The Central Eskimo Part 15

Parry describes the dress of the Iglulirmiut as follows (II, p. 495):

In the jacket of the women, the tail or flap behind is very broad, and so long as almost to touch the ground; while a shorter and narrower one before reaches halfway down the thigh. The men have also a tail in the hind part of their jacket, but of smaller dimensions; but before, it is generally straight or ornamented by a single scollop. The hood of the jacket * * * is much the largest in that of the women, for the purpose of holding a child. The back of the jacket also bulges out in the middle to give the child a footing, and a strap or girdle below this, and secured round the waist by two large wooden b.u.t.tons in front, prevents the infant from falling through when, the hood being in use, it is necessary thus to deposit it. * * * The upper (winter) garment of the females, besides being cut according to a regular and uniform pattern, and sewed with exceeding neatness, which is the case with all the dresses of these people, has also the flaps ornamented in a very becoming manner by a neat border of deerskin, so arranged as to display alternate breadths of white and dark fur. This is, moreover, usually beautified by a handsome fringe, consisting of innumerable long, narrow threads of leather hanging down from it.

This ornament is not uncommon also in the outer jackets of the men. When seal-hunting, they fasten up the tails of their jackets with a b.u.t.ton behind.

The breeches and the foot gear of the men are described as being much the same as those of the Akudnirmiut. Parry remarks (loc. cit.) that several serpentine pieces of hide are sewed across the soles to prevent them from wearing out:

The inner boot of the women, unlike that of the men, is loose around the leg, coming as high as the knee joint behind, and in front carried up by a long, pointed flap nearly to the waist and there fastened to the breeches. The upper boot, with the hair as usual outside, corresponds with the other in shape, except that it is much more full, especially on the outer side, where it bulges out so preposterously as to give the women the most awkward, bow-legged appearance imaginable. * * * Here, also, as in the jacket, considerable taste is displayed in the selection of different parts of the deerskin, alternate strips of dark and white being placed up and down the sides and front by way of ornament. The women also wear a moccasin (itigega) overall in the winter-time.

The dress of the Aivillirmiut is similar to that of the Igiulirmiut (Gilder, p. 139).

Traces of clothing found in old graves of c.u.mberland Sound and Frobisher's description of the dress of the Nugumiut show that the style of clothing now used by the Igiulirmiut formerly obtained in all parts of Baffin Land.

All the Eskimo wear mittens. Those used in winter are made of the skin of young seals or of deerskin. In summer they use hairless sealskin, and sometimes make them with two thumbs, so as to turn the mitten round if one side should become wet.

The manner of dressing the hair practiced by the tribes of Northeastern Baffin Land differs from that of other tribes. On Davis Strait and in Hudson Bay the men allow it to grow to a considerable length, but frequently cut it short on the forehead. If all the hair is long it is kept back by a band made of the skin of deer antlers taken in the velvet. Sometimes these ties are very neatly finished. Frobisher states that the Nugumiut shaved part of their heads. The Kinipetu shave the top of the head; the Netchillirmiut wear their hair short.

The women have two styles of dressing their hair. They always part it on the top of the head. The back hair is wound into a bunch protruding from the back of the head or nicely arranged in a knot. The hair at the sides is plaited and folded over the ears, joining the knot behind. The other way is to arrange these parts in small pigtails reaching a little below the ears. They are kept in order by an ivory or bra.s.s ring (see Fig.

515).

The manner in which the Iglulirmiut dress their hair is thus described by Parry (II, p. 493):

They separate their locks into two equal parts, one of which hangs on each side of their heads and in front of their shoulders. To stiffen and bind these they use a narrow strap of deerskin, attached at one end to a round piece of bone, fourteen inches long, tapered to a point, and covered over with leather. This looks like a little whip, the handle of which is placed up and down the hair and the strap wound round it in a number of spiral turns, making the tail, thus equipped, very much resemble one of those formerly worn by our seamen. The strap of this article of dress, which is altogether called a tugliga, is so made from the deerskin as to show when bound round the hair, alternate turns of white and dark fur, which give it a very neat and ornamental appearance. * * * Those who are less nice dispose * * * their hair into a loose plait on each side or have one tugliga and one plait.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 513. Ivory combs. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton.

