ESKIMOS.
The Eskimos are a circumpolar race, and live in the treeless areas of
the northern parts of America and Greenland. Their present southern
limit, on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, is Hamilton inlet, in 54° N.
latitude. From there they inhabit the coast to Hudson strait, and thence
along the east coast of Hudson bay, as far south as Cape Jones, at the
entrance to James bay. On the west side of Hudson bay their southern
limit is much farther north, being at Churchill, in 57° 30´ N. latitude.
Northward of that place they are found at intervals along the entire
northern coast of the continent to Alaska. A large number inhabit Baffin
island and Nottingham island. The west part of Hudson strait is peopled
by a band of these natives, while occasional small parties cross
Lancaster sound to North Devon island, and, continuing northward, come
in contact with the natives of north Greenland at Smith sound. To the
westward of Hudson bay, the Eskimos are mostly confined to the
continent, and only make occasional visits to the southern shores of the
large islands off the Arctic coast.
A considerable number of Eskimos, forming small communities, inhabit the
east coast of Greenland from its southern end up to Melville bay, where
a stretch of uninhabited coast occurs between the southern settlements
and the home of the arctic highlanders at Smith sound, there forming the
most northern permanent settlement of the human race. This is on the
east side of the sound, between 74° and 77° N. latitude, or from Cape
York to the southern side of the great Humboldt glacier.
At the time of the European discovery of the northern parts of America,
the Eskimos extended along the coasts considerably south of their
present limits. They occupied the entire Atlantic coast of Labrador, and
lived far along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Eskimos
and Indians have always been open enemies. With the advent of the
whites, the Indians soon became possessed of firearms, which gave them a
great advantage over their northern foes, who were compelled to retreat
beyond the tree-limit in the northern regions; here they were safe, as
the Indians cannot live without firewood.
The Eskimos continued to inhabit the eastern part of the shore of the
gulf of St. Lawrence until about 1630, when they were expelled by the
French and Indians. Captain W. Coats, in his notes on Hudson bay, states
that in 1748 the Iroquois sent to the Indians of the bay for captive
Eskimos, to be used as human sacrifices at some great feast; that the
chief of the northern Indians proceeded forthwith on the war-path
against the Eskimos capturing seven and killing thirteen; the captives
were sent south to the land of the Iroquois in what is now New York
State.
In 1770-72, Samuel Hearne accompanied a band of Chippewyan Indians on a
journey from Churchill to the mouth of the Coppermine river. These
Indians were only induced to go to the Arctic coast on the chance of
killing Eskimos. This they did, by surprising a band busily engaged in
fishing at the first fall above the mouth of the river, massacring them
all.
This warfare appears to have continued until the Eskimos obtained
firearms, when, the conditions becoming equal, the Indians soon found
that the pleasure of the Eskimo chase did not compensate for the danger
incurred, and, for many years past, active hostilities have ceased,
though the two races are still unfriendly, and rarely, or never,
intermarry.
Scattered over such a wide area of country, with such poor means of
communication, it naturally follows that the Eskimo race is broken up
into a number of tribes, distinguished by difference in dialect, and by
slight differences in manners and customs. But these are so surprisingly
few, considering the conditions, that an Eskimo from the Atlantic coast
has no difficulty in conversing with the natives of the west coast of
Hudson bay, or with those of Greenland. Their religious beliefs and
ceremonies are also wonderfully alike everywhere, and only minor
differences are to be seen in their sleds, boats, tents and implements
of the chase, these being largely due to the materials used. In fact so
close are the essential resemblances that a description of the language,
manners and customs of any tribe requires only slight modifications to
suit those of the other tribes.
DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBERS OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS.
Dr. Franz Boas, who has devoted much attention to the study of the
Eskimos, has named those of the eastern half of the continent the
Central Eskimos, to distinguish them from the natives of Greenland and
from those of the western Arctic coast and Alaska.
The following divisions are taken from Boas, with such modifications as
have been found necessary.
The numbers of the different divisions are in many instances only
approximate, as it is exceedingly difficult to arrive at a correct
census, even when actually on the ground, owing to the lack of
appreciation of the natives of numbers and to their want of interest in
such investigations.
THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS.
I. Northern Atlantic coast of Labrador. Population 900 to 1,000.
II. South shore of Hudson strait. Population 400 to 450.
(a) Kedlingmiut (Cape Chidley) 28.
(b) Koguangmiut (Ungava bay).
(c) Okomingmiut (Cape Hopes Advance to Cape Weggs) 115.
(d) Sedlingmiut (Cape Weggs to Cape Wolstenholme) 40.
(e) Nuvungmiut (Cape Wolstenholme) 35.
III. East coast of Hudson bay. Population 400 to 450.
(a) Itivimiut (natives of the mainland).
(b) Kittoktangmiut (Islands of eastern Hudson bay).
IV. The north shore of Hudson strait. Population 375 to 400.
(a) Sikosilingmiut (King Charles cape) 150.
(b) Akolingmiut (Gordon bay to Big island) 125.
(c) Kuamangmiut (Big island eastward) 80.
(d) Nottingham island, 30.
V. Davis strait. Population 470.
(a) Nugumiut (Frobisher bay) 120.
(b) Okommiut (Cumberland sound) 260.
(c) Akudnairngmiut (Padli fiord and Home bay) 90.
VI. Northern Baffin island. Population 180.
(a) Tunungmiut (Ponds inlet) 140.
(b) Tunurusungmiut (Admiralty inlet) 40.
VII. Northwest coast of Hudson bay. Population 700 to 750.
(a) Padlimiut (Churchill to Ranken inlet).
(b) Kenipitumiut (Chesterfield inlet) 140.
(c) Shaunuktungmiut (Doubaunt river).
(d) Aivillingmiut (Fullerton to Repulse bay) 138.
(e) Iglulingmiut (Fox channel) 60.
(f) Nechillingmiut (westward from Repulse bay to Back river) 450.
