c. Then they a it and stretch it, tii in rawhide dried it was like acu. - round and strong and wouldn't get tary... Then they’d rub a herb with a kind of pepper- | mint smell all over it. They always used mittens | made of soft calf skin, so no human smell would: get on the. snare. When the mittens had been handled many times, they would be soaked in brine water to get the human smell out.” Martin, wolf, wolverine, and lynx, however, : were not snared in the same way. A trap was: ‘made from deadfall, which would fall on the! animal's neck and kill it instantly. “There was; nothing cruel about it; the animal didn’t know: what hit him.’’ Wolverine were hard to catch. | “You had to trick them. Their nose is very sen- sitive. You always used skin mittens to set the traps. You never touched a trap with bare hands. | Your scent would freeze on the trap and never | _ leave. A wolverine or wolf or lynx would pick it up right away. Beaver castor, an oil, was the best bait. We’d chop a hole in a tree, put the bait in it, and the animal would come and rub all over it for the smell. One day he’d make a mistake and step in the trap.” For moose and caribou they built a large V- shaped fence. There was a pass through the. fence. There was a pass through the fence where : snares were set: ‘‘They’d gradually coax the! moose.or caribou in, gradually so they wouldn't | tear down the fence. When the animal was. caught in the snares, they’d come close to it and | cut it once in the neck, and it was over.’ ‘For the bear, they would build a little cabin = out of logs. The cabin would be open on one. side. There was a big crossbar hanging above the . front, and the snare would be attached to that, : and there would be meat inside the house. As: soon as the animal got in so far, a trigger in there would offset everything, a heavy log would drop : down from above and pull the bear up off the ground and strangle him right away. They had to do it that way, because the bear is an awful fighter, and if you didn’t hang him up, he could fight his way out of the trap. You could catch grizzly bear that way, and black bear also.’’ Johnny stressed several times that nothing on the animal was ever wasted. As soon as a caribou was killed, for example, ‘“‘They would partly skin him right away, then they would collect all the blood. They would clean it by running it . through nice clean mosses, and keep it in a bag. : ‘In the winter time it would freeze. They could cut chunks off it and put them in the soup.’ and eaten. WATSON LAKE HARDWARE Hardware Men's Wear Electrical Paint and Appliances Wallpaper Sporting Goods Box 189, Watson Lake Phone 536-7939 Hours. Mons -Fri.-8:30-7.->Sat-.»3:30- . “suit”. Moose and caribou heads us also be boiled | CROCHETERS “TELEX 036-8-8532'1 wooden sticks with rounded ends, to stretch and soften it. When it dried it was:soft as a cloth.. The moose or caribou hide was now taken down, and. a narrow strip, including the holes, was cut off all around the edge. This strip could then be sewn around more delicate smal- ler hides, such as gopher, so that the small hide could be stretched without cutting holes in it. The hide was now sewn into a sack, open at one end. A hole was dug in the ground, and enough Jack Pine cones were put in to keep coals slowly burning and smoking. The sack was put in the hole, where it could be smoked to any desired shade of yellow or brown. The hide. ’ was then turned inside out and smoked a little on the inside as well. Finally, the sack could be cut open and spread out to dry. The hide was: used to make all the clothing worn by the In-. dians: coats, shirts, pants, mittens, slippers, and_ moccasins. An interesting note is that the same type of hide - either moose or caribou - was used for an _ entire outfit. The idea was to have a matching As moose hide was thicker and heavier. and also quite porous, it was used for winter wear. The warmest hide for mukluks and mit- tens came from a bull moose. The lighter, more . airtight caribou hide made ideal outfits for summer. | asked Johnny how small animal skins were used. ‘‘Blankets! Rabbit, squirrel, and ground- hog skins were tanned, cut into rectangular pieces, and sewn together. Rabbit skins were al- ways saved, as they made very good blankets for both winter and summer. Married people’’ - here Johnny gave his nice smile - “always got bigger ‘blankets than single people. Rabbit skin was also used for children’s mitts and moccasins, worn fur side in.” . eg re a es Be cn continued on page 11 WATSON LAKE HOTEL 036-7481 ATLAS TRAVEL . MICHAELS GIFT SHOP ; and KNITTERS Large selection of wool now available in Cassiar VISIT THE KNIT - PICKER 299 Carmacks St. Ph. 778-7515 : HOURS Monday - Friday e4 “Saturdays ****** Before the hide was dry, it was beaten with 2 10: 00 am - 12:00 am oe Le iustry Talk ion H rie ourable Grace Mc- i Industry, (March ‘srable upsurge of ‘hether it was her ow or her own con- age seems to have Jee (the northern i) that this is an indus- 1e. 3 have realized that it is 1ajor growth industry. As opportunities for northern ities to make a living, or at profitable sideline, to make <0 Visit favourite beauty spots pose. ve discussed three new businesses 2ntly got started in the south of . One was a guest farm, another an ‘aft shop specializing in ornamental and the other a museum for aged farm it. All these businessmen responded to .4 of providing a service to the tourist. zy realized that if the tourist had got this . north, he would be looking for things to do and a place to stay. The tourist is a special sort of person: he is relaxed, looking for new experi- ences and not willing to part with his money. And if he does come north, the odds are he is looking for a country-type experience. These enterprises will provide it. In other words, the seller’s goods are matching the buyer's needs. This is all as it should be. Now, the Peace - River-Alaska Highway Tourist Association has a few offers to make. The first is that if you are considering starting any kind of tourist-oriented business, or if you are expanding one, feel free to use us for advice © on anything from location to financing. We are here to help you in any way we can. Secondly, we are in the business of not keep- ing secrets. So if you’ll tell us about your project we will, when you’re ready, give you all the free publicity we can. We have these columns, we _ make. up. features stories for distribution to the. news media and we are of course plugged in to Tourism. British Columbia’s promotional net- work. Thus we can arrange not only provincial but international coverage for you too. So if you are starting a new business for tour- ists, taking over an existing one, or if you would just plain like some publicity for your present business, just give us a call. Tell us who you are, what you have to offer and where you are offer- ing it. (And how much you're charging, of course.) - The Peace River-Alaska Highway Tourist Association exists to serve you, whether or not you are a member. Let’s be hearing from you, because there are a lot of tourists out there who want to hear from us. This series is sponsored by the Peace River- Alaska Highway Tourist Association (PRAHTA). Additional information may be out-obtained by contacting PRAHTA, attention, Region “H”’ Tourist Co-ordinator, P.O. Box 6850, Fort St. John, B.C. - V1J 4J3. Telephone 785-2544. V& 5. Janitorial Service Spring cleanup? See us for all your Janitorial Needs! FLOORS STRIPPING CARPETS UPHOLSTERY WAXING Box 371 WATSON LAKE Phone 536-7970 Have been in business for one year, and interested in pee up Business