The Hare (Kawchittine)
The Hare, also known as Kawchittine or K’asho Got’ine, are Indigenous peoples who historically lived in a vast area of northwestern Canada, particularly around Colville Lake. Their survival was heavily reliant on the snowshoe hare, as the limited availability of other game such as caribou and moose often led to periods of starvation. The Hare traditionally hunted with bows, arrows, and snares, and utilized various methods to prepare and store food for winter. They constructed homes called tipis and relied on birchbark and spruce canoes for transportation.
Culturally, the Hare placed significant emphasis on sharing, dreams, and spiritual connections, with medicine men playing a crucial role in their community. Direct contact with non-Indigenous peoples began in the late 1800s, leading to involvement in the fur trade, which brought significant changes to their lifestyle. The population faced challenges, including disease outbreaks after European contact and economic shifts in the mid-20th century. Today, many descendants of the Hare identify with other Indigenous groups, and small communities still exist, although urbanization has impacted traditional practices.
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Subject Terms
The Hare (Kawchittine)
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Subarctic
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Athabaskan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Northwestern Canada
- POPULATION SIZE: 2,137 (2024 The Canadian Encyclopedia)
The Hare (also known as the Kawchittine, Kawchottine, or K'asho Got'ine, and often call themselves Shatu Dene or Sahtú) Indigenous people historically inhabited a large portion of northwestern Canada. The Hare were unique in that they depended almost entirely on the snowshoe hare for subsistence. Though a few other large animals and fish were consumed, there were not enough caribou and moose in the area they occupied to support the group. Because of the limited amount of game available to them, Hare Indigenous peoples regularly suffered periods of starvation until as recently as 1920. They were forced to travel great distances in search of food. Their relatively small population of 700–800 people covered more than 45,000 square miles of very diverse territory.
The Hare traditionally hunted large game with bows and arrows, as well as with spears. Trout and whitefish were captured with nets and hooks; snowshoe hare were captured in snares. Food was smoked, dried, or frozen for winter storage. The Hare used birchbark and spruce canoes for water transportation and snowshoes for winter travel. Women dragged toboggans to transport food and family possessions. Snowshoe hare skins were woven into blankets and capes. Caribou skins were used for pants, shirts, and mittens. Families lived in tepees covered with moss for insulation.
The Hare placed a high value on sharing and believed in the importance of dreams. Dreams were thought to predict their future and help them make important life decisions. Medicine men were said to receive their powers from spirits, whom they called to summon game and identify the proper native medicine to use on the ill.
Though the Hare traded with local Indigenous groups who visited Europeans, direct contact between Hare and non-Indigenous people did not occur until the late 1800s. They quickly became involved in the fur trade to obtain western wares. Trading chiefs emerged within the Hare to lead expeditions to local forts. Epidemic diseases brought on by European contact devastated the Hare several times during the nineteenth century, however. In 1921, they agreed to give up their lands to the Canadian government in exchange for medical and educational services. In the mid-1940s, fur prices declined, forcing many Hare into wage labor jobs in the local oil refinery. Indigenous practices largely disappeared as the population became more urbanized. It is difficult to determine population figures for the Hare in the twenty-first century, as many have intermarried with other Indigenous and First Nation groups. Many Hare descendants now consider themselves members of the Slave (Slavey) or Bearlake Indigenous groups. There are small communities of the Hare at Fort Good Hope, Colville Lake, and Déline (Fort Franklin), but population figures generally represent several First Nation groups.
Bibliography
Broch, Harald Beyer. Woodland Trappers: Hare Indians of Northwestern Canada. University of Bergen, 1986.
Hara, Hiroko. The Hare Indians and Their World. National Museums of Canada, 1980.
“Hare Indians.” New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org/cathen/07136b.htm. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
"Hare Tribe (Hares)." Native Languages of the Americas, www.native-languages.org/hare.htm. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Savishinsky, Joel S. "K'asho Got'ine (Hare)." The Canadian Encyclopedia, 12 Dec. 2024, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hare-band. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.
Savishinsky, Joel S. The Trail of the Hare: Environment and Stress in a Sub-Arctic Community. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2022.