Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition
by John Murdoch · English · Gutenberg #43568 · 1,227,256 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition
Author: John Murdoch
Release date: August 26, 2013 [eBook #43568]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE POINT BARROW EXPEDITION ***
Footnotes have been renumbered continuously. They are marked with
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illustrations were labeled for scale as “1/4”, “2/3” and similar.
These notations have been retained for completeness.
_Orthography_ is briefly described early in the article. Note in
particular the vowels ɐ and ǝ (inverted a and e); both are rare. The
inconsistent use of ĸ and ρ, especially in material quoted from other
sources, is not explained. The letter ĸ (kra) is equivalent to q in
modern (ICI) orthography; ρ (rho) may represent r or voiced/nasalized q.
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have been changed to . (ordinary decimal or period). Oversized letters
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Typographical errors corrected by the transcriber are listed at the end
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The Franz Boas article “The Central Eskimo” is available from Project
Gutenberg as ebook 42084.]
ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS
of the
POINT BARROW EXPEDITION.
By
JOHN MURDOCH,
_Naturalist and Observer, International Polar Expedition to Point
Barrow, Alaska, 1881-1883._
[Illustration: Plate I
MAP
OF
NORTHWESTERN ALASKA
Showing the region known to the Point Barrow Eskimo
_Based on the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey map of Alaska, 1884,
with additions from the U.S. C. & G. S. “General Chart of Alaska”
1889, and from Eskimo account._
_Eskimo names given in the form used at Point Barrow_
_Names of “tribes” underlined thus_ _Kûñmûdliñ_
Compiled by JOHN MURDOCH
1889]
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction 19
List of works consulted 20
Situation and surroundings 26
Climate 30
People 33
Physical characteristics 33
Pathology 39
Psychical characteristics 40
Tribal phenomena 42
Social surroundings 43
Contact with uncivilized people 43
Other Eskimo 43
Indians 49
Contact with civilized people 51
Natural resources 55
Animals 55
Mammals 55
Birds 56
Fishes 58
Insects and other invertebrates 59
Plants 59
Minerals 60
Culture 61
Means of subsistence 61
Food 61
Substances used for food 61
Means of preparing food 63
Time and frequency of eating 63
Drinks 64
Narcotics 65
Habitations 72
The winter house 72
Arrangement in villages 79
Snow houses 81
Tents 83
Household utensils 86
For holding and carrying food, water, etc 86
Canteens 86
Wallets, etc 86
Buckets and tubs 86
Meat bowls 89
For preparing food 90
Pots of stone and other materials 90
Bone crushers 93
For serving and eating food 99
Trays 99
Drinking vessels 101
Whalebone cups 101
Spoons and ladles 104
Miscellaneous household utensils 105
Lamps 105
Clothing 109
Material 109
Style of dress 110
Head clothing 112
Frocks 113
Mantles 121
Rainfrocks 122
Arm clothing 123
Mittens 123
Gloves 124
Leg and foot clothing 125
Breeches 125
Pantaloons 126
Stockings 129
Boots and shoes 129
Parts of dress 135
Belts 135
Ornaments 138
Personal adornment 138
Skin ornamentation 138
Tattooing 138
Painting 140
Head ornaments 140
Method of wearing the hair 140
Head bands 142
Ear rings 142
Labrets 143
Neck ornaments 148
Ornaments of the limbs 148
Bracelets 148
Finger rings 149
Miscellaneous ornaments 149
Beads 149
Toilet articles 149
Implements of general use, etc 150
Tools 150
Knives 150
Adzes 165
Chisels 172
Whalebone shaves 173
Saws 174
Drills and borers 175
Hammers 182
Files 182
Whetstones 183
Tool boxes and bags 185
Weapons 191
Projectile weapons 193
Firearms 193
Whaling guns 195
Bows 195
Arrows 201
Bear arrows 202
Bow cases and quivers 207
Bracers 209
Bird darts 210
Seal darts 214
Harpoons 218
Thrusting weapons 233
Harpoons 233
Lances 240
Throwing weapons 244
Hunting implements other than weapons 246
Floats 246
Flipper toggles 247
Harpoon boxes 247
Nets 251
Seal calls 253
Seal rattles 254
Seal indicators 254
Sealing stools 255
Seal drags 256
Whalebone wolf-killers 259
Traps 260
Snow-goggles 260
Meat cache markers 262
Methods of hunting 263
The polar bear 263
The wolf 263
The fox 264
The reindeer 264
The seal 268
The walrus 272
The whale 272
Fowl 276
Implements for fishing 278
Hooks and lines 278
Nets 284
Spears 286
Flint working 287
Fire making 289
Drills 289
Flint and steel 291
Kindlings 291
Bow and arrow making 291
The marline spike 291
The twisters 292
The feather setter 294
Skin working 294
Scrapers 294
Scraper cups 299
Combs for deer skins 300
Manufacture of lines of thong 301
Builders’ tools 302
For excavating 302
Tools for snow and ice working 304
Snow knives 304
Snow shovels 305
Ice picks 307
Ice scoops 308
Implements for procuring and preparing food 310
Blubber hooks 310
Fish scaler 311
Making and working fiber 311
Twisting and braiding 311
Netting 312
Netting weights 315
Weaving 316
Sewing 317
Means of locomotion and transportation 328
Traveling by water 328
Kaiaks and paddles 328
Umiaks and fittings 335
Traveling on foot 344
Snowshoes 344
Staff 352
Land conveyances 353
Sledges 353
Dogs and harness 357
Hunting scores 360
Games and pastimes 364
Gambling 364
Festivals 365
Mechanical contrivances 372
Description of festivals 373
Toys and sports for children and others 376
Playthings 376
Dolls 380
Juvenile implements 383
Games and sports 383
Music 385
Musical instruments 385
Character and frequency of music 388
Art 389
Domestic life 410
Marriage 410
Standing and treatment of women 413
Children 414
Rights and wrongs 419
Social life and customs 420
Personal habits and cleanliness 420
Salutation 422
Healing 422
Customs concerning the dead 423
Abstentions 423
Manner of disposing of the dead 424
Government 427
In the family 427
In the village 427
Religion 430
General ideas 430
Amulets 434
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
PL. I. Map of Northwestern Alaska 2
II. Map of the hunting grounds of the
Point Barrow Eskimo 18
FIG. 1. Unalina, a man of Nuwŭk 34
2. Mûmûñina, a woman of Nuwŭk 35
3. Akabiana, a youth of Utkiavwiñ 36
4. Puka, a young man of Utkiavwiñ 37
5. Woman stretching skins 38
6. Pipes: (_a_) pipe with metal bowl;
(_b_) pipe with stone bowl;
(_c_) pipe with bowl of antler or ivory 67
7. Pipe made of willow stick 68
8. Tobacco pouches 69
9. Plans of Eskimo winter house 72
10. Interior of iglu, looking toward door 73
11. Interior of iglu, looking toward bench 74
12. House in Utkiavwiñ 76
13. Ground plan and section of winter house in
Mackenzie region 77
14. Ground plan of large snow house 82
15. Tent on the beach at Utkiavwiñ 85
16. Wooden bucket 86
17. Large tub 87
18. Whalebone dish 88
19. Meat-bowl 89
20. Stone pot 90
21. Small stone pot 91
22. Fragments of pottery 92
23. Stone maul 94
24. Stone maul 94
25. Stone maul 95
26. Stone maul 95
27. Stone maul 96
28. Stone maul 96
29. Bone maul 97
30. Bone maul 97
31. Bone maul 98
32. Bone maul 98
33. Meat-dish 99
34. Oblong meat-dish 100
35. Oblong meat-dish, very old 100
36. Fish dish 100
37. Whalebone cup 101
38. Horn dipper 101
39. Horn dipper 102
40. Dipper of fossil ivory 103
41. Dipper of fossil ivory 103
42. Wooden spoon 104
43. Horn ladle 104
44. Bone ladle 104
45. Bone ladle in the form of a whale 105
46. Bone ladle 105
47. Stone house-lamp 106
48. Sandstone lamp 107
49. Traveling lamp 108
50. Socket for blubber holder 108
51. Man in ordinary deerskin clothes 110
52. Woman’s hood 111
53. Man’s frock 113
54. Pattern of man’s deerskin frock 113
55. Detail of trimming, skirt and shoulder of
man’s frock 114
56. Man wearing plain, heavy frock 114
57. Man’s frock of mountain sheepskin,
front and back 115
58. Man’s frock of ermine skins 116
59. Pattern of sheepskin frock 117
60. Pattern of ermine frock 117
61. Woman’s frock, front and back 118
62. Pattern of woman’s frock 119
63. Detail of edging, woman’s frock 119
64. Details of trimming, woman’s frock 119
65. Man’s cloak of deerskin 121
66. Pattern of man’s cloak 121
67. Deerskin mittens 123
68. Deerskin gloves 124
69. Man’s breeches of deerskin 125
70. Pattern of man’s breeches 126
71. Trimming of man’s breeches 126
72. Woman’s pantaloons 127
73. Patterns of woman’s pantaloons 128
74. Pattern of stocking 129
75. Man’s boot of deerskin 131
76. Pattern of deerskin boot 131
77. Man’s dress boot of deerskin 132
78. Pattern of man’s dress boot of deerskin 132
79. Man’s dress boot of skin of mountain sheep 133
80. Pair of man’s dress boots of deerskin 134
81. Woman’s waterproof sealskin boot 135
82. Sketch of “ice-creepers” on boot sole 135
83. Man’s belt woven of feathers 136
84. Diagram showing method of fastening the ends
of feathers in belt 137
85. Woman’s belt of wolverine toes 137
86. Belt-fastener 138
87. Man with tattooed cheeks 139
88. Woman with ordinary tattooing 140
89. Man’s method of wearing the hair 141
90. Earrings 143
91. Plug for enlarging labret hole 144
92. Labret of beads and ivory 145
93. Blue and white labret from Anderson River 146
94. Oblong labret of bone 147
95. Oblong labret of soapstone 147
96. Ancient labret 148
97. Beads of amber 149
98. Hair combs 150
99. Slate knives 151
100. Slate knife-blade 152
101. Slate knife 152
102. Slate knife 152
103. Slate hunting-knife 152
104. Blade of slate hunting-knife 153
105. Large slate knife 153
106. Large single-edged slate knife 153
107. Blades of knives 154
108. Peculiar slate knife 154
109. Knife with whalebone blade 155
110. Small iron knife 155
111. Small iron knives 156
112. Iron hunting knife 156
113. Large crooked knife 158
114. Large crooked knife with sheath 158
115. Small crooked knives 159
116. Crooked knife 159
117. Crooked knives, flint-bladed 160
118. Slate-bladed crooked knives 161
119. Woman’s knife, steel blade 161
120. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162
121. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162
122. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162
123. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162
124. Woman’s ancient slate-bladed knife 163
125. Ancient bone handle for woman’s knife 163
126. Large knife of slate 163
127. Woman’s knife of flaked flint 164
128. Hatchet hafted as an adz 165
129. Hatchet hafted as an adz 166
130. Adz-head of jade 167
131. Adz-head of jade 167
132. Hafted jade adz 168
133. Adz-head of jade and bone 168
134. Adz-head of bone and iron, without eyes 168
135. Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes 169
136. Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes 169
137. Hafted bone and iron adz 169
138. Hafted bone and stone adz 170
139. Small adz-blade of green jade 170
140. Hafted adz of bone and flint 171
141. Old cooper’s adz, rehafted 171
142. Adz with bone blade 172
143. Antler chisel 173
144. Antler chisel 173
145. Spurious tool, flint blade 173
146. Whalebone shave, slate blade 174
147. Saw made of deer’s scapula 175
148. Saw made of a case-knife 175
149. Bow drill 176
150. Bow drill and mouthpiece 176
151. Bow drill 177
152. Drill bow 177
153. Drill bows 178
154. Spliced drill bow 178
155. Drill mouthpiece with iron socket 179
156. Drill mouthpiece without wings 179
157. Bone-pointed drill 179
158. Handles for drill cords 180
159. Flint-bladed reamers 182
160. Flint-bladed reamers 182
161. Awl 182
162. Jade whetstones 183
163. Jade whetstones 184
164. Wooden tool-boxes 185
165. Large wooden tool-boxes 186
166. Tool-bag of wolverine skin 187
167. Tool-bag of wolverine skin 188
168. Drills belonging to the tool-bag 189
169. Comb for deerskins in the tool-bag 189
170. Bag handles 190
171. Bag of leather 190
172. Little hand-club 191
173. Slungshot made of walrus jaw 191
174. Dagger of bear’s bone 192
175. Bone daggers 192
176. So-called dagger of bone 193
177. Boy’s bow from Utkiavwiñ 196
178. Loop at end of bowstring 197
179. Large bow from Nuwŭk 197
180. Large bow from Sidaru 198
181. Feathering of the Eskimo arrow 201
182. Flint-headed arrow (kukĭksadlĭñ) 202
183. Long flint pile 202
184. Short flint pile 202
185. Heart-shaped flint pile 203
186. (_a_) Arrow with “after pile” (ipudligadlĭñ);
(_b_) arrow with iron pile (savidlĭñ);
(_c_) arrow with iron pile (savidlĭñ);
(_d_) arrow with copper pile (savidlĭñ);
(_e_) deer-arrow (nûtkodlĭñ) 203
187. Pile of deer arrow (nûtkăñ) 205
188. “Kûnmûdlĭñ” arrow pile 205
189. (_a_) Fowl arrow (tugalĭñ); (_b_) bird arrow
(kixodwain) 206
190. Bow case and quivers 208
191. Quiver rod 209
192. Cap for quiver rod 209
193. Bracer 210
194. Bracer of bone 210
195. Bird dart 211
196. Point for bird dart 212
197. Ancient point for bird dart 212
198. Point for bird dart 213
199. Bird dart with double point 213
200. Ancient ivory dart head 214
201. Bone dart head 214
202. Nozzle for bladder float 215
203. Seal dart 215
204. Foreshaft of seal dart 217
205. Throwing board for darts 217
206. Harpoon head 218
207. Harpoon head 219
208. Ancient bone harpoon head 219
209. (_a_) Ancient bone harpoon head;
(_b_) variants of this type 220
210. Bone harpoon head 220
211. Bone harpoon head 220
212. Harpoon head, bone and stone 221
213. Harpoon head, bone and stone 221
214. Walrus harpoons 224
215. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 226
216. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 226
217. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 227
218. Walrus-harpoon head, with “leader” 227
219. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 228
220. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 228
221. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 229
222. Foreshaft of walrus harpoon 230
223. Harpoon head for large seals 230
224. Retrieving seal harpoon 231
225. Details of retrieving seal harpoon 232
226. Jade blade for seal harpoon 233
227. Seal harpoon for thrusting 233
228. Diagram of lashing on shaft 234
229. Model of a seal harpoon 235
230. Large model of whale harpoon 235
231. Model of whale harpoon, with floats 236
232. Flint blade for whale harpoon 237
233. Slate blade for whale harpoon 237
234. Body of whale harpoon head 238
235. Whale harpoon heads 238
236. Whale harpoon head with “leader” 239
237. Foreshaft of whale harpoon 239
238. Whale lance 240
239. Flint head of whale lance 241
240. Flint heads for whale lances 241
241. Bear lance 242
242. Flint head for bear lance 242
243. Deer lance 243
244. Part of deer lance with flint head 243
245. Deer lance, flint head 244
246. Flint head for deer lance 244
247. Bird bolas, looped up for carrying 245
248. Bird bolas, ready for use 245
249. Sealskin float 247
250. Flipper toggles 248
251. Boxes for harpoon heads 249
252. Seal net 251
253. Scratchers for decoying seals 253
254. Seal rattle 254
255. Seal indicators 255
256. Sealing stool 255
257. Seal drag and handles 257
258. Whalebone wolf killers 259
259. Wooden snow-goggles 261
260. Bone snow-goggles 262
261. Wooden snow-goggles, unusual form 262
262. Marker for meat cache 262
263. Marker for meat cache 263
264. Tackle for shore fishing 279
265. Knot of line into hook 279
266. Small fish-hooks 280
267. Hooks for river fishing 280
268. Tackle for river fishing 280
269. Burbot hook, first pattern 281
270. Burbot hook, second pattern 281
271. Burbot hook, made of cod hook 281
272. Burbot tackle, baited 281
273. Ivory sinker 282
274. Ivory jigger for polar cod 282
275. Section of whalebone net 284
276. Mesh of sinew net 285
277. Fish trap 285
278. Fish spear 286
279. Flint flakers 288
280. Haft of flint flaker 288
281. Flint flaker, with bone blade 289
282. Fire drill, with mouthpiece and stock 289
283. Set of bow-and-arrow tools 291
284. Marline spike 292
285. Marline spike 292
286. “Twister” for working sinew backing of bow 293
287. “Feather setter” 294
288. Tool of antler 294
289. Skin scraper 295
290. Skin scrapers--handles only 295
291. Skin scrapers 296
292. Skin scraper 296
293. Peculiar modification of scraper 296
294. Skin scraper 297
295. Skin scraper 297
296. Skin scraper 297
297. Flint blade for skin scraper 298
298. Straight-hafted scraper 298
299. Bone scraper 299
300. Scraper cups 299
301. Combs for cleaning deer-skins 301
302. “Double slit” splice for rawhide lines 302
303. Mattock of whale’s rib 303
304. Pickax-heads of bone, ivory, and whale’s rib 303
305. Ivory snow knife 305
306. Snow shovels 305
307. Snow shovel made of a whale’s scapula 307
308. Snow pick 307
309. Snow drill 308
310. Ice scoop 308
311. Long blubber hook 310
312. Short-handled blubber hook 310
313. Fish sealer 311
314. Ivory shuttle 311
315. Netting needle 312
316. Mesh stick 312
317. Netting needles 313
318. Netting needles for seal net 314
319. Netting needle 314
320. Mesh sticks 314
321. Netting weights 316
322. Shuttle belonging to set of feather tools 316
323. Mesh stick 317
324. “Sword” for feather weaving 317
325. Quill case of bone needles 318
326. (_a_) Large bone needle and peculiar thimble;
(_b_) Leather thimbles with bone needles 318
327. Needle cases with belt hooks 320
328. (_a_) Needle case with belt hook;
(_b_) needle case open, showing bone needles 321
329. Trinket boxes 323
330. Trinket boxes 324
331. Ivory box 325
332. Bone box 325
333. Little flask of ivory 325
334. Box in shape of deer 325
335. Small basket 326
336. Small basket 326
337. Small basket 327
338. Kaiak 329
339. Method of fastening together frame of kaiak 329
340. Double kaiak paddle 330
341. Model kaiak and paddle 334
342. Frame of umiak 336
343. (_a_) Method of fastening bilge-streaks to
stem of umiak; (_b_) method of framing rib
to gunwale, etc. 337
344. Method of slinging the oar of umiak 339
345. (_a_) Model of umiak and paddles;
(_b_) model of umiak, inside plan 340
346. Ivory bailer for umiak 340
347. Ivory crotch for harpoon 341
348. Ivory crotch for harpoon 342
349. Crotch for harpoon made of walrus jaw 342
350. Snowshoe 345
351. Knot in snowshoe netting 346
352. (_a_) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe;
(_b_) first and second round of heel-netting
of snowshoe 347
353. (_a_) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe;
(_b_) first, second, and third rounds of
heel-netting of snowshoe 348
354. Small snowshoe 350
355. Old “chief,” with staffs 353
356. Railed sledge (diagrammatic), from photograph 354
357. Flat sledge 355
358. Small sledge with ivory runners 355
359. Small toboggan of whalebone 357
360. Hunting score engraved on ivory 361
361. Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse
and reverse 362
362. Hunting score engraved on ivory 362
363. Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse
and reverse 363
364. Game of fox and geese from Plover Bay 365
365. Dancing cap 365
366. Wooden mask 366
367. Wooden mask and dancing gorget 367
368. Old grotesque mask 368
369. Rude mask of wood 369
370. Wolf mask of wood 369
371. Very ancient small mask 369
372. Dancing gorgets of wood 371
373. Youth dancing to the aurora 375
374. Whirligigs 377
375. Teetotum 378
376. Buzz toy 378
377. Whizzing stick 379
378. Pebble snapper 379
379. Carving of human head 380
380. Mechanical doll--drum-player 381
381. Mechanical toy--kaiak paddler 381
382. Kaiak carved from block of wood 382
383. Drum 385
384. Handle of drum secured to rim 386
385. Drum handles 387
386. Ivory drumsticks 388
387. Ancient carving--human head 393
388. Wooden figures 393
389. Carving--face of Eskimo man 394
390. Grotesque soapstone image--“walrus man” 394
391. Bone image of dancer 395
392. Bone image of man 396
393. Grotesque bone image 396
394. Bone image--sitting man 396
395. Human figure carved from walrus ivory 396
396. Ivory carving--three human heads 397
397. Rude human head, carved from a walrus tooth 397
398. Elaborate ivory carving 398
399. Bear carved of soapstone 398
400. Bear flaked from flint 399
401. (_a_) Bear carved from bone;
(_b_) bear’s head 399
402. Ivory figures of bears 400
403. Rude ivory figures of walrus 401
404. Images of seal--wood and bone 401
405. White whale carved from gypsum 402
406. Wooden carving--whale 403
407. Whale carved from soapstone 403
408. Rude flat image of whale 404
409. Ivory image of whale 404
410. Ivory image of whale 404
411. Pair of little ivory whales 405
412. Soapstone image of imaginary animal 405
413. Ivory carving, seal with fish’s head 405
414. Ivory carving, ten-legged bear 406
415. Ivory carving, giant holding whales 406
416. Double-headed animal carved from antler 407
417. Ivory carving--dog 407
418. (_a_) Piece of ivory, engraved with figures;
(_b_) development of pattern 408
419. (_a_) Similar engraved ivory;
(_b_) development of pattern 408
420. Ivory doll 409
421. Whale flaked from glass 435
422. Whale flaked from red jasper 435
423. Ancient whale amulet, of wood 436
424. Amulet of whaling--stuffed godwit 438
425. Amulet consisting of ancient jade adz 438
426. Little box containing amulet for whaling 439
427. Amulet for catching fowl with bolas 439
428. Box of dried bees--amulet 440
[Illustration: Plate II
The Hunting Grounds
of the
Point Barrow Eskimo
Based on Lieut. P. H. Ray’s “Map of
Explorations in Northwestern Alaska,”
Signal Service, U.S.A. 1885
Completed by
John Murdoch]
ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE POINT BARROW EXPEDITION.
