Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory Part 11

A favorite game, something like cup and ball, is played with the following implements: A piece of ivory is shaped into the form of an elongate cone and has two deep notches or steps cut from one side (Fig. 75). In the one next the base are bored a number of small holes and one or two holes in the upper step. The apex has a single hole. On the opposite side of the base two holes are made obliquely, that they will meet, and through them is threaded a short piece of thong. To the other end of the thong is attached a peg of ivory, about 4 inches long.

The game is that the person holding the plaything shall, by a dextrous swing of the ball, catch it upon the ivory peg held in the hand. The person engages to catch it a certain number of times in succession, and on failure to do so allows the opponent to try her skill. The skull of a hare is often subst.i.tuted for the ivory "ball," and a few perforations are made in the walls of the skull to receive the peg. It requires a great amount of practice to catch the ball, as the string is so short that one must be quick to thrust the peg in before it describes the part of a small circle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 75.--Cup and ball. Koksoagmyut.]

The children sometimes use a stick or other sharp-pointed instrument to make a series of straight lines in the newly fallen snow and at the same time repeat certain gibberish. This was at first very confusing to me, but a woman repeated the words and I guessed from her description where the idea sprang from.

These people had heard of the teachings of the Labrador missionaries (Moravians), all of whom are Germans, and as the Eskimo of that coast use the German numerals in preference to their own, the natives of that region have at some time repeated the names of those numerals to certain of the Hudson strait people and they have taught each other.

The names of the German numerals as sounded by the Koksoagmyut are as follows. The numbers are one to fifteen, consecutively:

ai i; chu vai i; ta lai i; pi u' la; pi li pi; tsek si; tse pa; ak ta; nai na; tse na; ai lu puk; chu vai lu puk; ta lak si na; pi uk' si na, and pi lip' si na.

I have already referred to the game of football as played by these people.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 76.--Football and driver. Koksoagmyut.]

Fig. 76 represents the football (No. 3070) and the whip for driving it.

The Eskimo are very fond of this game. All the people of every age, from the toddling infant to the aged female with bended back, love to urge the ai uk touk, as the ball is termed. The size of the ball varies from 3 to 7 inches in diameter. They have not yet arrived at perfection in making a spherical form for the ball, but it is often an apple shape. It is made by taking a piece of buckskin, or sealskin, and cutting it into a circular form, then gathering the edges and stuffing the cavity with dry moss or feathers. A circular piece of skin is then inserted to fill the s.p.a.ce which is left by the incomplete gatherings. This ball is very light and is driven either by a blow from the foot or else by a whip of peculiar construction. This whip consists of a handle of wood 8 to 12 inches in length. To prevent it from slipping out of the hand when the blow is struck, a stout thong of sealskin is made into the form of a long loop which is pa.s.sed over the hand and tightens around the wrist.

To the farther end of the whip handle are attached a number of stout thongs of heavy sealskin. These thongs have their ends tied around the handle and thus form a number of loops of 12 to 20 inches in length.

These are then tied together at the bottom in order to give them greater weight when the ball is struck by them. A l.u.s.ty Eskimo will often send the ball over a hundred yards through the air with such force as to knock a person down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 77.--Dominoes. Hudson Strait Eskimo.]

At Fort Chimo the game is played during the late winter afternoons when the temperature is 30 or 40 below zero. It is exciting and vigorous play where a large crowd joins in the game.

Sometimes the ball is in the form of two irregular hemispheres joined together, making a sphere which can be rolled only in a certain direction. It is very awkward and produces much confusion by its erratic course. Nos. 3461, 3287, and 3460 are footb.a.l.l.s of the pattern first described.

The Innuit who come from the western end of Hudson strait, the so-called "Northerners," have a game which they play with sets of pieces of ivory cut into irregular shapes, and marked on one face with spots arranged in different patterns (Fig. 77). The number of pieces in a set varies from 60 to 148. The name of the set is a ma zu' a lat, and somewhat resembles our game of dominoes.

The game is played in the following manner: Two or more persons, according to the number of pieces in the set, sit down and pile the pieces before them. One of the players mixes the pieces together in plain view of the others. When this is done he calls them to take the pieces. Each person endeavors to obtain a half or third of the number if there be two or three players. The one who mixed up the pieces lays down a piece and calls his opponent to match it with a piece having a similar design. If this can not be done by any of the players the first has to match it and the game continues until one of the persons has exhausted all of the pieces taken by him. The pieces are designed in pairs, having names such as Ka miu tik (sled), Kaiak (canoe), Kale sak (navel), a ma zut (many), a tau sk (1), Ma kok (2), Png a sut (3), Si ta mut (4), and Ta li mat (5). Each of the names above must be matched with a piece of similar kind, although the other end of the piece may be of a different design. A Kamutik may be matched with an Amazut if the latter has not a line or bar cut across it; if it has the bar it must be matched with an Amazut.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 78.--Eskimo doll, man.]

