Maliktlugit Tumit Tamaani Many Caches Nunangani

Te landscape of what we now call Tuktut Nogait National Park tells a story of how Inuvialuit ancestors survived and thrived in the region. Like Inuvialuit today, they relied on the land to provide good food and hides. Inuvialuit ancestors travelled long distances to follow animals, like the tuktu, which provided food and materials for their clothing, tools, and homes. Troughout Tuktut Nogait, they left behind stone features, like long-lasting footprints marking their travels.

Brianna Wolki, Tuktut Nogait’s Public Outreach Education Ofcer, says:

Within the park, there is evidence of old campsites and rock caches. Each cultural site tells a story. Tese untouched sites help us to form a picture of those who came before us and how they once lived in the area. Tese findings also help to define who we are and where we come from.

High on the clifs overlooking the Hornaday River and Uyarsivik Lake is a place called Many Caches. It overlooks a well-used caribou trail that crosses the Hornaday River. Te area is littered with old campsites and other evidence of past activities. Covering a span of roughly 1 kilometre along the river clifs are at least 26 caches of various sizes. Teir limestone slabs were placed across naturally occurring rock crevices to protect stored food and tools from animals. Most of the caches have been opened, but a few remain sealed. Ray Ruben Sr., a Paulatuuq Elder and Tuktut Nogait Board Member, recalls a story his dad told him about how caches were put together:

Tis time of the year summertime is when caribou is in that area, and they hunted caribou. Tey cached whatever they couldn’t bring down by making these storage areas with stone and willows. It’s a little warm in some areas so they built these caches with willows in the bottom area so that there is air flow. Ten they put all the meat and whatever they needed in there—and you don’t mix fish and caribou and all that—spread them as much as you can and cover them with rock. You had to use certain kind of rocks. But I remember most of what my dad told me was when they put the outside stones they tried to use round ones, because bears and wolverines are bad for digging out anything buried. Tey put the round rocks, and after they’re frozen, when they tried to scratch, it was round and slippery, so there was no place for them to grab onto, lift, and tear them out.

HUNTING BLINDS AND WAITING AREAS hidden amongst boulder fields camouflaged hunters waiting for caribou as they approached the slope toward them. We know from the five akutat (pavements of flat stones for preparing meat) located near the caches that meat was butchered, cut, and dried here as well. Elder Albert Ruben Sr., original Park negotiator from Paulatuuq, describes:

Couple years ago, I went to the park facility that’s up there. We went to the area further east where you could see how caribou migrated for years—hundreds of years— you could just see that trail. You could tell, on the migration route, they used to hunt caribou with bow and arrow, or spears. We see remnants, right beside the trail, of manmade tools, rocks, and hiding places, so when caribou come close enough, they just get up and harpoon them. You could just imagine when you see it: caribou passing by, then when they hear the caribou close enough, they get up from their hiding and hunt.”

Elder Noel Green, another one of the original Park negotiators, also remembers his visits to the site:

Te coolest thing is those caches. Caribous were crossing that spot for hundreds of years! And they’re still using it. You go back there, and you see all these caches there, and you can see where they put their qainnat/qatjat (canoes) up, on stands. And you see the caribou trails where the caribous come up by. Tat’s a really cool place! You can hide in the rocks and caribou won’t even see you. And they pass right close to you. Tat’s how they were getting their caribou with their bows and spears, at that time.”

‘ Well-built hunting blinds are found at the site, like this one with 3-foothigh walls.

“ There are two types of qayaq rests found at the site. One, pictured here, with the stone slabs placed in a triangular formation to rest the tip of the qayaq on. The second type allowed for the qayaq to be covered with hides and stones would be used to hold down the hides.

QAYAQ RESTS that remain show us how past peoples travelled the waterways. Tere are two types at the site: one with two flat stone slabs to mount the qayaq on, and one with stones outlining the qayaq. Elders say this second type was used to store and protect qainnat/qatjat in the winter under hides. Broken pieces of qayaq ribs are also found in and around the rests.

Elder Ruben Green, who worked as a Cultural Host at Tuktut Nogait National Park, shares about the qayaq rests and remains:

Te coolest thing I’ve seen way in the park—qayaq stands made of rocks. Sixteen-foot-long pieces of the qayaq, anywhere from 500-800 years old. To be able to have the ones before us go and bring qainnat/qatjat up there, you’re talking about over 90km for crying out loud! So that’s really cool.

‘ Markers made of small boulders can be spotted across the landscape to mark caches and other important locations. Some are etched with special markings.

A short distance away from the harvesting area are the remains of tent rings and outdoor hearths. Tese are constructed with small boulders that would have been used to hold down the tent hides. Together, they indicate that people camped here in the summer months. Tools found at the site shed light on the technologies past peoples made and relied on to survive. Debris from stone tool making included flakes from two types of stone: quartzite and white chert. Tere were also small pieces of pottery that lab analyses show were used to cook fatty meat or to render fat. Unfortunately, lab tests were not able to tell what kind of animal it came from.

‘ Akutat pavements of stone slabs where people would process and dry meat.

Ultimately, all of these remains at Tuktut Nogait reinforce how innovative, adaptable, and resilient Inuvialuit have been since time immemorial. Elder Sadie Lester reflects on her trip to Tuktut Nogait:

You could picture years back, your long-ago relatives, they used to kill the caribou in the water and then they carried them back to the caches to preserve until they needed them. Tat was something else. I didn’t know what caches were before. You know, it probably makes you respect long ago, our ancestors how they survived and whatever. Tey had to make everything! Like, who would know—you could use bone from the certain part of an animal for a needle! And the work they did from morning to night, just to survive. It wasn’t for pleasure. Everything they did, it was to survive.

Albert Ruben Sr. echoes Sadie’s thoughts:

It just blows my mind when you see these sites. Te way you just imagine what they may have done. How innovative these people were, to make it easier for themselves to survive by using the land, the resources, the configurations of the land, and use it to their advantage.

Ray Ruben Sr. gives credit to his ancestors for all they did to survive and thrive in what is now known as Tuktut Nogait National Park:

A lot of what they did back then survived us down here in the coast, through their families. It’s tied right into who we are today and why we’re trying to protect the park.

Just like the caribou who leave well-worn trails showing their migrations, people leave traces of where they have been. Inuvialuit continue to use the land today, not only to harvest and experience the land like their ancestors, but also to care for and learn from the landscape and the sites that remain. Elder Marlene Wolki, a former Parks Canada staf member, talks about what Many Caches means to her:

Going out to the park, showing the Cache sites... People were already there who made footprints there. People have been there before. My footprints were there, too! I’m really proud of our park—of our people. It was good to see all the people who made ‘footprints’ in the park, and mine was one of them. I hope that it will keep on going.

Learning from the past is important because, as Marlene Wolki says, “‘If you know where you come from, you know where you’re going.’ I remember hearing that in Inuvialuktun and it really stuck with me.”

LOGAN RUBEN (born 1995, Inuuvik, NT)

Great Cache Under the Midnight Sun, 2021 Acrylic on Canvas 36"×48"

"I've never had the opportunity of being at Many Caches, so I see myself one day visiting this specifc spot and revisiting the painting."