The Central Eskimo Part 9

Usually there are two hunters who approach the walrus, one hiding behind the other, so that the two appear but as one. When the spear is thrown, both hold on to the line, which is wound around their arms so as to cause as much friction as possible, in order to exhaust the animal speedily. * * * When the line is nearly run out the end of the spear shaft is pa.s.sed through a loop in the end of the line and held firmly by digging a little hole in the ice for the end of the spear to rest in, the foot resting upon the line and against the spear to steady it. This gives the hunter an immense advantage over his powerful game, and if he is fortunate enough to secure this hold there is no escape for the walrus except that the line may cut on the edge of the sharp ice, or the thin ice break off, and hunter, line, and all be precipitated into the water--a not unusual experience in walrus hunting. Another cause of misfortune is for the line to become entangled around the arm of the hunter so that he cannot cast it off, in which case he is most a.s.suredly drawn into the sea, and in nine cases out of ten drowned, for his knife is seldom at hand for an emergency and no amount of experience will ever induce an Inung [Eskimo] to provide against danger.

Sometimes the hunter is alone when he strikes a walrus, and in that case it requires considerable dexterity to secure the spear hold in the ice; or if he fails to get that he may sit down and brace his feet against a small hummock, when it comes to a sheer contest of muscle between the hunter and the walrus. In these contests victory generally perches upon the banner of the walrus, though the Inung [Eskimo] will never give up until the last extremity is reached. Often he is dragged to the very edge of the ice before he finds a protuberance against which to brace his feet, and often he is drawn down under the ice before he will relinquish his hold. He is very tenacious under such circ.u.mstances, for he knows that when he loses the walrus he loses his line and harpoon also.

Hall (I, p. 459) describes the hunt, according to his observations in Frobisher Bay, as follows:

The line is coiled, and hung about the neck of the hunter; thus prepared he hides himself among the broken drifting ice, and awaits the moment for striking his game. The spear is then thrown and the hunter at once slips the coil of line off his head, fastens the end to the ice by driving a spear through a loop in it, and waits till the walrus comes to the surface of the water, into which he has plunged on feeling the stroke of the harpoon; then the animal is quickly despatched by the use of a long lance.

Sometimes the walrus when swimming under an extensive floe of new ice are drowned by being frightened down every time they try to come up to blow.

Formerly whaling was one of the favorite hunts of the Central Eskimo and in some places it is even continued to this day. Whales are either pursued in kayaks or in skin boats. If the kayak is used, they are harpooned in the same way as the walrus, a very large float (avautapaq') being attached to the harpoon head. The whale is pursued by a great number of kayaks and every boatman endeavors to drive his harpoon into the animal, which, by the loss of blood and the resistance of the niutang and floats, is tired out and killed with lances.

More frequently it is pursued in skin boats (p. 527), which for the purpose are propelled by means of paddles (angun). In this case the crew consists entirely of men, although on other occasions the rowing falls to the women's share; a skillful boatman steers the boat and the harpooner stands in the bow watching his opportunity to strike the whale. The implement used in this pursuit is represented in Fig. 436.

I could not procure the weapon itself (sakurpang', i.e., the largest weapon), but had a model made by an Akudnirmio, of which the figure is a drawing. The shaft is said to be very long and heavy, measuring from ten to twelve feet. To this shaft a bone point tapering towards the end is firmly attached. The harpoon head consists of two pieces similar to the siatko of the Iglulirmiut (see Fig. 395). The iron edge is inserted into a flat piece of bone, which fits into the slit of a large head. The latter is made from the jawbone of a whale and is extremely heavy. When the whale is struck, both parts, the head and the edge, are disengaged from the shaft and separated from each other, but both enter the flesh of the whale and work in the same way as the tokang.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 436. Model of sakurpang' or whaling harpoon.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 437. Niutang, with floats.]

The long harpoon line is coiled up on the first thwart of the boat. On the second one the niutang and five large floats (Fig. 437), which were fastened to the line, are kept ready and heaved overboard as soon as the harpoon is fast to a whale. The buoys and the niutang tire it out quickly and the boat can easily follow it up. It is lanced with the kalugiang whenever it comes up to blow. This lance consists of a heavy handle with a long point of rod iron; formerly bone or narwhal ivory, with an iron edge inserted into its point, was used for this purpose.

The narwhal and the white whale are hunted in the same way as the walrus and the right whale. There are a few shallow bays to which the white whale resorts in the summer. If a shoal of them has entered such a bay, the Eskimo take to their boats and kayaks, and by throwing stones frighten them into the shallowest part, where they are easily harpooned.

DEER, MUSK OX, AND BEAR HUNTING.

When the snow has melted and the short summer is at hand the Eskimo start for the deer hunt. The tribes possessed of firearms can easily procure deer all the year round, particularly where uneven land facilitates their approach toward the herd; but in summer the hunt is most important, as it is the only season in which deerskins are fit for clothing.

