[1]Of late, custom gives to the main land of Russian America, the nameAlaska; to the peninsula,Aliaska; and to a large island of the Aleutian Archipelago,Unalashka. The word of which the present name Alaska is a corruption, is first encountered in the narrative of Betsevin, who, in 1761, wintered on the peninsula, supposing it to be an island. The author ofNeue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln, writes, page 53, 'womit man nach der abgelegensten InsulAläksuoderAlachschaküber gieng.' Again, at page 57, in giving a description of the animals on the supposed island he calls it 'auf der InsulAläsku.' 'This,' says Coxe,Russian Discoveries, p. 72, 'is probably the same island which is laid down in Krenitzin's chart under the name ofAlaxa.'Unalaschkais given by the author ofNeue Nachrichten, p. 74, in his narrative of the voyage of Drusinin, who hunted on that island in 1763. At page 115 he again mentions the 'grosse InsulAläksu.' On page 125, in Glottoff's log-book, 1764, is the entry: 'Den 28sten May der Wind Ostsüdost; man kam an die InsulAlaskaoderAläksu.' Still following the author ofNeue Nachrichten, we have on page 166, in an account of the voyages of Otseredin and Popoff, who hunted upon the Aleutian Islands in 1769, mention of a report by the natives 'that beyond Unimak is said to be a large landAläschka, the extent of which the islanders do not know.' On Cook's Atlas, voyage 1778, the peninsula is calledAlaska, and the islandOonalaska, La Pérouse, in his atlas, map No. 15, 1786, calls the peninsulaAlaska, and the islandOunalaska. The Spaniards, in theAtlas para el Viage de las goletas Sutil y Mexicana, 1792, writeAlascafor the peninsula, and for the islandUnalaska. Sauer, in his account of Billings' expedition, 1790, calls the main landAlaska, the peninsulaAlyaska, and the islandOonalashka. Wrangell, inBaer's Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten, p. 123, writes for the peninsulaAlaskaand for the islandUnalaschka. Holmberg,Ethnographische Skizzen, p. 78, calls the islandUnalaschkaand the peninsulaAljaska. Dall,Alaska, p. 529, says that the peninsula or main land was called by the nativesAlayeksa, and the islandNagun-alayeksa, 'or the land near Alayeksa.' Thus we have, from which to choose, the orthography of the earliest voyagers to this coast—Russian, English, French, Spanish, German, and American. The simple wordAlaksu, after undergoing many contortions, some authors writing it differently on different pages of the same book, has at length becomeAlaska, as applied to the main land;Aliaskafor the peninsula, andUnalashkaas the name of the island. As these names are all corruptions from some one original word, whatever that may be, I see no reason for giving the error three different forms. I therefore write Alaska for the mainland and peninsula and Unalaska for the island.[2]The name is said, by Charlevoix 'to be derived from the language of the Abenaqui, a tribe of Algonquins in Canada, who border upon them and call them "Esquimantsic."' 'L'origine de leur nom n'est pas certain. Toutefois il y a bien de l'apparence qu'il vient du mot Abenaqui,esquimantsicqui veut dire "mangeur de viande cruë."' SeePrichard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. v., pp. 367, 373. 'French writers call them Eskimaux.' 'English authors, in adopting this term, have most generally written it "Esquimaux," but Dr. Latham, and other recent ethnologists, write it "Eskimos," after the Danish orthography.'Richardson's Polar Regions, p. 298. 'Probably of Canadian origin, and the word, which in French orthography is written Esquimaux, was probably originallyCeux qui miaux(miaulent).'Richardson's Journal, vol. i., p. 340. 'Said to be a corruption ofEskimantik,i. e.raw-fish-eaters, a nickname given them by their former neighbors, the Mohicans.'Seemann's Voyage of the Herald, vol. ii., p. 49. Eskimo is derived from a word indicating sorcerer or Shamán. 'The northern Tinneh use the wordUskeemi.'Dall's Alaska, pp. 144, 531. 'Their own national designation is "Keralit."'Morton's Crania Americana, p. 52. They 'call themselves "Innuit," which signifies "man."'Armstrong's Narrative, p. 191.[3]It is not without reluctance that I change a word from the commonly accepted orthography. Names of places, though originating in error, when once established, it is better to leave unchanged. Indian names, coming to us through Russian, German, French, or Spanish writers, should be presented in English by such letters as will best produce the original Indian pronunciation. European personal names, however, no matter how long, nor how commonly they may have been erroneously used, should be immediately corrected. Every man who can spell is supposed to be able to give the correct orthography of his own name, and his spelling should in every instance be followed, when it can be ascertained. Veit Bering, anglicè Vitus Behring, was of a Danish family, several members of which were well known in literature before his own time. In Danish writings, as well as among the biographies of Russian admirals, where may be found a fac-simile of his autograph, the name is spelledBering. It is so given by Humboldt, and by theDictionnaire de la Conversation. The author of theNeue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln, one of the oldest printed works on Russian discoveries in America; as well as Müller, who was the companion of Bering for many years; and Buschmann,—all writeBering. Baer remarks: 'Ich schreibe ferner Bering, obgleich es jetzt fast allgemein geworden ist, Behring zu schreiben, und auch die Engländer und Franzosen sich der letztern Schreibart bequemt haben. Bering war ein Däne und seine Familie war lange vor ihm in der Literatur-Geschichte bekannt. Sie hat ihren Namen auf die von mir angenommene Weise drucken lassen. Derselben Schreibart bediente sich auch der Historiograph Müller, der längere Zeit unter seinen Befehlen gedient hatte, und Pallas.'Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten, p. 328. There is no doubt that the famous navigator wrote his nameBering, and that the letter 'h' was subsequently inserted to give the Danish sound to the letter 'e.' To accomplish the same purpose, perhaps, Coxe, Langsdorff, Beechey, and others writeBeering.[4]'Die Kadjacker im Gegentheil nähern sich mehr den Amerikanischen Stämmen und gleichen in ihrem Aeussern gar nicht den Eskimos oder den Asiatischen Völkern, wahrscheinlich haben sie durch die Vermischung mit den Stämmen Amerika's ihre ursprüngliche Asiatische äussere Gestalt und Gesichtsbildung verloren und nur die Sprache beibehalten.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn. Nachr., p. 124. 'Ils ressemblent beaucoup aux indigènes des îles Curiles, dépendantes du Japon.'Laplace,Circumnavigation de l'Artémise, vol. vi., p. 45.[5]'The tribes crowded together on the shores of Beering's Sea within a comparatively small extent of coast-line, exhibit a greater variety, both in personal appearance and dialect, than that which exists between the Western Eskimos and their distant countrymen in Labrador; and ethnologists have found some difficulty in classifying them properly.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 363.[6]For authorities, seeTribal Boundaries, at the end of this chapter.[7]Collinson, inLondon Geographical Society Journal, vol. xxv., p. 201.[8]'Im nordwestlichsten Theile von Amerika fand Franklin den Boden, Mitte August, schon in einer Tiefe von 16 Zoll gefroren. Richardson sah an einem östlicheren Punkte der Küste, in 71° 12´ Breite, die Eisschicht im Julius aufgethaut bis 3 Fuss unter der krautbedeckten Oberfläche.'Humboldt,Kosmos, tom. iv., p. 47.[9]Silliman's Journal, vol. xvi., p. 130.Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 13.Armstrong's Nar., p. 289.[10]'Characteristic of the Arctic regions.'Silliman's Jour., vol. xvi., p. 143.[11]At Kotzebue Sound, in July, Choris writes: 'Le sol était émaillé de fleurs de couleurs variées, dans tous les endroits où la neige venait de fondre.'Voyage Pittoresque, pt. ii., p. 8.[12]'In der Einöde der Inseln von Neu-Sibirien finden grosse Heerden von Rennthieren und zahllose Lemminge noch hinlängliche Nahrung.'Humboldt,Kosmos, vol. iv., p. 42.[13]'Thermometer rises as high as 61° Fahr. With a sun shining throughout the twenty-four hours the growth of plants is rapid in the extreme.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 15.[14]'During the period of incubation of the aquatic birds, every hole and projecting crag on the sides of this rock is occupied by them. Its shores resound with the chorus of thousands of the feathery tribe.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 349.[15]'Their complexion, if divested of its usual covering of dirt, can hardly be called dark.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. 'In comparison with other Americans, of a white complexion.'McCulloh's Aboriginal History of America, p. 20. 'White Complexion, not Copper coloured.'Dobbs' Hudson's Bay, p. 50. 'Almost as white as Europeans.'Kalm's Travels, vol. ii., p. 263. 'Not darker than that of a Portuguese.'Lyon's Journal, p. 224. 'Scarcely a shade darker than a deep brunette.'Parry's 3rd Voyage, p. 493. 'Their complexion is light.'Dall's Alaska, p. 381. 'Eye-witnesses agree in their superior lightness of complexion over the Chinooks.'Pickering's Races of Man,U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 28. At Coppermine River they are 'of a dirty copper color; some of the women, however, are more fair and ruddy.'Hearne's Travels, p. 166. 'Considerably fairer than the Indian tribes.'Simpson's Nar., p. 110. At Cape Bathurst 'The complexion is swarthy, chiefly, I think, from exposure and the accumulation of dirt.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 192. 'Shew little of the copper-colour of the Red Indians.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 303. 'From exposure to weather they become dark after manhood.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343.[16]'Both sexes are well proportioned, stout, muscular, and active.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 50. 'A stout, well-looking people.'Simpson's Nar., pp. 110, 114. 'Below the mean of the Caucasian race.'Dr. Hayes, inHistoric. Magazine, vol. i., p. 6. 'They are thick set, have a decided tendency to obesity, and are seldom more than five feet in height.'Figuier's Human Race, p. 211. At Kotzebue Sound, 'tallest man was five feet nine inches; tallest woman, five feet four inches.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. 'Average height was five feet four and a half inches.' At the mouth of the Mackenzie they are of 'middle stature, strong and muscular.'Armstrong's Nar., pp. 149, 192. 'Low, broad-set, not well made, nor strong.'Hearne's Trav., p. 166. 'The men were in general stout.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. 'Of a middle size, robust make, and healthy appearance.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 209. 'Men vary in height from about five feet to five feet ten inches.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Women were generally short.' 'Their figure inclines to squat.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224.[17]'Tous les individus qui appartiennent à la famille des Eskimaux, se distinguent par la petitesse de leurs pieds et de leurs mains, et la grosseur énorme de leurs têtes.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 262. 'The hands and feet are delicately small and well formed.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Small and beautifully made.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 50. At Point Barrow, 'their hands, notwithstanding the great amount of manual labour to which they are subject, were beautifully small and well-formed, a description equally applicable to their feet.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 101.[18]'The head is of good size, rather flat superiorly, but very fully developed posteriorly, evidencing a preponderance of the animal passions; the forehead was, for the most part, low and receding; in a few it was somewhat vertical, but narrow.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 193. Their cranial characteristics 'are the strongly developed coronary ridge, the obliquity of the zygoma, and its greater capacity compared with the Indian cranium. The former is essentially pyramidal, while the latter more nearly approaches a cubic shape.'Dall's Alaska, p. 376. 'Greatest breadth of the face is just below the eyes, the forehead tapers upwards, ending narrowly, but not acutely, and in like manner the chin is a blunt cone.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 302. Dr Gall, whose observations on the same skulls presented him for phrenological observation are published by M. Louis Choris, thus comments upon the head of a female Eskimo from Kotzebue Sound: 'L'organe de l'instinct de la propagation se trouve extrêmement développé pour une tête de femme.' He finds the musical and intellectual organs poorly developed; while vanity and love of children are well displayed. 'En général,' sagely concluded the doctor, 'cette tête femme présentait une organization aussi heureuse que celle de la plupart des femmes d'Europe.'Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 16.[19]'Large fat round faces, high cheek bones, small hazel eyes, eyebrows slanting like the Chinese, and wide mouths.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'Broad, flat faces, high cheekbones.'Dr Hayes, inHist. Mag., vol. i., p. 6. Their 'teeth are regular, but, from the nature of their food, and from their practice of preparing hides by chewing, are worn down almost to the gums at an early age.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. At Hudson Strait, broad, flat, pleasing face; small and generally sore eyes; given to bleeding at the nose.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. 'Small eyes and very high cheek bones.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 209. 'La face platte, la bouche ronde, le nez petit sans être écrasé, le blanc de l'oeil jaunâtre, l'iris noir et peu brillant.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 262. They have 'small, wild-looking eyes, large and very foul teeth, the hair generally black, but sometimes fair, and always in extreme disorder.'Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 467. 'As contrasted with the other native American races, their eyes are remarkable, being narrow and more or less oblique.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343. Expression of face intelligent and good-natured. Both sexes have mostly round, flat faces, with Mongolian cast.Hooper's Tuski, p. 223.[20]'Allowed to hang down in a club to the shoulder.