THE CREATURES OF THE WILD
Bear hunting, again, is pursued by the Eskimo with no less zest than
that of the seal or deer. It forms quite a subject by itself, and calls
for some description of its own customs, methods, and superstitions.
The bear is much respected by the Eskimo for his intelligence and
cunning, and his strength. Indeed, they consider him second only, among
the creatures of the wild, to man himself. It is for this reason that
they so often choose for their “tongak,” or guardian familiar, the
spirit of a bear.
One very curious belief about the animal is that the bear himself has a
tongak (quite distinct from his Tarngnil or soul), and that when this
spirit requires any new commodity, such as a new seal warp or line,
which is represented by the black skin round the mouth of its protégé,
this tongak causes the bear to fall in the hunter’s way and be killed.
The hunter spares the black skin, and refrains from cutting it when
flaying the carcase, as an offering to the spirit. A further offering
of the sort is made by transfixing various portions of the beast’s body
and entrails on a stake or spear, together with a man’s implement—such
as a knife, if the bear were a male, or a woman’s implement, such as a
needle or skin scraper, if it were a female—and exposing the gift for
three days. At the end of that time it is thrown into the sea.
In bear hunting, the rule is for the skin to go to the first hunter who
sights the prey (not necessarily the first to kill it.) The best part
of the body goes to him who deals the fatal blow.
The arctic bear is not an hibernating animal, for it is only the female
who sleeps through the winter. The pair hunt together until the
approach of winter, when the female, fat, and in the pink of condition
after the summer months of good feeding, searches for a suitable place
in which to retire and bear her cubs. She generally chooses a sheltered
spot on land, where the snow lies deeply drifted. The two partners
scratch out a comfortable cave in this, and the female then enters and
rolls herself up to sleep. The male bear blocks up the entrance, and
the next fall or drift of snow effectively completes his task, and
obliterates all traces of the animal’s activities. He takes himself
off, to roam about at his own sweet will, and attend to nobody’s
appetite but his own for the next few months, returning to the female
only in the spring, when she emerges from her hiding place, gaunt and
hungry, and accompanied by the cubs. The male is always the safer
creature to hunt at such a season, since the female is then thoroughly
out of condition and very savage.
Bears are particularly fond of and feed upon the blubber of seal and
walrus, and resort to many tricks in order to procure it. The older
generation of hunters studied the habits of the arctic creatures more
carefully than do the Eskimo of to-day, and affirm many interesting
things as to the bear’s tactics when on the prowl for food. They—the
bears—know just as much about seal hunting as the tribesmen know, i.e.,
that these creatures lie about on the ice in the frozen bays, but are
so wary of danger that they plunge out of sight in an instant through
their “agloes” or seal holes at the slightest alarm. The bear goes
nowhere near the sealing ground at first, but makes his way up any
slight hill or eminence in the neighbourhood from which he can view the
seals, and their adjacent holes. He impresses some sort of a map of it
all, and of the safest route towards it, on his mind, and then makes
the best haste he can towards the broken ice along-shore. He slides
down the snow on his haunches like a tobogganist, carefully avoiding
any rocks and obstacles projecting themselves in his path. After that,
he creeps along with extraordinary caution towards the first sleeping
seal he has marked down. He is all but invisible against the white
background, and he is absolutely silent. He just glides towards his
victim, and then at the last, when sufficiently close, he rushes
forward and kills it with a single blow of his paw.
In the latter part of the spring, when the seal holes have become so
enlarged that several of the animals may be making use of the same one,
the bear takes careful note of this fact and adopts a bolder plan of
action. He creeps up to any neighbouring hole, examines it, dives down
through it, and swims along under the ice towards the place where the
seals are congregated. He suddenly pops up through their own particular
hole, thus cutting off their retreat, kills them at his leisure, and
gorges on their fat.