This game is known to the people of the Ungava district, but those only who have learned it from the Northerners are able to play it. The northern Eskimo stake the last article they possess on the issue of the game. Their wives are disposed of temporarily, and often are totally relinquished to the victor. I have heard that the wives so disposed of often sit down and win themselves back to their former owners.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 79.--Eskimo doll, woman.]

The little girls play with dolls like civilized children, and build little snow huts, where they have all their playthings and play at keeping house. The collection contains eleven dolls, most of them elaborately and accurately dressed, as shown by the ill.u.s.trations (Figs.

78, 79, 80, 81) and large quant.i.ties of doll clothing.

The only musical instrument which I observed among these people was a violin of their own manufacture, made, of course, in imitation of those they had seen used by the whites. Its form is sufficiently well shown by the figure (Fig. 82), and is made of birch, or spruce, and the two strings are of coa.r.s.e, loosely twisted sinew. The bow has a strip of whalebone in place of horsehair, and is resined with spruce gum. This fiddle is held across the lap when played.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 80.--Eskimo doll, woman.]

The old woman of whom I procured the instrument was able to play several airs--such as they sing among themselves. I was surprised at the facility with which she made the various notes on such a crude imitation of a violin.

ART.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 81.--Eskimo doll, woman.]

Art is but slightly developed among these people. Their weapons and other implements are never adorned with carvings of animals and other natural objects or with conventional patterns, as is the case in so great a degree among the Eskimo of Alaska. They are, however, not devoid of artistic skill, as is shown by the good taste often exhibited in the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g of their garments, and also by the dolls, which I have already referred to and figured.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 82.--Eskimo violin.]

The collection also contains several small ivory carvings, which possess considerable artistic merit. Among these, the small objects, (Fig. 83), collected from the so-called Northerners, represent various waterfowl cut from pieces of walrus ivory. The various species thus carved are loons, ducks, geese, sea pigeons, and murres. One represents a female eider with two young mounted upon her back. It is readily discerned, in most instances, what position and action of the bird was intended to be represented. The last shows in the plainest possible manner that the loon is just starting to swim from an object which has given it alarm.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 83.--Birds carved in ivory.]

These carvings are fashioned from the tusks of the walrus or the teeth of various large mammals, and are simply tests of the skill of the worker, who prepares them as toys for the children. Notwithstanding the a.s.sertions of others, who claim to have knowledge of it, I must state that on no occasion have I seen or heard, while among these people, of these objects being used in any game.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 84.--Human figure, carved in ivory.]

In addition to these we have a very artistic figure of a polar bear, and two human figures, 1 inches long (Fig. 84), representing tattooed women, and two carvings representing bags of oil.

STORY-TELLING AND FOLK LORE.

Like all other Eskimo, the Koksoagmyut are exceedingly fond of story-telling. Sitting in the hut, engaged in their evening work, the old men tell what they have seen and heard. The old women relate the history of the people of former days, depending entirely on memory, often interspersed with recitations apparently foreign to the thread of the legend. The younger members sit with staring eyes and countenances which show their wondering interest in the narration. Far into the night the droning tone of her voice continues reciting the events of the past until one by one the listeners drowsily drop to sleep in the position they last a.s.sumed.

I was fortunately able to collect a number of these ancient legendary stories, some of them of considerable length.

_Origin of the Innuit._--A man was created from nothing. It was summer and he journeyed until he found a woman in another land. The two became man and wife, and from them sprang all the people dwelling there. [It is extremely difficult to get the native to go beyond the immediate vicinity in which he lives while relating these stories and legends.

They invariably maintain that it was "here" that the event took place.]

_The Coming of the White People._--The Eskimo were on the verge of starvation and had eaten nearly all their food. They saw that in a few more days death would come. The greatest Tungaksoak or great Tung ak determined to bring relief and prophesied that people having light hair and white skins would come in an immense umiak. He placed a young puppy on a chip and another on an old sealskin boot, and set them adrift on the water. The puppies drifted in different directions, and in the course of time the one on the chip returned and brought with it the Indians. A long time after that, when the people had nearly forgotten the other puppy, a strange white object like an iceberg came directly toward the sh.o.r.e. In a few moments the puppy, now a man, announced that the people had come with many curious things in their vessel. The man immediately became a dog.