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 305. Hair cut 'close round the crown of the head, and thereby, leaving a bushy ring round the lower part of it.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'Their hair is straight, black, and coarse.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. A fierce expression characterized them on the Mackenzie River, which 'was increased by the long disheveled hair flowing about their shoulders.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. At Kotzebue Sound 'their hair was done up in large plaits on each side of the head.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. At Camden Bay, lofty top-knots; at Point Barrow, none. At Coppermine River the hair is worn short, unshaven on the crown, and bound with strips of deer-skin.Simpson's Nar., pp. 121, 157. Some of the men have bare crowns, but the majority wear the hair flowing naturally. The women cut the hair short in front, level with the eyebrows. At Humphrey Point it is twisted with some false hair into two immense bows on the back of the head.Hooper's Tuski, p. 225. 'Their hair hangs down long, but is cut quite short on the crown of the head.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 210. Hair cut like 'that of a Capuchin friar.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51.[21]Crantz says the Greenlanders root it out. 'The old men had a few gray hairs on their chins, but the young ones, though grown up, were beardless.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 332. 'The possession of a beard is very rare, but a slight moustache is not infrequent.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. 'As the men grow old, they have more hair on the face than Red Indians.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343. 'Generally an absence of beard and whiskers.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 193. 'Beard is universally wanting.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 252. 'The young men have little beard, but some of the old ones have a tolerable shew of long gray hairs on the upper lip and chin.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 303. 'All have beards.'Bell's Geography, vol. v., p. 294. Kirby affirms that in Alaska 'many of them have a profusion of whiskers and beard.'Smithsonian Report, 1864, p. 416.[22]'The lip is perforated for the labret as the boy approaches manhood, and is considered an important era in his life.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 194. 'Some wore but one, others one on each side of the mouth.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'Lip ornaments, with the males, appear to correspond with the tattooing of the chins of the females.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 384.[23]'The women tattoo their faces in blue lines produced by making stitches with a fine needle and thread, smeared with lampblack.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 305. Between Kotzebue Sound and Icy Cape, 'all the women were tattooed upon the chin with three small lines.' They blacken 'the edges of the eyelids with plumbago, rubbed up with a little saliva upon a piece of slate.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. At Point Barrow, the women have on the chin 'a vertical line about half an inch broad in the centre, extending from the lip, with a parallel but narrower one on either side of it, a little apart. Some had two vertical lines protruding from either angle of the mouth; which is a mark of their high position in the tribe.'Armstrong's Nar., pp. 101, 149. On Bering Isle, men as well as women tattoo. 'Plusieurs hommes avaient le visage tatoué.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 5.[24]'Give a particularly disgusting look when the bones are taken out, as the saliva continually runs over the chin.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 227. At Camden, labrets were made of large blue beads, glued to pieces of ivory. None worn at Coppermine River.Simpson's Nar., pp. 119, 347. 'Many of them also transfix the septum of the nose with a dentalium shell or ivory needle.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 355.[25]'These natives almost universally use a very unpleasant liquid for cleansing purposes. They tan and soften the seal-skin used for boot-soles with it.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 161. 'Females occasionally wash their hair and faces with their own urine, the odour of which is agreeable to both sexes, and they are well accustomed to it, as this liquor is kept in tubs in the porches of their huts for use in dressing the deer and seal skins.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Show much skill in the preparation of whale, seal, and deer-skins.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 357. They have a great antipathy to water. 'Occasionally they wash their bodies with a certain animal fluid, but even this process is seldom gone through.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 62.[26]'During the summer, when on whaling or sealing excursions, a coat of the gut of the whale, and boots of seal or walrus hide, are used as water-proof coverings.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 53. At Point Barrow they wear 'Kamleikas or water-proof shirts, made of the entrails of seals.'Simpson's Nar., p. 156. Women wear close-fitting breeches of seal-skin.Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'They are on the whole as good as the best oil-skins in England.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 340.[27]The dress of the two sexes is much alike, the outer shirt or jacket having a pointed skirt before and behind, those of the female being merely a little longer. 'Pretty much the same for both sexes.'Figuier's Human Race, p. 214.[28]'They have besides this a jacket made of eider drakes' skins sewed together, which, put on underneath their other dress, is a tolerable protection against a distant arrow, and is worn in times of hostility.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 340. Messrs Dease and Simpson found those of Point Barrow 'well clothed in seal and reindeer skins.'Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 221. 'The finest dresses are made of the skins of unborn deer.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 306. 'The half-developed skin of a fawn that has never lived, obtained by driving the doe till her offspring is prematurely born.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 160. Eskimo women pay much regard to their toilet.Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 355.[29]Their dress consists of two suits.Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 52. 'Reindeer skin—the fur next the body.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. 'Two women, dressed like men, looked frightfully with their tattooed faces.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 191. Seal-skin jackets, bear-skin trowsers, and white-fox skin caps, is the male costume at Hudson Strait. The female dress is the same, with the addition of a hood for carrying children.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. At Camden Bay, reindeer-skin jackets and water-proof boots.Simpson's Nar., p. 119. At Coppermine River, 'women's boots which are not stiffened out with whalebone, and the tails of their jackets are not over one foot long.'Hearne's Travels, p. 166. Deer-skin, hair outside, ornamented with white fur.Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 416. The indoor dress of the eastern Eskimo is of reindeer-skin, with the fur inside. 'When they go out, another entire suit with the fur outside is put over all, and a pair of watertight sealskin moccasins, with similar mittens for their hands.'Silliman's Journal, vol. xvi., p. 146. The frock at Coppermine River has a tail something like a dress-coat.Simpson's Nar., p. 350.[30]'Some of them are even half-naked, as a summer heat, even of 10° is insupportable to them.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 205.[31]'Down to the frozen subsoil.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310. 'Some are wholly above ground, others have their roof scarcely raised above it.'Beechey's Voy., vol. ii., p. 301.[32]'Formed of stakes placed upright in the ground about six feet high, either circular or oval in form, from which others inclined so as to form a sloping roof.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. 'Half underground, with the entrance more or less so.'Dall's Alaska, p. 13. 'They are more than half underground,' and are 'about twenty feet square and eight feet deep.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 57.[33]'The whole building is covered with earth to the thickness of a foot or more, and in a few years it becomes overgrown with grass, looking from a short distance like a small tumulus.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310.[34]A smaller drift-wood house is sometimes built with a side-door. 'Light and air are admitted by a low door at one end.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 245.[35]'The fire in the centre is never lit merely for the sake of warmth, as the lamps are sufficient for that purpose.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 58. 'They have no fire-places; but a stone placed in the centre serves for a support to the lamp, by which the little cooking that is required is performed.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 348.[36]'On trouva plusieurs huttes construites en bois, moitié dans la terre, moitié en dehors.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 6. At Beaufort Bay are wooden huts.Simpson's Nar., p. 177. At Toker Point, 'built of drift-wood and sods of turf or mud.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 343. At Cape Krusenstern the houses 'appeared like little round hills, with fences of whale-bone.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 237. 'They construct yourts or winter residences upon those parts of the shore which are adapted to their convenience, such as the mouths of rivers, the entrances of inlets, or jutting points of land, but always upon low ground.'Beechey's Voy., vol. ii., p. 300.[37]'I was surprised at the vast quantity of driftwood accumulated on its shore, several acres being thickly covered with it, and many pieces at least sixty feet in length.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 104.[38]'Eastern Esquimaux never seem to think of fire as a means of imparting warmth.'Simpson's Nar., p. 346.[39]Their houses are 'moveable tents, constructed of poles and skins.'Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 469. 'Neither wind nor watertight.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 361. At Cape Smythe, Hooper saw seven Eskimo tents of seal skin.Tuski, p. 216. 'We entered a small tent of morse-skins, made in the form of a canoe.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 226. At Coppermine River their tents in summer are of deer-skin with the hair on, and circular.Hearne's Travels, p. 167. At St Lawrence Island, Kotzebue saw no settled dwellings, 'only several small tents built of the ribs of whales, and covered with the skin of the morse.'Voyage, vol. i., pp. 190-191.[40]'In parallelograms, and so adjusted as to form a rotunda, with an arched roof.'Silliman's Jour., vol. xvi., p. 146.Parry's Voy., vol. v., p. 200.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 44.[41]'These houses are durable, the wind has little effect on them, and they resist the thaw until the sun acquires very considerable power.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 350.[42]The snow houses are called by the nativesigloo, and the underground hutsyourts, oryurts, and their tentstopeks. Winter residence, 'iglut.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310. Beechey, describing the same kind of buildings, calls them 'yourts.'Voy., vol. i., p. 366. Tent of skins, tie-poo-eet; topak; toopek. Tent, too-pote.Ibid., vol. ii., p. 381. 'Yourts.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 59. Tent, topek. Dall says Richardson is wrong, and that igloo or iglu is the name of ice houses.Alaska, p. 532. House, iglo. Tent, tuppek.Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 378. Snow house, eegloo.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 47.[43]They are so fond of the warm blood of dying animals that they invented an instrument to secure it. SeeBeechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 344. 'Whale-blubber, their great delicacy, is sickening and dangerous to a European stomach.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 192.[44]Hearne says that the natives on the Arctic coast of British America are so disgustingly filthy that when they have bleeding at the nose they lick up their own blood.Travels, p. 161. 'Salt always appeared an abomination.' 'They seldom cook their food, the frost apparently acting as a substitute for fire.'Collinson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxv., p. 201. At Kotzebue Sound they 'seem to subsist entirely on the flesh of marine animals, which they, for the most part, eat raw.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 239.[45]'During the two summer months they hunt and live on swans, geese, and ducks.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 346.[46]'Secures winter feasts and abundance of oil for the lamps of a whole village, and there is great rejoicing.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 313. 'The capture of the seal and walrus is effected in the same manner. Salmon and other fish are caught in nets.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 61. 'Six small perforated ivory balls attached separately to cords of sinew three feet long.'Dease & Simpson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., 222.[47]Near Smith River, a low piece of ground, two miles broad at the beach, was found enclosed by double rows of turf set up to represent men, narrowing towards a lake, into which reindeer were driven and killed.Simpson's Nar., p. 135.[48]'Ce qu'il y a encore de frappant dans la complexion de ces barbares, c'est l'extrême chaleur de leur estomac et de leur sang; ils échauffent tellement, par leur haleine ardente, les huttes où ils assemblent en hiver, que les Européans, s'y sentent étouffés, comme dans une étuve dont la chaleur est trop graduée: aussi ne font-ils jamais de feu dans leur habitation en aucune saison, et ils ignorent l'usage des cheminées, sous le climat le plus froid du globe.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 261.[49]'The voluptuousness and Polygamy of the North American Indians, under a temperature of almost perpetual winter, is far greater than that of the most sensual tropical nations.'Martin's British Colonies, vol. iii., p. 524.