When hunting walrus the bear adopts different tactics. He knows that
these creatures are at a great disadvantage on land, but that they love
to drag themselves up on to the rocks or shore ice, and lie there
asleep or basking in the sun beneath some cliff, and safely screened
from their principal enemy—man. When the bear sights a walrus in such a
position, he risks no direct attack, but takes careful note of the
situation, loads a massive piece of ice or rock upon his shaggy
shoulder, and making a cunning détour, works his way to some spot
directly behind and above his intended victim. Then he launches his
missile down upon its head. The skull of the walrus is so thick it is
almost impossible to smash it; but at least the animal is stunned, and
the bear has only to scramble down and complete his work with a blow or
two of his paw.
(This method of hunting, incredible though it seems, has been
emphatically affirmed by several ancient hunters.)
No wonder the human hunter has conceived the highest respect for the
bear, and is anxious to secure his Tongak for a familiar spirit!
In the water the walrus is a swift and formidable creature, to capture
whom taxes the kyaker’s utmost skill and courage. The man has nothing
but his spear and drag, i.e., an inflated sealskin attached to his
spearhead, by means of which the animal, when transfixed, is prevented
from diving too deeply or travelling too fast. As he approaches the
walrus, man and beast manœuvre for an opening. The kyaker, keenly on
the alert, with a touch of the paddle just keeps his frail craft moving
until the other, with a sudden grunt and roar, rushes at him through
the water, rearing right up at striking distance, a terrible vision
indeed, with huge slavering tusks, eyes bloodshot and glistening with
rage ... The coolest courage is required to face it!
The hunter pauses there for just that fraction of a second until the
creature is upon him, then slips aside, and the harpoon drives deep as
the animal surges past. It instantly dives, intending to come up and
tear the kyak from beneath. But the drag of the float upon the line
checks it and causes it to misjudge the distance, so that when it rises
the kyak is not there. Meanwhile, the hunter has easily kept track of
the beast’s rush under water, by the air bubbles (or by his highly
trained instinct), and when its savage head reappears he races up, and
strikes it in the face before it has recovered from its bewilderment.
The startled, baffled foe immediately dives again, and remains below
the surface as long as possible, only to be driven down once more the
instant it emerges for a breath of air.
At last, utterly exhausted and nearly drowned, it comes up the last
time and meets its fate at the hands of the plucky and relentless
pursuer. Should the hunter miss his stroke at the first awful attack
and fail to get clear, the kyak is instantly overturned and the man
savagely mauled in the water, the walrus driving its tusks right
through his body time and time again. Or it sometimes seizes the hunter
between its flippers and, in full view of the other kyakers, holds him
under water, coughing hoarse defiance at them all as they rush up to
the rescue; and then slowly submerges, taking its enemy with it. Such
are the casualties of arctic life.
One of the very few creatures who seems to have it all his own way in
the frozen regions of the north is the raven. He supplies an element of
sheer impishness and insouciance in Eskimo life, without which the
native might want for a good deal of fun and aggravation.
The bird abounds everywhere. Even in the most bitter and desolate spots
the raven turns up in a sufficiently glossy and well nourished
condition. His huge beak is a formidable weapon and always stands him
in good stead. He is like a spirit of mischief, able to calculate to a
hair how near to spear or gun he may with safety venture. He is the
despair of men and dogs alike. He is an expert thief, and cannot be
excelled in pilfering.
During the day, whilst the hunters are away and there is nothing much
doing, the raven sits on a crag or other convenient spot overlooking
the village, and with a melancholic and malignant eye broods in
disgust. You can almost hear him hoarsely remark:
“What a rotten show! What a poverty-stricken hole! This really is the
limit! Not a scrap to filch since daybreak!”
Should you pass by, he brightens up and cocks an eye at you in an
expectant way, as though it were the plainest duty of all bipeds to
shed scraps and bits for him to enable him to pick up an honest living.
Although, as a matter of fact, he much prefers a dishonest one.
Towards evening, there is an air of expectancy about the raven group.
