The northern portions of the coast of the region under consideration are
inhabited by the Eskimo, who designate themselves, as usual, by the term
"Innuit," people (plural of innuk, "a person"). That they have been much
modified by contact with the whites is not to be doubted, and it is
equally certain that their language is constantly undergoing
modifications to suit the purposes of the missionary and trader, who,
not being able to pronounce the difficult guttural speech of these
people, require them to conform to their own pronunciation. The region
inhabited by the Innuit is strictly littoral. Their distribution falls
properly into three subdivisions, due to the three subtribal
distinctions which they maintain among themselves. The first subdivision
embraces all the Innuit dwelling on the Labrador coast proper and along
the south side of Hudson strait to the mouth of Leaf river, which flows
into Ungava bay.
These people apply the term Sû hi´ n[)i] myut to themselves and are thus
known by the other subdivisions. This term is derived from Sû hi´ nûk,
the sun, and the latter part of the word, meaning people (literally
"those that dwell at or in"); hence, people of the sun, sunny side,
because the sun shines on them first. At the present time these people
are confined to the seashore and the adjacent islands, to which they
repair for seals and other food. South of Hamilton inlet I could learn
of but one of these people.
The Innuit of pure blood do not begin to appear until the missionary
station of Hopedale is reached. Here a number of families dwell,
although mostly at the instigation of the missionaries. Between this
station and Hebron are several other Moravian missionary stations, at
each of which dwell a greater or less number of pure Innuit. North of
Hebron to Cape Chidley there are but few families, some seven in all,
embracing a population of less than 40 souls. On the west side of Cape
Chidley, as far as the mouth of George's river, only about eight
families live. These with the George's river Innuit comprise less than
50 individuals. There is a stretch of coast bordering Ungava bay, from
George's river to the Koksoak river, which is uninhabited.
The Koksoak river people include only four or five families and number
less than 30 souls. The next people are those dwelling at the mouth of
Leaf river, but they are more properly to be considered under the next
subdivision.
The exact number of the Sûh[)i]n[)i]myut could not be definitely
determined. They are subdivided into a number of small communities,
each bearing a name compounded of the name of their home and myut, "the
people of."
The inhabitants of Cape Chidley are known as Ki l[)i]n´[)i]g myut, from
the word ki l[)i]n´[)i]k, wounded, cut, incised, lacerated; hence,
serrated, on account of the character of the rough rocks and mountains.
The natives of George's river are known as Kan´gûk¢lua´luksoagmyut;
those of the Koksoak river are known as Koksoagmyut.
The second subdivision includes the Innuit dwelling on the area lying
between the mouth of Leaf river, thence northward, and along the south
side of Hudson strait. Their western and southern limit extends to about
latitude 60°.
These Innuit are known by the other subdivisions as Ta hág myut. They
apply the same term to themselves. The word is derived from Tá hak,
a shadow; hence people of the shade or shadow as distinguished from the
Sû h[)i]´ n[)i] myut, or people of the light or sunshine. These people
are but little influenced by contact with the white traders, who apply
to them the term "Northerners." Their habits and customs are primitive,
and many appear to be entirely distinct from the customs of their
neighbors south and east. The character of the region in which they
dwell is very rugged. Huge mountain spurs and short ranges ramify in
every direction, forming deep valleys and ravines, along which these
people must travel to reach the trading station of Fort Chimo of the
Ungava district, or else to Fort George of the Moose district.
The distance to the former is so great that only three, four, or five
sledges are annually sent to the trading post for the purpose of
conveying the furs and other more valuable commodities to be bartered
for ammunition, guns, knives, files and other kinds of hardware, and
tobacco. Certain persons are selected from the various camps who have
personally made the trip and know the trail. These are commissioned to
barter the furs of each individual for special articles, which are
mentioned and impressed upon the mind of the man who is to effect the
trade. The principal furs are those of the various foxes. Among them are
to be found the best class of silver foxes, and wolverenes and wolves.