[50]'The seal is perhaps their most useful animal, not merely furnishing oil and blubber, but the skin used for their canoes, thongs, nets, lassoes, and boot soles.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 161.[51]They have 'two sorts of bows; arrows pointed with iron, flint, and bone, or blunt for birds; a dart with throwing-board for seals; a spear headed with iron or copper, the handle about six feet long; and formidable iron knives, equally adapted for throwing, cutting, or stabbing.'Simpson's Nar., p. 123. They ascended the Mackenzie in former times as far as the Ramparts, to obtain flinty slate for lance and arrow points.Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 213. At St. Lawrence Island, they are armed with a knife two feet long.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 193, 211. One weapon was 'a walrus tooth fixed to the end of a wooden staff.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 343.[52]At the Coppermine River, arrows are pointed with slate or copper; hatchets also are made of a thick lump of copper.Hearne's Travels, pp. 161-9.[53]'The old ivory knives and flint axes are now superseded, the Russians having introduced the common European sheath-knife and hatchet. The board for throwing darts is in use, and is similar to that of the Polynesians.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 53.[54]The 'baydare is a large open boat, quite flat, made of sea-lions' skins,' and is used also for a tent. At Lantscheff Island it was 'a large and probably leathern boat, with black sails.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 202, 216. 'The kaiyaks are impelled by a double-bladed paddle, used with or without a central rest, and the umiaks with oars.' Can 'propel their kaiyaks at the rate of seven miles an hour.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., pp. 238, 358. At Hudson Strait they have canoes of seal-skin, like those of Greenland.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. Not a drop of water can penetrate the opening into the canoe.Müller's Voy., p. 46. The kyak is like an English wager-boat. They are 'much stronger than their lightness would lead one to suppose.'Hooper's Tuski, pp. 226, 228.Oomiaksor family canoes of skin; float in six inches of water.Simpson's Nar., p. 148. 'With these boats they make long voyages, frequently visiting St. Lawrence Island.'Dall's Alaska, p. 380. 'Frame work of wood—when this cannot be procured whalebone is substituted.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 98. Mackenzie saw boats put together with whalebone; 'sewed in some parts, and tied in others.'Voyages, p. 67. They also use a sail. 'On découvrit au loin, dans la baie, un bateau qui allait à la voile; elle était en cuir.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 6. They 'are the best means yet discovered by mankind to go from place to place.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 43. 'It is wonderful what long voyages they make in these slight boats.'Campbell's Voy., p. 114. 'The skin, when soaked with water, is translucent; and a stranger placing his foot upon the flat yielding surface at the bottom of the boat fancies it a frail security.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 346.[55]The 'kajak is shaped like a weaver's shuttle.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 308. 'The paddle is in the hands of an Eskimo, what the balancing pole is to a tight-rope dancer.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 56.[56]'The Koltshanen construct birch-bark canoes; but on the coast skin boats or baidars, like the Eskimo kaiyaks and umiaks, are employed.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 405. If by accident a hole should be made, it is stopped with a piece of the flesh of the sea-dog, or fat of the whale, which they always carry with them.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 43. They strike 'the water with a quick, regular motion, first on one side, and then on the other.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 516. 'Wiegen nie über 30 Pfund, und haben ein dünnes mit Leder überzognes Gerippe.'Neue Nachrichten, p. 152. 'The Aleutians put to sea with them in all weathers.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 40. At the Shumagin Islands they 'are generally about twelve feet in length, sharp at each end, and about twenty inches broad.'Meares' Voy., p. x. They are as transparent as oiled paper. At Unalaska they are so light that they can be carried in one hand.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157, 159.[57]'They average twelve feet in length, two feet six inches in height, two feet broad, and have the fore part turned up in a gentle curve.' 'The floor resembles a grating without cross-bars, and is almost a foot from the level of the snow.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 56. At Saritscheff Island 'I particularly remarked two very neat sledges made of morse and whalebones.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 201. 'To make the runners glide smoothly, a coating of ice is given to them.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 309. At Norton Sound Captain Cook found sledges ten feet long and twenty inches in width. A rail-work on each side, and shod with bone; 'neatly put together; some with wooden pins, but mostly with thongs or lashings of whale-bone.'Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 442, 443. Mackenzie describes the sledges of British America,Voyages, pp. 67, 68.[58]'About the size of those of Newfoundland, with shorter legs.'Dall's Alaska, p. 25. 'Neither plentiful nor of a good class.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 171.[59]The dog will hunt bear and reindeer, but is afraid of its near relative, the wolf.Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 474.[60]'An average length is four and a half feet.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 183. 'The Innuit snowshoe is small and nearly flat,' 'seldom over thirty inches long.' 'They are always rights and lefts.' Ingalik larger; Kutchin same style; Hudson Bay, thirty inches in length.Dall's Alaska, pp. 190, 191. 'They are from two to three feet long, a foot broad, and slightly turned up in front.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 60.[61]'Blue beads, cutlery, tobacco, and buttons, were the articles in request.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 352. At Hudson Strait they have a custom of licking with the tongue each article purchased, as a finish to the bargain.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., 27. 'Articles of Russian manufacture find their way from tribe to tribe along the American coast, eastward to Repulse Bay.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 317.[62]Are very anxious to barter arrows, seal-skin boots, and ivory ornaments for tobacco, beads, and particularly for iron.Hooper's Tuski, p. 217. Some of their implements at Coppermine River are: stone kettles, wooden dishes, scoops and spoons made of buffalo or musk-ox horns.Hearne's Travels, p. 168. At Point Barrow were ivory implements with carved figures of sea-animals, ivory dishes, and a 'fine whalebone net.' Also 'knives and other implements, formed of native copper' at Coppermine River.Simpson's Nar., pp. 147, 156, 261. At Point Barrow they 'have unquestionably an indirect trade with the Russians.'Simpson's Nar., 161.[63]'They are very expert traders, haggle obstinately, always consult together, and are infinitely happy when they fancy they have cheated anybody.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 211. 'A thieving, cunning race.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 110. They respect each other's property, 'but they steal without scruple from strangers.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 352.[64]'They have a chief (Nalegak) in name, but do not recognize his authority.'Dr Hayes, inHist. Mag., vol. i., p. 6. Government, 'a combination of the monarchical and republican;' 'every one is on a perfect level with the rest.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 59, 60. 'Chiefs are respected principally as senior men.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. At Kotzebue Sound, a robust young man was taken to be chief, as all his commands were punctually obeyed.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 235. Quarrels 'are settled by boxing, the parties sitting down and striking blows alternately, until one of them gives in.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 326. Every man governs his own family.Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 475. They 'have a strong respect for their territorial rights, and maintain them with firmness.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 351.[65]They are 'horribly filthy in person and habits.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'A husband will readily traffic with the virtue of a wife for purposes of gain.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 195. 'More than once a wife was proffered by her husband.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 356. As against the above testimony, Seemann affirms: 'After the marriage ceremony has been performed infidelity is rare.'Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 66. 'These people are in the habit of collecting certain fluids for the purposes of tanning; and that, judging from what took place in the tent, in the most open manner, in the presence of all the family.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 407.[66]'Two men sometimes marry the same woman.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 66. 'As soon as a girl is born, the young lad who wishes to have her for a wife goes to her father's tent, and proffers himself. If accepted, a promise is given which is considered binding, and the girl is delivered to her betrothed husband at the proper age.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. Women 'carry their infants between their reindeer-skin jackets and their naked backs.'Simpson's Nar., p. 121. 'All the drudgery falls upon the women; even the boys would transfer their loads to their sisters.'Collinson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxv., p. 201.[67]The 'Kashimis generally built by the joint labour of the community.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 311.[68]'Their dance is of the rudest kind, and consists merely in violent motion of the arms and legs.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 63. They make 'the most comical motions with the whole body, without stirring from their place.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 192. Their song consisted of the words: 'Hi, Yangah yangah; ha ha, yangah—with variety only in the inflection of voice.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 225. When heated by the dance, even the women were stripped to their breeches.Simpson's Nar., p. 158. 'An old man, all but naked, jumped into the ring, and was beginning some indecent gesticulations, when his appearance not meeting with our approbation he withdrew.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 396.[69]'C'était la plus grande marque d'amitié qu'ils pouvaient nous donner.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 5. 'They came up to me one after the other—each of them embraced me, rubbed his nose hard against mine, and ended his caresses by spitting in his hands and wiping them several times over my face.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 192, 195.[70]'Their personal bravery is conspicuous, and they are the only nation on the North American Continent who oppose their enemies face to face in open fight.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 244. 'Simple, kind people; very poor, very filthy, and to us looking exceedingly wretched.'McClure's Dis. N. W. Passage, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxiv., p. 242. 'More bold and crafty than the Indians; but they use their women much better.'Bell's Geog., vol. v., p. 294.[71]'Their diseases are few.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 67. 'Diseases are quite as prevalent among them as among civilized people.'Dall's Alaska, p. 195. 'Ophthalmia was very general with them.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'There is seldom any mortality except amongst the old people and very young children.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 197.[72]At Point Barrow, bodies were found in great numbers scattered over the ground in their ordinary seal-skin dress; a few covered with pieces of wood, the heads all turned north-east towards the extremity of the point.Simpson's Nar., p. 155. 'They lay their dead on the ground, with their heads all turned to the north.' 'The bodies lay exposed in the most horrible and disgusting manner.'Dease and Simpson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 221, 222. 'Their position with regard to the points of the compass is not taken into consideration.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 67. 'There are many more graves than present inhabitants of the village, and the story is that the whole coast was once much more densely populated.'Dall's Alaska, p. 19. Hooper, on coming to a burial place not far from Point Barrow, 'conjectured that the corpses had been buried in an upright position, with their heads at or above the surface.'Tuski, p. 221.[73]Kadiak 'is a derivative, according to some authors, from the RussianKadia, a large tub; more probably, however, it is a corruption of Kaniag, the ancient Innuit name.'Dall's Alaska, p. 532. Holmberg thinks that the word Kadiak arose fromKikchtak, which in the language of the Koniagas means a large island. 'Der Name Kadjak ist offenbar eine Verdrehung von Kikchtak, welches Wort in der Sprache der Konjagen "grosse Insel" bedeutet und daher auch als Benennung der grössten Insel dieser Gruppe diente.'Ethnographische Skizzen über die Völker des Russischen Amerika, p. 75. 'A la divisionKoniagiappartient la partie la plus septentrionale de l'Alaska, et l'île de Kodiak, que les Russes appellent vulgairementKichtak, quoique, dans la langue des naturels, le mot Kightak ne désigne en général qu'une île.'Humboldt,Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 347. Coxe affirms that the natives 'call themselves Kanagist.'Russian Dis., p. 135. And Sauer says, 'the natives call themselvesSoo-oo-it.'Billings' Ex., p. 175. 'Man verstand von ihnen, dass sie sich selbst Kanagist nennen.'Neue Nachr., p. 114.