_Sledges._--The only land conveyance employed at Point Barrow is the
universal sledge of the Eskimo, of which there are two forms in
general use, one, kă´motĭ, with a high rail on each side, and
especially intended for carrying loads of the smaller articles,
clothing, camp equipage, etc., and the other (unia) low and flat,
without rail or “upstander,” for carrying bulky objects, like whole
carcasses of deer, frozen seals, rough dried deerskins, etc., and
especially used for carrying the umiak across the land or solid ice.
Both kinds are made without nails, but are fastened together by
mortises and lashings and stitches of thong and whalebone. I have,
however, seen one unia, which was made in 1883, fastened together with
nails, a rather inferior substitute for the lashings, as they not only
would not hold so firmly, but would also be liable to break in cold
weather.
Both kinds of sledge are made of driftwood and shod with strips of
whale’s jaw, about three-fourths of an inch thick, fastened on with
bone treenails. These bone runners, which are about 2 inches wide, run
sufficiently well over ice, hard snow, the frozen gravel of the beach
or even on the bare tundra, but for carrying a heavy load over the
softer snow of the interior they are shod with ice in a manner
peculiar to this region.
It is well known that not only the Eskimo generally, but other
hyperborean people coat the runners of their sleds with ice to make
them run more smoothly, but this is usually only a comparatively thin
crust, produced by pouring water on the runners or applying a mixture
of snow or mud and water.[N468] Mr. Turner informs me that at Ungava
they are particular to use fine black vegetable mold for this purpose.
[Footnote N468: For example, Lyon says that at Fury and Hecla
Straits the runners are coated with ice by mixing snow and fresh
water (Journal, p. 235); (See also Parry, 2d Voyage, p. 515). At
Cumberland Gulf “they pour warmed blood on the under surface of
the bone shoeing; some use water, but this does not last nearly so
long as the blood and is more apt to chip off.” Kumlien,
Contributions, p. 42; (See also Hall, Arctic Researches, p. 582).
Around Repulse Bay they ice the runners by squirting over them
water which has been warmed in the mouth, putting on successive
layers till they get a smooth surface. This is renewed the first
thing every morning. Gilder, Schwatka’s Search, p. 66. A native of
the eastern shore of Labrador, according to Sir John Richardson
(Searching Expedition, vol. 2, p. 82), applied to the runners coat
after coat of earth or clay tempered with hot water, and then
washed the runners with water, polishing the ice with his naked
hand. MacFarlane in his MS. notes speaks of covering the sled
runners with “earth, water, and ice” in the Mackenzie region.
Petitot (Monographie, etc., p. XVII) says the runners in the
Mackenzie and Anderson district are shod with “un bourrelet de
limon et de glace,” which has to be often renewed. Nordenskiöld
says that at Pitlekaj “the runners, before the start, are
carefully covered with a layer of ice from two to three
millimeters in thickness by repeatedly pouring water over them,”
(Vega, vol. 2, p. 94), and according to Wrangell (Narrative, etc.,
p. 101, footnote) it is the common custom in northern Siberia to
pour water over the runners every evening to produce a thin crust
of ice.]
The method at Point Barrow is quite different from this. To each
runner is fitted a heavy shoe of clear ice, as long as the runner, and
fully 1 foot high by 6 inches thick. The sledge with these ice runners
is estimated to weigh, even when unloaded, upwards of 200 or 300
pounds, but it appears that the smoothness of running more than
counterbalances the extra weight. At any rate these shoes are almost
universally employed on the sleds which make the long journey from the
rivers in the spring with heavy loads of meat, fish, and skins. One
native, in 1883, shod his sledges with salt-water ice in this way
before starting for the hunting grounds. As these ice shoes are
usually put on at the rivers, I had no opportunity of seeing the
process, though I have seen the sledges thus shod after their return
to the village. Lieut. Ray, who saw the process, describes it as
follows:
“From the ice on a pond that is free from fracture they cut the
pieces the length of a sled runner, 8 inches thick and 10 inches
wide; into these they cut a groove deep enough to receive the sled
runner up to the beam; the sled is carefully fitted into the groove,
and secured by pouring in water, a little at a time and allowing it
to freeze. Great care is taken in this part of the operation, for
should the workman apply more than a few drops at a time, the slab
of ice would be split and the work all to do over again; after the
ice is firmly secured the sled is turned bottom up and the ice-shoe
is carefully rounded with a knife, and then smoothed by wetting the
naked hand and passing it over the surface until it becomes
perfectly glazed.”[N469]
[Footnote N469: Rep. Point Barrow Exp., p. 27.]
