Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory Part 20

I, however, found it quite inedible. Other guests constantly arrived and some departed, made happy by their share of this compound of rancid tallow and marrow with a due admixture of pounded dry meat of the reindeer. I soon departed, and attempted to take the remnant of the pemmican with me. This was instantly forbidden, and information given me that by so doing I should cause all the deer to desert the vicinity, and thus make the people starve. I explained that such was not my desire, and after wishing continued prosperity and enjoyment, I made my way out.

I was then informed that the feast would continue for a time, and wind up with an invitation to the women, who had hitherto been excluded, to come and eat the remnants left by the men. At the end of two days thereafter the feast concluded and a dance took place. In this performance there was nothing remarkable. The men sang songs and kicked up their heels, while the women shrugged their shoulders as they swayed their bodies from right to left, and a.s.sumed various other postures, although their limbs were apparently kept in a rigid position, occasionally uttering their plaudits as the men made humorous compliments to their generous host.

This feast was given by one who had been unusually successful in the capture of fur-bearing animals, and, to prove his wealth, displayed it before the a.s.semblage and gave a feast in consideration of his ability.

Other feasts of a similar character occur, and differ from this in no special feature.

The princ.i.p.al source of amus.e.m.e.nt with the men is the game of draughts or checkers. While the men are in the tent or on the hillsides awaiting the approach of bands of deer their idle moments are employed over this game. Neither hunger nor the sight of game is sufficient to distract them, so intently are they absorbed.

The game is played as in civilization, with only slight differences.

I am not aware that wagers are laid upon its issue. Some of the men are so expert that they would rank as skillful players in any part of the world.

Small boards that may be carried in the hunting bag are used on trips to while away the tedium of the long winter evenings with only the light of the flickering fire of the dry limbs of spruce. Far into the night the players engage, and are only disturbed when one of their tired companions starts from his sleep to relate a wondrous dream and have it expounded by the listeners, who sit aghast at the revelations.

They also have a game corresponding to "cup and ball," but it is played with different implements from what the Eskimo use, as may be seen by referring to Fig. 150. The hollow cones are made from the terminal phalanges of the reindeer's foot. The tail tied to the end of the thong is that of a marten or a mink. The player holds the peg in one hand, and tossing up the bones tries to catch the nearest bone on the point of the peg. The object of the game is to catch the bone the greatest possible number of times. It is in no sense a gambling game.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 150.--Cup-and-ball, Nenenot.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 151.--Drum, Nenenot.]

The only musical instrument used by these people is the drum or tambourine, which is of the form shown in Fig. 151. These drums vary in diameter from 22 to 26 inches, and are constructed as follows: The barrel is made of a thin slat of spruce, bent into a hoop, with the ends joined in a lap, spliced nearly a foot long, which length is sewed by four perpendicular seams. The st.i.tches are made with deerskin thread put through perforations, near together, made with an awl. The next operation is to prepare for a head a thin reindeer skin, which has been tanned. The skin is moistened and sewed so that all holes in it are closed. A narrow hoop of a size to fit tightly over the barrel of the drum is made and the moist skin stretched over it. The edges of the skin are turned inward, and within this hoop is placed the barrel of the drum.

A second hoop, two or three times as wide as the first, is prepared and fitted over the barrel and head. It is pushed down as far as the elasticity of the membrane will allow, or about half the width of the top hoop. Through the outer hoop have been made a number of holes and corresponding but alternate holes made in the farther edge of the barrel of the drum.

Through these holes a stout thong is threaded and pa.s.sing from the edge of the barrel to the outer hoop is drawn so tightly as to push the inner hoop along the outer circ.u.mference of the barrel and thus tighten the membrane to the required degree. The outer hoop now projects an inch or more beyond the membrane and thus protects it from injury by careless handling.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 152.--Drum, Little Whale river.]

Across the membrane is stretched a sinew cord on which are strung, at right angles to the cord, a number of barrels made from the quills of the wing feathers of the willow ptarmigan. Across the underside of the membrane is stretched a similar cord with quills. These serve the purpose of a snare on the drum. The stick used for beating the drum consists of a piece of reindeer horn cut so as to have a thin and narrow handle a foot in length and terminating in a k.n.o.b more than an inch long and as thick as the portion of horn permits. The drum is suspended from the poles of the tent by means of thongs. The performer tightens the snares, and sprinkles a few drops of water on the drumhead lest the blows cause it to split under the strain. Nothing is done, nothing contemplated without sounding the drum. It is silent only when the people are asleep or on a tramp from one locality to another.

