The word Eskimo, properly _Eski-mwhan_, means in the Abnaki dialect of
Algonquin, “he eats raw flesh,” and was applied to the tribe from its
custom of consuming fish and game without cooking. They call themselves
_Innuit_, “people,” a term the equivalent of which is the usual
expression applied by American natives to their own particular stock.
The Innuit are at present essentially a maritime and arctic nation,
occupying the coast and adjacent islands from the Straits of Belle
Isle on the Atlantic to Icy Bay, at the foot of Mount St. Elias on the
Pacific, and extending their wanderings and settlements as far up Smith’s
Sound as N. Lat. 80°, where they are by far the northernmost inhabitants
of the earth. They have occupied Greenland for certainly more than a
thousand years, and were the earliest settlers in some of the Aleutian
islands. Portions of them at some remote period crossed Behring Strait
and settled on Asiatic soil, while others established themselves along
the shores of Newfoundland. Indeed, from the reports of the early Norse
explorers and from the character of relics found on the Atlantic coast,
it is probable that they once extended as far south as the mouth of the
Delaware river.[63] Their ancestors quite possibly dwelt on the moors
of New England when the reindeer browsed there, and accompanied that
quadruped in his final migration to the north. They belong in history and
character to the Atlantic peoples.
This question, as to where their common progenitors resided, has been
much discussed. A favorite theory of some writers has been that they
migrated out of Asia by way of Behring Strait; but those who have studied
their culture on the spot do not advocate this opinion. These observers
have, without exception, reached the conclusion that the Innuit were
originally an inland people, that their migrations were toward the north
and west, and that they have been gradually forced to the inhospitable
climes they occupy by the pressure of foes. Dr. Rink, who passed many
years among them, would look for their early home somewhere in Alaska;
but Mr. John Murdoch and Dr. Franz Boas, two of our best authorities on
this tribe, incline to the view that their primal home was to the south
of Hudson Bay, whence they separated into three principal hordes, the one
passing into Labrador and reaching Greenland, the second moving to the
coast of the Arctic sea, and the third to Alaska. These form respectively
the Greenland, the Chiglit and the Kadjak dialects of the common
tongue.[64]
The closest observers report the physical traits of the Eskimos as
thoroughly American and not Asian, as has sometimes been alleged.[65] In
appearance the Innuits of pure blood are of medium or slightly undersize,
color dark, nose prominent and sometimes aquiline, hair dark brown or
black, moderately strong on the face, the pubes and in the axilla; the
eyes are dark brown and occasionally blue. The skull is generally long
(dolichocephalic), but is subject to extensive variations ranging from
almost globular to exceptionally long and narrow specimens.[66]
In spite of the hardships of their life, the Innuits are of a singularly
placid and cheerful temperament, good-natured among themselves and
much given to mirth and laughter.[67] The ingenuity with which they
have learned to overcome the difficulties of their situation is quite
surprising. In a country without wood or water, frightfully cold, and
yielding no manner of edible fruit or vegetable, they manage to live and
thrive. Their principal nurriture is the product of the sea. They build
boats called _kayaks_ or _bidarkas_ from the bones of walrus covered with
the skins of seals; their winter houses are of blocks of snow laid up on
the principle of the circular arch to form a dome, with windows of sheets
of ice. These they warm by means of stone lamps fed with blubber oil.
Their clothing is of bird skins and furs, and they are skilled in the
preparation of a sort of leather. As faithful companions they have their
dogs, intelligent animals, used both in hunting and for drawing small
sledges built of wood or bone.
With their tools of bone or stone they fashion many curious and useful
articles, displaying a marked inventive faculty and an artistic eye. The
picture-writing which they devised for the assistance of their memory is
greatly superior to any found north of Mexico in the faithful delineation
of objects, especially of animal forms.[68]
The long winter nights are enlivened by music and songs, of which they
are passionately fond, and by the recital of imaginative tales, the stock
of which is inexhaustible. A skillful bard enjoys a wide reputation, and
some of their poems contain fine and delicate sentiments.[69] Others are
from ancient date, and are passed down from generation to generation
with scrupulous fidelity, every tone, every gesture, being imitated.
