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SAnhiiniCMi CI imi^nA/M(^'M/> 1^11 1 . •»-»
Hq!|
Section II., 1894.
I 113 ]
Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada.
III. — The Tminits of our Arctic Coaaf.
By His Honour Liiiif.-Governor J. C. Schultz, LL.D.,M.D.
(Keiid Miiy JStli, 181)4).
Among tl.'o many Indian tribes of the went, northwest and north, of which, on tiic
lilteenth day of July, 1870, the Dominion of Cuna(hi assumed the wardenship, there were
none moiv remote, less kin)wn and moi'e interesting from an anthropological point of view
tlinn the aborigines of oui northern eoast and of the islands of our aretie arehipelugo. Sueh
meagre knowh'dge as we possessed of the interesting jteople, who, from Melville Peninsula
to Ilerehel Isln ..1. inhabited these iey coasts and islands, was pfineipally derived from such
incidental records of their pursuits, habits and character as were to bo found in the journals
(if those co.;rageous and indctiitigable searchers for a northwest passage, to whom, except
in some notable cases, all else, save that sup[iosed waterway, was of little nioment. Hence
we find, as is usual when only one side of the narrative of rencontres is told, tin- imju'cssion
created tlmt these isolated savages deserved, in a measure, tlio character which had, in tiie
curly years of >>'orwegian and Icelandic discovery, been given them by voyagers who, if
we may believe their own records, murdere<l some of them in sheer wantonness, and carried
off others to die from home-sickness for the barren rocks whence they had been taken, ov
(Imwiied in vain attemits to reach their native shores by flight in improvised kayacks.
So much new light regardinj. this strange [leople has come to us of late years from
missionaries, Danish and Hudson's IJay traders aini other .iources, such as the cruise of th(>
IT. H, steamer ''Thetis,'" that the tiii.e has, I think, come for a reconsidei-ation of the
estimate whicii lias been formed of a people so hoimtgeneous in aiipearance, language and in
tlicir habits itnd modi- of life, who occupy a regii>n more extended than that of any of the
alMiriginel t)il»es of North or Soiith America, and who differ so imn'h from all other savages
(tl the new or old world.
An examination of such records as are available brings us in contact with thom at a
very early period on the eastern bonlers of the five ihousaml miles of coast line which they
are known at one time to have occupied, and although this takt's us beyond the strict limits
of till' title of this papi'r, yet it maybe admissible, in view of their apparently common
origin and tho remarkable homogi'ueify )f which 1 have spoken.
The story of ' liief," the son of " Krie the Red," with his companion "IViorn," and
their discovery of Vinland, or Wine liand, is too well known to need recapitulation.
"Thorwald," liiefs l>rother, eager for further iliscovery, is saitl to have saileil with liiefs
crew tlse following yuar, oxamiiiing tho country to the westward of what was probably tho
Seo. II., 1801. 15. "' -T
I
114
J. r. SPHTTLTZ ON TIIR
straits of Bello-Tslo. and in the third sumnior, to quote .ui earl}- narrator, "They exiilmvil
the ishind, hut as tlieir vi-sr-el unfortunately hulgeil against a lieadhind, tliey were olilin'cd to
spend the greatev jiart of tlie season in rei)airini>- her. Tlie ohl keel heing useh'ss, tlicv
ereeted it as a inonunieiit on tlie top of the eape, to which they gave the iiiiiiu n\'
'Kiaelarnes.' '"
Having refitted the ship, they again rei'onnoitered the east side ot the eountry. w licii'
they fell in with three small boats eovereti with skins, with three men in each. These tlicv
seized, with the exeei»tion of one man, who escaped, and killed them in mere wantonness.
Shortly after they were attacked hy a multitude of the same savages in their boats, but tliw
were so well screened from the shower of Eskimo arrows by the hoards which guarded the
ship's sides, and defended themselves Avith such vigour that after an hour's skirmish tliev
eompelled their assailants to seek safety in flight and unjustly enough after so ardiKnis n
contest bestowed upon these Indians the contemptuous apitellation " Skraelings ; "' Tiiiir\v;ilil
alone, of uU the crew, paid the forfeit of his harharity with his life, having received a woiuhI
from an arrow in the skirmish fr >m which he soon di'>d.
It would seem from this narrative that the tirst Skraelings seen hy Euro[>eans were met
on the northeastern coast of Xewfoundland or the southeastern coast of Labrador in the
earliest years of the eleventh century, ai\d their own record ot the occurrence rcHect-' little
credit on the Euroitean harharians who wt're the victors and murderers in these lirs^ eiuoiin-
ters between the people oi'the east and west.
Xo satisfactory evideiree is to be found that Ureeidand at this time was inhabited, savi'
by the Norwegian and Icelamlic coloni-^ts who settled uiion its east and west coast; iinie'il
the most ai'cient leelandie writers, of whom Saemund Frede, Arius I'olihistor, SiKirm
Sturlesen and others, who wrote as early as the twelfth century, relate that, although pieces
ofbroken oars were sometimes found on the strand, no hunnin beings were ever seen, eitlier
on th,' east or west coasts.
If the treatment accorded by Thorwald to the Skraelings was a fair example of that
which was accorded them when atlerwards met with hy other udveiiturers on the .Xtlanlie
and St. Lawrenci' coasts of Lai)rador, we nniy well surmise that the name ai\d ill-fame nl'
the eastern intruders would be carried from the sen! tents of the Labrador coast to the snow
houses of their coui\tryiuen on the far-off northern coasts of islan<ls to the westward of tiie
wide anil treacherous sea, now known as Baftu's Hay, and its inlet, Davis's Strait, and have
engenderecl that racial hostility which, aided by the plague or black death of Europe, was.
three ce, luries later to sweep away iVom (in'eidand their eastern eni'inies with a destrnetiim
so ■omiilett' as to leave iw living nnin, and scarcely a monument of the occupation of the
etdonizing race.
From the date of the rccolonizatioii of Greenland wc have a bettt'r knowledge of I he
"Tnnuits" or Eskimo who then possessed the laml, and who, on the whole, having forgolleii
the old feud, or perhaps decmeil if wipeil out in blood, received tlieir visitors in peace.
From the reconls of the factors of the royal Danish fur traile and the devout ndssioiiarii's
who, led on tirst by the devoted liau:* Egede, have, with their successors, the Moravian
hrethren, spread llu' light ot the gospel froMJ the home of tlie Aurora to the Straits of Itellc-
Isle, along tin' (Ireeidand and l,abrador coast, we learn much to dispel the prejudice against
the "Skraelings" (shrivelled chijis of erealures) I'ligeiidcred by descriptions of them writicii
over eight hundred years ago, ami certainly the kindly savages whom liichardson, I'any
INNUITS OF OUR AKCTIC COAST
118
and otlieivs visited aiul described, and who Hoem not to have molested Franklin's fated hand,
and, indeed, aided when they could, other arctic expeditions in time of their direst need,
deserve no such treatment at our luinds.
The early voya'^ers called them " Skraelings ; " the Indians proper ("Abenaki") of
inland southeastert; Labrador called them " P^skinio," meanin<j "raw tish eaters;" the
(.■arly French voyagers to the gulf, Escpiinuiux, from the Indian word, and by these latter
names they are generally known to-day, their own proud title of " Innuit " — the people —
being seldom heard save among themselves.
It will be in order after tiieir name or names, to describe briefly the country they occui)y
wirliin and without the Dominion of Canada. (Jur Canadian Kskinio nuiybe said to occupy
a ''ountry about two thousand miles long l»y eight hundred miles broad, while the "IiMiuit"
nation extends along the Asiatic coast four hundred miles west of Behring Straits, ak)ng the
northern coast of Alaska, and down the Asiatic and American coasts of Behring Sea for
some distance, win le, however, they have become mixed with the coast Indian tribes, the
cast and west coast of Greenland, and down the Labrador coast to latitude sixty, occupy-
ing also both shores of Hudson's Bay down to about the same latitude. Throughout this
vart regi'iu they have never shown any indiimtiou to leave the sea-coast of the continent or
till' islands off of it, and when they do so, it is merely a summer excursion to sujiplemcnt
tlicii' diet of seal, whale, walrus, nuisscis and sea tish with the flesh of the reindeer and the
salmon of districts not far from their favourite arctic haunts, and to procure the reindeer
skins to provide the lighter jiart of the dress of the winter and sunnncr months. The seal
is to the Eskimo what the bnfl'alo once was to the Indiansof the western prairie ; food, clothing
lul nuiterial for his house. Indeed, it is more, for the fat is his winter fuel and without the
seal there would be no Imuiit i\atiou, as no savages, less well fed on oleaginous foods, could
p(/ssibly V sist and face, as the Eskimo have to resist and lace, the intense cold of an arctic
winter : eating (juantities of it, as well as of whale's blubber, which wt' would doulit the
tales of were they not vouclu'il for by arctic voyagers and missionaries whose accuracy can-
not be impugned ; they tell us that a successful Lunter will lie on his back and devour
twelve or fourteen itouiuls of blubber hi a day, ami an Kskimo boy is descilbed by a pains-
taking and (h)ubtless wondering arctic voyager, as eatii.g, in twenty-tour hours, eight ami
a-balf pounds of seal meat, half frozen and half I'ookcd, one [louud two ounces of breail, one
[)int and a-half of thick soup, and washing all this down with three wine-glassfuls of
sclimipps, a tumbler of grog ami tive pints of water. To use an old exiiression " All seems
tish that comes to their net," and tlic arctic fox, hare, wolf and leoming are used as food,
cooked slightly, if where drift wood or twigs can be found, or frozen or half putrid if a
little train oil uuiy be had as a sauce for these rather " high " dainties.
