n the men kill any large
beast the women are always sent to bring it to the tent. When it is
brought there, every operation it undergoes, such as splitting,
drying, pounding, is performed by the women. When anything is prepared
for eating it is the women who cook it; and when it is done, not even
the wives and daughters of the greatest chiefs in the country are
served until all the males--even the male slaves--have eaten what they
think proper. In times of scarcity it was frequently the lot of the
women to be left without a single mouthful; though, no doubt, they
took good care to help themselves in secret.

[Illustration: SAMUEL HEARNE; ALEXANDER MACKENZIE]

Hearne mentions that in this country among the Northern Indians the
names of the boys were various and generally derived from some place,
or season of the year, or animal; whilst the names of the girls were
chiefly taken from some part or property of a marten,[4] such as the
white marten, the black marten, the summer marten, the marten's head,
foot, heart, or tail.

[Footnote 4: A fur-bearing animal (_Mustela americana_), very like the
British pine marten.]

From the Lake of Little Fish Hill the party moved on to Lake Clowey,
and here the Northern Indians set to work to build their canoes in the
warm and dry weather, which was about to come in at the end of May.
These canoes were very slight and simple in construction and
wonderfully light, which was necessary, for some of the northern
portages might be a hundred to one hundred and fifty miles in length,
over which the canoes would have to be carried by the Indians. All the
tools employed in those days, in building such canoes and making
snowshoes and all the other furniture and utensils of Indian life,
consisted of a _hatchet_, a _knife_, a _file_, and an _awl_ obtained
from the stores of the Hudson's Bay Company. In the use of these tools
they were so dexterous that everything they manufactured was done with
a neatness which could not be excelled by the most expert mechanic.
These northern canoes were flat-bottomed, with straight, upright
sides, and sharp prow and peak. The stern part of the canoe was wider
than the rest in order to receive the baggage. The average length of
the canoe would be from twelve to thirteen feet, and the breadth in
the widest part about two feet. Generally but a single paddle was
used, and that rather attenuated. When transporting the canoes from
one river to another, a strong band