[Illustration: FIG. 356.--Railed sledge, diagrammatic (from
photograph).]
In traveling they take great care of these runners, keeping them
smooth and polished, and mending all cracks by pouring in fresh water.
They are also careful to shade them from the noonday sun, which at
this season of the year is warm enough to loosen the shoes, for this
purpose hanging a cloth or skin over the sunny side of the sled.[N470]
[Footnote N470: Schwatka, in “Nimrod in the North,” (p. 159)
describes a practice among the “Netschillik,” of King William’s
Land, which appears very much like this, though his description is
somewhat obscure in details. It is as follows: “We found the
runners shod with pure ice. Trenches the length of the sledge are
dug in the ice, and into these the runners are lowered some two or
three inches, yet not touching the bottom of the trench by fully
the same distance. Water is then poured in and allowed to freeze,
and when the sledge is lifted out it is shod with shoes of
perfectly pure and transparent ice.” Strangely enough, these
curious ice shoes are not mentioned by Schwatka’s companions,
Gilder and Klutschak, nor by Schwatka himself in his paper on the
“Netschillik” in _Science_, although Klutschak describes and
figures a sledge made wholly of ice among the Netsillingmiut.
(“Als Eskimo, etc.” p. 76). Also referred to by Boas (“Central
Eskimo,” p. 533).]
We were unfortunately not able to bring home specimens of either style
of large sled. The rail sled (kămotĭ) is usually about 8 or 9 feet
long, and 2½ to 3 feet wide, and the rail at the back not over 2½ feet
high. The thick curved runners, about 5 or 6 inches wide (see diagram,
Fig. 356, made from a small photograph) meet the curved slender rails
(which are usually round) in front, but are separated from them behind
by four stout vertical posts on each side, increasing in length toward
the other end and mortised into the runners and rails. An equal number
of stout wooden arches half the height of the posts are mortised into
the runners, each arch a little in front of each pair of posts.
A longitudinal strip runs along the middle of each side, and slats are
laid across these, supported by the arches. The sledge is rather heavy
and clumsy, but usually carefully made and often painted with red
ocher.
[Illustration: FIG. 357.--Flat sledge.]
Of the unia or flat sledge we have, fortunately a good photograph,
Fig. 357. To the thick straight wooden runners are fastened directly
seven cross slats, which project about 2 inches at each end beyond the
runner, to which they are fastened by two stitches of whalebone each.
A longitudinal strip runs along above the slats on each side. These
sledges are generally made on the same pattern, varying somewhat in
size. A common size is about 6 feet long, about 2½ feet wide, and 9 or
10 inches high. Very small sledges of this pattern are sometimes made,
especially for the purpose, as we were told, of carrying provisions,
perhaps when one or two persons desire to make a rapid journey of some
length, or for carrying a small share of meat from camp to camp.[N471]
[Footnote N471: The word used was “kau-kau.” Perhaps it referred
to a seal for food, as the sledge appears very like one described
by Hooper (Corwin Report, p. 105) as used on the “Arctic Coast.”
“When sealing on solid ice a small sled is sometimes used, the
runners of which are made of walrus tusks. It is perhaps 16 inches
long by 14 inches wide and 3 inches high. It is used in dragging
the carcass of the seal over the ice.”
We, however, never saw such sleds used for dragging seals. This
one may have been imported from farther south. See also, Beechey,
Voyage, etc., p. 251, where he speaks of seeing at Kotzebue Sound,
a drawing on ivory of “a seal dragged home on a small sledge.”]
