Caribou was hunted and used by the Athabaskin people more than moose. Caribou are migratory and travel in herds where as moose travel alone except when mating or calving. To the north the caribou were more abundant.
Like the moose, caribou were very important. These people were not wasteful. They used every part of the animal. They preferred the hide for things such as mukluks and mittens because the hairs are hollow. It insulates very well. It also helps protect from water. They would make sinew for sewing and even socks.
Caribou was one of the natives' main staples because it was so abundant. If there were some close by the hunt was easy. But if they were hard to find the people would have to work hard. They would be gone sometimes two ore three weeks. Frank Tobuk of Evansville said "The longest I remember was about sixty miles. We would travel together. Never split up." "When we get our caribou we have to come back to the village before our families starve. Sometimes we don't find our caribou too easy, either. That's when we work hard. We might be gone a week, or two weeks. The longest is more that two weeks. That's when we worked hard. We have to get back before our families starve to death."