From the above table, it will be seen that the total Eskimo population
of the eastern half of Arctic America ranges between 3,400 and 3,700
individuals. These people are scattered along the coasts of the mainland
and northern islands, while a few live continuously inland to the west
of Hudson bay. The present northern limit of permanent settlement of the
Eskimos, in eastern Canada, is Lancaster sound and its western
extensions, in about 74° N. latitude. Many traces of their habitations
have been found on the islands north of Lancaster sound, and far north
along the west side of Ellesmere island, but these only represent the
temporary quarters of stragglers from the south, who return after a
short sojurn in the north.
On the west side of Hudson bay the natives extend southward to the
neighbourhood of Churchill, the most southern tribe being the Padlimiut,
who inhabit the country northward from Churchill to Ranken inlet, and
inland in a northwest direction along the edge of the forest-line to
about the latitude of Ranken inlet. Their northern neighbours are the
Kenipitumiut, who occupy the territory about Chesterfield inlet and
along the rivers tributary to that great bay. The Kenipitumiut are not
very numerous, and, according to Captain George Comer, who has made a
very careful census of the natives of the west part of Hudson bay, they
only number 140 persons. The Aivillingmiut are next northward, and are
more confined to the coast than the southern natives; they consequently
depend largely on the sea animals for food and clothing, the southern
people living mostly on the barren-ground caribou. The Aivilliks are
scattered along the coast from Cape Fullerton to Repulse bay. These are
the natives employed by the American whalers to assist in the whaling
industry, and who in consequence are more civilized than their
neighbours north and south. From long contact with the whalers, there is
an admixture of white blood in this tribe, although half-breeds usually
die young. The tribe has contracted some of the loathsome diseases of
civilization. They at present number 138 persons, and the population now
appears to be nearly stationary, though there was a considerable
decrease for some years after the whaling vessels first frequented the
bay and before the tribe became accustomed to the changes involved.
The Iglulingmiut are a small tribe occupying the east shore of Fox
channel, from Repulse bay northward to Fury and Hecla strait, and were
the tribe met with and described by Parry, who wintered among them in
1821-22. According to Captain Comer they now number only sixty persons,
and are not increasing.
The Nechillingmiut are the most numerous tribe to the westward of Hudson
bay, and number about 450 persons. They inhabit the country to the
westward of the Igluliks and Aivilliks, extending westward and northward
to Back river and the shores and islands of the Arctic sea. The Sinimiut
were a small independent tribe, living about the southern shores of
Committee bay, but they have now been absorbed into the Nechilliks.
Another small inland tribe is the Shaunuktungmiut, who occupy territory
to the southwest of Chesterfield inlet. Little is known about this
people, except that they are a small tribe allied to the Kenipitumiut.
Coming to the natives of Baffin island, the Nugumiut tribe inhabit the
country about Frobisher bay, and at present have their headquarters at
the whaling settlement at Cape Haven, being employed about the station,
during the periods of open water, in chasing whales, walrus and seals.
Their number is sufficient to man four whaleboats, requiring about
twenty able-bodied men, and the total population does not exceed 120
persons.
[Illustration: ESKIMOS AT BLACKLEAD, CUMBERLAND GULF.]
The natives of Cumberland gulf congregate about the whaling stations of
Kekerten and Blacklead, where they are employed for a large part of the
year by the whalers. According to the Rev. Mr. Peck, who has now resided
several years among them, the total population numbers about 380 souls.
The natives living on the north side of Hudson strait are not numerous,
and are split up into three tribes. The Sikosilingmiut live in the
inland region of King Charles cape, at the eastern entrance to Fox
channel. A number of families from this tribe crossed a few years ago to
Nottingham island, and are living there now, having been visited in
1901, when they were found to be without firearms, and were killing deer
by chasing them with dogs and shooting them with bow and arrow.
The Akolingmiut tribe reside in the neighbourhood of Big island, in the
central part of the north shore of Hudson strait. These are among the
oldest known Eskimos and came in contact with the earliest white
explorers of Hudson bay. Old writers mention their filthy habits, and
the present generation appears to keep up the reputation of their
ancestors, as being the most degraded of all the tribes. For a number of
years the American whalers had a station on the coast, at Spicer
harbour, some miles to the westward of Big island, but it has long been
abandoned. At present the Scotch whaling steamer _Active_ enters the bay
annually, and on arriving at Big island takes on board the entire tribe,
after which the ship proceeds to the whaling and walrus grounds of Fox
channel and Roes Welcome, where the men are employed in the chase of
these animals. A few years ago the firm to which the _Active_ belongs
established a station on the south side of Southampton, and imported a
number of the Big island natives. These natives, being provided with
modern rifles, soon killed off or frightened away the deer in the
neighbourhood. The old inhabitants of the island (Sagdlingmiut) being
armed only with bow and arrows and spears, were unable to compete with
the better armed strangers, and as a result the entire tribe, who
numbered 68 souls in 1900, died of starvation and disease during the
winter of 1902. The whaling station was abandoned in the summer of 1903,
after the death of the original natives, and the great island is now
uninhabited except by a few natives from Big island who stay at the old
whaling station.
The white men belonging to the whaling station have now been quartered
at Repulse bay, and a number of the Big island natives have also been
taken there; it is likely, therefore, that they will spread disease and
disaster among the Aivilliks and Nechilliks of that region. Some
regulation should be made to prevent this unauthorized movement of the
natives, or similar wholesale slaughter will again occur.
The Eskimos of the Atlantic coast of Labrador have long been under the
direct influence of the Moravian missionaries, and are in consequence
much more civilized than the others. The Moravians first arrived on the
coast in 1770, and since then have established mission stations along
the shores from Hamilton inlet northward to Cape Chidley. Their policy
has been to collect the natives into bands about these stations. To
accomplish this, they have erected each mission at some place where the
natural resources are abundant. The missionaries have kept the Eskimos
as free as possible from contact with the floating, white, fishing
population, and to do so, have obtained exclusive trading rights from
the Newfoundland Government. Their scheme is a sort of parent-hood, by
which they supply the natives with food and clothing, taking the product
of their hunt in exchange; this scheme seems to work very
satisfactorily, the natives being content, while their welfare is
attended to without their being pauperized. There is no premium put on
laziness and false piety, as is so often the case where the missionary
makes a free distribution of food and clothing to the natives. Then it
often happens that the good, industrious hunter, who goes away from the
station to provide for his family, receives none of the gifts, which are
given to the shiftless individuals who hang about the station in a state
of pious poverty. The Moravian Eskimos must provide for themselves by
work of one kind or another, and the shiftless ones only receive
sufficient to keep life going, without any of its luxuries. These people
have all been taught to read and write, there being a number of books
printed in the language; the majority of these are of a religious
character, but there are some on geography, history and other secular
subjects, so that all the natives have a fair knowledge of the outside
world. From their long contact with the missionaries, they are devout
Christians, have completely lost many of their ancient beliefs and
customs, and now conform closely to the manners and customs of
civilization.