If a person is ill the drum is beaten. If a person is well the drum is beaten. If prosperous in the chase the drum is beaten; and if death has s.n.a.t.c.hed a member from the community the drum is beaten to prevent his spirit from returning to torment the living.

The drumbeat is often accompanied with singing which is the most discordant of all sounds supposed to be harmonious.

The drums used by the Little Whale river Indians (Fig. 152, No. 3223) differs greatly in construction from those made by the Ungava Indians.

The size is rarely so great, seldom exceeding 22 inches. These drums have two heads or membranes fitted on the barrel and secured by means of a single hoop for each head. The two hoops are then connected by the tightening strings.

The membranes are invariably made of deer skin in the parchment condition and not of tanned skins. The snares or thongs across the heads are finer and have pieces of wood instead of quills as "rattlers." The drumstick is a piece of reindeer horn cut as before described; or else, as if to add to the din, a gun-cap box is pierced through from side to side and a few pebbles or shot placed within. A stick is then inserted in the hole through the box and the whole covered with buckskin to prevent separation of the lid and box. This makes a distracting noise.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 153.--Rattle, Nenenot.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 154.--Target, reindeer, buck.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 155.--Target, reindeer, doe.]

Rattles for the children (Fig. 153) are made of a hoop of wood bent to a circular form and covered with two heads or membranes. Within it are placed a few pebbles or shot, to produce a rattling sound when the membranes are dry. A cord attached to the circ.u.mference enables the rattle to be suspended from the tent-pole in front of the child for whose amus.e.m.e.nt it is intended. Other toys are made for the children, but they were not easy for us to obtain. Pl. XLIII represents a doll, dressed in a woman's full suit of clothes. The boys amuse themselves by shooting with blunt arrows at images of reindeer, bucks, does, and fawns, cut out of flat boards stuck up in the snow (Figs. 154, 155).

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLIII

DOLL, INDIAN WOMAN, FULL DRESS, NENENOT.]

FOLKLORE.

During the long winter nights or during the periods of cold or inclement weather in which the Indians may not venture out, they sit around the fire and relate stories intended for the instruction as well as entertainment of the younger people. The older men have a great stock of these stories, and many of the women are noted for their ability in entertaining the children, who sit, with staring eyes and open mouth, in the arms of their parents or elders.

The following stories came to me directly and not through the medium of another white person, and probably I am the only white person who has heard some of them. I have endeavored to give them as nearly in the form of the original as the differences between the English and the Indian languages will permit.

_Story of the wolverene and the brant._--A wolverene calling all the birds together addressed them thus: "Do you not know that I am your brother? Come to me and I will dress you in feathers." After having dressed them up he made wings for himself and said: "Now, brothers, let us fly." The brant told the wolverene, "You must not look below while we are flying over the point of land when you hear a noise below. Take a turn when we take a turn."

The first turn they took the wolverene did not look below, but at the second turn they took, when they came over the point of land, the animal looked below when he heard the noise of the shouting Indians and down he came like a bundle of rags.[2]

[Footnote 2: When the Indians perceive a flock of these brant they make a loud clamor, which frightens the birds so much that they lose their senses, fall to the ground and are thus killed.

These birds are only seen in the spring migrations and then in great mult.i.tudes, while in the fall it is rare to see even a single individual, as they have a different return route than in spring.]

All the Indians ran up to him and exclaimed "There is a brant fallen down." One of the old Indian women got hold of him and began to pluck his feathers off, then to disembowel him. She of course smelled the horrible stench and exclaimed, "This goose is not fit to eat as it is already rotten!" She gave the carca.s.s to one of the children to throw away. Another old woman came up and inquired, "Where did you throw the brant goose to? How could it be rotten? It is not long since it was killed." The former old woman replied to her, "Go and see, if you do not believe." She went and found nothing but the dead wolverene.

_Story of the wolverene._--A wolverene was running along the seash.o.r.e and perceived a number of geese, brant, ducks, and loons sitting in the water a short distance off. The wolverene addressing them said, "Come here, brothers. I have found a pretty bees' nest. I will give it to you if you will come on sh.o.r.e and have a dance." All the birds went on land.

