ESKIMOS (CONTINUED).
The natives of the Labrador peninsula and those of Cumberland gulf,
under the influence of the missionaries, are gradually giving up many of
their ancient beliefs and customs. At present these can only be studied
among the tribes as yet unvisited by the missionaries, such as those of
the northwest coast of Hudson bay, who, although long acquainted with
the whalers, have not been so influenced by them as to change their
superstitions and beliefs.
The writer spent the winter of 1903-04 among the Aivilliks and Kenipitus
on that coast, and paid some attention to these matters, deriving at the
same time a large amount of information from Captain George Comer, of
the whaling schooner _Era_, wintering alongside the _Neptune_. Captain
Comer had already made several voyages to Hudson bay and Cumberland
gulf, on all of which he had made ethnological collections and notes for
the American Museum of Natural History, New York. A considerable amount
of his information has been published by Dr. Franz Boas. With the
exception of the Rev. Mr. Peck, at Cumberland, Captain Comer is probably
the greatest authority upon the manners and customs of the Eskimos.
The different tribes of Eskimos have no hereditary or elected chiefs.
Each tribe is divided into a number of small bands, usually close blood
relations. The head man of each band is nearly always advanced in years,
and holds a sort of patriarchal sway over his sons and younger
relations, altogether due to their willingness to be guided by his
advice and experience and not to any sense of duty. At other times, when
the older men are not forceful in character, a successful younger hunter
largely influences the actions of the band. The authority of the leader
is not great, and he never asserts it by direct orders issued to the
other men; if he wants anything done he asks them if they are willing to
do it; any member is quite at liberty to refuse, and to follow his own
judgment or inclinations.
The head man is usually an _Angekok_, conjuror or medicine man, and in
consequence derives some power over the band through their
superstitions. It is not quite clear if more than one angekok belongs to
each band, but they are quite numerous, and it seems likely, therefore,
that the number is not limited to one.
As regards the family relations among the uncivilized Eskimos, the
marriage tie is very loose, and can easily be broken by either party.
This is often done for the most trivial cause. The Eskimos practise
polygamy, and in some tribes, polyandry, where there are fewer women
than men. Many of the men have but one wife, owing to their inability to
support more, the successful hunter being known by the number of his
wives, although two is the usual limit. There does not appear to be any
ceremony in connection with marriage, beyond a present to the nearest
male relative, who gives his consent to the union.
Divorce is common, the chief causes being failure to produce male
children and incompatibility of temper. When a woman is divorced she
returns to her family, taking her children with her, and both parties
are free to form a new alliance.
Jealousy caused by infidelity on the part of the wife is exceedingly
rare, the man taking rather a pride in the appreciation of his wife’s
charms by others. The women are jealous of one another, and I have seen
a wife take away her husband whom she found dancing on board the ship
with another woman.
An exchange of wives is customary, after certain feasts, or after the
angekok has performed his conjuring tricks, either to cure sickness or
to take away the effects of the breaking of some of the many taboos.
These customs make polyandry easy where it is found necessary, as in the
case of the Nechilliks, or where only one woman accompanies a hunting
party.
As a rule the women are treated fairly by their husbands, and it is only
in the case of a shrew, or of constant neglect of attention to the
cooking and other household duties, that corporal punishment is resorted
to; but when administered, it is severe.
The missionaries are exerting their influence to make the Eskimos
monogamous; this is probably a mistake. In a greater number of the bands
there are more women than men. Under their old customs, a man had as
many wives as he could support, and all of them were nearly on an
equality. Under the new practice he has but one wife, and the other
women whom he supports have no standing in the household, being domestic
drudges and concubines.
The Eskimos display a great deal of affection for their children,
especially if they are boys. Corporal punishment is rarely, or never,
inflicted, and does not appear to be required. In the case of orphans,
or where a man is childless, adoption often takes place, a child
sometimes being bought from its parents. Adopted children are rarely
treated harshly. Instances of the destruction of female children are
known, but they are rare.