In their extensive habitat the physical conditions do not vary much ; in nearly all cases
ihey are far heyoiul the tree line of the continent, and while, no doubt, the extensive depos-
its ol driftwood brought t(» the icy sea by the rivers ot Siberia, and our owi: great
Mackenzie su]>ply them in some [larts with the covetetl lance Innnlles and sled runners,
Hunuuer fuel and material for their houses, yet these drifts seldom occur where other
conditions are favourable to a full food supply, and as the seal is his prinei|»al food, furnishing
him as well with light, warmth, clothing, implements of the chase, harness for his dogs,
nuiterial for his canoe and his summer as well as part of his winter house, all other <'<msi(|-
eralions give way before it. The appearance of the Kskimo along their extensive i^oast lino
116
J. ('. SCIIULTZ ON TIIK
does iu)t, except in lieiglit, vary nuieh, from where the Norse discoverers tirst saw them, tu
their extreme western limit in Siberia ; at a distance, when chid in their winter dress, they
h)ok the best fed i)eoi)le in tlie world, which idea their fat faces and rowly powly tijruiuh
does not dis^jcl on a nearer view, their dross makinji; tl n look shorter and broader tliiiii
they really are. Stripped of their vestments, however, they .^1 nv iigures possessed of niiuli
agility, and except that nearly all are pot- bellied, they are of very fair proi>ortions. Fn sonic
parts, near the centre of the vast coast line ihey inhabit, the men reach five feet nine, ten
and even eleven inches in height, but near their eastern and western limit, six inches 1k1(hv
these heights would be the general limit. Although, to resist arctic cold the muscles Imvc
an adipose covering gicaver than that of other Indians and whites, yet in their nuisciiliir
development, in the direction which their labours or recreations necessitate, they iirc i lie
equals of the average white and superior to many of the Indian tribes. Exi)ert and cnilur-
ing wrestlers and paddlers, they are yet poor walkers and lifters of heavy weights, and
owing to their precarious food supply, dripping houses and the bad weather of the cliniatii'
interreginim between winter and spring, they are short lived, and the men more so than the
women, owing to casualties attendant upon their difficult and dangerous summer metliod nt'
taking the seal.
Everywhere they are fotmd the facial expression is the same: broa<l and flat, witli a
nose so low that various exiilorers have laid a straight edge across the cheeks of an antic
belle without touching it, while across the upper part of it the skin was stretched as tigiiily
as a drum. The eye is small and black and, particularly in the women, the lower lid puints
downward like the Chinese, giving the face a peculiar expression. The skin, when divested
of its aggregation of fat and lamp soot, is lighter than that of the sub-arctic Indian triin's,
and the iiodics of their children at birth are nearly as white as those of Euroiieans. Tiicir
hands and feet are snudl and delicately sha|>od, the hair black and coarse, and like ilic
Indians south of them, they ca'vfully extract the few straggling hairs from cliiu iiiid
face.
The dress of the Eskimo, uidiko the defective covering of other savages, is iiiiii|in' in
its appearance as it is in its jterfectness of adaptation to their wants, their cliniatc mmiI
occupations ailmitting nothing but the lightest, warmest and driest of coverings. Tiicsc
ends they have accomidished with a degree of perfection and skill, which would rank tlicni
superior among savages, even if we had not, in addition, their rare adaptation of liinilcd
means to an end, in their weapons, houses ami canoes. The outer porticni of the gainuiils
nt' both sexi's is nuu'h the same, the skirts of the smock-shajted outer coat worn In llic
women being longer and more peake<l than that of the men; the hood is also larger, lor
the aciMiinniodation of the inevitable baby, and the boots much wider. The ujiper garments
in winter are chiefly of the skins of the reimleer, tauneil with the hair on, and these are
doubled so that the hair touches the skin, and is as well, the outer covering, the skin ol'tlie
seal being emidoyed for their water|>roof boots, which are also dcnibleil, with the addiliomil
wanntli of soft slippers for the feet intervening. The dress, especially >f the women, is
often ornamented with fringes of down or strips of light coIouhmI skins, making a pleasing
contrast to the rich, dark colourof their clothing. The dress described is that nniile Uy
them with bone neetUes ami thread of sinew. (Contact with Europeans has brougiit lliem
steel needlt>s ami ordinary thread, but no im-rease of comfort or of appearaiu'c, their riot lies
being nnniy times warmer and fiir nu)re suited to their needs than the best of the white
INNUITS or OUR AECTK! COAST.
117
mail's fabrics. Tn the lieat of Hunimer tlio ordinary iii>i)er drosn is discanU'd, foriuorly for a
liglit covering of tlio skiuri of ducks, and now (;f sonic chca[) European material.
Their iniplenicnts of the chase, till the partial adoption of tirearnis, were ccp.ally novel
and well ailapted to their wants, consisting mainly of lances and harpoons of various sizes
and shapes, the how and arrow, and slings, the two latter, however, being much less
fre([ucntly used than the former, and the sling, indeed, scarcely at all, being made in the
usual way, and used with stone missiles; their hows were formed with difficully, owing to
the scarcity of suitable wood, generally of [lieces of bone fastened together with nails, where
these could be got, and their chief [lower derived from sinewy strings drawn across them ;
on their missile darts, however, they mainly depended, and these were formed with an ingen-
uity, and made with a skill hardly to be ex[iected, considering the scarcity of wood and iron,
and remembering the clumsy and intractable character of bone. With these weapons,
liowever, they fearlessly attack the polar bear, musk ox and wolf, and kill the whale, walrus
iinil seal. Their harpoon dart, of which the length is about six feet and the diameter an
inch and a-half, has in all cases an inflated bag attached to it. The u[iper jiart is fitted with
a movable joint of bone headed with the harpoon, which is also of bone and about five
inches long, barbed and pointed with iron. At the butt-end of the shaft are two piecet of
whalebone about nine inches lonj; to carry it more steadilv in its flitrlit. To these is fixed
the rest about two feet long and notched on both sides to procure a firm hold for the thumb
and foi'cfingcr. A cord about fifty feet bnig hangs from the hariioon, which, after passing
tJMough a ring of bone in the middle of tlie shaft, lies in coils or on a roller on the fore part
111' the kayack, and is fastened to a bladder or seal skin bag belind the Eskimo in the other
end of the kayack. The constrnctiiui of this dart shows an extreme ingenuity which is not
t'lisily described. If the weapon were of one entire [licce it would immediately be snapped
in two by the woinnled animal; the hai'|io(Ui, therefore, is made to fly out of the shaft,
which is left floating on the surface while the seal plunges with the harjioon under water,
the handle or rest, after imparting a vi(dentimi)ulse to tlii^ harpoon, remaining in the hand of
the thrower. Their large laiu'c, also about six feet long, is nearly the same as the hariioon,
liut without the barbs, so that it can be drawn out at once for another stroke. A small lance is
used also with a long swordlike point, ami another missile dart is used for birds; this is six
I'ei't long also, but lighter and with a point which has only one barb, further down the shaft
however, several jaggiMl ribs of bone project whii'h often cati'h the bird the point has missed.
The same sim|ile but successful ingenuity is shown in the manntiicture of their boats,
which are of two kintls, the larger and the smaller; the large or women's lioat "oniiak" is
sometimes from thirty (o forty feet long, from four to live broad and three deep and is
nar.'owed to u point at each extremity, with a Hat bottom. It is made of slender bent laths
iiliout two inches wide, with longitudinal ribs of whalebone and covered with tanned seal-
skin, the ribs run along the sides parallel to the keel, meeting together at the bow and stern
and across this light Hooring heavier beams are tiisfened in. Short posts are then fitted to
the ribs to support the gunwale ; and as they are liable to be fiu'ced outward by the pressure
"f the transverse seats for the rowers, of whii'h there arc ten or twelve, they are bound on
the outside by two gunwale ribs and the timbers are not fustened with iron nails, which
would soon rust and fret holes in the skin covering, but by woodi'u [lins or wlndebone.
The Eskimo performs this work without a line or sipnire, taking the proportions with his
eye with great accuracy. Thi> only tools whiidi he employs for this and nearly ivery other
118
J. C. SOHULTZ ON TIIR
kind of work arc a small saw, a chisel which when fastened to a wooden handle servos l.im
for a hatchet, a small gindet and a sharp pointed knife ; as soon as the skeleton of the l)rtiit
is completed the woman covers it with thick seals' leather still soft from the drese'.iiif, and
calks the interstices with (dd hard fat, so that these boats are much less leaky than niatiy
wooden ones, the seams sweiliny; in the water, hut they require recovering almost every
year ; they are r- wed liy the women, commonly four at a time, while one takes the liclin,
at the heaii of the boat. Till European sail cloth could he Invd, they spread a sail oi gutskin«
sewed together, six feet high an<l nine feet l»road. Rich Eskimo near trailing stations often
make tiieir sails of white linen striped with red, but their boats can only .sail with the wind
on the (pnirter or astern and even then cannot keep pace with an Euroi>ean boat ; they have.
however, this advantage, that from tlu'ir lightness and shape they can make headway lastci'
with their oars in contrary winds or a calm. In these boats they undertake voyages ot'
many hundred miles along the coast, with tlu'ir tents, dogs and all their goods, carrviMs;
besides ten to twenty persons. The men. however, keep them company in kayaeks, blink-
ing the force of the waves when they run high, and in case of necessity holding the sides uf
tile boat in eipiilibrium with their hands. They usually travel thus thirty miles a ilay ami
in their nightly enca.mpnuMits on the shore they unload the boat, turn it upside down and
cover it with stones to secure it from the violence of the wind or a sudden rise of tiie tide
and if the state of the weather prevents their travelling by sea six or eight of them carry t lie
Ik at overland on their heads to more navigable waters. Europeans have sometimes built
boats oi\ their model and tind them on nuiny occasions for arctic i)rogress more servicealde
than their own licnvy ones.