[74]Tschugatsches,TschugatsiorTschgatzi. Latham,Native Races, p. 290, says the name is Athabascan, and signifies 'men of the sea.'[75]Kuskoquigmutes,Kuskokwimen,Kuskokwigmjuten,Kusckockwagemuten,Kuschkukchwakmüten, orKaskutchewak.[76]The terminationmute,mut,meut,muten, ormjuten, signifies people or village. It is added to the tribal name sometimes as a substantive as well as in an adjective sense.[77]'Herr Wassiljew schätzt ihre Zahl auf mindestens 7000 Seelen beiderlei Geschlechts und jeglichen Alters.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 127.[78]'Es waren wohl einst alle diese Inseln bewohnt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 76.[79]The Malemutes are 'a race of tall and stout people.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 159. 'Die Kuskokwimer sind, mittlerer Statur, schlank, rüstig und oft mit grosser Stärke begabt.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135.Dixon's Voy., p. 186. 'Bisweilen fallen sogar riesige Gestalten auf, wie ich z. B. einen Häuptling in der igatschen Bucht zu sehen Gelegenheit hatte, dessen Länge 6¾ Fuss betrug.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 80. The chief at Prince William Sound was a man of low stature, 'with a long beard, and seemed about sixty years of age.'Portlock's Voy., p. 237. A strong, raw-boned race.Meares' Voy., p. 32. At Cook's Inlet they seemed to be of the same nation as those of Pr. Wm. Sd., but entirely different from those at Nootka, in persons and language.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 400. They are of 'middle size and well proportioned.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68. 'They emigrated in recent times from the Island of Kadyak, and they claim, as their hereditary possessions, the coast lying between Bristol Bay and Beering's Straits.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 364. 'Die Tschugatschen sind Ankömmlinge von der Insel Kadjack, die während innerer Zwistigkeiten von dort vertrieben.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 116.[80]Achkugmjuten, 'Bewohner der warmen Gegend.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 5. 'Copper complexion.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 194.[81]'They bore their under lip, where they hang fine bones of beasts and birds.'Staehlin's North. Arch., p. 33. 'Setzen sich auch—Zähne von Vögeln oder Thierknochen in künstliche Oeffnungen der Unterlippe und unter der Nase ein.'Neue Nachr., p. 113.[82]The people of Kadiak, according to Langsdorff, are similar to those of Unalaska, the men being a little taller. They differ from the Fox Islanders.Voy., pt. ii., p. 62. 'Die Insulaner waren hier von den Einwohnern, der vorhin entdeckten übrigen Fuchsinsuln, in Kleidung und Sprache ziemlich verschieden.'Neue Nachr., p. 113. 'Ils ressemblent beaucoup aux indigènes des îles Curiles, dépendantes du Japon.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 45.[83]'They wore strings of beads suspended from apertures in the lower lip.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 195. 'Their ears are full of holes, from which hang pendants of bone or shell.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxii. 'Elles portent des perles ordinairement en verre bleu, suspendues au-dessous du nez à un fil passé dans la cloison nasale.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 573. 'Upon the whole, I have nowhere seen savages who take more pains than these people do to ornament, or rather to disfigure their persons.' At Prince William Sound they are so fond of ornament 'that they stick any thing in their perforated lip; one man appearing with two of our iron nails projecting from it like prongs; and another endeavouring to put a large brass button into it.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 370. They slit the under lip, and have ornaments of glass beads and muscle-shells in nostrils and ears; tattoo chin and neck.Langsdorff's Voy., vol. ii., p. 63. 'Die Frauen machen Einschnitte in die Lippen. Der Nasenknorpel ist ebenfalls durchstochen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135.[84]The Kadiaks dress like the Aleuts, but their principal garment they callKonägen;Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 63. Like the Unalaskas, the neck being more exposed, fewer ornamentations.Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 177. 'Consists wholly of the skins of animals and birds.'Portlock's Voy., p. 249. A coat peculiar to Norton Sound appeared 'to be made of reeds sewed very closely together.'Dixon's Voy., p. 191. 'Nähen ihreParken(Winter-Kleider) aus Vögelhäuten und ihreKamleien(Sommer-Kleider) aus den Gedärmen von Wallfischen und Robben.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 117. At Norton Sound 'principally of deer-skins.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 484. 'Ihre Kleider sind aus schwarzen und andern Fuchsbälgen, Biber, Vogelhäuten, auch jungen Rennthier and Jewraschkenfellen, alles mit Sehnen genäht.'Neue Nachr., p. 113. 'The dress of both sexes consists of parkas and camleykas, both of which nearly resemble in form a carter's frock.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 194.[85]'Una tunica entera de pieles que les abriga bastantemente.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 66. 'By the use of such a girdle, it should seem that they sometimes go naked.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 437.[86]'Plastered over with mud, which gives it an appearance not very unlike a dung hill.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 214. Sea-dog skin closes the opening.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 62. The Kuskoquims have 'huttes qu'ils appellent barabores pour l'été.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Mit Erde und Gras bedeckt, so dass man mit Recht die Wohnungen der Konjagen Erdhütten nennen kann.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 97. 'A door fronting the east.'Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 175. At Norton Sound 'they consist simply of a sloping roof, without any side-walls.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 484. Build temporary huts of sticks and bark.Portlock's Voy., p. 253.[87]'In dem Kashim versammelt sich die männliche Bevölkerung des ganzen Dorfes zur Berathschlagung über wichtige Angelegenheiten, über Krieg und Frieden, etc.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 129.[88]'Le poisson est la principale nourriture.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Berries mixed with rancid whale oil.' 'The fat of the whale is the prime delicacy.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 178, 195. 'Meistentheils nähren sie sich mit rohen und trocknen Fischen, die sie theils in der See mit knöchernen Angelhaken, theils in den Bächen mit Sacknetzen, die sie aus Sehnen flechten, einfangen.'Neue Nachr., p. 114. They generally eat their food raw, but sometimes they boil it in water heated with hot stones.Meares' Voy., p. xxxv. The method of catching wild geese, is to chase and knock them down immediately after they have shed their large wing-feathers; at which time they are not able to fly.Portlock's Voy., p. 265.[89]'Ich hatte auf der Insel Afognak Gelegenheit dem Zerschneiden eines Wallfisches zuzusehen und versichere, dass nach Verlauf von kaum 2 Stunden nur die blanken Knochen auf dem Ufer lagen.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 91.[90]The Kadiaks 'pass their time in hunting, festivals, and abstinence. The first takes place in the summer; the second begins in the month of December, and continues as long as any provisions remain; and then follows the period of famine, which lasts till the re-appearance of fish in the rivers. During the period last mentioned, many have nothing but shell-fish to subsist on, and some die for want.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 209, 210.[91]'Wild animals which they hunt, and especially wild sheep, the flesh of which is excellent.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 188. They eat the larger sort of fern-root baked, and a substance which seemed the inner bark of the pine.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 374. 'Die Eingebornen essen diese Wurzeln (Lagat) roh und gekocht; aus der Wurzel, nachdem sie in Mehl verwandelt ist, bäckt man, mit einer geringen Beimischung von Weizenmehl, süssliche, dünne Kuchen.'Sagoskin,Tagebuch, inDenkschr. d. russ. Geog. Gesell., p. 343.[92]'Ihre hölzernen Schilde nennen sie Kujaki.'Neue Nachr., p. 114.[93]'Selecting the roots of such plants as grow alone, these roots are dried and pounded, or grated.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 178.[94]'Die Pfeilspitzen sind aus Eisen oder Kupfer, ersteres erhalten sie von den Kenayern, letzteres von den Tutnen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 118. 'De pedernal en forma de arpon, cortado con tanta delicadeza como pudiera hacerlo el mas hábil lapidario.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 66.[95]At Prince William Sound Cook found the canoes not of wood, as at Nootka. At Bristol Bay they were of skin, but broader.Third Voy., vol. ii., pp. 371, 437. 'Die kadjakschen Baidarken unterscheiden sich in der Form ein wenig von denen der andern Bewohner der amerikanischen Küste, von denen der Aleuten aber namentlich darin, dass sie kürzer und breiter sind.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 99. At Prince William Sound, 'formada la canoa en esqueleto la forran por fuera con pieles de animales.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 65. 'Qu'on se figure une nacelle de quatre mètres de long et de soixante centimètres de large tout au plus.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 48. 'These canoes were covered with skins, the same as we had seen last season in Cook's River.Dixon's Voy., p. 147. 'Safer at sea in bad weather than European boats.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 211.[96]Their whale-sinew thread was as fine as silk.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 207.[97]The only tool seen was a stone adze.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 373.[98]'Their sewing, plaiting of sinews, and small work on their little bags may be put in competition with the most delicate manufactures found in any part of the known world.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., pp. 373, 374. 'If we may judge by these figures, the inhabitants of Cadiack must have lost much of their skill in carving, their old productions of this kind being greatly superior.'Lisiansky, p. 178. The Ingalik's household furniture is made 'von gebogenem Holz sehr zierlich gearbeitet und mittelst Erdfarben roth, grün und blau angestrichen. Zum Kochen der Speisen bedienen sie sich irdener, ausgebrannter Geschirre.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 121.[99]'Tis most probable they are divided into clans or tribes.'Dixon's Voy., p. 67. 'They have a King, whose name was Sheenoway.'Meares' Voy., p. xxvii. 'They always keep together in families, and are under the direction of toyons or chiefs.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 151.[100]Female slaves are sold from one tribe to another.Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 175.[101]'Zugleich verschwand auch ihre Benennung; man nannte sie ferner Kajuren, ein Wort aus Kamtschatka hieher übergesiedelt, welches Tagelöhner oder Arbeiter bedeutet.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 79.[102]'They will not go a step out of the way for the most necessary purposes of nature; and vessels are placed at their very doors for the reception of the urinous fluid, which are resorted to alike by both sexes.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 214.[103]'Not only do brothers and sisters cohabit with each other, but even parents and children.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64.[104]'Images dressed in different forms.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 178. 'The most favoured of women is she who has the greatest number of children.'Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 176.[105]'Der Vater oder die Mutter bestimmen den Sohn schon in seiner frühsten Kindheit zum Achnutschik, wenn er ihnen mädchenhaft erscheint.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 121. 'Male concubines are much more frequent here than at Oonalashka.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64. They 'are happy to see them taken by the chiefs, to gratify their unnatural desires. Such youths are dressed like women, and taught all their domestic duties.'Sauer, Billings' Ex., p. 176. 'Ces peuples sont très adonnés aux plaisirs des sens et même à un vice infame.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. vii., p. 8. 'Of all the customs of these islanders, the most disgusting is that of men, calledschoopans, living with men, and supplying the place of women.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 199. This shameful custom applies to the Thlinkeets as well. 'Quelques personnes de l'Equipage du Solide ont rapporté qu'il ne leur est pas possible de douter que les Tchinkîtânéens ne soient souillés de ce vice honteux que la Théogonie immorale des Grecs avoit divinisé.'Marchand,Voy. aut. du Monde, tom. ii., p. 97.[106]'Der Schamane hat seiner Obliegenheit gemäss oder aus besonderem Wohlwollen sie der Jungferschaft beraubt und sie wäre unwürdig vor der Versammlung zu erscheinen, wenn sie ihre erste Liebe irgend einem Anderen und nicht dem Schamanen gezollt hätte.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 133.[107]'Their dances are proper tournaments.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 176. They are much addicted to public dances, especially during winter.Whymper's Alaska, p. 165. 'Masks of the most hideous figures are worn.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 210. 'Use a sort of rattle composed of a number of the beaks of the sea-parrot, strung upon a wooden cross,'—sounds like castanets.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64. 'Die Tänzer erscheinen, eben so, mit Wurfspiessen oder Messern in den Händen, welche sie über dem Kopfe schwingen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 118.[108]'Les sorciers et chamans jouissent d'une grande faveur dans cette région glacée de l'Amérique.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Schamane und alte Weiber kennen verschiedene Heilmittel.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135. 'Next in rank to the shamans are the kaseks, or sages, whose office is to teach children the different dances, and superintend the public amusements and shows, of which they have the supreme control.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 208.
