The Central Eskimo Part 5

INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS UPON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SETTLEMENTS.

In considering the distribution of the tribes it is evident that they are settled wherever extensive floes afford a good sealing ground during the winter. The Sikosuilarmiut live on the large bay east of King Cape, which is sheltered by numerous islands. The Akuliarmiut are settled near Lesseps and North Bays. I am unable to say whether there is a floe near the winter settlement of the Qaumauangmiut, as there are no reports upon the subject. Probably ice is formed in the sound, which is protected by the Middle Savage Islands, and besides it may be that the natives move to North Bay. The important tribe of Nugumiut lives on Frobisher Bay and the adjoining Grinnell and Field Bays. On the largest floe of this part of the country, in c.u.mberland Sound, including Lake Nettilling, the largest tribe is settled: the Oqomiut. On Davis Strait ice floes are formed between Cape Mickleham and Cape Mercy, in Exeter Sound, and between Okan and Bylot Island. The tribes are distributed accordingly: the Saumingmiut of Ukiadliving, the inhabitants of Qarmaqdjuin with their winter settlement in Exeter Sound, and the Padlimiut and the Akudnirmiut farther north. The immense land floe of Davis Strait is not so valuable a hunting ground for the Eskimo as c.u.mberland Sound, the ice being very rough a few miles from the coast and at some places even close insh.o.r.e. When the sea begins to freeze in the fall the newly formed ice is broken up by severe gales and by the currents and is piled up into high hummocks before it consolidates. The sealing on rough ice during the winter is very difficult and unsuccessful, as it is hard to find the breathing holes and the traveling is very laborious. It is only in the northern parts of Home Bay and in the large fjords that smooth ice is formed. The settlements of the natives are manifestly distributed in accordance with these facts. In every place where smooth ice is formed we find that natives either are settled or have been settled.

Aqbirtijung, River Clyde, Ijellirtung, Home Bay, Brodie Bay, Merchant Bay, and Padli are the only places along the sh.o.r.e of Davis Strait where smooth ice occurs. On the long sh.o.r.es between them, which are unsheltered from winds and currents, the ice is always very hummocky, and, therefore, the natives do not settle upon them in the winter. In the far north, extensive floes of smooth ice are formed in Eclipse Sound and Admiralty Inlet.

Concerning the country farther west the reports are rather scanty. The southwest sh.o.r.e of Baffin Land and the eastern entrance of Fury and Hecla Strait are always frozen over and afford a good hunting ground.

On the mainland, the large floes of Repulse Bay and Wager River, Chesterfield Inlet and the bights all around it, Pelly Bay and the narrow bays adjoining Boothia Peninsula, and the mouth of Back River are important places for the distribution of the Eskimo.

There are only a few districts where the proximity of open water favors walrus hunting during the winter, and all of these have neighboring floes on which seals may be hunted with the harpoon. These places are Sikosuilaq, Akuliaq, Frobisher Bay, Iglulik, the west sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay, and Smith Sound. As to the remainder the Eskimo live altogether independent of the open water during the winter.

Generally speaking, two conditions are required for winter settlements, viz, the existence of an extensive floe and smooth ice.

The different mode of hunting in the spring causes a different distribution of the settlements. During this season those regions which had been deserted during the winter are most visited by the hunters. On light dog sledges they travel over the rough ice and along the sh.o.r.es of the fjords and islands. The natives who lived in large settlements during the winter are spread over the whole country, in order that every one may have a better chance of traveling over his own hunting ground.

In a few places the young sealing induces the Eskimo to leave the winter settlements; in other places the kayaks are prepared for visiting the floe edge, and bears and the returning birds are hunted.

Though the greater variety of food which is to be obtained and the difference in the methods of hunting in the spring require the dispersion over a wide area of the families which had kept together during the winter, the selection of places for the new settlements remains wholly dependent upon the state of the ice.

After the ice breaks up, the distribution of the deer regulates the location of the summer settlements. While during the winter the state of the ice is of decisive importance, the orography of the land comes now into consideration.