Tlie small canoe or kayack is, however, the Eskimo l»oat i>(ir excel leiicc, ami nnuli
more care is taki'U in nuikingit. for the owner's life depemls upon it in many cases, aiul tVoni
the nature of iiis avocations it has bt'come almost a part (d' the Eskimo himself and lie
seems, as indei'd he is. perfectly at liomt> ami in his clement in it. It is generally abniit
eighteen feet long, and sha|)ed like a weaver's shuttle, with the ends turned uji. At the
middle it is about eighteen inches broad, and is scarcely u foot in depth ; like the woman's
boat, it is constructed of long, slender laths, with cross hoops secured with whalebone, ami
is covered with seal leather. Tiotli ends are capped with bone, on account of the friction fe
which they are subjected among the rocks. In the middle cd" the skin co\ jriiig of the
kayack is a round bole with a raised riugof wood or Ixuie, in which the Eskimo s(puits down
on a soft fiir, the ring or cond)ing reaching up to bis hips, and he tucks his water dress —
the seal coat — m> tightly about him that no water cai. enter the boat ; this water coat is
also fastened elo>e around his neck and arms with bone buttons. The harpoon dart is
strappe(l to the kayack at his side, and ludbre him lies the eoiled-up line, and behind liiin is
the Idadder. He grasps with lioth hands the middle of his paddle, which is nnide of solid
wood, tipped with metal, and with bone along the sides, and swings it with rapid nnd
regular strokes. Tims e(|iiippcd he sets out to hunt seals or sea fowl, looking as proud
almost as though he was thi' commander of the largest nnin-of-war.
All Eskimo in his kayack is indeed an object of admiration to those who see him in
rough weather, and bis sea dress, shining with rows (d" white bone buttons, gives him a
splemlid apjiear;;;; •■■. He attains great s|ici'd in this boat, and when doing duty as a dcspatdi
boat — carrying l-tters — will make forty-tive to fifty miles a day. He dreads no storm,
and as long as a ship can carry her top-sails he braves the largest billows, darting over them
TNNUITS OP OITR AR<"rir T'OAST.
119
like a bird, and even when completely l>nried among the wuvt-s he ...m,m roui.pfars skimmini"-
over the surface ; if a breaker threatens to eapHizc him, he .siiiiports himself in an uprii^ht
position with his paddle ; or if he is actually upset, he regains his eciuilihrium with a single
swing of his jiaddle ; should he lose the paddle it is, however, almost ci'i-tain death unless
speedy succour is at hand.
Some Europeans have, sifter nmch effort, attained sufHeient comnumd of the kayaik for
ii calm weather voyage, out they sehlom venture to tish in it, and are totally helpless in
dangerous sitmitions. The Kskimo possess, in the nuniagt'mi'nt of this vessel, a dexterity
|i('(uliar to themselves, which excites an interest, not unmingled with fear, in the spectator,
when he remembers that the exercise is connected with so much danger that the utmost
skill cannot always save them from perishing in the imrsuit of their food. It will be worth
wldle to notice a few of the methods by which the young Eskimo are trained to this remark-
aide skill. Ten different exercises have been noticed, and there are probubly several others
wliich have escaped observation.
First, the i)addler lies alternately with both sides of his body on the water, preserving
his balance with his paihlle to prevent a total upset, and again recovers his proper position ;
second, he overturns himself comitletely so that liis head hang* perpendicularly downward,
and by a swing of the iia(Mle on either side regains his erect position, fn capsizing acci-
dents, which are the most common, and fre(piently occur m a stormy sea, the Eskimo is
supposed to have the free use of his pachlle, but in seal catching it might easily get entangled
among the cordage, or even be entirely lost ; — it is needful, then, to ])re[iar(' the neophyte
for these casualties ; third, they accordingly run one end of the paddle among the cross
straps of the kayack, ujiset it, and work themselves up with a(|uick motion of the other end ;
fourth, they take hold of one end in their mouths, moving the other with their hand, so as
to raise themselves ; fifth, they hold the paddle with both hands across the nape of the
neck; or sixth, they hold it fast behind the back, upset, and ni.ove it in that position with
both hands till they regain their balance; seventh, they lay it over the shoulder, and by
working it with one hand before and tlie other behind, raise themselves from the water.
These exercises have regard, of course, to the possible entanglement of the paddle ;
cases, however, occur when it is entirely lost, which is the greatest misfortune that can
befall the Kskimo in his kayack, so that eighth, another exercise, therefore, 's to ladil the
jiaddle under the bottom of the kayack with both hands, with face do\v;i on the deck; having
thus fixed themselves they upset the boat, and again rise aloft by working the paddle, which
now lies cm the snrfiice, from beneath ; ninth, they upset the kayack, let go of tin paddle,
ami pull it down again from the surfiuH! ; tenth, if the paddle is lost beyond recovery they
attenn)t to Jerk themselves upward by striking the water with the tlirowing-board of the
harpoon, or a knife, (>- even the palm of the hand, but this experiment rarely succeeds.
The youthful kayaekers must also exercise their agility among the sunken cliffs and dashing
surges, iu)W driven by a double wave upon the rocks, now whirled completely round, now
buried in the foam, and thus initiated into such perilous gynnuistics in this nmgh school,
they early learn to bid defiance to the heaviest tempest, and generally navigate their frail
craft safely to land in the severest storms.
Wlu-n capsized at sea, the paddle lost, and destitute of all resource, they usually creep
out of their kayacks and call t'or assistance, and if no help arrives, lash themselves to their
boats that their bodies nuiy l)e found and buried. — -— ._
^
i
im
J. C. SC IITTLTZ ON THE
«ii
There were three methods of taking the seal, either singly with the hariioon iiml liluldcr.
or in a i-ompiiny hy the (•liii)i)er h.iiit. or in the winter on the ice. Till the use ot'tinunii.
heeame possible, the enstoinary method was that in whicii the harpoon and Maildcr wiic
used. Tlie Eskinu), seated in his kayack with all his aieoutrements, no sooner perceives n
seal than he approaches to the leeward if possible, with the sun on his back, lest lie sIkhiIiI
be seen and scented hy the animal. Concealing himself behind a wave, he [laddles swiftly
and silently forward till he arrives within a <listance of thirty or forty feet, takiiitr enic
meanwhile that the harpoon, cord and bladder are in proper order. He then takes tiie
paddle in his left hand, and seizing the harpoon in his right, launches it at the sciil hy tlie
rest or casting board. If the harpoon sinks deeper than the barbs, it immediately disengaifcs
itself from the bone Joint, and that again from the shaft, and while the cord is being uiiwduiid
from its coil in the kayack, the Eskimo, the moment he has struck the seal, whidi dives
down with the velocity of an arrow, throws the bladder after him into the water. He tlicii
picks up the Hoating shaft and restores it to its groove in the kayack. The blailder. wliieh
displaces a body of water equal to more than a hundred pounds weight, is dragged <l()\vn liv
the seal ; but the animal is so wearied by this encumbrance that he is obliged to reii[i|ieiir
on the surface in about titeen minutes to breathe. Tiie Eskimo, on perceiving tlie
bladder, paddles up to it, and as soon as the seal makes his appearance, attacks him wiili
the large barbless lance, and this he repeats every time the animal conies to the surface, till
it is quite exhausted ; he then despatches it with the small lance, and fastens it to the Kit
side of the kayack, after inflating the cavity under the skin that the body may float more
lightly and tow more easily.
This method of hunting is extremely dangerous, and exposes the Eskimo to the greatest
danger, for if the cord in its rapid revtdutions becvomes entangled in the kayack, or if it
winds itstdf around the paddle, the hand or even the neck of the paddler, as it sometimes
does in stormy weather, or if the seal sutldenly darts from one side of the kayack to tlie other,
the inevitable consequence is that the kyack is capsi/.ed by the cord and is often drauufd
under the water. The Eskimo now has occasion for all his skill to extricate himself and
recover his balance several limes in succession, for the ct)rd continues to whirl liini loniid
till he is (piite disi-ntangled. Even when he supposes all danger to be over and ajii'rnaelies
too near the dying seal, it may bite him on the face or haads, and aseal with young, in tcad
of retreating, often turns on the hunter and tears a hole in the kayack largi' eiiongli tn
sink it.
The second method is called by tluMu the clapjier hunt, in which a number of hunters
surround the seals and kill them in great nundicrs at certain seasons. In the autumn tliesc
animals generally come together in the creeks, where the Eskimos cut otf thcii- retreat,
driving them under water hy shouting, clapping and throwing stones. The seals lieinir
unable to renniin long without air, soon become exhausted, and at hist are conipidlcd to
remain so long cm the surface that they are easily surr(>unde(l and killed by the missile darts,
When the seal emerges they all rush on him with deafening cries, and on the animals
diving, which he is soon compelled to do, they all retire to their posts and watidi t > see at
what spot he will arise next. This is generally half a mile from the former |ilace, and it
the seal has the range of a sheet of water four or live miles sfpnire, lu; will keep the hunters
in i)lay f<n* hours before he is totally exhausteil. Should he sci'k the shore in his distress,
lie is assailed by the women and children with sticks and stones, while the men striki mm
INNUITS OF OUR ARCTK^ COAST.
121
in tlio roar. This is a very lucrative as well as lively hunt for the Eskimo, and a single man
sdiuetimes receives nine or ten seals as his share of the spoils of a single day's hunting.