The natives of Cape Chidley, some half-dozen families, have for a few
years been under the care of the Rev. Mr. Stewart. He has had some
difficulty instilling the Christian doctrines, and in weaning them from
their ancient customs and beliefs.
The Eskimos of Ungava bay and the south shore of Hudson strait are still
without knowledge of Christianity, beyond what has been spread by the
southern Christian natives. The Eskimos as a rule take kindly to
Christianity, and follow its precepts in a manner which shames the
average white Christian. All are exceedingly anxious to learn to read
the books printed by the Church Missionary Society. These books are
printed in a syllabic shorthand, very easy to read, and are supplied
from Great Whale river on the east side of Hudson bay, and from
Cumberland gulf. A great many Eskimos have never come in contact with
the missionaries; notwithstanding this, there are only a few of the
Labrador natives who cannot read and write, while the natives of Baffin
island are rapidly reaching the same state. Every native who learns to
read, and who possesses a book, becomes the teacher of the uninstructed;
in this manner education is spreading rapidly. A good example is found
in the natives on the northwest coast of Hudson bay, several of whom
have learned to read from the Big island natives on the Scotch whaler,
who were in turn instructed by visiting Eskimos from Cumberland gulf.
The Eskimos of the east side of Hudson bay and of the Belcher islands
annually come under the teaching of the missionary at Great Whale river,
and have to a great extent abandoned the practice of old customs and
beliefs. The only custom that they cling tenaciously to is that relating
to polygamy.
The Eskimos of the Atlantic coast, under the control of the Moravians,
number nearly 1,000 persons. Those at Nachvak and Cape Chidley do not
exceed fifty. A few families occupy the coast of Ungava bay from Cape
Chidley to the mouth of Koksoak river; these are engaged, during the
summer, fishing for salmon in the mouths of George and Whale rivers,
there being about a half-dozen families at each place. In 1893 there
were fifty-one families scattered along the shores of Ungava bay from
Cape Chidley to Cape Hopes Advance. Along the south shore of Hudson
strait, from Cape Hopes Advance to Cape Weggs, live some thirty
families, while to the westward of these, as far as Cape Wolstenholme
there are about seventy-five natives living on the coast, principally in
the neighbourhood of Deception and Sugluk bays and near Cape
Wolstenholme. About one hundred more, not included in the above, live
inland and trade at Fort Chimo.
The western Eskimos, who trade at Great Whale river, number about eighty
families, including a dozen families from the Belcher islands, together
with a few living about Fort George and on the islands of James bay.
Allowing four or five as the size of the average family, the total
Eskimo population in the Labrador peninsula amounts to about two
thousand persons, divided about equally between the Atlantic coast and
the remainder of the peninsula.
[Illustration: AIVILLIK WOMEN AT FULLERTON.]
ANNUAL ROUTINE.
The Eskimo, even to a greater extent than the Indian, depends upon the
chase for his existence. The Indian is dependent, in the uncivilized
state, on the animals he kills for food and clothing, while the Eskimo
must not only get his sustenance and raiment by the chase, but also his
fuel, which is either obtained from the blubber of seals and whales, or
from the fat of the barren-ground caribou.
The yearly round of life of the Eskimo differs but little anywhere,
except on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, where it has been modified by
the missionaries. A description of the annual life of an Eskimo of the
east coast of Hudson bay is typical of that of the other tribes, and
only accidental variations occur, due to the prevalence of particular
game, such as the musk-ox, in some regions.
During the winter the Eskimo lives in a snowhouse or _iglo_; in the
summer in a tent or _tupik_, made of seal or deer skins. The year begins
with the lengthening days of January, and this is usually a period of
hard times, lasting for a couple of months. The Eskimo of the southern
regions is then on his yearly journey to the trading post, where he will
exchange the proceeds of the past year’s hunt for ammunition, tobacco,
and a few luxuries of clothing and tools. The ice along the coast in
January does not extend far from the shore, and the seals keep in the
open water, where they can only be killed by being shot from the edge of
the ice. This is a very uncertain subsistence for the native, owing to
the storms of the season, which either break the ice from the shore, or
crowd its edge with small floating cakes, forming an impassable barrier
to the open water. If a good supply of deermeat has not been laid by
during the fall, periods of starvation are now frequent; these, when
severe and prolonged, result in death or disaster, more natives dying at
this time than throughout the rest of the year. The annual journey is
made in stages; the native remains in a suitable spot for killing seals
until enough of these animals has been secured to meet the requirements
of food for the family and dogs, for a few days; then everything is
securely lashed on the long, narrow sleds, and the party, usually
consisting of two or more families, travels slowly southward along the
shore ice, a woman often walking ahead of the dogs to encourage them.
The men wander about on the ice in search of seal-holes, and
occasionally secure a seal while on the journey. In the evening a halt
is made, and the men build a small snowhouse with blocks cut from a
convenient bank. These small houses, built only for the night, seldom
exceed nine or ten feet in diameter, and it is only when a considerable
stay is expected that larger houses are built.
The Labrador Eskimos rarely live more than one family in a house, but on
the west shore of Hudson bay and at Cumberland gulf two or more families
often live together, either in connected houses or in a single large
house. The largest single house, seen by the writer, at Cape Fullerton,
was twenty-seven feet in diameter and twelve feet from the floor to the
centre of the dome; it was inhabited by four families. This house was
too large for the material, and the roof had to be supported by props
shortly after being built; but several others, eighteen feet in
diameter, showed no signs of such weakness.
[Illustration: SNOWHOUSES AT FULLERTON.]