Wherever deep valleys give access to an extensive area, wherever practicable roads enable the natives to ascend the plateaus, summer settlements are established. The heads of the fjords are favorite places, as they abound with salmon. The adjoining valleys and the peninsulas which they form give the best chances for a successful deer hunt. These facts are most apparent on the coast of the steep highland of Nugumiut, over which numerous herds of deer roam.

A great influence is also exerted by the extensive plains of the western part of Baffin Land, which abound in deer. We observe that a number of tribes visit these districts, though their winter stations are at a great distance. The Akuliarmiut of Hudson Strait and the Nugumiut travel to Lake Amaqdjuaq, the Oqomiut stay on Lake Nettilling, and the Akudnirmiut visit Majoraridjen. In the same way all the tribes of Hudson Bay visit the land farther west, which is frequented by herds of the musk ox, and they go even as far as Back River. This important fact shows the attraction which is exerted by a rich country on all the tribes of the neighboring districts.

TRADE AND INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE TRIBES.

In treating of the single tribes, the routes were mentioned which are followed by the natives as they travel from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e and from settlement to settlement. These routes are established by tradition and the Eskimo never stray from them. In order to obtain a more thorough understanding of the migrations of single individuals and of families, the relations between the tribes and the settlements must be discussed.

By the lively intercourse which is always kept up between the settlements, it cannot fail that marriages between members of different tribes should be of frequent occurrence and that many ties of affinity and consanguinity should thus be created. These relations, however, as distances increase, quickly become less common. For instance, in c.u.mberland Sound three people are found belonging to Tununirn, about ten belonging to Akudnirn, and quite a number coming from Padli. Also, two Sikosuilarmiut live there, a few natives of Akuliaq and Qaumauang, and very many Nugumiut. Hall's accounts concerning the Nugumiut and the Aivillirmiut prove a similar proportion of strange natives among these tribes. Every tribe may be said to bring together its immediate neighbors, as it is closely related to them, while those which are separated by the tribe itself are strangers to one another. The importance of this mediate position is regulated by the strength of the tribe, by the significance of the country in reference to its produce, and by the routes crossing it.

Thus, the Sikosuilarmiut and the Nuratamiut are closely connected, and may be considered as forming one group with the Akuliarmiut. The Sikosuilarmiut have intercourse with the Igdlumiut, the inhabitants of the northern sh.o.r.e of Labrador. According to Lucien M. Turner, three tribes may be distinguished there as inhabiting the sh.o.r.es of Ungava Bay and the eastern sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay. This report differs somewhat from the accounts of the Moravian missionaries who have intercourse with the inhabitants of Ungava Bay near Cape Chidleigh. From their reports four tribes may be distinguished: the Kangivamiut of George River, the Kouksoarmiut of Big River, the Ungavamiut of Hope Advance Bay (which is properly named Ungava), and the Itivimiut of Hudson Bay. I am rather undecided whether Ungava is a bay or a large strait separating Cape Wolstenholme and the adjacent land from the continent, as the name Ungava is also reported south of Cape Wolstenholme. The inhabitants of this sh.o.r.e are the Itivimiut of the Labrador Eskimo and the Igdlumiut of the natives of Baffin Land. Probably the intercourse between Sikosuilaq and Cape Wolstenholme is of no great importance. The Sikosuilarmiut visit Trinity Islands (Nannuraga.s.sain) in skin boats to hunt walrus and cross by the three islands Tudjaraaq'djung, Akugdlirn, and Tudjaqdjuara'lung to the opposite sh.o.r.e of Hudson Strait. The pa.s.sage across the strait is considered very dangerous, and therefore is rarely undertaken. The natives do not utter a single word during the long pa.s.sage; they believe a destructive gale might be conjured up if they did. Only once have natives been met with on Salisbury Island (Lyon, Attempt to reach Repulse Bay, p. 128), but it is doubtful whether they belonged to the northern or to the southern sh.o.r.e of the strait. As for the rest, the pa.s.sage is only known to me by reports I received in c.u.mberland Sound, which were confirmed by the whalers visiting the northern sh.o.r.e of Hudson Strait. I do not know whether any intercourse exists between Sikosuilaq and Southampton Island. It is worth remarking that on Mansfield Island numerous ruins of Eskimo habitations have been found (Gordon, Report on the Hudson's Bay Expedition, 1884, p. 38).