[1]Of late, custom gives to the main land of Russian America, the nameAlaska; to the peninsula,Aliaska; and to a large island of the Aleutian Archipelago,Unalashka. The word of which the present name Alaska is a corruption, is first encountered in the narrative of Betsevin, who, in 1761, wintered on the peninsula, supposing it to be an island. The author ofNeue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln, writes, page 53, 'womit man nach der abgelegensten InsulAläksuoderAlachschaküber gieng.' Again, at page 57, in giving a description of the animals on the supposed island he calls it 'auf der InsulAläsku.' 'This,' says Coxe,Russian Discoveries, p. 72, 'is probably the same island which is laid down in Krenitzin's chart under the name ofAlaxa.'Unalaschkais given by the author ofNeue Nachrichten, p. 74, in his narrative of the voyage of Drusinin, who hunted on that island in 1763. At page 115 he again mentions the 'grosse InsulAläksu.' On page 125, in Glottoff's log-book, 1764, is the entry: 'Den 28sten May der Wind Ostsüdost; man kam an die InsulAlaskaoderAläksu.' Still following the author ofNeue Nachrichten, we have on page 166, in an account of the voyages of Otseredin and Popoff, who hunted upon the Aleutian Islands in 1769, mention of a report by the natives 'that beyond Unimak is said to be a large landAläschka, the extent of which the islanders do not know.' On Cook's Atlas, voyage 1778, the peninsula is calledAlaska, and the islandOonalaska, La Pérouse, in his atlas, map No. 15, 1786, calls the peninsulaAlaska, and the islandOunalaska. The Spaniards, in theAtlas para el Viage de las goletas Sutil y Mexicana, 1792, writeAlascafor the peninsula, and for the islandUnalaska. Sauer, in his account of Billings' expedition, 1790, calls the main landAlaska, the peninsulaAlyaska, and the islandOonalashka. Wrangell, inBaer's Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten, p. 123, writes for the peninsulaAlaskaand for the islandUnalaschka. Holmberg,Ethnographische Skizzen, p. 78, calls the islandUnalaschkaand the peninsulaAljaska. Dall,Alaska, p. 529, says that the peninsula or main land was called by the nativesAlayeksa, and the islandNagun-alayeksa, 'or the land near Alayeksa.' Thus we have, from which to choose, the orthography of the earliest voyagers to this coast—Russian, English, French, Spanish, German, and American. The simple wordAlaksu, after undergoing many contortions, some authors writing it differently on different pages of the same book, has at length becomeAlaska, as applied to the main land;Aliaskafor the peninsula, andUnalashkaas the name of the island. As these names are all corruptions from some one original word, whatever that may be, I see no reason for giving the error three different forms. I therefore write Alaska for the mainland and peninsula and Unalaska for the island.
[2]The name is said, by Charlevoix 'to be derived from the language of the Abenaqui, a tribe of Algonquins in Canada, who border upon them and call them "Esquimantsic."' 'L'origine de leur nom n'est pas certain. Toutefois il y a bien de l'apparence qu'il vient du mot Abenaqui,esquimantsicqui veut dire "mangeur de viande cruë."' SeePrichard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. v., pp. 367, 373. 'French writers call them Eskimaux.' 'English authors, in adopting this term, have most generally written it "Esquimaux," but Dr. Latham, and other recent ethnologists, write it "Eskimos," after the Danish orthography.'Richardson's Polar Regions, p. 298. 'Probably of Canadian origin, and the word, which in French orthography is written Esquimaux, was probably originallyCeux qui miaux(miaulent).'Richardson's Journal, vol. i., p. 340. 'Said to be a corruption ofEskimantik,i. e.raw-fish-eaters, a nickname given them by their former neighbors, the Mohicans.'Seemann's Voyage of the Herald, vol. ii., p. 49. Eskimo is derived from a word indicating sorcerer or Shamán. 'The northern Tinneh use the wordUskeemi.'Dall's Alaska, pp. 144, 531. 'Their own national designation is "Keralit."'Morton's Crania Americana, p. 52. They 'call themselves "Innuit," which signifies "man."'Armstrong's Narrative, p. 191.
[3]It is not without reluctance that I change a word from the commonly accepted orthography. Names of places, though originating in error, when once established, it is better to leave unchanged. Indian names, coming to us through Russian, German, French, or Spanish writers, should be presented in English by such letters as will best produce the original Indian pronunciation. European personal names, however, no matter how long, nor how commonly they may have been erroneously used, should be immediately corrected. Every man who can spell is supposed to be able to give the correct orthography of his own name, and his spelling should in every instance be followed, when it can be ascertained. Veit Bering, anglicè Vitus Behring, was of a Danish family, several members of which were well known in literature before his own time. In Danish writings, as well as among the biographies of Russian admirals, where may be found a fac-simile of his autograph, the name is spelledBering. It is so given by Humboldt, and by theDictionnaire de la Conversation. The author of theNeue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln, one of the oldest printed works on Russian discoveries in America; as well as Müller, who was the companion of Bering for many years; and Buschmann,—all writeBering. Baer remarks: 'Ich schreibe ferner Bering, obgleich es jetzt fast allgemein geworden ist, Behring zu schreiben, und auch die Engländer und Franzosen sich der letztern Schreibart bequemt haben. Bering war ein Däne und seine Familie war lange vor ihm in der Literatur-Geschichte bekannt. Sie hat ihren Namen auf die von mir angenommene Weise drucken lassen. Derselben Schreibart bediente sich auch der Historiograph Müller, der längere Zeit unter seinen Befehlen gedient hatte, und Pallas.'Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten, p. 328. There is no doubt that the famous navigator wrote his nameBering, and that the letter 'h' was subsequently inserted to give the Danish sound to the letter 'e.' To accomplish the same purpose, perhaps, Coxe, Langsdorff, Beechey, and others writeBeering.
[4]'Die Kadjacker im Gegentheil nähern sich mehr den Amerikanischen Stämmen und gleichen in ihrem Aeussern gar nicht den Eskimos oder den Asiatischen Völkern, wahrscheinlich haben sie durch die Vermischung mit den Stämmen Amerika's ihre ursprüngliche Asiatische äussere Gestalt und Gesichtsbildung verloren und nur die Sprache beibehalten.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn. Nachr., p. 124. 'Ils ressemblent beaucoup aux indigènes des îles Curiles, dépendantes du Japon.'Laplace,Circumnavigation de l'Artémise, vol. vi., p. 45.
[5]'The tribes crowded together on the shores of Beering's Sea within a comparatively small extent of coast-line, exhibit a greater variety, both in personal appearance and dialect, than that which exists between the Western Eskimos and their distant countrymen in Labrador; and ethnologists have found some difficulty in classifying them properly.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 363.
[6]For authorities, seeTribal Boundaries, at the end of this chapter.
[7]Collinson, inLondon Geographical Society Journal, vol. xxv., p. 201.
[8]'Im nordwestlichsten Theile von Amerika fand Franklin den Boden, Mitte August, schon in einer Tiefe von 16 Zoll gefroren. Richardson sah an einem östlicheren Punkte der Küste, in 71° 12´ Breite, die Eisschicht im Julius aufgethaut bis 3 Fuss unter der krautbedeckten Oberfläche.'Humboldt,Kosmos, tom. iv., p. 47.
[9]Silliman's Journal, vol. xvi., p. 130.Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 13.Armstrong's Nar., p. 289.
[10]'Characteristic of the Arctic regions.'Silliman's Jour., vol. xvi., p. 143.
[11]At Kotzebue Sound, in July, Choris writes: 'Le sol était émaillé de fleurs de couleurs variées, dans tous les endroits où la neige venait de fondre.'Voyage Pittoresque, pt. ii., p. 8.
[12]'In der Einöde der Inseln von Neu-Sibirien finden grosse Heerden von Rennthieren und zahllose Lemminge noch hinlängliche Nahrung.'Humboldt,Kosmos, vol. iv., p. 42.
[13]'Thermometer rises as high as 61° Fahr. With a sun shining throughout the twenty-four hours the growth of plants is rapid in the extreme.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 15.
[14]'During the period of incubation of the aquatic birds, every hole and projecting crag on the sides of this rock is occupied by them. Its shores resound with the chorus of thousands of the feathery tribe.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 349.
[15]'Their complexion, if divested of its usual covering of dirt, can hardly be called dark.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. 'In comparison with other Americans, of a white complexion.'McCulloh's Aboriginal History of America, p. 20. 'White Complexion, not Copper coloured.'Dobbs' Hudson's Bay, p. 50. 'Almost as white as Europeans.'Kalm's Travels, vol. ii., p. 263. 'Not darker than that of a Portuguese.'Lyon's Journal, p. 224. 'Scarcely a shade darker than a deep brunette.'Parry's 3rd Voyage, p. 493. 'Their complexion is light.'Dall's Alaska, p. 381. 'Eye-witnesses agree in their superior lightness of complexion over the Chinooks.'Pickering's Races of Man,U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 28. At Coppermine River they are 'of a dirty copper color; some of the women, however, are more fair and ruddy.'Hearne's Travels, p. 166. 'Considerably fairer than the Indian tribes.'Simpson's Nar., p. 110. At Cape Bathurst 'The complexion is swarthy, chiefly, I think, from exposure and the accumulation of dirt.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 192. 'Shew little of the copper-colour of the Red Indians.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 303. 'From exposure to weather they become dark after manhood.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343.
[16]'Both sexes are well proportioned, stout, muscular, and active.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 50. 'A stout, well-looking people.'Simpson's Nar., pp. 110, 114. 'Below the mean of the Caucasian race.'Dr. Hayes, inHistoric. Magazine, vol. i., p. 6. 'They are thick set, have a decided tendency to obesity, and are seldom more than five feet in height.'Figuier's Human Race, p. 211. At Kotzebue Sound, 'tallest man was five feet nine inches; tallest woman, five feet four inches.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. 'Average height was five feet four and a half inches.' At the mouth of the Mackenzie they are of 'middle stature, strong and muscular.'Armstrong's Nar., pp. 149, 192. 'Low, broad-set, not well made, nor strong.'Hearne's Trav., p. 166. 'The men were in general stout.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. 'Of a middle size, robust make, and healthy appearance.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 209. 'Men vary in height from about five feet to five feet ten inches.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Women were generally short.' 'Their figure inclines to squat.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224.
[17]'Tous les individus qui appartiennent à la famille des Eskimaux, se distinguent par la petitesse de leurs pieds et de leurs mains, et la grosseur énorme de leurs têtes.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 262. 'The hands and feet are delicately small and well formed.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Small and beautifully made.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 50. At Point Barrow, 'their hands, notwithstanding the great amount of manual labour to which they are subject, were beautifully small and well-formed, a description equally applicable to their feet.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 101.
[18]'The head is of good size, rather flat superiorly, but very fully developed posteriorly, evidencing a preponderance of the animal passions; the forehead was, for the most part, low and receding; in a few it was somewhat vertical, but narrow.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 193. Their cranial characteristics 'are the strongly developed coronary ridge, the obliquity of the zygoma, and its greater capacity compared with the Indian cranium. The former is essentially pyramidal, while the latter more nearly approaches a cubic shape.'Dall's Alaska, p. 376. 'Greatest breadth of the face is just below the eyes, the forehead tapers upwards, ending narrowly, but not acutely, and in like manner the chin is a blunt cone.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 302. Dr Gall, whose observations on the same skulls presented him for phrenological observation are published by M. Louis Choris, thus comments upon the head of a female Eskimo from Kotzebue Sound: 'L'organe de l'instinct de la propagation se trouve extrêmement développé pour une tête de femme.' He finds the musical and intellectual organs poorly developed; while vanity and love of children are well displayed. 'En général,' sagely concluded the doctor, 'cette tête femme présentait une organization aussi heureuse que celle de la plupart des femmes d'Europe.'Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 16.