The wolverene said, "Let us have a dance and I will sing. Shut your eyes and do not open them until we are done dancing." He began to sing, "A-ho'u-mu-hou-mu'-mu'-hum'." The last word was so often repeated (accompanied with the act of the wolverene snipping off the heads of the birds) that the loon opened one eye and saw the headless ducks kicking.

The loon ran to the water and exclaimed, "Our brother has killed us!"

The wolverene ran after the loon but the loon dived under the water and came up a distance off and cried out, "A ho ho ho ho ho ho!" The wolverene screamed, "Hold your tongue, you red-eyed fowl." The wolverene returned to where the ducks had been killed; plucked their feathers off and cleaned them; put them into a large kettle and boiled them.

While attending to the cooking he saw a whisky-jack (Us' ka tcon) (_Perisoreus canadensis_) flying about. The wolverene took a firebrand and threw it at the bird, exclaiming, "You will be telling on me, you long-tongued bird!" The jay flew away and told the Indians that "Our brother (wolverene) has killed a lot of ducks and has them cooked,"

adding, "I think he is sleeping. I'll show you where he is if you will come." The Indians replied, "We will go, for we are very hungry." They went and found the wolverene asleep alongside the pot. The Indians ate all of the meat of the ducks. After they had finished the meat they put the bones back into the kettle and went away. The wolverene awakened after a time, took his dish and said to himself, "Now, I shall have my dinner." He poured all the broth into his dish and found nothing but the bones remaining. In his surprise he said, "Surely, I have been sleeping a long time; the meat is all boiled away." The jay told him that he had told the Indians. The wolverene said, "Why did you tell? you stupid bird; I was keeping a nice piece of fat for you.[3] You will not, now, get it for your impudence."

[Footnote 3: The jay is well known to be particularly fond of fat of any kind, hence the tempting morsel withheld was a source for future reflection.]

_The deer and the squirrel._--A reindeer called all the mammals and birds together and announced that he would give names to all of them.

When he came to name the squirrel he inquired of the little creature what name it would prefer. The squirrel replied that it would like to have the same name as the black bear. The reindeer smiled and informed the squirrel that it was too small to have the name of the bear. The squirrel began to cry and wept so long that his lower eyelids became white.

_The young man who went to live with the deer._--A young man one morning told his old father that he had dreamed the night before that a deer had asked him to come and live with them. The old father replied, "That is a good sign; you will kill many deer after that dream." The young man went away to hunt, and while out he saw a large herd of deer. A young doe from the band ran up toward him, and he was about to fire at her when she said to him, "Do not fire, for my father has sent me to you. Please put up your arrows." She came nearer and informed him that her father had sent her to ask him to come and live with the deer forever.

The young man inquired, "How could I live with you when it is upon deer that I live? I live in a tent and can not live outside. I can not live without fire. I can not live without water." The doe replied, "We have plenty of fire, water, and meat; you will never want; you will live forever. Your father will never want, as there will be enough deer given to him." The man consented to go with them. The doe pointed to a large hill and said, "That is our home." She told him to leave his deerskin mantle, snowshoes, and arrows on the ground, but to keep the bow. As they were walking along they came to a big valley. She informed him that that was their path. The two went toward the steep hillside and found the ground to be covered with deer. Some of the deer were frightened when they saw the man coming, and started to run. The doe's father said to the frightened deer, "Do you not pity the poor Indians who have to hunt for their living while we do not?" When the young man and the doe came up, the father of the doe addressed the young man, asking if he was hungry. The man replied, "Yes." The father then gave him a piece of nice meat and some fat. After the man had finished eating the father inquired, "Is your father also hungry?" The son replied, "Yes."

The old buck informed the young man that they would give the son's father some deer to-morrow. After the young man had slept out one night his father, in the morning, went out to look for his son, but found only his mantle, snowshoes, and arrows, which had been cast aside the day before, and also found the tracks in the valley leading to the home of the deer under the hill. The old man returned to his tent and told the other Indians that his son had gone away to live with the deer. The old man then said, "Let us make snares and we will yet take him, as he can not run as fast as the deer." The Indians prepared a number of snare nooses and went to the valley to set them among the bushes on the path.