By John Murdoch.
INTRODUCTION.
The International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, was
organized in 1881 by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, for the
purpose of cooperating in the work of circumpolar observation proposed
by the International Polar Conference. The expedition, which was
commanded by Lieut. P. H. Ray, Eighth Infantry, U.S. Army, sailed from
San Francisco July 18, 1881, and reached Cape Smyth, 11 miles
southwest of Point Barrow, on September 8 of the same year. Here a
permanent station was established, where the party remained until
August 28, 1883, when the station was abandoned, and the party sailed
for San Francisco, arriving there October 7.
Though the main object of the expedition was the prosecution of the
observations in terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, it was possible
to obtain a large collection of articles illustrating the arts and
industries of the Eskimo of the region, with whom the most friendly
relations were early established. Nearly all of the collection was
made by barter, the natives bringing their weapons, clothing, and
other objects to the station for sale. Full notes on the habits and
customs of the Eskimo also were collected by the different members of
the party, especially by the commanding officer; the interpreter,
Capt. E. P. Herendeen; the surgeon, Dr. George Scott Oldmixon, and
myself, who served as one of the naturalists and observers of the
expedition. It fell to my share to take charge of and catalogue all
the collections made by the expedition, and therefore I had especially
favorable opportunities for becoming acquainted with the ethnography
of the region. Consequently, upon the return of the expedition, when
it was found that the ethnological observations would occupy too much
space for publication in the official report,[N1] all the collections
and notes were intrusted to me for the purpose of preparing a special
report. The Smithsonian Institution, through the kindness of the late
Prof. Spencer F. Baird, then secretary, furnished a room where the
work of studying the collection could be carried on, and allowed me
access to its libraries and to the extensive collections of the
National Museum for the purposes of comparison. The Director of the
Bureau of Ethnology, Maj. J. W. Powell, kindly agreed to furnish the
illustrations for the work and to publish it as part of his annual
report, while the Chief Signal Officer, with the greatest
consideration, permitted me to remain in the employ of his Bureau
until the completion of the work.
[Footnote N1: Report of the International Polar Expedition to
Point Barrow, Alaska, by Lieut. P. H. Ray, Washington, 1885.]
Two years were spent in a detailed analytical study of the articles in
the collection, until all the information that could be gathered from
the objects themselves and from the notes of the collectors had been
recorded. Careful comparisons were made with the arts and industries
of the Eskimo race as illustrated by the collections in the National
Museum and the writings of various explorers, and these frequently
resulted in the elucidation of obscure points in the history of the
Point Barrow Eskimo. In the form in which it is presented this work
contains, it is believed, all that is known at the present day of the
ethnography of this interesting people.
Much linguistic material was also collected, which I hope some time to
be able to prepare for publication.
The observations are arranged according to the plan proposed by Prof.
Otis T. Mason in his “Ethnological Directions, etc.,” somewhat
modified to suit the circumstances. In writing Eskimo words the
alphabet given in Powell’s “Introduction to the Study of Indian
Languages” has been used, with the addition _ɐ_ for an obscure _a_
(like the final _a_ in _soda_), _ǝ_ for a similar obscure _e_, and _ö_
for the sound of the German _ö_ or French _eu_.
I desire to express my gratitude to the late Prof. Spencer F. Baird,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to the late Gen. William
B. Hazen, Chief Signal Officer of the Army, and to Maj. J. W. Powell,
Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, for their kindness in enabling me
to carry on these investigations. Grateful acknowledgment is due for
valuable assistance to various members of the scientific staff of the
National Museum, especially to the curator of ethnology, Prof. Otis
T. Mason, and to Mr. William H. Dall. Valuable suggestions were
received from Mr. Lucien M. Turner, Dr. Franz Boas, the late Dr. Emil
Bessels, and Dr. H. Rink, of Christiania.
LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED.
The following list is not intended for a complete bibliography of what
has been written on the ethnography of the Eskimo, but it is believed
that it contains most of the important works by authors who have
treated of these people from personal observation. Such of the less
important works have been included as contain any references bearing
upon the subject of the study.
As it has been my object to go, whenever possible, to the original
sources of information, compilations, whether scientific or popular,
have not been referred to or included in this list, which also
contains only the editions referred to in the text.
ARMSTRONG, ALEXANDER. A personal narrative of the discovery of the
Northwest Passage; with numerous incidents of travel and adventure
during nearly five years’ continuous service in the Arctic regions
while in search of the expedition under Sir John Franklin. London,
1857.
BACK, GEORGE. Narrative of the Arctic land expedition to the mouth of
the Great Fish River and along the shores of the Arctic Ocean, in the
years 1833, 1834, and 1835. Philadelphia, 1836.
BEECHEY, FREDERICK WILLIAM. Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and
Beering’s Strait to cooperate with the polar expeditions: performed in
His Majesty’s ship Blossom, under the command of Capt. F. W. Beechey,
etc., etc., etc., in the years 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828. London,
1831.
BESSELS, EMIL. Die amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition. Leipzig, 1878.
---- The northernmost inhabitants of the earth. An ethnographic
sketch. < American Naturalist, vol. 18, pp. 861-882. 1884.
---- Einige Worte über die Inuit (Eskimo) des Smith-Sundes, nebst
Bemerkungen über Inuit-Schädel. < Archiv für Anthropologie, vol. 8,
pp. 107-122. Braunschweig, 1875.
BOAS, FRANZ. The Central Eskimo. In Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology, pp. 399-669. Washington, Government Printing Office,
1888.
BRODBECK, J. Nach Osten. Untersuchungsfahrt nach der Ostküste
Grönlands, vom 2. bis 12. August 1881. Niesky, 1882.
CHAPPELL, E. (Lieut., R.N.). Narrative of a voyage to Hudson’s Bay in
His Majesty’s ship Rosamond, containing some account of the
northeastern coast of America, and of the tribes inhabiting that
remote region. London, 1817.
CHORIS, L. Voyage Pittoresque autour du Monde, avec des portraits des
sauvages d’Amérique, d’Asie, d’Afrique, et des iles du Grand Océan;
des paysages, des vues maritimes, et plusieurs objets d’histoire
naturelle; accompagné de descriptions par M. le Baron Cuvier, et M. A.
de Chamisso, et d’observations sur les crânes humains par M. le
Docteur Gall. Paris, 1822.
COOK, JAMES, and KING, JAMES. A voyage to the Pacific Ocean,
undertaken by the command of His Majesty for making discoveries in the
northern hemisphere, to determine the position and extent of the west
side of North America; its distance from Asia; and the practicability
of a northern passage to Europe, in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779,
and 1780. London, 1784. 3 vols. (Commonly called “Cook’s Third
Voyage.”)
“CORWIN.” Cruise of the revenue steamer Corwin in Alaska and the
N.W. Arctic Ocean in 1881. Notes and memoranda. Medical and
anthropological; botanical; ornithological. Washington, Government
Printing Office, 1883.
CRANTZ, DAVID. The history of Greenland: containing a description of
the country and its inhabitants; and particularly a relation of the
mission carried on for above these thirty years by the Unitas Fratrum,
at New Herrnhuth and Lichtenfels, in that country. 2 volumes. London,
1767.
DALL, WILLIAM HEALY. Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870.
---- On masks, labrets, and certain aboriginal customs, with an
inquiry into the bearing of their geographical distribution. < Third
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, 1881. Washington, Government Printing Office,
1884.
---- Tribes of the extreme northwest. < Contributions to North
American Ethnology, vol. 1. Washington, Government Printing Office,
1877.
[DAVIS, JOHN]. The first voyage of Master John Dauis, vndertaken in
June 1585: for the discoverie of the Northwest Passage. Written by
John Janes Marchant Seruant to the worshipfull M. William Sanderson.
< Hakluyt, “The principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 776-780.
London, 1589.
---- The second voyage attempted by Master John Davis with others for
the discoverie of the Northwest passage, in Anno 1586. < Hakluyt, “The
principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 781-786. London, 1589.
---- The third voyage Northwestward, made by John Dauis, Gentleman, as
chiefe Captaine and Pilot generall, for the discoverie of a passage to
the Isles of the Molucca, or the coast of China, in the yeere 1587.
Written by John Janes, Seruant to the aforesayd M. William Sanderson.
< Hakluyt, “The principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 789-792.
London, 1589.
DEASE, PETER W., and SIMPSON, THOMAS. An account of the recent arctic
discoveries by Messrs. Dease and Simpson. < Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society of London, vol. 8, pp. 213-225. London, 1838.
EGEDE, HANS. A description of Greenland. Showing the natural history,
situation, boundaries, and face of the country; the nature of the
soil; the rise and progress of the old _Norwegian_ colonies; the
ancient and modern inhabitants; their genius and way of life, and
produce of the soil; their plants, beasts, fishes, etc. Translated
from the Danish. London, 1745.
ELLIS, H. A voyage to Hudson’s Bay, by the Dobbs Galley and
California, in the years 1746 and 1747, for discovering a northwest
passage. London, 1748.
FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN. Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar
Sea in the years 1819-20-21-22. Third edition, 2 vols. London, 1824.
---- Narrative of a second expedition to the shores of the Polar Sea
in the years 1825, 1826, and 1827. Including an account of the
progress of a detachment to the eastward, by John Richardson. London,
1828.
[FROBISHER, MARTIN]. The first voyage of M. Martine Frobisher to the
Northwest for the search of the straight or passage to China, written
by Christopher Hall, and made in the yeere of our Lord 1576.
< Hakluyt, “The principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 615-622.
London, 1589.
---- The second voyage of Master Martin Frobisher, made to the West
and Northwest Regions, in the yeere 1577. With a description of the
Countrey and people. Written by Dionise Settle. < Hakluyt, “The
principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 622-630. London, 1589.
---- The third and last voyage into Meta Incognita, made by M. Martin
Frobisher, in the year 1578. Written by Thomas Ellis. < Hakluyt, “The
principal navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 630-635. London, 1589.
GILDER, W. H. Schwatka’s search. Sledging in the arctic in quest of
the Franklin records. New York, 1881.
GRAAH, W. A. (Capt.). Narrative of an expedition to the east coast of
Greenland, sent by order of the King of Denmark, in search of the lost
colonies. Translated from the Danish. London, 1837.
HAKLUYT, RICHARD. The principall navigations, voiages and discoveries
of the English nation, made by Sea or over Land, to the most remote
and farthest distant Quarters of the earth at any time within the
compasse of these 100 yeeres. London, 1589.
HALL, CHARLES FRANCIS. Arctic researches and life among the Esquimaux:
being the narrative of an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin,
in the years 1860, 1861, and 1862. New York, 1865.
---- Narrative of the second arctic expedition made by Charles
F. Hall: his voyage to Repulse Bay, sledge journeys to the Straits of
Fury and Hecla and to King William’s Land, and residence among the
Eskimos during the years 1864-’69. Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1879.
HEALY, M. A. Report of the cruise of the revenue marine steamer Corwin
in the Arctic Ocean in the year 1885. Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1887.
HOLM, G. Konebaads-Expeditionen til Grønlands Østkyst 1883-’85.
< Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, pp. 79-98. Copenhagen, 1886.
HOLM, G., and GARDE, V. Den danske Konebaads-Expeditionen til
Grønlands Østkyst, populært beskreven. Copenhagen, 1887.
HOOPER, C. L. (Capt.). Report of the cruise of the U.S. revenue
steamer Thomas Corwin, in the Arctic Ocean, 1881. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1884.
HOOPER, WILLIAM HULME (Lieut.). Ten months among the tents of the
Tuski, with incidents of an arctic boat expedition in search of Sir
John Franklin, as far as the Mackenzie River and Cape Bathurst.
London, 1853.
KANE, ELISHA KENT (Dr.). Arctic explorations in the years 1853, ’54,
’55. Two vols. Philadelphia, 1856.
---- The U.S. Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin.
A personal narrative. New York, 1853.
KIRKBY, W. W. (Archdeacon). A journey to the Youcan, Russian America.
< Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
for the year 1864, pp. 416-420. Washington, 1865.
KLUTSCHAK, HEINRICH W. Als Eskimo unter den Eskimos. Eine Schilderung
der Erlebnisse der Schwatka’schen Franklin-aufsuchungs-expedition in
den Jahren 1878-’80. Wien, Pest, Leipzig, 1881.
KOTZEBUE, O. VON. A voyage of discovery into the South Sea and
Beering’s Straits, for the purpose of exploring a northeast passage,
undertaken in the years 1815-1818. Three volumes. London, 1821.
KRAUSE, AUREL (Dr.). Die Bevolkerungsverhältnisse der
Tschuktscher-Halbinsel. < Deutsche geographische Blätter, vol. 6,
pp. 248-278. Bremen, 1883.
---- and ARTHUR, Die Expedition der Bremer geographischen Gesellschaft
nach der Tschuktscher-Halbinsel. < Deutsche geographische Blätter,
vol. 5, pp. 1-35, 111-133. Bremen, 1882.
---- Die wissenschaftliche Expedition der Bremer geographischen
Gesellschaft nach dem Küstengebiete an der Beringsstrasse. < Deutsche
geographische Blätter, vol. 4, pp. 245-281. Bremen, 1881.
KUMLIEN, LUDWIG, Contributions to the natural history of Arctic
America, made in connection with the Howgate polar expedition,
1877-78. Bulletin of the U.S. National Museum, No. 15. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1879.
LISIANSKY, UREY, A voyage round the world, in the years 1803, ’4, ’5,
and ’6, performed by order of His Imperial Majesty Alexander the
First, Emperor of Russia, in the ship Neva. London, 1814.
LYON, G. F. (Capt.). The private journal of Captain G. F. Lyon, of
H.M.S. Hecla, during the recent voyage of discovery under Captain
Parry. Boston, 1824.
M’CLURE, ROBERT LE MESURIER (Capt.). _See_ Osborn, Sherard (editor).
MACKENZIE, ALEXANDER. Voyages from Montreal, on the river St.
Lawrence, through the continent of North America, to the Frozen and
Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793. London, 1802.
MAGUIRE, ROCHFORT (Commander). Proceedings of Commander Maguire,
H.M. discovery ship “Plover.” < Parliamentary Reports, 1854, XLII, pp.
165-185. London, 1854.
---- Proceedings of Commander Maguire, Her Majesty’s discovery ship
“Plover.” < Further papers relative to the recent arctic expedition in
search of Sir John Franklin, etc., p. 905 (second year). Presented to
both houses of Parliament, January, 1855. London.
MORGAN, HENRY. The relation of the course which the Sunshine, a bark
of fiftie tunnes, and the Northstarre, a small pinnesse, being two
vessels of the fleet of M. John Dauis, held after he had sent them
from him to discouer the passage between Groenland and Island.
Written by Henry Morgan, seruant to M. William Sanderson, of London.
< Hakluyt, “The principall navigations, voiages, etc.,” pp. 787-9.
London, 1589.
MURDOCH, JOHN. The retrieving harpoon; an undescribed type of Eskimo
weapon. < American Naturalist, vol. 19, 1885, pp. 423-425.
MURDOCH, JOHN. On the Siberian origin of some customs of the western
Eskimos. < American Anthropologist, vol. 1, pp. 325-336. Washington,
1888.
---- A study of the Eskimo bows in the U.S. National Museum.
< Smithsonian Report for 1884, pt. II, pp. 307-316. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1885.
NORDENSKIÖLD, ADOLF ERIC. The voyage of the Vega round Asia and
Europe. Translated by Alexander Leslie. 2 vols. London, 1881.
OSBORN, SHERARD (editor). The discovery of the northwest passage by
H.M.S. Investigator, Capt. R. M’Clure, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854.
Edited by Commander Sherard Osborn, from the logs and journals of
Capt. Robert Le M. M’Clure. Appendix: Narrative of Commander Maguire,
wintering at Point Barrow. London, 1856.
PARRY, WILLIAM EDWARD (Sir). Journal of a voyage for the discovery of
a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific; performed in the
years 1819-’20, in His Majesty’s ships Hecla and Griper. Second
edition. London, 1821.
---- Journal of a second voyage for the discovery of a northwest
passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific; performed in the years
1821-’22-’23, in His Majesty’s ships Fury and Hecla. London, 1824.
PETITOT, EMILE FORTUNÉ STANISLAS JOSEPH, (Rev.). Géographie de
l’Athabascaw-Mackenzie. < Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, [6]
vol. 10, pp. 5-12, 126-183, 242-290. Paris, 1875.
---- Vocabulaire Français-Esquimaux, dialecte des Tchiglit des bouches
du Mackenzie et de l’Anderson, précédé d’une monographie de cette
tribu et de notes grammaticales. Vol. 3 of Pinart’s “Bibliothèque de
Linguistique et d’Ethnographie Américaines.”
PETROFF, IVAN. Report on the population, industries, and resources of
Alaska. < Tenth Census of the U.S. Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1884.
POWELL, JOSEPH S. (Lieut.). Report of Lieut. Joseph S. Powell: Relief
expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. < Signal Service Notes, No. V, pp.
13-23. Washington, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1883.
RAE, JOHN (Dr.). Narrative of an expedition to the shores of the
Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847. London, 1850.
RAY, PATRICK HENRY (Lieut.). Report of the International Polar
Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1885.
---- Report of Lieut. P. Henry Ray: Work at Point Barrow, Alaska, from
September 16, 1881, to August 25, 1882. < Signal Service Notes, No. V,
pp. 35-40. Washington, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1883.
RICHARDSON, JOHN (Sir.). Arctic searching expedition: A journal of a
boat voyage through Rupert’s Land and the Arctic Sea, in search of the
discovery ships under command of Sir John Franklin. 2 volumes. London,
1851.
---- Eskimos, their geographical distribution. < Edinburgh New
Philosophical Journal, vol. 52, pp. 322-323. Edinburgh, 1852.
---- The polar regions. Edinburgh, 1861.
RINK, HENRIK [Johan] (Dr.). Die dänische Expedition nach der Ostküste
Grönlands, 1883-1885. < Deutsche geographische Blätter, vol. 8, pp.
341-353. Bremen, 1885.
---- Danish Greenland, its people and its products. London. 1877.
---- The Eskimo tribes. Their distribution and characteristics,
especially in regard to language. Meddelelser om Grønland, vol. 11.
Copenhagen, 1887.
---- Die Östgrönlander in ihrem Verhältnisse zu den übrigen
Eskimostämmen. < Deutsche geographische Blätter, vol. 9, pp. 228-239.
