St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-07
RED INDIAN HUNT Frs.
Methods Adopted by Thorn to Secure Fiees
Deer and Moose.

Methods Adopted by Ih0m w oeouio Ao0s
Deer and Moose.
Deer-huntine, as is well-knoWn. forms
one of the chief employments OF tne
numerous tribes, of Indians who roam
over the vas; territory of North Amer
lea. 1t is eqWlly well-known that the
flesh and skin of these an imals consul
tute the staple articles of Indian food
and clothing respectfully. Although
the wants of the Indians in these two
particulars are identical, the means
adopted to supply them are not so, but
often vary considerably. To secure
the valuable prey by shooting, either
with gun or bow, is common to all
tribes. In hunting the moose. the Es-
quimaux and the Montagnias depend
mainly upon their tleetness OF foot and
their skill in throwing a sort Of elon-
gated harpoon; and when once upon
the track of the deer, they rarely fail
te encompass it's death. The writer
knew two young men of the Montagnlas
tribe Wao left their wigwam IN the
morniifgg, travelled distance Of forty
miles into the interior, discovered and
captured q deer whose carcass weighed
nearly two hundred pounds, and re-
turned with their spoil in the space OF
about twenty hours. An effective but
cruel device which is much used, par
| ticularly by the Indians who live on the
confines of the pale-face territory, and
also by the white settlers themselves,
is to place large moose, usually OF
stout rope, in rabbit-snare fashion, be-
| tween two trees on each side OF the deer
track at the same distance from the
ground at which the animas. carries rs
head, which, proceeding through s'ae
forest, is thrown back upon the shoul-,
ders r-s's'1
The Co-Yukon Indians of Alaska kill
the moose in large numbers while
swimming across the Yukon river dur
ing their periodical migrations, ina
neuvering round in their birch bark
canoes till the animal is fatigued, and
then stealthily approach and stab it in
the heart or loins." Another and more
ingenious mode of capturing deer
! adopted by these Indians is thus de-
scribed by Mr.. Whymper in his ''Trav-
els in Alaska: "a kind of corral or
inclosure, elliptical in form, and open
at one end, is made on a deer-trail,
generally near the outlet of wood.
The further end of the inclosed space
is barricaded; the sides are built of
stakes, with slip-nooses or loops be-
tween them. Herds of deer are driven
in from the woods, and, trying to break
from the trap, generally run their
heads into the nooses, tighten them,
and so get caught, or are shot while
still bewildered and running from side
to side. Near the opening, it is COM
mon to erect piles of snow with port
holes through which natives, hidden,
shoot at the passing deer"
We will notice lastly the "deer-
fences" of the once numerous and
powerful but now extinct Beothic ma
ton. the aboriginal inhabitants of
Newfoundland. They are thus de-
scribed by Mr.. Harvey in a recent in :.
teresting book on Newfoundland:
''The deer-fences were made by telling
trees along the ridge Of the rivers
bank without chopping the trunks quite
asunder, taking care that they fell
parallel with the river, each tree hav-
ing been guided so as to coincide with
and tall upon the last. Gaps were
filled up by driving in stakes and in
terweaving the branches and limbs of
other trees. They were raised to the
height of six, seven or ten feet, as the
place required, and were not to be
forced or leaped by the largest deer"
It is interesting to notice that large por-
tions still remain in some parts of the in-
terror of Newfoundland, principally,
however, in those lying to the north
east and northwest, the usual head
quarters of the Booths. The intrepid
Cormack, when travelling in Newfound-
land, saw those which lie on the bank
of the river Exploits, and in the narra-
tive of his expedition he thus refers
to them: "What arrests the attention
most while gliding down the stream is
the extent of the Indian fences to en-
trap the deer. They extend from the
lake downwards continuously on the
banks of the river at least thirty miles.
There are openings left here and there
in them for the animals to 60 through
and swim across the river; and at these
places the Indians were stationed, TO
kill them in the water with spears, out
of their Canoes. as at the lake. Here,
then, connecting these fences with
those on the northwest side of the lake,
are at least forty miles of country,
easterly and westerly, prepared to in
tercept all the deer that pass that way
in their periodical migrations. 1t was
melancholy to contemplate the gigantic
yet feeble efforts of whole primitive
nation, in their anxiety to provide sub
sistepce, forsaken and going to decay.
There must have been hundreds of the
Red Indians, and that not many years
ago, to have kept up those fences and
pounds. -Oam5ers' journal.