[19]'Large fat round faces, high cheek bones, small hazel eyes, eyebrows slanting like the Chinese, and wide mouths.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'Broad, flat faces, high cheekbones.'Dr Hayes, inHist. Mag., vol. i., p. 6. Their 'teeth are regular, but, from the nature of their food, and from their practice of preparing hides by chewing, are worn down almost to the gums at an early age.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. At Hudson Strait, broad, flat, pleasing face; small and generally sore eyes; given to bleeding at the nose.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. 'Small eyes and very high cheek bones.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 209. 'La face platte, la bouche ronde, le nez petit sans être écrasé, le blanc de l'oeil jaunâtre, l'iris noir et peu brillant.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 262. They have 'small, wild-looking eyes, large and very foul teeth, the hair generally black, but sometimes fair, and always in extreme disorder.'Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 467. 'As contrasted with the other native American races, their eyes are remarkable, being narrow and more or less oblique.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343. Expression of face intelligent and good-natured. Both sexes have mostly round, flat faces, with Mongolian cast.Hooper's Tuski, p. 223.
[20]'Allowed to hang down in a club to the shoulder.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 305. Hair cut 'close round the crown of the head, and thereby, leaving a bushy ring round the lower part of it.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'Their hair is straight, black, and coarse.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. A fierce expression characterized them on the Mackenzie River, which 'was increased by the long disheveled hair flowing about their shoulders.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. At Kotzebue Sound 'their hair was done up in large plaits on each side of the head.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. At Camden Bay, lofty top-knots; at Point Barrow, none. At Coppermine River the hair is worn short, unshaven on the crown, and bound with strips of deer-skin.Simpson's Nar., pp. 121, 157. Some of the men have bare crowns, but the majority wear the hair flowing naturally. The women cut the hair short in front, level with the eyebrows. At Humphrey Point it is twisted with some false hair into two immense bows on the back of the head.Hooper's Tuski, p. 225. 'Their hair hangs down long, but is cut quite short on the crown of the head.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 210. Hair cut like 'that of a Capuchin friar.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51.
[21]Crantz says the Greenlanders root it out. 'The old men had a few gray hairs on their chins, but the young ones, though grown up, were beardless.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 332. 'The possession of a beard is very rare, but a slight moustache is not infrequent.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 51. 'As the men grow old, they have more hair on the face than Red Indians.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 343. 'Generally an absence of beard and whiskers.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 193. 'Beard is universally wanting.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 252. 'The young men have little beard, but some of the old ones have a tolerable shew of long gray hairs on the upper lip and chin.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 303. 'All have beards.'Bell's Geography, vol. v., p. 294. Kirby affirms that in Alaska 'many of them have a profusion of whiskers and beard.'Smithsonian Report, 1864, p. 416.
[22]'The lip is perforated for the labret as the boy approaches manhood, and is considered an important era in his life.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 194. 'Some wore but one, others one on each side of the mouth.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'Lip ornaments, with the males, appear to correspond with the tattooing of the chins of the females.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 384.
[23]'The women tattoo their faces in blue lines produced by making stitches with a fine needle and thread, smeared with lampblack.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 305. Between Kotzebue Sound and Icy Cape, 'all the women were tattooed upon the chin with three small lines.' They blacken 'the edges of the eyelids with plumbago, rubbed up with a little saliva upon a piece of slate.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 360. At Point Barrow, the women have on the chin 'a vertical line about half an inch broad in the centre, extending from the lip, with a parallel but narrower one on either side of it, a little apart. Some had two vertical lines protruding from either angle of the mouth; which is a mark of their high position in the tribe.'Armstrong's Nar., pp. 101, 149. On Bering Isle, men as well as women tattoo. 'Plusieurs hommes avaient le visage tatoué.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 5.
[24]'Give a particularly disgusting look when the bones are taken out, as the saliva continually runs over the chin.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 227. At Camden, labrets were made of large blue beads, glued to pieces of ivory. None worn at Coppermine River.Simpson's Nar., pp. 119, 347. 'Many of them also transfix the septum of the nose with a dentalium shell or ivory needle.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 355.
[25]'These natives almost universally use a very unpleasant liquid for cleansing purposes. They tan and soften the seal-skin used for boot-soles with it.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 161. 'Females occasionally wash their hair and faces with their own urine, the odour of which is agreeable to both sexes, and they are well accustomed to it, as this liquor is kept in tubs in the porches of their huts for use in dressing the deer and seal skins.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 304. 'Show much skill in the preparation of whale, seal, and deer-skins.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 357. They have a great antipathy to water. 'Occasionally they wash their bodies with a certain animal fluid, but even this process is seldom gone through.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 62.
[26]'During the summer, when on whaling or sealing excursions, a coat of the gut of the whale, and boots of seal or walrus hide, are used as water-proof coverings.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 53. At Point Barrow they wear 'Kamleikas or water-proof shirts, made of the entrails of seals.'Simpson's Nar., p. 156. Women wear close-fitting breeches of seal-skin.Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'They are on the whole as good as the best oil-skins in England.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 340.
[27]The dress of the two sexes is much alike, the outer shirt or jacket having a pointed skirt before and behind, those of the female being merely a little longer. 'Pretty much the same for both sexes.'Figuier's Human Race, p. 214.
[28]'They have besides this a jacket made of eider drakes' skins sewed together, which, put on underneath their other dress, is a tolerable protection against a distant arrow, and is worn in times of hostility.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 340. Messrs Dease and Simpson found those of Point Barrow 'well clothed in seal and reindeer skins.'Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 221. 'The finest dresses are made of the skins of unborn deer.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 306. 'The half-developed skin of a fawn that has never lived, obtained by driving the doe till her offspring is prematurely born.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 160. Eskimo women pay much regard to their toilet.Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 355.
[29]Their dress consists of two suits.Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 52. 'Reindeer skin—the fur next the body.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. 'Two women, dressed like men, looked frightfully with their tattooed faces.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 191. Seal-skin jackets, bear-skin trowsers, and white-fox skin caps, is the male costume at Hudson Strait. The female dress is the same, with the addition of a hood for carrying children.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. At Camden Bay, reindeer-skin jackets and water-proof boots.Simpson's Nar., p. 119. At Coppermine River, 'women's boots which are not stiffened out with whalebone, and the tails of their jackets are not over one foot long.'Hearne's Travels, p. 166. Deer-skin, hair outside, ornamented with white fur.Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 416. The indoor dress of the eastern Eskimo is of reindeer-skin, with the fur inside. 'When they go out, another entire suit with the fur outside is put over all, and a pair of watertight sealskin moccasins, with similar mittens for their hands.'Silliman's Journal, vol. xvi., p. 146. The frock at Coppermine River has a tail something like a dress-coat.Simpson's Nar., p. 350.
[30]'Some of them are even half-naked, as a summer heat, even of 10° is insupportable to them.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 205.
[31]'Down to the frozen subsoil.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310. 'Some are wholly above ground, others have their roof scarcely raised above it.'Beechey's Voy., vol. ii., p. 301.
[32]'Formed of stakes placed upright in the ground about six feet high, either circular or oval in form, from which others inclined so as to form a sloping roof.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 149. 'Half underground, with the entrance more or less so.'Dall's Alaska, p. 13. 'They are more than half underground,' and are 'about twenty feet square and eight feet deep.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 57.
[33]'The whole building is covered with earth to the thickness of a foot or more, and in a few years it becomes overgrown with grass, looking from a short distance like a small tumulus.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310.
[34]A smaller drift-wood house is sometimes built with a side-door. 'Light and air are admitted by a low door at one end.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 245.
[35]'The fire in the centre is never lit merely for the sake of warmth, as the lamps are sufficient for that purpose.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 58. 'They have no fire-places; but a stone placed in the centre serves for a support to the lamp, by which the little cooking that is required is performed.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 348.
[36]'On trouva plusieurs huttes construites en bois, moitié dans la terre, moitié en dehors.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 6. At Beaufort Bay are wooden huts.Simpson's Nar., p. 177. At Toker Point, 'built of drift-wood and sods of turf or mud.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 343. At Cape Krusenstern the houses 'appeared like little round hills, with fences of whale-bone.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 237. 'They construct yourts or winter residences upon those parts of the shore which are adapted to their convenience, such as the mouths of rivers, the entrances of inlets, or jutting points of land, but always upon low ground.'Beechey's Voy., vol. ii., p. 300.
[37]'I was surprised at the vast quantity of driftwood accumulated on its shore, several acres being thickly covered with it, and many pieces at least sixty feet in length.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 104.
[38]'Eastern Esquimaux never seem to think of fire as a means of imparting warmth.'Simpson's Nar., p. 346.
[39]Their houses are 'moveable tents, constructed of poles and skins.'Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 469. 'Neither wind nor watertight.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 361. At Cape Smythe, Hooper saw seven Eskimo tents of seal skin.Tuski, p. 216. 'We entered a small tent of morse-skins, made in the form of a canoe.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 226. At Coppermine River their tents in summer are of deer-skin with the hair on, and circular.Hearne's Travels, p. 167. At St Lawrence Island, Kotzebue saw no settled dwellings, 'only several small tents built of the ribs of whales, and covered with the skin of the morse.'Voyage, vol. i., pp. 190-191.
[40]'In parallelograms, and so adjusted as to form a rotunda, with an arched roof.'Silliman's Jour., vol. xvi., p. 146.Parry's Voy., vol. v., p. 200.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 44.
[41]'These houses are durable, the wind has little effect on them, and they resist the thaw until the sun acquires very considerable power.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 350.
[42]The snow houses are called by the nativesigloo, and the underground hutsyourts, oryurts, and their tentstopeks. Winter residence, 'iglut.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 310. Beechey, describing the same kind of buildings, calls them 'yourts.'Voy., vol. i., p. 366. Tent of skins, tie-poo-eet; topak; toopek. Tent, too-pote.Ibid., vol. ii., p. 381. 'Yourts.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 59. Tent, topek. Dall says Richardson is wrong, and that igloo or iglu is the name of ice houses.Alaska, p. 532. House, iglo. Tent, tuppek.Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 378. Snow house, eegloo.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 47.
[43]They are so fond of the warm blood of dying animals that they invented an instrument to secure it. SeeBeechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 344. 'Whale-blubber, their great delicacy, is sickening and dangerous to a European stomach.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 192.
[44]Hearne says that the natives on the Arctic coast of British America are so disgustingly filthy that when they have bleeding at the nose they lick up their own blood.Travels, p. 161. 'Salt always appeared an abomination.' 'They seldom cook their food, the frost apparently acting as a substitute for fire.'Collinson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxv., p. 201. At Kotzebue Sound they 'seem to subsist entirely on the flesh of marine animals, which they, for the most part, eat raw.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 239.
[45]'During the two summer months they hunt and live on swans, geese, and ducks.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 346.
[46]'Secures winter feasts and abundance of oil for the lamps of a whole village, and there is great rejoicing.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 313. 'The capture of the seal and walrus is effected in the same manner. Salmon and other fish are caught in nets.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 61. 'Six small perforated ivory balls attached separately to cords of sinew three feet long.'Dease & Simpson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., 222.
[47]Near Smith River, a low piece of ground, two miles broad at the beach, was found enclosed by double rows of turf set up to represent men, narrowing towards a lake, into which reindeer were driven and killed.Simpson's Nar., p. 135.
[48]'Ce qu'il y a encore de frappant dans la complexion de ces barbares, c'est l'extrême chaleur de leur estomac et de leur sang; ils échauffent tellement, par leur haleine ardente, les huttes où ils assemblent en hiver, que les Européans, s'y sentent étouffés, comme dans une étuve dont la chaleur est trop graduée: aussi ne font-ils jamais de feu dans leur habitation en aucune saison, et ils ignorent l'usage des cheminées, sous le climat le plus froid du globe.'De Pauw,Recherches Phil., tom. i., p. 261.
[49]'The voluptuousness and Polygamy of the North American Indians, under a temperature of almost perpetual winter, is far greater than that of the most sensual tropical nations.'Martin's British Colonies, vol. iii., p. 524.