Bremen, 1886.
---- Østgrønlænderne i deres Forhold til Vestgrønlænderne og de øvrige
Eskimostammer. < Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, pp. 139-145.
Copenhagen, 1886. (Nearly the same as the above.)
---- Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, with a sketch of their
habits, language, and other peculiarities. Translated from the Danish.
Edinburgh, 1875.
ROSS, JOHN. Appendix to the narrative of a second voyage in search of
a Northwest passage, and of a residence in the arctic regions during
the years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833. London, 1835.
---- Narrative of a second voyage in search of a northwest passage,
and of a residence in the arctic regions during the years 1829, 1830,
1831, 1832, 1833. Philadelphia, 1835.
---- A voyage of discovery, made under the orders of the admiralty in
His Majesty’s ships Isabella and Alexander, for the purpose of
exploring Baffin’s Bay, and inquiring into the probability of a
northwest passage. London, 1819.
SCHWATKA, FREDERICK. The Netschilluk Innuit. < Science, vol. 4, pp.
543-5. New York, 1884.
---- Nimrod in the North, or hunting and fishing adventures in the
arctic regions. New York, 1885.
SCORESBY, WILLIAM, Jr. (Captain). Journal of a voyage to the northern
whale-fishery; including researches and discoveries on the eastern
coast of Greenland, made in the summer of 1822, in the ship Baffin, of
Liverpool. Edinburgh, 1823.
SEEMANN, BERTHOLD. Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Herald, during
the years 1845-’51, under the command of Captain Henry Kellett, R.N.,
C.B.; being a circumnavigation of the globe and three cruises to the
arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin. Two vols. London, 1853.
SIMPSON, JOHN (Dr.). Observations on the western Eskimo, and the
country they inhabit; from notes taken during two years at Point
Barrow. < A selection of papers on arctic geography and ethnology.
Reprinted and presented to the arctic expedition of 1875 by the Royal
Geographical Society (“Arctic Blue Book”), pp. 233-275. London, 1875.
(Reprinted from “Further papers,” etc., Parl. Rep., 1855.)
SIMPSON, THOMAS. Narrative of the discoveries on the north coast of
America, effected by the officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company during
the years 1836-39. London, 1843.
SOLLAS, W. J. On some Eskimos’ bone implements from the east coast of
Greenland. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland, vol. 9, pp. 329-336. London, 1880.
SUTHERLAND, P. C. (Dr.). On the Esquimaux. Journal of the Ethnological
Society of London, vol. 4, pp. 193-214. London, 1856.
WRANGELL, FERDINAND VON. Narrative of an expedition to the Polar Sea
in the years 1820, 1821, 1822, and 1823. Edited by Maj. Edward Sabine.
London, 1840.
SITUATION AND SURROUNDINGS.
The people whose arts and industries are represented by the collection
to be described are the Eskimo of the northwestern extremity of the
continent of North America, who make permanent homes at the two
villages of Nuwŭk and Utkiavwĭñ. Small contributions to the collection
were obtained from natives of Wainwright Inlet and from people of the
Inland River (Nunatañmiun) who visited the northern villages.
Nuwŭk, “the Point,” is situated on a slightly elevated knoll at the
extremity of Point Barrow, in lat. 71° 23´ N., long. 156° 17´ W., and
Utkiavwĭñ, “the Cliffs,” at the beginning of the high land at Cape
Smyth, 11 miles southwest from Nuwŭk. The name Utkiavwĭñ was explained
as meaning “the high place, whence one can look out,” and was said to
be equivalent to ĭkpĭk, a cliff. This name appears on the various maps
of this region under several corrupted forms, due to carelessness or
inability to catch the finer distinctions of sound. It first appears
on Capt. Maguire’s map[N2] as “Ot-ki-a-wing,” a form of the word very
near the Eskimo pronunciation. On Dr. Simpson’s map[N3] it is changed
to “Ot-ke-a-vik,” which on the admiralty chart is misprinted
“Otkiovik.” Petroff on his map[N4] calls it “Ootiwakh,” while he gives
an imaginary village “Ootkaiowik, Arctic Ocean,” of 55 inhabitants, in
his census of the Arctic Division (op. cit., p. 4), which does not
appear upon his map.
[Footnote N2: Parl. Reports, 1854, vol. 42, p. 186.]
[Footnote N3: Further Papers, &c., Parl. Rep. (1855).]
[Footnote N4: Report on the population, etc., of Alaska.]
Our party, I regret to say, is responsible for the name “Ooglaamie” or
“Uglaamie,” which has appeared on many maps since our return. Strictly
speaking this name should be used only as the official name of the
United States signal station. It arose from a misunderstanding of the
name as heard the day after we arrived, and was even adopted by the
natives in talking with us. It was not until the second year that we
learned the correct form of the word, which has been carefully
verified.
The inhabitants of these two villages are so widely separated from
their neighbors--the nearest permanent villages are at Point Belcher
and Wainwright Inlet, 75 miles southwest, and Demarcation Point, 350
miles east[N5]--and so closely connected with each other by
intermarriage and common interests, that they may be considered as a
single people. In their hunting and trading expeditions they
habitually range from the neighborhood of Refuge Inlet along the coast
to Barter Island, going inland to the upper waters of the large rivers
which flow northward into the Arctic Ocean east of Point Barrow. Small
parties occasionally travel as far as Wainwright Inlet and more rarely
to Point Hope, and some times as far as the Mackenzie River. The
extent of their wanderings will be treated of more fully in connection
with their relations to the other natives of the Northwest. They
appear to be unacquainted with the interior except for about 100 miles
south of Point Barrow.
[Footnote N5: Capt. E. E. Smith, who in command of a steam whaler
penetrated as far east as Return Reef in the summer of 1885, says
that the natives told him there was no permanent village west of
Herschel Island.]
The coast from Refuge Inlet runs nearly straight in a generally
northeast direction to Point Barrow, and consists of steep banks of
clay, gravel, and pebbles, in appearance closely resembling glacial
drift, bordered by a narrow, steep beach of pebbles and gravel, and
broken at intervals by steep gulleys which are the channels of
temporary streams running only during the period of melting snow, and
by long, narrow, and shallow lagoons, to whose edges the cliffs slope
gradually down, sometimes ending in low, steep banks. The mouths of
these lagoons are generally rather wide, and closed by a bar of gravel
thrown up by the waves during the season of open water. In the spring,
the snow and ice on the land melt months before the sea opens and
flood the ice on the lagoons, which also melts gradually around the
edges until there is a sufficient head of water in the lagoon to break
through the bar at the lowest point. This stream soon cuts itself a
channel, usually about 20 or 30 yards wide, through which the lagoon
is rapidly drained, soon cutting out an open space of greater or less
extent in the sea ice. Before the sea opens the lagoon is drained down
to its level, and the tide ebbs and flows through the channel, which
is usually from knee-deep to waist-deep, so that the lagoon becomes
more or less brackish. When the sea gets sufficiently open for waves
to break upon the beach, they in a short time bring in enough gravel
to close the outlet. The cliffs gradually decrease in height till they
reach Cape Smyth, where they are about 25 feet high, and terminate in
low knolls sloping down to the banks of the broad lagoon Isûtkwɐ,
which is made by the confluence of two narrow, sinuous gulleys, and is
only 10 feet deep in the deepest part.
Rising from the beach beyond the mouth of this lagoon is a slight
elevation, 12 feet above the sea level, which was anciently the site
of a small village, called by the same name as the lagoon. On this
elevation was situated the United States signal station of Ooglaamie.
Beyond this the land is level with the top of the beach, which is
broad and nearly flat, raised into a slight ridge on the outer edge.
About half a mile from the station, just at the edge of the beach, is
the small lagoon Imérnyɐ, about 200 yards in diameter, and nearly
filled up with marsh. From this point the land slopes down to Elson
Bay, a shallow body of water inclosed by the sandspit which forms
Point Barrow. This is a continuation of the line of the beach, varying
in breadth from 200 to 600 yards and running northeast for 5 miles,
then turning sharply to the east-southeast and running out in a narrow
gravel spit, 2 miles long, which is continued eastward by a chain of
narrow, low, sandy islands, which extend as far as Point Tangent. At
the angle of the point the land is slightly elevated into irregular
turf-covered knolls, on which the village of Nuwŭk is situated. At
various points along the beach are heaps of gravel, sometimes 5 or 6
feet in height, which are raised by the ice. Masses of old ice,
bearing large quantities of gravel, are pushed up on the beach during
severe storms and melt rapidly in the summer, depositing their load of
gravel and pebbles in a heap. These masses are often pushed up out of
reach of the waves, so that the heaps of gravel are left thenceforth
undisturbed.
Between Imernyɐ and Elson Bay (Tă´syûk) is a series of large shallow
lagoons, nearly circular and close to the beach, which rises in a
regular sea-wall. All have low steep banks on the land side, bordered
with a narrow beach. The first of these, I´kpĭlĭñ (“that which has
high banks”), breaks out in the spring through a narrow channel in the
beach in the manner already described, and is salt or brackish. The
next is fresh and connected with I´kpĭlĭñ by a small stream running
along behind the beach. It is called Sĭ´n-nyû, and receives a rivulet
from a small fresh-water lake 3 or 4 miles inland. The third, Imê´kpûñ
(“great water”), is also fresh, and has neither tributary nor outlet.
The fourth, Imêkpû´niglu, is brackish, and empties into Elson Bay by a
small stream. Between this stream and the beach is a little
fresh-water pond close to the bend of Elson Bay, which is called
Kĭkyûktă´ktoro, from one or two little islands (kĭkyû´ktɐ) near one
end of it.
Back from the shore the land is but slightly elevated, and is marshy
and interspersed with many small lakes and ponds, sometimes connected
by inconsiderable streams. This marsh passes gradually into a somewhat
higher and drier rolling plain, stretching back inland from the cliffs
and growing gradually higher to the south. Dr. Simpson, on the
authority of the Point Barrow natives, describes the country as
“uniformly low, and full of small lakes or pools of fresh water to a
distance of about 50 miles from the north shore, where the surface
becomes undulating and hilly, and, farther south, mountainous.”[N6]
This description has been substantially verified by Lieut. Ray’s
explorations. South of the usual deer-hunting ground of the natives he
found the land decidedly broken and hilly, and rising gradually to a
considerable range of mountains, running approximately east and west,
which could be seen from the farthest point he reached.[N7]
[Footnote N6: Arctic papers, p. 233.]
[Footnote N7: Report U.S. International Polar Expedition to Point
Barrow, p. 28.]
The natives also speak of high rocky land “a long way off to the
east,” which some of them have visited for the purpose of hunting the
mountain sheep. The low rolling plain in the immediate vicinity of
Point Barrow, which is all of the country that could be visited by our
party when the land was clear of snow, presents the general appearance
of a country overspread with glacial drift. The landscape is
strikingly like the rolling drift hills of Cape Cod, and this
resemblance is increased by the absence of trees and the occurrence of
ponds in all the depressions. There are no rocks in situ visible in
this region, and large bowlders are absent, while pebbles larger than
the fist are rare. The surface of the ground is covered with a thin
soil, supporting a rather sparse vegetation of grass, flowering
plants, creeping willows, and mosses, which is thicker on the higher
hillsides and forms a layer of turf about a foot thick. Large tracts
of comparatively level ground are almost bare of grass, and consist of
irregular hummocks of black, muddy soil, scantily covered with
light-colored lichens and full of small pools. The lowlands,
especially those back of the beach lagoons, are marshes, thickly
covered with grass and sphagnum. The whole surface of the land is
exceedingly wet in summer, except the higher knolls and hillsides, and
for about 100 yards back from the edge of the cliffs. The thawing,
however, extends down only about a foot or eighteen inches. Beyond
this depth the ground is perpetually frozen for an unknown distance.
There are no streams of any importance in the immediate neighborhood
of Point Barrow. On the other hand, three of the rivers emptying into
the Arctic Ocean between Point Barrow and the Colville, which Dr.
Simpson speaks of as “small and hardly known except to persons who
have visited them,”[N8] have been found to be considerable streams.
Two of these were visited by Lieut. Ray in his exploring trips in 1882
and 1883. The first, Kua´ru, is reached after traveling about 50 miles
from Point Barrow in a southerly direction. It has been traced only
for a small part of its course, and there is reason to believe, from
what the natives say, that it is a tributary of the second named
river. Lieut. Ray visited the upper part of the second river, Kulugrua
(named by him “Meade River”), in March, 1882, when he went out to join
the native deer hunters encamped on its banks, just on the edge of the
hilly country. On his return he visited what the natives assured him
was the mouth of this river, and obtained observations for its
geographical position. Early in April, 1883, he again visited the
upper portion of the stream, and traced it back some distance into the
hilly country. The intermediate portion has never been surveyed. At
the time of each of his visits the river was, of course, frozen and
the ground covered with snow, but he was able to see that the river
was of considerable size, upwards of 200 yards wide where he first
reached it, about 60 miles from its mouth, and showing evidences of a
large volume of water in the spring. It receives several tributaries.
(See maps, Pls. I and II.)
[Footnote N8: Op. cit., p. 235.]
The third river is known only by hearsay from the natives. It is
called Ĭ´kpĭkpûñ (Great Cliff), and is about 40 miles (estimated from
day’s journeys) east of Kulu´grua. It is described as being a larger
and more rapid stream than the other two, and so deep that it does not
freeze down to the bottom on the shallow bars, as they say Kulu´grua
does. Not far from its mouth it is said to receive a tributary from
the east flowing out of a great lake of fresh water, called Tă´syûkpûñ
(Great Lake.) This lake is separated from the sea by a comparatively
narrow strip of land, and is so large that a man standing on the
northern shore can not see the “very high” land on the southern. It
takes an umiak a day to travel the length of the lake under sail with
a fair wind, and when the Nunatañmiun coming from the south first saw
the lake they said “Taxaio!” (the sea).
On Capt. Maguire’s map[N9] this lake is laid down by the name
“Taso´kpoh” “from native report.” It is represented as lying between
Smith Bay and Harrison Bay, and connected with each by a stream.
Maguire seems to have heard nothing of Ikpikpûñ. This lake is not
mentioned in the body of the report. Dr. Simpson, however,[N10] speaks
of it in the following words: “They [i.e., the trading parties when
they reach Smith Bay] enter a river which conducts them to a lake, or
rather series of lakes, and descend another stream which joins the sea
in Harrison Bay.” They are well acquainted with the Colville River,
which in their intercourse with us they usually called “the river at
Nĭ´galĕk,” Nĭ´galĕk being the well known name of the trading camp at
the mouth. It was also sometimes spoken of as the “river of the
Nunatañmiun.” The Mackenzie River is known as “Kupûñ” (great river).
We found them also acquainted with the large unexplored river called
“Kok” on the maps, which flows into Wainwright Inlet. They called it
“Ku” (the river). The river “Cogrua,” which is laid down on the charts
as emptying into Peard Bay, was never mentioned by the Point Barrow
natives, but we were informed by Capt. Gifford, of the whaler _Daniel
Webster_, who traveled along the coast from Point Barrow to Cape
Lisburne after the loss of his vessel in 1881, that it is quite a
considerable stream. He had to ascend it for about a day’s journey--20
miles, according to Capt. Hooper[N11]--before he found it shallow
enough to ford.
[Footnote N9: Parl. Rop., 1854, vol. 42, opp. p. 186.]
[Footnote N10: Op. cit., p. 265.]
[Footnote N11: Corwin Report, p. 72.]
CLIMATE.
The climate of this region is thoroughly arctic in character, the mean
annual temperature being 8° F., ranging from 65° to -52° F. Such
temperatures as the last mentioned are, however, rare, the ordinary
winter temperature being between -20° and -30° F., rarely rising
during December, January, February, and March as high as zero, and
still more rarely passing beyond it. The winter merges insensibly by
slow degrees into summer, with occasional “cold snaps,” and frosty
nights begin again by the 1st of September.
The sun is entirely below the horizon at Point Barrow for 72 days in
the winter, beginning November 15, though visible by refraction a day
or two later at the beginning of this period and a day or two earlier
at the end. The midday darkness is never complete even at the winter
solstice, as the sun is such a short distance below the horizon, but
the time suitable for outdoor employments is limited to a short
twilight from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is, of course, an equal time in
the summer when the sun is continually above the horizon, and for
about a month before and after this period the twilight is so bright
all night that no stars are visible.
The snowfall during the winter is comparatively small. There is
probably not more than a foot of snow on a level anywhere on the land,
though it is extremely difficult to measure or estimate, as it is so
fine and dry that it is easily moved by the wind and is constantly in
motion, forming deep, heavy, hard drifts under all the banks, while
many exposed places, especially the top of the sand beach, are swept
entirely clean. The snow begins to soften and melt about the first
week in April, but goes off very slowly, so that the ground is not
wholly bare before the middle or end of June. The grass, however,
begins to turn green early in June, and a few flowers are seen in
blossom as early as June 7 or 8.
Rain begins to fall as early as April, but cold, snowy days are not
uncommon later than that date. There is a good deal of clear, calm
weather during the winter, and extremely low temperatures are seldom
accompanied by high wind. Violent storms are not uncommon, however,
especially in November, during the latter part of January, and in
February. One gale from the south and southwest, which occurred
January 22, 1882, reached a velocity of 100 miles an hour. The most
agreeable season of the year is between the middle of May and the end
of July, when the sea opens. After this there is much foggy and cloudy
weather.
Fresh-water ponds begin to freeze about the last week in September,
and by the first or second week in October everything is sufficiently
frozen for the natives to travel with sledges to fish through the ice
of the inland rivers. Melting begins with the thawing of the snow, but
the larger ponds are not clear of ice till the middle or end of July.
The sea in most seasons is permanently closed by freezing and the
moving in of heavy ice fields from about the middle of October to the
end of July. The heavy ice in ordinary seasons does not move very far
from the shore, while the sea is more or less encumbered with floating
masses all summer. These usually ground on a bar which runs from the
Seahorse Islands along the shore parallel to it and about 1,000 yards
distant, forming a “barrier” or “land-floe” of high, broken hummocks,
inshore of which the sea freezes over smooth and undisturbed by the
pressure of the outer pack.
Sometimes, however, the heavy pack, under the pressure of violent and
long-continued westerly winds, pushes across the bar and is forced up
on the beach. The ice sometimes comes in with great rapidity. The
natives informed us that a year or two before the station was
established the heavy ice came in against the village cliffs, tearing
away part of the bank and destroying a house on the edge of the cliff
so suddenly that one of the inmates, a large, stout man, was unable to
escape through the trap-door and was crushed to death. Outside of the
land-floe the ice is a broken pack, consisting of hummocks of
fragmentary old and new ice, interspersed with comparatively level
fields of the former. During the early part of the winter this pack is
most of the time in motion, sometimes moving northeastward with the
prevailing current and grinding along the edge of the barrier,
sometimes moving off to sea before an offshore wind, leaving “leads”
of open water, which in calm weather are immediately covered with new
ice (at the rate of 6 inches in 24 hours), and again coming in with
greater or less violence against the edges of this new ice, crushing
and crumpling it up against the barrier. Portions of the land-floe
even float off and move away with the pack at this season.
The westerly gales of the later winter, however, bring in great
quantities of ice, which, pressing against the land-floe, are pushed
up into hummocks and ground firmly in deeper water, thus increasing
the breadth of the fixed land-floe until the line of separation
between the land-floe and the moving pack is 4 or 5 or sometimes even
8 miles from land. The hummocks of the land-floe show a tendency to
arrange themselves in lines parallel to the shore, and if the pressure
has not been too great there are often fields of ice of the season not
over 4 feet thick between the ranges of hummocks, as was the case in
the winter of 1881-’82. In the following year, however, the pressure
was so great that there were no such fields, and even the level ice
inside of the barrier was crushed into hummocks in many places.
After the gales are over there is generally less motion in the pack,
until about the middle of April, when easterly winds usually cause
leads to open at the edge of the land-floe. These leads now continue
to open and shut, varying in size with the direction and force of the
wind. As the season advances, especially in July, the melting of the
ice on the surface loosens portions of the land-floe, which float off
and join the pack, bringing the leads nearer to the shore. In the
meantime the level shore ice has been cut away from the beach by the
warm water running down from the land and has grown “rotten” and full
of holes from the heat of the sun. By the time the outside ice has
moved away so as to leave only the floes grounded on the bar the
inside ice breaks up into loose masses, moving up and down with wind
and current and ready to move off through the first break in the
barrier. Portions of the remaining barrier gradually break off and at
last the whole finally floats and moves out with the pack, sometimes,
as in 1881--a very remarkable season--moving out of sight from the
land.
