As soon as the ice has consolidated in winter a lively intercourse
springs up between the settlements. Friends visit one another, trading
excursions are undertaken, and almost every few days visitors arrive at
the village. They are welcomed with great hospitality. The sledge is
unloaded and the dogs are fed by the host. The visitor is led into the
hut, served with the choicest pieces of meat, and the hostess puts his
clothing in order. In the winter these visits are generally short,
rarely lasting more than a few days.
Longer journeys are postponed until spring, when food can be procured
more easily. These journeys are planned a long time before they are
made. While the families generally leave what they can spare of their
household goods in winter at their summer settlement, they bring away
everything they possess to the winter village if they intend to visit a
neighboring tribe in the spring. In April or May they leave their snow
houses; the tent poles and the whole of their goods are loaded upon the
sledge, only the boats being left behind in charge of some friend, and
then they start upon their long, lonely journey. On the first day they
do not travel far, but make the first halt after about a twelve-mile
journey. As the load is heavy the men and women sit on the top of the
sledges only to rest. The driver walks alongside and the women lead the
way, the dogs pulling more willingly if they see somebody ahead of the
sledge. At night it is not unloaded, only those things being taken out
which are necessary for building a small tent and for cooking. In order
to protect the sledge from the attacks of the dogs, the pitu (see p.
530) is taken out and fastened to an eye cut into the ice with the end
of the spear. After having traveled about three days a longer halt is
made; the sledge is unloaded, the dogs are unharnessed, and the men go
out hunting in order to procure food for the dogs and for themselves.
Thus they slowly proceed until they at last reach the end of their
journey. Here they settle down with the friends whom they have come to
visit, establish a hut of their own, and spend a whole year with them.
In the following spring they retrace their journey to their own homes.
Journeys of four to five hundred miles in one spring are not of rare
occurrence; longer journeys, however, frequently last for years.
A journey of two hundred miles, going and coming, is sometimes
accomplished in one season. For such a journey they would set out in
March or April, leaving all their goods behind, and live with the
friends whom they visit for a month or two, returning about June. While
on the visit the visitors help their friends to provide for their
families.
In traveling in the spring the Eskimo always use snow goggles to protect
themselves from snow blindness. The modern ones (Fig. 529), which are
made of wood and have a shade and a narrow slit for each eye, are very
effective. The old design is represented in Fig. 530, the specimen being
made of ivory.
Long journeys are sometimes made in summer, several families traveling
together in their boats. As, however, the open season is very short in
many parts of Northeastern America, spring journeys are more frequently
made.
When traveling by boat the tent poles, skin covers, and all the
household goods are stowed away in the bottom. The women do the pulling,
three or four working at each oar, while a man sits on the stern board
steering with a paddle. They move on at their leisure, stopping whenever
they are tired or when a seal is seen blowing near the boat. The kayaks
are tied to the stern and towed along. Children and dogs lie about in
the bottom of the boat. In the center there is a tub containing all
kinds of provisions, and every now and then they take some refreshment
from it. During the nights the tents are erected at suitable points. The
natives are well acquainted with these, and, if they are not compelled
by severe weather to seek shelter at the nearest point, always visit the
same places. These have a smooth, sloping beach, fresh water, and dry,
gravelly places in which the tents are built.
[Illustration: FIG. 529. Modern snow goggles, of wood. (National
Museum, Washington. 29978.) ½]
[Illustration: FIG. 530. Old form of snow goggles, of ivory, found
in Idjorituaqtuin, Cumberland Sound. (Museum für Völkerkunde,
Berlin. IV A 6833.)]