The favorite method of hunting is to attack the deer in the ponds when swimming from one side to the other. In many places the deer in their migrations are in the habit of crossing the narrow parts of lakes, and here the natives lie in ambush with their kayaks. In other places they are driven into the water by the Eskimo and attacked by the drivers or by hunters stationed on the lake. Favorite places for such a chase are narrow peninsulas, generally called nedlung. The Eskimo deploy into a skirmish line and slowly drive the herd to the point of the peninsula, whence the deer, the retreat being cut off, take to the water.

If the sh.o.r.e be too straight to permit this method of hunting, they drive the deer to a hill stretching to the lake. A line of cairns (inugsung) is erected on the top, intended to deceive the deer, which believe them a new line of hunters approaching from the opposite side.

They take to the water, as they see no retreat. If there are no hills a line of cairns is erected in some part of the plain. Such monuments are found all over the country, most of them having the appearance of being very old.

As soon as the deer are in the water the natives pursue them in their kayaks, and as their boats are propelled much more swiftly than the animals can swim they are quickly overtaken and killed with the spear (kapun). Sometimes the wounded deer will turn upon the boat, in which cases the hunter must make his escape with the utmost speed, else he will be capsized or the skin of the boat will be torn to pieces by the animal's antlers.

In some of the narrow valleys with steep faces on both sides the deer are driven toward the hunters. As there is no chance for escape on either side they are killed by the men who lie in ambush. A remarkable tradition referring to the deer hunts of a fabulous tribe in these pa.s.ses is frequently told by the Eskimo (see p. 635).

Some places are particularly favorable to these methods of hunting. The herds when traveling north in spring and south in autumn take the same course every year, pa.s.sing rivers, lakes, and valleys at the deer pa.s.ses. Here the Eskimo stay during the migrations of the deer, as they are sure to fall in with them and to secure plenty of meat and skins during the season. In spring the rivers and lakes are not yet freed from their icy fetters and the pursuit is more difficult; in the autumn, however, they are easily captured in the water. Some important stations of this kind are the island Qeqertome itoq tudlirn, south of Lake Nettilling; the outlet of this lake, Koukdjuaq, particularly the peninsula formed by the river and the south sh.o.r.e of the lake; the country about Qudjitariaq, farther north, and the narrow valley between Piling and Itirbilung: on the continent, the lakes of Rae Isthmus, particularly North Pole Lake; some pa.s.ses in the hills north of Chesterfield Inlet; the isthmus of Boothia; the entrance of Qimuqsuq, on Adelaide Peninsula; and Simpson Strait.

Referring to the last, Klutschak describes an interesting method of hunting deer which is in vogue in that locality (p. 130). The narrow strait which separates Ita Island from King William Land freezes up early in the season, and the reindeer in trying to cross the strait frequently gather on this island. The Eskimo deploy over the icy bridge and make a terrible noise, frightening the reindeer, which are gradually driven toward a place the ice of which is treacherous at this time of the year. Here they break through and, being able to move only with great difficulty, are easily killed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 438. Wooden bow from Iglulik. (From Parry II, p. 550.)]

When the deer have scattered over the country they must be stalked, and, wherever the natives have no firearms, bows and arrows are used.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 439. Wooden bow from c.u.mberland Sound. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton.)]

They have two kinds of bows (pitiqse): a wooden one (Figs. 438 and 439) and another made of reindeer antlers (Figs. 440 and 441). Parry gives a very good description of the former (II, p. 510):

One of the best of their bows was made of a single piece of fir, four feet eight inches in length, flat on the inner side and rounded on the outer, being five inches in girth about the middle where, however, it is strengthened on the concave side, when strung, by a piece of bone ten inches long, firmly secured by tree-nails of the same material. At each end of the bow is a k.n.o.b of bone, or sometimes of wood covered with leather, with a deep notch for the reception of the string. The only wood which they can procure, not possessing sufficient elasticity combined with strength, they ingeniously remedy the defect by securing to the back of the bow, and to the k.n.o.bs at each end, a quant.i.ty of small lines, each composed of a plat or "sinnet" of three sinews. The number of lines thus reaching from end to end is generally about thirty; but besides these, several others are fastened with hitches round the bow, in pairs, commencing eight inches from one end, and again united at the same distance from the other, making the whole number of strings in the middle of the bow sometimes amount to sixty. These being put on with the bow somewhat bent the contrary way, produce a spring so strong as to require considerable force as well as knack in stringing it, and giving the requisite velocity to the arrow. The bow is completed by a woolding round the middle and a wedge or two here and there, driven in to tighten it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 440. Bows of reindeer antlers. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _a_, 34053; _b_, 34055.)]

The bow represented in Fig. 439 is from c.u.mberland Sound and resembles the Iglulik pattern. The fastening of the sinew lines is different and the piece of bone giving additional strength to the central part is wanting. In c.u.mberland Sound and farther south wooden bows each made of a single piece were not very rare; the wood necessary for their manufacture was found in abundance on Tudjan (Resolution Island), whence it was brought to the more northern districts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 441. Bow of antlers, with central part cut off straight, from Pelly Bay. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 10270.)]

