[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XL
Two boards are used, as one of sufficient width could not be obtained from the forests of that region. Besides, a single board would certainly split, while two obviate this danger and render the sled less stiff. In passing over rough places the sled must bend to conform to inequalities or else it would break. In the construction of this vehicle the Indian displays much skill and a perfect knowledge of the requirements of the case. The load is placed so as to dispose the weight on that portion which will bear chiefly on the ground. The great length of the sled enables the person to guide it more readily.
[Illustration: FIG. 129.--Nenenot snowshoe, single bar.]
When on a journey the younger women and the men drag it along. When the men return to the station to trade they alone drag it. A small dog is sometimes hitched to it by a thong, but as the animal is so small and light, it affords but little assistance. The animal, however, would certainly wander off in search of game along the track, and by being hitched to the sled is kept within bounds.
All the household effects, consisting of tent, cooking utensils, clothing, and other articles are placed on the sled when the people are changing camp.
The Nenenot are skilled in the manufacture and use of snowshoes, of which four styles are used, viz: The "swallow-tail," "beaver-tail," "round-end," and "single-bar" (Figs. 128, 129). The frame is of wood, nearly an inch wide and half an inch thick, usually in two pieces, joined by long lap splices wrapped with deerskin thongs, either at the sides or ends of the shoe. In the single-bar shoe the frame is on one slip, spliced at the toe. Birch is the favorite material for snowshoes, but is rarely to be had except by those Indians who ascend the Koksoak to its headwaters, so that spruce and larch are generally used.
The arrangement of the toe and heel bars of the snowshoes will be best understood from the figures. They are usually placed within the frame, and set in mortises in the inner side of the frame, before the wrapping of the ends of the frames has been drawn together; otherwise the bars could not be placed in the holes to receive them.