This final departure of the ice may take place at any time between the
middle of July and the middle of August. East of Point Barrow we had
opportunities only for hasty and superficial observations of the state
of the ice. The land floe appears to form some distance outside of the
sandy islands, and from the account of the natives there is much open
water along shore early in the season, caused by the breaking up of
the rivers. Dr. Simpson[N12] learned from the natives that the trading
parties which left the Point about the 1st of July found open water at
Dease Inlet. This is more definite information than we were able to
obtain. We only learned that they counted on finding open water a few
days’ journey east.
[Footnote N12: Op. cit., p. 264.]
THE PEOPLE.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
In stature these people are of a medium height, robust and muscular,
“inclining rather to spareness than corpulence,”[N13] though the
fullness of the face and the thick fur clothing often gives the
impression of the latter. There is, however, considerable individual
variation among them in this respect. The women are as a rule shorter
than the men, occasionally almost dwarfish, though some women are
taller than many of the men. The tallest man observed measured 5 feet
9½ inches, and the shortest 4 feet 11 inches. The tallest woman was 5
feet 3 inches in height, and the shortest 4 feet ½ inch. The heaviest
man weighed 204 pounds and the lightest 126 pounds. One woman weighed
192 pounds and the shortest woman was also the lightest, weighing only
100 pounds.[N14] The hands and feet are small and well shaped, though
the former soon become distorted and roughened by work. We did not
observe the peculiar breadth of hands noticed by Dr. Simpson, nor is
the shortness of the thumb which he mentions sufficient to attract
attention.[N15] Their feet are so small that only one of our party,
who is much below the ordinary size, was able to wear the boots made
by the natives for themselves. Small and delicate hands and feet
appear to be a universal characteristic of the Eskimo race and have
been mentioned by most observers from Greenland to Alaska.[N16]
[Footnote N13: Simpson, op. cit., p. 238.]
[Footnote N14: See Report of Point Barrow Expedition, p. 50, for a
table of measurements of a number of individuals selected at
random from the natives of both villages and their visitors.]
[Footnote N15: Op. cit., p. 238.]
[Footnote N16: Davis (1586) speaks of the “small, slender hands
and feet” of the Greenlanders. Hakluyt’s Voyages, etc. (1589),
p. 782.
“Their hands and feet are little and soft.” Crantz, vol. 1, p. 133
(Greenland).
Hands and feet “extremely diminutive,” Parry 1st Voy., p. 282
(Baffin Land).
“Their hands and feet are small and well formed.” Kumlien
Contrib., p. 15 (Cumberland Gulf).
“Feet extraordinarily small.” Ellis, Voyage, etc., p. 132 (Hudson
Strait).
Franklin (1st Exp., vol. 2, p. 180) mentions the small hands and
feet of the two old Eskimo that he met at the Bloody Fall of the
Coppermine River.
“. . . boots purchased on the coast were seldom large enough for
our people.” Richardson Searching Exp., i, p. 344 (Cape Bathurst).
“Their hands and feet are small.” Petroff, Report, etc., p. 134
(Kuskoquim River).
Chappell (Hudson Bay, pp. 59, 60) has a remarkable theory to
account for the smallness of the extremities among the people of
Hudson Strait. He believes that “the same intense cold which
restricts vegetation to the form of creeping shrubs has also its
effect upon the growth of mankind, preventing the extremities from
attaining their due proportion”!]
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Unalina, a man of Nuwŭk.]
The features of these people have been described by Dr. Simpson,[N17]
and are distinctively Eskimo in type, as will be seen by comparing the
accompanying portraits (Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, from photographs by
Lieut. Ray) with the many pictures brought from the eastern Arctic
regions by various explorers, some of which might easily pass for
portraits of persons of our acquaintance at Point Barrow.[N18]
[Footnote N17: Op. cit., p. 238.]
[Footnote N18: One young man at Point Barrow looks remarkably like
the well known “Eskimo Joe,” as I remember him in Boston in the
winter of 1862-’63.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Mûmûñina, a woman of Nuwŭk.]
The face is broad, flat, and round, with high cheek bones and rather
low forehead, broad across the brow and narrowing above, while the
head is somewhat pointed toward the crown. The peculiar shape of the
head is somewhat masked by the way of wearing the hair, and is best
seen in the skull. The nose is short, with little or no bridge (few
Eskimo were able to wear our spring eye-glasses), and broad,
especially across the alæ nasæ, with a peculiar rounded, somewhat
bulbous tip, and large nostrils. The eyes are horizontal,[N19] with
rather full lids, and are but slightly sunken below the level of the
face.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Akabiana, a youth of Utkiavwiñ.]
The mouth is large and the lips full, especially the under one. The
teeth are naturally large, and in youth are white and generally
regular, but by middle age they are generally worn down to
flat-crowned stumps, as is usual among the Eskimo. The color of the
skin is a light yellowish brown, with often considerable ruddy color
on the cheeks and lips. There appears to be much natural variation in
the complexion, some women being nearly as fair as Europeans, while
other individuals seem to have naturally a coppery color.[N20] In most
cases the complexion appears darker than it really is from the effects
of exposure to the weather. All sunburn very easily, especially in the
spring when there is a strong reflection from the snow.
[Footnote N19: The expression of obliquity in the eyes, mentioned
by Dr. Simpson (op. cit., p. 239), seems to me to have arisen from
the shape of the cheek bones. I may be mistaken, however, as no
careful comparisons were made on the spot.]
[Footnote N20: Frobisher says of the people of Baffin Land: “Their
colour is not much unlike the sunburnt countrie man.” Hakluyt’s
Voyages, etc. (1589), p. 627.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Puka, a young man of Utkiavwiñ.]
The old are much wrinkled, and they frequently suffer from watery
eyes, with large sacks under them, which begin to form at a
comparatively early age. There is considerable variation in features,
as well as complexion, among them, even in cases where there seems to
be no suspicion of mixed blood. There were several men among them with
decided aquiline noses and something of a Hebrew cast of countenance.
The eyes are of various shades of dark brown--two pairs of light hazel
eyes were observed--and are often handsome. The hair is black,
perfectly straight, and very thick. With the men it is generally
coarser than with the women, who sometimes have very long and silky
hair, though it generally does not reach much below the shoulders. The
eyebrows are thin and the beard scanty, growing mostly upon the upper
lip and chin, and seldom appearing under the age of 20. In this they
resemble most Eskimo. Back,[N21] however, speaks of the “luxuriant
beards and flowing mustaches” of the Eskimo of the Great Fish River.
Some of the older men have rather heavy black mustaches, but there is
much variation in this respect. The upper part of the body (as much is
commonly exposed in the house) is remarkably free from hair. The
general expression is good humored and attractive.
[Footnote N21: Journey, etc., p. 289.]
The males, even when very young, are remarkable for their graceful and
dignified carriage. The body is held erect, with the shoulders square
and chest well thrown out, the knees straight, and the feet firmly
planted on the ground. In walking they move with long swinging elastic
strides, the toes well turned out and the arms swinging.
I can not agree with Dr. Simpson that the turning out of the toes
gives “a certain peculiarity to their gait difficult to
describe.”[N22] I should say that they walked like well built athletic
white men. The women, on the other hand, although possessing good
physiques, are singularly ungraceful in their movements. They walk at
a sort of shuffling half-trot, with the toes turned in, the body
leaning forward, and the arms hanging awkwardly.[N23]
[Footnote N22: Op. cit., p. 238.]
[Footnote N23: Cf. Simpson, op. cit., p. 240.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Woman stretching skins.]
A noticeable thing about the women is the remarkable flexibility of
the body and limbs, and the great length of time they can stand in a
stooping posture. (See Fig. 5 for a posture often assumed in working.)
Both men and women have a very fair share of muscular strength. Some
of the women, especially, showed a power of carrying heavy loads
superior to most white men. We were able to make no other comparisons
of their strength with ours. Their power of endurance is very great,
and both sexes are capable of making long distances on foot. Two men
sometimes spend 24 hours tramping through the rough ice in search of
seals, and we knew of instances where small parties made journeys of
50 or 75 miles on foot without stopping to sleep.
The women are not prolific. Although all the adults are or have been
married, many of them are childless, and few have more than two
children. One woman was known to have at least four, but
investigations of this sort were rendered extremely difficult by the
universal custom of adoption. Dr. Simpson heard of a “rare case” where
one woman had borne seven children.[N24] We heard of no twins at
either village, though we obtained the Eskimo word for twins. It was
impossible to learn with certainty the age at which the women first
bear children, from the impossibility of learning the age of any
individuals in the absence of any fixed method of reckoning time. Dr.
Simpson states that they do not commonly bear children before the age
of 20,[N25] and we certainly saw no mothers who appeared younger than
this. We knew of but five cases of pregnancy in the two villages
during the 2 years of our stay. Of these, one suffered miscarriage,
and of the other four, only two of the infants lived more than a short
time. It is exceedingly difficult, for the reasons stated above, to
form any estimate of the age to which these people live, though it is
natural to suppose that the arduous and often precarious existence
which they lead must prevent any great longevity. Men and women who
appeared to be 60 or over were rare. Yûksĭ´ña, the so-called “chief”
of Nuwŭk, who was old enough to be a man of considerable influence at
the time the _Plover_ wintered at Point Barrow (1852-’54), was in 1881
a feeble, bowed, tottering old man, very deaf and almost blind, but
with his mental faculties apparently unimpaired. Gray hair appears
uncommon. Even the oldest are, as a rule, but slightly gray.
[Footnote N24: Op. cit., p. 254.]
[Footnote N25: Op. cit. p. 254.]
PATHOLOGY.
Diseases of the respiratory and digestive organs are the most frequent
and serious ailments from which they suffer. The former are most
prevalent toward the end of summer and early in winter, and are due to
the natives sleeping on the damp ground and to their extreme
carelessness in exposing themselves to drafts of wind when overheated.
Nearly everyone suffers from coughs and colds in the latter part of
August, and many deaths occur at this season and the beginning of
winter from a disease which appears to be pneumonia. A few cases, one
fatal, of hemorrhage of the lungs were observed, which were probably
aggravated by the universal habit of inhaling tobacco smoke. The
people suffer from diarrhea, indigestion, and especially from
constipation.
Gonorrhea appears common in both sexes, but syphilis seems to be
unknown in spite of the promiscuous intercourse of the women with the
whalemen. One case of uterine hemorrhage was observed. Cutaneous
diseases are rare. A severe ulcer on the leg, of long standing, was
cured by our surgeon, to whose observations I am chiefly indebted for
what I have to say about the diseases of these people; and one man had
lost the cartilage of his nose and was marked all over the body with
hideous scars from what appeared to be some form of scrofulous
disease. A single case of tumor on the deltoid muscle was observed.
Rheumatism is rather frequent. All are subject to snow blindness in
the spring, and sores on the face from neglected frost bites are
common. Many are blind in one eye from what appears to be cataract or
leucoma, but only one case of complete blindness was noticed. Dr.
Sutherland states that he does not recollect a single instance of
total blindness among the Eskimo that he saw in Baffin Land, and
expresses the opinion that “An individual in such a state would be
quite unfit for the life of toil and hardship to which the hardy
Esquimaux is exposed. The neglect consequent upon this helpless
condition most probably cuts off its afflicted objects.”[N26]
[Footnote N26: Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. 4, p. 206.]
This seems quite reasonable on a priori grounds, but nevertheless the
blind man at Cape Smyth had lived to middle age in very comfortable
circumstances, and though supported to a great extent by his relatives
he was nevertheless able to do a certain share of work, and had the
reputation of being a good paddler for a whaling umiak.
Injuries are rare. One man had lost both feet at the ankle and moved
about with great ease and rapidity on his knees. All are subject to
bleeding at the nose and usually plug the bleeding nostril with a
bunch of deer hair.[N27]
[Footnote N27: Compare what Davis wrote in 1586 of the
Greenlanders: “These people are much given to bleed, and,
therefore, stoppe theyr noses with deere hayre or the hayre of an
elan.” Hakluyt, Voyages, etc., 1589, p. 782.]
This habit, as it has been termed, of vicarious hemorrhage seems to be
characteristic of the Eskimo race wherever they have been met with,
and has been supposed to be a process of nature for relieving the
fullness of the circulatory system caused by their exclusively animal
diet.[N28]
[Footnote N28: Egede, Greenland, p. 120; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 234
(Greenland); Southerland. Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. IV, p. 207
(Baffin Land); Chappell, “Hudson Bay,” p. 74 (North Shore of
Hudson Strait); Lyon, Journal, p. 18 (Hudson Strait); Franklin,
1st Exp., I, p. 29 (Hudson Strait); Parry, 2d Voy., p. 544
(Igluilik); Hooper, Tents of the Tuski, p. 185 (Plover Bay,
Siberia).]
Natural deformities and abnormalities of structure are uncommon,
except strabismus, which is common and often, at least, congenital.
One boy in Utkiavwĭñ had his forehead twisted to one side, probably
from some accident or difficulty during delivery. His intelligence did
not seem to be impaired. The people are, as a rule, right handed, but
that left-handed persons occasionally occur is shown by their having a
word for a left-handed man. We also collected a “crooked knife,”
fitted for use with the left hand.[N29]
[Footnote N29: I have an indistinct recollection of having once
seen a left-handed person from Nuwŭk.]
PSYCHICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
As a rule they are quick-witted and intelligent, and show a great
capacity for appreciating and learning useful things, especially
mechanical arts. In disposition they are light-hearted and cheerful,
not easily cast down by sorrow or misfortune, and though sometimes
quick-tempered, their anger seldom lasts long.[N30] They have a very
keen sense of humor, and are fond of practical jokes, which they take
in good part, even when practiced on themselves. They are generally
peaceable. We did not witness a single quarrel among the men during
the two years of our stay, though they told us stories of fatal
quarrels in former years, in which firearms were used. Liquor may have
been the cause of these fights, as it is said to have been of the only
suicide I ever heard of among them, which I am informed by Capt. E. E.
Smith, the whaling master already referred to, occurred in 1885 at
Nuwŭk. Disagreements between man and wife, however, sometimes lead to
blows, in which the man does not always get the best of it.
[Footnote N30: Holm calls the East Greenlanders “et meget livligt
Folkefærd” Geogr. Tidskrift, vol. 8, p. 96.]
When the station was first established many of the natives began
pilfering from our stores, but they soon learned that by so doing they
cut themselves off from the privilege of visiting the station and
enjoying the opportunity for trading which it afforded, and were glad
to promise to refrain from the practice. This promise was very well
observed, though I think wholly from feelings of self-interest, as the
thieves when detected seemed to have no feeling of shame. Some,
I believe, never yielded to the temptation. There was seldom any
difficulty in obtaining restitution of stolen articles, as the thief’s
comrades would not attempt to shield him, but often voluntarily
betrayed him. They acknowledged that there was considerable thieving
on board of the ships, but the men of Utkiavwĭñ tried to lay the blame
on the Nuwŭk people, and we may suppose that the charge was
reciprocated, as was the case regarding the theft of the _Plover’s_
sails.[N31] We also heard of occasional thefts among themselves,
especially of seals left on the ice or venison buried in the snow, but
men who were said to be thieves did not appear to lose any social
consideration.
[Footnote N31: Simpson, op. cit., p. 248.]
Robbery with violence appears to be unknown. We never saw or heard of
the “burglar-alarm” described by Dr. Simpson,[N32] which I am inclined
to believe was really a “demon trap” like that described by Lieut. Ray
(see below, under Religion).
[Footnote N32: Op. cit., p. 247.]
They are in the main truthful, though a detected lie is hardly
considered more than a good joke, and considerable trickery is
practiced in trading. For instance, soon after the station was
established they brought over the carcass of a dog, with the skin,
head, feet, and tail removed, and attempted to sell it for a young
reindeer; and when we began to purchase seal-oil for the lamps one
woman brought over a tin can nearly filled with ice, with merely a
layer of oil on top.
Clothing and other articles made especially for sale to us were often
very carelessly and hastily made, while their own things were always
carefully finished.[N33]
[Footnote N33: Compare Nordenskiöld’s experience in Siberia. The
“Chukches” sold him skinned foxes with the head and feet cut off
for hares, (Vega, vol. 1, p. 448), young ivory gulls for
ptarmigan, and a dog’s skull for a seal’s (vol. 2, p. 137).
Besides, “While their own things were always made with the
greatest care, all that they did especially for us was done with
extreme carelessness” (ibid). The Eskimos at Hotham Inlet also
tried to sell Capt. Beechey fishskins sewed together to represent
fish. (Voyage, p. 285.)]
Their affection for each other, especially for their children, is
strong, though they make little show of grief for bereavement, and
their minds are easily diverted by amusements. I am inclined to
believe, however, from some cases I have observed, that grief is
deeper and more permanent than superficial appearances would indicate.
Their curiosity is unbounded, and they have no hesitation in
gratifying it by unlimited questioning. All who have read the accounts
of the Eskimo character given by explorers in other parts of the
Arctic regions will recognize this as a familiar trait. We also found
the habit of begging at first quite as offensive among some of these
people as other travelers have found it, but as they grew better
acquainted with us they ceased to beg except for trifling things, such
as a chew of tobacco or a match. Some of the better class never begged
at all. Some of them seemed to feel truly grateful for the benefits
and gifts received, and endeavored by their general behavior, as well
as in more substantial ways, to make some adequate return. Others
appeared to think only of what they might receive.
Hospitality is a universal virtue. Many of them, from the beginning of
our acquaintance with them, showed the greatest friendliness and
willingness to assist us in every way, while others, especially if
there were many of them together, were inclined to be insolent, and
knives were occasionally drawn in sudden fits of passion. These
“roughs,” however, soon learned that behavior of this sort was
punished by prompt ostracism and threats of severer discipline, and
before the first nine months were past we had established the most
friendly relations with the whole village at Cape Smyth. Some of those
who were at first most insolent became afterwards our best friends.
Living as these people do at peace with their neighbors, they would
not be expected to exhibit the fierce martial courage of many other
savages, but bold whalemen and venturous ice-hunters can not be said
to lack bravery.
In their dealings with white men the richer and more influential among
them at least consider themselves their equals if not their superiors,
and they do not appreciate the attitude of arrogant superiority
adopted by many white men in their intercourse with so-called savages.
Many of them show a grace of manner and a natural delicacy and
politeness which is quite surprising. I have known a young Eskimo so
polite that in conversing with Lieut. Ray he would take pains to
mispronounce his words in the same way as the latter did, so as not to
hurt his feelings by correcting him bluntly.[N34]
[Footnote N34: Compare Vega, vol. 1, p. 489. The Chukches were “so
courteous as not to correct but to adopt the mistakes in the
pronunciation or meaning of words that were made on the _Vega_.”]
TRIBAL PHENOMENA.
We were unable to discover among these people the slightest trace of
tribal organization or of division into gentes, and in this our
observations agree with those of all who have studied the Eskimos
elsewhere. They call themselves as a race “In´uĭn,” a term
corresponding to the “Inuit” of other dialects, and meaning “people”,
or “human beings”. Under this name they include white men and Indians
as well as Eskimo, as is the case in Greenland and the Mackenzie River
district, and probably also everywhere else, though many writers have
supposed it to be applied by them only to their own race.
They have however special names for the former two races. The people
of any village are known as “the inhabitants of such and such a
place;” for instance, Nuwŭ´ñmiun, “the inhabitants of the point;”
Utkiavwĭñmiun, “the inhabitants of Utkiávwĭñ;” Kuñmiun (in Greenlandic
“Kungmiut”), “the people who live on the river.” The people about
Norton Sound speak of the northern Eskimo, especially those of Point
Barrow and Cape Smyth, as “Kûñmû´dlĭñ,” which is not a name derived
from a location, but a sort of nickname, the meaning of which was not
ascertained. The Point Barrow natives do not call themselves by this
name, but apply it to those people whose winter village is at
Demarcation Point (or Herschel Island, see above, p. 26). This word
appears in the corrupted form “Kokmullit,” as the name of the village
at Nuwŭk on Petroff’s map. Petroff derived his information regarding
the northern coast at second-hand from people who had obtained their
knowledge of names, etc., from the natives of Norton Sound.