The aged are respected, and as a rule well looked after. In cases of
starvation, the aged sometimes voluntary elect to be left to starve, or
die of cold; in rare cases of this kind, old people, or cripples, have
been known to be abandoned, but it has generally been a choice between
being embarrassed by these weaklings and all perishing, or of leaving
them on the chance of the remainder of the party surviving.
Cases of murder and cannibalism during periods of starvation have been
authenticated among the natives of the west shore of Hudson bay, and
have been reported among other tribes, but are resorted to only in
extreme cases.
Murder from private reasons is very rare, and entails a blood feud
unless a settlement can be made by presents to the nearest relatives of
the murdered man.
If an individual becomes dangerously obnoxious, or insane, a
consultation of the men of the band is held, and one or more of them are
deputed to remove the criminal or lunatic; in such a case the
individuals acting are held blameless in the matter.
Supposed incurables commit suicide, which is not looked upon as a crime,
as suicides are supposed to go, after death, to an upper heaven along
with other good people.
When a death occurs, the body is sewn up and kept for some time in the
iglo, after which it is drawn to a convenient spot on the land, and
there covered with boulders as a protection against dogs, wolves and
foxes. The body is removed from the snowhouse through a hole cut in the
side, and not through the door. The reason for keeping the body a few
days is due to the belief that the spirit hovers about it during that
time before departing, and might be displeased if it were buried
immediately.
There appears to be a great deal of doubt in regard to the action of the
soul after death, and at times one is led to think that the Eskimos
believe in a dual soul, one of which leaves the body and its
surroundings shortly after death, the other remaining in its environment
and gradually departing for longer and longer periods as the body
decays.
A number of customs are observed after death among the Aivilliks and
Kenipitus. No work or hunting is permitted for five days, and the women
confine themselves closely to the house. During this period the snow
must not be scraped from the ice window, the bed must not be shaken, nor
the willow mats disturbed; the drippings from the lamp must remain, and
snow for melting must not be cut. The women are forbidden to wash faces,
comb hair or dry boots. The men must not work on iron, wood, stone or
ivory. Some of these regulations extend beyond the period of five days.
The belongings of the dead are not used by the others, and, if they
cannot be traded to the whites, are abandoned. When a man dies, his gun
and hunting implements are laid beside his grave, and allowed to remain
there for a certain time, until his spirit is supposed to have no
further use for them, having ceased to remain with the body, or until
the spirit is supposed to have forgotten about them. In the case of a
woman, articles of a personal nature of use to the spirit are put
alongside her grave. For some time after death visits are made to the
grave, and one-sided ‘conversations’ are held with the spirit there to
show respect and to keep it from becoming lonely; at the same time small
presents of tobacco or other articles are left at the grave.
SUPERSTITIONS AND BELIEFS.
It is an exceedingly difficult task to arrive at any sure idea of the
beliefs of the Eskimo. In the first place, they are themselves somewhat
hazy as to what they do believe concerning the soul and a future state;
secondly, an intimate knowledge of the language is needed to catch their
ideas on these subjects, and thirdly, one must be very intimate with
them and have acquired their respect before they will, from fear of
ridicule, discuss such subjects.
They all appear to have a belief in a supreme goddess, called Nuliayok
on the western side of Hudson bay, and Sedna by the eastern Eskimos. The
folk-lore in connection with these two goddesses points to the same
origin for both, and is almost identical. The tradition is that Nuliayok
was a coy Eskimo maiden who would not marry any of the young men. She
was wooed by the fulmar, a gull, who spoke in a pleasing manner of the
life she would lead with him. He so worked upon the senses and feelings
of the maiden that she consented to accompany him to his island home as
his wife. On arriving there she found that she had been cruelly
deceived, and that the splendid house was nothing but a nest of sticks
perched upon the high bare rocks, without any shelter from the snows or
winds. The abundant food promised turned out to be nothing but rotten
fish, and to add to her other discomforts she was jostled by the other
fulmars, so that she often had difficulty in preserving her place on the
rock. There was plenty of time for regret before she managed to send
word to her father, requesting him to come to her rescue, which he did.
