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PREFACE
PREFACE
In offering the present book on the Eskimo tribes of the Arctics to the reading British public, I must discharge the grateful and pleasing duty of acknowledging my indebtedness for much courtesy and documentary assistance to the Canadian Government, in the person of F. C. C. Lynch, Esq., Superintendent of the “National Resources Branch of the Department of the Interior.” He has been zealously instrumental in enabling me to consult sources of classic recent information of which otherwise I should
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ERRATA.
ERRATA.
A voyage to the Arctics has always been a dangerous and exciting adventure, whether entered upon by whalers and hunters, intrepid men lured by the hardy business of the frozen North, or by the no less intrepid pioneers of exploration and of science. For the moment, we are not concerned with the latter, but rather with some aspects of life in the barren lands and icy seas north of “the Circle,” and with the adventures and experiences of the few ships’ crews who have been making yearly voyages in
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The Eskimo of Baffin Land CHAPTER I The Voyage to the Arctics
The Eskimo of Baffin Land CHAPTER I The Voyage to the Arctics
The attempt to find a north west passage by sea, [ 20 ] from the Atlantic Ocean to Behring Strait, where farthest east meets farthest west, was abandoned until Commander John Ross, in modern times (1818), was sent out to prosecute further exploration in the Arctic. Throughout the nineteenth century, many intrepid voyages were made, with which the names of such men as Parry, Ross, Richardson, Rae and Franklin are associated. Prior to this wonderful epoch of dauntless adventure, all within the Arc
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CHAPTER II Baffin Land
CHAPTER II Baffin Land
The scenery everywhere is typical of the “Barrens,” the “Bad Lands of the North.” In winter, a featureless waste of snow, where in that dark season “come those wonderful nights of glittering stars and northern lights playing far and wide upon the icy deserts; or where the moon, here most melancholy, wanders on her silent way through scenes of desolation and death. In these regions the heavens count for more than elsewhere; they give colour and character, while the landscape, simple and unvarying
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CHAPTER III Arctic Flora and Fauna
CHAPTER III Arctic Flora and Fauna
Arctic birds are numerous. Most of them are migratory, but an eagle, a hawk, some owls and a raven, remain the year round. The most typical of all Arctic birds, the Snow Bunting ( Plectrophenax nivalis ), is the first to arrive and bring news of the spring. He comes about the same time as the Ptarmigan. Lastly comes the bird that always seems to greet the explorer on landing, the Purple Sandpiper ( Tringa striata ). He comes soon after the ducks—the Eider, the King Eider, the Pintail and the Har
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CHAPTER IV The Eskimo
CHAPTER IV The Eskimo
That immense span of time in the history of the human race known as the Stone Age, falls into five divisions. There is the Palaeolithic period (Early, Middle and Late), and the Neolithic period (Transitional and Typical). During the last throes of the glacial epoch in Europe, the type of human being was that represented by the relic which has come down to us known as the Neanderthal skull. But the later [ 58 ] Pleistocene period saw a greater diversity in the matter of types, and one race in par
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CHAPTER V The Building of the Village
CHAPTER V The Building of the Village
Inside the entrance hang the bags of seal oil used for lighting or cooking purposes. Then there are the cooking pots (“kettles,” as they are called), deep, oblong boxes of soapstone without a lid. And the lamps, also of soapstone, and in shape not unlike a crumb tray, with a raised lip and a little shelf at the back for refuse bits of wick. These “lamps” are fed with seal oil. The wick consists of dried moss and gossypium . This is moulded into pellets; a row of wick balls is set on the rim of t
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CHAPTER VI The Sealing Grounds
CHAPTER VI The Sealing Grounds
The Return of the Successful Seal Hunter in Springtime. His wife and friends dragging the seal to his tupik, where it will be cut up and all will be invited to the evening meal. Presently he hears the expected scratching, and the scraping of the paws of a seal coming up to breathe. Silently he prepares for action. Now is the critical time. First, there comes the expulsion of the foul air long pent in the animal’s lungs; but not yet dare the watcher make the slightest sign. The seal withdraws its
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CHAPTER VII Womanhood in the Arctics.
CHAPTER VII Womanhood in the Arctics.
