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THE IMPACT OF LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE
ON THE DENESULINE RELIGION
AS DESCRIBED BY SAMUEL HEARNE (1745-1792)
——o—
LAURA SUSZTA
Abstract
Samuel Hearne (1745-1792) is credited with exploring the Coppermine River
region. He captured the experiences of his travels in his work Journeys from
Prince of Wales’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769,
1770, 1771, 1772 (1795), where he elaborates not only on the circumstances of
his exploratory travels, but also on the natural phenomena and lifestyles ofthe
Denesuline.' In the boreal and arctic regions of Canada, where the Dene live
from October to May, temperatures do not rise above the freezing point and
the soil is constantly frozen (permafrost) for most of the year. In the coldest
period, the average temperatures can range from -25 to -30°C; in the milder
months, it is between +8 and 10°C. The Dene nation must find the modus vivendi
in such circumstances. But how did the climate affect their daily lives, beliefs
and religion in Hearne’s time? Could these harsh conditions have been the cause
of some religious phenomena observable among the Dene? The explorer himself
does not go into details regarding this question, but his descriptions provide a
perfect starting point of exploration, beginning with the Dene rites for the dead
and their complex and diverse taboo system. In my paper, I will argue that the
landscape and the climate played a significant role in the formation of the
18th-century religious picture recorded by Hearne. It is not only the Dene’s
daily practice of religion that the landscape and the climate affected, but also
their worldview, universal thinking, and their relationship with their religion.
Keywords: explorations, Samuel Hearne, indigenous nations, the Denesuline
religion, climatic effects
Résumé
C’est Samuel Hearne (1745-1792) quia fait la premiére exploration de la riviére
Coppermine et de ses environs. Il a consigné ses expériences de voyage dans
son ouvrage intitulé Journeys from Prince of Wales’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay to
the Northern Ocean in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 (1795), dans lequel il
1 The term Dene is also used to refer to the Denesuline.
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