The Eskimo first tests the snow of the neighbouring banks by probing
with his long snow-knife, often a twelve-inch butcher knife, and when he
finds a bank formed by the drift of a single storm, he cuts an oblong
hole about five feet long, two or three feet wide, and about twenty
inches deep, with a clean face on one of the longer sides. He next cuts
blocks from this face; these blocks are about five or six inches thick,
from twenty-four to thirty inches long and twenty inches deep. A line
the width of the block is first drawn on the surface, then cuts are made
at the ends and bottom of the block, after which the knife is thrust
down several times along the rear line and the block is wedged off. One
man usually cuts blocks, while another builds the house. A circle the
size of the intended house is traced on the surface of the snow, and the
first circle of blocks arranged around it. When this is completed, the
first few blocks are cut down diagonally, so that the next layer of
blocks will take a spiral form and continue to wind in a decreasing
curve until the dome is closed by an irregular key-block. This manner of
building is superior to a succession of lessening circles, as each block
is so cut as to be held by the one placed immediately before, and thus
one man only is needed at the work, whereas, if the circular method were
used, the different blocks of the circle would require to be held in
place until the circle was complete. The finished house is a snow-dome
of about two-thirds the height of the diameter of the base, with the
arch flattened towards the summit. When all the blocks are in place, the
cracks between them are chinked with loose snow, generally by the women.
A line of blocks is then placed across the centre of the floor-space
opposite to where the door will be, with other blocks at right angles to
thus reduce the floor-space to a rectangle extending from the door to
the centre of the _iglo_. On the far side of these walls, blocks of snow
are thrown, and cut to form a smooth platform about eighteen inches
higher than the original floor; this forms the bed of the family, while
the side platforms hold the camp and cooking utensils. A door is now cut
in the wall opposite the bed; it is about thirty inches high and
eighteen inches wide, and passes into a tunnel porch several feet long
and somewhat larger than the door, built later, and serves as a shelter
for the dogs. When the house is permanent, the porch is built with two
or more lobes with doors at each contraction.
While the men are finishing the porch and other work outside, the women
take the bedding and household goods from the sled and put the house in
order for the night. The bed is formed by laying, upon the snow, mats of
closely woven branches of a small willow, which separate the deerskins
from the snow. The bedding is composed of several thicknesses of
deerskins, dressed with the hair on; these completely prevent any cold
from penetrating from below. On the bed thus formed rest the deerskin
sleeping bags, which are only closed for about a third of the length at
the bottom, or not at all. The lamp is next put in position, on the
shelf at one side of the house between the door and bed. It is made of
stone, and rests upon three or four short sticks thrust into the snow.
When the soapstone, out of which the lamp is usually made, cannot be
obtained, any other easily worked rock is used. On top the lamp is
roughly triangular in outline, the sides of the triangle being long
concave curves. There is one long side and two equal short ones which
meet each other in a wide angle; this results in a triangle with a base
about twice the length of the vertical. The length varies from ten
inches to more than thirty inches, eighteen being an ordinary length.
The upper surface of the lamp is slightly hollowed to form a receptacle
for the blubber and oil. The lower side is curved so that the lamp has a
thickness varying from an inch to two inches. The lamp is fed with seal
blubber, or deer fat; the former most commonly. The blubber is cut in
thin strips, partly suspended above the lamp on a stick, and a part of
it bruised to start the extraction of the oil. A wick of dry, pulverized
moss is placed around the edge of the lamp, and squeezed deftly into
shape by the finger and thumb, after being moistened in the blubber.
When the wick has been properly arranged, it is usually set alight with
an ordinary match, or with a flint and steel, iron pyrites often taking
the place of flint. The old usage of making fire by friction is seldom
employed, and only in the case of the absence of the easier methods. At
first the flame from the lamp is small, but the heat soon warms up the
stone, and the blubber melts without much attention. As the flame
increases the wick requires considerable manipulation so that the flame
may burn evenly around the lamp and not cause smoke.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SNOWHOUSE AT FULLERTON.]
The more remote Eskimos suspend an oblong kettle of soapstone over the
flame to melt ice and cook food, but most of the natives, having access
to traders, have largely given up the use of the stone kettle and use
tin ones in its place.
Cooked food, with its accompanying broths, is preferred to raw, but the
Eskimos are not averse to raw meat, especially liver, the fat portions
of the deer and all fish during the winter.
While the women are arranging the interior of the snowhouse, the men are
busy unharnessing the dogs, feeding them with large lumps of seal or
other meat, or with fish, which the dogs devour ravenously after their
twenty-four hours’ fast. The harness and other things liable to be eaten
by the dogs are either hung out of reach or taken into the house. If the
night is stormy a couple of blocks of snow are put to windward of the
hole from which they are taken, thus making a shelter for each dog. Many
of the dogs disdain such shelter, and on the coldest stormy nights lie
curled upon the highest place available, evidently preferring the cold
to being drifted under by the snow in the holes prepared for them. The
Eskimo, as a rule, is very considerate to his dogs, and only treats them
violently at rare intervals. Then he uses the long heavy dog-whip to
some purpose, and the dogs retain for all time the remembrance of it.
When more than one family live in a house, each has its independent
lamp, and the family cooking is kept separate. Seals and other food are,
to some extent, common property; that is, if an Eskimo kills an animal
when alone, he divides it amongst his neighbours, who return the
compliment. When hunting in company the customs vary with the animal
killed and with the tribes; there is a great deal of etiquette observed,
and as a rule each member of the party is entitled to some portion of
the carcass.
The dog-sled on the east coast of Hudson bay, where driftwood is
abundant, varies in length from twelve to twenty feet, sixteen feet
being an average length. The runner is usually formed of one piece the
length of the sled, but in the north, where wood is very scarce, the
sled is shorter, and the runners are frequently formed of two or more
pieces spliced and lashed together with seal line. Where wood cannot be
obtained, whalebones form a substitute, and even ice is sometimes used
as sled-runners.
