The Land
Beaufort Region
(Part II)
by
David Morrison
Curator of N.W.T. Archaeology
(District of Mackenzie)
Canadian Museum of Civilization

Vegetation

By Arctic standards, vegetation cover is unusually dense and complete, and bare ground is largely restricted to beaches (Mackay 1963: 164-173, Martell et al. 1984). Low, moist areas, especially near the tree line, can support dense, nearly impassable stands of shoulder-high willow, while dry hilltops may support only a few scattered shrubs. Open, grassy areas usually mark the location of former houses and villages. Frost-patterned ground is common in many areas, as are the characteristic pingos. These large "frost boils" take the form of earthen hills several dozen to several hundred metres high, with frozen, icy centres and cratered tops, like frozen volcanoes. They are more common in the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula area (where there are several thousand) than anywhere else on earth (Mackay 1963: 65-94).

Animal Resources

The Western Arctic is also very well endowed with animal resources (Martell et al. 1984). Particularly important are beluga whales, a small circumpolar white whale about 4 metres in length. In summer, they are very abundant in the esutaries of the Mackenzie River mouth, where they are much hunted. Some years they enter the Eskimo Lakes where, if they linger, they can be in danger from encroaching ice. Belugas cannot deal with extensive sea ice and are therefore migratory, wintering in the ice free waters of the north Pacific. With them on their migratory travels journey the much larger bowheads, baleen whales up to 18 metres in length.

The mainstay of Arctic commercial whaling (Bockstoce 1986), bowheads were nearly exterminated in the Western Arctic before the First World War, but are making a cautious comeback today. Seals are found everywhere in the Arctic sea. The two main species in the Western Arctic are ringed seals, the common and typical arctic seal, and the much larger bearded seal. Both species can easily deal with even complete ice cover by maintaining breathing holes through the ice, and are found in the area year round.

On land, fish are a staple food resource, particularly cisco, whitefish, and burbot. Most are summer spawners, and can be taken in huge numbers with nets.

Caribou hides were once necessary for winter clothing, and the meat is much esteemed. The Western Arctic is served by two distinct caribou herds, with the Porcupine herd living west of the River, and the Bluenose herd to the east. Both are migratory, calving on the coastal tundra in early June, and wintering in the northern forests. Perhaps due to overhunting during the whaling era, both caribou populations collapsed in the early 20th century, but are in strong recovery today. The best caribou hunting is in the Richardson Mountains, or to the east around the Anderson River. Traditionally, autumn was the most important season for caribou hunting, since at that time of year the males in particular are fat and in excellent shape, and hides are prime for winter clothing. With fish and sea mammals, caribou were the basis of traditional subsistence in the Western Arctic.

The domesticated, Old World cousins of the caribou - reindeer - were introduced to the Mackenzie area early in this century by a Canadian Federal Government keen on helping local people deal with the caribou crash. It was never a complete success, since Inuvialuit were not that interested in becoming herders rather than hunters. However, a now privately owned herd of several thousand animals still lives on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula. Its sole commercial function is to produce velvet antler for the oriental aphrodisiac market.

There are other, larger animals. Polar bears are the largest terrestrial carnivores on earth, and can sometimes be found in coastal regions, particularly around the outer headlands such as Cape Bathurst. Occasionally they wander inland as far as Fort MacPherson or Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River). More common are grizzly bears, which are relatively abundant in the Richardson Mountains, or east of the River around the Horton and Anderson Rivers. Moose occasionally wander north of treeline in summer, browsing on in rich willow thickets. And muskox can be found in a few areas. By 1900 they were extinct in Alaska and all but eliminated west of Coronation Gulf, but like many other Arctic animals they are making a good comeback in the 20th century (Barr 1991). Muskox can now be seen around the Horton River, and also on the Yukon Arctic coast, where an introduced Alaskan population is expanding. They were probably never common in the Mackenzie valley itself.