NOTES ON THE NUNAMIUT ESKIMO AND MAMMALS OF ... - arctic

188 THE NUNAMIUT ESKIMO AND MAMMALS OF THE ANAKTUVUK PASS REGION
the old bulls, with an admixture of younger ones, come last. By April 1 the
cows have ordinarily passed through to the Arctic
are born.
Slope, where the calves
From early June until mid-summer, caribou are usually absent from the
main valley, but in early August (August 9 in 1949) a second northward
migration may be seen. The herds are of mixed sex and age and are variable in
size, but the majority number less than 200 animals. Few observations on herd
composition were made; the following examples, however, are ,representative:
(1) 20 September 1949 (2) 20 September 1949 (3) 23 September 1949
Old bulls 1 Old bulls 3 Old bulls 13
Adult 0 4 Adult 0 5 Adult 0 0 10
2-year-old 8 8 2 Yearlings 2 2-year-old 8 8 6
Yearling 9 9 2 Calves 3 Yearling 8 8 and
Calves 2 young o o 8
Calves 8 - __ -
Total 11 13
45
During this movement the bulls clean the velvet from their antlers by rubbing
them on willows and other small bushes.
Beginning typically in October, the entire herd comes south through the
main valley. The rut occurs in mid-October, and there is much fighting among
the bulls. The migration lasts well into November. However, in 1949 the
southward movement did not begin until December. By January 1950 the
main movement was towards the south, but on January 31 I saw a herd of
from 3,000 to 4,000 animals moving to the north.
The following observations give some idea of the erratic nature of caribou
movements:
In the fall of 1949 large numbers of caribou came out of Publatuk Creek from the
east, and went up the main valley as far as Nachramkunga Creek, and on to the west.
In December they moved in large numbers east through Inukpasukruk Creek and
went over the divide into the Savioyok valley. They then apparently went on
south and came back into the main valley via the Publatuk. Many re-entered the
main valley just below Kalutak Creek. Some also came out along the Okoluk, and
some over the high mountains near the fork called Kayak, at the confluence of the
Kalutagiak and the John rivers. This general movement persisted until the end of
April 1950, when the animals again moved northward through the main valley. The
northward movement in 1950 persisted in the main valley until the end of June;
after that no caribou were seen, except for a few stragglers, until late November.
There were northward migrations farther to the west, however, through the vallev
of Chandler Lake, from the middle of August through September. Large herds were
seen moving east, south of the Colville on the Arctic Slope. According to later
information, it would seem that the main southward migration during the fall of 1950
took place through the Chandalar drainage. The first caribou coming south reached
the divide between the two drainages on November 10, and consisted mostly of
males. About 2,000 animals, mostly females, were observed at Tulugak Lake on
November 20. Another herd of more than 1,000 was seen on December 5. This
southward migration continued into February 1951. During March caribou came
north up the John River, and some also came north out of Inukpasukruk and
Nachramkunga creeks. Not many caribou were seen in the main valley in early
April. On April 23 about 500 animals,!mostly females, came north from Inukpasukruk
Creek. From late spring until late September caribou were scarce. A few
animals came from Anivik (from aniruk, “come out”) Creek during September and