The runners vary from two to three inches in thickness, and are four to
eight inches deep. They are placed about fifteen inches apart, thus
forming a long narrow sled. They are joined by a number of cross-bars,
which vary from three to six inches in width and are about an inch
thick. They are placed close together when possible, and cover the space
between the runners extending from the rear end for two-thirds the
length of the sled. These cross-pieces are securely lashed to the
runners with seal-line, no nails being used in the construction of the
sled. The ends of the bars project a short distance outside the runners,
and are there nicked for the lash-line with which the load is secured to
the sled. The runners are shod with ivory, bone from the jaw of the
whale, or with hoop iron or steel. Shoeing made of pieces of walrus
ivory is most prized. The ivory is cut into slabs about a half an inch
thick; holes are bored through the slabs at intervals of about an inch,
and the slabs are attached to the runner by wooden pegs through these
holes. The slabs are rarely more than eight inches long, and a great
deal of ingenuity is often displayed in the fitting of them to cover the
bottom of the runner. An ivory-shod sled is one the most valuable
possessions of an Eskimo.
When whalebone is used it is attached to the runner in the same manner
as ivory; that is, with small wooden pegs, but the slabs of bone are
usually several feet in length. Iron or steel are bad substitutes for
bone or ivory, as they offer much more friction in cold weather when the
snow is fine and gritty.
[Illustration: LOADED SLEDS FROM CHESTERFIELD INLET.]
During the period of intense cold, lasting from December to April, the
shoeing of the sled is of mud or lichens, frozen over the regular
shoeing. The best material for this purpose is the dark brown peaty muck
formed from the decay of mosses in swamps. Where this cannot be
obtained, the white reindeer moss is mixed to a thick paste with water.
This shoeing is attached to the runners in the following manner:—when
cotton rags are available, these are wetted and frozen to the bottom of
the runner, so as to cover the shoeing and extend a couple of inches up
both sides of the runner. The muck, which has been boiled to a thick
paste, is then applied warm over the cloth, and is roughly shaped by
hand, so as to have a thickness of about an inch, with a section
resembling the bulb of a heavy steel rail. After being roughly shaped,
the muck is allowed to freeze hard, when it is worked over with a wood
plane, and the inequalities are reduced to a smooth surface. It is then
covered with a thin film of ice, either by lightly running a rag wet
with warm fresh water over the surface, or by squirting a small even
stream from the mouth. Great care is taken to have the iceing uniform,
and every portion of the muck covered. This coating of ice is renewed
every morning, and a sled so shod slips over the intensely cold snow
with much less friction than when shod in any other known manner. As the
weather gets warmer this muck is removed, and the ivory, bone or iron
shoeing used.
The number of dogs in the team varies from eight to two or three, an
average team being six. Each dog has a separate trace. The harness is
formed of two loops of sealskins, which pass under the forelegs, and are
sewn together on the breast and joined by a strip about four inches long
over the shoulders, thus forming an opening for the head. The loops are
brought together in the middle of the back, and the trace is there
attached to their united ends. The trace is made of a single length of
line cut from the skin of the Big seal (_Phoca barbata_), and varies in
length from ten to thirty feet. The traces are regulated in length, so
that the dogs when pulling straight ahead have the leading dog about two
yards in advance, and the others in pairs about a yard behind each
other. The traces are made long in order that the dogs may not be massed
in passing rough or thin ice, and for the same reason the traces are not
fastened to the front of the sled, but to a loop of walrus line which is
attached at the first bar, or nearly a third of the length back. By this
means the sled is easily turned, and allowed to run at a considerable
angle to the direction in which the dogs are travelling; advantage is
thus taken of the smoothest places when journeying along the broken ice
piled upon the shores. The use of individual traces is not without its
drawbacks. While travelling the dogs constantly cross from side to side
among themselves, and weave their traces into a single rope. Stops must
be made every few hours to untangle the traces. The long trace is also
constantly fouling hummocks while passing over rough ice; when this
occurs the dog is pulled back to the sled by the fouled trace, and if he
does not get hurt physically, at least his pride is offended, so that,
when freed, he usually has a little unpleasantness with every dog he
passes to regain his place in the team. The leading dog answers more or
less satisfactorily to the word of command, and is followed by the other
dogs. The usual commands are to swing right or left, to start and to
stop. The dogs are very acute of hearing, and the words are usually
given in a low tone. When a dog is to receive punishment he is pulled
back in the team and his shortened trace made fast to the sled; the
driver can then give his undivided attention to the whip. A great deal
of dexterity is shown in using the whip, and a lot of time is spent
practising with it. A good whip handler knows at least four or five
different cuts, and can hit within an inch or so anywhere inside the
length of the long lash. The blow is terrific.
[Illustration: A SMALL TEAM AND A HEAVY LOAD.]
When an Eskimo leaves a snow-house, his household goods are removed by
breaking a hole in the side of the wall. They are then loaded on the
sled, and retained by cross-lashings of sealskin passed from side to
side, where they are secured in the niches of the cross-bars.