The father of the young doe saw what was going on in the valley and told the rest, "Let us go and give the old man some deer." He told the young man to come with them. The man replied that he could not accompany them, as he would be left behind in no time while they were running. The old buck instructed the young man to keep among the rest of the deer and he would not be left behind them. All the deer then went out to the valley.

The young man kept among them; and as they were going through the bushes he heard the shouts of the Indians who were concealed behind them. The deer saw the snares and some of the animals fell into the nooses and were caught. The remainder, with the young man, were soon beyond the snares. The Indians began to kill the deer which had been taken in the nooses, and when they had finished they found they had not captured the young man. They consulted together and decided to search among the tracks of the escaped deer to ascertain whether his foot-prints were among them. They found his track and also the mark of his bow as he had dragged it along in the snow.

The young man's father then said, "Let him go if he thinks he is able to live with the deer;" and the people returned to their tents.

_The wolf's daughter going to seek her lover._--An old mother wolf one morning said to her daughter, "You must go and look for your lover or else we shall all starve to death, as your brothers can not kill any deer." The daughter inquired of her mother, "Who is my lover?" The mother replied, "The otter is your lover. He lives in the water. If you go to the narrows of the lake you will find him." The daughter said she would go. So early in the morning she started off, and as she was going along the sh.o.r.e of the lake she saw an open hole in the ice, and in the water the otter was sitting. The wolf went up to the otter, but the otter swam away and was going to dive, when the wolf said, "Do not dive and go away. My mother says you are my lover." The otter asked, "How can I be your lover when I live in the water?" The wolf replied, "You can live on the land as well as in the water." The otter answered back, "I will not live on the land." The wolf retorted, "You will have to live on the land, and if you do not come out I shall smother you in the water." The otter said, "You can not smother me, for I have a number of holes made in the lake ice." The otter dove into the water and disappeared. The wolf began to howl dismally when the otter vanished.

The wind began to blow and drifted the snow furiously. The snow fell into the otter's breathing holes and filled them with slushy snow, which soon froze and completely stopped all the holes in the ice but one where the wolf was sitting. This hole was kept clear of snow and ice by the wolf sc.r.a.ping it out as fast as it collected. Soon she heard the otter going to the holes for breath, but when he came near the hole where the wolf was sitting she could hear him snuffing for air, and she stood with open jaws ready to seize him when he should appear. The otter was nearly exhausted, so the wolf went off a little distance, and the otter came up to the surface of the water nearly out of breath. He crept out of the water and rolled himself in the dry snow to take the water off of his coat of fur and exclaimed to the wolf, "I will live with you; I will live with you." The wolf then addressed her lover and said, "Did I not tell you I would smother you?" The otter did not reply to this, but asked her, "Have you got a piece of line? Give it to me, and I will go to catch some fish for you if you will go and prepare a tent." The wolf drew out a piece of fishing line and handed it to the otter. The otter went down into the same hole in the ice whence he had come. He was gone some time, and in the meantime the wolf was busy making the tent, which was completed before the otter returned. Soon after, however, the otter came back to the hole with a long string of fish which he had killed and had them all strung on the line. He left the string of fish in the hole in the ice with one end of it fastened to the ice. The otter rolled himself in the snow to remove the water from his fur, and then went to the tent to tell his wife to go and get the fish which he had left in the hole in the ice. The wolf went and hauled up the line, which was full of fish, and began to devour so many that soon she could scarcely move. She hauled the remainder of the fish home to the tent.

The otter was sleeping when she returned. She proceeded to clean the fish and put on a large kettle full of the fish to boil for supper.

She then crept into bed with her husband, and the next morning she was delivered of a young otter and a young wolf. After the father and mother had taken their breakfast the latter sat with her head hanging down and seemed to be in a miserable mood. The otter inquired of the wife wolf, "What is the matter with you that you sit so quietly?" The wolf answered: "I wish I had some deerskins with which to make clothing for the children. How nicely I should dress them!" The otter replied: "Open the door and I will show you where I get the deer." It was yet early, and the otter went away to seek the deer. The otter saw a band of thirty deer, but had no gun with which to kill them, so he frightened them, and as they were running away he sprang at them each, and jumped through them from end to end. He killed all of them in this manner and then rolled in the snow to cleanse himself. After that was done he wended his way home, and on arriving informed his wife (for it was then a little after sunset) that on the morrow she should go to bring home the deer he had killed, adding that she could follow his track, and thus find them.