[50]'The seal is perhaps their most useful animal, not merely furnishing oil and blubber, but the skin used for their canoes, thongs, nets, lassoes, and boot soles.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 161.
[51]They have 'two sorts of bows; arrows pointed with iron, flint, and bone, or blunt for birds; a dart with throwing-board for seals; a spear headed with iron or copper, the handle about six feet long; and formidable iron knives, equally adapted for throwing, cutting, or stabbing.'Simpson's Nar., p. 123. They ascended the Mackenzie in former times as far as the Ramparts, to obtain flinty slate for lance and arrow points.Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 213. At St. Lawrence Island, they are armed with a knife two feet long.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 193, 211. One weapon was 'a walrus tooth fixed to the end of a wooden staff.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 343.
[52]At the Coppermine River, arrows are pointed with slate or copper; hatchets also are made of a thick lump of copper.Hearne's Travels, pp. 161-9.
[53]'The old ivory knives and flint axes are now superseded, the Russians having introduced the common European sheath-knife and hatchet. The board for throwing darts is in use, and is similar to that of the Polynesians.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 53.
[54]The 'baydare is a large open boat, quite flat, made of sea-lions' skins,' and is used also for a tent. At Lantscheff Island it was 'a large and probably leathern boat, with black sails.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 202, 216. 'The kaiyaks are impelled by a double-bladed paddle, used with or without a central rest, and the umiaks with oars.' Can 'propel their kaiyaks at the rate of seven miles an hour.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., pp. 238, 358. At Hudson Strait they have canoes of seal-skin, like those of Greenland.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 29. Not a drop of water can penetrate the opening into the canoe.Müller's Voy., p. 46. The kyak is like an English wager-boat. They are 'much stronger than their lightness would lead one to suppose.'Hooper's Tuski, pp. 226, 228.Oomiaksor family canoes of skin; float in six inches of water.Simpson's Nar., p. 148. 'With these boats they make long voyages, frequently visiting St. Lawrence Island.'Dall's Alaska, p. 380. 'Frame work of wood—when this cannot be procured whalebone is substituted.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 98. Mackenzie saw boats put together with whalebone; 'sewed in some parts, and tied in others.'Voyages, p. 67. They also use a sail. 'On découvrit au loin, dans la baie, un bateau qui allait à la voile; elle était en cuir.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 6. They 'are the best means yet discovered by mankind to go from place to place.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 43. 'It is wonderful what long voyages they make in these slight boats.'Campbell's Voy., p. 114. 'The skin, when soaked with water, is translucent; and a stranger placing his foot upon the flat yielding surface at the bottom of the boat fancies it a frail security.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 346.
[55]The 'kajak is shaped like a weaver's shuttle.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 308. 'The paddle is in the hands of an Eskimo, what the balancing pole is to a tight-rope dancer.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 56.
[56]'The Koltshanen construct birch-bark canoes; but on the coast skin boats or baidars, like the Eskimo kaiyaks and umiaks, are employed.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 405. If by accident a hole should be made, it is stopped with a piece of the flesh of the sea-dog, or fat of the whale, which they always carry with them.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 43. They strike 'the water with a quick, regular motion, first on one side, and then on the other.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 516. 'Wiegen nie über 30 Pfund, und haben ein dünnes mit Leder überzognes Gerippe.'Neue Nachrichten, p. 152. 'The Aleutians put to sea with them in all weathers.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 40. At the Shumagin Islands they 'are generally about twelve feet in length, sharp at each end, and about twenty inches broad.'Meares' Voy., p. x. They are as transparent as oiled paper. At Unalaska they are so light that they can be carried in one hand.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157, 159.
[57]'They average twelve feet in length, two feet six inches in height, two feet broad, and have the fore part turned up in a gentle curve.' 'The floor resembles a grating without cross-bars, and is almost a foot from the level of the snow.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 56. At Saritscheff Island 'I particularly remarked two very neat sledges made of morse and whalebones.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 201. 'To make the runners glide smoothly, a coating of ice is given to them.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 309. At Norton Sound Captain Cook found sledges ten feet long and twenty inches in width. A rail-work on each side, and shod with bone; 'neatly put together; some with wooden pins, but mostly with thongs or lashings of whale-bone.'Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 442, 443. Mackenzie describes the sledges of British America,Voyages, pp. 67, 68.
[58]'About the size of those of Newfoundland, with shorter legs.'Dall's Alaska, p. 25. 'Neither plentiful nor of a good class.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 171.
[59]The dog will hunt bear and reindeer, but is afraid of its near relative, the wolf.Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 474.
[60]'An average length is four and a half feet.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 183. 'The Innuit snowshoe is small and nearly flat,' 'seldom over thirty inches long.' 'They are always rights and lefts.' Ingalik larger; Kutchin same style; Hudson Bay, thirty inches in length.Dall's Alaska, pp. 190, 191. 'They are from two to three feet long, a foot broad, and slightly turned up in front.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 60.
[61]'Blue beads, cutlery, tobacco, and buttons, were the articles in request.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 352. At Hudson Strait they have a custom of licking with the tongue each article purchased, as a finish to the bargain.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., 27. 'Articles of Russian manufacture find their way from tribe to tribe along the American coast, eastward to Repulse Bay.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 317.
[62]Are very anxious to barter arrows, seal-skin boots, and ivory ornaments for tobacco, beads, and particularly for iron.Hooper's Tuski, p. 217. Some of their implements at Coppermine River are: stone kettles, wooden dishes, scoops and spoons made of buffalo or musk-ox horns.Hearne's Travels, p. 168. At Point Barrow were ivory implements with carved figures of sea-animals, ivory dishes, and a 'fine whalebone net.' Also 'knives and other implements, formed of native copper' at Coppermine River.Simpson's Nar., pp. 147, 156, 261. At Point Barrow they 'have unquestionably an indirect trade with the Russians.'Simpson's Nar., 161.
[63]'They are very expert traders, haggle obstinately, always consult together, and are infinitely happy when they fancy they have cheated anybody.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 211. 'A thieving, cunning race.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 110. They respect each other's property, 'but they steal without scruple from strangers.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 352.
[64]'They have a chief (Nalegak) in name, but do not recognize his authority.'Dr Hayes, inHist. Mag., vol. i., p. 6. Government, 'a combination of the monarchical and republican;' 'every one is on a perfect level with the rest.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 59, 60. 'Chiefs are respected principally as senior men.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. At Kotzebue Sound, a robust young man was taken to be chief, as all his commands were punctually obeyed.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 235. Quarrels 'are settled by boxing, the parties sitting down and striking blows alternately, until one of them gives in.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 326. Every man governs his own family.Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 475. They 'have a strong respect for their territorial rights, and maintain them with firmness.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 351.
[65]They are 'horribly filthy in person and habits.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 224. 'A husband will readily traffic with the virtue of a wife for purposes of gain.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 195. 'More than once a wife was proffered by her husband.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 356. As against the above testimony, Seemann affirms: 'After the marriage ceremony has been performed infidelity is rare.'Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 66. 'These people are in the habit of collecting certain fluids for the purposes of tanning; and that, judging from what took place in the tent, in the most open manner, in the presence of all the family.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 407.
[66]'Two men sometimes marry the same woman.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 66. 'As soon as a girl is born, the young lad who wishes to have her for a wife goes to her father's tent, and proffers himself. If accepted, a promise is given which is considered binding, and the girl is delivered to her betrothed husband at the proper age.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. Women 'carry their infants between their reindeer-skin jackets and their naked backs.'Simpson's Nar., p. 121. 'All the drudgery falls upon the women; even the boys would transfer their loads to their sisters.'Collinson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxv., p. 201.
[67]The 'Kashimis generally built by the joint labour of the community.'Richardson's Pol. Reg., p. 311.
[68]'Their dance is of the rudest kind, and consists merely in violent motion of the arms and legs.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 63. They make 'the most comical motions with the whole body, without stirring from their place.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., p. 192. Their song consisted of the words: 'Hi, Yangah yangah; ha ha, yangah—with variety only in the inflection of voice.'Hooper's Tuski, p. 225. When heated by the dance, even the women were stripped to their breeches.Simpson's Nar., p. 158. 'An old man, all but naked, jumped into the ring, and was beginning some indecent gesticulations, when his appearance not meeting with our approbation he withdrew.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 396.
[69]'C'était la plus grande marque d'amitié qu'ils pouvaient nous donner.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. ii., p. 5. 'They came up to me one after the other—each of them embraced me, rubbed his nose hard against mine, and ended his caresses by spitting in his hands and wiping them several times over my face.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. i., pp. 192, 195.
[70]'Their personal bravery is conspicuous, and they are the only nation on the North American Continent who oppose their enemies face to face in open fight.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 244. 'Simple, kind people; very poor, very filthy, and to us looking exceedingly wretched.'McClure's Dis. N. W. Passage, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxiv., p. 242. 'More bold and crafty than the Indians; but they use their women much better.'Bell's Geog., vol. v., p. 294.
[71]'Their diseases are few.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 67. 'Diseases are quite as prevalent among them as among civilized people.'Dall's Alaska, p. 195. 'Ophthalmia was very general with them.'Beechey's Voy., vol. i., p. 345. 'There is seldom any mortality except amongst the old people and very young children.'Armstrong's Nar., p. 197.
[72]At Point Barrow, bodies were found in great numbers scattered over the ground in their ordinary seal-skin dress; a few covered with pieces of wood, the heads all turned north-east towards the extremity of the point.Simpson's Nar., p. 155. 'They lay their dead on the ground, with their heads all turned to the north.' 'The bodies lay exposed in the most horrible and disgusting manner.'Dease and Simpson, inLond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 221, 222. 'Their position with regard to the points of the compass is not taken into consideration.'Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p. 67. 'There are many more graves than present inhabitants of the village, and the story is that the whole coast was once much more densely populated.'Dall's Alaska, p. 19. Hooper, on coming to a burial place not far from Point Barrow, 'conjectured that the corpses had been buried in an upright position, with their heads at or above the surface.'Tuski, p. 221.
[73]Kadiak 'is a derivative, according to some authors, from the RussianKadia, a large tub; more probably, however, it is a corruption of Kaniag, the ancient Innuit name.'Dall's Alaska, p. 532. Holmberg thinks that the word Kadiak arose fromKikchtak, which in the language of the Koniagas means a large island. 'Der Name Kadjak ist offenbar eine Verdrehung von Kikchtak, welches Wort in der Sprache der Konjagen "grosse Insel" bedeutet und daher auch als Benennung der grössten Insel dieser Gruppe diente.'Ethnographische Skizzen über die Völker des Russischen Amerika, p. 75. 'A la divisionKoniagiappartient la partie la plus septentrionale de l'Alaska, et l'île de Kodiak, que les Russes appellent vulgairementKichtak, quoique, dans la langue des naturels, le mot Kightak ne désigne en général qu'une île.'Humboldt,Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 347. Coxe affirms that the natives 'call themselves Kanagist.'Russian Dis., p. 135. And Sauer says, 'the natives call themselvesSoo-oo-it.'Billings' Ex., p. 175. 'Man verstand von ihnen, dass sie sich selbst Kanagist nennen.'Neue Nachr., p. 114.
[74]Tschugatsches,TschugatsiorTschgatzi. Latham,Native Races, p. 290, says the name is Athabascan, and signifies 'men of the sea.'
[75]Kuskoquigmutes,Kuskokwimen,Kuskokwigmjuten,Kusckockwagemuten,Kuschkukchwakmüten, orKaskutchewak.
[76]The terminationmute,mut,meut,muten, ormjuten, signifies people or village. It is added to the tribal name sometimes as a substantive as well as in an adjective sense.
[77]'Herr Wassiljew schätzt ihre Zahl auf mindestens 7000 Seelen beiderlei Geschlechts und jeglichen Alters.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 127.