Her father’s name was Anautelik, and he took her away in his boat during
the absence of the fulmar. When the latter discovered his loss, he
caused a great storm, and Anautelik, to preserve his own life, threw his
daughter overboard, but she clung to the side of the boat, and he cut
off her fingers, one by one, to make her release her hold. As her
fingers dropped into the sea they changed into the whale, walrus, big
seal and the small seal, so originating the sea animals. Her father next
knocked one of her eyes out, after which she let go of the side of the
boat and went to the world beneath the sea, where she became queen,
living in a house built of stone and whalebone, and guarded by her
husband, the dog. She cannot walk, but ‘hunches’ over the ground with
one foot beneath her body. Her father was also drowned later, and now
lives with her, wrapped up in his tent cover, and is employed torturing
the souls of the wicked. The souls of sea animals go to her after
remaining three days by the body after death. This is the reason a great
deal of respect is shown to the bodies of these animals, and is the
origin of a number of taboos in connection with them. If the soul is
displeased on its departure for the abode of Nuliayok it informs her,
and causes her hands to swell; then she revenges herself by bringing
ill-luck or sickness upon the Eskimos. If all the ceremonies are
properly observed they please the soul of the animal, and other animals
will allow themselves to be killed by such considerate people.
It thus appears that the Eskimos existed before their goddess, there
being no legend regarding the first Eskimo. The Eskimo story differs in
regard to the origin of the white race and the Indians, who are the
offspring of Nuliayok and her dog. One story runs that Nuliayok was
deceived by the dog, who took the form of a young man. When her father
found her with a litter of white and red pups he was very angry, and
placed her with her strange progeny upon an island, sending food to her
by the dog. Later he drowned the dog, and brought her food in his kyak.
Nuliayok, to revenge the death of the dog, set the pups on her father,
and so killed him. Being now without any source of food for herself or
the pups, she made two large slippers; into one she put the white pups
and into the other the red, and set them afloat before a north wind, so
that they landed on southern lands and became the ancestors of the
whites and the Indians.
There is a goddess of the land-animals called Pukimma, who appears to be
closely identified with Nuliayok, and may be the same personage under a
different name.
[Illustration: AIVILLIK WOMAN IN GALA DRESS.]
The Eskimos have in addition to a number of legends concerning the
creation of the animals many other folk-lore tales, all of a lewd
character, and often without point.
The ideas concerning the future state of the soul are confused and often
contradictory. There appear to be three degrees of heaven, all situated
above the earth. The conditions are heavenly according to the Eskimo
view, which pictures such places as being bright and warm, with plenty
to eat and wear, and little to do. It is probable that the idea of
eternity is beyond the comprehension of the Eskimos. They believe that
the soul of the departed will enter the body of a child named after it,
and remain for a year, with later continued influence upon the child’s
character.
As before mentioned, the souls of suicides go to the upper spirit world
along with those who have observed all the taboos. The transgressor of
the taboos, and men lost by being carried away on the ice, go to the
nether world, where they are tormented for a time by the father of
Nuliayok.
TABOOS.
The uncivilized native has a great many strict rules to observe in
regard to the modes employed in killing animals, and the manner and time
of eating certain flesh. There are also rules regarding work on
different materials. If these rules are not closely observed the souls
of the animals become displeased, and report the transgression to
Nuliayok, who shows her displeasure by bringing sickness, ill-luck in
hunting, or some other calamity upon the band in this life, and punishes
the individual in the next. When the taboos have been broken they can
only be condoned by open confession, in the presence of an angekok, who,
through his familiar spirit, reports the confession to Nuliayok, and the
sin is forgiven.
