NATIONAL MUSEUM MUSÉE NATIONAL OF MAN DE L’HOMME MERCURY SERIES COLLECTION MERCURE CANADIAN ETHNOLOGY SERVICE LE SERVICE CANADIEN D’ETHNOLOGIE PAPER No.27 DOSSIER No. 27 PROCEEDINGS: NORTHERN ATHAPASKAN CONFERENCE, 1971 VOLUME TWO EDITED BY A.McFADYEN CLARK NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA MUSÉES NATIONAUX DU CANADA OTTAWA 1975 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MUSEES NATIONAUX DU CANADA NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION Mr. George Ignatieff Chairman M. André Bachand Vice-Président Dr. W.E. Beckel Member M. Jean des Gagniers Membre Mr. William Dodge Member M. André Fortier Membre Mr. R.H. Kroft Member Mme Marie-Paule LaBrëque Membre Mr. J.R. Longstaffe Member Dr. B. Margaret Meagher Member Dr. William Schneider Member M. Léon Simard Membre Mme Marie Tellier Membre Dr. Sally Weaver Member SECRETARY GENERAL SECRETAIRE GENERAL Mr. Bernard Ostry DIRECTOR DIRECTEUR NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN MUSEE NATIONAL DE L ’HOMME Dr. William E. Taylor, Jr. CHIEF CHEF CANADIAN ETHNOLOGY SERVICE SERVICE CANADIEN D'ETHNOLOGIE Dr. Barrie Reynolds Crown Copyright Reserved Droits réservés au nom de la Couronne NATIONAL MUSEUM MUSÉE NATIONAL OF MAN DE L’HOMME MERCURY SERIES COLLECTION MERCURE ISSN 0316-1854 CANADIAN ETHNOLOGY SERVICE LE SERVICE CANADIEN D'ETHNOLOGIE PAPER NO.27 DOSSIER NO. 27 ISSN 0316-1862 PROCEEDINGS: NORTHERN ATHAPASKAN CONFERENCE, 1971 VOLUME TWO EDITED BY A. McFADYEN CLARK Cover Illustration: Contact traditional Kutchin camp based on a drawing from: "Journal du Yukon 1847-48" by Alexander Hunter Murray, Ottawa 1910, p. 86. NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA MUSÉES NATIONAUX DU CANADA OTTAWA 1975 OBJECT OF THE MERCURY SERIES The Mercury Series is a publication of the National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, designed to permit the rapid dissemination of information pertaining to those disciplines for which the National Museum of Man is responsible. In the interests of making information available quickly, normal production procedures have been abbreviated. As a result, editorial errors may occur. Should that be the case, your indulgence is requested, bearing in mind the object of the Series. BUT DE LA COLLECTION MERCURE La collection Mercure, publiée par le Musée national de l'Homme, Musées nationaux du Canada, a pour but de diffuser rapidement le résultat de travaux qui ont rapport aux disciplines pour lesquelles le Musée national de l'Homme est responsable. Pour assurer la prompte distribution des exemplaires imprimés, on a abrégé les étapes de l'édition. En conséquence, certaines erreurs de rédaction peuvent subsister dans les exemplaires imprimés. Si cela se présentait dans les pages qui suivent, les éditeurs réclament votre indulgence étant donné les objectifs de la collection. CONTENTS Volume 2 Territorial Expansion of the Chipewyan in the 18th Century Beryl C. Gillespie................................................ 350 The Ecological Basis of Chipewyan Socio-Territorial Organization J.G.E. Smith...................................................... 389 The Dog and the Hare: Cannine Culture in an Athapaskan Band Joel S. Savishinsky............................................... 462 An Ethnographical Map of Great Bear Lake Cornelius Osgood.................................................. 516 Psychological Traits in Northern Athapaskan Culture John J. Honigmann................................................. 545 Some Isoglosses in Mackenzie-Drainage Athapaskan: First Steps Toward a Subgrouping Robert Howren..................................................... 577 Some Notes on Plateau Athapaskans Clark Davis....................................................... 619 The Place of Ipiutak-Related Assemblages From Interior Alaska in Western Athapaskan and Western Eskimo Prehistory Donald W. Clark................................................... 630 Kutchin Prehistory, as Seen From the Middle Porcupine Drainage, Northern Yukon Territory Richard E. Morlan................................................. 669 Applications of the Direct Historic Approach in Central District of Mackenzie, N.W.T. William C. Noble.................................................. 759 Northern Athapaskan Research: Seme Comments Richard Slobodin.................................................. 786 il 350 TERRITORIAL EXPANSION OF THE CHIPEWYAN IN THE 18TH CENTURY Beryl C. Gillespie CONTENTS Rés u m é ............................................................351 Abstract..........................................................351 Introduction .................................................... 351 The Beginning of History for the Athapaskans......................355 War and P e a c e ....................................................359 Chipewyan Acceptance and Resistance of the Fur Tr a d e ...............364 Chipewyan Move S o u t h ............................................. 