When the ice has frozen several miles out from the shore many of the
seals remain in the shallow waters of the bays and sounds. In order to
do this they are compelled to keep holes open so that they may breathe
from time to time. They form these holes either by enlarging natural
cracks or, when such do not occur, by scraping with their front flippers
a conical hole big enough to admit their body and with a few inches to
spare at the surface. As the time approaches to bring forth her young,
the female enlarges a hole, usually in rough ice where the snow is
deeply drifted, and there clears away the snow about the hole, forming a
flat-domed house sufficiently large to accommodate herself and her
young. The pups are born in March and April. A seal does not necessarily
confine itself to one or more breathing holes of its own, but uses those
of other seals, so that the chances of killing a seal at any particular
hole varies. The Eskimo now forsakes the edge of the floe and hunts his
seals at these holes. In order to find the holes he employs his keenest
scented dog, harnessed, who soon smells a hole and rushes to it dragging
his master with him. If the hole appears well frequented, and the Eskimo
is anxious to obtain a seal, he takes the dog some distance away and
ties him securely by his trace to the ice. He then returns to the hole,
and clears the snow from about its opening, replacing it with a fresh
thin slab, on which the centre of the hole is plainly marked. If he
intends to remain until a seal comes, he often erects a low wall of snow
to windward, and sometimes places a block close to the hole as a seat. A
piece of deer or bear skin is put down to stand on; he then ties a thong
around his legs at the knees so that they may make no noise by striking
together when shivering with the cold. All preparations being complete,
he stands or sits absolutely motionless for hours until a seal comes to
the hole to breathe. The slightest movement or noise made as the seal
approaches raises suspicion and the animal goes elsewhere. The near
approach is heralded by strings of bubbles formed by the animal emptying
its lungs as it rises to the hole. When its nostrils are above the water
and it begins a series of long inspirations, the Eskimo noiselessly
brings his spear directly over the centre of the hole, and strikes down
with his full strength, hoping to drive the barb into the brain and
immediately kill the seal. This often happens with small ones, but with
the large ground-seal a single blow rarely kills it, and a struggle
between man and victim then takes place. The winter seal spear is from
five to six feet long. It consists of four parts, the barb, the iron rod
on which the head fits, the wooden shaft and the iron ice-chisel at the
end opposite to the spear. The head or barb is now almost always made of
iron, the ancient ones being of stone, or iron and ivory. It is about
three inches long, and quite narrow in proportion to the length; the
point is formed into a slender barbed spear, with a small hole at its
base which fits the iron rod of the handle. Near the centre is another
hole, at right angles to the length, to which is attached several
fathoms of seal line. The rod of the shaft is from fifteen to thirty
inches long, and is usually made from three-eighths or half-inch iron or
steel. At the upper end it is pointed to fit the hole in the base of the
spearhead; at the lower end it is securely fastened to the wooden handle
by being driven into it to the depth of three or four inches, and the
end of the wood is strongly bound with sinew. The wooden handle forms
the middle portion of the spear; it is usually about two feet long, and
of sufficient circumference to afford a strong and convenient grasp. A
small peg of ivory projects about half an inch from the side of the
wooden handle, and over this peg a small loop attached to the spear line
is passed. This keeps the line taut, and holds the head securely in
place on the end of the rod. When a seal is struck the loop slips from
the peg and the spearhead is detached from the handle. In striking a
seal, the handle is held in the right hand and the line in a coil in the
left. Immediately the animal is struck the hunter lays down the handle
and devotes himself to the line. If the seal is a large one and
struggles much, a turn of the line is taken around the waist, and the
hunter braces himself for an encounter, in which the seal is sometimes
the victor. Great care is necessary in paying out the line, for many a
finger has been lost by becoming entangled in a loop. The violently
struggling seal must soon breathe, and to do so is compelled to rise in
the hole; then the hunter endeavours to drive the pointed rod into its
brain, and usually does so very quickly. The hole is then enlarged with
the ice-chisel on the end of the spear handle. The chisel is commonly
made of half-inch square iron or steel firmly sunk into the wooden shaft
and fined down to a long chisel-edge. When the seal has been hauled on
the ice a number of ceremonies are gone through in order to propitiate
its spirit and to please the goddess of the marine animals. One of the
customs consists in bursting the eyes so that the seal’s spirit may not
see that it is being taken to the snow-house. Of course these customs
are falling into disuse among the Christianized Eskimos of Labrador and
Cumberland gulf, but there remains, even among the most enlightened, a
strong leaven of their ancient superstitions and customs.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SNOWHOUSE AT FULLERTON.]
At every stopping place traps are set for foxes. The trap is usually a
single-spring steel one, of which each native usually has two or three.
The traps are set on the snow and covered with a thin sheet of hard
snow, the bait being hidden alongside. Where steel traps are not
available, long narrow boxes of stone or ice are constructed, with the
bait in the back part, and attached to a dead fall, so that when it is
disturbed, the door falls upon the fox. The Arctic fox is generally
plentiful in the early winter months, when many of them travel southward
along the coast.
The months of January and February are passed by the Eskimos on the
journey to the trading post, where a short stay of a few days is made to
dry the fox-skins caught during the winter, and to trade these along
with deer and other skins in the shop. There is no cash used in these
transactions; the skins are handed over to the trader, who values them
from a standard of a white fox skin. When the amount has been made up,
he hands to the native a number of tokens representing the value of his
hunt in fox-skins. The usual tariff is about as follows:—
White fox = 1 skin. Mink = 1 skin.
Blue fox = 2 skins. Marten = 2 skins.
Cross fox = 5 to 15 skins. White bear = 4 to 10 skins.
Silver fox = 15 to 40 skins. Deerskin = ½ skin.
Otter = 4 to 8 skins.
The Eskimo trades back, over the counter, the tokens received for his
hunt. The first purchase is a supply of tobacco; next comes ammunition,
and then follow tools, cheap clothing, needles, tin kettles, knives,
files, &c., until his stock of tokens is used up. The immediate profit
on the goods supplied is very great, but when the cost of transport and
the maintenance of the post are taken into account the profit, which
appears enormous at first, is found to be not excessive, considering the
precarious nature of the fur trade, with its fluctuating market and the
chances against good hunts.
The trading completed, the natives collect in large bands on the ice,
usually in the vicinity of some long crack or other place where seals
are abundant, and spend the next month going from encampment to
encampment visiting friends and exchanging the news. With the first
signs of mild weather a start is made northward. Life now is very
pleasant; the days are long and becoming mild; seals are killed in large
numbers on the ice, as they lie basking and sleeping in the warm sun. A
good deal of patience and some excellent mimicry is displayed in killing
seals at this time. When one is seen lying near its hole, the native
approaches as near as possible, say within 500 yards, when he lies down
and crawls and wriggles the remainder of the distance. During this
operation great care is taken not to excite the animal’s suspicion, and
an advance is only made when the seal’s head is down. A seal appears to
sleep in short naps, and raises his head every few minutes; when he does
so the hunter immediately hides his face, and with his arms and legs
imitates the motions of a seal scratching or lazily rolling, at the same
time mimicking the blowing and other noises made by the seals; by so
doing he soon lulls suspicion, and is enabled to crawl a little closer.
By advancing in this manner he can get within fifty yards of his prey,
when he shoots it. When the native has no gun, he continues to close in
until sufficiently near to kill with his lance; this must, however, be
done quickly, for the seal displays wonderful agility in falling into
the water when disturbed.
Early in May the few families who intend to pass the summer inland leave
the coast and hurry to their destination before the sun melts the snow.
The greater number pass the early summer on the coast.