[Illustration: FIG. 358.--Small sledge with ivory runners. 2/21]
One of these (Fig. 358, No. 89889 [1140], from Utkiavwĭñ), which shows
signs of long use, was brought home. It is 20.7 inches long and 13
broad, and has ivory runners, with three wooden slats across them,
held down by a low wooden rail on each side. Each runner is a slice
from a single large walrus tusk, with the butt at the back of the
sled. The slats, which are pieces of a ship’s paneling, are lashed to
the upper edge of the runners so as to project about one-half inch on
each side. The rails flare slightly outward. The whole is fastened
together by lashings of rather broad whalebone, passing through a hole
near the upper edge of the runner, a notch in the end of the slat and
a hole in the slat inside of the rail. There are two lashings at each
end of each broad slat and one in the middle, at each end of the
narrow one. The last and the ones at each end of the sled also secure
the rail by passing through a hole near its edge, in which are cut
square notches to make room for the other lashings. The trace is a
strip of seal thong about 5 feet long and one-fourth inch wide, split
at one end for about 1 foot into two parts. The other end is slit in
two for about 3 inches. This is probably a broken loop, which served
for fastening the trace to a dog’s harness.
I do not recollect ever seeing so small a sled in actual use, though
Lieut. Ray says he has frequently seen them drawn by one dog. The
people who came down from Nuwŭk with a small load of things for trade
sometimes used a small unía about 3 feet long, with one dog, and the
same was often used by the girls for bringing in firewood from the
beach.
A very peculiar sled was formerly used at Point Barrow, but we have no
means of knowing how common it was. It was a sort of toboggan, made by
lashing together lengthwise slabs of whalebone, but is now wholly
obsolete, since whalebone has too high a market value to permit of its
being used for any such purpose. We obtained one specimen about 10
feet long, but it was unfortunately in such a dilapidated condition
that we were unable to bring it home. I find no previous mention of
the use of such sleds by any Eskimo. It is not necessary to suppose
that this sled is modeled after the toboggan of the Hudson Bay
voyagers, of which these people might have obtained knowledge through
the eastern natives, since the simple act of dragging home a “slab” of
whalebone would naturally suggest this contrivance.
We did bring home one small sled of this kind (No. 89875 [772], Fig.
359, from Utkiavwĭñ), which from its size was probably a child’s toy,
though from its greasy condition it seems to have been used for
dragging pieces of blubber. It is made of the tips of 6 small “slabs”
of black whalebone, each about 2 inches wide at the broad end, and put
together side by side so as to form a triangle 19¼ inches long and 9¾
wide, the apex being the front of the sled, and the left-hand edge of
each slab slightly overlapping the edge of the preceding. They are
fastened together by three transverse bands, passing through loops in
the upper surface of each slot, made by cutting two parallel
longitudinal slits about one-half inch long and one-fourth inch apart
part way through, and raising up the surface between them. The
hindmost band is a strip of whalebone nearly one-half inch wide,
passing through these loops, and wound closely in a spiral around a
straight rod of whalebone, 0.4 inch wide and 0.1 inch thick, as long
as the band. The ends of the band are knotted into rings or beckets
about 2¼ inches in diameter. The other two bands are simple, narrow
strips of whalebone, running straight across through the loops and
knotted at the ends into similar beckets. These beckets were obviously
for tying on the load.
The sled with side rails does not appear to be used east of the
Mackenzie region, but is found only slightly modified at least as far
south as Norton Sound.[N472] The sledge used on the Asiatic coast,
however, as shown in Nordenskiöld’s figure,[N473] belongs to a totally
different family, being undoubtedly borrowed from the reindeer
Chukches.[N474] The sleds of the eastern Eskimo vary somewhat in
pattern and material, but may be described in general terms as
essentially the same as the unía, but usually provided with what is
called an “upstander,” namely, two upright posts at each side of the
back of the sled, often connected by a cross rail, which serve to
guide the sled from behind. Many descriptions and figures of these
sleds will be found in the various descriptions of the eastern Eskimo.
[Footnote N472: See Dall’s figure, Alaska, p. 165.]
[Footnote N473: Vega, vol. 1, p. 498.]