The tliird method of seal catching is on the ice, when the tirths and hays arc frozen,
and tiicy are then taken in several ways. The Eskimo posts himself near a lircathing hide
wiiich the seal has made, sitting on a stool with his feet resting on another, and a wall of
siii)w hehind him to guard against the effecits of the cold. When the seal comes and puts
his nose to the hole, he is immediately striken with the harpoon ; then enlarging Mic hole
lie hauls out liis prize and kills it outright. At other tinu's he lies flat on his face on his
sledge, or a suhstitute for one, near one of the holes through which the seals come forth to
liask in the sun. A smaller hole is made not far from the large one, into which another
Eskimo is prepared to plunge ii harpoon with a very long shaft. The man who lies on tiic
ice ■ atches the large hole till he sees a seal coming toward the snuillcr hole, when he makes
a sign to his compajiion, who forcihly drives the harpoon into the seal. AViicn the hunter,
cliid himself in seal skin, sees a seal l)asking near his ludc on the ice, he crawls towards it,
wagging his head and imitating its peculiar grunt; the incautious animal, mistaking him
for one of its companions, allows him to approach till he is near enough to cast the fatal
lance. Again, where the current has made a large oi)euing in the ice, in the spring, the
Kskimo, placing themselves around it, wait till the seals approach in droves to the hrink
for air, and kill them with their harpoons. Many of them also meet their death while
huskiiig and sleeping in the sun.
The same fearlessness, ingenuity and skill is shown hy the Eskimo in the pursuit of
otiicr game. The whale is attacked without hcsit tion, hut, of course, hy several kayacks
acting in concert. So is the walrus, who at certain seasons and in defence of their young,
arc even more formidahle antagonists than the whale. The polar hear is also attacked with-
out (juestion, hut with this arctic monster they need the help of their dogs to divert hruin's
attention. It would take too long to give a description of their several methods, and i con-
tent myself with giving an idea of their manner of taking the reindeer, which next to the
seal is to them the most important t)f animals, and it is solely to supjily himsell' witn their
skins, tlesh and sinews that the Eskimo is tempted away at all from his nnu-h heh ved sea-
coast. The rciiulecr hunt is thus dcscrihed : " In the 'nonth of Scptemhcr the hand, con-
sisting of perhaps five or six families, moves to some well known [)ass, gen*'rally somi' narrow
neck of land hetwoen two lakes, and there await the southerly migration ol'tlic reindeer.
Wl'.en these aninnds approach the vicinity, some of the young men go out and gradually
drive them toward the pass, where they are met hy other hunters, who kill as many as they
can w'th the how and arrow, and then the herd is forced into a lake, and tl ere tlio.'<c who
lie in wait spear them at leisure. Hunting in this way day after day as long as the ilecr are
passing, a lai'ge stock of venison is generally procured, and as the country ahounds in
natural it'C-cellars, or at least everywhere affords great facilities for <'onstructing them in the
frozen snh-soil, the venison nuiy he kejit sweet till the hanl frost sets in, and so preserved
throughout the winter; hut the Eskimos take little trouhle ahoutthis nuitter. If more deer
are killed in the sunnner than can he consumed, part of the flesh is dried, hut later in the
season it is merely laid up ir. some cool cleft of a rock where wild animals cannot reach it,
and should it hecome considcrahly tainted hefore the cold weather sets in, it is oidy the
more agreeahle to the Eskimo palate and made very tender hy keeping, it is consumed raw
or afler very little cooking. In the autunm also, the migratory flocks of geese and other
Sic. II, 1S94. 1(1.
122
J. C. SCHITLTZ ON THE
birds arc laid uader ctniiribution, and salmon trout and fish of various kind^ are talvou. In
this way part of a winter stock of provisions is secured, and not a little is roc^uircd, as tlii'
Eskii.ios, being consumers of animal food only, eui. an immense quantity. In the aiitiiiiin
tlie berries of the Empetrinn n'ujrnm, Vticrhiinw uligiiio-sinn, Vilis-Iddd, }iiil»;s Cliniiiit-
nionts aii'l Arclkiis, and a few other arctic fruit-hearing plants are eaten, and the luilt'
digested lichens in the paunch of vhe reindeer are considered to be a treat ; but i'.; otli( r
seasons these people never taste vegetables, and even in the summer animal food aloin' is
deemed essential. Carbon is sn[)plied to the system by the use of much oil and fat in tlic
diet, and draughts .)f blood from a newly-killed animal are considered as contributing gvtiilly
to preserve the hunter in liealth. Xo part of the entrails is rejected as untit fur ood. littlr
cleanlinesH is show n in the jireparation of the intestines, and when thcv are rendered (•.isp
by frost they are eaten as delicacies witlior.t cookii'g.
In the consiruction of their dwellings the Eskimo have to var^' the nniterials and sliniic
according to their location in the widely extended area which they o -cupy. When ilril'f-
wood is to be found they make free use of it, as well as of sods and willowi, for wattling : cm
boulder-strewn coasts they have to adapt tliemselves to their building nuiterial, and it is mly
when neither arc available, or when the hunt has detained them in a now location till too
late to use either, that the snow house is built, so that the following descrintion of tl.iir
methods must be understood as only applying to certain portions of tlie coast they
fretpient :
In their thickest and most permanent settlements the houses are about twelve t'ot
wide inc. from twei'.ty-tive to seventy feet long, according to the number ()f families wiio
are to occupy them, and just high enough to allow a man to t-tand u[»right. Tiusc
permanent buildings are not built underground, as is often supposed, but on rising groinnl.
ard, if possible, on a steep rock, that the snow water may run off the better. The walls mr
constructed of huge stones six foQt wide, with layers of sod and earth between, and on these
W'dls they lay the beam, which is the lengih of the house, and if oiu' is not long enoiigli
they sjilice two, three or four together with leather cords atid sujiport them by posts. They
throw poles and smaller timber across, cover them with wattling and «ods, and spreml fini'
earth over the whole. This roof stands as long as frost continues, but in the sunnner it is
washi'd in by the rain ami nnist be repaired, togetiier with the walls, in the antnnni. As
they I'erive iheir support from tlie sea, they never build at any distance from it, and I he
entrances of their houses face the shore. They have neither doors nor chimneys, but in plaic
of both there is an arched entrance built of eartli and stone, twenty-five or thirty feet long,
and so low. particularly at the extremitic", that it is necessary not only to stoop, hut iiliuost
to creep thro\igb the pissage. This Imig tunnel servt's admirably to keep out the wind jimi
snow, and the heavy air (there is iu» smoke) finds egress through it. The walls arc hung
on the inside with the skin coverings of old tents and boats, fastened with iniils of scul
bones, by wnii h means the moisture is kept out ; the roof is often covered on the outside
with the same inattMMals. Half the area from the centre of the nouse to the back wall is
occupied by a fioor m' itlatform ab'-nt a foot high, eovereil with skins. Tliis platform is
divnled into several compartments by i-u'ans of skins stretched from the pillars wliiili
support the roof to the wall. Knnn three to ten tiimilies occupy one liouse, and each family
has a cmnpartnu'iit. There they sleep wrappeil in skins, and theie they sir ii\ the day (inic
the men usually in front sitting on the edge of the platform, and the women sitting hcliind
i\ot engii
tlicir ho
snow dii
their tei
tlagston
top, anil
double
side in\
and tin
curtain
blue el
admits
of tlio
INNUITS OF OUR ARCTK; COAST.
123
with their logs crossed. The husband's time is employed in making or repairing his hunt-
ing and I'isliing implements, while the woman attends to her cooking and sewing. In the
front wall are seven.l windows, ahout two feet square, netted with the intestine? of seals and
til.' integuments of Ush maws, of so close and compact a texture that they exclude the
V ind and snow, while admitting a good deal of light. A bench runs the whole length of
the room under the windows, and is used for strangers to sleep and sit on. Near each
pillar there is a place for the lamp. A block of wood laid on a hearth of stones supports a
low three-legged stool, a.id on this stands the crescent-shaped lamp, a foot in diameter,
hewn out of soft stone, with an oval bowl of wood under it to catch the oil that may run
over. In this lamp, which is filled with seal oil they place filaments of moss instead of
cotton wick, which burns with a flame so bright that the house is not only illuminated, but
wiirui by its several lamps. Over the lamp an oblong kettle of stone (now, of course, of
niotal;, iin utensil of the greatest importance, is suspended by four cords from the roof. It
is a foot in dia. .cter and various lengths, and evorv kind of food is cooked in it. Still
hit<-hcr is a wooden rack on which they spread rhcir wet boos and clotl'.es to <lrv. There
arc as many lamp-places in a house as there are tiimilies, and more than one lamp is
frc(picntly kept burning day and night in each, so that the temperature is kept warm and
even, No s-team or smoke is perceptible, and they are perfectly secure from accidents by
♦m'c. The smell, however, from so nuuiy train-oil lamps with such large (piantities of fish
and flesh boiling over tliem, and particularly the fumes from the vessels in which the skins
arc steeped fin* dressing, iire extremely oflVnsivc to unaccustomed nostrils, though habit, it
is said, soon iciders the eHlu\"ia bearable. In other resiiect^ their housekeeping ma;y well
excite admiration, whether we consider the ingenuity with which all their necessaries are
(Towdetl into so small a si)ai'e. or their contentedness in. a poverty which apjiears to them the
iieight of aliundance, or the renuirkable order a'.d (piietness with which they move in their
contracted dwellings.
