

18 May 1821

in Rich,

30ibid., p. 395.
31Franklin, p. 20~-09.
32only twelve packs
Simpson's Journal, p. 32.
33G.
. p. 369.

Simpson,

Fort

of

furs

Wedde_rburne,

3 4 Ibid.
35Ibid., 18 May 1821, p. 371.
-

257 -

were

traded.

16 May 1821,

Rich,

ibid.,

36Ibid.
37Ibid., 16 May 1821, p. 369.
3 8 Ibid.
39Ibid., 18 May 1821, .p. 355.

ri:oEdward Smith, Fort Simpson Post Journal, 10 Apr.
1825, Winnipeg, Man., HBC Archives, B200/a/6, fos. 3-4.
1
4 Rich,

Hudson's Bay Company,

II,

p. 477.

42Ibid.
43 Ibid.
44After 1826 "no liquor of _any description should be
taken to any post north of Cumberland." Ibid., p. 478.
George Simpson quoted in ibid., p. 475.
45 Ibid.
46 11 The
freemen
were
ordered
to
be
removed,
by
compulsion if necessary, to Canada or Red River."
.Ibid.,
pp. 474-75.

47see chapter IX,
·43See chapter V,

n. 5, n. 45,

n. 46, and n. 79.

n. 63.

9
4 Beryl
Gillespie,
"An
Ethnohistory
of
the
Yellowknives," in Contributions to Chipewyan Ethnology,
ed., D.B.
Carlisle, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology
Service Paper No. 27 (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada,
1971), p. 213.

-

258 -

50Ibid. ·

51Rich, Hudson's Bay Company,

II, p. 47.

52G. Simpson to Governor and Committee,
in Rich, Simpson's Journal, p. 392.
53Ibid.,

18

May

1821

p. 386.

54Ibid., p. 379.
55Ibid.,

p. 380.

56Ibid., p. 381.
5 7 Ibid.,

p. 378.

58Ibid.,

p. 355.

59ouncan Finlayson to G.• Simpson,

ibid.,

p. 338.

·6oFort Chipewyan, Report on District, 1824-25,
p. 356.

ibid.,

61Edward Smith, FSPJ, 10 Apr.
HBC Archives, B'l:OO/a/6, fos. 3-4.·

Man.,

474.

62G.

Simpson

in

Rich,

Hudson's

63Ibid.
64 Ibid.

-

259 -

1825,

Bay

Winnipeg,

Company,

II,

p.

CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION

The Indians of the Eastern
lowlands

underwent

subarctic and Mackenzie

considerable

change

adapted from a

nomadic band

centered

hunting

to

or

based

a

trapping

by 1821

and mainly

specialized

as

they

caribou

hunting

way

of life.
Changes which

were

more than merely locational be-

gan to occur early in the fur trade.
that

the first

men

trading

Indian

outfitted

years of contact saw the rise of middle-

bands

chiefs
and

This thesis argues

among

the

Athapaskans;

individual

experienced

a

rising

status

as

they

were

treated

Europeans

and

by

virtue

of

by

their skill and influence with newly acquired guns.
specialized trading
changes

as

a

bands

culture

also

adapted

experienced other
to

was modified and women

were

way

supplies.

to

pack

furs

and

migratory

employed

in

Bands

a

The

social

subsistence
more

also

intense

underwent

seasonal cyclical variations from their traditional pattern.

The Beaver Indians

developed unique characteris-

tics as a result of contact,

thus becoming more distinct

from

and

the

Slavey,

Sekani,

possibly

Chipewyan

and

Sarcee.
Other

Athapaskan

people

began

to

devote

more energy to trapping in this period.
valuable

furbearing

animals

lynx began to take
previously

were

clothing.

Certain

barrens

distant

chose

to

move

This

process

as

precendence over

more

bands

who

An emphasis on

beaver,

hunted

lived

supplies

on

and

food

or

of

the

edge

of

marketable

furbearers
and

years

to

the

hurried

in

the

1780's

in

contact

with

close

marten

for

the

these

was

and

large mammals which

efficiently

from
in

such

more

devastated

those

and goods;

many more bands moved to

by those killed in the epidemic.

south
when

west.

smallpox

European

posts

the

left

fill

void

Population dislocation

was considerable in the 1780's.
The 1790's began with a period of attempted deployment of Indian bands to resolve food supply problems and
later

the

tion.