The following are a few of the many rules which must be observed: The
most heinous crime is the concealment by a woman of a miscarriage, and
is the source of the greatest calamities. A woman so unfortunate must
confess immediately to the angekok, but as the confession practically
ostracizes her for several months, the temptation to conceal her mishap
is great. A pregnant woman is debarred from eating several kinds of
meat. After childbirth she is unclean for two or three months, and for
the first month cannot visit any house in the community. A similar rule
applies to women during their menses. A woman who has recently lost a
relative must not work on deerskins, pluck ducks, take the hair off
sealskins nor mention the names of the animals. When the men are away
hunting on the ice the women must not disturb the bedding, as it will
make cracks in the ice, and seal-line used in hunting must be cut
diagonally for the same reason. When the sun first returns in the spring
the children blow out the lamp in the snow-house. During the time that
the sun is travelling south cat’s-cradle is played by the women and
children to entangle the sun in the meshes and prevent it being lost by
continuing south; the cup-and-ball game is played to hasten its return.
Among the many taboos relating to the killing of animals the following
may be mentioned: The bear is under the protection of two goddesses,
Angeakatille and Ouhowjawtil, who live in an iceberg. No work must be
done for three days after a bear is killed, and the women must not comb
their hair, nor disturb the bedding. No cannibal may eat bear flesh,
lest it should create a taste for human flesh. The newly-killed seal has
its eyes punctured, so that its spirit may not see that it is being
taken to the snow-house. When the carcass is brought into the house
fresh snow is dipped into the kettle and the water from it is dripped
over the seal’s mouth. Before going sealing, for the first time on the
ice, a fire of shrubs is made, and the clothing and implements of the
hunter are thoroughly smoked in it. The key block of the snow-house is
at the same time scored in all directions with the knife, to ensure good
luck in hunting and to keep away disease; a white piece of deerskin and
thread are put on the ice for the same purposes. Seal bones must not be
given to the dogs. The souls of the sea animals abhor dead bodies and
blood, which must therefore be avoided by hunters. This rule applies
especially to women during their periods. Everybody in the encampment
may eat freely of the seals killed by the successful hunter, but none of
the meat must be removed from his house.
[Illustration: NECHILLIK WOMAN.]
During the deer hunt no work must be done with sealskin. The winter
clothes and tents must be buried, while no seal or walrus line may be
taken inland. When hunting deer from the kyak on the inland lakes a
small piece of sealskin is deposited under a stone on the margin of the
lake.
When the musk-ox hunt is in progress, the hair must not be removed from
deerskins, and no work with iron may be undertaken.
All deerskin garments must be made on the land, and not after the family
has moved upon the ice, until the March moon, when the women are allowed
to work at deerskins in an iglo on the land, but not on a day when a
walrus has been killed. Soapstone is another material which must not be
worked on the ice. No work may be undertaken on sealskins killed during
the winter, until the seals have pupped. The tusks of freshly killed
walrus must not be removed from the skull until the winter, but work may
be done during the season on tusks taken before the new ice forms.
When on the ice, deer meat must be taken into the house through a hole
in the side and not by the door, until after the March moon, when both
deerskins and meat may be taken through the door. Deer must not be eaten
on the same day with seal or walrus, except in the walrus season, when
it may be eaten with the latter. Clothing must be changed before eating
seal in the walrus season.
The first salmon must be caught before work on bootlegs begins, and
boots worn while hunting walrus must not be used when salmon fishing.
Salmon is always cooked over shrub fires outside the tent, and in
vessels used only for that purpose; consequently fish taken in the
winter are eaten raw.
Amulets in the shape of small pieces of skin or cloth are sewn to the
under coat by the wife of an angekok to ward off sickness and to bring
good luck. Many of these are decorated with beads. The tip of the deer’s
tail is sewn to the tail of the coat for success in hunting, and when
sewn to the coat of a boy ensures his becoming a successful hunter. A
gull’s feather dipped in the drippings of the lamp is placed between the
harpoon and spear line, and so carried to the ice, where the hunter
sucks the feather and spits in the water in order that the walrus may
not know that it is being hunted. The dried skin of a newly-born
lemming, when attached to the float of a walrus harpoon, prevents the
animal from attacking the boat when wounded, and the skin of a lemming
carried in the boat ensures safety.