The people of the two villages under consideration frequently go
backward and forward, sometimes removing permanently from one village
to the other, while strangers from distant villages sometimes winter
here, so that it was not until the end of the second year, when we
were intimately acquainted with everybody at Utkiavwĭñ, that we could
form anything like a correct estimate of the population of this
village.[N35] This we found to be about 140 souls. As well as we could
judge, there were about 150 or 160 at Nuwŭk. These figures show a
great decrease in numbers since the end of 1853, when Dr. Simpson[N36]
reckoned the population of Nuwŭk at 309. During the 2 years from
September, 1881, to August, 1883, there were fifteen deaths that we
heard of in the village of Utkiavwĭñ alone, and only two children born
in that period survived. With this ratio between the number of births
and deaths, even in a period of comparative plenty, it is difficult to
see how the race can escape speedy extinction, unless by accessions
from without, which in their isolated situation they are not likely to
receive.[N37]
[Footnote N35: See “Approximate Census, etc.,” Report of Point
Barrow Exp., p. 49.]
[Footnote N36: Op. cit., p. 237.]
[Footnote N37: Petroff’s estimate (Report, etc., p. 4) of the
number of natives on this part of the Arctic coast is much too
large. He gives the population of “Ootiwakh” (Utkiavwĭñ) as 225.
Refuge Inlet (where there is merely a summer camp of
Utkiavwĭñmiun), 40, and “Kokmullit,” 200. The supposed settlement
of 50 inhabitants at the Colville River is also a mere summer
camp, not existing in the winter.]
SOCIAL SURROUNDINGS.
CONTACT WITH UNCIVILIZED PEOPLE.
_Other Eskimo._--The nearest neighbors of these people, as has been
stated above, are the Eskimo living at Demarcation Point (or Herschel
Island), eastward, and those who inhabit the small villages between
Point Belcher and Wainwright Inlet. These villages are three in
number. The nearest to Point Belcher, Nuna´ria, is now deserted, and
its inhabitants have established the new village of Sida´ru nearer the
inlet. The third village consists of a few houses only, and is called
A´tûnĕ. The people of these villages are so closely connected that
they are sometimes spoken of collectively as Sida´ruñmiun. At a
distance up the river, which flows into Wainwright Inlet, live the
Ku´ñmiun, “the people who live on the river.” These appear to be
closely related to the people of the first village below Wainwright
Inlet, which is named Kĭlauwitawĭñ. At any rate, a party of them who
came to Cape Smyth in the spring of 1883 were spoken of indifferently
as Kuñmiun or Kĭlauwitawĭ´ñmiun.
Small parties from all the villages occasionally visit Point Barrow
during the winter for the purpose of trade and amusement, traveling
with sledges along the land ice where it is smooth, otherwise along
the edge of the cliffs; and similar parties from the two northern
villages return these visits. No special article of trade appears to
be sought at either village, though perhaps the southern villages have
a greater supply of skins of the bearded seal, fit for making umiak
covers, as I knew of a load of these brought up for sale, and in the
spring of 1883 a party went down to the inlet in search of such skins.
Single families and small parties like that from Kĭlauwitawĭñ,
mentioned above, sometimes spend the whaling season at Point Barrow,
joining some of the whaling crews at the northern villages. The people
that we saw from these settlements were very like the northern Eskimos
but many of them spoke a perceptibly harsher dialect, sounding the
final consonants distinctly.
The people at Point Hope are known as Tĭkera´ñmiun “inhabitants of the
forefinger (Point Hope)”, and their settlement is occasionally visited
by straggling parties. No natives from Point Hope came north during
the 2 years of our stay, but a party of them visited the _Plover_ in
1853.[N38] We found some people acquainted by name with the Kuwû´ñmiun
and Silawĭ´ñmiun of the Kuwûk (Kowak or “Putnam”) and Silawik Rivers
emptying into Hotham Inlet, and one man was familiar with the name of
Sisualĭñ, the great trading camp at Kotzebue Sound. We were unable to
find that they had any knowledge of Asia (“Kokhlitnuna,”) or the
Siberian Eskimo, but this was probably due to lack of properly
directed inquiries, as they seem to have been well informed on the
subject in the _Plover’s_ time.[N39]
[Footnote N38: Maguire, NW. Passage, p. 384.]
[Footnote N39: It is to be regretted that the expedition was not
supplied with a copy of Dr. Simpson’s excellent paper, as much
valuable information was missed for lack of suggestions as to the
direction of inquiries.]
With the people of the Nu´natăk (Inland) River, the Nunatañmiun, they
are well acquainted, as they meet them every summer for purposes of
trading, and a family or two of Nunatañmiun sometimes spend the winter
at the northern villages. One family wintered at Nuwŭk in 1881-’82,
and another at Utkiavĭñ the following winter, while a widower of this
“tribe” was also settled there for the same winter, having married a
widow in the village. We obtained very little definite information
about these people except that they came from the south and descended
the Colville River. Our investigations were rendered difficult by the
engrossing nature of the work of the station, and the trouble we
experienced, at first, in learning enough of the language to make
ourselves clearly understood. Dr. Simpson was able to learn definitely
that the homes of these people are on the Nunatăk and that some of
them visit Kotzebue Sound in the summer, while trading parties make a
portage between the Nunatăk and Colville, descending the latter river
to the Arctic Ocean.[N40] I have been informed by the captain of one
of the American whalers that he has, in different seasons, met the
same people at Kotzebue Sound and the mouth of the Colville. We also
received articles of Siberian tame reindeer skin from the east, which
must have come across the country from Kotzebue Sound.
[Footnote N40: Op. cit., pp. 234 and 236.]
These people differ from the northern natives in some habits, which
will be described later, and speak a harsher dialect. We were informed
that in traveling east after passing the mouth of the Colville they
came to the Kûñmû´dlĭñ (“Kangmali enyuin” of Dr. Simpson and other
authors) and still further off “a great distance” to the Kupûñ or
“Great River”--the Mackenzie--near the mouth of which is the village
of the Kupûñmiun, whence it is but a short distance inland to the
“great house” (iglu´kpûk) of the white men on the great river
(probably Fort Macpherson). Beyond this we only heard confused stories
of people without posteriors and of sledges that run by themselves
without dogs to draw them. We heard nothing of the country of
Kĭtiga´ru[N41] or of the stone-lamp country mentioned by Dr.
Simpson.[N42] The Kûñmûdlĭñ are probably, as Dr. Simpson believes, the
people whose winter houses were seen by Franklin at Demarcation
Point,[N43] near which, at Icy Reef, Hooper also saw a few
houses.[N44]
[Footnote N41: This was the name of a girl at Nuwŭk.]
[Footnote N42: Op. cit., p. 269.]
[Footnote N43: Second Exp., p. 142.]
[Footnote N44: Tents of the Tuski, p. 255.]
As already stated, Capt. E. E. Smith was informed by the natives that
there is now no village farther west than Herschel Island, where there
is one of considerable size. If he was correctly informed, this must
be a new village, since the older explorers who passed along the coast
found only a summer camp at this point. He also states that he found
large numbers of ruined iglus on the outlying sandy islands along the
coast, especially near Anxiety Point. We have scarcely any information
about these people, as the only white men who have seen them had
little intercourse with them in passing along the coast.[N45] The
Point Barrow people have but slight acquaintance with them, as they
see them only a short time each summer. Captain Smith, however,
informs me that in the summer of 1885 one boat load of them came back
with the Point Barrow traders to Point Barrow, where he saw them on
board of his ship. There was a man at Utkiavwĭñ who was called “the
Kûñmû´dlĭñ.” He came there when a child, probably, by adoption, and
was in no way distinguishable from the other people.
[Footnote N45: All the published information there is about them
from personal observation can be found in Franklin, Second Exp.,
p. 142; T. Simpson, Narrative, pp. 118-123; and Hooper, Tents,
etc., pp. 255-257 and 260.]
Father Petitot appears to include these people in the “Taρèoρmeut”
division of his “Tchiglit” Eskimo, whom he loosely describes as
inhabiting the coast from Herschel Island to Liverpool Bay, including
the delta of the Mackenzie,[N46] without locating their permanent
villages. In another place, however, he excludes the “Taρèoρmeut” from
the “Tchiglit,” saying, “Dans l’ouest, les _Tchiglit_ communiquaient
avec leurs plus proches voisins les Taρèoρ-meut,”[N47] while in a
third place[N48] he gives the country of the “Tchiglit” as extending
from the Coppermine River to the Colville, and on his map in the same
volume, the “Tareormeut” are laid down in the Mackenzie delta only.
According to his own account, however, he had no personal knowledge of
any Eskimo west of the Mackenzie delta. These people undoubtedly have
a local name derived from that of their winter village, but it is yet
to be learned.
[Footnote N46: Monographie, p. xi.]
[Footnote N47: Ibid, p. xvi.]
[Footnote N48: Bull. de la Société de Géographie, 6^e sér., vol.
10, p. 256.]
It is possible that they do consider themselves the same people with
the Eskimo of the Mackenzie delta, and call themselves by the general
name of “Taρèoρmeut” (= Taxaiomiun in the Point Barrow dialect),
“those who live by the sea.” That they do not call themselves
“Kûñmû´dlĭñ” or “Kanmali-enyuin” or “Kangmaligmeut” is to my mind
quite certain. The word “Kûñmû´dlĭñ,” as already stated, is used at
Norton Sound to designate the people of Point Barrow (I was called a
“Kûñmû´dlĭñ” by some Eskimo at St. Michaels because I spoke the Point
Barrow dialect), who do not recognize the name as belonging to
themselves, but have transferred it to the people under consideration.
Now, “Kûñmû´dlĭñ” is a word formed after the analogy of many Eskimo
words from a noun kûñme and the affix lĭñ or dlĭñ (in Greenlandic
lik), “one who has a ----.” The radical noun, the meaning of which I
can not ascertain, would become in the Mackenzie dialect kρagmaρk
(using Petitot’s orthography), which with -lik in the plural would
make kρagmalit. (According to Petitot’s “Grammaire” the plural of -lik
in the Mackenzie dialect is -lit, and not -gdlit, as in Greenlandic).
This is the name given by Petitot on his map to the people of the
Anderson River,[N49] while he calls the Anderson River itself
Kρagmalik.[N50] The father, however, had but little personal knowledge
of the natives of the Anderson, having made but two, apparently brief,
visits to their village in 1865, when he first made the acquaintance
of the Eskimo. He afterwards became fairly intimate with the Eskimo of
the Mackenzie delta, parties of whom spent the summers of 1869 and
1870 with him. From these parties he appears to have obtained the
greater part of the information embodied in his Monographie and
Vocabulaire, as he explicitly states that he brought the last party to
Fort Good Hope “autant pour les instruire à loisir que pour apprendre
d’eux leur idiome.”[N51] Nothing seems to me more probable than that
he learned from these Mackenzie people the names of their neighbors of
the Anderson, which he had failed to obtain in his flying visits 5
years before, and that it is the same name, “Kûñmû´dlĭñ,” which we
have followed from Norton Sound and found always applied to the people
just beyond us. Could we learn the meaning of this word the question
might be settled, but the only possible derivation I can see for it is
from the Greenlandic Karmaĸ, a wall, which throws no light upon the
subject. Petitot calls the people of Cape Bathurst Kρagmaliveit, which
appears to mean “the real Kûñmû´dlĭñ” (“Kûñmû´dlĭñ” and the affix
-vik, “the real”).
[Footnote N49: See also Monographie, etc., p. xi, where the name
is spelled Kρamalit.]
[Footnote N50: Vocabulaire, etc., p. 76.]
[Footnote N51: Bull. Soc. de Géog., 6^e sér., vol. 10, p. 39.]
The Kupûñmiun appear to inhabit the permanent villages which have been
seen near the western mouth of the Mackenzie, at Shingle Point[N52]
and Point Sabine,[N53] with an outlying village, supposed to be
deserted, at Point Kay.[N54] They are the natives described by Petitot
in his Monographie as the Taρèoρmeut division of the Tchiglit, to
whom, from the reasons already stated, most of his account seems to
apply. There appears to me no reasonable doubt, considering his
opportunities for observing these people, that Taρèoρmeut, “those who
dwell by the sea,” is the name that they actually apply to themselves,
and that Kupûñmiun, or Kopagmut, “those who live on the Great River,”
is a name bestowed upon them by their neighbors, perhaps their western
neighbors alone, since all the references to this name seem to be
traceable to the authority of Dr. Simpson. Should they apply to
themselves a name of similar meaning, it would probably be of a
different form, as, according to Petitot,[N55] they call the Mackenzie
Kuρvik, instead of Kupûk or Kupûñ.
[Footnote N52: T. Simpson, Narrative, p. 112.]
[Footnote N53: Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 264.]
[Footnote N54: ibid, p. 263.]
[Footnote N55: Bull. Soc. de Géog., 6^e sér., vol. 10, p. 182.]
These are the people who visit Fort Macpherson every spring and
summer,[N56] and are well known to the Hudson Bay traders as the
Mackenzie River Eskimo. They are the Eskimo encountered between
Herschel Island and the mouth of the Mackenzie by Franklin, by Dease
and Simpson, and by Hooper and Pullen, all of whom have published
brief notes concerning them.[N57]
[Footnote N56: Petitot, Monographie, etc., pp. xvi and xx.]
[Footnote N57: Franklin, 2d Exp., pp. 99-101, 105-110, 114-119 and
128; T. Simpson, Narrative, pp. 104-112; Hooper, Tents, etc., pp.
263-264. There is also a brief note by the Rev. W. W. Kirkby, in a
“Journey to the Youcan.” Smithsonian Report for 1864. These, with
Petitot’s in many respects admirable Monographie, comprise all the
information regarding these people from actual observation that
has been published. Richardson has described them at second hand
in his “Searching Expedition” and “Polar Regions.” The “Kopagmute”
of Petroff (Report, etc., p. 125) are a purely hypothetical people
invented to fill the space between “the coast people in the north
and the Athabascans in the south.”]
We are still somewhat at a loss for the proper local names of the last
labret-wearing Eskimo, those, namely, of the Anderson River and Cape
Bathurst. That they are not considered by the Taρèoρmeut as belonging
to the same “tribe” with themselves is evident from the names
Kρagmalit and Kρagmalivëit, applied to them by Petitot. Sir John
Richardson, the first white man to encounter them (in 1826), says that
they called themselves “Kitte-garrœ-oot,”[N58] and the Point Barrow
people told Dr. Simpson of country called “Kit-te-ga´-ru” beyond the
Mackenzie.[N59] These people, as well as the Taρèoρmeut, whom they
closely resemble, are described in Petitot’s Monographie, and brief
notices of them are given by Sir John Richardson,[N60] McClure,[N61]
Armstrong,[N62] and Hooper.[N63] The arts and industries of these
people from the Mackenzie to the Anderson, especially the latter
region, are well represented in the National Museum by the collections
of Messrs. Kennicott, Ross, and MacFarlane. The Point Barrow people
say that the Kupûñmiun are “bad;”[N64] but notwithstanding this small
parties from the two villages occasionally travel east to the
Mackenzie, and spend the winter at the Kupûñmiun village, whence they
visit the “great house,” returning the following season. Such a party
left Point Barrow June 15, 1882, declaring their intention of going
all the way to the Mackenzie. They returned August 25 or 26, 1883,
when we were in the midst of the confusion of closing the station, so
that we learned no details of their journey. A letter with which they
were intrusted to be forwarded to the United States through the
Mackenzie River posts reached the Chief Signal Officer in the summer
of 1883 by way of the Rampart House, on the Porcupine River, whence we
received an answer by the bearer from the factor in charge. The Eskimo
probably sent the letter to the Rampart House by the Indians who visit
that post.
[Footnote N58: Franklin, 2d Exp., p. 203.]
[Footnote N59: Ibid., p. 269.]
[Footnote N60: Franklin, 2d Exp., pp. 193, 203 and 230; Searching
Exp., and Polar Regions, p. 300.]
[Footnote N61: N. W. Passage, pp. 84-98.]
[Footnote N62: Personal Narrative, p. 176.]
[Footnote N63: Tents, etc., pp. 343-348.]
[Footnote N64: Compare what Petitot has to say--Monographie, etc.,
p. xiii and passim--about the turbulent and revengeful character
of the “Tchiglit.”]
The intercourse between these people is purely commercial. Dr.
Simpson, in the paper so often quoted, gives an excellent detailed
description of the course of this trade, which agrees in the main with
our observations, though we did not learn the particulars of time and
distance as accurately as he did. There have been some important
changes, however, since his time. A small party, perhaps five or six
families, of “Nunatañmiun” now come every summer to Point Barrow about
the end of July, or as soon as the shallow bays along shore are open.
They establish themselves at the summer camping ground at Pérnyɐ, at
the southwest corner of Elson Bay, and stay two or three weeks,
trading with the natives and the ships, dancing, and shooting ducks.
The eastward-bound parties seem to start a little earlier than
formerly (July 7, 1853, July 3, 1854,[N65] June 18, 1882, and June 29,
1883). From all accounts their relations with the eastern people are
now perfectly friendly. We heard nothing of the precautionary measures
described by Dr. Simpson,[N66] and the women talked frequently of
their trading with the Kûñmû´dlĭñ and even with the Kupûñmiun.[N67] We
did not learn definitely whether they met the latter at Barter Point
or whether they went still farther east.
[Footnote N65: Dr. Simpson, op. cit., p. 264.]
[Footnote N66: Op. cit., p. 265.]
[Footnote N67: In the Plover’s time they were left a day’s journey
in the rear.]
Some of the Point Barrow parties do not go east of the Colville. The
articles of trade have changed somewhat in the last 30 years, from the
fact that the western natives can now buy directly from the whalers
iron articles, arms, and ammunition, beads, tobacco, etc. The
Nunatañmiun now sell chiefly furs, deerskins, and clothing ready made
from them, woodenware (buckets and tubs), willow poles for setting
nets, and sometimes fossil ivory. The double-edged Siberian knives are
no longer in the market and appear to be going out of fashion, though
a few of them are still in use. Ready-made stone articles, like the
whetstones mentioned by Dr. Simpson,[N68] are rarely, if ever, in the
market. We did not hear of the purchase of stone lamps from the
eastern natives. This is probably due to a cessation of the demand for
them at Point Barrow, owing to the falling off in the population.
[Footnote N68: Op. cit., p. 266.]
The Kûñmû´dlĭñ no longer furnish guns and ammunition, as the western
natives prefer the breech-loading arms they obtain from the whalers to
the flintlock guns sold by the Hudson Bay Company. The trade with
these people seems to be almost entirely for furs and skins, notably
black and red fox skins and wolverine skins. Skins of the narwhal or
beluga are no longer mentioned as important articles of trade.
In return for these things the western natives give sealskins, etc.,
especially oil, as formerly, though I believe that very little, if
any, whalebone is now carried east, since the natives prefer to save
it for trading with the ships in the hope of getting liquor, or arms
and ammunition, and various articles of American manufacture, beads,
kettles, etc. I was told by an intelligent native of Utkiavwĭñ that
brass kettles were highly prized by the Kupûñmiun, and that a large
one would bring three wolverine skins,[N69] three black foxskins, or
five red ones. One woman was anxious to get all the empty tin cans she
could, saying that she could sell them to the Kûñmû´dlĭñ for a foxskin
apiece. We were told that the eastern natives were glad to buy gun
flints and bright-colored handkerchiefs, and that the Nunatañmiun
wanted blankets and playing cards.
[Footnote N69: T. Simpson saw iron kettles at Camden Bay which had
been purchased from the western natives at two wolverine skins
apiece. Narrative, p. 171.]
_Indians._--They informed us that east of the Colville they sometimes
met “Itkû´dlĭñ,” people with whom they could not converse, but who
were friendly and traded with them, buying oil for fox skins. They
were said to live back of the coast between the Colville and the
Mackenzie, and were described as wearing no labrets, but rings in
their ears and noses. They wear their hair long, do not tonsure the
crown, and are dressed in jackets of skin with the hair removed,
without hoods, and ornamented with beads and fringe. We saw one or two
such jackets in Utkiavwĭñ apparently made of moose skin, and a few
pouches of the same material, highly ornamented with beads. They have
long flintlock guns, white man’s wooden pipes, which they value
highly, and axes--not adzes--with which they “break many trees.” We
easily understood from this description that Indians were meant, and
since our return I have been able to identify one or two of the tribes
with tolerable certainty.