The meter and rendition of their songs seem to the European monotonous,
but the Eskimo has his own notion of the music of verse, and it is a
very advanced one; he would have it akin to the sweet sounds of nature,
and for that reason their poets sleep by the sound of running water
that they may catch its mysterious notes, and model on them their own
productions.[70] These songs also serve as a peaceful means to allay
feuds. When two persons quarrel, they will appoint an evening and sing
“nith songs” at each other, and the audience will decide which comes out
best. This verdict will put an end to the ill-feeling.
The imaginative character of the people is also reflected in their
religions. They believe in one or several overruling powers, and in
a multitude of inferior spirits and uncanny monsters. These require
propitiation rather than worship. The general belief is that a person
has two souls, one of which is inseparably connected with his name and
passes with it to any infant named for him; while the second either
descends to a warm and pleasant abode under the earth or passes to a less
agreeable one in the sky; the streaming lights of the aurora borealis
were sometimes thought to be these latter spirits in their celestial home.
The rites of their religion were performed chiefly by the priests, called
_angekoks_, who, however, were little better than conjurers. In some
parts this office was hereditary.
The language of the Innuits is very much the same throughout the whole
of their extended domain. Bishop de Schweinitz once told me that a few
years ago a convert from the Moravian mission in Labrador went to Alaska,
and it required but a few weeks for him to understand and be understood
by the natives there. In character the tongue is highly agglutinative,
the affixes being joined to the end of the word. The verb is very
complex, having thirty-one hundred modified forms, all different and all
invariable.[71] It is rich in expressions for all the objects of Eskimo
life, and is harmonious to the ear. Like the Greek, it has three numbers,
singular, dual and plural.
Those Eskimos who live in Asia call themselves _Yuit_, a dialect form
of Innuit. They dwell around East Cape and the shore south of it, in
immediate contact with the Namollos or Sedentary Chukchis, a Sibiric
people, totally different in language, appearance and culture. The Yuits
have not at all assimilated to the reindeer-keeping, pastoral habits of
the Chukchis, and by their own well-preserved traditions, moved across
the straits from the American side, with which they continue commercial
intercourse. Their villages are sometimes close to those of the Namollos,
or Sedentary Chukchis, they intermarry, and have a jargon sufficient
for their mutual purposes; but it is an error, though a prevailing one,
to suppose that they are the same people. The Chukchis never entered
America, and the Innuits, as a people, never crossed from Asia, or
originated there.[72] The jade implements of northeastern Siberia have
proved to be of the Alaskan variety of that stone, and not the Chinese
jade, as some supposed.[73]
From all points whence we have definite information, this interesting
people are steadily diminishing in numbers, even where they are not in
contact with the whites. The immediate causes appear to be increasing
sterility and infant mortality. Two surviving children to a marriage is
about the average productiveness, and statistics show that it requires
double this number for a population to maintain itself even stationary.
The _Aleutian_ branch occupies the long chain of islands which stretch
westward from the southwestern corner of Alaska. The climate is mild,
the sea abounds in fish, and innumerable birds nest in the rocks. We may
therefore believe the navigators of the last century, who placed the
population of the islands at 25,000 or 30,000 souls, although at present
they have sunk to about 2,000. They have the same cheerful temperament
as the Eskimos, and their grade of culture was, when first discovered,
about the same. In their own language they call themselves _Unangan_,
people, the name Aleutes having been given them by the Russians.[74]
It may be considered settled that their ancestors populated the islands
from the American and not the Asiatic side. Not only do their own
traditions assert this,[75] but it is confirmed by the oldest relics of
their culture, which is Eskimo in character, and by their language, which
is generally acknowledged to be a derivative of the Alaskan Eskimo.[76]
It is divided into two dialects, the Unalashkan and Atkan, not very
dissimilar, and is remarkable for the richness of its verbal forms.[77]
In physical traits they are allied to the Eskimos, though with rounder
heads, the average of twenty-five skulls giving an index of 80.[78]
Early in this century they were brought under the control of Russian
missionaries, and became partially civilized and attached to the Greek
Church. In their ancient myths their earliest ancestor was said to have
been the dog, which animal was therefore regarded with due respect.[79]