Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/48

the principal settlement in winter; now most of them live near the trading station. Osborn^[1] states that on August 21st 1850 he found no Eskimos at Button Point and that they were in the interior, salmon fishing and hunting caribou. That Low^[2] writes: "In the winter all congregate at Button Point" is due to the circumstance that in the year he was at Ponds Inlet, the only trading station was at Iterdleq, close by Button Point.

Almost every spring there are some families — in 1923 four — who cross Lancaster Sound to North Devon to hunt the bear; it is no uncommon occurrence for them to pass the summer there or at North Somerset, hunting caribou and musk ox. In the spring of 1923 four families had gone to the fjord Anaularealing for caribou and bear; they returned to Button Point from there in June.

The most important settlements at Ponds Inlet, Qilalukan and Button Point, are fully described in Archaeology of the Central Eskimos I, p. 136 and 206 respectively.

In Admiralty Inlet the number of families is constantly changing; now, at any rate, one cannot speak of them as a separate tribe, the Tununerusermiut, who are said to have had a certain amount of independence formerly. The principal winter settlement is Ulukssan at Arctic Bay; the spring is as a rule spent on Cape Crawford (Kangeq), where they hunt narwhal from the ice edge and ùtoq-seal. In summer, some of them move to Ulukssan, where they hunt narwhal from both boat and kayak, and some go caribou hunting and salmon fishing in the south of the fjord, where Saputit, Imeq and Siming are important grounds; in January they move back to Ulukssan, where they live upon the summer depots and the seals they catch at the breathing holes. It often happens. however, that some families spend the winter at the mouth of the fjord, where they hunt walrus from the ice edge and seal at the breathing holes. At Eqalulik I counted 22 tent rings and 10 meat caches.

As a result of this examination of the cycle of occupations of the Iglulik Eskimos one may say: As regards occupations, the year is divided into two main periods: 1) a period comprising the whole or part of summer, autumn and the first half of winter, when caribou hunting is the principal occupation, with the addition of salmon fishing now and then; settlements in the interior of the country or at places at the coast from which there is easy access to the caribou areas. 2) Another period, covering the latter half of winter. from the time when the sewing of caribou skins is ended (January–February), spring and a part (as far as some are