Thomson, Callum

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98 • REVIEWSmoisture to penetrate and are designed for use in cold, drywinter conditions. This style is identical to winter bootsdescribed and illustrated by Ms. Issenman in an earlierpublication (1997:51, 52, 122):Winter boots of caribou or seal can have a depilated seal-skin foot with a furred upper. With a spring melt, ipirautiik,waterproof boots, replace the furry boots. These boots aremade of dehaired, sometimes, shaved sealskin…. (p. 51)The photographs in Uvattinnit provide an excellentdepiction of traditional Inuit clothing, useful for thoseinterested in contemporary Inuit outerwear styles. Unfor-tunately, the format for this photographic essay sets thestage for possible future misinterpretation by presentingindividuals in an artificial context, removed from contem-porary issues, lifestyles, and lifeways. We recommend thispublication for individuals interested in Inuit clothing andindividuals interested in work published on the North.REFERENCEISSENMAN, B. 1997. Sinews of survival: The living legacy ofInuit clothing. Vancouver, British Columbia: UBC Press.Alison Edmunds and Jill OakesDepartment of Native StudiesUniversity of ManitobaWinnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaR3T 5V5DECHYOO NJIK (MlVm-4) AND THE TRADITIONALLAND USE PATTERNS IN THE SOUTHWEST POR-TION OF THE OLD CROW FLATS, YUKON TERRI-TORY. By MÉLANIE FAFARD. Whitehorse: HeritageBranch, Government of the Yukon, 2001. OccasionalPapers in Archaeology No. 8. ISBN 1-55018-998-0, vii +101 p., map, b&w illus., bib., errata sheet. Softbound.Free.The Yukon Heritage Branch has published Mélanie Fafard’sM.A. thesis from the University of Alberta as No. 8 in itsOccasional Papers in Archaeology series. The title,Dechyoo Njik (MlVm-4) and the Traditional Land UsePatterns in the Southwestern Portion of the Old CrowFlats, Yukon Territory, clearly introduces readers to theauthor’s objectives: to document the range of activities inthe Old Crow Flats and improve the current understandingof pre-contact/contact period land use patterns. Fafardused several lines of inquiry to achieve these objectives,including the excavation of part of MlVm-4, oral historyinterviews with elders from Old Crow, research amongearly historical and ethnographic documents, and com-parison of the findings from this site with those from twoother sites in the region.Dechyoo Njik occupies a grassy clearing on a point barterrace at the confluence of Shaeffer Creek and DechyooNjik (“Goose with Red Bill and Feet Creek”) about 40 kmnorth of the Porcupine River in the southwest corner of OldCrow Flats. This region was traditionally occupied by theVuntut Gwitchin, who relied mainly on caribou for theirsubsistence. In late spring, after intercepting the northernmigration of the barren-ground caribou at traditional cross-ing locations on the Porcupine River, the Vuntut Gwitchinmoved for the summer months to the Old Crow Flats area,where they hunted, trapped, and fished. Dechyoo Njik isone site that demonstrates these activities; in this case, themain emphasis appears to have been on fishing and fishprocessing, but waterfowl, muskrat, and berries were alsoimportant.Fafard’s excavations and analyses indicate that the sitewas occupied during at least two distinct periods of time.The first identified occupation took place during the Klo-kut Phase of the Late Prehistoric Period in the northernYukon (ca. A.D. 700 to contact). Unfortunately, nostratigraphy was noted during the excavations, and fewdiagnostic artifacts were recovered. The two radiocarbondates obtained (<180 B.P. from a piece of worked caribouantler and 555 ± 40 B.P. on charcoal) indicated occupationlate in the Klo-kut Phase and suggest either repeatedoccupation or that occupants collected and burned oldwood. The second period of occupation was during theHistoric Period, probably after 1880.The large number of features identified, which includehearths, ash deposits, refuse pits, habitation depressions,and a probable cache, suggest that processing of fishcaught at the site was most likely the principal activity.Fafard describes and analyzes the lithic, bone and antler,and bark industries, the wood remains, the Euro-Canadiangoods, and the faunal remains in great detail, comparingthem with material collected at the Klo-kut and Rat IndianCreek sites, whose occupants focused principally on mi-grating caribou. She concludes that the site has indeedhelped in an understanding of recent land use in the OldCrow Flats area. In this I concur: the site clearly fills aseasonal gap between the two crucial caribou-huntingseasons of spring and fall. The site’s occupants most likelytrapped, caught, and processed large quantities of fish,some of which were cached for later use, and also obtainedmuskrat, waterfowl, and berries. Fafard’s careful analysisand her use of ethnographic analogy help us to understandhow these tasks were carried out and where some of theraw materials used were derived.In spite of its utility, the report demonstrates a surprisinglack of attention by the author and editors. More carefulediting and a few simple changes would have improved thereadability. The study area map shows only the northwest-ern corner of the Yukon and lacks both an inset to orient thereader within this part of the Arctic and a scale. The use ofAmerican spellings for such words as metre, behaviour,and colour is irritating. Every other page or so has at leastone typographical or grammatical error. The quality ofREVIEWS • 99reproduction of site plans and artifact photographs is poor,resulting in ambiguities in the site plans and insufficientdetail, contrast, and sharpness in the photos. Figures, ta-bles, and photographs invariably are inserted several pagesafter the first reference to them, requiring the reader tothumb forward to find the item under discussion. While thereport layout is neat and easy to follow, many of the tableshave errors in formatting and, occasionally, in content. Thechapter on faunal analysis would have benefitted greatlyfrom a table or other graphic means of summarizingseasonality. As though the author (and editors) had run outof energy by the end of this 100-page volume, the “Refer-ences Cited” section contains quite a few errors. Theseinclude at least a dozen wrong publication dates (explainedas a computer glitch in an errata statement); referenceslisted but (as far as I could tell) not used; errors in spellingof names; and some formatting problems (again, the editorsprovide an apology).During a recent pipeline survey in Gwichya Gwich’interritory farther east, I noted many abandoned and activefishing camps in comparable locations. Fafard’s reportmight have gone a stage further by making a comparisonbetween the Dechyoo Njik site components and the fea-tures of a modern fishing camp. Perhaps future research inthe Old Crow Flats area will add to Fafard’s work and morecompletely fill the gap between the Late Prehistoric Periodand the recent Historic Period.However, this is a good contribution to knowledge anda fine example of how to publish the useful results of afocused M.A. research project simply, effectively, andrelatively quickly.Callum ThomsonNational Manager, ArchaeologyJacques Whitford Environment LimitedSuite 500, 703 – 6th Avenue SWCalgary, Alberta, CanadaT2P 0T9cthomson@jacqueswhitford.com

Dechyoo Njik (MlVm-4) and the Traditional Land Use Patterns in the Southwest Portion of the Old Crow Flats, Yukon Territory, by Mélanie Fafard

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Dechyoo Njik (MlVm-4) and the Traditional Land Use Patterns in the Southwest Portion of the Old Crow Flats, Yukon Territory, by Mélanie Fafard

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