Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-15
A BOREAL ARCADIA.

BOREAL ARCADIA.
An Unexplored Region-Big Game in Herds
Some Novelties In Aboriginal Architect
ure.
Charles Hsllock In New York Evening Post
Away up in the Porcupine river country,
between the Alaska int irrational boundary
and the great divide. there is an unknown
region lying between the l36th and l4lst
meridians and extending from the Gath parallel
Of latitude northward to the arctic coast. which
remains today the sole incognita Of the North
American continent There is no other geo
graphical district or division between the two
oceans which has not been officially visited by
government agents, prospected BY miners or
timber hunters, explored by adventures or
trapped over by runners of the fur companies.
Even interior Labrador 10 better known. Only
three or four white traders whose names are of
record have ever made 1t an object in all these
years to penetrate into q wilderness whose ex.
pansive area OF 800 miles square Ia occupied by
scarcely six score Of impecunious. groveling
redskins. and whose annual proceeds of the
chase would hardly pay collector for the hard
ship Of winterlng where the temperature for
five months ut least persistentiy keeps below
the zero point.
This isolated and trackless region has many
characteristics OF the Yellowstone National
Park /. IL much siashed by deep canons and
bumped by high mountains interspersed with
vast swsmps which are filed with animal re-
mains, and upland valleys where thermal
and tepid rivers flow which never freeze.
There are exhalations Of natural gas from low
lying tracts BY lake and river side whose odor
Is perceptibie for long distances, and there is
also a lake lying 10 deep valley at the foot
OF Sheep mountain which has never been
known to freeze. The natives regard il with
superstitious dread and keep aioof. Sheep
mountain Is nearly 1000 feet In height, and
within the arctic belt. Live mastodons were
reported some years ago to have been seen
here by Indians. but the red men undoubtedly
had mirage on the brain.
Here in the depths Of these sylvan solitudes
big-horn sheep and mountain goats abound,
and moose roam In such numbers, according
to the authority Of Dominion Surveyor ogilvie.
who wintered there In 1878, that all the will
lows for miles above and below his camp were
cropped almost bare. Vast numbers OF caribou
Chamber over the hillsides in winter feeding
upon the moss which lies buried under the
snow, and this they obtain by paving away its
frosty covering. They face uphill and pull
the snow down toward them with their fore
feet, exposing patches Of the succulent growth
which having cropped they proceed to draw
the snow above into its place and 80 advance
gradually to the crown of the slope. Some
patches Of ground which have been paved
over were found to extend for more than a
mile In length by quarter OF Q mile in
breadth.
Mr.. Ogilvie, in the course Of his temporary
sojourn while locating the international
boundary line, was able to secure a census Of
all the whites and Indians on the route, men,
women and children. Some Of these, though
Unfortunately savage themselves have q mortal
% - LA s~sl
called Nahones, who are said to inhAbit hiils at
the headwsters OF the Lizard and Pelly rivers,
and are represented Is being not only exceed
ingly fierce, but cannibals, impervious to bullets
and frost, lying out uncovered without tire in
severest winter weather, and eating their meat
raw. Nothing but extreme pressure, like
starvation, will induce these timorous aborig-
ines TO venture near their abiding place. and
then only in strong force. Their fear, how
ever, must be born purely Of the Imagination,
for they do not profess to have ever seen single
individual Of the dreaded NAhones.
Whatsoever else may be said Of the unso-
phisticated people Of the Porcupine country. it
is worthy of mention that all their implements
utensils and appliances, their clothing, lodges,
tents, boats, canoes, moccasins, suowshoes, &c.
are entirely different from those found any
where else on the continent, east or west. Their
lodges are large, usually fourteen by twenty
feet, elliptical on the ground plan and dome
shaped on top. like the old turtle-back Mormon
Temple In Salt Lake City, and are constructed
Of willow poles, fixed in the ground and bent
to the proper curve. These poles are tied with
thongs at the top and covered with deerskins
dressed with the hair on. When finished the
bottom OF the lodge 10 banked around with
snow for warmth. There il quite large open
ing at the apex for the escape Of smoke, yet q
small fire keeps the interior warm in coolest
weather. and the temperature has been found
by test to stand IS high as 60 degrees inside
when it was minus so degrees outside. Gener-
ally two or more families occupy one struct-
ure.
The winter clothing Of these primitive people
il made Of deer skins dressed with the hair on,
and lie worn with the hair inside. The trousers
and boots are made like pajamas, in one piece
and the coat resembles q shirt with q hood
When put on only the face is exposed to the
cold air. Quite often, when the children 20
out mothers sew up the ends Of the coat
sleeves SO that they will not thonghtlessly
| freeze their hands. The costume Is quite
similar to that worn by the Montaignacs In
dians Of interior Labrador, and is a sort OF
compromise between the dress Of she Eskimos
| of the coast and the wood Indians living to the
southwark
The snowshoes Of this region are also quite
different from the short round-toed Canadian
raQuettee, as well as the sQuare-toed shoes of
the northwest territory, being fully six feet
long and fifteen inches wide, while the afore-
said shoes Of like width are only about
resemble the Norwegian "skis." The winter
sleds curl up in front like a toboggan and have
| straight backs like the Canadian carioles being
sort Of cross between the toboggan and the
arctic kometik.
Boats OF this region also differ from any
others, and 30 do the canoes The first are
made Of several raw moose skins sewed together
after the hair has been taken of. Keels are first
laid with willow ribs and framework Of proper
| dimensions, and the skin cover is then softened
in water and stretched over IT, When dry the
skin is well rubbed with melted fat At the end
Of a voyage the skins are stripped of and
utilized for sundry purposes, while the frame is
| thrown away. Canoes are made Of spruce bark
| in the absence Of suitable birch. measured
| section OF bark Is first peeled from the tree.
after il has been ringed at both ends and scored
longitudinally. The ends are then doubled and
sewed with roots, and q suitable gunwale and
| frame Of willow are fitted and sewed to the
barks. When the seams and knot holes have
been filled and gummed the craft is complete.
| Two Indians can build one in half a day.
Canoes accommodate one to four persons. with
their outfit, according to size, and are only used
| for the DOWNSTREAM trip. Hunting parties
| going into the woods invariably pack all their
outfit on their backs, and after the hunt is over
and the meat and psits collected at the render
vous, they build the required number of canoes,
paddle them down to the trading posts. and
there break them up, burning the frames for
fuel and utilizing the bark as covering for their