Early in the decade the Peace River became recog-

nized

as

the

decade

the

Athabasca.

large

mammals

was

marked

by

provisioning

center

Buffalo

elk

were

and

killed

unrestrained

for

the

supplemented

mainly

by

bands

Indians and some Cree and were processed
Canoe

loads were then

use as winter

food

fur

into

competi-

trade
by
of

in

other
Beaver

pemmican.

transported to Fort Chipewyan for

stocks,

or

to

supply

leaving for Grand Portage in the spring.

-

261

-

canoe

brigades

Toward the end

of

the

decade

arrival

of

the

competing

the Hudson's Bay Company traders
Iroquois

trappers

in

the Peace

duction of food stocks there.
competition

in

1805

some

others were giving up a
and a

as

XY

Company

as

specialized

well

River,

led to

and

rapid re-

By the time of the end to

Indian

bands

were

starving,

specialized trapping existence,

few were decimated by the excesses of liquor used

in the attempts to extract food.
Between 1805 and 1821

the Athabasca region was the

scene of considerable disruption and realignment of native

and European

Company met hods
from

groups
which

in

the

included

fur

trade.

stripping

of

stocks

recalcitrant

Indian

and

of

the

Indians.

A

regions,

intimidation

people and

vicious

threats

opposition

traders

were

openly

resisted

by

few

people

resisted the

bullying

with

Others

responded by taking their furs

response.

long trek to

the Bay.

more

food

the

reliab+e

barren-ground

against

A few

supplies,
caribou

bullying

withdrew

to

mainly

the

herds.

West

fur

some

Indian

of

North

to

a

violent
on the

regions

with

vicinity

of

By 1814-15 the North

West Company were unable to continue trading on the lower Mackenzie River so closed their posts and withdrew to
Fort Chipewyan.

The return in force of the Hudson's Bay

Company

Athabasca-Mackenzie

to

the

in

1816

beginning of the end for the Northwesters.

-

262 -

marked

the

Indians pre-

viously

subdued

restrained

and

and

bullied

by

1816

began

more

to

turn

forceful

to

the

more

Hudson's

Bay

traders.
The last

year

years

of

a

about

by

concerned

ers.

Indian

or

renewed

two

of

competition

monopoly
Indian

groups

witnessed

trappers

who were

and

the

changes

and

unable to

first

brought

European

trad-

ensure

stable

a

food supply opted to move to areas where food was assured; either a stable fishery which they
near to other caribou hunting bands,
suppliers.

The

concentrate

on

Bay
food

the

barren-ground

near

the

of

Fort

Beverly

traders

caribou.
which

Resolution.

exploit, or

who would

encouraged

serve as

other

bands

to

by

th is

time

was

These

bands

were

centered

ranged

northeast

product ion

Herd

cou~d

Other

which

bands

and

emphasized

south

caribou

hunting from Old Fort Providence and hunted the Bathurst
Herd

which

wintered
the

to

Peace

the

north

of

Great

River

were

encouraged

Slave Lake.

People

of

least

one

instance pressured by the closure of posts to

move

away

from

the

beleaguered

the

rich

trapping

upper

in

at

Peace

River

of

Athabasca

to

Delta.

Indians in the vicinity of Isle a La Crosse were
to

prepare

pemmican

from

the

the

and

closer

encouraged

grounds

and

buffalo

of

the

elevate

the

plains for the brigades passing by.
The

object

of

this

thesis

-

263 -

has

been to

Indian

peoples

lowlands

region

stage

the

in

of

the

to

their

history

eastern

subarctic

rightful

of the fur

place

trade

and
at

Mackenzie
the

center

between 1717 and

1821.
In that

period the Eastern Athapaskans were at

the

least

partners

fur

very

with

the

companies

in

trade.

Policies in the region were assessed,

ed,

rejected according

or

vise

the

history

previously
eastern
study;
food

had

of

to

to

this

be

region

per used

lifeways

Athapaskan

Indian

to

wildlife behaviour and the

accomodat-

advantage.

sources

not

obtain

a

the

at

the

To

re-

consulted
of

picture
of

the

needs

and

beginning

nutritional

habits of the peoples were linked with the observed

social

changes

as

recorded

in

ethnographies

and

the

documentary record.