They have trimmed themselves up and sharpened their beaks on any stone
or pole handy for the purpose. As the hunters begin to put in an
appearance the birds move off and entrench themselves behind such cover
as the neighbourhood may afford. They know from experience that man is
uncertain with his gun, and it may go off unexpectedly with detrimental
effects to themselves. Anyhow, they prefer to have a boulder in
between.
Presently one bird, sharper-set than the rest, peers from his
concealment to see how things are progressing. A croak of disgust at
the leaden-footedness of events announces his observations to the rest.
But presently a hunter emerges from his house with a bowl of dainties
for the dogs (the dainties are more or less putrid), and empties it
into a tumultuous crowd of them, when each one vies with his neighbour
in catching and bolting as much as possible in the least space of time.
At this, there is an ebon rush from the surrounding crags, and a fierce
rear attack upon the dogs from the voracious birds.
A beak like cold steel driven deep into a dog’s flank just as he is
engulfing a particularly delicious morsel, tends to make him choke. He
does so in fact, and his feathered aggressor, striking hard now at his
nose, snatches the lump of meat from him in the very act of flapping
and floating off to safety in mid air. The dog, disgusted and
disappointed beyond expression, sits down and howls maledictions on
thieves in general and ravens in particular, to the remotest of their
generations.
No one loves the raven. The hunter uses every art to catch him, but
generally in vain. He will set out early of a winter’s morning with a
supply of the most cunning traps he can contrive, and of the most
tempting bait. Nothing is in sight as he leaves the camp. When he
reaches the trapping grounds he sets a line of fox traps in all the
most likely places, and carefully conceals his work with snow. But his
every movement his been ’cutely watched, and as soon as his back is
turned there comes an amused and contemptuous croak, as who should say:
“What an ass! Do you suppose I’m not equal to that?”
The croaker spreads bold wings and sails over to the trap. Inserting
his bill beneath it like a lever, he simply wrests it over and so
springs it. In a trice he tweaks out the bait and bolts it. He makes a
point of being there on the hunter’s return in the evening, just to
hear his remarks. The bird has the audacity indeed to sit there, close
by, his head upon one side and a bored expression in his eye, as though
he were reflecting on the pitiable amateurishness of the whole affair.
“What!” he seems to say. “You call that a snare? And you think you’re
eloquent about it now! Why, if it comes to that, I could make your hair
stand on end with the force and aptness of my remarks!”
With a hoarse, derisive note, he rises then and wheels off into the
arctic empyrean.
The gulls, on the other hand, come well within the category of those
creatures whom the Eskimo hunter can outwit. These birds are always
much in demand, both as food and for the sake of their skins, which
latter, turned inside out, make capital socks. The old men spend a good
deal of their time in winter, catching gulls.
The hunter builds himself a small igloo among the rough ice by the
seashore, and creeps inside. He proceeds to cut a hole in the top just
big enough for the passage of a bird’s body, and round this opening, on
the outside, he spreads attractive bits of seal meat and blubber. Then
he prepares to wait. Presently a gull, sweeping by on the endless
search for food, spies these dainties, and descrying no sign of foe or
danger, swoops ever nearer and nearer, until at last it alights on top
of the igloo for a brief second, seizes a morsel and wheels off again.
Nothing untoward having occurred, the bird grows bolder, returns, and
finally settles down to the feast outspread in that tempting spot.
Suddenly a hand comes up and grips it by the legs, and drags it
downwards through the hole. Another hand slides up its body to its
neck, so that it cannot fight or bite, and in a moment or two the life
is choked out of it. Bird after bird is caught in this way, until at
the end of the day the hunter returns to the village under a load of
white and grey feathers. He laughs delightedly to think how he has
tricked the greedy gulls, and how his cunning bird-calls have deceived
one after another.
He recounts the story of it all over the cooking pot into which the
birds are thrown as soon as skinned, and keeps his women-folk well
entertained as they sit chewing the skins to pliability in their strong
white teeth, for the rest of the arctic evening.