They seem better acquainted with these people than in Dr. Simpson’s
time, and know the word “kŭtchin,” people, in which many of the tribal
names end. We did not hear the names Ko´yukan or Itkalya´ruin which
Dr. Simpson learned, apparently from the Nunatañmiun.[N70] I heard one
man speak of the Kŭtcha Kutchin, who inhabit the “Yukon from the Birch
River to the Kotlo River on the east and the Porcupine River on the
north, ascending the latter a short distance.”[N71]
[Footnote N70: “The inland Eskimo also call them Ko´-yu-kan, and
divide them into three sections or tribes. * * *
One is called I´t-ka-lyi [apparently the plural of Itkûdlĭñ],
* * * the second It-kal-ya´-ruīn [different or other Itkûdlĭñ],”
op. cit., p. 269.]
[Footnote N71: Dall, Cont. to N. A. Ethn., vol. 1, p. 30, where
they are identified with Itkalyaruin of Simpson.]
One of the tribes with which they have dealings is the “Rat Indians”
of the Hudson Bay men, probably the Vunta´-Kŭtchin,[N72] from the fact
that they visit Fort Yukon. These are the people whom Capt. Maguire
met on his unsuccessful sledge journey to the eastward to communicate
with Collinson. The Point Barrow people told us that “Magwa” went east
to see “Colli´k-sina,” but did not see him, only saw the Itkûdlĭñ.
Collinson,[N73] speaking of Maguire’s second winter at Point Barrow,
says: “In attempting to prosecute the search easterly, an armed body
of Indians of the Koyukun tribe were met with, and were so hostile
that he was compelled to return.” Maguire himself, in his official
report,[N74] speaks of meeting _four_ Indians who had followed his
party for several days. He says nothing of any hostile demonstration;
in fact, says they showed signs of disappointment at his having
nothing to trade with them, but his Eskimo, he says, called them
Koyukun, which he knew was the tribe that had so barbarously murdered
Lieut. Barnard at Nulato in 1851. Moreover, each Indian had a musket,
and he had only two with a party of eight men, so he thought it safer
to turn back. However, he seems to have distributed among them printed
“information slips,” which they immediately carried to Fort Yukon, and
returning to the coast with a letter from the clerk in charge,
delivered it to Capt. Collinson on board of the _Enterprise_ at Barter
Island, July 18, 1854. The letter is as follows:
FORT YOUCON, _June 27, 1854_.
The printed slips of paper delivered by the officers of H.M.S.
_Plover_ on the 25th of April, 1854, to the Rat Indians were
received on the 27th of June, 1854, at the Hudson Bay Company’s
establishment, Fort Youcon. The Rat Indians are in the habit of
making periodical trading excursions to the Esquimaux along the
coast. They are a harmless, inoffensive set of Indians, ever ready
and willing to render any assistance they can to the whites.
WM. LUCAS HARDISTY,
_Clerk in charge_.[N75]
[Footnote N72: Ibid., p. 31.]
[Footnote N73: Arctic Papers, p. 119.]
[Footnote N74: Further papers, etc., pp. 905 et seq.]
[Footnote N75: Arctic Papers, p. 144.]
Capt. Collinson evidently never dreamed of identifying this “harmless,
inoffensive set of Indians” with “an armed body of Indians of the
Koyukun tribe.” It is important that his statement, quoted above,
should be corrected lest it serve as authority for extending the range
of the Koyukun Indians[N76] to the Arctic Ocean. The Point Barrow
people also know the name of the U´na-kho-tānā,[N77] or En´akotina, as
they pronounce it. Their intercourse with all these Indians appears to
be rather slight and purely commercial. Friendly relations existed
between the Rat Indians and the “Eskimos who live somewhere near the
Colville” as early as 1849,[N78] while it was still “war to the knife”
between the Peel River Indians and the Kupûñmiun.[N79]
[Footnote N76: Koyū´-ku´kh-otā´nā, Dall, Cont. to N. A. Eth.,
p. 27.]
[Footnote N77: Ibid., p. 28.]
[Footnote N78: Hooper, Tents, etc. p. 276.]
[Footnote N79: Ibid., p. 273.]
The name Itkû´dlĭñ, of which I´t-ka-lyi of Dr. Simpson appears to be
the plural, is a generic word for an Indian, and is undoubtedly the
same as the Greenland word erĸileĸ--plural erĸigdlit--which means a
fabulous “inlander” with a face like a dog. “They are martial spirits
and inhuman foes to mankind; however, they only inhabit the east side
of the land.”[N80] Dr. Rink[N81] has already pointed out that this
name is in use as far as the Mackenzie River--for instance, the
Indians are called “eert-kai-lee” (Parry), or “it-kagh-lie” (Lyon), at
Fury and Hecla Strait; ik-kil-lin (Gilder), at the west shore of
Hudson Bay, and “itkρe´le´it” (Petitot) at the Mackenzie. Petitot also
gives this word as itkpe´lit in his vocabulary (p. 42). These words,
including the term Ingalik, or In-ka-lik, applied by the natives of
Norton Sound to the Indians,[N82] and which Mr. Dall was informed
meant “children of a louse’s egg,” all appear to be compounds of the
word erĸeĸ, a louse egg, and the affix lik. (I suspect erĸileĸ, from
the form of its plural, to be a corruption of “erĸiliĸ,” since there
is no recognized affix -leĸ in Greenlandic.)
[Footnote N80: Crantz, vol. 1, p. 208.]
[Footnote N81: Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 1885, p. 244.]
[Footnote N82: Dall, Alaska, p. 28 and Contrib., vol. 1, p. 25.]
Petitot[N83] gives an interesting tradition in regard to the origin of
this name: “La tradition Innok dédaigne de parler ici des
Peaux-Rouges. L’áyant fait observer á mon narrateur Aρviuna: ‘Oh!’ me
repondait-il, ‘il ne vaut pas la peine d’en parler. Ils naquirent
aussi dans l’ouest, sur l’ile du Castor, des larves de nos poux. C’ést
pourquoi nous les nommons Itkρe´le´it.’”
[Footnote N83: Monographie, p. xxiv.]
CONTACT WITH CIVILIZED PEOPLE.
Until the visit of the _Blossom’s_ barge in 1826 these people had
never seen a white man, although they were already in possession of
tobacco and articles of Russian manufacture, such as copper kettles,
which they had obtained from Siberia by way of the Diomedes. Mr.
Elson’s party landed only at Refuge Inlet, and had but little
intercourse with the natives. His visit seemed to have been forgotten
by the time of the _Plover’s_ stay at Point Barrow, though Dr. Simpson
found people who recollected the visit of Thomas Simpson in 1837.[N84]
The latter, after he had left the boats and was proceeding on foot
with his party, first met the Nuwŭñmiun at Point Tangent, where there
was a small party encamped, from whom he purchased the umiak in which
he went on to Point Barrow. He landed there early in the morning of
August 4, and went down to the summer camp at Pernyɐ, where he stayed
till 1 o’clock in the afternoon, trading with the natives and watching
them dance. On his return to Point Tangent some of the natives
accompanied him to Boat Extreme, where he parted from them August 6,
so that his whole intercourse with them was confined to less than a
week.[N85]
[Footnote N84: Op. cit., p. 264.]
[Footnote N85: Narrative, pp. 146-168.]
The next white men who landed at Point Barrow were the party in the
_Plover’s_ boats, under Lieuts. Pullen and Hooper, on their way to the
Mackenzie, and the crew of Mr. Sheddon’s yacht, the _Nancy Dawson_, in
the summer of 1849. The boats were from July 29 to August 3 getting
from Cape Smyth past Point Barrow, when the crews were ashore for a
couple of days and did a little trading with the natives, whom they
found very friendly. They afterwards had one or two skirmishes with
evil-disposed parties of Nuwŭñmiun returning from the east in the
neighborhood of Return Reef. The exploring ships _Enterprise_ and
_Investigator_ also had casual meetings with the natives, who received
tobacco, etc., from the ships.
The depot ship _Plover_, Commander Maguire, spent the winters of
1852-’53 and 1853-’54 at Point Barrow, and the officers and crew,
after some misunderstandings and skirmishes, established very friendly
and sociable relations with the natives. The only published accounts
of the _Plover’s_ stay at Point Barrow are Commander Maguire’s
official reports, published in the Parliamentary Reports (Blue Books)
for 1854, pp. 165-185, and 1855, pp. 905 et seq., and Dr. Simpson’s
paper, already mentioned. Maguire’s report of the first winter’s
proceedings is also published as an appendix to Sherard Osborne’s
“Discovery of the Northwest Passage.”
We found that the elder natives remembered Maguire, whom they called
“Magwa,” very well. They gave us the names of many of his people and a
very correct account of the most important proceedings, though they
did not make it clear that the death of the man mentioned in his
report was accidental. They described “Magwa” as short and fat, with a
very thick neck, and all seemed very much impressed with the height of
his first lieutenant, “Epi´ana” (_Vernon_), who had “lots of guns.”
It was difficult to see that the _Plover’s_ visit had exerted any
permanent influence on these people. In fact, Dr. Simpson’s account of
their habits and customs would serve very well for the present time,
except in regard to the use of firearms. They certainly remembered no
English. Indeed, Dr. Simpson says[N86] that they learned hardly any.
The _Plover’s_ people probably found it very easy to do as we did and
adopt a sort of jargon of Eskimo words and “pigeon English” grammar
for general intercourse. Although, according to the account of the
natives, there was considerable intercourse between the sailors and
the Eskimo women, there are now no people living at either village who
we could be sure were born from such intercourse, though one woman was
suspected of being half English. She was remarkable only for her large
build, and was not lighter than many pure-blooded women.
[Footnote N86: Op. cit., p. 251.]
Since 1854, when the first whalers came as far north as the Point,
there has hardly been a season in which ships have not visited this
region, and for a couple of months every year the natives have had
considerable intercourse with the whites, going off to the ships to
trade, while the sailors come ashore occasionally. We found that they
usually spoke of white men as “kablu´na;” but they informed us that
they had another word, “tû´n-nyĭn,” which they used to employ among
themselves when they saw a ship. Dr. Simpson[N87] says that they
learned the word “kabluna” from the eastern natives, but that the
latter (he gives it Tan´-ning or Tan´-gin) came from the Nunata´ñmiun.
He supposes it to apply to the Russians, who had regular bath days at
their posts, and says it is derived from tan-nikh-lu-go, to wash or
cleanse the person.
[Footnote N87: Op. cit., p. 271.]
The chief change resulting from their intercourse with the whites has
been the introduction of firearms. Nearly all the natives are now
provided with guns, some of them of the best modern patterns of
breechloaders, and they usually succeed in procuring a supply of
ammunition. This is in some respects a disadvantage, as the reindeer
have become so wild that the natives would no longer be able to
procure a sufficient number of them for food and clothing with their
former appliances, and they are thus rendered dependent on the ships.
On the other hand, with a plentiful supply of ammunition it is easier
for them to procure abundance of food, both deer and seals, and they
are less liable to famine than in former times.
There is no reason to fear, as has been suggested, that they will lose
the art of making any of their own weapons except in the case of the
bow. With firearms alone they would be unable to obtain any seals,
a much more important source of food than the reindeer, and their own
appliances for sealing are much better than any civilized
contrivances. Although they have plenty of the most improved modern
whaling gear, they are not likely to forget the manufacture of their
own implements for this purpose, as this important fishery is ruled by
tradition and superstition, which insists that at least one harpoon of
the ancient pattern must be used in taking every whale. All are now
rich in iron, civilized tools, canvas and wreck wood, and in this
respect their condition is improved.
They have, however, adopted very few civilized habits. They have
contracted a taste for civilized food, especially hard bread and
flour, but this they are unable to obtain for 10 months of the year,
and they are thus obliged to adhere to their former habits. In fact,
except in regard to the use of firearms and mechanics’ tools, they
struck me as essentially a conservative people.
Petroff[N88] makes the assertion that in late years their movements
have been guided chiefly by those of the whalers. As far as we could
observe they have not changed the course or time of their journeys
since Dr. Simpson’s time, except that they have given up the autumn
whaling, possibly on account of the presence of the ships at that
season. Of course, men who are rich in whalebone now stay to trade
with the ships, while those who have plenty of oil go east. They are
not absolutely dependent on the ships for anything except ammunition,
and even during the short time the ships are with them they hardly
neglect their own pursuits.
[Footnote N88: Report, etc., p. 125.]
The one unmitigated evil of their intercourse with the whites has been
the introduction of spirits. Apart from the direct injury which liquor
does to their health, their passionate fondness for it leads them to
barter away valuable articles which should have served to procure
ammunition or other things of permanent use. It is to be hoped,
however, that the liquor traffic is decreasing. The vigilance of the
revenue cutter prevents regular whisky traders from reaching the
Arctic Ocean, and public opinion among the whaling captains seems to
be growing in the right direction.
Another serious evil, which it would be almost impossible to check, is
the unlimited intercourse of the sailors with the Eskimo women. The
whites can hardly be said to have introduced laxity of sexual morals,
but they have encouraged a natural savage tendency, and have taught
them prostitution for gain, which has brought about great excesses,
fortunately confined to a short season. This may have something to do
with the want of fertility among the women.
Our two years of friendly relations with these people were greatly to
their advantage. Not only were our house and our doings a constant
source of amusement to them, but they learned to respect and trust the
whites. Without becoming dependent on us or receiving any favors
without some adequate return either in work or goods, they were able
to obtain tobacco, hard bread, and many other things of use to them,
all through the year. Our presence prevented their procuring more than
trifling quantities of spirits, and though the supply of
breech-loading ammunition was pretty well cut off, they could get
plenty of powder and shot for their muzzle loaders. The abundance of
civilized food was undoubtedly good for them, and our surgeon was able
to give them a great deal of help in sickness.
In all their intercourse with the whites they have learned very little
English, chiefly a few oaths and exclamations like “Get out of here,”
and the words of such songs as “Little Brown Jug” and “Shoo Fly,”
curiously distorted. They have as a rule invented genuine Eskimo words
for civilized articles which are new to them.[N89] Even in their
intimate relations with us they learned but few more phrases and in
most cases without a knowledge of their meaning.
[Footnote N89: See list of “New Words,” Rep. Point Barrow Exp.,
p. 57.]
There are a few Hawaiian words introduced by the Kanaka sailors on the
whaleships, which are universally employed between whites and Eskimo
along the whole of the Arctic coast, and occasionally at least among
the Eskimo themselves. These are _kau-kau_,[N90] food, or to eat;
_hana-hana_, work; _pûnĭ-pûnĭ_, _coitus_, and _pau_, not. _Wahíne_,
woman, is also used, but is less common. Another foreign word now
universally employed among them in their intercourse with the whites,
and even, I believe, among themselves, is “kuníɐ” for woman or wife.
They themselves told us that it was not an Eskimo word--“When there
were no white men, there was no _kuníɐ_”--and some of the whalemen who
had been at Hudson Bay said it was the “Greenland” word for woman. It
was not until our return to this country that we discovered it to be
the Danish word _kone_, woman, which in the corrupted form “coony” is
in common use among the eastern Eskimo generally in the jargon they
employ in dealing with the whites. _Kuníɐ_ is “coony” with the suffix
of the third person, and therefore means “his wife.” It is sometimes
used at Point Barrow for either of a married couple in the sense of
our word “spouse.”
[Footnote N90: The history of this word, which also appears as a
Chuckch word in some of the vocabularies collected by
Nordenskiöld’s expedition, is rather curious. Chamisso (Kotzebue’s
Voyage, vol. 2, p. 392, foot-note) says that this is a Hawaiian
corruption of the well-known “Pigeon-English” (he calls it
Chinese) word “chow-chow” recently (in 1816-’17) adopted by the
Sandwich Islanders from the people with whom they trade. I am
informed that the word is not of Chinese origin, but probably came
from India, like many other words in “Pigeon-English.” Chamisso
also calls _pûnĭ-pûnĭ_ a Chinese word, but I have been able to
learn nothing of its origin.]
NATURAL RESOURCES.
ANIMALS.
These people are acquainted with the following animals, all of which
are more or less hunted, and serve some useful purpose.
_Mammals._--The wolf, amáxo (Canis lupus griseo-albus), is not
uncommon in the interior, but rarely if ever reaches the coast. Red
and black foxes, kaiă´ktûk (Vulpes fulvus fulvus and argentatus), are
chiefly known from their skins, which are common articles in the trade
with the eastern natives, and the same is true of the wolverine,
ka´vwĭñ (Gulo luscus), and the marten, kabweatyía (Mustela americana).
The arctic fox, tĕrĭgûniɐ (Vulpes lagopus), is very abundant along the
coast, while the ermine (Putorius erminea) and Parry’s spermophile
(Spermophilus empetra empetra) are not rare. The last is called
sĭksĭñ. Lemmings, a´vwĭñɐ, of two species (Cuniculus torquatus and
Myodes obensis) are very abundant some years, and they recognize a
tiny shrewmouse (Sorex forsteri). This little animal is called ugrúnɐ,
a word corresponding to the name ugssungnaĸ given to the same animal
in Labrador, which, according to Kleinschmidt,[N91] is an ironical
application of the name of the largest seal, ugssuk (ugru at Point
Barrow), to the smallest mammal known to the Eskimo. The same name is
also applied at Point Barrow to the fossil ox, whose bones are
sometimes found. The most abundant land animal, however, is the
reindeer, tŭ´ktu (Rangifer tarandus grœnlandicus), which is found in
winter in great herds along the upper waters of the rivers,
occasionally coming down to the coast, and affords a very important
supply of food.
[Footnote N91: Grønlandsk Ordbog, p. 386.]
The moose, tŭ´ktuwŭñ, or “big reindeer” (Alce machlis), is well known
from the accounts of the Nunatañmiun, who bring moose skins to trade.
Some of the natives have been east to hunt the mountain sheep, i´mnêɐ
(Ovis canadensis dalli), and all are familiar with its skin, horns,
and teeth, which they buy of the eastern natives. The musk ox, umĭñmau
(Ovibos moschatus), is known only from its bones, which are sometimes
found on the tundra. Inland, near the rivers, they also find a large
brown bear, ă´kqlak, which is probably the barren ground bear, while
on the ice-pack, the polar bear, nä´nu (Thalassarctos maritimus), is
not uncommon, sometimes making raids on the provision storehouses in
the villages.
The most important sea animal is the little rough seal, nĕtyĭĸ (Phoca
fœtida), which is very abundant at all seasons. Its flesh is the great
staple of food, while its blubber supplies the Eskimo lamps, and its
skin serves countless useful purposes. The great bearded seal, úgru
(Erignathus barbatus), is less common. It is especially valued for its
hide, which serves for covering the large boats and making stout
harpoon lines. Two other species of seal, the harbor seal, kasigía
(Phoca vitulina), and the beautiful ribbon seal, kaixólĭñ (Phoca
fasciata), are known, but both are uncommon, the latter very rare.
Herds of walrus, ai´bwêk (Odobænus obesus), pass along the coast in
the open season, generally resting on cakes of floating ice, and are
pursued for their hides and ivory as well as their flesh and blubber.
Whales, akbwêk, of the species Balæna mysticetus, most pursued for its
oil and whalebone, travel along the coast in the leads of open water
above described from the middle of April to the latter part of June in
large numbers, and return in the autumn, appearing about the end of
August. White whales, kĭlĕlua (Delphinapterus sp.), are not uncommon
in the summer, and they say the narwhal, tugálĭñ (Monodon monoceros),
is occasionally seen. They are also acquainted with another cetacean,
which they call áxlo, and which appears from their description to be a
species of Orca.
_Birds._--In the spring, that is during May and the early part of
June, vast flocks of migrating ducks pass to the northeast, close to
the shore, a few only remaining to breed, and return at the end of the
summer from the latter part of July to the end of September. Nearly
all the returning birds cross the isthmus of Point Barrow at Pernyɐ
where the natives assemble in large numbers for the purpose of taking
them. These migrating birds are mostly king ducks, kĭñalĭñ (Somateria
spectabilis), Pacific eiders, amau´lĭñ (S. v-nigra), and long-tailed
ducks, a´dyigi´a, a´hadlĭñ (Clangula hyemalis), with smaller numbers
of the spectacled eider, ka´waso (Arctonetta fischeri), and Steller’s
ducks, ĭgnikau´kto (Eniconetta stelleri). At the rivers they also find
numbers of pintails, i´vwûgɐ (Dafila acuta), which visit the coast in
small numbers during the migrations. Geese of three species, the
American white-fronted goose, nû´glûgruɐ (Anser albifrons gambeli),
the lesser snow-goose, kû´ño (Chen hyperborea), and the black brant,
nûglû´gnɐ (Branta nigricans), are not uncommon on the coast both
during the migrations and the breeding season, but the natives find
them in much greater abundance at the rivers, where they also find a
species of swan, ku´gru, probably Olor columbianus, which rarely
visits the coast.