With the advent of June the snow begins to melt, and soon after the land
becomes bare. This is a period of trial for the house-wife; the warmth
causes the roofs of the snow-houses to leak, and they can only be kept
up by a daily patching with loose snow, while the ground is not
sufficiently bare for the erection of the summer tent; it becomes a
constant fight with the heat and water, terminated only by the roof
falling in. The smell and general filthiness of one of these deserted
spring houses is better left to the imagination; it is indeed beyond
description. During this time, while the ice on the coast still holds,
the men are busily employed killing seals, whose skins are needed to
repair the summer tent and to cover the Eskimo’s boat or kyak. The men
bring in the animals and skin them, after which the skins are handed to
the women to dress. If they are to be used to repair the tent, or for
bags, they are simply dried by stretching them on wooden pegs about six
inches above the ground. If they are required to coyer the kyak, or for
boots, the hair is scraped off with an ordinary chopping knife, against
the grain, and the film is removed from the inner skin. For winter
boots, the hair is rotted off and the skin has a white colour, but it is
not water-proof.
As soon as a convenient level spot of ground is bare of snow the
snow-house is abandoned and the summer tent erected. The tent is of a
ridge-pole pattern, with the ridge from six to ten feet long, resting in
the front in the socket between two crossed poles and at the rear
terminating at the apex of a number of poles which form a half cone to
the back of the tent. The ridge is about six or seven feet high, and the
frame over all about twelve feet long and about nine feet wide on the
ground. The covering is made either of seal or deer skins, except in the
case of a man of wealth, who has a cover of cotton. Both the seal and
deer skins used for this purpose are dressed with the hair on, and are
used with the hairy side exposed.
This is the time to repair, and if necessary make new, wooden frames for
the kyak. The kyak is a long narrow boat sharply pointed at both ends,
and entirely decked over except a small well sufficiently large for the
entrance of a man’s body. The frame is of wood, and is covered with
sealskins sewn together to make a water-tight cover. Each tribe has a
slightly different model, the difference being in the shape of the bow
or stern or in the relative width. The Labrador kyak, common to the
Atlantic coast and Hudson bay and strait, is nearly twenty feet long,
and over two feet wide in the middle, or well section. It has a long
sharp bow, which leaves the water about six feet from the forward end,
where it stands about fifteen inches above the water. The stern is lower
and less sharp, terminating in a knob about a foot long, which projects
slightly above the water. The front of the well is situated about the
middle of the length, so that the opening is in the fore part of the
after-half of the deck. It is roughly oval in shape, and is surrounded
by a wooden combing about six inches deep, so placed as to slope upwards
towards the bow. The boat is propelled by a narrow double paddle. The
frame is made of thin strips of wood forming the gunwales, and of five
or seven additional strips, one of which is the keelson. These are kept
in place by light ribs placed about a foot apart, with corresponding
deck beams. Considerable mechanical skill is displayed in the making of
this frame, which is all fitted together without the use of a single
nail, wooden pegs and sinew lashings being alone used.
[Illustration: ESKIMO KYAK OFF CAPE HAVEN.]
The natives about Cumberland gulf and along the west side of Hudson bay,
who are employed by the whalers, are gradually giving up the use of the
kyak, and now do their hunting and travelling with whaleboats, which are
supplied to them by the whaling vessels. Each vessel at the end of her
voyage generally leaves all spare boats behind. These are distributed
among the natives, and the result is that nearly every family possesses
a boat. The Aivilliks and Kenipitus, of the west coast of Hudson bay,
still make use of the kyak for inland hunting, but the Cumberland people
take their whaleboats into the interior.
The Kenipitu kyak is extraordinary in shape. It is long and narrow and
quite deep, so that the midship section is almost semicircular. The ends
terminate in long narrow points, of which the bow end slopes downward
towards the water and the stern end is inclined upwards. This kyak is so
narrow that the combing of the well sometimes projects beyond the sides.
Being narrow and cranky, a good deal of skill is required to handle
these craft with safety, and accidents caused by upsetting are not
uncommon. These kyaks are covered with parchment deerskin, and are the
only ones painted, various colours being obtained for the purpose from
oxide of iron found in the interior.
As soon as the frame is complete, all the women of the encampment join
in sewing on the sealskin cover, as the operation when started must be
completed at one sitting, before the skins dry. The seams are made with
a double lap, and are quite water-tight. The skin shrinks on drying, and
becomes stretched like a drum over the frame.
The natives have another boat called the umiak or woman’s boat. This is
also made with a wooden frame covered with skins, but it is much larger
than the hunting kyak of the men. In shape it roughly resembles a large
square-ended punt, being often twenty feet and over in length, by six
feet or more across the middle section, and tapering towards the ends to
about half that width. It is made quite deep, and is capable of carrying
a very heavy load. Usually two or more families use a single umiak to
transport their goods from place to place, and as the poles and Big
sealskin covering of each tent weigh upwards of half a ton, the capacity
of these boats can be realized.
The framework is heavy, and the sides are kept in place by a number of
cross thwarts, which also serve as seats for the rowers. The covering is
made from the large skins of the Big seal (_Phoca barbata_), sewn
together in a manner similar to the covering of the kyak. This craft is
rowed by the women, usually with an old man as steersman. It is
propelled by rude oars made from small trees, the handle being formed
from the thick part, while the blades are made by attaching strips on
two sides of the smaller end. Two or more women pull each oar, which
vary in number from two to four.
The only place where such boats are known by the writer to be used is
along the south side of Hudson strait and about Ungava bay. Elsewhere
the whaleboat has been found more convenient, and when the planking is
worn out they are covered with sealskin.
During the month of June the weather is generally fine, and ducks and
geese are plentiful in the open water of the ponds and sea. The ice
becomes very rotten towards the end of the month, and soon after breaks
away from the shores, when the kyaks come into use. This is the most
pleasant season of the year for the Eskimos, and they always sing about
its pleasures in their sing-songs to be described later. Game of all
kinds is abundant; the deer come to the coast at this season; seals are
plentiful in the open water, and walruses are floating about on the
loose ice; the Arctic salmon swarm in the shallow water along the coast,
and thousands of eggs of the sea fowl may be collected from any of the
smaller outer islands. A little later the white porpoise enters the
mouths of the larger rivers in schools, and is killed with the harpoon
and gun from the kyaks. The summer harpoon differs from the winter one,
in that the iron work of the latter is replaced by ivory obtained from
walrus tusks. The handle is stout, and made of wood from four to six
feet long; at one end it is tipped with ivory, with a cone-like socket
in its upper side, into which a similar cone on the lower end of the
ivory shaft fits. The two are joined together by a thong of seal-line
passing through holes in the ivory of each piece about two inches from
their ends. This thong is made tight, and holds the cones in place while
the harpoon is in use and until the head enters some animal, when the
weight of the shaft causes the cones to slip and the shaft hangs loose
from the wooden handle. The shaft is usually made from a single tusk,
and is from twelve to eighteen inches long, but sometimes it is made by
splicing two pieces, and they are joined by bands of lead run through
mortised holes in the two pieces. The shaft in its lower end at the cone
is usually over an inch in diameter, and tapers slowly to the upper end,
where it is about a quarter of an inch thick. There is generally the
natural curve of the tusk in the shaft, so that it is not quite
straight. An ivory head fits the upper end of the shaft, and it is
tipped by an arrow-pointed piece of iron, usually an old knife blade,
let into a slit in the ivory and secured by rivets. The head is about
four inches long, and is pierced near the middle for a seal-line
attached to it. This line is several yards long, and is fastened at its
outer end to a whole sealskin blown up to act as a float and drag to the
animal harpooned. The head of the harpoon is kept in place by a loop on
the line, which fits tightly over a peg on the side of the wooden handle
when the head shaft and handle are adjusted in line. The harpoon is
thrown at the seal, walrus or whale, and its weight is sufficient to
drive the head completely through the skin; the cones between handle and
shaft then turn and disjoint allowing the line to slip off the peg on
the handle, so that the head separates from the remainder, which floats
away. The sealskin bladder is thrown overboard, and after a few wild
rushes the animal comes to the surface, dragging it along. The native
then either shoots, or kills with the lance. The lance is somewhat
similar in construction to the harpoon, but is without the head, the
ivory shaft terminating in a wide steel blade usually cut out of a saw
or large knife, and is without barbs.
The other weapon of the kyak is the duck dart used to entangle the eider
ducks when they become fat and lazy in the late summer. This instrument
consists of a light wooden shaft five or six feet long, with a trident
of deer horn at its upper end. The pieces of horn are from six to eight
inches long, and about half an inch in diameter; their sides are notched
by a number of barbs pointing downwards, and they are so set at the head
of the shaft as to project outwards at an angle of 45°, while each piece
of horn makes an angle of 120° with its neighbours. Similar barbed
prongs are attached to the shaft about a foot from the upper end. The
lower end of the shaft is flattened, and made tapering to fit a groove
in a throwing board held in the hand of the hunter. This dart is very
skilfully thrown many yards, and entangles itself about the necks or in
the wings of the ducks.
[Illustration: SUMMER TENTS AT WAKEHAM BAY.]
As the middle of August approaches, the natives who have been living on
the coast, and who have generally secured several sealskins full of
porpoise or seal oil for the next winter’s use, start inland for the
annual deer hunt, only leaving behind the old people who cannot tramp
long distances. These pick up a living during the absence of the younger
people by fishing and hunting birds. The barren-ground caribou collect
in great bands in September for the mating season and for their annual
migration southward. At this time their skins are in the best condition
for clothing, and the Eskimos kill them at certain localities where they
are known to pass on their way south. These places are often far away
from the summer hunting grounds on the coast. Going to the hunting
grounds the course of some river is generally followed, the men
travelling in their kyaks, while the women, children and dogs all carry
heavy loads overland. The early autumn is spent on the deer grounds, and
a return to the coast is not made until sufficient snow has fallen to
allow of the use of the dog sleds. The men first travel light to the
coast to fetch the sled left there the previous spring. On their return
the heavy, slow work of hauling out the meat and skins commences, and as
several loads are often necessary, with the days very short and the snow
soft, it often happens that Christmas arrives before the coast is again
reached, and the trip for the trading post again undertaken.
This is a short description of the life of an Eskimo living in the
northwestern part of the Labrador peninsula, and is typical of the life
of the free native in the north. Of course, the routine varies in
different localities. On the west side of Hudson bay the Kenipitus live
inland, and depend entirely upon the caribou for food, clothing and
fuel. A large number of these natives only leave their hunting grounds
for short visits to the whalers, to renew their supplies of ammunition
and tobacco, or go to the northward to hunt the musk-ox in the spring.
The Aivilliks of that coast confine themselves chiefly to the seaboard.
Their name signifies walrus hunters, and they go inland in the autumn
only to procure sufficient deerskins for their winter clothing.
The Nechilliks and Igluliks, living farther north, do not often come in
contact with the whalers, and depend largely on their southern
neighbours for ammunition and other articles of civilization. They are
in a much more primitive state, without any modifications in their
ancient customs and beliefs. The greater number are without guns, and
kill their game with the bow and arrow or with the spear.
The other natives on the shores of Fox channel rarely come in contact
with the whites, and are in a similar primitive state. These include the
Padliks and Sikosiliks, and in the same category were the natives of
Southampton island, now all dead.
The Eskimos living about Frobisher bay and Cumberland gulf congregate
about the whaling stations, and remain there for the greater part of the
year. The whaling season in these places is in the fall, spring and
early summer, so the natives have only the latter part of the summer in
which to hunt deer for their winter clothing. The animals are found
abundantly about the great lakes Nettilling and Amadjuak, which are
located far inland to the westward.
The natives of Big island and the north shore of Hudson strait are, as
before mentioned, employed on the Scotch whaling steamer, or at the
stations at Repulse bay and at Lake Harbour, where a mica mine is
worked; consequently they do not follow their old customs.
A whaling station was established in 1903, at Ponds inlet, and the
Eskimos of the northeastern part of Baffin island will soon have their
habits modified by contact with the white men; of all these northern
people only those of eastern Baffin island, together with those of the
Arctic coast to the northwest of Hudson bay, will remain practically
uninfluenced by civilization or Christianity.
[Illustration: AT PONDS INLET.]