[Footnote N474: Compare also the various illustrations in Hooper’s
“Tents of the Tuski.”·]
[Illustration: FIG. 359.--Small toboggan of whalebone. 1/6]
_Dogs and harness._--These sledges are drawn by dogs, which, as far as
I am able to judge, are of the same breed as those used by the eastern
Eskimo. They are, as a rule, rather large and stout. A number of the
dogs at Utkiavwĭñ would compare favorably in size with the average
Newfoundland dogs, and they appear to be capable of well sustained
exertion. The commonest color is the regular “brindle” of the wolf,
though white, brindle-and-white, and black-and-white dogs are not
uncommon. There was, however, but one wholly black dog in the two
villages. This was a very handsome animal known by the name of Allúa
(“coal”).
Every dog has his name and knows it. Their disposition is rather
quarrelsome, especially among themselves, but they are not
particularly ferocious, seldom doing more than howl and yelp at a
stranger, and it is not difficult usually to make friends with them.
There was very little difficulty in petting the half dozen dogs which
we had at the station, and they grew to be very much attached to the
laborer who used to feed them. The natives treat their dogs well as a
rule, seldom beating them wantonly or severely. Though they do not
allow them to come into the houses, the dogs seem to have considerable
attachment to their masters. Considerable care is bestowed on the
puppies. Those born in winter are frequently reared in the iglu, and
the women often carry a young puppy around in the jacket as they would
a child.
We saw no traces of the disease resembling hydrophobia, which has
wrought such havoc in Greenland and Baffin Land. I once, however, saw
a puppy apparently suffering from fits of some kind, running wildly
round and round, yelping furiously, and occasionally rolling over and
kicking. The natives said, “Mûlukû´lĭrua, asi´rua”, (“He is
howling[?];[N475] he is bad”), and some of the boys finally took it
out on the tundra and knocked it on the head.
[Footnote N475: I failed to get the translation of this word, but
it seems to be connected with the Greenlandic mâlavok, he howls
(a dog--).]
The dog harness, ánun (Gr. anut), consists of a broad strip of stout
rawhide (from the bearded seal or walrus), with three parallel loops
at one end, frequently made by simply cutting long slits side by side
in the thong and bending it into shape. The head is passed through the
middle loop and a foreleg through each of the side-loops, bringing the
main part of the thong over the back. This serves as a trace, and is
furnished at the end with a toggle of bone or wood, by which it is
fastened to beckets in a long line of thong, the end of which is
usually made fast to the middle of the first slat of the sledge. The
dogs are attached in a long line, alternately on opposite sides of
this trace, just so far apart that one dog can not reach his leader
when both are pulling.
The most spirited dog is usually put at the head of the line as
leader, and the natives sometimes select a bitch in heat for this
position, as the dogs are sure to follow her. The same custom has been
observed by Kumlien at Cumberland Gulf.[N476] Ten dogs are considered
a large team, and few of the natives can muster so many. When the
sledge is heavily loaded men and women frequently help to drag it. The
dogs are never _driven_, and except over a well known trail, like that
between Utkiavwĭñ and the whaling camp in 1883, will not travel unless
a woman trots along in front, encouraging them with cries of “Añ! añ!
tû´lla! tû´lla!” (Come! come on!), while the man or woman who runs
behind the sled to guide it and keep it from capsizing, urges them on
with cries of “Kŭ! kŭ!” (Get on! get on!), occasionally reproving an
individual dog by name. After they are well started, they go on
without much urging if nothing distracts their attention. It is not
easy to stop a dog team when the destination is reached. Commands and
shouts of “Lie down!” are seldom sufficient, and the people generally
have to pull back on the sled and drag back on the harness till the
team comes to a halt.
[Footnote N476: Contributions, p. 51.]
The leader, who is usually a woman or child sometimes guides the team
by a line attached to the trace, and Lieut. Ray says he has seen them,
when traveling in the interior, tie a piece of blubber or meat on the
end of a string and drag it on the snow just ahead of the leader. The
natives seldom ride on the sledge except with a light load on a smooth
road. A few old and decrepit people like Yû´ksĭña always traveled on
sledges between the villages, and the people who came down with empty
sledges for provisions from the whaling camp, always rode on the well
beaten trail where the dogs would run without leading.[N477] The dog
whip so universally employed by the eastern Eskimo, is not used at
Point Barrow, but when Lieut. Ray made a whip for driving his team,
the natives called it ĭpirau´ta, a name essentially identical with
that used in the east. They especially distinguished ĭpirau´ta, a whip
with a lash, from a cudgel, anau´ta. The latter word has also the same
meaning in the eastern dialects.