The Qaumauangmiut are connected with the Nugumiut in the same manner as with the Akuliarmiut, and many are said to winter near North Bay, which is also visited by the Akuliarmiut. From Hall's reports it would appear that many are settled in Frobisher Bay.

At present the intercourse between the Nugumiut and the Oqomiut is of no significance, as many years may pa.s.s without a journey being made from one tribe to the other. Formerly, when many whalers visited c.u.mberland Sound and Field Bay, a number of Nugumiut immigrated to the sound, and consequently almost half of the Eskimo now settled on the western sh.o.r.e of c.u.mberland Sound were born in Nugumiut or Ukadliq. At the same time many Oqomiut settled among the Nugumiut. That period was doubtless an exceptional one; at any rate, the long stretch of uninhabited sh.o.r.e between the settlements of the two tribes is not favorable to intimate intercourse. Indeed, even now the Nugumiut are considered strangers in the sound, and, notwithstanding the existence of many intermarriages between the tribes, a number of families are not at all acquainted with one another. It is remarkable that the number of natives born in Nugumiut is much larger on the western sh.o.r.e than on the eastern. They seem to have joined their nearest neighbors, the southern Talirpingmiut, perhaps for the reason that in their district the geographic character of the land is most similar to that of Frobisher Bay. The number of Nugumiut settled among the inhabitants of Nettilling Fjord and among the Kingnaitmiut is far less. Among the Saumingmiut there is no one who has traveled beyond Naujateling, and in Padli or farther north there are very few individuals who have been south of c.u.mberland Sound. It is only by careful consideration of the birthplace of the different individuals who are members of the settlements of c.u.mberland Sound that it is possible at the present time to detect the former division of the Oqomiut into subtribes. The inhabitants of the eastern sh.o.r.e are related to the Padlimiut and the Akudnirmiut; those of the western sh.o.r.e, to the Nugumiut. In 1840 a brisk intercourse existed between Padli and the sound (Eenoolooapik, p. 81), and probably sledges crossed the peninsula every winter. Though the intercourse is not so intimate to-day as it is between the settlements of the sound, it is yet active. The Kingnaitmiut form the medium of the regular intercourse between Saumia and Padli, while families removing to Akudnirn travel along the sh.o.r.e of Davis Strait. Among the subtribes of the Oqomiut the Saumingmiut are most nearly related to the Padlimiut and extend their migrations farthest to the north.

The Akudnirmiut, who are closely connected with the Padlimiut, are considered strangers by the Oqomiut. The intercourse between the Akudnirmiut and the Aggomiut is not very frequent, and seems to be maintained as irregularly as that between the Nugumiut and the Oqomiut.

The inhabitants of the northern sounds and of Fury and Hecla Strait frequently visit one another. Parry mentions a number of journeys in each direction (II, p. 436). Hall found natives of Tununirn and Tununirusirn settled in Iglulik (II, p. 356). I myself found two Iglulirmiut among the Akudnirmiut. The intercourse seems to have been always very active, and consequently those tribes may be considered as one group.

The inhabitants of North Devon belong to the Tununirusirmiut, a few families of this tribe sometimes settling on the island and after a few years' absence returning to their former home.

From Parry's, Hall's, and Schwatka's reports it appears that the Aivillirmiut are closely related to the Iglulirmiut, while the Eskimo of Chesterfield Inlet, the Agut.i.t or Kinipetu, form a separate group.

It is remarkable that between the tribes of Hudson Bay and the more western ones a deep distrust exists, which prevents a frequent and unlimited intercourse. The Sinimiut and Netchillirmiut are feared by the Aivillirmiut, though intermarriages and removals from one tribe to the other are not rare. No doubt they are less closely related than are the neighboring tribes. .h.i.therto mentioned. Unfortunately, too little is known of the western tribes to admit of a decided opinion whether or not there exists an important difference in customs and habits. The Sinimiut, the Netchillirmiut, and the Ugjulirmiut may be comprised in one group, for they all hold frequent intercourse with one another and the last two even inhabit the same region at the present time. The change which the relations between these tribes have undergone since 1833 has already been referred to, as has their intercourse with the Ukusiksalirmiut. Schwatka (Science, Vol. IV, p. 543) states that they occasionally meet the Qidneliq of Coronation Bay, but that both tribes distrust each other. Our knowledge about the migrations from North Devon to Ellesmere Land and North Greenland is very scanty, but it is necessary to mention its existence.

Between tribes that are strangers to one another ceremonies of greeting are customary which are not adapted to facilitate intercourse. The ceremonies will be described further on (see p. 609). For the present it will be sufficient to say that duels, with varying details, are common between a stranger and a man of the tribe, and these sometimes result in the death of the former.

Among neighboring tribes these ceremonies are dispensed with, for instance, between the Padlimiut and Oqomiut, Padlimiut and Akudnirmiut, while a Nugumio or an Akudnirmio unknown in Oqo has there to go through the whole of the performance. The exception in favor of the former tribes is doubtless due to the frequent intermarriages with those tribes, whereby a constant acquaintance is kept up.

Real wars or fights between settlements, I believe, have never happened, but contests have always been confined to single families. The last instance of a feud which has come to my knowledge occurred about seventy years ago. At that time a great number of Eskimo lived at Niutang, in Kingnait Fjord, and many men of this settlement had been murdered by a Qinguamio of Anarnitung. For this reason the men of Niutang united in a sledge journey to Anarnitung to revenge the death of their companions.

They hid themselves behind the ground ice and killed the returning hunter with their arrows. All hostilities have probably been of a similar character.

One tradition only refers to a real fight between the tribes. On the steep island Sagdluaqdjung, near Naujateling, ruins of huts are found on the level summit. They are said to have been built by Eskimo who lived by the seash.o.r.e and were attacked by a hostile tribe of inlanders. The tradition says that they defended themselves with bows and arrows, and with bowlders which they rolled down upon the enemy. The occurrence of huts upon the top of an island is very unusual, and this tradition is the only one referring to any kind of fights or wars. Even the tradition of the expulsion of the Tornit a fabulous tribe said to have lived with the Eskimo on these sh.o.r.es, does not refer to a combat. The details of this tradition will be found in a subsequent chapter.

I wish to state here that my inquiries and my understanding of the facts as they have been reported by other travelers do not agree with the opinions given by Klutschak (Deutsche Rundschau fur Geographie und Statistik, III, p. 418), who claims for the Eskimo of the west sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay reservations which are limited by precise lines of demarkation. In comparing this statement with his own and with Gilder's narratives I am led to believe that the relations between the tribes are the same in these regions as they are farther east. This opinion is strengthened by Dall's remarks on the Alaska tribes (Science, p. 228, 1885).

The reasons for the frequent removals of individual Eskimo to strange tribes are to be looked for in the customs of the natives. I can only mention here that intermarriage, adoption, and the fear of blood vengeance are the princ.i.p.al ones.

It is peculiar to the migratory habits of the Eskimo that almost without exception the old man returns to the country of his youth, and consequently by far the greater part of the old people live in their native districts.

During the last decades the most important inducement to removals has been the presence of the whalers in certain parts of the country. Since the beginning of our century their fleets have visited the west sh.o.r.e of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, and thus European manufactures have found their way to the inhospitable sh.o.r.es of the Arctic Sea. The most valuable objects which were bartered were metals and wood. The value of the former may be seen in its economical application for knives and harpoon heads. By means of this trade the Akudnirmiut and the Tununirmiut became far superior to the Oqomiut and the Iglulirmiut, with whom they traded extensively in dogs, skins, &c. The Akuliarmiut and the Qaumauangmiut also enjoyed the advantages which accrued from trade with the ships of the Hudson Bay Company.