Adj ining their dwellings stand their storehouses, built of stones in the form of a
liakcr's oven, containing their fall stock of meat, blubber and dried fish. What they catch
during the winter is buried in the snow, an<l the train-oil is preserved in Kcal-skins. Close
liy, their boats are suspended, out of reach of the dogs, on long poles, with the hunting
apparatus under, and tied to them. In September, the building of houses, or the repairing
of thoK'. whose roofs have fallen in duiing the summer, occupies the women, for the men do
not engage in any kiiMl of domestic labour, exc^^itt wood and bone work. They move into
their houses during the early part of October, and in March, April or May, as soon as the
snow disappear! and the crumbling roof threatens in fall in on theiri, they glatlly move into
their tents. In the erection of these tents they pave a (pnidrangular area with snndl, flat
flMgstoi'cs, round which they fiv from ten to forty poles, coming together in a poin' at the
top, and resting on a frinuework abotit the height of a man. Over these rihs they iiaiig a
double covering of seiil-skins, lined by the more wealthy with reirdeer skins with the fur
side inward. The lower edge of this covering is kept down on the ground by heavy Btones,
and the interstices are stufled with moss to prevent the wind frmn overttirning the ter*. A
curtain, neatly woveti of seals' gut, haitgs before the entrance, bordered by a hem ot red or
blue cloth ami embroi.lered with white. Cold aii cantiot penetrate this hanging, though it
admits a plentiful supply of light, and the tent coverings project considerably on all sides
of the tent, making a kind of porch in v;hich the inmates deposit their provisions, etc. It
'fmm
mmmmmmm.
124
J. C. SCirULTZ ON THE
will be ivadily Heen, then, that where any otlier northern Indian tribe would starve or iVeoze
to doiith. the Eskimo Tu'e in warmth and with plenty. A Ciiipju'wayan or Tiniie Indiau
hunting party, overtaken by a winter storm on the barren grornds, would have no resomci'
for safety and shelter but to lie down and let the snow drift iver wliatever eoverinn' tluv
nuiy happen to have, and often freeze, where an Eskimo party similarly cireumstaneed woiilil
build a comfortable house of the snow whieh threatened to destroy them.
It is as difficult a matter as with other Indians to obtain from them an idea of tluii
religious beliefs, and with tlu' Eskimo more so i)erhaps than with the others, so grcut is
tlieir fear of appearing in any way ludicrous to strangers. To get an idea at all, their luii-
guage must be mastered and their contidence gained, and even then they are apt to rdir
you to their " angekoks," i-orresponding to the "medicine men" of the neighbotirin'.r Iiidiini
tribes, who alone are supposed to have seen and held c nverse with tl e spirit ov spirits they
worship, or rather, in most cases, endeavour to placate. \s nniy be imagined, these angi'-
koks i're not anxious to give much information of their methods of dealing either witli tlic
Eskimo or with the higher powers, and even they (the angekoks or shamans, as they arc
sometimes called) vary in their oitinions as to the greater deity or great spirit, some assert-
ing that he is without form of any kind, others assorting that he is shaped like a great bear,
but, with or without form, nearly all agree that he resides at the centre of ti-- e-arih. where
there is continual warmth and sunshine, seal, deer, whales, fowl and Hsh in abundance, lie
teaches, they say, the "spei'ial ones"' their arts. There is, however, another great spiiit.
having no pro[)er mime, belonging to the other se.x, and having a very bad ani! envious dis-
position. The angekoks boast of close intimacy with the great spirit, and from him tiuy
obtain on initiation their/«»i(7/«/' spirit, who accompanies them on their Journeys wlien they
go to seek advice from the great spirit about the curing of diseases, procuring good weatiicr,
or dissolving tbe charms of some evil spirit by whit'li land and sea aninmls have been pro-
tected from the hunters. When the angekok is emplo3'ed to cure the sick, he erects a tciit
over himself and his patient, singing over him for several days, abstaining from food all llu-
time, and l>lowing on the attcn^ted part, which is one of the chief remedies of these physicians,
who employ ventriloiiuism, sleight of hand, swallow knives, extract stones from variitiis
parts of their bodies, and various other ileceptions to impress their countrymen with a liiuli
opinion of their supernatural powers; and some of them, generally women, pretend to liuve
actpiired the power of stilling the winds and causing the rain to ceasts.
Though the nnijority of angekoks arc mere jugglers, the class undoubtedly includes a
few EsKimo of inttdligcnce and penetration, and perhaps a greater nund»er of gciiuiiir
believers whose understnnding has bei'u subverted by the intluence of som ■ impression
strongly working upon tln'ir fervid imagination. Tiiese sensible persons, wiio are lust
entitled to the name of "wise men " or "angekoks" (the meaning of the word is "grat "
and " wise"), have, either from the instruction of their fatiiers or their own oliservation ami
ItMig I'xperiiMice, ac(piired a uselul knowledge -"f nature, which enabh's them to give a pretty
conlident • .inion to such as constilt them on tiie state of the weather or the success of the
fisheries. They sh()w e(|ual sagacitv in tlieir treatment of tiie sick, whone spirits they ket'|i
up by iharnis and amnU'ts, while as long as they have any hope of recovery they prcsi lilic
a juilicious regimen. Their i)lameless deportment and superior intelligence have made tlicni
ihe oracles of their countryiiei', and they nniy be classed as the physicians and philosophers
of this iM'ttic race. I'ersons of thiH class, when closely (questioned, often avow ihe falmMuw
INNUITS OF OUR AECTIC COAST.
128
of their apparitions, converse with the Hpiritu and :.ll the niumniery coiinei'tcd with it ; but
still they appeal to tlieir ancient traditions for the trutlj of revelations made to tlieir fore-
fathers and miraculous cures wliich they performed hy a certain sympatliy. With regard
to their own practice, they readily admit that tlieir intercourse with the Bpirit>nd world is
merely a pretense to deceive tlie simide, and that their frightful gesticulations are necessary
to sustain tlieir credit aud give wciglit to their prcscri[itioiis. Still there are many, even
among those who have renounced these impostures with heathenism, who aver that they
have frequently been thrown into superiuitural trances, ami that in this state a succession of
images appeared before them, which they took for revelations, but afterward the whole
scene appeared like a dream. The larger po.-t: »n of these diviners are, howev'cr, bare-
faced imposters, who pretend to have the power of bringing on and driving away disease,
enchanting arrows, exorcising si»irits, bestowing blessings, and performing a whole catalogue
of similar feats. The dread excited by these inuigined powers of good and evil procures
them a formidable name and an ample reward for their services. These sorcerers niutier a
charm over a sick man and blow u[)ou him that lie may recover, or tliey fetch him, they
say, a healtliy soul and breathe it into him, or they confine themselves to a simple prediction
of life <ir death. For this latter purpose they tie a bandage around the head, by whicli they
raise it up and let it fall ; if it feels light tlie patient will recover ; if it is heavy the patient
will die. In the same manner they impiire the fate of a hunter who has stayed niuisiuilly
long at sea; they bind the h(uid of the nearest relation and lift it by a stick ; a tub of water
i>* [ilaced underneath, and there they prcteuil to behold the absentee either .qiset in his
kayack or paddling in his proper position. They will also conjure up the soul of a man
whom they wish to injure, to appear before them in t!ie dark, ami wound it >vith a spear,
after which cheir enemy must (M)nsume away by a slow ilisease. The company present will
pretend to recognize the man by his voice. The proscriptions of the angekoks relate either
to certain amulets or else to a course of diet, which includes the healthy as well as the sick.
Wiinnin in child-bed have particularly much to observe; they dare not cat in the open air;
no one else must drink at their water-tub, or take a light from their himi», nor must they
themselves boil any tiling over it for a long time. Their meals must consist of what their
own husbands have caught ; the fish must he oaten before the meat, an<l the bones are not
to be thrown out of the house. The husband must abstain for several weeks from all pur-
suits excejit the necessary fishing. The ostensible reason of these restrictions is to prevent
the death of the child, tin ugh it is ithiin that they were originally invented for the
preservation of the feeble mother.
Abstinence from food and labour of certain kinds is also enjoined to young nniidens who
have hail the misfortuiu' to be attected by the beams of the sun .)r moon, or the shadow of a
bird Hying overhead. Those who noglect these precautions arc liable to some misfortinie,
perhaps even the loss of their lives ; besides, the "Torngak" of tlu air might bo provoked
en her account to raise stormy weather. A man never sells a seal on the day it is caught,
and they always keep back the head or some other part, even if it is only a few bristles from
the b;'ard, lest he shouhl forfeit his luck. Their amulets ami pendants are so various that
oiie coi\jurer laughs at another's, They consist of an old piece of wood, a stoi\e, a bone, or
the beak and claws of a bird hung round the neck, or a leather cord tied round the forehead,
breast or arms. These potent charms arc presi-rvatives against spectres, diseases ami death ;
they confer prosperity, and they especially prevent the chililren from losing their souls in
126
J. (". sniULTZ ON THE
thunder storms or frights. A rag or shoe ot' a European hung ahout their ehihlren instils
into them some portion of Eu'-oi)ean skill and ahility. They are particularly anxious to
have an European hlow ui>oii them. When they set out to the whale fishery they must not
only he neatly dressed, but tlie lamits in their tents must he extinguished, that the sliy
whale may not be friglitened. Tiie boat's bow must be adorned witli a fox's head and the
harpoon witli an eagle's beak. In the reindeer ehasc tliey throw away a piece of the flesli
for the ravens, and the heads of their seals must not be fractured or thrown into the sea, but
piled up before the door of the house, lest the souls of the seals be incensed and they drive
away the rest. This superstition, however, is probably due to their own vanity, wliieh is
gratified by these trophies of their valour. The kayaek is fretpuMitly adorned with a small
model of a kayaek containing a miniature image of a man bearing a sword ; sometimes with
a dead s|)arro\v or snipe, a stone, a i)iece of wood, feathers or hair, to ward off danger. But
it is observed that those who chiefly make use of these charms are in general the most
unfortunate, since they are unskilled, and therefore timid, or else so secure in tlicii-
superstition that they needlessly run into danger. - ,
The description given by the angckoks of a future state is hazy indeed, this world being
supported on pillars, and bearing, also on pillars, the npjter world beyond the firnianiiiit.
To the nether one the souls of the good go, and to the uiijier go the souls of the luid
Kskimo. There the climate is bitterly c(dd, and hunger is the fiend which pursues tlicni.
