NiJp-14 Netsilik Lake Thule Village
This Thule semi subterranean house site consists of six sod and stone house depressions and ten tent rings located on tow relict beach terrances.
These were early Thule winter houses and teh Netsilingmiut would later build snow houses.
Thule semi subterranean houses are considered rare in the Netsilik area.
Fishing at Netsilik Lake
When we came to this area from Kingailaq, we went to Aitsauqtungiaq. That is where my cousin was waiting for us and when we got there he was all by himself and his tent was up.
At that time there was a lot of water on the sea ice. At Aitsauqtungiaq he had his tent up so we set up a camp there.
It seemed like they went fishing without sleeping. They went to go see if the pikiaqniq (where the river starts, and where the water gets dangerous in some places) was ready to fish in. They went to see if the fish were going down the river to the sea.
Because the pikiaqniq was not ready, they spent just a few days at their camp and moved the camp to Netsilik Lake by the pikiaqniq. To the place called the back of Netsilik Lake.
They traveled to Netsilik by the sea ice using dog teams. They traveled to Netsilik Lake from Aitsauqtungiaq. When they got to the pikiaqniq they were spent a long time fishing and making dry fish. They were making dry fish up at the lake. After camping they waited until the lake was ready for people to kayak by the shore.
By the shore of Qiqiqtaluk there is a place that we can go and cross to the ice. After we were camping there for a while we decided to go across on the ice. First we had to travel to Qiqiqtaluk before we could go and cross to the ice.
When we made it to the shore of Qiqiqtaluk, away from the where the river was starting, everybody stayed for a while, then we got ready to cross the water to get to the ice by using kayaks.
My late uncle Igutsaqjuaq, my late uncle Kingaqtuq, our family, and my cousin that is who we were, we were traveling. My uncle Kingaqtuq and us had one kayak and my uncle Igutsapjuaq and my cousin had one kayak. By the time we were crossing it was evening. When we all made it to the ice they were catching fish; using kakivaks (fish spears); they were catching fish that were trying to go down the river. By this time it was late.
When people are fishing where the fish are traveling out from a lake to go out to sea it is called hajijuq.
By the time the sun had set, they stopped fishing.
They were now looking for a place to put their kayaks into the water. By this time the fish were not running as much as the daytime, so they were getting ready to head home. They were going to put the fish in the two kayaks. When all the fish were in the kayaks we started heading home to the back of Netsilik.
The beginning of the river is called the back. That’s where our camp was. When we got home at nighttime the fish were put on land and then they put dry sealskin to cover the fish. After that the people who had just been fishing went to sleep.
The next day when every body got up, the ladies were cutting fish to make dry fish. The men who had been fishing the day before seemed to have disappeared. By the time they were done cutting up fish it was the late afternoon. They were cutting fish even though there were a lot of mosquitoes, clouds of them flying around. That is what I know. That’s the end of the story.
Caribou skins
During the fall in Qikirtaqtuuq my father had caught a caribou, during the fall when there was snow. In those days we didn’t have frames for caribou skins. My mother had cleaned the skin my father had caught. I didn’t even know when my father went out caribou hunting. He had gone caribou hunting to Qikirtaqtuuq. I didn’t know because I was only a child at that time so as my little brother Mangak.
My older brother Aqqaq was always with our grandfather. He wasn’t with us much because he had to help our grandfather. I wasn’t thinking of anything because I was just a child, my mother said “I think your father had caught a caribou, he didn’t even take his rifle with him, and he’s coming home.” I couldn’t believe it; I didn’t even know when he went caribou hunting. I was trying to do something when my mother told me about my father. I thought my mom was very smart that time. I used to think like this, my mother is very smart, she can think like that, that’s how I used to think. When my father came and said he had caught a caribou. So he harnessed two of his dogs and took the sled. When we got to Qikirtaqtuuq where he caught a caribou, he skinned the caribou and then we went home.
My mother cleaned the skin and pegged it onto the bed. The skin was nice and thick. She pegged the skin onto the bed, with the skin facing up. When we went to bed boy it was cold, and here we live in an igloo, and of course we had no coleman stove, there was nothing. It was very cold at that time. I cannot forget that moment, I think about it once in a while.
When my husband catches caribou I never like to throw the skins. I don’t like to throw them away. We had hard time getting caribou in the old days; we had very hard time that time.
My mother pegged the skin onto the bed and we went to sleep. We were naked; we dried up the caribou skin with our skin. I didn’t even know when I fell asleep, and I didn’t feel the cold anymore. The next day the skin was taken off the bed and the caribou skin was already dry. The caribou skins are very easy to dry up more than the seal skins. It was already dry so the next day we used it for mattress, and when we went to bed I was just sweating; it was as though we were in a building. It was very hot. We used to have hardships in the old days, particularly with caribou skins. The caribou skins were very hard to get, it was very hard work.
Today, there is no one to make the skins, and now they are easy to get these days. When I see caribou skins that are thrown in the garbage I would really want them.
Site Field Notes
This site was recorded and tested by James M. Savelle in 1982 and was revisited in 2004. It consists of six sod and stone semi-subterranean house depressions and ten tent rings located on two relict beach terraces, 8 and 12 m respectively on the, grassy, south facing slope of the east-west escarpment which crosses Boothia Isthmus.
One house depression appears to be disturbed but according to the Borden form, there have been no accessions to CMC. The south facing terraces are sandy and have a sunny aspect, however they are beginning to subside and erode as the perma frost layer lowers due to generally warmer temperatures.
Site Description
Historic Association: unknown
Representativeness: Thule
Type/Function: tent rings and semi subterranean
house
Rarity: rare house type
Integrity: atleast one disturbed, others
slumping and eroding
Preservation: no artifacts or bone observed
on surface
Artifact and feature density: high feature
density
Human Remains and Burials: none observed
sunny aspect, however they are beginning to subside and erode as the perma
frost layers lowers due to generally warmer temperatures.