The wife had a big pot of fish cooked for him when he returned, and when he had finished his supper he went to bed. As soon as the wife suspected her husband to be asleep she went after the deer, and by hauling four at a time she soon had them all brought, and laid them before the tent.

When that was finished she went to bed. In the morning the otter told her to get up and make a fire, as she would have to go for the carca.s.ses of the deer which he had killed the day before. The wife replied: "I have already brought them all home." The otter asked her: "How could you bring them home in the dark?" The wife answered: "Look out through the door if you do not believe me." The otter looked and saw the thirty deer all piled up before the door. He turned and looked at his wife, but made no remark. The wolf asked him: "Why do you look at me, so hard?"

The otter said: "I was wondering how you could get them home in such a short time." The wolf said: "Come, and take your breakfast, for you will have to help me skin the deer." After they had finished eating their breakfast they began to skin the deer, and soon had them done. The wolf told her husband to make a stage or scaffold for the meat, adding that she would clean the skins. The otter prepared the stage, which in a short time was completed. The meat was placed on the stage and the skins hung up to dry around the tent. They then went in to take their supper.

The wife was not in a talkative mood, and soon went to bed. The next morning the wolf hung her head down, and the otter seeing her again in such mood, inquired what was the matter with her that she should be so quiet. The wolf replied: "I am thinking of my poor father and mother and brothers; I suppose they will all be starved to death. My old father told me to tell you to put a mark on the middle of the lake so they would know where I am." The otter went to the middle of the lake and erected a pile as a mark by which the wolf's relations should know it.

The brothers of the otter's wife were on the hill looking for the mark set up by their sister's husband, and when they saw it they exclaimed: "Our sister has saved us! our sister has saved us!" and ran back to their old father's home to give him the joyful intelligence that they had seen the mark put up by the husband of their sister. The old wolf then told his family that they would go and seek their sister and daughter to live with her and her husband. They all went to the hill by the lake, and from the top of it they saw the mark, and from it they followed the track of the otter until they saw the tent in the edge of the woods. They exclaimed: "There is our sister's tent, for the deerskins are hanging outside." They raised such a joyful shout at the prospect before them, that the noise frightened some young otters (for the family had now become larger) which were playing outside. The little ones scampered in and hid themselves behind their father's back. The father inquired, "What is the matter, that you are so frightened?" The little ones replied: "We are running from the Hunger" (for that was the name they applied to the wolves). The mother replied: "Perhaps they see my father, mother, and brothers coming." The otter told his wife to go out and see. She complied, and when she opened the door they saw a row of gaunt wolves; nothing but skin and bones. The newcomers immediately fell to, and began to devour the meat which was on the stage. The otter's wife remonstrated, and said: "Do not be so greedy; my husband is not a stingy man. I take my meals when he is sleeping, and pretend not to eat much during the day." They all went into the tent and the otter soon went to bed. When they thought he was asleep, they began to eat all the raw meat and fish, and soon finished it. In the morning when the otter had awakened, he remarked to his wife: "I think your brothers will make a fool of me." The wife asked: "What makes you think so?" The otter replied: "They look at me so hard, that I do not know where to turn my eyes." After breakfast the otter and his wolf brothers went away to look for deer. They soon came upon a band of them, and the otter told the wolves to go and kill them. The wolves ran after the deer, but got only one of them. After the deer were frightened by the wolves, the otter sprang after the deer and soon killed every one of them in the same manner he had killed the others. He then cleaned himself in the dry snow and returned home. The wolves had started for the tent before the otter, so when the latter returned they asked the otter: "How many deer did you kill?" The otter replied: "I killed all that were in the band," adding, "In the morning you will have to go for the deer." So everything was got ready for an early start and they all retired to bed. When they awakened in the morning, one of the wife's brothers said to another: "Look at our otter brother; he has a white mouth." The otter turned to his wife and said to her: "Did I not tell you that your brothers would make a fool of me?" The otter then took his two otter children in his arms, and told his wife that she would have to make her living as best she could, as he would not live with her any more, that he was going away to leave her.