The Aurora is simiily these spirits playing bowls for the double purpose, we may imagine, of
dodging the fiends and warming their shivering, ill-dad s(Uils. Some angekoks, however,
ieacli almost tlic reverse of the foregoing ; the place of bliss lieing the moon, where wanntli
and verdure await them around the rim of a great lake, wherein are seals ami wlialfs.
walrus and narwhal, ami around its grassy shores reindeer in vast numbers, all of whicli are
to be hail for the asking, or at least for the spearing, ami when this lake overflows there is
rain upon the earth, and, should the rim break, a di'luge. Departed good spirits, liowver,
do not make an innnediate entrance to this blessed abode ; the}' must first, for five days or
more, sliilc down a steep rock slippery with blood. Tiu' relations and frieinls of tlie
deceased in conse(pience abstani for five days from all active work, except the necessary
capture of seals, that the spirit may not be disturbed or lost upon its dangerous road. On
the other hand, the souls of the bad go down to a place of piinisliment, a gloomy subtcr-
raiu'an place fill-'d with horror and anguish.
Difl'crcnt angekoks give diit'erent versions, and those (ui the eastern borders of tlicir
extensive habitat vary sonn'what from that of the middle and western, and the idea of the
first of these n'garding the rcsnrrei'tion, of whid: they have a very vague idea, nniy lie
interesting. Of the end (d' the world and the ri'siii'rcction of the dea<l they have gcncnilly
scarcely any idea. Sonu' of them, however, atllrm that the souls loiter near the graves ol
the bodies they inhabited for five days, and who then rise again to pursue the same course
of life in another world ; therefore ibcy always laid the hunting implenuMits of a dcceascil
person near his grave. This opinion, however, is ridicnli'd by the nuu'e observant Eskimos,
who percHMve that the deceased and his weapons remain unmoved and go into corruption
together. The following idea s"inis to hear more evident tmirks of a tradition relative to
the rcsurrectioi;, and is the more reniarkaiile, as it involves btdief in a superior being. Tlicy
say that after the death (d" the whole bnnnni race tlie solid mass of the earth will lie
Hhaitered into simill fragments, which will be cleansed by a mighty deluge from the blood of
INNUITS OF OUR ARCTIC COAST.
127
till' (k'iul; a tempest will then unite the putrefied partideH and give them a more lieautiful
Hirm. The new world will not be a wildernens of harreii roeks, lait a plain ilothed with
everlasting verdure and eovered with a superfluity of auinuUs, for they believe that all the
present animal ereation will be revivitied. As for the men, " lIi" that is above" shall
breathe upon them ; but of this personage they ean give no further aceount.
The other great but misehievous spirit is a female without name. AVlietlier she is
"Torngarsuk's" wife or his mother is not agreed u I ion. The natives of tlie north believe
that she is the daughter of the mighty angekok who tore the islands from the eontineiit
and towed them hundreds of miles further north, and this aretie Troserpine lives in
a large house under the oeean, in whieh she enthrals all the sea monsters by the efheaey of
her spells. Sea fowl swim about in the tub of train-oil under lu'r lanqi. The [mrtals of Ikm-
palaee are guarded by rani[)ant seals, exeeedingly vieious, yet their plaoe is often suiijilied
liy a large dog, whieh never sleeps longer than a seeond, and ean eonseepieiitly rarely be
surprised. When there is a seareity of seals or tish, an angekok must undertake a Journey
toiler abode for a handsome reward. His "Torngak," or familiar spirit, who has pre-
viou.sly given him all proper instruetions, eondnets him in the first jdae' under the earth or
sea. He then passes through the kingdom of souls who jtass a life of jolliry and ease, but
their progress is soon afterward interrui)ted by a frightful vaeuity, over wliieli a narrow
wheel is suspended, whieh whirls with wonderful raiiidity. When he has been so fortunate
as to get over, the Torngak leads him by the hatid upon a rope stretehed aeross the chasm,
and through the sentry seals into the [lalaee of the fury, who, as soon as she sees her unwel-
t'omc guests, tre'ubles and foams with rage, and hastens to set on fire the wing of a sea
fowl, the steneh of whieh would enable her to take the suftbeated angekok and his " Torn-
gak" captives. These heroes seize her before she ean efieet the fatal fumigation, pull her
down by the hair and strip oft" her filthy anudets, whieh by their occult powers have enslaved
tiie inhabitants of the oeean, and the enehantment being thus 'bssolved, tlie captive creatures
iiiimetliately aseend to the surface of the sea, and the successful angekok champion has no
ilitficulties on his Journey back. They do not think, however, that she is so malicious as to
aim at making mankind eternally miserable, and therefore do not describe her dwelling as
a hell, but a [)lace abounding in the necessaries of lite, yet no one desires (o be near her On
the contrary, they greatly venerate "Torngarsuk,"' and though they do not hold him to be
the author of the uinverse, they wish after death to go to him and share his atlliience.
Many Eskimo, when they hear of (Jod an<l his almighty power, are easily led to identity
him with Torngarsuk, for they honour the latter as much as the ancient heathens did
•luititer, I'luto, or their other jirincipal divinities, yet they do not regard iiini as that eternal
lieing to who.. 1 everything owes its existence. They pay him no religious honours or worship,
regarding hini as much too benefieient a bei'ig to re((uire any }troi)itiatioii, bribes or entrea-
ties, though it cannot well be construed into anything but a sacrifice when an Kskinio lays
a piece of blubber or skin near a large stoii", and very otten a part of the reindeer which is
the first fruit of the ebase. They cannot assign any other reason for this e.\eept that their
ancestors have done so before them in order to insure suc<'ess in hunting.
In the air dwells a certain " innua" (or possessor) whom they call " fnnerter rirsok,"
the informer, because he informs the Kskiino through the angekok what he must abstain
from if he wishes to be fortunate. Their " Kriocrsorlok" also inhahits the air, and lies in
wait for tliose souls which pass upward in order to take out their entrails and devour them.
i
128
J. C. SOHITLTZ ON THE
(lU'.
If
lie is (lescribed to ho as loan, gloomy ami oruol as a Saturn. The " Kongousotokit" are
marine spirits ; thoy eatoh and devour the foxes which fretjuont the shores in order to cutcli
tish. There are also spirits of the fire ealled " Ingiiersoit," who iidiabit the rocks on the sen
shore ami appear in the forni of tlie will-o'-the-wisp ; tliov are said to have been the inhalii-
tants of the world before the deluge. AVIien the earth was turned round and ininicrscii in
water they changed thoiuselves int-i tlanies and took refuge among the roiks. 'I'luv
frecpiently steal men away from the strand in order to have companions, ami treat them vcrv
kindly. The "Tunnorsoit "' and "Innyarolit" are mountain spirits, tlie former more tliim
twenty feet and the latter only six inches long, but at the same time exceedingly clcvci'.
These latter are said to have tuught the Europeans their arts. The " Erkiglit" have d
like countenances and are war-like spirits, enemies to mankind, but they inhabit only i
east side of the Eskimo country, so that this belief may be a mere trailition of the hatni! I, li
towards the ancient Norsemen. " Sillegiksartoj " is the /Eidus of Greeidaiid ; he dwells
upon an ice-tield and regulates the weather. The water has its peculiar spirits, and wlicn
the Eskimo meet with an unknown spring, in case there is no angekok at hand, tiie oldest
man in the comi)any must first drink of it in order to rid it of any inaltcious spirit. Wlim
certain meats prove detrimental to any one, especially women with children, the "masters nl'
the fooil " are blamed for enticing them to eat contrary to the rules of abstinence. Tlie sun
and the moon are inhaltited by their separate spirits who were formerly men, and tie ,iii'
itself is a spiritual intelligence which men nniy irritate by crimimd conduct and apply to i'ny
counsel. Such were some of the superstitions of this strange race varying in degree and fdnii
along their extended coast line, and if some one who knows tluur language would iinilert.dse
to reduce these Kskinio superstitions to a regular system they wimld probably be foiuid in
some respects to rival the mythology of the Greeks and Romans.
Space necessary for more thiin a mere reference to some of the peculiarities «[' I lie
Eskimo, cannot of course be taken ; were it otherwise the remarkable homogeneity of the
language spoken in their detached settlements along five thousand miles of coast line tVoni
Siberia to Labratlor would be at once apparent. East coast Eskimo interpreters were gener-
ally taken by ships which sought the northwest passage from east lo west ami west lo
east, and while there were indeed differences of dialect among the various ban<ls along the
Arctic- coast and islands, yet the Kskimo from the mouth of the Mackenzie nmy he under-
stood by those of Point Barrow, at tin' mouths of the (\)ppermine and Back's (Jicat River,
as well as on the nortl v/est coast of Hudson's Bay, and the north coast of Lal>rador and hIsh
on the arctic coast of Alaska and Siberia. Where the race comes in contact witli nthei
Indians on the east and west coasts of ITudson's Bay and the Amerii-an and Asiatic eoiists
of Behring Sea, there is an incorporation of foreign words ami the idiom is sonu'wliMt
changed, but with those exceptions there is a homogeneity which is surprising, consiilerinL;
the fact that their cdnnnuuities, especially in the tar north on islands where Parry met them,
and in (Ircenlaml mirth of the great ice barrier, where when Ross first saw them they hclieveil
themselves the only lOskinm. and. indeed, the only people in the wtirld. This renniik-
al)le homogeneity ot language may bt^ in some ilegree accounte<l for by tlu'ir shunnin,:; and
fearing all Indians south ot them, a feeling so cordially reciprocated among suit-arctic
savages that, till missiomirv intluem-es were brought to bear on both, a broad line of demar-
cation was drawn whicdi so favoured soinc wild animals, especially the reindeer, that hundreds
INNUITS OF OUR ARCTIC COAST.
129
of thousande were seen by an explorer (Mr. Tyrrell) lust year, who showed by their t'earless-
iiiss that they had seen man for the tirst time.