Those to be sent are procured the previous winter, and when the snow
falls in November or early December the line of sleds starts out for the
trading post. The sled which represents the wants of the more western of
these Innuit speeds to where the second may be, and they repair to the
place of meeting with the third, and thus by traversing the line of
coast the arctic caravan is made up. Provisions are supplied by the
wayside, and when all is in readiness a southern course is traveled
until the frozen morasses on the south of the hills are reached. Thence
the course is toward Leaf river and across to Fort Chimo. By the last
week of April or the first week of May the visitors are expected at the
trading post. They usually bring with them about two-fifths of all the
furs obtained in the district; indeed, the quantity often exceeds this
amount. They seldom remain longer than the time needed to complete their
bartering, as the rapidly melting snow warns them that each day of delay
adds to their labor in returning.
The homeward journey is more frequently made along the coast, as there
the snow is certain to remain longer upon the ground. It is not
infrequent that these travelers experience warm weather, which detains
them so long that they do not reach the end of their journey until the
middle of the summer or even until the beginning of the next winter.
Many of the Innuit who accompany these parties have never seen white men
until they arrive at Fort Chimo; women are often of the party. These
people are usually tall and of fine physique. The men are larger than
the average white man, while the women compare favorably in stature with
the women of medium height in other countries.
They have quite different customs from those of their present neighbors.
Their language is dialectically distinct; about as much so as the
Malimyut differ from the Kaviagmyut of Norton Sound, Alaska. The
Tahagmyut have a rather harsh tone; their gutturals are deeper and the
vowels usually rather more prolonged. They are much given to amusement
and still retain many of the old games, which the Sûh[)i]´n[)i]myut have
forgotten or no longer engage in. Their dead are treated with no
ceremony. They simply lash the limbs of the deceased to the body and
expose the corpse to the elements, removing it, however, from immediate
sight of the camp. Old and infirm people are treated with severity, and
when dependent upon others for their food they are summarily disposed of
by strangulation or left to perish when the camp is moved.
Women are held in little respect, although the men are very jealous of
the favors of their wives, and incontinence on the part of the latter is
certain to be more or less severely punished. The male offender, if
notoriously persistent in his efforts to obtain forbidden favors, is
usually killed by the injured lover or husband.
Gambling is carried on to such a degree among both sexes that even their
own lives are staked upon the issue of a game. The winner often obtains
the wife of his opponent, and holds her until some tempting offer is
made for her return. The only article they possess is frequently
wagered, and when they lose they are greeted with derision. The women,
especially, stake their only garment rather than be without opportunity
to play. The usual game is played with a number of flattened pieces of
walrus ivory. On one side are a number of dots forming various crude
designs, which have received names from their fancied resemblance to
other objects. These must be matched. The game somewhat resembles
dominoes, and whether it is original with these Innuit I was unable to
conclude. They stoutly maintain that it originated with themselves.
I suspect, however, it had its origin in the imitation of some one who
had observed the playing of dominoes on board of some of the whaling
vessels visiting these waters.
For other amusements these Innuit indulge in a number of tests of
personal strength, such as wrestling and leaping.
Feasts are held at stated times in huge structures built of snow blocks.
The exact signification of these feasts was not learned, owing to the
limited stay these people made each year at Fort Chimo. Their dress
consists of the skins of seals and reindeer. The sealskins are worn
during rainy weather and by those who are in the canoe or kaiak. The
skirts of their garments are ornamented with an edging of ivory pieces
cut into a pear-shape, having a small hole pierced through the smaller
end.
These pieces of ivory, often to the number of many scores, give a
peculiar rattle as the wearer walks along. Their boots are noticeably
different from those made by the Koksoak river people, inasmuch as the
soles are often made with strips of sealskin thongs sewed on a false
sole, which is attached to the under surface of the sole proper. The
strips of thong are tacked on by a stout stitch, then a short loop is
taken up, and another stitch sews a portion of the remainder of the
strip. This is continued until the entire under surface consists of a
series of short loops, which, when in contact with the smooth ice,
prevents the foot from slipping. This sort of footgear is not made in
any other portion of the district.
The third subdivision comprises the Innuit dwelling on the eastern shore
of Hudson bay, between latitudes 53° and 58°.
The number of these Innuit could not be definitely ascertained, as they
trade, for the most part, at Fort George, belonging to the Moose
district. Each year, however, a party of less than a dozen individuals
journey to Fort Chimo for the purpose of bartering furs and other
valuables. Those who come to Fort Chimo are usually the same each year.