Next in importance to the natives are the gulls, of which the Point
Barrow gull, nau´yɐ (Larus barrovianus), is the most abundant all
through the season, though the rare rosy gull, kă´ñmaxlu (Rhodostethes
rosea), appears in multitudes late in the autumn. The ivory gull
(Gavia alba), nariyalbwûñ, and Sabine’s gull, yûkû´drĭgûgi´ɐ (Xema
Sabinii), are uncommon, while the Arctic tern, utyuta´kĭn (Sterna
paradisea), is rather abundant, especially about the sandspits of
Nuwŭk. All these species, particularly the larger ones, are taken for
food.
Three species of loons are common: the great white-billed loon,
tu´dlĭñ (Urinator adamsi), and the Pacific and red-throated divers
(U. pacificus and lumme), which are not distinguished from each other
but are both called kă´ksau. They also occasionally see the
thick-billed guillemot a´kpa (Uria lomvia arra), and more often the
sea-pigeon, sêkbwɐk (Cephus mandtii). The three species of jaegers
(Stercorarius pomarinus, parasiticus, and longicaudus) are not
distinguished from one another but are all called isuñɐ. They pay but
little attention to the numerous species of wading birds which appear
in considerable abundance in the migrations and breeding season, but
they recognize among them the turnstone, tûlĭ´gwa (Arenaria
interpres), the gray plover, ki´raio´n (Charadrius squatarola), the
American golden plover, tu´dlĭñ (C. dominicus), the knot, tu´awi´a
(Tringa canutus), the pectoral and Baird’s sandpipers, (T. maculata
and bairdii), both called ai´bwûkiɐ, the red-backed sandpiper mêkapĭñ
(T. alpina pacifica), the semipalmated sandpiper, nĭwĭlĭwĭ´lûk
(Ereunetes pusillus), the buff-breasted sandpiper, nu´dluayu
(Tryngites subruficollis), the red phalarope, sabrañ (Chrymophilus
fulicarius), and the northern phalarope, sabrañnɐ; (Phalaropus
lobatus). The last is rare at Point Barrow, but they see many of them
near the Colville. The little brown crane, tutĭ´drĭgɐ (Grus
canadensis), is also rare at the Point, but they say they find many of
them at the mouth of Kulu´grua.
Of land birds, the most familiar are the little snow bunting, amauligɐ
(Plectrophenax nivalis), the first bird to arrive in the spring, the
Lapland longspur, nĕssau´dligɐ (Calcarius lapponicus), and two species
of grouse, the willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) and the rock ptarmigan
(L. rupestris), which are both called akû´dĭgĭn. These two birds do
not migrate, but are to be seen all winter, as is also the well known
snowy owl, u´kpĭk (Nyctea nyctea). A gerfalcon, kĭ´drĭgûmĭñ (Falco
rusticolus), is also sometimes seen, and skins and feathers of the
golden eagle, tĭ´ñmiɐkpûk, “the great bird” (Aquila chrysætos), are
brought from the east for charms and ornaments. The raven, tulúɐ
(Corvus corax sinuatus), was not seen at Point Barrow, but the natives
are familiar with it and have many of its skins for amulets. Several
species of small land birds also occur in small numbers, but the
natives are not familiar with them and call them all “sû´ksaxíɐ.” This
name appears to mean “wanderer” or “flutterer,” and probably belongs,
I believe, to the different species of redpolls (Aegiothus).
_Fishes._--A few species only of fish are found in the salt water. Of
these the most abundant are the little polar cod (Boreogadus saida),
which is plentiful through the greater part of the year, and is often
an important source of food, and the capelin, añmû´grûñ (Mallotus
villosus), which is found in large schools close to the beach in the
middle of summer. There are also caught sometimes two species of
sculpins, kû´naio (Cottus quadricornis and decastrensis), and two
species of Lycodes, kúgraunɐ (L. turnerii and coccineus). In the gill
nets at Elson Bay they also catch two species of salmon (Onchorhynchus
gorbuscha and nerka) and a whitefish (Coregonus laurettæ) in small
numbers, and occasionally a large trout (Salvelinus malma). The
last-named fish they find sometimes in great numbers, near the mouth
of the Colville.
The greatest quantities of fish are taken in the rivers, especially
Kuaru and Kulugrua, by fishing through the ice in the winter. They say
there are no fish taken in Ikpikpûñ, and account for this by
explaining that the former two rivers freeze down to the bottom on the
shallow bars inclosing deep pools in which the fish are held, while in
the latter the ice never touches the bottom, so that the fish are free
to run down to the sea. The species caught are the small Coregonus
laurettæ, two large whitefish (C. kennicottii and nelsoni), and the
burbot, tita´liñ (Lota maculosa). They speak of a fish, sulukpau´ga
(which appears to mean “wing-fin” and is applied in Greenland to a
species of Sebastes), that is caught with the hook in Kulugrua
apparently only in summer, and seems from the description to be Back’s
grayling (Thymallus signifer). In the river Ku is caught a smelt,
ĭthoa´nĭñ (Osmerus dentex). In the great lake, Tă´syûkpûñ (see above,
p. 29), they tell of an enormous fish “as big as a kaiak.” They gave
it no name, but describe it as having a red belly and white flesh. One
man said he had seen one 18 feet long, but another was more moderate,
giving about 3 feet as the length of the longest he had seen.
_Insects and other invertebrates._--Of insects, they recognize the
troublesome mosquito, kiktorɐ (Culex spp.), flies, bumblebees, and
gadflies (Œestrus tarandi), both of which they seem much afraid of,
and call i´gutyai, and the universal louse, ku´mɐk. All the large
winged insects, including the rare butterflies and moths and crane
flies, are called tûkĭlû´kica, or tûkilûkĭdja´ksûn, which is also the
name of the yellow poppy (Papaver nudicaule). We were told that “by
and by” the poppies would turn into “little birds” and fly away, which
led us to suppose that there was some yellow butterfly which we should
find abundant in the later summer, but we saw none either season.
A small spider is sometimes found in the Eskimo houses, and is called
pidrairu´rɐ, “the little braider.” They pay but little attention to
other invertebrates, but are familiar with worms, kupidro, a species
of crab, kinau´rɐ, (Hyas latifrons), and the little branchipus,
iritu´ña (Greenlandic issitôrak, “the little one with big eyes”), of
the fresh water-pools. Cockles (Buccinum, etc.) are called siu´tigo
(Gr. siuterok, from siut, ear), and clams have a name which we failed
to obtain. Jellyfish are called ipiaru´rɐ, “like bags.” They say the
“Kûñmudlĭñ” eat them!
PLANTS.
Few plants that are of any service to man grow in this region. The
willows, ŭ´kpĭk, of various species, which near the coast are nothing
but creeping vines, are sometimes used as fuel, especially along the
rivers, where they grow into shrubs 5 or 6 feet high. Their catkins
are used for tinder and the moss, mû´nĭk, furnishes wicks for the
lamps. We could find no fruit that could be eaten. A cranberry
(Vaccinium vitis-idæa) occurs, but produced no fruit either season. No
use is made of the different species of grass, which are especially
luxuriant around the houses at Utkiavwĭñ, where the ground is richly
manured with various sorts of refuse,[N92] though the species of
mosses and lichens furnish the reindeer with food easily reached in
the winter through the light covering of snow. Little attention is
paid to the numerous, and sometimes showy, flowering plants. We
learned but two names of flowers, the one mentioned above,
tûkĭlû´kica, tûkĭlûkĭdja´ksûn, which seemed to be applied to all
striking yellow or white flowers, such as Papaver, Ranunculus, and
Draba, and mai´sun, the bright pink Pedicularis. All the wood used in
this region, except the ready-made woodenware and the willow poles
obtained from the Nunatañmiun, comes from the drift on the beach. Most
of this on the beach west of Point Barrow appears to come from the
southwest, as the prevailing current along this shore is to the
northeast, and may be derived from the large rivers flowing into
Kotzebue Sound, since it shows signs of having been long in the water.
The driftwood, which is reported to be abundant east of Point Barrow,
probably comes from the great rivers emptying into the Arctic Ocean.
This wood is sufficiently abundant to furnish the natives with all
they need for fuel and other purposes, and consists chiefly of pine,
spruce, and cottonwood, mostly in the form of water-worn logs, often
of large size. Of late years, also, much wood of the different kinds
used in shipbuilding has drifted ashore from wrecks.
[Footnote N92: “The oil had acted as a manure on the soil, and
produced a luxuriant crop of grass from 1 to 2 feet high” (village
at Point Atkinson, east of the Mackenzie). Richardson Searching
Exp., vol. 1, p. 254.]
MINERALS.
The people of this region are acquainted with few mineral substances,
excluding the metals which they obtain from the whites. The most
important are flint, slate, soapstone, jade, and a peculiar form of
massive pectolite, first described by Prof. F. W. Clarke[N93] from
specimens brought home by our party. Flint, ánma, was formerly in
great demand for arrow and spear heads and other implements, and
according to Dr. Simpson[N94] was obtained from the Nunatañmiun. It is
generally black or a slightly translucent gray, but we collected a
number of arrowheads, etc., made of jasper, red or variegated. A few
crystals of transparent quartz, sometimes smoky, were also seen, and
appeared to be used as amulets. Slate, ulu´ksɐ, “material for a round
knife,” was used, as its name imports, for making the woman’s round
knife, and for harpoon blades, etc. It is a smooth clay slate, varying
in hardness, and light green, red, purple, dark gray, or black in
color. All the pieces of soft gray soapstone, tună´ktɐ, which are so
common at both villages, are probably fragments of the lamps and
kettles obtained in former years from the eastern natives. The jade is
often very beautiful, varying from a pale or bright translucent green
to a dark olive, almost black, and was formerly used for making adzes,
whetstones, and occasionally other implements. The pectolite,
generally of a pale greenish or bluish color, was only found in the
form of oblong, more or less cylindrical masses, used as hammerheads.
Both of these minerals were called kau´dlo, and were said to come
“from the east, a long way off,” from high rocky ground, but all that
we could learn was very indefinite. Dr. Simpson was informed[N95] that
the stones for making whetstones were brought from the Kuwûk River, so
that this jade is probably the same as that which is said to form Jade
Mountain, in that region.
[Footnote N93: U.S. Geol. Surv., Bull. 9, p. 9, 1884.]
[Footnote N94: Op. cit., p. 266.]
[Footnote N95: Op. cit., p. 266.]
Bits of porphyry, syenite, and similar rocks are used for making
labrets, and large pebbles are used as hammers and net sinkers. They
have also a little iron pyrites, both massive and in the form of
spherical concretions. The latter were said to come from the mouth of
the Colville, and are believed by the natives to have fallen from the
sky. Two other kinds of stone are brought from the neighborhood of
Nu´ɐsŭknan, partly, it appears, as curiosities, and partly with some
ill defined mystical notions. The first are botryoidal masses of brown
limonite, resembling bog iron ore, and the other sort curious
concretions, looking like the familiar “clay stones,” but very heavy,
and apparently containing a great deal of iron pyrites. White gypsum,
used for rubbing the flesh side of deerskins, is obtained on the
seashore at a place called Tû´tyĕ, “one sleep” east from Point Barrow.
Bituminous coal, alu´a, is well known, though not used for fuel. Many
small fragments, which come perhaps from the vein at Cape
Beaufort,[N96] are picked up on the beach. Shaly, very bituminous
coal, broken into small square fragments, is rather abundant on the
bars of Kulugrua, whence specimens were brought by Capt. Herendeen.
A native of Wainwright Inlet gave us to understand that coal existed
in a regular vein near that place, and told a story of a burning hill
in that region. This may be a coal bed on fire, or possibly “smoking
cliffs,” like those seen by the _Investigator_ in Franklin Bay.[N97]
We also heard a story of a lake of tar or bitumen, ádngun, said to be
situated on an island a day’s sail east of the point. Blacklead,
mĭ´ñun, and red ocher are abundant and used as pigments, but we did
not learn where they were obtained. Pieces of amber are sometimes
found on the beach and are carried as amulets or (rarely) made into
beads. Amber is called aúmɐ, a word that in other Eskimo dialects, and
probably in this also, means “a live coal.” Its application to a lump
of amber is quite a striking figure of speech.
[Footnote N96: Hooper found coal on the beach at Nuwŭk in 1849,
showing that this coal has not necessarily been thrown over from
ships. Tents of the Tuski, p. 221.]
[Footnote N97: Discovery of the Northwest Passage, p. 100.]
CULTURE.
MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE.
FOOD.
_Substances used for food._--The food of these people consists almost
entirely of animal substances. The staple article of food is the flesh
of the rough seal, of which they obtain more than of any other meat.
Next in importance is the venison of the reindeer, though this is
looked upon as a kind of dainty.[N98] Many well developed fœtal
reindeer are brought home from the spring deer hunt and are said to be
excellent eating, though we never saw them eaten. They also eat the
flesh of the other three species of seal, the walrus, the polar bear,
the “bowhead” whale, the white whale, and all the larger kinds of
birds, geese, ducks, gulls, and grouse. All the different kinds of
fish appear to be eaten, with the possible exception of the two
species of Lycodes (only a few of these were caught, and all were
purchased for our collection) and very little of a fish is wasted
except the hardest parts. Walrus hide is sometimes cooked and eaten in
times of scarcity. Mollusks of any kind are rarely eaten, as it is
difficult to procure them. After a heavy gale in the autumn of 1881,
when the beach was covered with marine animals, mostly lamellibranch
mollusks with their shells and softer parts broken off by the violence
of the surf, we saw one woman collect a lapful of these “clam-heads,”
which she said she was going to eat. The “blackskin” (epidermis) of
the whale is considered a great delicacy by them, as by all the other
Eskimo who are able to procure it, and they are also very fond of the
tough white skin or gum round the roots of the whalebone.[N99]
[Footnote N98: The Eskimo of Iglulik “prefer venison to any kind
of meat.” Parry, 2d Voyage, p. 510.]
[Footnote N99: Compare Hooper, Tents, etc. “This, which the Tuski
call their sugar,” p. 174; and Hall, Arctic Researches, p. 132
(Baffin Land).]
We saw and heard nothing of the habit so generally noticed among other
Eskimo and in Siberia of eating the half-digested contents of the
stomach of the reindeer, but we found that they were fond of the fæces
taken from the rectum of the deer. I find that this curious habit has
been noticed among Eskimo only in two other places--Greenland in
former times and Boothia Felix. The Greenlanders ate “the Dung of the
Rein-deer, taken out of the Guts when they clean them; the Entrails of
Partridges and the like Out-cast, pass for Dainties with them.”[N100]
The dung of the musk ox and reindeer when fresh were considered a
delicacy by the Boothians, according to J. C. Ross.[N101] The entrails
of fowls are also considered a great delicacy and are carefully cooked
as a separate dish.[N102]
[Footnote N100: Egede, Greenland, p. 136.]
[Footnote N101: Appendix to Ross’s 2d Voyage, p. xix.]
[Footnote N102: Compare the passage from Egede, just quoted, and
also Kumlien, Contributions, etc., p. 20, at Cumberland Gulf.]
As far as our observations go these people eat little, if any, more
fat than civilized man, and, as a rule, not by itself. Fat may
occasionally be eaten (they are fond of the fat on the inside of duck
skins), but they do not habitually eat the great quantities of blubber
spoken of in some other places[N103] or drink oil, as the Hudson Bay
Eskimo are said to do by Hall, or use it as a sauce for dry food, like
the natives of Norton Sound. It is usually supposed and generally
stated in the popular accounts of the Eskimo that it is a
physiological necessity for them to eat enormous quantities of blubber
in order to obtain a sufficient amount of carbon to enable them to
maintain their animal heat in the cold climate which they inhabit.
A careful comparison, however, of the reports of actual
observers[N104] shows that an excessive eating of fat is not the rule,
and is perhaps confined to the territory near Boothia Felix.
[Footnote N103: For instance, Schwatka says that the Nĕtcĭlĭk of
King William Land devour enormous quantities of seal blubber,
“noticeably more in summer than the other tribes,” viz, those of
the western shores of Hudson’s Bay (Science, vol. 4, p. 544).
Parry speaks of the natives of the Savage Islands, Hudson’s
Strait, eating raw blubber and sucking the oil remaining on the
skins they had emptied (2d Voyage, p. 14).]
[Footnote N104: See for example Egede’s Greenland, p. 134; Crantz,
History of Greenland, vol. 1, p. 144; Dall, Alaska, passim;
Hooper, Tents of the Tuski, p. 170; Nordenskiöld, Vega, p. 110.]
Eggs of all kinds, except, of course, the smallest, are eagerly sought
for, but the smaller birds are seldom eaten, as it is a waste of time
and ammunition to pursue them. We saw this people eat no vegetable
substances, though they informed us that the buds of the willow were
sometimes eaten. Of late years they have acquired a fondness for many
kinds of civilized food, especially bread of any kind, flour, sugar,
and molasses, and some of them are learning to like salt. They were
very glad to purchase from us corn-meal “mush” and the broken victuals
from the table. These were, however, considered as special dainties
and eaten as luncheons or as a dessert after the regular meal. The
children and even some of the women were always on the watch for the
cook’s slop bucket to be brought out, and vied with the ubiquitous
dogs in searching for scraps of food. Meat which epicures would call
rather “high” is eaten with relish, but they seem to prefer fresh meat
when they can get it.
_Means of preparing food._--Food is generally cooked, except, perhaps,
whale-skin and whale gum, which usually seem to be eaten as soon as
obtained, without waiting for a fire. Meat of all kinds is generally
boiled in abundance of water over a fire of driftwood, and the broth
thus made is drunk hot before eating the meat. Fowls are prepared for
boiling by skinning them. Fish are also boiled, but are often eaten
raw, especially in winter at the deer-hunting camps, when they are
frozen hard. Meat is sometimes eaten raw or frozen. Lieut. Ray found
one family in camp on Kulugrua who had no fire of any kind, and were
eating everything raw. They had run out of oil some time before and
did not like to spend time in going to the coast for more while deer
were plentiful.
When traveling in winter, according to Lieut. Ray, they prefer frozen
fish or a sort of pemmican made as follows: The marrow is extracted
from reindeer bones by boiling, and to a quantity of this is added 2
or 3 pounds of crushed seal or whale blubber, and the whole beaten up
with the hands in a large wooden bowl to the consistency of frozen
cream. Into this they stir bits of boiled venison, generally the
poorer portions of the meat scraped off the bone, and chewed up small
by all the women and children of the family, “each using some
cabalistic word as they cast in their mouthful.”[N105] The mass is
made up into 2-pound balls and carried in little sealskin bags. Flour,
when obtained, is made into a sort of porridge, of which they are very
fond. Cooking is mostly done outside of the dwelling, in the open air
in summer, or in kitchens opening out of the passageway in winter.
Little messes only, like an occasional dish of soup or porridge, are
cooked over the lamps in the house. This habit, of course, comes from
the abundant supply of firewood, while the Eskimo most frequently
described live in a country where wood is very scarce, and are obliged
to depend on oil for fuel.
[Footnote N105: Lieut. Ray’s MS. notes.]
_Time and frequency of eating._--When these people are living in the
winter houses they do not, as far as we could learn, have any regular
time for meals, but eat whenever they are hungry and have leisure. The
women seem to keep a supply of cooked food on hand ready for any one
to eat. When the men are working in the kû´dyĭgi, or “club house,” or
when a number of them are encamped together in tents, as at the
whaling camp in 1883, or the regular summer camp at Pe´rnyû, the women
at intervals through the day prepare dishes of meat, which the men eat
by themselves. When in the deer-hunting camps, according to Lieut.
Ray, they eat but little in the morning, and can really be said to
take no more than one full meal a day, which is eaten at night when
the day’s work is done.[N106] When on the march they usually take a
few mouthfuls of the pemmican above described before they start out in
the morning, and rarely touch food again till they go into camp at
night.
[Footnote N106: “They have no set Time for Meals, but every one
eats when he is hungry, except when they go to sea, and then their
chief Repast is a supper after they are come home in the Evening.”
(Egede, Greenland, p. 135. Compare also, Crantz, vol. 1, p. 145.)]