10195.) 1/1]

The natives of Southampton Island arrange their hair in a bunch protruding from the forehead (sulubaut). The same dress is worn at certain feasts on Davis Strait (p. 608).

For dressing the hair ivory combs are in use, two specimens of which are represented in. Fig. 513.

The clothing is frequently trimmed with straps of white deerskin, giving it a pleasing appearance. The edge of the women's jacket is adorned with ivory beads. Instead of these, teeth, deer's ears, foxes' noses, or bra.s.s bells are sometimes used.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 514. Buckles. _c_ (From Tununirnusirn.) (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton, _a_, 10196; _b_, 10400; _c_, 10177; _d_, 10196; _e_, 10195; _f_, 10207.) 1/1]

The inner jackets of the men are sometimes trimmed with beads, feathers, or leather straps, forming a collar and figures of different kinds on the back and on the breast. An amulet is worn in the middle of the back (p. 592). These ornaments and the amulet are only visible when the outer garment is taken off in the hut.

Fig. 514 represents a number of buckles serving to carry needlecases or similar implements at the girdle, to which the eye is tied, the b.u.t.ton being fastened to the implement. Head ornaments are in frequent use and are sometimes beautifully finished.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 515. Manner of tattooing face and wearing hair.]

The women are in the habit of adorning their faces by tattooing. It is done, when they are about twelve years of age, by pa.s.sing needle and thread covered with soot under the skin, or by puncture, the points of the tattooing instruments being rubbed with the same substance in both cases, which is a mixture of the juice of _Fucus_ and soot, or with gunpowder, by which process they obtain a blue color. The face, arms, hands, thighs, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s are the parts of the body which are generally tattooed. The patterns will be seen in Figs. 515 and 516.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 516. Manner of tattooing legs and hands.]

SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE.

DOMESTIC OCCUPATIONS AND AMUs.e.m.e.nTS.

It is winter and the natives are established in their warm snow houses.

At this time of the year it is necessary to make use of the short daylight and twilight for hunting. Long before the day begins to dawn the Eskimo prepares for hunting. He rouses his housemates; his wife supplies the lamp with a new wick and fresh blubber and the dim light which has been kept burning during the night quickly brightens up and warms the hut. While the woman is busy preparing breakfast the man fits up his sledge for hunting. He takes the snow block which closes the entrance of the dwelling room during the night out of the doorway and pa.s.ses through the low pa.s.sages. Within the pa.s.sage the dogs are sleeping, tired by the fatigues of the day before. Though their long, heavy hair protects them from the severe cold of the Arctic winter, they like to seek shelter from the piercing winds in the entrance of the hut.

The sledge is iced, the harnesses are taken out of the storeroom by the door, and the dogs are harnessed to the sledge. Breakfast is now ready and after having taken a hearty meal of seal soup and frozen and cooked seal meat the hunter lashes the spear that stands outside of the hut upon the sledge, hangs the harpoon line, some toggles, and his knife over the antlers, and starts for the hunting ground. Here he waits patiently for the blowing seal, sometimes until late in the evening.

Meanwhile the women, who stay at home, are engaged in their domestic occupations, mending boots and making new clothing, or they visit one another, taking some work with them, or pa.s.s their time with games or in playing with the children. While sitting at their sewing and at the same time watching their lamps and cooking the meat, they incessantly hum their favorite tunes. About noon they cook their dinner and usually prepare at the same time the meal for the returning hunters. As soon as the first sledge is heard approaching, the pots, which have been pushed back during the afternoon, are placed over the fire, and when the hungry men enter the hut their dinner is ready. While hunting they usually open the seals caught early in the morning, to take out a piece of the flesh or liver, which they eat raw, for lunch. The cut is then temporarily fastened until the final dressing of the animal at home.

