Until the visit of the _Blossom’s_ barge in 1826 these people had
never seen a white man, although they were already in possession of
tobacco and articles of Russian manufacture, such as copper kettles,
which they had obtained from Siberia by way of the Diomedes. Mr.
Elson’s party landed only at Refuge Inlet, and had but little
intercourse with the natives. His visit seemed to have been forgotten
by the time of the _Plover’s_ stay at Point Barrow, though Dr. Simpson
found people who recollected the visit of Thomas Simpson in 1837.[N84]
The latter, after he had left the boats and was proceeding on foot
with his party, first met the Nuwŭñmiun at Point Tangent, where there
was a small party encamped, from whom he purchased the umiak in which
he went on to Point Barrow. He landed there early in the morning of
August 4, and went down to the summer camp at Pernyɐ, where he stayed
till 1 o’clock in the afternoon, trading with the natives and watching
them dance. On his return to Point Tangent some of the natives
accompanied him to Boat Extreme, where he parted from them August 6,
so that his whole intercourse with them was confined to less than a
week.[N85]
[Footnote N84: Op. cit., p. 264.]
[Footnote N85: Narrative, pp. 146-168.]
The next white men who landed at Point Barrow were the party in the
_Plover’s_ boats, under Lieuts. Pullen and Hooper, on their way to the
Mackenzie, and the crew of Mr. Sheddon’s yacht, the _Nancy Dawson_, in
the summer of 1849. The boats were from July 29 to August 3 getting
from Cape Smyth past Point Barrow, when the crews were ashore for a
couple of days and did a little trading with the natives, whom they
found very friendly. They afterwards had one or two skirmishes with
evil-disposed parties of Nuwŭñmiun returning from the east in the
neighborhood of Return Reef. The exploring ships _Enterprise_ and
_Investigator_ also had casual meetings with the natives, who received
tobacco, etc., from the ships.
The depot ship _Plover_, Commander Maguire, spent the winters of
1852-’53 and 1853-’54 at Point Barrow, and the officers and crew,
after some misunderstandings and skirmishes, established very friendly
and sociable relations with the natives. The only published accounts
of the _Plover’s_ stay at Point Barrow are Commander Maguire’s
official reports, published in the Parliamentary Reports (Blue Books)
for 1854, pp. 165-185, and 1855, pp. 905 et seq., and Dr. Simpson’s
paper, already mentioned. Maguire’s report of the first winter’s
proceedings is also published as an appendix to Sherard Osborne’s
“Discovery of the Northwest Passage.”
We found that the elder natives remembered Maguire, whom they called
“Magwa,” very well. They gave us the names of many of his people and a
very correct account of the most important proceedings, though they
did not make it clear that the death of the man mentioned in his
report was accidental. They described “Magwa” as short and fat, with a
very thick neck, and all seemed very much impressed with the height of
his first lieutenant, “Epi´ana” (_Vernon_), who had “lots of guns.”
It was difficult to see that the _Plover’s_ visit had exerted any
permanent influence on these people. In fact, Dr. Simpson’s account of
their habits and customs would serve very well for the present time,
except in regard to the use of firearms. They certainly remembered no
English. Indeed, Dr. Simpson says[N86] that they learned hardly any.
The _Plover’s_ people probably found it very easy to do as we did and
adopt a sort of jargon of Eskimo words and “pigeon English” grammar
for general intercourse. Although, according to the account of the
natives, there was considerable intercourse between the sailors and
the Eskimo women, there are now no people living at either village who
we could be sure were born from such intercourse, though one woman was
suspected of being half English. She was remarkable only for her large
build, and was not lighter than many pure-blooded women.
[Footnote N86: Op. cit., p. 251.]
Since 1854, when the first whalers came as far north as the Point,
there has hardly been a season in which ships have not visited this
region, and for a couple of months every year the natives have had
considerable intercourse with the whites, going off to the ships to
trade, while the sailors come ashore occasionally. We found that they
usually spoke of white men as “kablu´na;” but they informed us that
they had another word, “tû´n-nyĭn,” which they used to employ among
themselves when they saw a ship. Dr. Simpson[N87] says that they
learned the word “kabluna” from the eastern natives, but that the
latter (he gives it Tan´-ning or Tan´-gin) came from the Nunata´ñmiun.
He supposes it to apply to the Russians, who had regular bath days at
their posts, and says it is derived from tan-nikh-lu-go, to wash or
cleanse the person.
[Footnote N87: Op. cit., p. 271.]
The chief change resulting from their intercourse with the whites has
been the introduction of firearms. Nearly all the natives are now
provided with guns, some of them of the best modern patterns of
breechloaders, and they usually succeed in procuring a supply of
ammunition. This is in some respects a disadvantage, as the reindeer
have become so wild that the natives would no longer be able to
procure a sufficient number of them for food and clothing with their
former appliances, and they are thus rendered dependent on the ships.
On the other hand, with a plentiful supply of ammunition it is easier
for them to procure abundance of food, both deer and seals, and they
are less liable to famine than in former times.