In language they differ greatly from the Koksoak Innuit, inasmuch as
their speech is very rapid and much harsher. Many of the words are quite
dissimilar, and even where the word has the same sound it is not unusual
that it has a meaning more or less different from that used by the
Koksoak Innuit. As these people have been long under the advice and
teachings of the missionary society of London, it is to be expected that
they, especially those nearer the trading station, are more or less
influenced by its teachings. Their customs differ somewhat from the
other Innuit, though this is due in a great measure to the impossibility
of procuring the necessary food, and skins for garments, unless they are
constantly scouring the plains and hills for reindeer or the shore for
seals and other marine creatures.
These people are called by their neighbors and themselves I´tivi´ myut,
Iti´vûk signifies the other, farther, distant side (of a portion of
land); hence, the word Itivimyut means people of the other side. The
northern Itivimyut are probably the most superstitious of all the Innuit
dwelling in the region under consideration.
Although the missionaries have devoted considerable energy to the work
of converting these people, and though many of them profess
Christianity, these professions prove on examination to be merely
nominal. As soon as the converts are beyond the teacher's influence,
they return to the shaman for guidance.
In the spring of 1883 a party of these people visited Fort Chimo.
A great number of the Koksoak people were ill, some 30 miles above the
station. The visitors had among them a shaman renowned throughout the
land. He, with the connivance of two or three of the people with whom he
stopped, began some of the most astonishing intrigues to dispel the evil
spirit afflicting the people. Several men were parted from their wives,
and these were compelled to dwell with other men who were at the bottom
of the conspiracy. Other couples had to flee from that place to prevent
being divorced, at least temporarily. After a time the visitors
descended to Fort Chimo, and while the bartering was going on the shaman
announced his conversion to Christianity, and vowed never again to
return to practicing shamanism. On the return of the harried fugitives
they passed the camp of the Koksoak river people, where they had a few
days before been the guests, and stole their supplies of reindeer meat
and other valuable property, even attempting to purloin a kaiak; and
they had proceeded many miles thence before they were overtaken and
compelled to relinquish the stolen property. They were seen some months
after by some Tahagmyut, to whom they stated their fear of returning
among the Koksoak people. A more plausible scamp does not dwell in those
regions than this shaman, whose name is Sápa. His power over the spirit
controlling the reindeer is widely believed in and invoked by the other
shamans, who feel incapable of turning the heads of the deer and thus
compelling them to wander in the desired direction.
Among these people only have I heard of a son who took his mother as a
wife, and when the sentiment of the community compelled him to discard
her he took two other women, who were so persecuted by the mother that
they believed themselves to be wholly under her influence. She even
caused them to believe they were ill, and when they actually did become
so they both died.
In former years the Innuit extended entirely around the shore of Hudson
bay. Now there is a very wide gap, extending from the vicinity of Fort
George, on the eastern coast, to the vicinity of Fort Churchill, on the
western coast. At the present time the Innuit occupy the areas
designated in these remarks. That they formerly extended along the
Atlantic coast far to the south of their present limit is attested by an
abundance of facts.
The Innuit of the eastern shore of Hudson bay, the Itivimyut, informed
me that the Innuit dwelling on the islands of Hudson bay, more or less
remote from the mainland to the east, are termed Ki´g[)i]ktag´myut, or
island people. They relate that those islanders have quite different
customs from the mainland people, inasmuch as their clothing consists of
the skins of seals and dogs, rarely of reindeer skins, as the latter are
procurable only when one of their number comes to the shore to trade for
such articles as can not be obtained on his locality. The spear, kaiak,
bow and arrow are used, and they have but little knowledge of firearms.
These people are represented as often being driven to greatest extremity
for food. It is said that their language differs considerably from that
of their neighbors.
The Innuit, as a rule, are peaceful and mild-tempered, except when
aroused by jealousy. They are, however, quick enough to resent an insult
or avenge an injury. They form a permanent attachment for the white man
who deals honestly and truthfully with them, but if he attempts any
deception or trickery they are certain to be ever suspicious of him,
and it is difficult to regain their favor.
Their courage and ability are not to be doubted, and when they are given
a due amount of encouragement they will perform the most arduous tasks
without complaint.