Forest Prairie Edge

by Merle Massie

  The journals of Waggoner and Smith depict three separate but similar journeys that cycled south and west and then back north and east toward Hudson Bay. When the boreal bands were at their most southerly point, they accessed the buffalo, at or near the forest edge. It was at the same time as plains bands were moving to the forest edge regions in pursuit of the retreating herds of bison.20 The two would have occupied the forest edge at the same time, in early to mid-winter.

  Summer’s Edge

  In Christopher Creek near the south shore of Christopher Lake in 1931, two brothers—Tom and Joe Johnson—were knee deep in sand and silt digging a trench. The two property owners were widening the creek channel to allow the lake to drain down the creek. Despite the increasing hold of drought on the open plains to the south, Christopher Lake had burst its banks that year, overflowing into the trees and washing over its normally generous sandy beaches. The Johnson brothers, looking to alleviate the situation and encourage summer bathing beach and camping customers, were busy digging when they came across a remarkable artifact. From the depths of the channel, they pulled up what at first they must have assumed was a rotted tree trunk, partially fossilized. On closer inspection, they realized that it was a tree that had been deliberately modified. It was a dugout canoe, designed by First Nations people and used on the local lake, probably for foraging, trapping, or fishing purposes. They cleaned the sand and mud from their find and loaded it up on their wagon, bound for Prince Albert, where they gave it to the local historical society.21

  The canoe is considered to be a unique artifact in North America. The craft was built with a full bow, but no stern, which allowed one paddler to sit far forward while the back end rose up out of the water but could be used for stowing gear, hauling a catch, or holding collected items. Holes, either bored or naturally occurring knotholes, on either side of the bow were likely used for transportation. A sturdy stick could be placed through the holes as a convenient handle for moving the craft between nearby water bodies and over beaver dams.

  Although it is well known that First Nations groups on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts made and used dugout canoes, this practice was little known in the interior.22 The common mode of travel was the conventional birchbark canoe, known for its lightness, versatility, and ease of repair. From the Algonquin to the Woods Cree, and adapted by the fur traders and voyageurs for their trade, the birchbark canoe plied the inland waters for thousands of years.23 The find at Christopher Creek shattered previous assumptions, proving that the boreal forest people had developed a yearly exploitation cycle rooted in place. A dugout canoe, meant for strength and endurance but not speed or lightness, could be used year after year on the same body of water. A birchbark canoe, exposed to the harsh winter snows, had to be remade each spring. The presence of a dugout canoe, which would have required many hours to build, suggests a deeper commitment to place and perhaps less inclination or need for mobility. The waterways in and around Christopher and Emma Lakes, and the fens of nearby Oscar Lake, provided freshwater fish, game birds, furs (particularly muskrat and beaver), and a variety of green plants for food, baskets, and medicine.

  Why is the canoe an important find? How can its existence change the interpretation of the forest edge? Archaeologist David Meyer, a specialist in parkland and forest edge cultures, has pondered Ray’s thesis of winter co-occupation of the parkland. According to Meyer, this interpretation does not fit the archaeological record.24 Between AD 500 and AD 1000, the northern forests were occupied by the “Laurel” complex, while the plains were inhabited by the “Avonlea” phase. Laurel people moved to the forest edge in spring to access spring fishing in the spawning grounds of rivers and streams. They stayed well within the northern forests in winter. Avonlea people also occupied the parkland and southern boreal forest in the spring but spent their winters mainly on the grassland. Archaeologists have used the evidence to hypothesize that southern plains Avonlea people would retreat to the forested regions during the winter only if weather on the grasslands was particularly severe. Any co-occupation was during the spring, to access the spawning fish or travel using the opening waterways.

  During the Old Woman’s phase on the open plains (AD 1000 to AD 1450), there was no indication of any north-south interaction in the archaeological record. The archaeological record for the central boreal forest of Saskatchewan is sketchy for the Old Woman’s phase, in part because of the problematic nature of boreal forest excavations, which offer a sparse database. Sites would probably match the Blackduck, common across northern Manitoba in this time period. Such interaction might yet be found, when more sites are discovered throughout the boreal forest.25 Between AD 1450 and AD 1700, or pre-contact phase in the western interior, the suite of archaeological sites from the plains are called the Mortlach Aggregate. No Mortlach site has been found at the forest edge and only a few have been found in the parkland. Their northern binary, the Selkirk occupation, was common throughout the boreal forest to the southern edge of the forest and into the parkland. These sites bear evidence of spring and early summer occupation, but no winter site has been found. These people, Meyer suggested, moved into the boreal forest proper in the winter, subsisting on hunting moose and caribou and ice fishing. Meyer points out that the archaeological record paints a picture in opposition to Ray’s model: the two major groups of inhabitants in the western interior, particularly in central Saskatchewan, would have been farthest away from each other in winter. In the Selkirk phase (which extends roughly to the beginning of the fur trade), the boreal forest bands extended south, indicating increasing strength and influence, possibly coinciding with the beginning of the fur trade, for which the boreal landscape offered an abundance of fur.