Their language, thy)Ugh flexible like the other agglutinative dialeits of more southern
Inilians, is harsh to European ears and hard of pronmiciaiion to European tongues, owing to
tiie guttural r which is sounded deep in tlie throat like ch or k ; and the numerous ter-
ininations in t and /•; yet in general the language is not so imperfect and rude as that of a
people so lacking in refinement might be expet-ted to be, and this fact lias led to the conjec-
ture that it has been reduced to its regular form by a set of men much farther advanced in
civilization than those who now speak it. It is so copious in words expressive of common
objects and conceptions that like many of the Mongolian languages it distinguishes the
slightest shade of difference in a thing by an ap[iropriate term; much, therefore, may be said
in a few words without obscurity ; on the other hand, they have no words whatevt-r for
subjects beyond their knowledge, such as religion and morality, arts and sciences and abstract
ideas of any kind. Secondly, the words are vrry variously inflected, though acconling to
certain rules and provided with many affixes and prefixes, so that the language is not only
l>lain, but unetp'-vocal an<l energetic. And tliirdly, many of the words are connected
together, so that . .e the North American Indians they can express themselves with force
and brevity. This circumstance, however, occasions foreigners so nuich trouble in learning
tiie language that several years' study are re([uired to be able to thoroughly understaml the
natives and to speak it with fluency, and scarcely anyone attains sudi proficit'ncy in it that
he can express himself with the ease and significance of the natives.
Several of our letters are wanting in their alphabet, and they never begin a word with h, r/,
/'.//, /, rov z. Consoinints are seldom joined together and never at the begiiuiingof a syllable.
In the pronunciation of foreign names, therefore, they omit the detW^tive letters and separate
t lie crowded consomints ; Jephtba for instance is pronounced Kppetah. On the contrary,
their deep, guttural sound of r and some of their diphthongs baffle the efforts of European
organs to imitate them. The letters though never transposed, are fre(|nently changed tor
others for the sake of euiihony, especially by the wonu'ii who are particularly fond of the
termination ikj ; the accent generally falls on the !.ist syllable and if this is not attended to, a
dirterent ami perhaiis quite a contrary meaning to the one intended nuiy be conveyed. It is also
noticed that tl. Kskimo, and especially the women, accompany some words not only with a
peeuliar accent, hut with certain winks and gesture^, and uidess they are understood much of
tile sense is lost. Thus, to exjiress complete approbation, they draw in a bri'ath with a pecu-
liar noise, through their throats and if they are in a bad humour it is shown more i>y their
gestiires tluui by words.
Having spoken of the customs of the Eskimo while living, it will be well to give briefly
tlieir treatment of the dead. AVhen one of their nund)er is known to be at the [loint of death
Ills relations dress him in his best clothes and boots and double his legs u|) to thi' hips that his
grave may be mude snnill and as soon as he is dead they throw out everything that belonged to
him, otherwise they would be polluted and their lives rendered unfortunate. The house is
tlnis cleure<l of all its movables till evening, which after mourning the dead in silence for an
hour they begin to nuike [(reparations for the intermenl. The corpse is carried out, not --
through the usual entrance, but through the window, or if they are living in tents at the
time, an o|iening is nnule for it by loosening one of the skins in the back part ; a wonnni —
tollowH theoorpso waving a lighted chip and crying, " Here thou hast nothing more to ho[ie
Hec. II, isoi. 17.
130
J. C. SniULTZ ON THE
for." They profor an elevated and remote situation for the tomb, which they liiiild ot
stones and line with moss luid skins, and the nearest of kin brings out the dead swathed and
sewed up in his best pelts, bearing him on his back, or sometimes dragging him along the
ground. lie then lays him in the grave, covering him with a skin or sods and idacing over
these large heavy stones as a protection against foxes and birds of prey. The kayack and
weapons of the dead are depositetl near the grave, as are also knives and sewing implements of
women, that the survivors may contract no defilement fnmi them, nor be lead by tlic ((in-
stant sight of them to indulge in too great grief, an excess of wliich is tliought to he
injurious to the departed soul. Nfany also entertain the notion that the same weapons wliirli
were used in ibis world will be necessary for the support of life in the oliier.
In attempting to form my own opinion regarding this singular people, I have consulted
all the records of early and later intercourse with them within reach here, and in tlie fore-
going having endeavoured to give from these and from unwritten sources of information as
faithful an account of their habits, modes of life, religious belief, etc., as was possible con-
sidering their wide habitat and the contradictory statements often made in reference to
them, and some of these accounts of them I have copied fr'im the records of observers wlio
seemed to me to hav '■ id a fair opportunity of being correct, and whose veracity I do not
doubt, and from all these sources of information I am inclined to class the Innuit nation
high among the aborigines of Canachi, h-gh even among tlie aborigines of America, exeept-
ing, of course, in ccmstructive skill and some of the arts, the tribes of Aztec and Toltec stock.
And it seems to me that no aboriginal people liave been, when first encountered in early or
more recent days, more misunderstood or traduced. They were believed for a time to lie
sun-worMiippers, because when first emerging from their tents in the morning they invari-
ably looked toward that luminary to see what mists were likely to obscure the haunts (d' the
seal and what clouds betokened a gathering storm or fair weather. They have been con-
sidered cowardly, though their life is one long war with the elements and where they con-
stantly exercise in the pursuit oC food a courage greater, indeed, than he who attacks the
whale, walrus or polar bear with modern implements of destruction, and, when sniartinu'
under the sense of injustice and cruelty, they have, in times long gone, swept the Norsemen
from the Greenlandic coasts, and in chance encounters with sub-arctic Indian tribes, they are
nearly always the victors.
They have been set down as inveterate tliievos, generally by those who underrated tlie
temptation to purloin a little of the white man's stupendous affluence of that metal, tlie
sliglitest bit of which in needle or knife-blade was a treasured possession to be handed down
fnun mother to daughter and from father to son, and most writers agree that honesty and
respect for their neighbour's goods cluiracterizes their dealings with each other. In their
semi-cinnnniKal life, however, no man must possess too much ; the nnin who has two kayacks
must allow any relative to use the spare one, and he who has three, must submit to the third
being taken by any one '/no needs it, and a misdirected exercise of this unwritten Eskimo
law nniy perhaps account for the ingenious abstraction of a tin plate or a coveted luiil from
a kegful of such riches; they are said to be callous or indifferent, but no savages exceed
them in fondness for their chihlren and the care of the aged, although when famine is
abroad and only the well and strong can nuike their way to the distant sealing ground or tiie
stranded or rancid whale, the old nnist wait till help can come. Family relationshiiis, nmre-
over, are strong and the aged whose young people have gone before, are only cared for in
K ':«.
INNUITS OF OUR ARCTfO COAST.
im
times of plenty, and left to perinh when food fails. They are accused of treachery and crime
w liL'M Europeans are in their power, but such was not the experience of such of the arctic
explorers whom disaster caused to seek their hospitality and assistance. It is true that
they attacked Franklin on his western boat expedition from the mouth of the Mackenzie
river, but the Eskimo of his day had not learned to distinguish between the daring explorer
and christian gentleman, and the grasping Russian trader of the straits, who did not scruple
to use powder and steel to urge the trade for his brandy in exchange for the ivory and
whalebone, seal skins and oil of the Eskimo, and there is good reason for believing that had
Orozier's gaunt and scurvy-stricken band met with and trusted Eskimo aid the sad cairn
record found by McClintock might have been spoken by the lips of rescued survivors.
We now come to the difficult question of the probable origin of these denizens of the
most iidiospitable regions of North America and of part of Asia, and are met at the outset,
not only by the ordinary difficulties of such an attempt in regard to the better known
aboriginal tribes of the continent, but with the very distinctive difference which exists be-
tween them and the Innuits of the polar basin. The movements at least, if not the origin of
ail the other Canadian Indians has been fairly well ascertained, but the habits, manners and
customs, the religious beliefs, and language as well as their habitat so far as we have any
account of them have remained the same with the Eskimo since they were first seen by
Kuropean eyes. Migrations there have been, but these, since the eleventh century at
least, have partaken more of the character of the nati'ial overflow of population, seeking in
hands o!" several families new fields where food was to be procured than any general hegira
from internal or exterind causes. Uidike in appearance, manner, habits, disposition and
language from all Indian tribes near them, they have sought no communication with them,
discouraging even marriage with captives taken in war, they have nearly everywliere re-
mained of pure blood, "Innuits," the ^'■People" who live in plenty where all others wcmld
starve, resisting all temptation to leave their boulder strewn and ice furrowed shores, and
who languish and die when forcibly removed from their bleak headlands and barren rocks.
I pass by the ingenious arguments whicii would have us believe that man is the result
of evolution, or that men of different colours were created as unworthy of a single thought
when we possess the <livinely inspireil account of the origin of our species, and accept with-
out hesitation the present general belief derived from the conclusions reached after nmch
research by those wlio devoted much time to its study, that a'l at least of the northern por-
tion of the aborigines of North AnuTica reached this <:ontinent by chance from the Aleutian
islands, or with intent across some part of Behring Straits.