There are numerous other charms used, together with invocations and
songs for success in hunting.
ANGEKOK.
The angekok, or medicine man, is believed by the other Eskimos to
possess supernatural powers, whereby he can charm away sickness, lighten
the displeasure of Nuliayok when she sends famine and misfortune to the
band, put the evil-eye or something similar on those who displease him,
and see into the future. He is supposed to do this by the aid of a
familiar spirit called his tonwak, which usually assumes the form of
some animal—often that of a walrus.
To become an angekok it is necessary to receive instructions in the
mysteries from some other angekok, and usually more than one take part
in the instruction and initiation of the candidate. After being
instructed, the novice has a series of incantations performed over him
by the assembled angekoks, who dance round him, uttering charms. He is
then taken to his home and left for several days in solitude, during
which time he meditates and prays for his tonwak to appear; this usually
happens after several days, when all that remains to make him a
full-fledged angekok is to learn words used by them and unknown to the
uninitiated.
The angekok prepares for a séance, either behind a blanket in the tent
or in the porch of the snow-house. Some of them appear to be able to
work themselves into a sort of mesmeric trance, when they pretend to be
able to transport their spirits to distant scenes and tell what is
happening there. They also undertake to foretell the results of future
hunts, and whether success or failure will follow certain undertakings.
In sickness the angekok works all his cures by charms, the Eskimos being
entirely without medicines. He ascribes all sickness to the breaking of
certain taboos, either by the sick person or by some close relative.
They perform a number of simple conjuring tricks for the benefit of
their audience. I was present at a séance at Cape Fullerton, where two
angekoks officiated. They made their preparations in the porch out of
sight of the audience, who were arranged in rows on the bed, and who all
kept crying ‘atte atte,’ inviting the angekok to enter. Each woman wore
a small piece of deerskin on the top of her head. A long conversation
was held with the angekok outside, before he finally entered. He first
essayed to describe the place whence I came, and in this he was not very
successful. He then told us the locality of the Eskimos who had taken
our mail south some weeks before; this ended the first part of the
performance. The next time, he entered in the form of his familiar
spirit, the walrus, and to simulate it had a pair of small tusks
fastened into his mouth. Being angry, he tried to strike the natives
with the tusks, and was only prevented by considerable force. He was
finally ejected, and pursued by the other angekok, who could be heard
chasing the walrus several times over the iglo. A violent struggle
ensued. The pursuer returned to the iglo a few minutes later with his
hands and arms covered with blood, claimed to be that of the walrus
spirit. The other came in, a few minutes later, quite unconcerned about
the amount of blood he was supposed to have lost. The second angekok now
attempted the same trick, but during the scuffle inside the iglo caught
one of his tusks in a coat, which pulled it from his mouth. He
immediately retired, and felt very bad about the mishap. Later he came
to me and asked to be excused from working the next day, which he must
spend alone appeasing his tonwak, while all his household had to fast
for twenty-four hours. The final act was performed by the successful
angekok, who said that he would attempt to make some angekok tobacco.
While he was making his preparations a number of fresh blocks of snow
were brought in, and a depression hollowed out in each for cuspidors, as
no person must spit on the floor after smoking angekok tobacco. He
explained that angekok tobacco tasted differently from ordinary tobacco,
and that if we found this peculiar taste, of course the thing was
proved. He then clumsily palmed a small piece of black tobacco between
his hands, and shredded it fine, after which it was placed in a new clay
pipe, lighted, and passed round the assembly.
AMUSEMENTS.
The Eskimos are firm believers in the old adage that all work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy, and all join heartily in outdoor and indoor
sports. Football is the popular outdoor amusement, and men, women and
children join in kicking about the ice a ball of feathers or deer hair
covered with deerskin. There do not appear to be any rules, each playing
for himself. There is another ball game, where the ball is batted with
the open hand backwards and forwards, the object being to prevent it
from touching the ground. Wrestling is indulged in by the young men; in
this no tripping is allowed, and a throw must be made from a shoulder
hold. Boxing as we understand it is not practised, but they have hitting
contests, where one man stands unguarded and allows another to hit him
as powerful a blow as he is capable of, on the understanding that the
blow may be returned under similar conditions. When such a contest takes
place between strangers it often leads to the vanquished one, if at
home, revenging himself upon the stranger with his knife, and altogether
this is a rather dangerous pastime for grown men, although good for
boys. The children play out-of-doors during the daylight, having usually
miniature sleds to which they attach themselves, or the pups.
Among the indoor amusements are a number of games of skill. A very
popular game is played by suspending a small ring of ivory by a string
to the roof; another string, steadied by a weight, hangs below the ring,
often in a vessel of water to prevent it swinging too violently. The
string is twisted so that the ring revolves rapidly, and all stand round
and attempt to pierce it with small wooded lances. A prize is given to
the first successful one, who in turn donates a prize to the second, and
so on. Another game is a variety of the cup-and-ball game. A piece of
ivory, roughly carved to represent a bear or some other animal, is
pierced full of holes and is attached by a short string to a small ivory
pencil. The play consists in tossing the large piece into the air and
piercing it with the stylus, different values being assigned to the
different holes. Cat’s-cradle is the constant amusement of the women and
children, and they have a great number of figures unknown to the
ordinary player in civilization. The Eskimos do not appear to have the
gambling spirit strongly developed, and have few games of chance. One of
these consists in guessing the number of articles held in the closed
hand; another is played with small slabs of ivory, resembling dominoes,
but having a greater number of spots on them; the slabs are thrown in
the air, and the number of spots are counted on the slabs that fall
right side up. A circular disc of ivory, usually with sawn edges, is
threaded on a loop of sinew and made to revolve in the same manner as
our own small boy spins a large button.
The girls have dolls made of wood, and cleverly clothed to represent
their elders. The carving of walrus ivory passes many an hour of the
long winter. As a rule the carvings are rude representations of various
animals and other animate objects, and have no high value as objects of
art, but occasionally there arises a real artist, who when encouraged
will produce wonderfully artistic models of the various animals, men,
dog-sleds and almost anything suggested to him. Others are expert in
making models of kyaks and hunting gear.
A common amusement, accompanied by more or less ceremony, is the
sing-song. When such a performance takes place all the natives of the
band congregate in one of the larger houses, sitting around on every
available spot. The writer attended one of these sing-songs given in
honour of some visiting natives at Cape Fullerton. The ceremony
commenced by an elderly native standing out in the middle of the floor
space, and beginning to hop gently about. His wife then started the
song, being accompanied in the chorus by the other women of his band.
The song is sung a line at a time, in a minor key, the air being
confined to about three notes. After each line the chorus of two lines
is sung, and is somewhat like, ‘Ai yea yae yaeyaeya yae’ repeated twice.
While the song is in progress the man dances and hops about the floor,
occasionally uttering in a loud voice, we-hew! we-hew! The song belongs
to the man, and is his own composition, and is composed in a rough metre
to suit the air, but does not rhyme, and no great attention is paid to
the rhythm. The sentiments are at times poetic. In this particular song
praise was given to the springtime, and a longing was expressed for its
arrival; mention was also made of the trials of women at childbirth, and
wishes were formulated for good luck to the hunters. The song continued
upwards of an hour, after which one of the strangers was invited to
sing, and on his taking the floor was presented by the old man with a
hatchet as a mark of courtesy. The stranger was a Kenipitu from
Chesterfield inlet, and as he was not accompanied by his wife he had
himself to sing his song, which he did in a loud voice. The Kenipitu
women of the neighbourhood loyally supported him in the chorus. He first
thanked the donor of the hatchet for his magnificent present, of which
he would make valuable use. He next described the country from whence he
came, and said that he was acquainted with the hunting of the sea
animals. He expressed a wish to be a great and successful hunter, and
deprecated the waste of animals killed for food. By this time he was
fairly exhausted and his voice became very hoarse. He was followed by
another of the Aivillik tribe, but as there is a limit to the amount of
foul air and pungent odour that a white man can stand, it was at this
stage of the proceedings that the writer fled.