When a family returns from the spring deer hunt with plenty of venison
they usually keep open house for a day or two. The women of the
household, with sometimes the assistance of a neighbor or two, keep
the pot continually boiling, sending in dishes of meat at intervals,
while the house is full of guests who stay for a short time, eating,
smoking, and chatting, and then retire to make room for others. Messes
are sometimes sent out to invalids who can not come to the feast. One
household in the spring of 1883 consumed in this way two whole
reindeer in 24 hours. They use only their hands and a knife in eating
meat, usually filling the mouth and cutting or biting off the
mouthful. They are large eaters, some of them, especially the women,
eating all the time when they have plenty, but we never saw them gorge
themselves in the manner described by Dr. Kane (2d Grinnell Exp.,
passim) and other writers.
Their habits of hospitality prevent their laying up any large supply
of meat, though blubber is carefully saved for commercial use, and
they depend for subsistence, almost from day to day, on their success
in hunting. When encamped, however, in small parties in the summer
they often take more seals than they can consume. The carcasses of
these, stripped of their skins and blubber, are buried in the gravel
close to the camp, and dug up and brought home when meat becomes
scarce in the winter.
DRINKS.
The habitual drink is water, which these people consume in great
quantities when they can obtain it, and like to have very cold. In the
winter there is always a lump of clean snow on a rack close to the
lamp, with a tub under it to catch the water that drips from it. This
is replaced in the summer by a bucket of fresh water from some pond or
lake. When the men are sitting in their open air clubs at the summer
camps there is always a bucket of fresh water in the middle of the
circle, with a dipper to drink from. Hardly a native ever passed the
station without stopping for a drink of water, often drinking a quart
of cold water at a time. When tramping about in the winter they eat
large quantities of ice and snow, and on the march the women carry
small canteens of sealskin, which they fill with snow and carry inside
of their jackets, where the heat of the body melts the snow and keeps
it liquid. This great fondness for plenty of cold water has been often
noticed among the Eskimo elsewhere, and appears to be quite
characteristic of the race.[N107] They have acquired a taste for
liquor, and like to get enough to produce intoxication. As well as we
could judge, they are easily affected by alcohol. Some of them during
our stay learned to be very fond of coffee, “ka´fe,” but tea they are
hardly acquainted with, though they will drink it. I have noticed that
they sometimes drank the water produced by the melting of the sea ice
along the beach, and pronounced it excellent when it was so brackish
that I found it quite undrinkable.
[Footnote N107: See, for instance, Egede: “Their Drink is nothing
but Water” (Greenland, p. 134), and, “Furthermore, they put great
Lumps of Ice and Snow into the Water they drink, to make it cooler
for to quench their Thirst” (p. 135). “Their drink is clear water,
which stands in the house in a great copper vessel, or in a wooden
tub. * * * They bring in a supply of fresh water every day * * *
and that their water may be cool they choose to lay a piece of ice
or a little snow in it” * * * (Crantz, vol. 1, p. 144). Compare,
also, Parry, 2d voy., p. 506, where the natives of Iglulik are
said to drink a great deal of water, which they get by melting
snow, and like very cold. The same fondness for water was observed
by Nordenskiöld in Siberia (Vega, vol. 2, p. 114).]
NARCOTICS.
The only narcotic in use among these people is tobacco, which they
obtain directly or indirectly from the whites, and which has been in
use among them from the earliest time when we have any knowledge of
them. When Mr. Elson, in the _Blossom’s_ barge, visited Point Barrow,
in 1826, he found tobacco in general use and the most marketable
article.[N108] This undoubtedly came from the Russians by way of
Siberia and Bering Strait, as Kotzebue found the natives of the sound
which bears his name, who were in communication with the Asiatic coast
by way of the Diomedes, already addicted to the use of tobacco in
1816. It is not probable that tobacco was introduced on the Arctic
coast by way of the Russian settlements in Alaska. There were no
Russian posts north of Bristol Bay until 1833, when St. Michael’s
Redoubt was built. When Capt. Cook visited Bristol Bay, in 1778, he
found that tobacco was not used there,[N109] while in Norton Sound,
the same year, the natives “had no dislike to tobacco.”[N110] Neither
was it introduced from the English posts in the east, as Franklin
found the “Kûñmû´dlĭñ” not in the habit of using it--“The western
Esquimaux use tobacco, and some of our visitors had smoked it, but
thought the flavor very disagreeable,”[N111]--nor had they adopted the
habit in 1837.[N112]
[Footnote N108: Beechey, Voyage, p. 308.]
[Footnote N109: Third Voyage, vol. 2, p. 437.]
[Footnote N110: Ibid, 2, p. 479.]
[Footnote N111: Second Exp., p. 130.]
[Footnote N112: See T. Simpson, Narrative, p. 156.]
When the _Plover_ wintered at Point Barrow, according to Dr. Simpson’s
account,[N113] all the tobacco, except a little obtained from the
English discovery ships, came from Asia and was brought by the
Nunatañmiun. At present the latter bring very little if any tobacco,
and the supply is obtained directly from the ships, though a little
occasionally finds its way up the coast from the southwest.
[Footnote N113: Op. cit., pp. 235, 236, 266.]
They use all kinds of tobacco, but readily distinguish and desire the
sorts considered better by the whites. For instance, they were eager
to get the excellent quality of “Navy” tobacco furnished by the
Commissary Department, while one of our party who had a large quantity
of exceedingly bad fine-cut tobacco could hardly give it away.
A little of the strong yellow “Circassian” tobacco used by the
Russians for trading is occasionally brought up from the southwest,
and perhaps also by the Nunatañmiun, and is very highly prized,
probably because it was in this form that they first saw tobacco.
Snuff seems to be unknown; tobacco is used only for chewing and
smoking. The habit of chewing tobacco is almost universal. Men, women,
and even children, though the latter be but 2 or 3 years old and
unweaned,[N114] when tobacco is to be obtained, keep a “chew,” often
of enormous size, constantly in the mouth. The juice is not spit out,
but swallowed with the saliva, without producing any signs of nausea.
The tobacco is chewed by itself and not sweetened with sugar, as was
observed by Hooper and Nordenskiöld among the “Chukches.”[N115] I knew
but two adult Eskimo in Utkiavwĭñ who did not chew tobacco, and one of
these adopted the habit to a certain extent while we were there.
[Footnote N114: Compare J. Simpson, op. cit., p. 250, and
Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, p. 116.]
[Footnote N115: Tents, etc., p. 83; Vega, vol. 2, p. 116.]
Tobacco is smoked in pipes of a peculiar pattern called kui´nyɐ, of
which the collection contains a series of ten specimens.
Of these, No. 89288 [705],[N116] figured in Ray’s Point Barrow Report,
Ethnology, Pl. I, Fig. 1, will serve as a type. The bowl is of brass,
neatly inlaid on the upper surface with a narrow ring of copper close
to the edge, from which run four converging lines, 90° apart, nearly
to the center. Round the under surface are also three concentric rings
of copper. The wooden stem appears to be willow or birch, and is in
two longitudinal sections, held together by the lashing of sealskin
thong which serves to attach the bowl to the stem. This lashing was
evidently put on wet and allowed to shrink on, and the ends are
secured by tucking under the turns. The whipping at the mouthpiece is
of fine sinew thread. A picker of steel for cleaning out the bowl is
attached to the stem by a piece of seal thong, the end of which is
wedged under the turns of the lashing. The remaining pipes are all of
the same general pattern, but vary in the material of the bowl and in
details of execution. The stems are always of the same material and
put together in the same way, but are sometimes lozenge-shaped instead
of elliptical in section. The lashing is sometimes of three-ply sinew
braid. The bowl shows the greatest variation, both in form and
material.
[Footnote N116: The numbers first given are those of the National
Museum; the numbers in brackets are those of the collector.]
Fig. 6_a_ (No. 56737 [10], from Utkiavwĭñ) has an iron bowl,
noticeable for the ornamentation of the shank. The metal work has all
been done with the file except the fitting of the saucer to the shank.
This has evidently been heated and shrunk on. Three pipes have bowls
of smoothly ground stone. No. 89289 [1582] (Fig. 6_b_ from Utkiavwĭñ)
is of rather soft greenish gray slate. No. 89290 [864] is of the same
shape, but of hard greenish stone, while the third stone pipe
(No. 89291 [834], from Utkiavwĭñ), of gray slate, is of quite a
different pattern. Three of the series have bowls of reindeer antler,
lined with thin sheet brass, and one a bowl of walrus ivory, lined
with thin copper. (See Fig. 6_c_, Nos. 89285 [954], 89286 [915], and
89287 [1129].)
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Pipes: _a_, pipe with metal bowl; _b_, pipe
with stone bowl; _c_, pipe bowl of antler or ivory. 1/3]
Antler and stone pipes of this pattern and rather small are usually
carried by the men out of doors, while the more elaborate metal pipes,
which are often very large and handsome (I have seen some with a
saucer at least 3 inches in diameter) are more frequently used in the
house and by the women. The stem is usually 1 foot or 13 inches long,
though pipes at least 18 inches long were seen.
To most pipes are attached pickers, as in the type specimen. The
picker is in all cases of metal, usually iron or steel, but sometimes
of copper (see the pickers attached to pipes above). When not in use
the point is tucked under the lashing on the stem. The pipes are
readily taken apart for cleaning.
No. 89292 [1752] (Fig. 7) is an extemporized pipe made in a hurry by a
man who wished to smoke, but had no pipe.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Pipe made of willow stick. 1/3]
It is simply a rough willow stick, slightly whittled into shape, split
and hollowed out like a pipestem. It is held together by a whipping of
sinew thread and a lashing of deerskin thong, fastened by a slip-knot
at one end, the other being tucked in as usual. A small funnel-shaped
hole at one end serves for a bowl, and shows by its charred surface
that it has been actually used. This pipe was bought from one of the
“Nunatañmiun,” who were in camp at Pernyû in 1883, and shows its
inland origin in the use of the deerskin thong. A coast native would
have used seal thong.
The pipe is carried at the girdle, either with the stem thrust inside
the breeches or in a bag attached to the belt. No. 56744 [55]
(Utkiavwĭñ) is the only specimen of pipe bag in the collection. It is
a long, narrow, cylindric bag, made of four white ermine skins, with
two hind legs and two tails forming a fringe round the bottom, which
is of dressed deerskin, in one piece, flesh side out. The band round
the mouth is of gray deerskin, running only two-thirds of the way
round. The piece which fills the remaining third runs out into the
strap for fastening the bag to the belt. The ornamental strips on two
of the longitudinal seams and round the bottom are of deerskin. The
seams are all sewed “over and over” on the “wrong” side with sinew
thread. This is an unusually handsome bag.
Tobacco is carried in a small pouch of fur attached to the girdle, and
tucked inside of the breeches, or sometimes worn under the jacket,
slung round the neck by a string or the necklace. The collection
contains three of these, of which No. 89803 [889] (Fig. 8_a_) will
serve as a typical specimen.
It is made by sewing together two pieces of wolverine fur, hair out,
of the same shape and size, and round the mouth of this a band of
short-haired light-colored deerskin, also hair out, with the ends
meeting at one side in a seam corresponding to one of the seams of the
wolverine fur. The mouth is ornamented with a narrow band of wolverine
fur, the flesh side, which is colored red, turned out. It is closed by
a piece of seal thong about 5 inches long, one end of which is sewed
to the middle of the seam in the deerskin band and the other passed
through a large blue glass bead and knotted. This string is wound two
or three times round the neck of the bag, and the bight of it tucked
under the turns. The seams are all sewed “over and over” on the
“wrong” side with sinew thread.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Tobacco pouches. 1/4]
These tobacco pouches are usually of a similar pattern, often slightly
narrowed at the neck, and generally fringed round the mouth with a
narrow strip of wolverine fur as above. They are often ornamented with
tags of wolverine fur on the seams (as in No. 89804 [1341, Fig.
8_b_]), and borders of different colored skin. No. 89805 [1350] is
very elaborately ornamented. It is made of brown deerskin, trimmed
with white deerskin clipped close and bordered with narrow braids of
blue and red worsted, and little tags of the latter. According to Dr.
Simpson,[N117] these bags are called “del-la-mai´-yu.” We neglected to
obtain the proper names for them, as we always made use of the lingua
franca “tiba´ púksak,” bag for tiba´ (tobacco). No. 89903 [889]
contains a specimen of tobacco as prepared for smoking by the Eskimo.
This consists of common black Cavendish or “Navy” tobacco, cut up very
fine, and mixed with finely chopped wood in the proportion of about
two parts of tobacco to one of wood. We were informed that willow
twigs were used for this purpose. Perhaps this may have some slight
aromatic flavor, as well as serving to make the tobacco go further,
though I did not recognize any such flavor in some tobacco from an
Eskimo’s pouch that I once smoked and found exceedingly bad. The smell
of an Eskimo’s pipe is different from any other tobacco smoke and is
very disagreeable. It has some resemblance to the smell of some of the
cheaper brands of North Carolina tobacco which are known to be
adulterated with other vegetable substances. The method of smoking is
as follows: After clearing out the bowl with the picker, a little wad
of deer hair, plucked from the clothes in some inconspicuous place,
generally the front skirt of the inner jacket, is rammed down to the
bottom of the bowl. This is to prevent the fine tobacco from getting
into the stem and clogging it up. The bowl is then filled with
tobacco, of which it only holds a very small quantity. The mouthpiece
is placed between the lips, the tobacco ignited, and all smoked out in
two or three strong inhalations. The smoke is very deeply inhaled and
allowed to pass out slowly from the mouth and nostrils, bringing tears
to the eyes, often producing giddiness, and almost always a violent
fit of coughing. I have seen a man almost prostrated from the effects
of a single pipeful. This method of smoking has been in vogue since
the time of our first acquaintance with these people.[N118]
[Footnote N117: Op. cit., p. 243.]
[Footnote N118: See T. Simpson: “Not content with chewing and
smoking it, they swallowed the fumes till they became sick, and
seemed to revel in a momentary intoxication.” Point Barrow (1837),
Narrative, p. 156. Also Kotzebue: “They chew, snuff, smoke, and
even swallow the smoke.” Kotzebue Sound (1816) Voyage, vol. 1,
p. 237. Beechey also describes the people of Hotham Inlet in 1826
as smoking in the manner above described, obtaining the hair from
a strip of dogskin tied to the pipe. Their tobacco was mixed with
wood. Voyage, p. 300. Petitot (Monographie, etc., p. xxix)
describes a precisely similar method of smoking among the
Mackenzie Eskimos. Their tobacco was “melangé à de la ráclure de
saule” and the pipe was called “kwiñeρk.” (Vocabulaire, p. 54).]
Though they smoke little at a time, they smoke frequently when tobacco
is plentiful. Of late years, since tobacco has become plentiful, some
have adopted white men’s pipes, which they smoke without inhaling, and
they are glad to get cigars, and, since our visit, cigarettes. In
conversation with us they usually called all means for smoking
“pai´pa,” the children sometimes specifying “pai´pa-sigya´” (cigar) or
“mûkparapai´pa,” paper-pipe (cigarette). The use of the kui´nyɐ, which
name appears to be applied only to the native pipes, seems to be
confined to the adults. We knew of no children owning them, though
their parents made no objection to their chewing tobacco or owning or
using clay or wooden pipes which they obtained from us. They carry
their fondness for tobacco so far that they will even eat the foul
oily refuse from the bottom of the bowl, the smallest portion of which
would produce nausea in a white man. This habit has been observed at
Plover Bay, Siberia.[N119] Tobacco ashes are also eaten, probably for
the sake of the potash they contain, as one of the men at Utkiavwīñ
was fond of carbonate of soda, which he told the doctor was just like
what he got from his pipe. Pipes of this type, differing in details,
but all agreeing in having very small bowls, frequently of metal, and
some contrivance for opening the stem, are used by the Eskimo from at
least as far south as the Yukon delta (as shown by the collections in
the National Museum) to the Anderson River and Cape Bathurst,[N120]
and have even been adopted by the Indians of the Yukon, who learned
the use of tobacco from the Eskimo. They are undoubtedly of Siberian
origin, as will be seen by comparing the figure of a “Chukch” pipe in
Nordenskiöld’s Vega, vol. 2, p. 117, Fig. 7, and the figure of a
Tunguse pipe in Seebohm’s “Siberia in Asia” (p. 149), with the pipes
figured from our collection. Moreover, the method of smoking is
precisely that practiced in Siberia, even to the proportion of wood
mixed with the tobacco.[N121]
[Footnote N119: See Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 177, and Dall, Alaska,
p. 81.]
[Footnote N120: This is an interesting fact, as it shows that the
Eskimo from Demarcation Point east learned to smoke from the
people of Point Barrow, and not from the English or the northern
Indians, who use pipes “modeled after the clay pipes of the Hudson
Bay Company.” (Dall, Alaska, p. 81, Fig. _A_.) They acquired the
habit some time between 1837, when T. Simpson found them ignorant
of the use of tobacco (see reference above, p. 65), and 1849, when
they were glad to receive it from Pullen and Hooper. (Tents, etc.,
p. 258.) Petitot (Monographie, etc., p. xxvi) states that the
Eskimo of the Mackenzie informed him that the use of tobacco and
the form of the pipe, with blue beads, labrets, and other things,
came through the neighbors from a distant land called
“Nate´ρovik,” which he supposes to mean St. Michaels, but which,
from the evidence of other travelers, is much more likely to mean
Siberia.
The Eskimo geography, on which Fr. Petitot relies so strongly, is
extremely vague west of Barter Island, and savors of the fabulous
almost as much as the Point Barrow stories about the eastern
natives. The evidence which leads Fr. Petitot to believe
“Nate´ρovik” to be St. Michaels is rather peculiar. The Mackenzie
natives call the people who are nearest to Nate´ρovik on the north
“the Sedentary.” Now, the people who live nearest to St. Michaels
on the north are the “Sedentary American Tchukatchīs”(!);
therefore Nate´ρovik is probably St. Michaels. (“Le nom
_Natéρovik_ semble convenir à l’ancien fort russe Michaëlowski, en
ce que la tribu iunok la plus voisine de ce poste, vers le nord,
est désignée par nos Tchiglit sous le nom d’ _Apkwam-méut_ ou de
Sédentaires; or telle est la position géographique qui convient
aux sédentaires Tchukatches américains, dont la limite la plus
septentrionale, selon le capitaine Beechey, est la pointe
Barrow.”) A slight acquaintance with the work of Dall and other
modern explorers in this region would have saved Fr. Petitot from
this and some other errors.]
[Footnote N121: See Wrangell, Narrative of an Expedition, etc.,
p. 58. “The Russians here [at Kolymsk, 1820] smoke in the manner
common to all the people of northern Asia; they draw in the
tobacco smoke, swallow it, and allow it to escape again by the
nose and ears(!).” The tobacco is said to be mixed with “finely
powdered larch wood, to make it go further” (ibid.). See also
Hooper, Tents, etc.: “Generally, I believe, about one-third part
of wood is used” (pp. 176 and 177; and Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2,
p. 116.)]
The consideration of the question whence the Siberians acquired this
peculiar method of smoking would lead me beyond the bounds of the
present work, but I can not leave the subject of pipes without calling
attention to the fact that Nordenskiöld[N122] has alluded to the
resemblance of these to the Japanese pipes. A gentleman who has spent
many years in China also informs me that the Chinese pipes are of a
very similar type and smoked in much the same way.[N123] The
Greenlanders and eastern Eskimo generally, who have learned the use of
tobacco directly from the Europeans, use large-bowled pipes, which
they smoke in the ordinary manner. In talking with us the people of
Point Barrow call tobacco “tiba´” or “tibakĭ,” but among themselves it
is still known as ta´wak, which is the word found in use among them by
the earliest explorers.[N124] “Tiba” was evidently learned from the
American whalers, as it was not in use in Dr. Simpson’s time. It is
merely an attempt to pronounce the word tobacco, but has been adopted
into the Eskimo language sufficiently to be used as the radical in
compound words such as “tiba´xutikă´ktûñɐ,” “I have a supply of
tobacco.” There is no evidence that anything else was smoked before
the introduction of tobacco, and no pipes seen or collected appear
older than the time when we know them to have had tobacco.[N125]
[Footnote N122: Vega, vol. 2, p. 116.]
[Footnote N123: See also Petitot, Monographie, etc., p. xxix.]
[Footnote N124: See Beechey, Voyage, p. 323; T. Simpson,
Narrative, p. 156--“tobacco, which * * * they call tawāc, or
tawākh, a name acquired of course from Russian traders;” Hooper,
Tents, etc., p. 239; also Maguire and J. Simpson
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