Snow first begins to melt on the sides of the hills
and early in May, when large patches of the ground are visible, they are
on the banks of the Copper-Mine River. The females take the lead in this
spring migration and bring forth their young on the sea-coast about the
end of May or beginning of June. There are certain spots or passes
well-known to the Indians, through which the deer invariably pass in
their migrations to and from the coast and it has been observed that they
always travel against the wind. The principal food of the reindeer in the
barren grounds consists of the Cetraria nivalis and cucullata, Cenomyce
rangiferina, Cornicularia ochrileuca, and other lichens, and they also
eat the hay or dry grass which is found in the swamps in autumn. In the
woods they feed on the different lichens which hang from the trees. They
are accustomed to gnaw their fallen antlers and are said also to devour
mice.
The weight of a full-grown barren-ground deer, exclusive of the offal,
varies from ninety to one hundred and thirty pounds. There is however a
much larger kind found in the woody parts of the country whose carcass
weighs from two hundred to two hundred and forty pounds. This kind never
leaves the woods but its skin is as much perforated by the gadfly as that
of the others, a presumptive proof that the smaller species are not
driven to the sea-coast solely by the attacks of that insect. There are a
few reindeer occasionally killed in the spring whose skins are entire and
these are always fat whereas the others are lean at that season. This
insect likewise infests the red-deer (wawaskeesh) but its ova are not
found in the skin of the moose or buffalo, nor, as we have been informed,
of the sheep and goat that inhabit the Rocky Mountains, although the
reindeer found in those parts (which are of an unusually large kind) are
as much tormented by them as the barren-ground variety.
The herds of reindeer are attended in their migrations by bands of wolves
which destroy a great many of them. The Copper Indians kill the reindeer
in the summer with the gun or, taking advantage of a favourable
disposition of the ground, they enclose a herd upon a neck of land and
drive them into a lake where they fall an easy prey but, in the rutting
season and in the spring, when they are numerous on the skirts of the
woods, they catch them in snares. The snares are simple nooses, formed in
a rope made of twisted sinew, which are placed in the aperture of a
slight hedge constructed of the branches of trees. This hedge is so
disposed as to form several winding compartments and, although it is by
no means strong, yet the deer seldom attempt to break through it. The
herd is led into the labyrinth by two converging rows of poles and one is
generally caught at each of the openings by the noose placed there. The
hunter too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them with his bayonet as they
pass by and the whole herd frequently becomes his prey. Where wood is
scarce a piece of turf turned up answers the purpose of a pole to conduct
them towards the snares.
The reindeer has a quick eye but the hunter, by keeping to leeward and
using a little caution, may approach very near, their apprehensions being
much more easily roused by the smell than the sight of any unusual
object. Indeed their curiosity often causes them to come close up and
wheel around the hunter; thus affording him a good opportunity of
singling out the fattest of the herd, and upon these occasions they often
become so confused by the shouts and gestures of their enemy that they
run backwards and forwards with great rapidity but without the power of
making their escape.
The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts them
most readily and they often succeed in bringing them within shot by
kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side in imitation of the
motion of a deer's horns when he is in the act of rubbing his head
against a stone.
The Dog-Rib Indians have a mode of killing these animals which though
simple is very successful. It was thus described by Mr. Wentzel who
resided long amongst that people. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost
man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a
deer and in the other a small bundle of twigs against which he from time
to time rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the animal.
His comrade follows, treading exactly in his footsteps and holding the
guns of both in a horizontal position so that the muzzles project under
the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a fillet of white
skin round their foreheads and the foremost has a strip of the same kind
round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, raising their legs
very slowly but setting them down somewhat suddenly after the manner of a
deer, and always taking care to lift their right or left feet
simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to gaze upon this
extraordinary phenomenon it instantly stops and the head begins to play
its part by licking its shoulders and performing other necessary
movements. In this way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd
without exciting suspicion and have leisure to single out the fattest.
The hindmost man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is
dropped, and they both fire nearly at the same instant.
