Reindeer Days

On a winter afternoon in Tuktoyaktuk, elder Adam Emaghok was content to stay in his cosy home with his wife, Annie. Yet, as he told stories of his younger days, it is almost as if he remembered in his bones the excitement of living and working outside. He spoke of his early hunting days, “We never went to work in those days, we just lived off the land. We would move from season to season. In the winter, we would stay on the ice to be close to the seals. We would use the seal blubber to keep our igloos warm, we would use the meat for food, and the skins for clothing. When the ice started to get soft, we would move to the land and then walk. We would go to the lakes to go fishing, and we would hunt caribou. It is what we did all the time; we never bought anything from the store.”

In fact, Adam was born outside. “I was born on the ice between Banks Island and Berkley point,” he said. It was an abrupt change to be taken away from his nomadic family in 1935. Adam was one of many aboriginal children who were made to leave home to attend residential school.

“[The teachers] told me that I was in Hay River and then they told me what year it was,” he said. Adam only stayed in Hay River for one year before he was sent to school in Aklavik. School was not the academic experience one might expect. “We didn’t learn much, but enough that we could speak English and write a little bit…we spent our days working instead of going to school,” said Adam. Instead of being in classes, Adam was sent outside to cut wood and bring in water for people in the community.

After leaving school in 1940, Adam began traveling from Tuktoyaktuk to Semmler’s place, just outside of Coppermine. This small outpost “used to [be] a trading post…and there were other places to store stuff,” he said. With the help of Johnny Norberg, who hauled cargo for Semmler, Adam continued his journey to Reid Island where he met his sister and brother-in-law. Reunited with his family, Adam stayed with them for a year before the biggest adventure of his life came beckoning.

The Canadian government purchased a reindeer herd from Alaska in 1929, in response to falling caribou populations in the North. In 1941, Adam was given the chance to return to the land, not as a hunter, but as a reindeer herder.

He recalled, “Having to go and wait all summer for a boat to pick [him] up.” The herders typically worked between the Anderson River and Reindeer Station, herding the reindeers over the tundra to find food. Adam remembered his first days as a herder being hard, “I wasn’t used to it yet…if my parents or my family were close enough to me, I would have gone home on the first night… it was too cold!”

Despite a difficult start and low wages, Adam came to settle into the herder life. He was only given $17 a month, which averages out to about 50 cents a day.

There were many nights when he did not eat. Food depended on whether the herders animals caught animals. He said, “It was hard to get the animals. When we couldn’t get seals or caribous, we lived mostly on fish. When we were hungry, we would try anything.” Adam even recalled eating ptarmigan droppings during desperate times.

Practical by nature, he suggested that those droppings were “the cleanest because [the ptarmigans] only eat willows,” and when no other food was available, it gave the herders enough strength to keep up with the herds.

To conserve energy, herders would use “sled deers”. These reindeer pulled tents and other heavy equipment. “Sometimes the deer would even pull us on skis. It was fun, but you can’t look ahead much. The snow would be flying [in your eyes] and you couldn’t see.”

Working reindeers meant traveling long distances by foot or on skis. “Sometimes it was hard, and sometimes [the reindeer] would get pretty wild.” Reindeer did not always want to go where Adam needed them to go. He said, “They wouldn’t go down steep hills and sometimes, they would just run wild.”

In the winter, skis would help them in harsh conditions. Unlike modern skis, the herders had ones that were three inches wide and seven feet long. Adam recalls being fast on skis, “I could keep up with the herd and could go anywhere! Deep snow was no problem.”

When asked if he skied these days, Adam just laughed and said, “the skis today are too small; you sink in those.”

Adam recalls the best years of reindeer herding to be after Charlie Rufus took over as owner. It was ten years after he began herding, in 1939. The herd was moved to Anderson River. Friendships fostered in the harsh conditions were stronger because the herders had to depend on each other for survival. Adam laughed when he thought about Donald Silastiak, a fellow herder who could out run wolves that tried to attack reindeer.

“Silastiak was a great runner too,” he said. “It was early April; we had nice weather outside. Silastiak was always looking through his binoculars, and this time he saw a wolf off in the distance. He turned his shoes inside out, so it would not make as much noise and he crawled closer to it, making no sound. He had his rifle and he had to walk quite a ways. He got closer and I saw with my binoculars that he was getting ready to shoot, but the wolf moved. Silastiak ran after him, I could see his tracks. He started running and he started to get closer. When he got closer, he started making noise. We were told that if you yell at something, then it would start to get weak. He got within 100 yards of the wolf; he laid down and and he killed it! He walked home and it took him almost 12 hours [to get back]! He ran really fast.”

However, in the summer of 1944, tragedy struck and Charlie Rufus and eleven of his family members drowned during a storm, while on their way back to the herd. The government regained ownership of the herd following the incident and conditions declined. The government took away the tents and Adam slept outside all year round. “We would stay out with the herd and have a fire and try to keep warm. Some places were good but we couldn’t do that all the time because the herd moves; we had to keep up,” he said.

Adam was a herder for many years and was joined by his wife later in his career. He became good at herding over time, and even liked it eventually. “It was good; I knew what I needed to do. We got to know the reindeer because we were with them all the time,” he said. Adam remembers Charlie Rufus as a good boss. “As soon as it was cold enough, Charlie would give us a tent, things were good.”

Adam and Annie Emaghok now reside in Tuktoyaktuk, and have been married for 58 years. After retiring from herding, Annie worked in a fur shop in Tuktoyaktuk, before taking over as one of the owners. The other owner was Mona Felix. Adam worked for Dome, and Oil and Gas Expediting. Both are retired now, but they look back fondly on their days as reindeer herders.

Silastiak was always looking through his binoculars, and this time he saw a wolf off in the distance. He turned his shoes inside out, so it would not make as much noise and he crawled closer to it, making no sound. He had his rifle and he had to walk quite a ways.He got closer and I saw with my binoculars that he was getting ready to shoot, but the wolf moved.