[78]'Es waren wohl einst alle diese Inseln bewohnt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 76.
[79]The Malemutes are 'a race of tall and stout people.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 159. 'Die Kuskokwimer sind, mittlerer Statur, schlank, rüstig und oft mit grosser Stärke begabt.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135.Dixon's Voy., p. 186. 'Bisweilen fallen sogar riesige Gestalten auf, wie ich z. B. einen Häuptling in der igatschen Bucht zu sehen Gelegenheit hatte, dessen Länge 6¾ Fuss betrug.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 80. The chief at Prince William Sound was a man of low stature, 'with a long beard, and seemed about sixty years of age.'Portlock's Voy., p. 237. A strong, raw-boned race.Meares' Voy., p. 32. At Cook's Inlet they seemed to be of the same nation as those of Pr. Wm. Sd., but entirely different from those at Nootka, in persons and language.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 400. They are of 'middle size and well proportioned.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68. 'They emigrated in recent times from the Island of Kadyak, and they claim, as their hereditary possessions, the coast lying between Bristol Bay and Beering's Straits.'Richardson's Nar., vol. i., p. 364. 'Die Tschugatschen sind Ankömmlinge von der Insel Kadjack, die während innerer Zwistigkeiten von dort vertrieben.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 116.
[80]Achkugmjuten, 'Bewohner der warmen Gegend.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 5. 'Copper complexion.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 194.
[81]'They bore their under lip, where they hang fine bones of beasts and birds.'Staehlin's North. Arch., p. 33. 'Setzen sich auch—Zähne von Vögeln oder Thierknochen in künstliche Oeffnungen der Unterlippe und unter der Nase ein.'Neue Nachr., p. 113.
[82]The people of Kadiak, according to Langsdorff, are similar to those of Unalaska, the men being a little taller. They differ from the Fox Islanders.Voy., pt. ii., p. 62. 'Die Insulaner waren hier von den Einwohnern, der vorhin entdeckten übrigen Fuchsinsuln, in Kleidung und Sprache ziemlich verschieden.'Neue Nachr., p. 113. 'Ils ressemblent beaucoup aux indigènes des îles Curiles, dépendantes du Japon.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 45.
[83]'They wore strings of beads suspended from apertures in the lower lip.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 195. 'Their ears are full of holes, from which hang pendants of bone or shell.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxii. 'Elles portent des perles ordinairement en verre bleu, suspendues au-dessous du nez à un fil passé dans la cloison nasale.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 573. 'Upon the whole, I have nowhere seen savages who take more pains than these people do to ornament, or rather to disfigure their persons.' At Prince William Sound they are so fond of ornament 'that they stick any thing in their perforated lip; one man appearing with two of our iron nails projecting from it like prongs; and another endeavouring to put a large brass button into it.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 370. They slit the under lip, and have ornaments of glass beads and muscle-shells in nostrils and ears; tattoo chin and neck.Langsdorff's Voy., vol. ii., p. 63. 'Die Frauen machen Einschnitte in die Lippen. Der Nasenknorpel ist ebenfalls durchstochen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135.
[84]The Kadiaks dress like the Aleuts, but their principal garment they callKonägen;Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 63. Like the Unalaskas, the neck being more exposed, fewer ornamentations.Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 177. 'Consists wholly of the skins of animals and birds.'Portlock's Voy., p. 249. A coat peculiar to Norton Sound appeared 'to be made of reeds sewed very closely together.'Dixon's Voy., p. 191. 'Nähen ihreParken(Winter-Kleider) aus Vögelhäuten und ihreKamleien(Sommer-Kleider) aus den Gedärmen von Wallfischen und Robben.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 117. At Norton Sound 'principally of deer-skins.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 484. 'Ihre Kleider sind aus schwarzen und andern Fuchsbälgen, Biber, Vogelhäuten, auch jungen Rennthier and Jewraschkenfellen, alles mit Sehnen genäht.'Neue Nachr., p. 113. 'The dress of both sexes consists of parkas and camleykas, both of which nearly resemble in form a carter's frock.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 194.
[85]'Una tunica entera de pieles que les abriga bastantemente.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 66. 'By the use of such a girdle, it should seem that they sometimes go naked.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 437.
[86]'Plastered over with mud, which gives it an appearance not very unlike a dung hill.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 214. Sea-dog skin closes the opening.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 62. The Kuskoquims have 'huttes qu'ils appellent barabores pour l'été.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Mit Erde und Gras bedeckt, so dass man mit Recht die Wohnungen der Konjagen Erdhütten nennen kann.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 97. 'A door fronting the east.'Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 175. At Norton Sound 'they consist simply of a sloping roof, without any side-walls.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 484. Build temporary huts of sticks and bark.Portlock's Voy., p. 253.
[87]'In dem Kashim versammelt sich die männliche Bevölkerung des ganzen Dorfes zur Berathschlagung über wichtige Angelegenheiten, über Krieg und Frieden, etc.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 129.
[88]'Le poisson est la principale nourriture.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Berries mixed with rancid whale oil.' 'The fat of the whale is the prime delicacy.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 178, 195. 'Meistentheils nähren sie sich mit rohen und trocknen Fischen, die sie theils in der See mit knöchernen Angelhaken, theils in den Bächen mit Sacknetzen, die sie aus Sehnen flechten, einfangen.'Neue Nachr., p. 114. They generally eat their food raw, but sometimes they boil it in water heated with hot stones.Meares' Voy., p. xxxv. The method of catching wild geese, is to chase and knock them down immediately after they have shed their large wing-feathers; at which time they are not able to fly.Portlock's Voy., p. 265.
[89]'Ich hatte auf der Insel Afognak Gelegenheit dem Zerschneiden eines Wallfisches zuzusehen und versichere, dass nach Verlauf von kaum 2 Stunden nur die blanken Knochen auf dem Ufer lagen.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 91.
[90]The Kadiaks 'pass their time in hunting, festivals, and abstinence. The first takes place in the summer; the second begins in the month of December, and continues as long as any provisions remain; and then follows the period of famine, which lasts till the re-appearance of fish in the rivers. During the period last mentioned, many have nothing but shell-fish to subsist on, and some die for want.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 209, 210.
[91]'Wild animals which they hunt, and especially wild sheep, the flesh of which is excellent.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 188. They eat the larger sort of fern-root baked, and a substance which seemed the inner bark of the pine.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 374. 'Die Eingebornen essen diese Wurzeln (Lagat) roh und gekocht; aus der Wurzel, nachdem sie in Mehl verwandelt ist, bäckt man, mit einer geringen Beimischung von Weizenmehl, süssliche, dünne Kuchen.'Sagoskin,Tagebuch, inDenkschr. d. russ. Geog. Gesell., p. 343.
[92]'Ihre hölzernen Schilde nennen sie Kujaki.'Neue Nachr., p. 114.
[93]'Selecting the roots of such plants as grow alone, these roots are dried and pounded, or grated.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 178.
[94]'Die Pfeilspitzen sind aus Eisen oder Kupfer, ersteres erhalten sie von den Kenayern, letzteres von den Tutnen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 118. 'De pedernal en forma de arpon, cortado con tanta delicadeza como pudiera hacerlo el mas hábil lapidario.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 66.
[95]At Prince William Sound Cook found the canoes not of wood, as at Nootka. At Bristol Bay they were of skin, but broader.Third Voy., vol. ii., pp. 371, 437. 'Die kadjakschen Baidarken unterscheiden sich in der Form ein wenig von denen der andern Bewohner der amerikanischen Küste, von denen der Aleuten aber namentlich darin, dass sie kürzer und breiter sind.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 99. At Prince William Sound, 'formada la canoa en esqueleto la forran por fuera con pieles de animales.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 65. 'Qu'on se figure une nacelle de quatre mètres de long et de soixante centimètres de large tout au plus.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 48. 'These canoes were covered with skins, the same as we had seen last season in Cook's River.Dixon's Voy., p. 147. 'Safer at sea in bad weather than European boats.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 211.
[96]Their whale-sinew thread was as fine as silk.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 207.
[97]The only tool seen was a stone adze.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 373.
[98]'Their sewing, plaiting of sinews, and small work on their little bags may be put in competition with the most delicate manufactures found in any part of the known world.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., pp. 373, 374. 'If we may judge by these figures, the inhabitants of Cadiack must have lost much of their skill in carving, their old productions of this kind being greatly superior.'Lisiansky, p. 178. The Ingalik's household furniture is made 'von gebogenem Holz sehr zierlich gearbeitet und mittelst Erdfarben roth, grün und blau angestrichen. Zum Kochen der Speisen bedienen sie sich irdener, ausgebrannter Geschirre.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 121.
[99]'Tis most probable they are divided into clans or tribes.'Dixon's Voy., p. 67. 'They have a King, whose name was Sheenoway.'Meares' Voy., p. xxvii. 'They always keep together in families, and are under the direction of toyons or chiefs.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 151.
[100]Female slaves are sold from one tribe to another.Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 175.
[101]'Zugleich verschwand auch ihre Benennung; man nannte sie ferner Kajuren, ein Wort aus Kamtschatka hieher übergesiedelt, welches Tagelöhner oder Arbeiter bedeutet.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 79.
[102]'They will not go a step out of the way for the most necessary purposes of nature; and vessels are placed at their very doors for the reception of the urinous fluid, which are resorted to alike by both sexes.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 214.
[103]'Not only do brothers and sisters cohabit with each other, but even parents and children.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64.
[104]'Images dressed in different forms.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 178. 'The most favoured of women is she who has the greatest number of children.'Sauer,Billings' Voy., p. 176.
[105]'Der Vater oder die Mutter bestimmen den Sohn schon in seiner frühsten Kindheit zum Achnutschik, wenn er ihnen mädchenhaft erscheint.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 121. 'Male concubines are much more frequent here than at Oonalashka.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64. They 'are happy to see them taken by the chiefs, to gratify their unnatural desires. Such youths are dressed like women, and taught all their domestic duties.'Sauer, Billings' Ex., p. 176. 'Ces peuples sont très adonnés aux plaisirs des sens et même à un vice infame.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. vii., p. 8. 'Of all the customs of these islanders, the most disgusting is that of men, calledschoopans, living with men, and supplying the place of women.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 199. This shameful custom applies to the Thlinkeets as well. 'Quelques personnes de l'Equipage du Solide ont rapporté qu'il ne leur est pas possible de douter que les Tchinkîtânéens ne soient souillés de ce vice honteux que la Théogonie immorale des Grecs avoit divinisé.'Marchand,Voy. aut. du Monde, tom. ii., p. 97.
[106]'Der Schamane hat seiner Obliegenheit gemäss oder aus besonderem Wohlwollen sie der Jungferschaft beraubt und sie wäre unwürdig vor der Versammlung zu erscheinen, wenn sie ihre erste Liebe irgend einem Anderen und nicht dem Schamanen gezollt hätte.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 133.
[107]'Their dances are proper tournaments.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 176. They are much addicted to public dances, especially during winter.Whymper's Alaska, p. 165. 'Masks of the most hideous figures are worn.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 210. 'Use a sort of rattle composed of a number of the beaks of the sea-parrot, strung upon a wooden cross,'—sounds like castanets.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 64. 'Die Tänzer erscheinen, eben so, mit Wurfspiessen oder Messern in den Händen, welche sie über dem Kopfe schwingen.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 118.
[108]'Les sorciers et chamans jouissent d'une grande faveur dans cette région glacée de l'Amérique.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 574. 'Schamane und alte Weiber kennen verschiedene Heilmittel.'Baer,Stat. u. Ethn., p. 135. 'Next in rank to the shamans are the kaseks, or sages, whose office is to teach children the different dances, and superintend the public amusements and shows, of which they have the supreme control.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 208.