288 REVZEWS he givessimilar emphasis to every Lake and SevenIslands, and on the apparently relevant fact and hypothesis, literature, which Harper has gone seems oftenmerely to bestirring muddy through to extract information about waters. the Montagnais-Naskapi. He was con- “The lemmingyear” is not written for ducting biological investigationsbut be- biologists, and there are understanda- came interested in the Indians. bly many statements in it that are not The work is divided into several sec- strictly accurate, orare misleading. tions. First he tries to make a distinc- Other shortcomings and errors are of tion between Montagnais, Naskapi, and more general concern.The maps, for Cree.Following this, he discusses the example, presented asan aid to the distribution of the various groups with- understanding of distribution patterns, in the Peninsula. Having set the stage, lack any indication of the boundaries he presents data regarding the various of the ranges of the lemmings. If the branches of the Algonkian family that varying lemming ranged nofarther west are located in the Labrador Peninsula; in the U.S.S.R. than the Ob’ River as first the “Cree”, then the “Naskapi,” stated, its distribution would be difficult then what he terms the “Montagnais- to understand. In fact, it lives asfar Naskapi”, and finally the “Montagnais” west as the White Sea, which pinches themselves. NextHarper discusses some off its tundra habitat in the same way of the “Montagnais” he met while doing as Hudson Bay does towards the east at fieldwork. After this comes a list of the other end of its range.The term Indian names for the mammals, birds, “Labrador” isused for the Labrador- and fish encountered in the area. There Quebec peninsula. “Red” arctic poppies is then a note on the Indian hunting and ‘‘purple” dryas are said to make dogs of the Montagnais-Naskapi,and “gloriouspatches of colour”in the consideration is also givento the Indian North American Arctic. A still picture dances and canoes. The concluding sec- from Walt Disney’s movie “White Wil- tionis devoted to brief biographical derness” shows varying lemmings, not sketches of variousethnologists and brown lemmings. others who have dealt with the Indians “The lemming year” is a useful book, of the Labrador Peninsula. but not an authoritative one. It is hoped Thebook is of extremely limited that it will encourage residents of lem- value. Great use is made of quotations ming country to accumulate information to portray the Montagnais-Naskapi and on the remarkable phenomena that in so doing Harper reveals his ethno- accompany the population processes of logical nafvetk. There is no evaluation. these interesting little creatures. For instance, on page 23 and again on A. H. MACPHERSONpage 56, he uses informationstating that the Nichicun band has dissolved, having emigrated to Seven Islands. Some may have done so, but the majority still exist and reside during the summer at Lake Mistassini. Furthermore, he is obviously THE FRIENDLY MONTAGNAIS AND confused over the term “band” and its THEIRNEIGHBOURS IN THE UN- relation to the trading post. This is in- GAVA PENINSULA. By FRANCISdicated on page 59 where he discusses HARPER.Lawrence: University of Kan- the “Petitsikapau band” as definedby sas. 1964. 9 x 6 inches, 120 pages, 20 Speck. Since a person from this band plates. $2.00. trades at Seven Islands, the centre for another band, Harper wonders if this Thisvolume deals with the Monta- Indian should not be considered a mem- gnais-NaskapiIndians, inhabitants of ber of the latter band also. One ques- the Labrador Peninsula. It is based on tions the story that he relates of an In- a summer spent in thesoutheastern part dian carrying seven100-lb. bags of of the Peninsula in the area of Knob flour up a flight of stairs as an actual REVnWS 289 incident. This may be so, but it is cu- this his work is in contrast to other ac- rious that the same story is told else- counts of the Indians of this area. NO- where in the Labrador Peninsula. And wheredoes he consider the situation always the narrator specifies a certain that has arisen because of the mines person who has accomplished this feat. that have been established in the area. Is not this possibly a myth? He mentions the fact that some groups In giving the names of the animals havemoved into these areas, but he he has in one column used the spelling does not portray the actual conditions as given him by the Montagnais-Nas- under which the people live. All in all, kapi. This,of course, isof no value from this is a very disappointing work. the linguist’spoint of view. Further- EDWARDS. ROGERS” more,in getting the identification of birds, Harper had occasion to use a bird-book, having the Indian pick out and give the name of the particular bird. This techniquehas definite limita- CLIMATE-GLACIER STUDIES IN tions. Many times the Indian will mis- THEJUNEAU ICE FIELD REGION, identify.Accordingly, Harper’s terms ALASKA. By MELVING. MARCUS. Chi- must be used with a certain amount of cago: The University of Chicago. 1964. caution. Department of Geography,Research There is, as noted earlier, very little Paper No. 88. “Planographed”,paper, to commend this book. In the early sec- 9 x 6 inches, ix + 128 pages, 14 tables, tions rarely does he add anything new 25 figures,including maps. $4.00. to our knowledge of the Indians of the Labrador Peninsula. On page38 he does This is oneof the few published works present new facts regarding Fort Mac- that attempt to evaluate critically the Kenzie and the Indians of the area but interactions between glaciers and cli- this is extremely meagre. Not until page mate.Professor Marcus assumes that 61 does he give any of his own observa- short-term changes in the hydrological tions and they cease on page 82. They regimen of glaciers can be explained by consist of vague sketches of the various short-term climaticfluctuations. The Indians thathe met and talked with. region chosento test this hypothesis was Here is some new information. theJuneau Ice Field,Alaska, where Harper’s portraits of the various in- extensive glaciologicaland meteorologi- dividuals who have worked among the cal data were available for a period Indfans of the Labrador Peninsula are of over 10 years from the American limited. He has been selective by con- Geographical Society’sJuneau Ice Field sidering only the old-timers.Again Research Project. In addition, other most of his data are simply quotations. meteorological data, including tempera- The sketch of Turner, though, is based ture as a function of altitude from on letters held in various archives. Here radio-sondeballoons, were available new material is presented that is rather from Juneau andother weather stations. interesting, regarding the life of a man Emphasiswas placed on the Lemon whowas the first to dofield work Glacier, where the complete hydrologi- among the Indians and Eskimos of Fort cal budgetwas calculated for several Chimo. years, using a variety of techniques. Harper does have a sympathetic feel- Over the period from 1948 to 1958 the ingfor the Indians of the Labrador LemonGlacier suffered a netwater Peninsula and this is fine. He presents deficit of about 21 X 106m.3, although a case,however, which isprobably there were budget years such as 1954-5, overdrawn.One gets the feeling that when the glacier had a water surplus. here are very helpful and well-disposed The data were analyzed statistically in natives, although involved in a way of life that he admits ischanging and *RoyalOntario Museum, University of bringing hardships to them. Because of Toronto.