In the western regions particularly the hunters frequently visit the depots of venison made in the fall, and the return is always followed by a great feast.

After the hunters reach home they first unharness their dogs and unstring the traces, which are carefully arranged, coiled up, and put away in the storeroom. Then the sledge is unloaded and the spoils are dragged through the entrance into the hut. A religious custom commands the women to leave off working, and not until the seal is cut up are they allowed to resume their sewing and the preparing of skins. This custom is founded on the tradition that all kinds of sea animals have risen from the fingers of their supreme G.o.ddess, who must be propitiated after being offended by the murder of her offspring (see p. 583). The spear is stuck into the snow at the entrance of the house, the sledge is turned upside down, and the ice coating is removed from the runners.

Then it is leaned against the wall of the house, and at last the hunter is ready to enter. He strips off his deerskin jacket and slips into his sealskin coat. The former is carefully cleaned of the adhering ice and snow with the s...o...b..ater and put into the storeroom outside the house.

This done, the men are ready for their dinner, of which the women do not partake. In winter the staple food of the Eskimo is boiled seal and walrus meat, though in some parts of the western districts it is musk ox and venison, a rich and nouris.h.i.+ng soup being obtained by cooking the meat. The natives are particularly fond of seal and walrus soup, which is made by mixing and boiling water, blood, and blubber with large pieces of meat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 517. Forks. _a_, _b_ (From Iglulik.) (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton, _a_, 10395; _b_, 10393.)]

The food is not always salted, but sometimes melted sea water ice, which contains a sufficient quant.i.ty of salt, is used for cooking. Liver is generally eaten raw and is considered a tidbit. I have seen the intestines eaten only when there was no meat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 518. Ladle of musk ox horn. (National Museum.

Was.h.i.+ngton. 10382.) ]

Forks (Fig. 517)[6] are used to take the meat out of the kettle and the soup is generally poured out into a large cup. Before the introduction of European manufactures these vessels and dishes generally consisted of whalebone. One of these has been described by Parry (I, p. 286). It was circular in form, one piece of whalebone being bent into the proper shape for the sides and another flat piece of the same material sewed to it for a bottom, so closely as to make it perfectly watertight. A ladle or spoon (Fig. 518) is sometimes used in drinking it, but usually the cup is pa.s.sed around, each taking a sip in turn. In the same way large pieces of meat are pa.s.sed round, each taking as large a mouthful as possible and then cutting off the bit close to the lips. They all smack their lips in eating. The Eskimo drink a great deal of water, which is generally kept in vessels standing near the lamps. When the men have finished their meal the women take their share, and then all attack the frozen meat which is kept in the storerooms. The women are allowed to partic.i.p.ate in this part of the meal. An enormous quant.i.ty of meat is devoured every night, and sometimes they only suspend eating when they go to bed, keeping a piece of meat within reach in case they awake.

[Footnote 6: The fork first represented in this figure is evidently broken, a series of k.n.o.bs having originally formed the handle.]

After dinner the seals, which have been placed behind the lamps to thaw, are thrown upon the floor, cut up, and the spare meat and skins are taken into the storerooms. If a scarcity of food prevails in the village and a hunter has caught a few seals, every inhabitant of the settlement receives a piece of meat and blubber, which he takes to his hut, and the successful hunter invites all hands to a feast.

The dogs are fed every second day after dinner. For this purpose two men go to a place at a short distance from the hut, taking the frozen food with them, which they split with a hatchet or the point of the spear.

