CHAPTER X.THE ESKIMOS.

The Eskimos, the most northerly inhabitants of the globe, are in many respects a strange and interesting people. In appearance they are short and well-built, with fat, round faces, usually almost entirely devoid of hair; the eyebrows and eyelashes are so scanty as to be scarcely discernible, giving to their brown, oily faces a singularly bare and homely appearance. Their hair, like that of the Indians, is black and straight. By the women it is worn plaited, and twisted up into three knots, one at either side of the head and one at the back. The men wear theirs short, and well down over their forehead, for protection from the cold in winter and from the sun in summer.

While the Eskimos as a rule are short and homely in appearance, still I have met with some very handsome, stalwart men, quite up to the standard height of Canadians, and a few pretty, charming women. Most of them have bright soft brown eyes, which of themselves are features of beauty; but they serve these savages a better and more useful purpose, furnishing marvellous powers of vision and enabling their owners to see objects clearly at great distances. The eyes of the Anglo-Saxon,even when aided by the telescope, are not a match for the bright brown orbs of these “children of the cold.”

The clothing of the Eskimo is made entirely of the skins of animals, chiefly of the seal and reindeer, the former being used for summer and the latter for the winter. They are nicely softened and dressed, and are neatly made up by the women, whose chief duty it is to provide clothing for their husbands and children.

The cut of the native garb, both for the men and the women, is somewhat peculiar. A man’s suit may briefly be described as follows: Commencing at the foundation, it consists of a pair of fur stockings or duffles, covered by long waterproof moccasins which reach to the knees and are just met by short seal or deer-skin trousers. The suit is completed by a jacket or jumper, made of the same material as the trousers, which is pulled on over the head, there being no opening in front to admit of its being put on like a coat. This jacket is provided with a hood, which takes the place of a cap, and may either be worn over the head or pushed back when not required.

In the summer season, a single suit of seal-skin, made as above, constitutes a man’s entire clothing, but in the winter time he wears two such suits, the inner one having the hair on the inside, and the outer one reversed.

The female costume is rather more complex in make-up than the above. The foot-wear is the same with both sexes, but in place of the trousers worn by the men, the women wear leggings and trunks, and in place of the jacket a peculiarly constructed over-skirt, having a short flap in front, and a long train, in shape somethinglike a beaver’s tail, just reaching to the ground behind. The back of the over-skirt is made very full, so as to form a sort of bag, in which the mothers carry their children. Like a man’s jacket, it is provided with a hood, but of much larger size, so as to afford shelter for both mother and child. The women are very fond of decorating their dresses with beads or other ornaments, and all their garments are made with great neatness.

Like many other savage people, the Eskimos, and especially the women, tattoo extensively. They do not all thus adorn themselves, but many of them have their faces, necks, arms or hands all figured over in such a way as to give them a wild and savage appearance.

Many of the ladies, when in full dress, wear head-bands, usually made of polished brass or iron, over their foreheads. These are held in position by being tied with a cord behind the head.

A stranger custom still is that of wearing stones in the cheeks, upon each side of the mouth. This practice is not universal with the Eskimos, but, as far as my knowledge extends, it is limited to those inhabiting the Mackenzie River district. The natives of this region have the reputation of being a bad lot, and it is said that when they are heard to rattle their cheek-stones against their teeth it is time to be on the look-out. The stones are cut in the shape of large shirt-studs, and are let through the cheeks by cutting holes for them.

As to the origin of the Eskimo people, very little is known, but the most probable theory accounting for their existence on this continent is that they were originally Mongolians, and at some very early date crossed over theBehring Straits and landed in Alaska. This theory is based upon the fact that a similarity is traced between the Eskimo language and the dialects of some of the Mongolian tribes of northern Asia. A certain Eskimo tradition would rather tend to bear out this theory. It is something like this: A very long time ago there were two brothers made by the beaver and placed on an island in the Western Sea. There they lived and fed upon birds which they caught with their hands, but at length food grew scarce, and the brothers, being hungry, fought for the birds they had taken. This quarrel led to a separation, and one brother went to live in the western portion of our “Great North Land,” and became the father of the Eskimos in that region; while the other went still farther east, and became the father of the natives of Hudson Bay and Straits.

