Dr John Rae and the people of the First Nations

Dr John Rae saw how the First Nations peoples used caribou hide to keep out the extreme cold. They fashioned snowshoes out of birch and rawhide, built shelters out of ice, and always managed to find food, even in winter.

Rae also noted that the Europeans would travel heavily laden with supplies, bringing with them enough food for an entire expedition, whereas the Natives travelled quickly, hunting and foraging on the way.

Native peoples seldom carried more than their weapons and a few simple tools, yet they were often in better health than their European counterparts.

First Nation people taught Dr John Rae how to make clothing from caribou hides. They showed him how to make his own snowshoes and how to build a shelter in even the coldest conditions. Rae learned how to use a strip of cloth or hide to prevent snow blindness.

Rae learned the secrets of which plants were good for eating, and which could be used for healing.

First Nations people taught Rae the unique properties of many of the trees in the Canadian forests. Most Europeans saw trees as nothing more than a source of lumber and firewood, but Rae learned how to use trees' bark, sap, pitch and seeds.

The bark of the silver birch tree could be used to make waterproof containers, baskets, and even canoes. The maple tree bled a sugary sap that could be tapped to make a sweet syrup. The pitch from pine trees could be used as a glue, and as an alternative to tar in sealing boats and buckets. The seeds and inner bark of many trees could be used as food.

Rae learned how to make hunting snares, and how to preserve meat and berries for travel. Dr John Rae treated the First Nation peoples with respect. The skills they taught him allowed him to explore the uncharted north and kept him alive in the harshest conditions.