Such is a glimpse into the lives of these brave and hardy warriors of
the North, a country which they love. Fierce and relentless though it
be, it brings out all the best that is in them. All honour and praise
to them.
APPENDIX
ESKIMO DEITIES
Sedna. Goddess of sea animals, but not of the sea itself.
Ooluksâk. God of the lakes. He lives by the side of the lakes, and it
is by his instrumentality that the conjurors get their light when
performing their rites.
Tekkitserktok. God of the land. He owns all deer. This god is greater
in power than all the other gods. Offerings are made to this god by
hunters before going inland for the annual deer hunt.
Kingoatseak. This god lives in the sea and is like a dog in appearance;
legs very thin like a dog’s. Is not able to come to the surface.
Sinnilktok. Lives on the land. One side of this god is like a woman,
one side like a dog. It is a benevolent spirit, gives seals to the
conjurors and cures the sick, but is very much afraid of Eskimos and
dogs.
Keekut. Lives on land and is like a dog without hair. Is an evil
spirit, and does evil of various kinds.
Segook. This spirit has a head like a crow and a body like a human
being, and is black, and has wings. It does good and brings meat to the
Eskimos in its beak. It eats the eyes of deer and seals.
Tekkonatelik. A spirit living on land, with a body like a fox, fiery
eyes, red hair. Benevolent in disposition.
Eeyeekadluk. Lives on land. In appearance like a short man with fairly
large eyes, black face, very short legs, eyes frightful to look upon.
Lives in a stone igloo. Good spirit, tries to cure the sick.
Mummerreak. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo, masc. gender, but has his
hair dressed like a woman, and his skin clothes have no hair upon them.
Good spirit; is helpful by heaving rocks at the deer and killing them.
The deer are then found by the Eskimos.
Angootelooktook. Lives on land. Like a man in appearance. His thighs
are crippled and he wobbles whilst walking. Benevolent spirit; keeps
close to the conjurors and pays heed to his incantations.
Nooesarnak. Lives on land. In appearance like a woman with thin legs.
Is clothed like a woman, in deerskins. Has a deerskin mask. Benevolent
spirit; always wishes to give deerskins to the people.
Toodlanak. Lives on land. Like a woman in appearance. Is a great
walker, and walks about with bedding and tupik (tent) on her back, as
the people do when on journey inland. She has no husband. Has a nice,
pleasant face, and wears long boots. She is a good spirit and gives
deer to the Eskimo, i.e., drives them within their reach.
Aipalookvik. This spirit is malevolent and lives on the sea bottom. Has
a large head and face, human in appearance, but ugly like a cod’s. Is a
destroyer by desire, and tries to bite and eat the kyakers (canoemen).
Akktonakjuvoonga, or Akktonakjuak. Live under the sea. Are very thin in
appearance and like Eskimo. They congregate and cry to each other,
“Shevarktonakjoovoonga” the others replying, “Shevarktonakjoovtit” (I
am a rope. Reply: Thou art a rope).
Ogjunak. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo in appearance, one side black,
one side white. Has European clothes. Face covered with hair, thin
legs, arms and body. Good spirit; tries to cure sick.
Koopvilloarkju. Lives on land. Like a small Eskimo man. Has orange
coloured hair and orange coloured clothes. Good spirit; said to give
food and heal the sick.
Ooleooyenuk. Lives by the side of the sea. Like a man in appearance,
his clothes made with lapels and scallops. Eats seaweed. Good spirit.
Aulanerk. Lives in the sea. Like a stout man. Is naked, writhes about
and makes waves. Is a source of joy to the Eskimo.
Naput. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo; is very thin, cannot walk, but
jumps and stands upright. He is never angry, and classed as a good
spirit.
Angemenooat. Lives on land. Is like a woman, very thin, almost like a
skeleton, and has a string round her waist like a woman who is carrying
a child. Has very large clothes and a benevolent mind.
Ookomark. On land. Like a short, thin man; very large, round face, a
stout body. Is very strong, and is dangerous if seen by mortals. Lives
in a stone house and kills animals with stones. (Not benevolent; temper
uncertain; needs careful handling.)