The range of the Eskimos is very large, extending completely across the northern part of North America—toward the south, to about the sixtieth parallel of latitude, west of Hudson Bay, but east of the bay, to about the fifty-fifth parallel; while toward the north their range is almost unlimited. They are a very thinly scattered race, roving in small bands over great treeless wildernesses.

My first meeting with the Eskimos led me to think them a wild people. There were thirty-six of them, all women and children, piled into one of their “oomiacks,” or skin boats, and all were whooping and yelling at the top of their voices, while those not paddling were swinging their arms (and legs, too) in the wildest manner. They were natives of Prince of Wales Sound, HudsonStraits, coming out from shore to meet the steamshipAlert, which to them was a fiery monster of mystery.

Accompanying them was a party of men in kyacks, and all were preparing to board the ship without invitation; but the first officer, by brandishing a cordwood stick, and threatening to hurl it at them if they came too near—backing up the menace with the liberal use of some strong English which they did not understand—induced them to await his convenience to receive them.

When the ship was past the shoals near which she was steaming, and safely into harbor, the natives were allowed to come on board. They were an odd-looking crowd, some of them curiously dressed. One old grey-haired chief had apparently reached a stage of civilization in his attire not common among the Eskimos, for outside of his seal-skin clothing he wore a long white cotton nightshirt, of which he was evidently very proud. The Eskimos are always pleased with the acquisition of white men’s garments, but their ideas as to how and when they should be worn do not always agree with ours.

Early navigators have described the Eskimos as being savage tribes, greatly to be feared, and it is true that unfortunate crews have fallen into their hands and been murdered by them; but often in such cases the fault has been as much with the whites as with the poor savages. They really possess very simple, childish natures, but at the same time are characterized by a quiet determination and deep jealousy, which, when aroused, is likely to lead to acts of violence. From my own observation, I do not think that the Eskimos would, without considerable provocation or great temptation, harm any one falling into their hands.

Though not usually quarrelsome or vicious, they do fight with each other, but only at appointed times, when all old grudges and differences of opinion are cleared up at once. On the appointed day, all the disagreeing parties of the camp pair off, and standing at arm’s length from each other, strike turn about, and in this deliberate, systematic way take satisfaction out of each other, until one of the combatants cries, “Ta-bah” (enough).

The food of the Eskimo, as his name implies, is chiefly raw flesh; so the preparation of his meals is an extremely simple operation. The culinary department of civilization has no place in his life. Reindeer, seals, white whales and walruses are to the Eskimo the staple articles of food; but polar bears, Arctic hares and other animals, besides most of the Arctic birds, are considered equally good.

It is rather a novel, if not a repulsive sight, to witness an Eskimo feast. The occasion of the feast is the capture of a seal, or perhaps a reindeer, which, according to custom during the winter season, becomes common property, so that all are invited to the lodge of the fortunate hunter to share in the festivities.

The animal’s carcase is trailed into the middle of the lodge, and when all the guests are assembled, they seat themselves on the floor about it. The carcase is then skinned by the host, and the pelt laid down to form a dish or receptacle for the blood.

All things being ready, the party, armed with knives, are invited to help themselves, and this they do with great dexterity, and continue to do—not until they have had sufficient, but until the supply is exhausted and absolutely nothing remains but the skin and skeleton. Theblood, being considered very fine, is dipped up with skin cups or horn spoons, and consumed with the flesh.