Accepting this belief we may suppose the progeintor of these Eskimo or " Skraelings"
seen early in the eleventh century on the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts by the Scan-
dinavian discoverers of Greenland to have been one of the Mongolian offshoots of the great
dispersion caused by the confusion of tongues, and we must suppose them either to have
adopted their present mode of life by being forced to the northeastern portion of arctic
Asia by tribes stronger and better armed than they, and having acquired the habits of life
necessitated by a residence in the polar basin, gradually fouiul their way over five thousand
miles of arctic and Atlantic coast line to where first met near the straits of Belle-Isle, or,
the (to me) far more probable conjecture that their progenitors were the Mongolian tribe or
tribes who first peopled America and the great eastern aiul southward tide of occupation,
which, increasing in its flow southward along the great river valleys and lake basins of the
132
J. 0. SCHULTZ ON THE
continent left a northern fringe to occupy country not further south perhaps tlian the sonthoni
trilmtaries of the Saskatchewan or the northern tributaries of the Missouri and a (I'siililcd
remnant to continue to occupy the Aleutian Islands, and there learn that which was to jnc-
serve their race when they rejoined their companions and were forced northward from tlicso
homes to their present habitat : hard pressed l)\- the tribes, which having increased, iiuilri-
plied and grown strong in the warmer portions of the continent, began those incessant,
interminable wars which the discoverers succeeding (Jolumbus found everywhere along t'"
eastern coast, and later explorers found extending to the heart of the continent, tiny wniilil
naturally seek refuge northward by the rivers of the arctic watershed in the bark und
wooden canoes which are so like, in form at least, the skin boats which the Russian navii;a-
tors, Behring, Spangenberg and Tschivikin found in use by the then occupants ol tlic
Aleutian Islands. We can easily understand if \vc accept this theory of the colonizatitui of
the arctic shores of this continent, how the bark, and even wood canoe would have to give
place to the light skin boat when the northern limit of wood had l)een reached and passed,
and how gladly a hard pressed tribe Heeing for their lives would, if accustomed to the use of
boats, seek to at once reach a limit where they could not be followed ; hence the occupiitimi
of the arctic coast as a haven of safety and where the arts of the Aleutian islanders coulil
be exercised to procure that abundance of food which, till the white man came, filled the caclu's
and storehouses of the Eskimo nearly everywhere along this extended coast line.
If we accept this theory there still remains the question as to whether this hegira took
place down one or many of the rivers flowing into the Arctic Sea, and though not impoitiint,
there are reasonable grounds for supposing that it took place down two at least, or tlnir
perhaps, of the Canadian arctic rivers, although one, indeed, of the rivers of Alaska would
oft'er some of the tacilitics afforded by the others farther east.
Passing from the region of conjecture, we come to the present condition of, and tlic
future possibilities of this iiiteresti?ig people. When they became, on the 15th of July, IHTtt,
wards of our government, the north, western and eastern shores of Iliulson's Bay was occu-
pied by Eskimo to whom the whale, seal and walrus hunt afforded plenty to su[)pK incut
their land hunt, salmon and other fisheries and their surplus of whalebone, train oil, walrus
tusks, white bear, fox and wolf skins were bought by Hudson's liay traders sent from
(!hurcbiil on one side and from Moose Factory on the other side of the bay. Tbat devoted
missiomiry, the late Bishop of Moosine*^, had already been able at intervals to preach ilu'
gospel of Christ and the truth as it is in Jemis had been told, when and where they lould
be reached, to the Eskimo on the west shore as well. Whales, walrus and seals were found
in inimbers, and a fair field seemed open f(U' that kind of domestication and civili/ation
which had been effected by the Moravian brethren on the Labrador coast, and similar suc-
cesses might have rewarded the efforts wliich were being made by the great chunb mission
societies of England, but, alas, when was tbe greed of the white man stayed by the consid-
eration of tbe spiritiml or temiKU'al welfare of any portion of the Indian race! The most
prolitable kiinl of whales had gradually been driven or exterminated from off the coast from
Newfoundland to Hudson's Straits, and the remnant had sought refuge with their kind in
Htulson's Bay, v.diere they were taken occasionally when they could be attacked by the
Eskimo near the shore, but they were still in nmnbers, however, which gave them tlu!
chance of affording for these Indians a permanent supply and a continuance of this vahuildc
species in these waters, but American and other whalers followed them and when it was
INNUITS OP OUR ARCTIC COAST.
1B0
found that the iiarboiir on Marhlo island afforded an opportunity for wintering whaling
ships, with two months longer of fishing and a winter's trading with the Kskinio, it was not
iliificult to predict the ^ needy destruction (if the whale, walrus and seal. The whale especiallv
liad little chance of esc, pe, as the Itonih-lance fired from a swivel gun deprived him of even
the little chance lie had against the ordinary harpoon and coiled line, and killed him from a
distance with scarcely a chance for his usual final fiurry. The valuable whales of the bay
were thus destroyed or driven northwards to diannels so ice-blocked that ships could not
pursue them, the walrus and the seal were hunted till they too almost disupjieared, forcing
the Eskimo northward in pursuit of the remnant and rendering their domestication and
civilization within reachable distances of Moose id Chnrchill mission stations almost an
impossibility.
What has been done in Huilson's Bay is now being done at the mouth of the sjreat
Mackenzie River. The scaling and whaling fleet which annually entered the arctic haunts
of these valuable contributors to the whalebone, spermaceti and oil of commerce found the
season too short to ett'ect tlieir purpose, and that the best fishing grounds were off the mouths
of the great rivers farthest away from the straits, where the spring floods of southern waters
had pushed back or melted the permanent arctic ice, and so when it was discovered a i'vw
years ago that Ilerchel Islainl afforded near the best fishing grounds, even a better harbour
than that of Marble Island in Hudson's Bay, American whalers annually took up their winter
((uarters and though thefiehl is wider the same destruction is going on.
Years ago, that devotetl missionary, Mishoii IJr. Boinpas, ha<l sought out in their hoiuses
and tents on the arctic coasts the Eskimo of the Mackenzie River region and rejoiced to
thi;ik that lie might be able, before they came much in contact with the whites, to embrace
them in his regular mission work. The hope was a vain one, for when his successo- in this
far-oft' arctic and sub-arctic diocese. Dr. Reeve, with commendable energy sent a missionary
to them he found their coast occupied by four wintering whalers, whose evasions of the
revenue laws of Canada give good grounds fi)r the truthfulness of the reports of the supply
liy them to the Eskimo of spirits, arms and fixed ammunition in direct violation of those
wise enactments of the Dominion legislature which have tended so much to the peace and
prosperity of the C'anadian Indians of the northwest.
Many years ago the good Bishop of Moosinee wrote : " A whale fishery (the small
" white variety) wlien the whales are numerous, is a very exciting sight. The Eskimo give
" much cause for eneonnigemcnt ; no matter what they were about wIumi siimmojied to
" school or service their work was dropped instantly, their little books taken u[», and ofl'
" they went, singing, listening, praying, they showed that they were thoroughly in earnest."
Similar but later accounts have come to us from the no •thwestern Canadian arctic coast,
luit all the efforts of the missionaries, all the jirayers of those who send them, will be needed
to offset the taste for li((Uor, the debauchery and crime which will be the legacy of the foreign
whaling occupation of our western arctic sea-coast.
And now, what of their future? Contact with the whites has already brought to many
of them enfeebled frames, many ne^v wants and no real increase in their comfort or hapiiiness
in any way. No European fabric has taken or can take the place of the dress which is .so
fitted to their needs ; they may, it is true, kill their game from a greater distance with the
arms and gunpowder of the stranger, but in doing this they lose the skill which has made
them the most expert single boatmen of the world, and the seal always, and their other game
134
J. C. SriTULTZ ON TIIR INNUITS, ETC.
often, sinks and is lost v,-hen thus killotl in or near the water. They have not, as yet, wlioUy
lost their independence of all the white man's arts, and are the only remaining al»ori>;iiial
people on the continent who, it the v hite man of to-day were to be swept away, as wire the
first they saw in the eleventh century, would still he self-supporting and wholly indcpciidnit
of outside aid, and it seemed as though, when the curtain was lifted hy arctii- explorers of
the latter half of the last and the first half of the present century, giving us glimpses of
their life in their icy homes, that in these frigid solitudes, aboriginal man had at last found a
permanent resting place, but we have seen that this is not to be the case, and he must dn
battle with intoxicants and the <liseases which have decimated nearly all of his kind on the
continent, and die out without we can bring to him the blessings as well as the cursis of
civilization and economize him in some way to the public and his own good, unaided by the
strong arm of the government this cannot be done. Intoxicants, arms of precision and its
ammunition he must not have; and this restriction our government can and should ctfect :
the gospel must be preached to him to undo the evil already accomplished, and this t-iid
reached, it may be asked, " What then ? " The answer is this, leave him to pursue his
avocations till the time comes to economize him as a hunter, a bojitman or pilot, the best of
assistants to a northern explorer. We know not yet what mineral riches are encased in
these rocks within the arctic circle, but we know that when, if ever such riches are disi ov-
ered, there exists the coal on the arctic coasts of Canada and on her islands of the great
northern archipelago to reduce and transport it. We know that vessels of the size of the
United States war steamer "Thetis" can with safety reach a secure Canadian harbour near
the mouth of the Mackenzie ; Count Sainville, an amateur explorer, tells us of another liiii-
bour within the mouth of that longest of Canadian rivers with navigation for crafts of less
draught, and uninterrupted navigation is known to exist for fourteen hundred miles soutli-
A>'ard. 80 that when the time comes, as come it will, that we may use the arctic natives in
work pertaining to what nniy yet be a great commerce, it will be found that their powers «t
resisting c(dd and skill on the element to which they are bred from their earliest youth, will
render them possibly a very important factor in the future development of arctic Canada.
That much may be <lone to elevate them while interfering but little with their mode of
life is evident from the suc(!ess of the Greenland missionaries and of the devoted brethren
and others on the Labrador coast, and all who know of them will hope for this Inmiit
people — the most interesting, as they are certainly the most homogeneous and widely extended
of all of the aboriginal tribes of either continent — that all the safeguards which a govern-
ment can give will be thrown about so peculiarly situated a portion of her aboriginal people,
and that the gospel may be preache<l to these dwellers of the white north, whose future for
goo<l or ill I'rovidence has placed iv our hands as wards of the Canadian people.
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