While one is breaking the solid ma.s.s the other keeps the dogs off by means of the whip, but as soon as the food is ready they make a rush at it, and in less than half a minute have swallowed their meal. No dog of a strange team is allowed to steal anything, but is kept at a distance by the dogs themselves and by the whip. If the dogs are very hungry they are harnessed to the sledge in order to prevent an attack before the men are ready. They are unharnessed after the food is prepared, the weakest first, in order to give him the best chance of picking out some good pieces. Sometimes they are fed in the house; in such a case, the food being first prepared, they are led into the hut singly; thus each receives his share.

All the work being finished, boots and stockings are changed, as they must be dried and mended. The men visit one another and spend the night in talking, singing, gambling, and telling stories. The events of the day are talked over, success in hunting is compared, the hunting tools requiring mending are set in order, and the lines are dried and softened. Some busy themselves in cutting new ivory implements and seal lines or in carving. They never spend the nights quite alone, but meet for social entertainment. During these visits the host places a large lump of frozen meat and a knife on the side bench behind the lamp and every one is welcome to help himself to as much as he likes.

The first comers sit down on the ledge, while those entering later stand or squat in the pa.s.sage. When any one addresses the whole a.s.sembly he always turns his face to the wall and avoids facing the listeners. Most of the men take off their outer jacket in the house and they sit chatting until very late. Even the young children do not go to bed early.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 519. Skull used in the game ajegaung, from Ungava Bay. (From L. M. Turner's collection.) (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 90227.) 1/1]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 520. Ivory carving representing head of fox, used in the game ajegaung. (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6820.) 1/1]

The women sit on the bed in front of their lamps, with their legs under them, working continually on their own clothing or on that of the men, drying the wet footgear and mittens, and softening the leather by chewing and rubbing. If a b.i.t.c.h has a litter of pups it is their business to look after them, to keep them warm, and to feed them regularly. Generally the pups are put into a small harness and are allowed to crawl about the side of the bed, where they are tied to the wall by a trace. Young children are always carried in their mothers'

hoods, but when about a year and a half old they are allowed to play on the bed, and are only carried by their mothers when they get too mischievous. When the mother is engaged in any hard work they are carried by the young girls. They are weaned when about two years old, but women suckle them occasionally until they are three or four years of age. During this time they are frequently fed from their mothers'

mouths. When about twelve years old they begin to help their parents, the girls sewing and preparing skins, the boys accompanying their fathers in hunting expeditions. The parents are very fond of their children and treat them kindly. They are never beaten and rarely scolded, and in turn they are very dutiful, obeying the wishes of their parents and taking care of them in their old age.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 521. Ivory carvings representing polar bear, used in the game ajegaung. _a_ (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6819.) _b_ (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 34078.) ?]

In winter gambling is one of the favorite amus.e.m.e.nts of the Eskimo.

Figs. 519-521 represent the ajegaung, used in a game somewhat similar to our cup and ball. The most primitive device is Fig. 519, a hare's skull with a number of holes drilled through it. A specimen was kindly lent to me by Lucien M. Turner, who brought it from Ungava Bay; but in Baffin Land exactly the same device is in use. Fig. 520 represents the head of a fox, in ivory; Fig. 521, a polar bear. The specimen shown in Fig. 521 _b_ was brought from c.u.mberland Sound by k.u.mlien. The neck of the bear is more elaborate than the one shown in _a_. The attachment of the part representing the hind legs is of some interest. The game is played as follows: First, the skull or the piece of ivory must be thrown up and caught ten times upon the stick in any one of the holes. Then, beginning with the hole in front (the mouth), those of the middle line must be caught. The three holes on the neck of the bear are double, one crossing vertically, the other slanting backward, but both ending in one hole on the neck. After the mouth has been caught upon the stick the vertical hole in the neck is the next, then the oblique one, and so on down the middle line of the animal's body. If, in the first part of the game, the player misses twice he must give up the pieces to his neighbor, who then takes his turn. In the second part he is allowed to play on as long as he catches in any hole, even if it be not the right one, but as soon as he misses he must give it up. After having caught one hole he proceeds to the next, and the player who first finishes all the holes has won the game.