The blubber, or outer layer of fat, which is found on most Arctic animals, is separated from the skin and cut into long strips about an inch square. Thus prepared it is swallowed, though not eaten. It is simply lowered down the throat as one might lower a rope into a well. During the summer season the blubber is not used as food, but is saved for oil, to be used for lighting purposes during the long dark nights of the succeeding winter.

An Eskimo appears to have no idea of a limited capacity for food, but usually eats until the supply fails. I knew of one exception, however, where an old woman, after doing heroically, was forced to yield.

A party of Eskimos were having a big feast on the carcase of a whale, which they consider very good food, when this woman, in her ambition, overestimated her capabilities and ate until she became quite torpid. Her friends, supposing her to be dead, trailed her out and buried her in the snow, but a day or two afterwards she kicked off the snow that covered her and rejoined her astonished companions.

Next to stowing capacity, an Eskimo’s stomach is noted for its powers of digestion. For instance, both the flesh and hide of the walrus are common articles of food with them, and yet these are so hard and gritty that when skinning or cutting up the animal one has to be continually sharpening his knife.

The skin of a walrus is a good deal like that of an elephant, and is from half an inch to an inch and a half in thickness; but, notwithstanding this, and the hardness of its structure, the little Eskimo children mayoften be seen running about gnawing pieces of walrus hide as if they were apples. Sometimes, however, they have no walrus hide or meat of any kind to gnaw, for occasionally in the spring season the condition of the snow and ice is such as to render hunting impossible, and though they store up meat in the fall for winter use, it is often exhausted before spring.

When this state of things occurs the condition of the Eskimos is deplorable in the extreme. They are forced to kill and eat their wretched dogs, which are even more nearly starved than themselves, and next they resort to their skin clothing and moccasins, which they soak in water until they become soft, though perhaps not altogether palatable.

HALF-BREED HUNTER WITH WOODEN SNOW-GOGGLES.

Next to starvation, perhaps the most severe affliction the Eskimo has to endure is that of snow blindness. This trouble is very prevalent in the spring season, and is caused by the exposure to the strong glare of the sun upon the glistening fields of snow and ice. Snow blindness is thus in reality acute inflammation of the eyes, and the pain caused by it is excruciating, being like what one would expect to suffer if hiseyes were filled with hot salt. I speak from experience.

In order to guard against the occurrence of snow-blindness, the Eskimos wear a very ingenious contrivance, in the form of wooden goggles. These are neatly carved so as to fit over the nose, and close in to the sockets of the eyes. Instead of colored glasses, which the Eskimos have no means of getting, these goggles are made with narrow horizontal slits, just wide enough to allow the wearer to see through. Thus the excess of light is excluded, while the sight is not entirely obstructed.

Like many people in southern Canada, the native of the frozen zone possesses a summer and winter residence, and occupies each in turn as regularly as the seasons change. His winter dwelling is built of snow; his summer lodge is made of oil-tanned seal or deer-skins, neatly sewn together, and supported by poles, if such can be procured, or pieces of drift-wood spliced together. A flap is left for the door, but there is no opening at the top, as in the Indian wigwam or tepee, for, having no fire, they have no need of a chimney.

The atmosphere of these tents or “topicks,” as they are called, is usually very sickening to one not accustomed to them, for the skins of which they are made are dressed in their natural oil in order to make them waterproof, which has the effect of making them rank and odorous to a degree.

Topicks vary in size, according to the wealth or requirements of the occupants. Sometimes they are scarcely large enough to allow two or three little people to huddle into them, while others are quite commodious, capable of seating twenty persons. The commonest formof topick is that of a cone, very similar to an Indian tepee, but it is sometimes rectangular and built with vertical walls about four feet high.

The furniture of these summer dwellings is simple, consisting usually of a few skins lying about the rocky floor, to serve as seats in the daytime and bedding at night; two or three seal-skin sacks of oil, two shallow stone vessels used as lamps, a few hunting implements, some little deer-skin bags, used as ladies’ work-baskets; several coils of seal-skin line, a few pairs of moccasins scattered about, and at one side of the door the somewhat repulsive remains of a carcass consumed at the last meal. Such is the Eskimo summer house.