The bows which are made of antlers generally consist of three pieces, a stout central one slanted on both sides and two side pieces riveted to it. The central part is either below or above the side ones, as represented in Fig. 440. These bows are strengthened by plaited sinews in the same way as the wooden ones and generally the joints are secured by strong strings wound around them. A remarkable bow made of antlers is represented in Fig. 441. The central part is not slanted, but cut off straight. The joint is effected by two additional pieces on each side, a short stout one outside, a long thin one inside. These are firmly tied together with sinews. The short piece prevents the parts from breaking apart, the long one gives a powerful spring. The specimen here represented was brought home by Hall from the Sinimiut of Pelly Bay, and a similar one was brought by Collinson from Victoria Land and has been deposited in the British Museum. The strings are attached to these bows in the same way as to the wooden ones.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 442. Arrows with bone heads. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _a_, 34054; _b_, 10270.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 443. Arrows with metal heads. _a_, _b_ (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _a_, 30056; _b_, 34056.) _c_ (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6707.)]

The arrows (qaqdjung) are made of round pieces of wood generally tapering a little towards the lower end, to which two feathers of an owl or some other bird are attached. The bone heads of these arrows are joined to the shaft as represented in Fig. 442, while metal heads are inserted as shown in Fig. 443. The difference in the methods used by the Mackenzie and the central tribes in fastening the point to the shaft is very striking. The arrow point of the former and of the western tribes is pointed and inserted in the shaft (Fig. 444),[5] while that of the latter is always slanted and lashed to it (Figs. 442 and 443). The direction of the slant is either parallel or vertical to the edge (Fig.

445). Other forms of arrows are shown in Fig. 446. A similar difference between the fastenings of the socket to the spear handle exists in the two localities. The western tribes give its base the form of a wedge (Fig. 447), which is inserted in the shaft, while the Central Eskimo use a mortise.

[Footnote 5: According to the Museum catalogue, the point represented in this figure is from Victoria Island, Boothia, from Hall's collection; however, it is a typical western arrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 444. Arrowhead from Boothia. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 10205.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 445. Showing attachment of arrowhead vertically and parallel to shank. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _b_, 10137.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 446. Various forms of arrowhead. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _a_, 29993; _e_, 10213.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 447. Socket of spear handle from Alaska.

(National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 36060.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 448. Slate arrowhead. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 10403.) 1/1]

Formerly slate heads were in general use (Fig. 448); now the heads are almost everywhere made of iron or tin, riveted or tied to the point (Fig. 446). In ancient graves flint heads are frequently found, some of which are represented in Fig. 449. On Southampton Island stone heads are in use even at the present time. Fig. 423 probably shows how they were attached to the shank.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 449. Flint arrowheads from old graves. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _c_, 30109; _d_, 34138.) 1/1]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 450. Various styles of quiver. _a_, _b_ Two views of a quiver from c.u.mberland Sound. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. 30015.) _c_ Quiver from Iglulik (from Parry II, p.

550).]

The quiver (Fig. 450) is made of sealskin, the hair of which is removed.

It comprises three divisions, a larger one containing the bow and a smaller one containing four or six arrows, the head directed toward the lower end of the case. When extracted from the quiver they are ready for use. Between the two compartments there is also a small pouch, in which tools and extra arrowheads are carried.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 451. Quiver handles. (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. _a_, _b_, IV A 6843.)]

When traveling the Eskimo carry the quiver by an ivory handle; when in use it is hung over the left shoulder. Fig. 451 represents quiver handles, the first being fas.h.i.+oned in imitation of an ermine.

If the deer cannot be driven into the water the Eskimo either stalk them or shoot them from a stand. In a plain where the hunter cannot hide himself it is easier to approach the herd if two men hunt together. They advance, the second man hiding behind the first one by stooping a little. The bows or the guns are carried on the shoulders so as to resemble the antlers of a deer. The men imitate their grunting and approach slowly, now stopping and stooping, now advancing. If the deer look about suspiciously they sit down, the second man lying almost flat on the ground, and both, at some distance off, greatly resemble the animals themselves. Ross (II, p. 252) states that the inhabitants of Boothia imitate the appearance of the deer, the foremost of two men stalking a herd bearing a deer's head upon his own.

It is somewhat difficult to approach the deer near enough to get within range, especially if they are hunted with bow and arrow. Generally it is not necessary to get quite near them, for when feeding the herd moves on in the same direction for some time, and the hunter can hide behind a stone lying in that direction and wait until they are within range.

After the first shot has been fired they do not take to flight at once, but stand for a few seconds, struck with surprise, and a clever hunter may kill two or three before they run away. If the country is very level the Eskimo raise heaps of stones or build circular or semicircular walls to conceal themselves and allure the animals by grunting. As the deer possess a very fine scent they must always be approached from the lee side.

An interesting method of hunting is described by Parry (II, p. 512) and confirmed by Hall (II, p. 178). Parry writes: