Wilfrid D. Hambly

“ If we could creep along the narrow underground passage leading to the snow hut, we might have the good fortune to find the Eskimo family crowded together round the small, evil-smelling oil lamp, which from time to time is replenished by a new supply of fat from the seal or whale. ”

“ So clever is the “shaman” thought to be, that he is held quite capable of chasing a soul which has left the body, and when the truant soul is caught, he goes through a performance of returning it to the dying person. ”

“ The women who stay at home are occupied in making boots and clothing by sewing skins of the seal, reindeer, or walrus; children and puppies have to be fed and played with; then, of course, there is the hunter’s evening meal to prepare: the raw liver of a seal caught during the day is regarded as a great delicacy. A strange superstition demands that women shall do no work while the spoils are being unloaded from the sledge, for it is thought that the supreme goddess Sedna, who created all sea animals, will be extremely angry if some mark of respect is not shown to her dead creatures. ”

“ Evidently the Eskimo believes that life in the next world is very like existence here, for with a man is buried a variety of hunting implements; a dead woman requires pots, lamps, and knives; while toys are always placed with the body of a little child. The nearest relatives always pull the body to the burial-ground; dogs may not be used on such solemn occasions, and the sledge used must always be left by the grave. Silently the friends return to their hut, where for three days and nights they mourn for the dead person. ”

“ Winter, during which all bays and inlets are frozen, is a good time for visiting friends, because a sledge journey over the ice is a very easy means of travelling many miles. A journey of 100 miles is not uncommon, and when so great a distance has been accomplished, the visitors make a long stay of almost a year, though it is understood that they must help readily with all the hunting and domestic work. During the great war “communal kitchens” were established in many places, and it is thought that by having one central cooking-place there is a great saving in food, fuel, and labour. ”

“ A study of the picturesque lives of native races of the British Empire is an absolute essential if the teacher wishes to impart the appropriate colour and setting to a subsequent course of economic, regional, and political geography.
The sharp contrast between European beliefs and customs and those of primitive people is in itself an incentive to study and interest. In addition to this, a sympathetic understanding of the many native races who are controlled by English statesmanship is necessary for the material and moral progress of dominions in the British Empire. ”

“ Sometimes an infuriated animal breaks from the defensive ring, and at such times the Eskimo is saved by his dogs, who harass the creatures until the hunter is again prepared to shoot. Polar bears are pursued by hunters on light sledges, and when the quarry is exhausted by the chase, the traces of the most reliable dogs are cut, and very soon the bear is standing at bay, striking fiercely at the dogs with his huge forepaws, until the hunter is able to come up and launch a spear or arrow. ”

“ The North-Western tribes had no belief in a Supreme Being, or in God Who made the universe, though they did think of a soul, spirit, or ghost which could survive after the body was killed. Not only people, but animals, and even weapons and articles of clothing, were thought to have a ghost which went to some other world when the creature was killed or the article broken. The Thompson Indians were very much afraid of the spirits of deer, and they always took care to bury with respect all such parts of the carcase as were not required. ”

“ Perhaps the efforts of the medicine man are all in vain, and when death seems certain the patient is carried to a small skin tent or snow hut, where he is left alone to die; for if death should occur in the ordinary dwelling, everything within would have to be broken and thrown away. The Eskimo are terrified of a dead body, but the dying person is said to be very courageous, and not at all unwilling to leave this world; one young girl asked for some tobacco and meat which she wished to take to her mother, who had died a few weeks before. ”

“ The youth must rise at once, and after killing one of his “totem” animals, he makes a little bag which is worn like a charm round the [Pg 24] neck. Should this “medicine bag” be lost, the youth is disgraced until he has killed an enemy, and stolen his opponent’s skin bag. A chief may have more than one “totem” animal, and outside a house, say of the Haida Indians, one may see a high pole on which are carried the portraits of totem animals belonging to all who dwell within the hut. ”

“ The Eskimo have some religious ideas concerning a good spirit “Sedna,” to whom they pray for success in hunting. This goddess is supposed to have created all animal life, and her special care is the protection of Eskimo people, who have many stories and legends concerning the goodness and bounty of their protectress. Almost all people believe that there is some part of a man which lives after the body is dead, and the Eskimo are no exception to the general rule, for they have distinct ideas of heaven ruled over by Sedna. ”

“ Winter dances in honour of animals are very common, and at these festivities, masks in the form of animals are worn, while people caper round in imitation of the movements of their own particular totem. A very important social gathering among Salish tribes is named “potlatch,” at which presents of great value are given away by a chief who wishes to become very famous. People crowd to the top of the long cedar-wood huts, and for [Pg 25] days there is a distribution of skins, horses, clothing, blankets, canoes, and every other form of wealth. ”

“ Fish, among which the salmon is very plentiful, are harpooned, taken by ivory fishing hooks, or chipped out of blocks of ice in which they have become deposited at the freezing of a small lake, which may have been converted into a solid mass of ice. The scraping, chewing, and drying of skins is one of the chief employments of women, and so careful are they, that no part of the carcase is wasted, and even the intestines of a seal are made to furnish transparent waterproofs, which are, of course, very light and convenient to carry. ”

“ When the day begins to dawn, the Eskimo prepares for the hunt by gathering his harpoons and harnessing the dogs to the sledge. The harpoon line and the snow knife are hung over the deer’s antlers, which are attached to the hind part of the sledge, a seal or bear skin is lashed upon the bottom, and the spear secured under the lashing. The hunter takes up the whip, and the dogs set off at a great pace for the hunting ground. ”

“ To the west of the Rocky Mountains lies a hilly, well-wooded country, abounding with game such as deer, foxes, bears, hares, beavers, squirrels, while birds are plentiful, and delicious salmon may be obtained from the Fraser River and its tributaries. Of all trees the cedar has been most useful to the coastal tribes, for it is to them what the cocoa-nut palm is to the people inhabiting the South Sea Islands. From the wood of cedar trees, houses and canoes are made, while clothing may be manufactured from the inner bark ”

“ A person retiring to rest always takes the precaution of leaving meat near the snow couch, so that he may refresh himself if awake during the night. The Eskimo are, of course, hunters and nothing more; upon animal life they depend entirely for food, clothing, weapons, and locomotion; the cold is intense, the hours of work long and laborious, so it comes to pass that enormous quantities of animal food are essential. ”

“ Basket work is very cleverly woven with strands of different colours representing geometrical patterns, people, and objects. It may be thought that the outlines of human and animal figures are too stiff, but one must remember that the rigid nature of the basket work compels the worker to make straight lines. ”

“ Any kind of leather, particularly books, harness, and thongs, is eaten whenever they can get at it. In the spring they are better fed, and in summer grow quite fat, but at any time of their life food may not be procurable for five or six days. In Cumberland Sound, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay, where the rise and fall of the tide are considerable, the dogs are carried in summer to small islands, where they live upon what they can find on the beach: clams, codfish, etc., and if at liberty, they seem very happy, and well able to provide for themselves. ”

“ With the advance of summer the young seal breaks from its snow burrow, and, until the end of June, the mother and her calf may be seen basking together on the ice, where they are shot or harpooned by the hunter, who, clad in seal skin, can approach to very close range. Many men still prefer a harpoon to the guns which may be obtained from whalers in exchange for skins, but nowadays the head of the harpoon is usually made of iron, which is more effective than sharpened ivory. ”

“ A man who is very ill indeed will sometimes recover just because he has such great faith in the medicine man, whose power he trusts absolutely.
Burial is performed in various ways: the body may be left on a staging concealed in the boughs of a tree, or the tomb may be a hut which was specially constructed for the dying person, or perhaps his remains are cremated. Whatever method is adopted, there is always the greatest fear of death and a return of haunting spirits, which can be kept away only by the observance of certain superstitious practices. ”

“ The hair is usually long, straight, and black, but in British Columbia, and amongst the Déné, a reddish shade of hair is not uncommon, while among Salish tribes of the Pacific Coast the hair may be wavy or slightly curled.
Of all the native tribes of British North America the Eskimo have by far the hardest and most unpleasant life, because they have no vegetable foods, cannot practise agriculture, and are entirely dependent on the products of hunting expeditions, which for nine months out of twelve are undertaken in bitterly cold weather, and among dreary wastes of snow. ”

“ Winter socks are made from skins of the bear, buffalo, or deer, but in summer these are replaced by lighter socks, manufactured from grass and cedar bark. Small animals, such as the fox, lynx, hawk, and beaver, furnish material suitable for caps, and among the “Thompson” Indians a man always made a cap from the covering of what an Indian calls his “totem,” that is, an animal which he believes to be his own special friend and helper. ”

“ Some tribes provided the end of the bow with a sharply pointed stone, so that the implement could be used as a thrusting spear when an animal came to close quarters, and the hunter had not time to fit another arrow. Willow and mountain maple are tough, elastic woods suitable for the bow, which is always strengthened by a layer of sinew, cherry-tree bark, or snake skin, which is glued to the wood. Barbed and leaf-shaped arrow or spear points are used for hunting and warfare. Rock crystal, quartz, and a hard, dark, shiny stone named obsidian are most serviceable for weapons ”

“ Children are affectionately treated, and according to one traveller are “never scolded or whipped.” Sometimes it has been said that people of certain tribes kill their children; such a dreadful proceeding is extremely rare, and happens only when food is very scarce. The Greenland Eskimo say that if a child were killed, its spirit would come back to haunt them. Some people are unable to provide food for the children, then the youngsters are adopted by a relative or friend. Among the Eskimo there are no slaves, some reasons being that time is fully [Pg 33] occupied in hunting ”

“ During the very short summer, herds of deer wander in search of herbage, and the Eskimo follows on foot in order to secure a supply of deer skins, which are fit for clothing only when taken at this period. The snow huts have been abandoned, and the hunter takes with him a light portable tent of reindeer hide, which is often pitched near the shores of a lake habitually crossed by the herd. Sometimes the hunting party is divided, and while some men drive the frightened animals into the [Pg 43] water, others sit in “kayaks” waiting for the deer to swim by. ”

“ In the month of March, mother seals prepare long burrows in the snow, and here the Eskimo finds the baby seal, which is dragged forth by means of a large hook; the mother, too, is often caught or harpooned because of her courage in attempting to save her young. Perhaps these methods of hunting appear to be somewhat cruel, but it is to be remembered that the Eskimo is constantly fighting [Pg 40] hard to sustain life in a severe and inhospitable climate. On some occasions the hunter finds only the skin of a young seal in one of these burrows ”

“ A favourite method of catching gulls depends entirely on the quickness of the hunter, who has concealed himself in a small snow house, one block of the roof of which is made from a thin, transparent piece of ice to support the bait. When a bird settles on this thin ice, the trapper quickly pushes his hand through, seizes the creature, and drags it into the hut. ”

“ Of equal importance with the building of houses is the manufacture of clothing, for which all Indian tribes have an abundance of raw material obtained during hunting excursions. The moose—which by the way is a domestic animal and beast of burden among the northern Déné—furnishes a good hide, which along with deerskin can be made into strong trousers and leggings, or into shoes named “moccasins.” ”

“ Seal hunting is perhaps the most common means of obtaining a large supply of food and material for clothing, and usually the animal is harpooned, though the method of capture depends on the season of the year and the condition of the ice. ”

“ The shaft of the harpoon, to which a line is attached, is made of wood, strengthened by a thong of reindeer hide. The head consists of a sharply pointed piece of ivory, probably obtained from the tusks of the walrus; and in order that the sharp point may detach itself in the wounded animal, the head fits very loosely in the shaft, to which it is fastened by a strong thong of reindeer sinew. The floating wooden shaft, to which a bladder is fastened, is plainly seen each time the wounded animal comes up to breathe. ”

“ The Eskimo rarely brings up more than three or four dogs at the same time; and if the litter is larger than this number the rest are sold or given away. The young dogs are carefully nursed, and in winter they are allowed to lie on the couch, or are hung up near the lamp in a skin cradle. When almost four months old the pups are first put to the sledge, and gradually they become accustomed to pull with the others. If food is plentiful the dogs are fed every alternate day, and then their share is by no means a large one. ”