His winter dwelling in the snow is more interesting and curious. It is called an “igloe,” and is built in the form of a dome with large blocks of snow. The common size of the dwelling apartment of an igloe is twelve feet in diameter, and eight feet in height. This is approached by a succession of three or four smaller domes, connected by low archways, through which one has to crouch in order to pass.

SECTION THROUGH IGLOE.

The innermost archway opening into the dwelling apartment is about three feet high, and as one enters he steps down a foot or more to the level of the floor ofthe front portion of the dwelling. The back part, about two-thirds of the apartment, is three feet higher than the entrance.

The front or lower section of the igloe corresponds to a front hall, and it is in it that the occupants, as they enter, beat the snow off their clothing, or remove their outer garments, when they wish to step up into the higher living apartment.

The floor of the entire igloe consists simply of snow, but in this upper apartment it is well covered with deer-skin robes, so that it is not melted by the warmth of those who sit or lie upon it.

Above the doorway of the igloe is placed a window to admit light into the dwelling. This is formed of a large square slab of ice, neatly inserted into the wall of the dome, and it serves well the purpose for which it is intended, admitting a pleasant soft light. Above the window a much-needed ventilating hole is usually made. This, because of the passing current of warm air, becomes rapidly enlarged, and requires to be frequently plastered up with snow.

Sometimes one of the long approaches or corridors is made to serve for two or three dwellings, each of which is connected by low archways with the innermost of the smaller domes. Usually, opening out of the inner dome, each family has one or two small pantries, where they keep a supply of meat sufficient for a week or two.

The furniture of the snow-house is much the same as that of the skin topick already described, but the stone lamps come more into prominence, contributing light to the dwelling during the long dark winter nights. These lamps are simply stone vessels, usually halfmoon shaped, and formed neatly of some description of soft rock. The rounding side of the vessel is made much deeper than the other, which shoals up gradually to the edge. The wick of the lamp consists of dried decomposed moss, pressed and formed by the fingers into a narrow ridge across the shallow or straight edge of the dish. In this position it absorbs the seal oil which is placed in the vessel, and when lit, burns with a clear bright flame, free from smoke. The lamp is then made self-feeding by suspending a lump of seal blubber above it, at a height varying according to the amount of light and consequent supply of oil required. This melts with the heat of the flame and drips into the vessel of the lamp. One lump keeps up the supply for a considerable length of time, the intensity of light being increased or diminished at will by lowering or raising the lump of blubber suspended above the flame.

A lamp is usually placed at either side of the entrance in the upper apartment. Both are kept burning brightly the greater part of the long cold, dark days of winter, but during the hours of sleep they are “turned down,” that is, the lumps of blubber are raised; or sometimes one lamp is extinguished and the other made to burn dimly. These lamps, though chiefly designed to furnish light, also contribute a considerable amount of heat to the igloes. It is often necessary to turn them down, to prevent the snow walls from being melted by the heat, though the temperature outside may be 40 or 50 degrees below zero.

Towards spring the snow-houses become very damp, and to prevent the roofs from being melted away fresh snow has to be added to the outside. Before they areabandoned for the skin tents they sometimes become so soft that they cave in upon the occupants, causing much sickness in the form of colds and pneumonia.

In their workmanship the Eskimos are always neat. Wood is used for manufacturing purposes when it is available, but all they are able to procure is of a fragmentary nature, such as has drifted from some distant shore, or from the wreck of an unfortunate vessel. It is from this rough and scanty material they frame their kyacks, make their sleds, tent-poles, and the handles of their spears and harpoons; from it they fashion their bows and many other useful or ornamental things, and by exercise of untiring perseverance and skill they manage to produce marvellous results. For example, a paddle is often made of two or three pieces of wood, but these are joined together so neatly that if it were not for the seal thong lashings the joints would not be noticeable.

The lashings are put on green, or after having been softened in water, and are drawn tightly, so that when they become dry and shrink they produce strong and rigid joints.

The process by which these lashing-thongs and heavy lines for hunting purposes, as well as the small thread for sewing, are manufactured is very interesting. A heavy harpoon line, used in the hunt for securing walruses, is made from the skin of the “square flipper” seal, a large species about eight feet long. For such use the skin is not removed from the carcase in the usual way, but is pulled off without cutting it, as one might pull off a wet stocking. The whole hide is thus preserved in the form of a sack. It is then placed in water, and allowed to remain there for several days, until the thinouter black skin becomes decomposed. This, together with the hair, is readily peeled off, and a clean white pelt remains.

Two men then take the pelt in hand, and with a sharp knife cut it into one long even white line, by commencing at one end and cutting around and around until at length the other end is reached. One skin in this way will make three hundred feet of line. In this condition it is allowed to partially dry, after which it is tightly stretched and dried thoroughly in the sun. The result obtained is a hard even white line three-eighths of an inch in diameter, but equal in strength to a three-inch manilla rope.

I have seen such a line, when imbedded in the flesh of a walrus at one end, and spiked to the hard ice at the other by a stout iron pin, as well as being held by six men, plough a furrow six inches deep through the ice, bend the spike and drag the six men to the edge of the ice, where the tug of war ended, the walrus, victorious, taking the unbreakable line with him into the deep.

Smaller seal thongs, such as are extensively used as lashings for komiticks, kyacks, handles, etc., are made in much the same way as I have described, except that the hide of smaller seals is used, and often the process of removing the outer black skin is omitted, the hair being simply scraped off with a sharp knife or scraper.

Finer lines, such as those used for fishing or for winding whip-stocks, and thread for sewing purposes, are manufactured from reindeer sinew. The best is that obtained from along the spine, which is always saved from the carcase. It is prepared for use by first drying and then rubbing till it becomes quite soft, when it isreadily frayed out into fine fibres, in which condition it is used for fine needle-work; but when coarser thread or stout cord is required, these individual fibres are plaited together, with wonderful neatness and rapidity. One woman can make fifty or sixty yards of this cord or thread in a day.

With the Eskimos all joints, of whatever kind, are secured by these thongs, they having no nails or screws to supply their place. In making a komitick, the cross slats are all secured to the runners by seal thongs. In framing a kyack the numerous pieces are lashed together, usually with seal or deer-skin, though sometimes, and preferably, with whalebone.

ESKIMO KYACK.

The Eskimo kyack or canoe consists of a light frame neatly made from all sorts of scrap-wood, and strongly jointed together in the way just described. The frame having been completed, it is then covered with green skins, either of seal or deer, dressed, with the hair removed. The skins are joined to each other as they are put on by double water-tight seams, and are drawn tightly over the frame, so that when they dry they become very hard and as tight as a drum-head.

A full-sized kyack thus made is about twenty-two feet long, a foot and a half wide, and a foot deep. It is completely covered over on the top, excepting the small hole where the paddler sits, so that though an extremelycranky craft in the hands of a novice, it is used in perfect safety, even in very rough water, by an expert. Indeed the Eskimos have an arrangement by which they can travel while almost submerged in the water. They have a thin waterproof parchment coat which they pull on over their heads in rough weather. This they place on the outside of the rim at the opening of the kyack, and tie securely, so that if the boat were to turn upside down the water could not rush in.

An Eskimo in his kyack can travel much faster than two men can paddle an ordinary canoe. I have known them to make six miles an hour in dead water, whereas four miles would be good going for a canoe.

ESKIMO OOMIACK.