Oovineroolik. Those who were flesh. (These are the spirits of departed
Europeans.) Lives on land; clothed in a shirt; like a European in
appearance. Has a boat and hunts seals. Is captain of three boats, two
of which are manned by other departed Europeans. When boats are full,
meat given to the Eskimo. Very good spirits.
Isserootaitok. (Also spirit of departed European.) Lives on land; like
a European in appearance. Wears a jacket with no buttons. Always
arrives from a distance; has no boat, but tries to do good.
Nessallogainalik. Lives on land. Has no clothes, but wears a hat. Is
like a European; generally sleeps on a ship; is supposed to be the
spirit of a departed sailor.
Oyakkert. This spirit is an Innooa and not a Tongak. It lives in small
stones; in appearance like an Eskimo. Has a very red face, black body
and legs; is very thick and heavy. Only seen by conjurors. Has no
attributes.
Koodjânuk. First-class spirit. When the world was made he was a very
large bird with black head and hooked beak, white body. Lived on the
boundary of the earth. Is a benevolent spirit; a trifle blasé through
age. Has the ability to give, and does so when asked by the conjurors;
also heals sick.
Poolaiyittok. Lives on land, by the side of the lakes. Like a woman in
appearance. Is accompanied by a dog like a white fox. Is a good spirit
and does good when asked.
Bokoomeerlekuluk. Lives on the sea bottom. Like a fox in appearance,
with fur, black in colour; but head and face like an Eskimo, with two
tusks, which are used for cleaning purposes and for killing seals,
which are given to the Eskimo.
Kalluktok. Lives on land and on ice. Like an Eskimo, dwarf in size. He
has dogs and a sled, and is a good hunter. Gives meat to the people. Is
very swift with his sled.
Kulaktok. Lives on land in a tupik (skin tent). Like an old woman, and
is the mother of Kalluktok. She is always cooking, because her son is a
good hunter. She constantly gives food to her Tongak friends.
Kallooetok. Lives on land. Is father to Kalluktok and husband of
Kullaktok. Is a bad hunter because his eyes are bad. He is very old and
does not go hunting, but has good intentions to the Eskimo.
Tooktooak. Lives on land. In appearance like a very tall and thin
Eskimo; hair white and clothing black, with no hair upon it. He is a
good spirit in intention.
Koodjaunuk. Lives at the bottom of the sea. Like an Eskimo. Wears no
clothes and is very thin. He is not one to be feared, as his intentions
are good, and comes to the surface when called by the conjuror.
Toonekotario. This one lives on land. It is the spirit of one of the
departed Tooneet. Carries a bone harpoon and comes as often as invoked.
Aumanil. Lives on land. Has a black face with fiery eyes. His mouth,
eyes and nostrils are very much distended when invoked by the conjuror.
He guides whales.
Nootaitok. The spirit of the Icebergs. He lives in the sea. Like an
Eskimo. Wears black skin clothes; has bright eyes. Is a good spirit and
gives seals when invoked.
Adjarkpaluk. Lives on land. Is like a European, and wears European
clothing. When invoked, will come from afar. He has a good mind and
does no harm.
Tooloreak. Lives on land. Is like an Eskimo. Has large canine teeth
like a bear; wears bearskin trousers, and the rest of his clothing of
skin without hair. Black in colour. Does not wear boots, but has feet
covered with hair. He is a good spirit and comes when called and gives
as desired.
Agloolik. He lives beneath the ice like an ogjuk (large seal). He is
the guardian spirit of the seal holes. He gives seals to the hunters
and is considered a good spirit.
Akselloak. This is the spirit of the rocking stones. When called he
arrives rolling, and when near the conjuror he falls flat upon his
face. He is considered a good spirit.
Tootegâ. Like a small woman. Lives on an island in a stone house. She
is able to walk upon the sea.