[Footnote N477: Compare Dall, Alaska, p. 25.]
We saw nothing of the custom of protecting the dogs’ feet with
sealskin shoes, so prevalent on the Siberian coast.[N478] Curiously
enough the only other localities in which the use of this contrivance
is mentioned are in the extreme east.[N479] During the first warm
weather in the spring, before the dogs have shed their heavy winter
coats, they suffer a great deal from the heat and can go only a short
distance without lying down to rest.
[Footnote N478: See Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 195, and Nordenskiöld,
Vega, vol. 2, p. 96, where one of these shoes is figured.]
[Footnote N479: See Kumlien, Contributions, p. 42.]
The method of harnessing and driving the dogs varies considerably in
different localities. Among the eastern natives the dogs are usually
harnessed abreast, each with a separate trace running to the sledge,
and the driver generally rides, guiding the dogs with a whip. The
leader usually has a longer trace than the rest. The harness used at
Fury and Hecla Straits is precisely the same as that at Point Barrow,
but in Greenland, according to Dr. Kane, it consists of a “simple
breast-strap,” with a single trace. The illustration, however, in
Rink’s Tales and Traditions, opposite p. 232, which was drawn by a
native Greenlander, shows a pattern of harness similar to that used in
Siberia and described by Nordenskiöld[N480] as “made of inch-wide
straps of skin, forming a neck or shoulder band, united on both sides
by a strap to a girth, to one side of which the draft strap is
fastened.” It is a curious fact that the two extremes of the Eskimo
race (for even if the people of Pitlekaj be Chukchi in blood, they are
Eskimo in culture) should use the same pattern of harness, while a
different form prevails between them. The Siberians also habitually
ride upon the sledges, and use a whip, and on some parts of the coast,
at least, harness the dogs abreast. In the region about Pitlekaj,
however, the dogs are harnessed “tandem” in pairs, as is the case at
Norton Sound, where a more efficient harness is also used, which is
probably not Eskimo, but learned from the whites.[N481]
Nordenskiöld[N482] expresses the opinion that the Eskimo method of
harnessing the dogs abreast indicates that the Eskimos have lived
longer than the Chukchis north of the limit of trees; in other words,
that the method of harnessing the dogs tandem is the older one, and
that the Eskimo have learned to harness them abreast since they left
the woodland regions. I can hardly agree with these conclusions, for
it seems to me that the easiest and most natural method of attaching
the dogs would be to fasten each directly to the sled by its own
trace. Now, when many dogs are attached to the sled in this way, the
outer dogs can not apply their strength in a direct line but must pull
obliquely, and, moreover, as we know to be the case, so many long
traces are constantly becoming entangled, and each individual dog has
to be kept straight by the driver. If, however, the dogs be made fast
to a long line, one behind the other, not only does each pull straight
ahead, but if the leader be kept to the track he pulls the other dogs
after him, relieving the driver of the greater part of the care of
them.
[Footnote N480: Vega, vol. 2; p. 95.]
[Footnote N481: See Dall, Alaska, pp. 163 and 166.]
[Footnote N482: Vega, vol. 2, p. 95, foot note.]
It seems to me therefore, that the tandem method is an improvement in
dog harnessing, which has been adopted only by the natives of
northeastern Siberia, and northwestern America, and has no connection
with the wooded or unwooded state of the country.[N483]
[Footnote N483: For descriptions of the sledges and methods of
harnessing used by the eastern Eskimo, see Bessel’s Naturalist,
vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 868, figs. 4 and 5 (Smith Sound); Kane, 2d
Grinnell Exp., vol. 1, p. 205 (Smith Sound) and first Grinnell
Exp., p. 443 (Greenland); Kumlien, Contributions, p. 42, and Boas,
“Central Eskimo,” pp. 529-538 (Cumberland Gulf); Parry, 2d voyage,
p. 514, and Lyon, Journal, p. 235 (Iglulik); Gilder, Schwatka’s
Search, pp. 50, 52, and 66, and Schwatka’s “Nimrod in the North,”
pp. 152, 153 (NW. shore of Hudson Bay and King Williams Land).]