[Illustration: KENIPITU BELLES AT FULLERTON.]
The songs sometimes are varied; when the singer ridicules his neighbour
(and an Eskimo’s joke is often much broader than it is pointed), the
song is liable to breed ill-feeling; on this account the Christianized
Eskimos of the east side of Hudson bay no longer indulge in this
amusement, but sing hymns instead.
During the absence of the men on hunting expeditions, the women
sometimes amuse themselves by a sort of female ‘angekoking.’ This
amusement is accompanied by a number of very obscene rites, which were
better left unrecorded.
GARMENTS.
The winter garments of the Eskimo are made from the skins of animals,
while only those who can procure European clothing wear anything but
skins throughout the year. For winter clothing deerskin is by far the
best, and is always used where it can be obtained. When this material is
not available, sealskin, or the skins of foxes, wolves, bears and dogs
is used, and sometimes the skins of birds. For the summer garments,
sealskin is the common material, while waterproof clothing is made from
the intestines of the Big seal.
The clothing of both sexes consists of a coat, breeches, stockings and
boots. In the winter two suits are worn, the inner with the hair next to
the body and the outer one with the hair exposed. The man’s coat is
usually made to descend a short distance below the hips, and is cut
plain on the bottom. There are no openings in the coat, and it is drawn
on over the head. It terminates above in a hood, provided with a drawing
string, so that in cold weather the opening may be closed tightly about
the face. The bottom is often provided with a fringe hanging several
inches below the garment, and made by cutting a band of deerskin into
narrow thongs. This fringe becomes entangled with the hair of the lower
garment, and serves as a wind-break. The coat, or kulitang, varies
somewhat in shape in the various tribes, and the style seems at times to
be due to the fancy of the individual. On the east side of Hudson bay
the coats are of a moderate length; among the northern Eskimo of
Greenland they are quite short and barely reach the tops of the breeches
when the man is standing upright, while a wide section of the back is
exposed when he bends over. Along the west coast of Hudson bay, among
the Aivilliks and Kenipitus, the men’s coats are long, and often have a
short apron and tail like those of the women. They are also ornamented
by the insertion of white patches of deerskin in the backs and on the
sleeves. This white skin is only worn by the women of other tribes. The
inner suit is made from light summer skins, while the outer ones are
heavy and thick, and are from the deer killed late in the autumn.
The breeches are made loose, and reach from the thigh to a short
distance below the knee, where they are quite open to provide
ventilation. They are secured to the body by a string in the waistband
and have no openings.
[Illustration: KENIPITU WOMAN IN WINTER DRESS.]
The winter boots are usually made of the skin from the legs of the deer,
carefully matched and sewn, and the feet are made with the hair inside,
so that a pair of low shoes may be worn over them when travelling on the
sled. Deerskin socks are worn inside the boots; they are both long and
short, and are worn with the hair inside. A pair of deerskin mitts, worn
with the hair outside, complete the ordinary costume of a man, but
sometimes, in very cold weather, a pair of dogskin shoes are slipped
over the ordinary foot-gear when travelling on the sled, as the Eskimo
is very careful that his extremities are kept warm and dry.
A man’s summer clothing of sealskin corresponds closely to his deerskin
suit. All the garments, except the boots, are made from skins dressed
with the hair on, and the hairy side is worn outside. The skins of the
fœtid seal are commonly used for this purpose, and it is only a very
fortunate swell who has a suit from the skins of the harbour seal. The
boots are made of skins from which the hair has been shaved off. For the
tops, the skin of the fœtid seal is used, the bottoms being made from
the thicker skin of the big seal.
