Under certain conditions a great portion of their food is eaten raw,
but it is invariably cooked when it conveniently can be. Frozen food is
consumed in great quantities. I have seen them strip and devour the
back, fat, and flesh from the body of a deer while the fibers were yet
quivering. The entrails of many species of birds are taken from the body
and, while yet warm, swallowed much after the manner of swallowing an
oyster. The eggs which have been incubated to an advanced degree are as
eagerly devoured as those quite fresh.
The deer meat, killed the previous fall and frozen for three or four
months, is cut into huge chunks and gnawed with as much satisfaction as
though it was the finest pastry. On such occasions I have seen the
person appointed to chop up the frozen meat scatter the pieces among the
expectant crowd with as little ceremony as that of throwing ears of corn
to the hogs in a pen. For a change the frozen pieces of meat are
sometimes warmed or thawed before the fire.
The blood of the deer is often mixed with the half-digested mass of food
in the stomach of the animal, and the stomach, with its contents, with
the addition of the blood, eaten raw or boiled. Sometimes it is laid
aside to ferment and then frozen and eaten in this condition.
Strips of fat from a seal and the blood of the animal are put into a
kettle and heated. The oily liquid is eaten with the greatest relish.
Seal oil is used for food in about the same manner as we use syrups.
Years of almost daily intercourse with these people have failed to show
the ability of any person to drink seal or whale oil without illness
resulting. They never drink pure oil under any circumstances, except as
a laxative. The statement often made that these people drink oil as food
is simply preposterous. Such statements doubtless arose from seeing
other preparations of food having an abundance of oil upon them. Lean
flesh is often dipped into oil and then eaten. If partaken of without
oil in as great quantities as these people require, a torpid condition
of the liver and alimentary canal results, and they thus employ the pure
oil to relieve themselves.
Vegetable food is little used except in the vicinity of the trading
stations. Those accustomed to the use of flour, bread, peas, beans, and
rice are very fond of them, and often express regret that they will be
deprived of them when on their hunting expeditions.
Native plants afford little help as food. During the season when the
various berries are ripe all the people gorge themselves. They have a
special fondness for the akpik (_Rubus choemomorus_). The sun scarcely
reddens the side of these berries, locally known as "bake apple," before
the children scour the tracts where they grow, and eat of the
half-ripened fruit with as much relish as the civilized boy does the
fruit purloined from a neighbor's orchard. Other berries contribute
their share as food.
When on trips the women often gather a few green herbs and put them in a
kettle of water and make an infusion in lieu of tea. They are fond of
tea, coffee, and sugar. Molasses is eaten alone or with something dipped
in it.
The Eskimo drink often and astonishing quantities of water at a time.
If the weather be very cold they often drink the water which has been
heated on a fire, asserting that the hot water does not weaken them as
much as cold water would do.
When a seal has been killed and is being brought to camp, the hunter
signifies his success from a distance, and those in camp raise a joyous
shout. The animal is drawn ashore and skinned. The flesh is devoured raw
as the process goes on, or may be divided, certain portions being given
the different persons. The blood is collected, and when the meat is
boiled it is mixed with the hot liquid and forms a nutritious dish,
eagerly devoured by both adults and young. The children revel in this
dish to a sacrifice of cleanliness.
The feast is continued until the flesh has been devoured and the people
gorged to their utmost capacity. Stories are told and general good humor
prevails. The different species of fish which frequent the shallow
waters of the bays are used as food.