Then comes the evening meal. The stewpot is taken from the slings and set in front of the mistress of the igloo . The sturdy men and children crowd round her and each one is served with a generous piece of sealmeat. They hold it in their hands to eat. Each bronzed or wind-blackened face glows with enjoyment and contentment in the homely lamplight, and an atmosphere of unfeigned goodwill and cheer dominates the little group. The hungry folk whose husbands and fathers have not been successful all
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CHAPTER VIII Clothing—Boat Building
CHAPTER VIII Clothing—Boat Building
The Eskimo tailor has a wonderfully correct eye, and can so scrutinise a figure as to be able to turn out a well-fitting suit of skins without taking a single measurement, or “trying on.” The men’s clothes are plain, without ornamentation, and the fashion of them does not vary with the season. In summer they are lined with the white skins of the baby seal, which are as soft and fleecy as lambs’ wool; in winter, with the skins of the fawn, which are very soft and warm. [ 111 ] The Eskimo housewif
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CHAPTER IX Eskimo Dogs
CHAPTER IX Eskimo Dogs
Comes another milestone on the hard path of learning and virtue—pilfering. [ 123 ] Young dogs have to learn that everything on the sled is rigorously taboo—for them. Not to be touched, or so much as sniffed at, on any account whatever. This lesson can only be enforced by many a whipping. For Youngster does so love to stroll past the sled with a preoccupied air, hands in pocket as it were. If he were a human being he would hum a hymn tune. Then, just in that flick of time when no one seems to be
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CHAPTER X Tribal Life
CHAPTER X Tribal Life
Five men were chosen by the Angakut, and instructed in their duties. Two were to hold the prisoner’s arms, two his legs, and the fifth was to strike and kill. As the time for the man’s return approached the executioners went out and waited for him in the path outside the village. No sooner had he appeared than they seized upon him. Matte read his doom in their eyes. He had but time for one ejaculation of despair [ 140 ] when the knife struck through his breast and justice was done. The body was
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CHAPTER XI Tribal Life—Continued
CHAPTER XI Tribal Life—Continued
Fidelity is observed between married people while they agree to remain married. Sometimes, however, two husbands will come to an agreement with each other, with the knowledge and consent of their respective wives, to effect a temporary exchange. Again, fidelity is now observed as long as the exchange endures, but reverts to the original partner when presently dissolved. Should any children come of this interlude, they generally remain with the mother, the [ 158 ] permanent husband being quite wi
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CHAPTER XII The Eskimo Language
CHAPTER XII The Eskimo Language
Eskimo has indeed received some measure of study and analysis, and it is for grammarians to tell us whether or no this prophesy has been to any extent fulfilled. A French writer, M. Hovelaque, hesitates to answer any question as to what group of human language the “hyperborean” tongues should be assigned. His observations should be recorded here perhaps, by way of a commentary on the exhaustiveness with which the Germans seem to have gone into the subject: “Au surplus le nom d’hyperboréennes ou
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CHAPTER XIII Legends
CHAPTER XIII Legends
They decided to run away together, and that she should merely feign resistance when her lover arrived to carry her off. The night came for the attempt. The old man and the girl retired to rest as usual, rolled up in their blankets on the sleeping bench, and the lamp burnt low. Now, the approach to their abode was across a neck of ice spanning a deep ravine. The youth came along, and cautiously crept over the narrow bridge. Quickly entering the igloo , and perceiving the two sleeping forms, he sn
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CHAPTER XIV The Conjurors
CHAPTER XIV The Conjurors
To do this the conjuror sits down with his face to the wall, and drawing his hood well over his features, rocks himself backwards and forwards, calling the while on his familiar spirit (his Tongak ) to come to him. He continues this howling and rocking until such concentration of mind is effected that he becomes unconscious; he foams at the mouth. Whilst in this condition of self-induced hypnotism—or however the spiritists may explain it—his spirit, it is believed, goes below to Sedna, or above
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CHAPTER XV The Sedna Ceremony
CHAPTER XV The Sedna Ceremony
To begin with, the Angakok wears several pairs of nether garments and boots, until he looks very big and out of his usual proportions. He has a woman’s pointed tunic, whose sleeves are elaborately trimmed with fringes and charms. The hood is pulled down [ 212 ] over his head, and he wears a mask of black skin tattooed all over. On his shoulders he carries an inflated sealskin float, and over his arm a coil of walrus hide. In his left hand he bears a woman’s skin scraper, and in his right a spear
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CHAPTER XVI The Native Surgeon
CHAPTER XVI The Native Surgeon
[ 225 ] The arctic folk seem to have no glimmering of an idea as to natural cause and effect in sickness. Bodily ills and death, to them, admit of only one explanation. The sufferer has in some way or other in some particular transgressed the communal law. The disorders of women are considered as a punishment for the infringement of some of the meticulous regulations laid down for their observance at certain times. Hence the first business of the conjuror on being summoned to a sick bed, is to s
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CHAPTER XVII Sport and Hunting
CHAPTER XVII Sport and Hunting
They pull away joyously and hilariously on the great summer trip. As often as the wind will allow they hoist the great square sail made of seal intestine, and one member of the crew takes up a station beside it with a water bucket, to keep it constantly wet. Otherwise it would dry, and split into ribbons before the breeze. At the present day canvas sails are used. Every now and again, as they coast along among the islands, they put in here or there for fresh supplies of drinking water. At night
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CHAPTER XVIII The Creatures of the Wild
CHAPTER XVIII The Creatures of the Wild
Wolf Trap. The wolves and foxes were trapped by the hunters in the above manner. A small igloo was built in the broken ice along the sea shore where it would not be conspicuous, and a loaded gun fixed pointing to the entrance, which did not allow space for anything but forward movement. A trail of meat led to the entrance, inside of which was a piece of meat (ancient) tied to a string, the other end of the string was attached to the trigger. The wolf entered, seized the meat, and shot himself. W
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APPENDIX Eskimo Deities
APPENDIX Eskimo Deities
Angootelooktook. Lives on land. Like a man in appearance. His thighs are crippled and he wobbles whilst walking. Benevolent spirit; keeps close to the conjurors and pays heed to his incantations. Nooesarnak. Lives on land. In appearance like a woman with thin legs. Is clothed like a woman, in deerskins. Has a deerskin mask. Benevolent spirit; always wishes to give deerskins to the people. Toodlanak. Lives on land. Like a woman in appearance. Is a great walker, and walks about with bedding and tu
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Corrections
Corrections
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