The women’s clothing consists of garments similar to those worn by the
men, but they are cut differently. The coat, in the body, is much
looser, and the hood is larger and more open, being prolonged into the
back to form a receptacle for the baby, who is carried naked there, the
weight being supported by two thongs sewn to the shoulders in front and
which, crossing the breast are attached under the arms. Unlike the men’s
coats, those of the women have an apron, reaching nearly to the knee in
front, and a longer tail behind. The inner coat is often ornamented with
beads or fancy strips of skin, while the outer garment is decorated with
strips and patches of white deerskin, all very neatly _appliqué_. On the
east side of Hudson bay the women wear breeches and boots very similar
in cut to those of the men, but on the west coast they are quite
dissimilar. There the breeches are very loose, and reach almost to the
ankles, where they are gathered in. Between the knee and ankle they have
a curious bag on the outer side of the leg, which is used for their feet
when seated within the snow-houses, the footwear being removed and the
feet withdrawn inside the breeches and thrust into these bags—a very
comfortable plan. With such long and clumsy looking breeches, short
shoes and socks must be worn.
The women arrange their hair in different fashions, often attempting to
follow those set by their more civilized sisters of the trading
stations. For example, the prevailing fashion on the east side of Hudson
bay is to wear the hair cut short, like that of the wife of the officer
of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Great Whale river. About Cumberland gulf
the hair is usually put up in a knot on the back of the head, and this
is sometimes varied by small side knots over the ears. Among the
Aivilliks and Kenipitus, the prevailing fashion is two rolled braids
wound with string or ribbon, one over each ear. The hair when dressed
for native state occasions is separated into two side locks, each of
which is covered by a highly ornamented covering sewn with beads, and
worn as long cylinders hanging down over the breasts.
The children’s clothing, when they wear any, is very similar to that of
the grown people, except that the girls, until they are nearly mature,
are not provided with tailed coats. Infants are carried perfectly naked
in their mother’s hoods until they are about two years old.
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS.
The Eskimo as a rule is strictly honest, and the occasional thief is
looked down upon by the wild native as well as by the partly civilized
one. Not quite as truthful as they are honest, they still compare
favourably in that respect with the white men. When the source of a lie
is traced it is found to be due to a mistaken politeness, the native
intending to please by answering in a manner which he thinks will be
agreeable to the questioner. Another cause is due to the etiquette of
the people, whereby a man always belittles his success in hunting or
other actions. When these reasons are unknown to the casual stranger
among these people he classes them as liars, when the case is not so,
for an Eskimo seldom, or never, makes a false statement to shield
himself from the consequences of ill-doing. Of course there are black
sheep in every flock, and the Eskimos have their share of them.
Judged by the standards of sexual morals of civilization, the Eskimo is
a minus quantity; but who is to say what is right in this respect among
a people situated as they are.
In temperament they are phlegmatic and slow to anger, being good-natured
rather than otherwise, but like all savages, liable to ungovernable
bursts of rage when roused. As a rule they are proud and independent,
with a greater sense of gratitude for favours received than their Indian
neighbours.
They are not cleanly in their habits, and this is not surprising
considering that for the greater part of the year they must melt all the
water they use. The length of time required for the decay of animal
matter in the cool northern regions renders personal or culinary
cleanliness a matter of sentiment and not of health, and they do not pay
great attention to sentiment.
Being accustomed from childhood to the strong odours of seal blubber and
rancid meat, they are not at all delicate in their senses of taste and
smell, and it occasionally happens that their liking for tainted meat
ends disastrously, especially when a rotten porpoise furnishes the food.
The writer knows of several deaths due to poisoning from this cause.
As a people, they are very hospitable and kind; but like other savages
would probably soon tire of continuous efforts to support helpless
whites cast upon them, especially when the guests assume a superiority
over their hosts.
[Illustration: UPPER ENCAMPMENT, CHESTERFIELD INLET.]