_Origin of living things on the earth and in the water._--A long time ago a man who was cutting down a tree observed that the chips continued in motion as they fell from the blows. Those that fell into the water became the inhabitants of the water. Those that fell on the land became the various animals and in time were made the food of mankind. (This was the version given me by a person living at Fort Chimo.) Another person from farther west gave the following account of the origin of the living things of the earth: Previous to a time when water covered the earth the people lived on such food as they could always find prepared for them in abundance. They did not know of any animals at that time on the land or in the water. The water finally went away and the seaweeds became trees, shrubs, bushes, and gra.s.s. The long seaweeds were the trees and the smaller kinds became the bushes and gra.s.s. The gra.s.s, however, was in some manner put in various places by a walrus at a later date than the appearance of the trees.

A woman who had lost her husband lived among strangers. As they desired to change the place of their habitation, they resolved to journey to another point of land at a distance. The woman who was depending on charity had become a burden of which they wished to rid themselves. So they put all their belongings into the umiak and when they were on the way they seized the woman and cast her overboard. She struggled to regain the side of the boat, and when she seized it, the others cut off her fingers which fell into the water and changed to seals, walrus, whales, and white bears. The woman in her despair, screamed her determination to have revenge for the cruelty perpetrated upon her. The thumb became a walrus, the first finger a seal, and the middle finger a white bear. When the former two animals see a man they try to escape lest they be served as the woman was.

The white bear lives both on the land and in the sea, but when he perceives a man revengeful feelings fill him, and he determines to destroy the person who he thinks mutilated the woman from whose finger he sprang.

_Origin of the guillemots._--While some children were playing on the level top of a high cliff overhanging the sea, the older children watched the younger ones lest they should fall down the bluff. Below them the sea was covered with ice, and the strip along the sh.o.r.e had not yet loosened to permit the seals to approach. Soon afterward a wide crack opened and the water was filled with seals, but the children did not observe them. The wind was cold, and the children romped in high glee, encouraging each other to greater exertion in their sports and shouted at the top of their voices. The men saw the seals and hastened to the sh.o.r.e to put their kaiaks into the water to pursue them. At this the children increased their shouts, which frightened the seals till they dived out of sight. One of the men was angry, and exclaimed to the others, "I wish the cliff would topple over and bury those noisy children for scaring the seals." In a moment the cliff tipped over and the poor children fell among the fragments of huge rocks and stones at the bottom. Here they were changed into guillemots or sea-pigeons, with red feet, and even to this day they thus dwell among the debris at the foot of cliffs next to the water of the sea.

_Origin of the raven._--The raven was a man, who, while other people were collecting their household property preparatory to removing to another locality, called to them that they had forgotten to bring the lower blanket of deerskin used for a bed. This skin in the Eskimo language is called kak. The man used the word so often that they told him to get it himself. He hurried so much that he was changed into a raven, and now uses that sound for his note. Even to this day when the camp is being removed the raven flies over and shouts "Kak! kak!" or, in other words, "Do not forget the blanket."

_Origin of the quadrangular spots on the loon's back._--A man had two children that he wished might resemble each other. He painted the one (loon) with a white breast and square spots on the back. The other (raven) saw how comical the loon appeared, and laughed so much that the loon became ashamed and escaped to the water, where it always presents its white breast in order to hide the spots of the back which caused so much ridicule. The raven eluded the attempt to be painted in like manner, and stoutly refused to come near.

_Origin of the gulls._--Some people in a boat desired to go around a point of land which projected far into the water. As the water there was always in a violent commotion under the end of the point which terminated in a high cliff some of the women were requested to walk over the neck of land. One of them got out with her children in order to lighten the boat. She was directed to go over the place, and they promised to wait for her on the other side. The people in the boat had gone so far that their voices, giving the direction, became indistinct.

The poor woman became confused and suspected they wanted to desert her.

She remained about the cliff, constantly crying the last words she heard. She ultimately changed into a gull, and now shouts only the sound like "_go over_, _goover_, _over_, _ove_," _etc._

_Origin of the hawks._--Among the people of a village was a woman who was noted for the shortness of her neck. She was so constantly teased and tormented about it that she often sat for hours on the edge of high places. She changed into a hawk, and now when she sees anyone she immediately exclaims, "Kea! kea! kea! who, who, who was it that cried 'short neck?'"

_Origin of the swallow._--Some small children, who were extraordinarily wise, were playing at building toy houses on the edge of a high cliff near the village in which they dwelt. They were envied for their wisdom, and to them was given the name "Zulugagnak," or, like a raven, which was supposed to know all the past and future. While these children were thus amusing themselves they were changed into small birds, which did not forget their last occupation, and even to this day they come to the cliffs, near the camps of the people, and build houses of mud, which they affix to the side of the rock. Even the raven does not molest them, and the Eskimo children love to watch the swallow build his iglugiak of mud.

_The hare._--The hare was a child who was so ill treated and abused by the other people, because it had long ears, that it went to dwell by itself. When it sees anyone the ears are laid down on the back, for, if it hears the shout of a person, it thinks they are talking of its long ears. It has no tail, because it did not formerly have one.