There is no reason to fear, as has been suggested, that they will lose
the art of making any of their own weapons except in the case of the
bow. With firearms alone they would be unable to obtain any seals,
a much more important source of food than the reindeer, and their own
appliances for sealing are much better than any civilized
contrivances. Although they have plenty of the most improved modern
whaling gear, they are not likely to forget the manufacture of their
own implements for this purpose, as this important fishery is ruled by
tradition and superstition, which insists that at least one harpoon of
the ancient pattern must be used in taking every whale. All are now
rich in iron, civilized tools, canvas and wreck wood, and in this
respect their condition is improved.
They have, however, adopted very few civilized habits. They have
contracted a taste for civilized food, especially hard bread and
flour, but this they are unable to obtain for 10 months of the year,
and they are thus obliged to adhere to their former habits. In fact,
except in regard to the use of firearms and mechanics’ tools, they
struck me as essentially a conservative people.
Petroff[N88] makes the assertion that in late years their movements
have been guided chiefly by those of the whalers. As far as we could
observe they have not changed the course or time of their journeys
since Dr. Simpson’s time, except that they have given up the autumn
whaling, possibly on account of the presence of the ships at that
season. Of course, men who are rich in whalebone now stay to trade
with the ships, while those who have plenty of oil go east. They are
not absolutely dependent on the ships for anything except ammunition,
and even during the short time the ships are with them they hardly
neglect their own pursuits.
[Footnote N88: Report, etc., p. 125.]
The one unmitigated evil of their intercourse with the whites has been
the introduction of spirits. Apart from the direct injury which liquor
does to their health, their passionate fondness for it leads them to
barter away valuable articles which should have served to procure
ammunition or other things of permanent use. It is to be hoped,
however, that the liquor traffic is decreasing. The vigilance of the
revenue cutter prevents regular whisky traders from reaching the
Arctic Ocean, and public opinion among the whaling captains seems to
be growing in the right direction.
Another serious evil, which it would be almost impossible to check, is
the unlimited intercourse of the sailors with the Eskimo women. The
whites can hardly be said to have introduced laxity of sexual morals,
but they have encouraged a natural savage tendency, and have taught
them prostitution for gain, which has brought about great excesses,
fortunately confined to a short season. This may have something to do
with the want of fertility among the women.
Our two years of friendly relations with these people were greatly to
their advantage. Not only were our house and our doings a constant
source of amusement to them, but they learned to respect and trust the
whites. Without becoming dependent on us or receiving any favors
without some adequate return either in work or goods, they were able
to obtain tobacco, hard bread, and many other things of use to them,
all through the year. Our presence prevented their procuring more than
trifling quantities of spirits, and though the supply of
breech-loading ammunition was pretty well cut off, they could get
plenty of powder and shot for their muzzle loaders. The abundance of
civilized food was undoubtedly good for them, and our surgeon was able
to give them a great deal of help in sickness.
In all their intercourse with the whites they have learned very little
English, chiefly a few oaths and exclamations like “Get out of here,”
and the words of such songs as “Little Brown Jug” and “Shoo Fly,”
curiously distorted. They have as a rule invented genuine Eskimo words
for civilized articles which are new to them.[N89] Even in their
intimate relations with us they learned but few more phrases and in
most cases without a knowledge of their meaning.
[Footnote N89: See list of “New Words,” Rep. Point Barrow Exp.,
p. 57.]
There are a few Hawaiian words introduced by the Kanaka sailors on the
whaleships, which are universally employed between whites and Eskimo
along the whole of the Arctic coast, and occasionally at least among
the Eskimo themselves. These are _kau-kau_,[N90] food, or to eat;
_hana-hana_, work; _pûnĭ-pûnĭ_, _coitus_, and _pau_, not. _Wahíne_,
woman, is also used, but is less common. Another foreign word now
universally employed among them in their intercourse with the whites,
and even, I believe, among themselves, is “kuníɐ” for woman or wife.
They themselves told us that it was not an Eskimo word--“When there
were no white men, there was no _kuníɐ_”--and some of the whalemen who
had been at Hudson Bay said it was the “Greenland” word for woman. It
was not until our return to this country that we discovered it to be
the Danish word _kone_, woman, which in the corrupted form “coony” is
in common use among the eastern Eskimo generally in the jargon they
employ in dealing with the whites. _Kuníɐ_ is “coony” with the suffix
of the third person, and therefore means “his wife.” It is sometimes
used at Point Barrow for either of a married couple in the sense of
our word “spouse.”
[Footnote N90: The history of this word, which also appears as a
Chuckch word in some of the vocabularies collected by
Nordenskiöld’s expedition, is rather curious. Chamisso (Kotzebue’s
Voyage, vol. 2, p. 392, foot-note) says that this is a Hawaiian
corruption of the well-known “Pigeon-English” (he calls it
Chinese) word “chow-chow” recently (in 1816-’17) adopted by the
Sandwich Islanders from the people with whom they trade. I am
informed that the word is not of Chinese origin, but probably came
from India, like many other words in “Pigeon-English.” Chamisso
also calls _pûnĭ-pûnĭ_ a Chinese word, but I have been able to
learn nothing of its origin.]