The “oomiack,” or woman’s boat, is a flat-bottomed affair of large carrying capacity. Like the kyack it is a skin-covered frame, the many pieces of which are lashed together with thongs of skin or whalebone; but instead of being covered on top it is open, and is of a much broader model, and not so sharp at the ends. It is chiefly used by the women for moving camp from place to place, but is never used in the hunt. It is essentially a freighting craft, whereas the kyack is used only for hunting or speedy travel. Oomiacks are often made large enough to carry thirty or forty people. They are propelled by ordinary paddles, not by the long double-bladed ones used with the kyacks.

The komitick is a sled of rather peculiar design, consisting simply of two parallel runners, twelve or fourteenfeet long, built of wood and placed about eighteen inches apart, upon the top of which are lashed a number of cross bars or slats. The runners are shod either with ivory or with mud, the latter answering the purpose exceedingly well. The mud covering is, of course, put on in a soft state, when it can be easily worked and formed into proper shape. When the mud is on, and the surface nicely smoothed off, it is allowed to freeze, and speedily becomes as hard as stone. In order to complete the vehicle, and put it in good running order, there is one thing to be done. The shoeing, whether of mud or ivory, must be covered with a thin coating of ice, in order to do which the Eskimo overturns the komitick, fills his spacious mouth with water from some convenient source, and then from his lips deposits a fine stream along the runner, where, quietly freezing, it forms a smooth glassy surface.

During the winter season the komitick forms an important factor in the Eskimo’s life. It is drawn by a team, not of horses, nor even reindeer, but of dogs. The number of animals forming a team varies greatly, sometimes consisting of not more than three good dogs, but at other times fifteen or more are attached to a single sled. Each dog is attached by a single line, the length of which varies according to the merits of its owner. Thus the best dog in the team acts as leader, and has a line twenty or twenty-five feet in length.

In order to control the team the driver carries a whip of somewhat startling dimensions. This instrument of torture has a short wooden handle only about eighteen inches long, but what is lacking in stock is more than made up in lash, for this latter, made of the hide ofthe square flipper seal, is nearly thirty feet in length. An Eskimo can handle his whip with great dexterity, being able not only to reach any particular dog in the pack, but to strike any part of its body, and with as much force as the occasion may require.

Another curious Eskimo practice, observed by the women, is that of daily chewing the boots of the household. As already intimated, these boots or moccasins are made of oil-tanned seal or deer-skins. The hair is always removed from the skin of which the foot of the moccasin is made, but not always from that part forming the leg. However, the point is this, that these moccasins, after having been wet and dried again, become very hard, and the most convenient or effective—or possibly the most agreeable—way of softening them seems to be by mastication. Whatever may be the reason for adopting this method, the fact is that nearly every morning the native women soften the shoes of the family most beautifully by chewing them. What to us would seem the disagreeable part of this operation cannot be thoroughly understood by one who has not some idea of the flavor of a genuine old Eskimo shoe.

In one of my trips in the land of the Eskimo I had an escort composed not only of men and women, old and young, but also of little children, several of whom could not have been more than five or six years old, and it was marvellous to see the powers of endurance of these little creatures, for they travelled along with the rest of the party, a distance of twenty-five miles, having no other object in view than that of seeing the white stranger.

The “shin-ig-bee,” or Eskimo sleeping bag, is an article essential to the comfort of the traveller whenmaking long overland journeys during the cold winter season. It consists of a long oval waterproof skin bag, lined with another of similar shape, made of soft but heavy winter deer-skins. The opening is not at the top, but near it, across one side, and is made with flap and buttons, so that it can be closed up as closely as desired.

When the traveller is provided with this kind of a bed he does not trouble himself to make a snow lodge for the night, as without it he would have to do, but he simply crawls into his “shin-ig-bee,” buttons up the opening on the windward side, and goes to sleep, no matter what the weather or temperature may be. With the mercury at 40 below zero a man may in this way sleep warm and comfortable, without any fire, out upon the bleak frozen plains.

DOG-WHIP, WALRUS TUSKS AND BOWS AND ARROWS.

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