  By the historic period, as recorded in fur-trade journals and diaries, forest-adapted hunter-gatherers exploited diverse resources throughout the year. Their hunting and fishing grounds extended to the forest edge and into the parkland.26 Archaeological investigation along major river systems points to spring and summer fishing exploitation as a major component of life in the western interior. Malainey’s research on fat/lipid residues on pottery sherds shows that, though forest-adapted bands utilized the spring spawning grounds, plains-adapted people could not. They would get sick if they switched from a lean bison meat diet to a fat-rich fish diet in spring. Rather, plains bands adapted fetal and newborn bison into their diet instead of fish. Yet, when the men canoed to Hudson Bay, the women stayed behind in camps usually near the rivers or lakes, indicating a gender-oriented aquatic exploitation. Perhaps women and children could transition to the fat-rich aquatic diet more easily, or by summer their bodies were more adapted to a fatty diet.27

  The Waggoner and Smith journals outlining the boreal cycle mirror Malainey and Sherriff’s depiction of a plains yearly cycle split not only by season but also by hydrology and gender. Men would make the arduous trip to the bay, while women, elderly band members, and children would create encampments within strategically rich aquatic environments, usually at streams and lakeshores near the forest edge. The canoe find at Christopher Creek indicated a deep sense of place and a tool for gathering fish, birds, and plants. Summer encampments fell within a distinctly feminine and domestic sphere. Considering the past through the lens of gender might reveal nuances that have so far been overlooked. Fishing was generally within the feminine sphere. Women traded isinglass (dried air bladder from sturgeon, a natural gelatin used to clarify beer) at fur-trade posts.28 It is possible that the movement to and from the fur-trade posts along the waterways was an innovation that shattered and changed older adaptations along gender lines, changing the use of the forest edge.

  If the transition zone between prairie and forest came to prominence during the early days of the fur trade, then one point becomes clear: water, in addition to trees, was an important component of the edge landscape. The dugout canoe discovered in Christopher Creek represents seasonal exploitation geared toward summer. Even so, Ray’s original mod
el of winter exploitation should not be forgotten—in severe weather, the forest edge would provide critical fuel resources and shelter. Despite the ongoing debate over which season saw the highest use, the forest fringe was an ecological edge of critical importance for the human occupants of the western interior. It offered diverse resources, from fuel and teepee poles to large ungulates such as bison, moose, deer, and elk. Extensive water sources provided habitat for fish and wildfowl. Berries and mosses grew in abundance, and other plants—used for medical or edible purposes—not found elsewhere could be harvested. Exploiting the resources found within and across the forest edge allowed for greater ecological adaptation and resilience for all bands living in the western interior.

  Cultural Edge

  Kestapinik, the “Meeting Place,” was a point of contact for First Nations bands in the western interior for thousands of years. Prehistoric archaeological research on human cultures consistently shows lines of separation at or near this place, suggesting that bands defined their areas of influence and adaptive strategies to coincide roughly with the forest boundary. The forest edge marked more than a mere physiographic description, argued geographer G. Malcolm Lewis, a specialist in First Nations mapmaking. Lewis studied early maps of the North American interior, the majority of which were made by or with the extensive help of First Nations residents. The forest edge represented a cultural as well as an ecological edge, necessitating a different mode of life. “In the absence of mountains, sea coasts, and major lakes, [the treeline was] the main landmark,” Lewis noted. First Nations groups “anticipated, planned for, and even feared” moving from the forest to the plains:

  in the absence of trees, kindling wood and tent poles had to be carried; in order to guarantee fresh water at nightly camp sites, circuitous routes had to be followed, such that a day’s journey could be considerably longer or shorter than an ideal march; to afford shelter against sudden blizzards, the ideal route in winter was never far from the shelter of a valley or a clump of trees; in a dry season it was necessary to be wary of grass fires to windward and in a wet season, when naturally induced fires were rare, it was essential to conceal camp fires, which at night would announce the existence of a camp to other Indians within a radius of several tens of miles.29

  The need to move with some stealth and care throughout the prairie landscape was mitigated, at least in part, by the strength in numbers of plains bands. The adaptive strategies of plains bands versus woods bands were particular cultural responses to the landscape within which they spent the majority of their time. Plains bands were defined by the bison hunt, which in good years could support large, healthy encampments of 100 tents or more. The boreal environment supported significantly smaller band units, adapted to smaller animal populations, and diversified hunting and gathering strategies.