When the whalers became better acquainted with the natives and the peculiar jargon which is still in use was developed, the traffic became very active, and reached its height after c.u.mberland Sound was rediscovered by Penny. As soon as the whalers began to winter in the sound and to employ the natives the latter received firearms and European boats in exchange for their wares, and then their modes of living became materially changed. The immense quant.i.ty of European manufactured articles which thus came into the possession of the natives induced the removal of many families to the favored region. Particularly did the Nugumiut and the Akudnirmiut migrate during that period. When in the course of time the Bay of Nugumiut was visited by the whalers removals of members of this tribe became less frequent.

After the Eskimo had become acquainted with the advantages of firearms the natives of Davis Strait also began to trade bearskins for guns and ammunition, having learned how highly they were prized in c.u.mberland Sound. Besides, they received, in exchange for seals and walrus blubber put up for the whalers, tobacco, pipes, coffee, boxes, &c. In a similar way the Saumingmiut barter with the whalers of c.u.mberland Sound, whom they visit during the winter, carrying heavy loads of bearskins to the stations.

A brief sketch of the way in which the whaling and the trade with the Eskimo in c.u.mberland Sound are carried on may be of interest at this point. Two of the whaling stations are still kept up. They are situated on Qeqerten, the settlement of the Kingnaitmiut. When the Eskimo who have spent the summer inland return at the beginning of October they eagerly offer their services at the stations, for they receive in payment for a half year's work a gun, a harmonium or something of that nature, and a ration of provisions for their families, with tobacco every week. Every Sat.u.r.day the women come into the house of the station, at the blowing of the horn, to receive their bread, coffee, sirup, and the precious tobacco. In return the Eskimo is expected to deliver in the kitchen of the station a piece of every seal he catches.

The time for the fall fishing commences as soon as the ice begins to form. If the weather, which is generally stormy, permits it, the boats leave the harbor to look out for the whales which pa.s.s along the east sh.o.r.e of the sound toward the north. During the last few years the catch has been very unprofitable, only a few whales having been seen. As the ice forms quickly the boats must be brought back about the end of October or the beginning of November. Since the whale fishery has become unprofitable the stations have followed the business of collecting seal blubber and skins, which they buy from the Eskimo. (See Appendix, Note 1.)

A lively traffic springs up as soon as the ice becomes strong enough to allow sledges to pa.s.s from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e. The sledges of the stations are sent from one settlement to another to exchange tobacco, matches, coffee, bread, &c. for skins and the spare blubber which the Eskimo have carefully saved up. On the other hand, those natives who require useful articles, such as cooking pots, lamps, &c., collect quant.i.ties of hides and blubber and go to Qeqerten to supply their wants. The winter pa.s.ses quickly amid the stir of business, till everything comes to a stop at the end of March, when the young sealing season fairly opens.

When the sun has reached such a height that the snow begins to melt in favored spots, a new life begins at the stations. The skins which have been collected in the winter and become frozen are brought out of the store room and exposed to the sun's rays. Some of the women busy themselves, with their crescent shaped knives, in cutting the blubber from the skins and putting it away in casks. Others clean and salt the skins, which are likewise packed away. The men also find enough work to do after the young sealing is over, for the whale boats must be got ready for the spring fishing. Strangers whose services have been engaged by the station for the next few months arrive daily with their families and all their goods to take up their abode on Qeqerten. The boats are dug out of the deep snow, the oars and sails are looked after, the harpoons are cleaned up and sharpened, and everything is in busy preparation. The boats are made as comfortable as possible with awnings and level floors, for the crews are not to come to the sh.o.r.e for about six weeks.

By the beginning of May, the arrangements having been completed, the boats are put upon the sledges, which, under the direction of native drivers, are drawn by dog teams, with their crews, to the floe edge. The sledges being heavily laden and food for the dogs having to be provided by hunting, each day's stage is rather short. Arriving at the floe edge the sledges are unloaded and the boats are launched. Seals and birds of all kinds are now found in profusion and the chase is opened without delay upon everything that is useful and can be shot. Sledges are regularly sent back to Qeqerten with skins and meat for the families of the Eskimo, while the blubber is packed in casks, which are kept ready on the spot.

