SUB ARCTIC
Largest area, least
dense population.
The entire area
probably had as
few as 60 000
people. Weather
changes were
extreme and
game animals
depended on
seasons and were
scarce, making life
hard for many
Tribes of the SubArctic
Languages
• Algonquian was spoken by the Eastern Subarctic groups like
the Innu, the Attikamek, the Cree and the Saulteaux.
– While their languages were unique, they showed similarities to
the Cree language division of Algonquian language.
– The Northern Ojibwa speak Ojibwa, another Algonquian
language.
• The people of the Western Subarctic speak Athapascan.
Examples: the Tutchone, Gwich'in (formerly Kutchin), the
Han, the Dene, the Tagish, the Tahltan, the Tsetsaut, the
Kaska and the Sekani.
– Some dialects were highly unique and hard to understand.
– There were more than 20 different versions of Northern
Athapakan languages spoken.
Region
• Northern or boreal coniferous forest : from the arctic tundra to the
mountains, plains or deciduous forest in the south and across North
America from Labrador nearly to the Bering Sea.
• 2/3 is the Canadian Shield: full of lakes and rivers.
• 1/3 western mountain ranges, plateaus and the Yukon River lowlands.
• The soil was poor and often swampy.
• Winters were long and harsh but forest cover and snow provided shelter
for people and animals.
• Temperatures often reach -40° C in winter but could rise to 30° C in
summer.
• The animals: Moose, caribou, black bear, Dall sheep (northwestern
mountains), beaver, hare ("rabbit") marmot, groundhog, wolverine, otter,
marten, mink, weasel, muskrat, lynx, wolf, coyote, fox.
• In some areas, there were also Muskoxen, bison and wapiti.
• Fish were plentiful and included species of whitefish, pike, lake trout,
grayling and suckers in the Arctic and salmon in the Pacific and Atlantic
areas.
Settlement and Housing
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A variety of houses, but all were small, easy to set up and take down, and move
from place to place.
Plains-type tipis- skin tents supported by whalebones- or lean-tos of brush.
Double Lean-tos covered in hide and brush were used.
Lean-tos were free-standing beams of wood or whale bone that were layered
against a log or large rock, lashed together, and covered in brush and hide,
resulting in a slanted roof and an opening for entering or exiting.
Hides kept the fur or hair on the side placed on the interior of the shelter,
providing more warmth.
Pit Houses; layers of sod placed around a foundation built with whalebone or
driftwood.
Since they were semi-nomadic, natives of the Sub-arctic had few possessions.
At fishing camps in the Cordillera there were roughly built log cabins called
smokehouses.
The Innu lived in the round Wigwam.
A Montagnais person would dig a slanted hole about a foot deep, then lean alder
branches around the opening of the hole, to make a shelter. The floor of the
Wigwam was covered in Balsam boughs.
The northern Ojibwa lived in dwellings called ridge poles; conical lodges covered
with birch bark.
Food and Hunting
• Hunter-gatherers:
– Fish, berries, wild grasses, moose, caribou, elk,
musk ox, dandelions, marigold, and mosses.
• Men hunted big game, women snared smaller
prey and processed the meats.
• They would take care to cache (save) food and
equipment not needed for the season at hand
in prepared pits, racks/platforms in trees, and
conical structures.
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Tools
Bows, arrows, traps, snares, deadfalls, and pounds
People caught fish with dip and gill nets, traps,
spears, and hook and line.
Women were skilled in preparing meat for drying,
hide tanning and sewing, making cooking and
storage containers of skins, birch bark or coiled
spruce root basketry, and making fishnets from
willow baste.
Men made snowshoes, toboggans, canoes, sleds and
hunting implements.
A tumpline was a piece of material fastened around
the forehead to help support heavy loads.
Belt looms were used for weaving.
distinctive technologies like large metal knives with
double recurved handles, sleds, chair-style birch bark
baby carriers, partially decked-over kayak-canoes,
and portable domed caribou-skin tents.
Some Tutchone had raw copper for making knives
and arrowheads; the majority used bone and antler.
Much of the technology was dispensable, but the
importance was knowing how to make it and when it
was to be used.
Religion and clothing
• Trickster and hero figures – often associated
with birds or the sun.
• Power , survival skills, and knowledge were
revered
• Relationships with animal spirits, especially after
a successful hunt.
• Clothing was from soft-tanned hides;
– moccasins, leggings, shirts, and coats.
• Caribou tunics could be decorated with dyed
porcupine quills.
• They tended to wear lighter clothing as they
were often on the move, when they stopped,
they would make fire to keep them warm.
• Winter robes made of rabbit skins cut into strips,
twisted, and woven together.
Transportation
• The main transportation of the Subarctic People was
walking. Survival depended on being able to travel long
distances.
• Snowshoes were essential for winter travel. Heavy
loads were transported on toboggans and, in the far
northwest sleds were pulled both by dogs and people.
• During the summer, people and their belongings were
moved along rivers and lakes by canoe.
• Belongings were limited to those that could be easily
carried or made on the spot, such as the snares used to
catch animals of all sizes
Family and social structure
• The family unit was highly valued among the subarctic peoples. Each
family was independent, but usually grouped with another family for
hunting and ceremony purposes.
• Kinship names were widely used, but their application was more
general (e.g. all the elders were grandfather or grandmother).
• Children were taught to be self-reliant and learned the habits of game
animals and the layout of territory early on.
• The Subarctic nations were divided by semi-nomadic bands. There was
no formal tribe organization.
• People who had leadership abilities and took the initiative for trading,
war or communal hunting were followed because they were good at
what they did, or they had wisdom, or spiritual power.
• Most adult men and women had a part in making decisions that
affected the band.
• Band membership carried responsibilities such as hospitality and
protection to other members, and ceremonial obligations to those in
opposite family groups, such as cremating their dead.
• Families or individuals who did not agree with a particular decision
were free to join another band or camp, or to act on their own for a
time.