The disciplines of history,

archae-

ology,

and

examined

ethnography,

linguistics

have

been

for their approaches to the problem.
The impact of this thesis for
eastern

Athapaskans

Athapaskan
needs.
1821,
year.
were

indicates

existence

The

patterns

by

1821

of

change,

later studies

that

were

the

adapted

rapid

in

of

the

baselines

for

to

fur

pace

were slowed by the imposition of monopoly
Native

trade

prior
in

that

bands had by 1821 deployed themselves,

encouraged by

the Hudson's

Bay

Company

specialized hunting or trapping existence,

-

264 -

to

to

adopt

or
a

some of which

were

far

removed

from

their

prehistoric

changes adapted to fur trade
place.

lands.

needs had also

Social

been

put

in

Because the eastern subarctic and Mackenzie low-

land region was so important to the fortunes

of the

fur

companies, the active involvement of the eastern Athapaskans in trade dynamics led to influence over
cies,

practices

and

the

eventual

corporate

the poli-

shape which

the combined Hudson's Bay Company assumed in the Canadian West after 1821.
This work also
ionist

history

in

has
the

implications for
early

contact

further

period.

rev is-

Research

design for these studies should be applied to the environmental

base

of

the

native

people

Appropriate

regions

for

this

tion

include

the

history

would

form

of

to

be

research

of early

the

the

same

north

occurring

period

which

would

Central

plains;

and

to

people

the

focus
the

on

applica-

contact

among the western Athapaskans of the Yukon
of

examined.

change

basin;
the

history

study

people
of

of

changes

of

the

Interior

Plateau

and

in

the

study

this

period

patterns

which

Columbia River regions.
Information
also

has

some

developed in

obtained
bearing

on

the region.

the

ensuing

of

In large part the location of

the Indians was fixed by 1821 and for most of the larger
bands

their

relative

geographical

- 265 -

locations

would

be

maintained
base.

as

long

Social

as

changes

the

fur

which

trade

were

was

the

economic

accelerated

in

the

period under study may have slowed in the period of monopoly fur trade,
aries.

at least until arrival

of

the mission-

It would also appear that the large mammal popu-

lations of certain regions,
Peace River

valley,

not

to

return

the

after

in particular,
being reduced

levels· known

the period under study.

-

266 -

in

the

parts of the

by 1821,
early

would

stages

of

"

~~

Legend: Posts are included which had
strategic bearing on the extension of
the trade 1717-1821 along wtth the
date of establishment.
·
·
Hap is adapted from Stewart Wa11ace (ed.),
t
£Notes of a Twenty.five Years' Service in the
'/{~ ~·
'/~(.Hudson's Say Terr1tor~, (Toronto: The
' ' \ f Champlain soc1ety, 19 2) See folder mp tn
~,·
cover.
·

1c

·~

~

'O

"~J ~

rort h
'H>r111.,ri

('"°'.
I

..

•.

•

~

'
':

"

,../

I

:.I

j(
/I

lf"I

•i

.:~:t..
i)»-'
•. •r:...

:k\0.
..
~~~ /
·fj

o::;t'

°'

rl

u~

·:'"

It U D

'c,''·(~

::·w-.1)\

~1~
u~~
'.r:J.I

l

.J

,'i?!~f

.r;?.~-r

~[,.. ,
c/~....,

--:-:· \;\.,
;-''(~~

~v' ~~J
•,..)."\...,J;
\_

.

~

-

y

Legend: Location of Athapaskan bands after
,

1821.

Map is adapted from Stewart Wa11ace (ed.),
Notes of a Twenty-ffve Years' Service fn the
Hudso~'s Bay Territor~, (Toronto: The
Champlain Society, 19 2) See folder map fn
cover.

.,,.(

\0

i

j,
·!1}

'ri~

t-\0

"'

~~

. I

.!:
,;71 6(/'
~'/§J;:

!.t·.,~~

.-.J

H U D

J ~ SEKAN

~~,

fyl'•t,>

~?;

'.·~

f'r:'

J

;;·,j~r
.(.).~. ~ (

ril;....._,,

~

:

.:·J

"

',,j

~

'

(

/

~~~
o,.,.'-1J

SARCEE

'

I

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources
Unpublished
Auld,

Fort Churchill Post Journal, 10 Sept.William.
Winnipeg, Man., Hudson's Bay Company
May 1 811 •
Archives, B42/a/121a - B42/a/136a.

Bird,

Buckingham House
James.
Man.,
Winnipeg,
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