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Muskox
History
Prior to the 18th
century, it is likely that muskoxen played only a minor part as a food
source to the native peoples of the Northwest Territories.
The Chipewyan Indians who lived along the treeline from Hudson Bay west to
the Coppermine River harvested muskoxen only when their traditional foods
of caribou and fish were not available. The same was likely true of the
early Inuit who lived primarily in coastal regions and hunted caribou and
sea mammals.
Over the course of the 18th century as more Europeans arrived to open up
the new land, native people began slowly to abandon traditional patterns
of living. They spent more time in, or traveling to, settlements to
benefit from trade items such as food and guns. The Chipewyans who
travelled overland to Churchill, Manitoba, began killing muskoxen
encountered along the way. Some of the meat they used for themselves when
traveling through areas where caribou were scarce, but much of it was
sold, together with hides, to trading posts.
By the 1820s, muskoxen had also become more important to the coastal
Inuit, who required more food as the population of their communities
increased. They began to travel farther inland and as they reached prime
muskox habitat, many herds were hunted nearly to extinction.
At the same time as indigenous peoples were becoming increasingly
dependent on muskoxen, explorers and whalers were killing many thousands
for fresh meat and for hides which had become fashionable in Europe as
sleigh robes.
Muskoxen are particularly susceptible to over-hunting for several reasons.
One is that they are generally unwary and easy to stalk. The second is
that because they do not range far, they are easily located by people
familiar with their home territories. Finally, and perhaps saddest of all,
is that their defence position, so effective against wolves, becomes
suicidal when practiced against men with guns.
By 1900, the
combination of demands for meat and hides, together with the introduction
of guns, had led to serious declines in muskox populations on mainland
Canada. Weather, perhaps fall icing storms, may have reduced muskox
numbers on Banks and Victoria Islands. In 1917, the Canadian government,
realizing that the animals were in danger of being completely
exterminated, prohibited trading in hides and put muskoxen under complete
protection. In 1927 the Thelon Game Sanctuary was established in the
Thelon River drainage to protect muskoxen there. Since then, the animals
have made a slow but steady comeback both in numbers and in occupied
range.
By l967, muskoxen had increased so significantly that hunting under a
quota system was permitted in several Inuit communities. By 1990 community
quotas had risen to around 3500 of which 2000 were assigned solely to
Banks Island.
As
interest in Canada's north grows, unique northern animals such as muskox
could become tourist attractions in National Wildlife areas or parks. But
even for those Canadians who will never see a muskox in the wild, it is
important that these ancient animals be preserved, for they are a link
with a time before man ever set foot in North America. In a world where
time goes by so quickly, it is reassuring to know that somewhere in the
far north of our country, there is an animal still placidly grazing its
way across the tundra in much the same way as it was 90,000 years ago.
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