Eskimos seldom
venture far inland on their hunting and trapping expeditions, but some
of the liveyeres go fifty or sixty miles from the coast to set their
traps, and some of those in Hamilton Inlet go up the Grand River for a
distance of more than two hundred and fifty miles, and others go up
the Nascaupee River for upwards of a hundred miles.
Trapping is all done in winter and it is a lonely and adventurous
calling. Early in September, the men who go the greatest distance
inland set out for their trapping grounds. Usually two men go
together. They build a small log hut called a "tilt," about eight by
ten feet in size. Against each of two sides a bunk is made of saplings
and covered with spruce or balsam boughs. On the boughs the sleeping
bags are spread, and the result is a comfortable bed. The bunks also
serve as seats. A little sheet iron stove that weighs, including
stovepipe, about eighteen pounds and is easy to transport, heats the
tilt, and answers very well for the trapper's simple cooking. The
stovepipe, protruding through the roof, serves as a chimney.
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