  The historic occupants of the north Prince Albert region were Cree, but the historical record also notes an extensive co-occupation of the area by a northern group of Assinboine.30 Three specific Cree groups used the region: the Pegogamaw, who inhabited the forks region and area between the branches to the west and south, along the South Saskatchewan (which took in a parkland gradient leading into grassland or Plains Cree orientation); the Keskachewan or Beaver Cree, who inhabited the North Saskatchewan and Beaver River regions, which combined boreal and parkland settings; and the boreal forest or Western Woods Cree, who lived on the north side of the North Saskatchewan basin and along the Churchill River system.31

  The territories of influence of these three bands overlapped in the north Prince Albert region. The Pegogamaw Cree probably migrated southward during the early years of the fur trade to dominate the strategic inland water “highway” of the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers near the forks and forcing the Gros Ventre, the region’s previous occupants, out.32 The migration represented a period of great transition for the group, as not only did their territorial range shift significantly, but likely they restructured their economic orientation to learn bison hunting (particularly pounding) from the northern Assiniboine and took on a marked involvement with the European fur trade. As fur-trade posts moved into the western interior, the Pegogamaw Cree were oriented more to the south and west of the north Prince Albert region but probably retained their occupation of the Sturgeon, Little Red, and Garden River systems, firmly within the transition zone.33 Continued occupation of the north Prince Albert region would have allowed access to better moose hunting and excellent beaver and muskrat hunting grounds, fishing in the lakes, sphagnum mosses for diapers, and blueberries and cranberries in addition to the prairie saskatoons and bison.

  Map 4. Pegogamaw lands. Note the absence of bands north of the Pegogamaw, in what became the north Prince Albert region. Source: Meyer and Russell, “Lands and Lives of the Pegogamaw Cree,” 227. Used with permission.

  The Beaver Cree operated to the west of the Sturgeon River, but records indicate that they sometimes used that river as an inland highway, and certainly both the Beaver and the Pegogamaw were known to trade with the Canadian “pedlars” who had established a fort at the mouth of the Sturgeon River called Sturgeon Fort, just to the west of modern-day Prince Albert on the north side of the river.34 These bands also developed an overland road that started near the forks of the Saskatchewan and went west, parallel to the river, providing an overland route into their home territory. This road was described by HBC inland fur trader and explorer William Pink, who made four trips to the Prince Albert region from 1766 to 1769. According to Pink, the group would abandon their canoes at the forks, put away a large cache of dried meat and other supplies, then travel overland. They would spend the winter trapping and hunting wolves and marten for the fur trade as well as beaver and muskrat. At some point—it differed from year to year in his journal, sometimes as early as December, sometimes as late as March—they would travel south to participate in bison pounding. As spring approached, the band would travel back east to a canoe-building site to get ready for the spring trip to the bay.35

  There is little clear indication in the fur trader’s journals that the Western Woods Cree of the Churchill region came so far south, as they would likely have entered into HBC trade using the Churchill River system. The archaeological record does show that the north Prince Albert region was well used by both Plains and Woods Cree. Ethnohistorical interpretation, drawn from fur-trader records, suggests that all three groups (Pegogamaw, Beaver, and Woods Cree) used the area to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the year and circumstances. Of these groups, the Beaver and Pegogamaw were devastated by the smallpox epidemic of 1781–82. Local fur traders retained some hope for the eventual recovery of these two bands. Indeed, in the summer following the epidemic, the master of Hudson House, William Walker, decided to stay in the region during the summer of 1782 instead of travelling back to Cumberland House and the bay forts, as was the usual practice: “There is a good few Indians alive up here yet, Some not over the Pox, and a great many young fellows gone to bring their own and the furrs of their deceased relations, who had laid them up when they took the Distemper, a great way off, they have most of them promis’d to come here with their furrs, So I thought that it would be of more Benefit to our Honble. Masters to stay up here without Orders, than to Carry the Goods down to Cumberland House, where there is hardly an Indian man alive.”36

  The loss of so many people from the smallpox epidemic presented a serious blow to the fur trade in the north Prince Albert region and across the western interior, since the Hudson’s Bay Company relied on the inland Indians to trade both furs and provisions and to make canoes and paddle the canoe brigades up and down the Saskatchewan River system.37 Even the short-term contraction in numbers in the region made it likely that the Woods Cree, less affected by the epidemic, expanded their territory south to take advantage of what might have been a large supply of wildlife and subsistence necessities in the region. The word Pegogamaw, in reference to a specific band or group, disappeared from the fur-trade journ
als after the epidemic.38

  In general, there is a gap in the historical record relating to the area between the Saskatchewan and Churchill systems. This gap is due, in large part, to geography. First Nations and fur traders primarily used water routes as roads: from Cumberland House, canoe routes could go north to the Churchill or west and south down the Saskatchewan. As a variant, they could travel up the Sturgeon River to its source, then cross overland to Beaver River and from there north to La Loche, Île-à-la-Crosse, and Methye Portage. This route was accessible only in high water, and was not reliable, hence the overland variation west from the forks. Interestingly, Prince Albert resident John Smith commented on the difference between southern and northern bands and their primary modes of transportation: “Indians from the South were not equipped to travel by water, while those from the North knew of no other way of travelling than by water. The plains Indians used ponies,” he noted, while northern bands either canoed in summer or used dogs and snowshoes in winter over the frozen waterways.39 Smith’s comments reinforce a somewhat arbitrary distinction between prairie and boreal bands where plains bands used overland transport, while boreal bands preferred water.40 At the confluence of cultures within the north Prince Albert region, all transportation options—horses, dogs, snowshoes, birchbark canoes, and dugout canoes—were evident.