368 References........................................................386 FIGURES 1. Forest and tundra zones based on J.S. Rowe, Forest Regions of Canada Forestry Division Bulletin 123 ............. 363 2. Peter Pond's map of 1785 .................................... 376 3. Map based on Philip Turner's map dated 1790 378 4. Part of Arrowsmith's map of 1819, based on David Thompson's map of 1795 ...................................... 380 5. Chipewyan go so u t h ............................................ 381 351 TERRITORIAL EXPANSION OF THE ŒIPEWYAN IN THE 18TH CENTURY Beryl C. Gillespie University of Iowa Résumé On a cru jusqu'à ce jour que les indiens Cris avaient été les agresseurs de certains groupes athapaskan dans lgur période de contact init^ale^ soit à partir de la deuxième moitié du XVIIIe siècle et au début de XIXe siècle. Le présent document, rédigé à partir de textes provenant d'ouvrages publiés et de dossiers d'archives, rejette cependant la première supposition et démontre que les tribus de Cris formaient la population aborigène du bassin du fleuve Churchill et qu'ils étaient répartis jusqu'au Lac Athabasca, à l'ouest. Ce sont donc les Athapaskan tchippewayan qui, à l'occasion du commerce des fourrures, ont envahi le territoire des Cris. Abstract It has been generally accepted that Cree Indians were the aggressors toward certain Athapaskan groups during the initial contact period, the last half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Obversely, this paper, based on a combination of materials fran published sources and archival records, disproves the previous postulate and shows that Cree groups were the aboriginal inhabitants of the Churchill River drainage as far west as Lake Athabasca and that as a result of the fur trade, the Chipewyan Athapaskans were the intruders into Cree territory. Introduction The basic aims of historical investigation within anthropology are to de­ termine the aboriginal "state of the union" on the arrival of Europeans and the following influences of this contact of cultures through time. Diamond Jenness brought together as much as possible from fieldwork and historical materials available by 1932 to give an impressive overview in his The Indians of Canada. Since this energetic and comprehensive effort there have been few works that have included additional historical materials or different historical perspectives for the Northern Athapaskan Indians. With an increase of informa­ tion from ethnology, archaeology and linguistics it has become clear that a 352 more thorough understanding of the historical period is essential. The use of unpublished historical documents and most especially the Hudson's Bay Company (H.B.C.) records provide a large quantity of information relating to all Atha- paskan groups within the Canadian boundaries.1 These documents allow for greater accuracy in our understanding of the historical period, and along with all other historical materials, can be used to reevaluate premises on how Indian groups moved or changed with the introduction of Euro-Canadian culture. This paper represents a part of this research and deals specifically with changes in Chipe- wyan culture and territory as a result of the fur trade. Recent archival research and supporting archaeological evidence suggest a necessary réévaluation of aboriginal territory of continguous Algonkian and Atha- paskan groups. It is the purpose of this paper to combine the materials from published sources along with archival records that indicate that Cree groups were the aboriginal inhabitants of the Churchill River drainage as far west as Lake Athabasca and that the Athapaskan people, the Chipewyan, were the intruders into Cree territory as a result of the fur trade. It has been generally accepted that Cree Indians were the aggressors toward various Athapaskan groups during the ini­ tial contact period, the last half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. There is evidence Cree groups were spreading southward and westward from some of their aboriginal locations during this period, but it is suggested here that Cree movanents did not intrude into as much territory exploited by Atha- paskans as has been believed. Statements by E. Curtis in 1928 and D. Jenness in * *1 am very grateful to the National Museum of Man of Canada for sponsoring much of the archive research in Ottawa during 1970 and 1971. Supportive funds were also provided by the American Philosophical Society. The Hudson's Bay Company has granted permission for the research done in their archives which are on microfilm at the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. All quotations from this material are published by permission of the Governor and Committee