The most important object of the expedition is the whale. Harpoons and lines are always in readiness for the contest with the mighty monster.

The boats return to the north with the breaking up of the ice and the fishing ends in July. The Eskimo are paid off and dismissed and resume their reindeer hunting, while the whites are glad to enjoy some rest after the weeks of exhausting labor.

The constant contact between the Eskimo and the whalers has effected a perfect revolution in the trade between the Eskimo tribes. As the whale catch in c.u.mberland Sound has fallen off during the past fifteen years, a remigration of the population of Davis Strait has occurred, ships visiting these sh.o.r.es every fall and a regular traffic being kept up.

Therefore many Oqomiut now travel as far as Qivitung in order to trade there. As Nugumiut is still frequently visited by whalers, there is no inducement for the inhabitants to leave their country.

Within a few years the Akuliarmiut also have become amply provided with firearms and European products in general by means of a new whaling station which has been established in their vicinity.

As to the Iglulirmiut, the importation of European manufactures at Pond Bay makes the trade with that region even more important than formerly.

The Aivillirmiut and the Kinipetu have immediate intercourse with the whalers frequenting the western sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay. Besides, the southern tribes trade with the stations of the Hudson Bay Company.

The more western tribes of Boothia and its environs are dependent on the mediation of the Aivillirmiut for their supply of goods, as they themselves have no chance of communicating with the whites.

Finally, I shall describe the old trading routes which existed between these tribes before matters were totally changed by the influence of the Europeans. Two desiderata formed the princ.i.p.al inducement to long journeys, which sometimes lasted even several years: wood and soapstone.

The sh.o.r.es of Davis Strait and c.u.mberland Sound are almost dest.i.tute of driftwood, and consequently the natives were obliged to visit distant regions to obtain that necessary material. Tudjaqdjuaq in particular was the objective point of their expeditions. Their boats took a southerly course, and, as the wood was gathered, a portion of it was immediately manufactured into boat ribs and sledge runners, which were carried back on the return journey; another portion was used for bows, though these were also made of deer's horns ingeniously lashed together. A portion of the trade in wood seems to have been in the hands of the Nugumiut, who collected it on Tudjaqdjuaq and took it north. Another necessary and important article of trade, soapstone, is manufactured into lamps and pots. It is found in a few places only, and very rarely in pieces large enough for the manufacture of the articles named. Among the places visited by the natives for the purpose of obtaining it may be mentioned Kautaq, east of Naujateling; Qeqertelung, near the former place; Qarmaqdjuin (Exeter Bay), and Committee Bay. The visitors come from every part of the country, the soapstone being dug or "traded" from the rocks by depositing some trifles in exchange. In addition to wood and soapstone, metals, which were extremely rare in old times, have formed an important object of trade. They were brought to Baffin Bay either by the Aivillirmiut, who had obtained them from the Hudson Bay Company and the Kinipetu, or by the Akuliarmiut. Even when Frobisher visited the Nugumiut in 1577 he found them in possession of some iron (Frobisher).

The occurrence of flint, which was the material for arrowheads, may have given some importance to places where it occurs. Formerly an important trade existed between the Netchillirmiut and the neighboring tribes. As the district of the former is dest.i.tute of driftwood and potstone they are compelled to buy both articles from their neighbors. In Ross's time they got the necessary wood from Ugjulik, the potstone from Aivillik.

They exchanged these articles for native iron (or pyrite), which they found on the eastern sh.o.r.e of Boothia and which was used for striking fire. After having collected a sufficient stock of it during several years, they traveled to the neighboring tribes. For reasons which have been mentioned this trade is now essentially changed. According to Schwatka there is a mutual distrust between the Ugjulirmiut and the Netchillirmiut on one side and the Qidnelik on the other, for which reason the intercourse between these tribes is very limited.