Ataksâk. Lives in the sky. He is like a ball in appearance. He has the
means of joy within himself, thus he is the joy-giver. He comes to the
Eskimo as often as he is invoked by the conjuror. He has many strings
of charms on his clothing. These charms are very bright, and as he
moves about his body is also bright. He arrives to the people as a ball
of light and causes the people to be joyful, through the conjuror. He
is considered good.
Kingmingoarkulluk. He lives on land and is like a very small Eskimo.
When seen he is always singing with joy: “Kingmingoarkulloona, aiya,
samaiya.” (He is always singing that he is Kingmingoarkulluk.) The name
is derived from a plant called Kingmingoark. He is of a good
disposition and does good generally.
Ooyarraksakju. She lives in the big stones, hence her name: the
beautiful material for stone. She is like a large woman in appearance,
lives on various things; gives various good things to the Eskimo.
Ooyarrauyamitok. Has no definite abode. Is sometimes on earth,
sometimes in Heaven. In appearance is like a middle-aged Eskimo. Is
frequently invoked by the conjurors when incanting. This god, if
invoked and respected, gives meat to the Eskimo, i.e., enables them to
get it.
Koodloorktaklik. He lives far inland and is like a man, and does not
wish to be seen by the Eskimo. He is bright and clean in appearance. He
does good to the sick, and in various other ways. He generally has the
ends of deer hoofs attached to his clothing, hence his name.
Kakkakotauyak. Lives on land. Is like a dog in appearance; whitish in
colour. His eyes and nose are black. He is not dangerous, even if seen.
Has amiable characteristics, and sends seals and deer to the Eskimo.
Sillaseak. Lives inland, and is like a man. He never goes on the ice.
He lives in a house under the earth. He gives deer to the Eskimo when
deer-hunting.
Kattakju. Lives on land and is like an old woman in appearance and is
very tall. She presides by the sick when the conjuror tests them by
head or leg lifting, and reveals their state and chances of recovery to
the conjuror.
Niksiglo. This god lives under the earth, and is like one with a hook
with a line attached. In appearance he is like a walrus tusk. Is a
Tongâk and a bad character. He steals the hunters’ deer and seals by
hooking them. He is seen only by conjurors, if seen at all. There are
many of these tongâk, and if seen stealing by a conjuror, the aid of
another conjuror is called in. The spirits of these two search for the
thief; the one watching from above, the spirit of the other goes below,
and from a small house beneath the dwelling of the tongâk he is able to
see the thief and kill him.
Angalootarlo. Is another tongâk and a bad character. He is a great
thief, and has two personalities; is like a large bearded seal when in
the sea, and like an Eskimo when on the ice. He is frightful in
appearance and works in the following manner: When an Eskimo is alone
at sea in his kyak, this tongâk, keeping the appearance of a seal,
swims away from land and is followed by the kyaker. When a long
distance from land, the tongâk gets upon a piece of ice and the kyaker,
having no gun, follows to kill him, still thinking it is a seal. Then,
when the hunter draws near, the tongâk changes his shape into that of
an Eskimo, and kills the hunter, he having no gun and being very near.
Pukkeenegak. Lives on land, and is like a small woman, with face
tattooed. She has her hair done up into a knot on the top of her head,
like the Greenlanders. She has very large boots (kummeek) made from the
deer legs, and has very nice clothes. Is quite aristocratic. She is
considered to be good, as she gives food, material for clothes, and
babies, to the Eskimo women.
Toodlayoeetok, also Pissukyongnangetok. Has his abode in Heaven. Is
like an Eskimo, but cannot walk, hence his name: he who is unable to
walk. He sits on a small sled and propels himself along by two sticks.
He is considered a good deity. He catches animals by lassooing them,
and then gives them to the Eskimo.
Orkshualik. Lives on land ice.
FOOTNOTE
[1] Occasionally the black fox is taken, and the fortunate hunter may
receive as much as the equivalent of $100 to $500 for a pair of fine
skins, from the Agent.