The Central Eskimo Part 13

When the sledge has been loaded the dogs are hitched to it and the driver takes up the whip and is ready for starting. The handle of the whip is about a foot or a foot and a half in length. It is made of wood, bone, or whalebone and has a lash of from twenty to twenty-five feet in length. The lash is made of walrus or ground seal hide, the lower end being broad and stiff, thus giving it greater weight and a slight springiness near the handle, which facilitates its use. A broad piece of skin clasps the handle, to which it is tied with seal thongs. Another way of making the lower part heavy is by plaiting ground seal lines for a length of a foot or a foot and a half.

When starting the driver utters a whistling guttural sound which sounds like h!h!, but cannot exactly be expressed by letters, as there is no vowel in it, and yet on account of the whistling noise in the throat it is audible at a considerable distance. The dogs, if well rested and strong, jump to their feet and start at once. If they are lazy it requires a great deal of stimulating and las.h.i.+ng before they make a start. If the load is heavy it is difficult to start it and the Eskimo must use some strategy to get them all to pull at once. The sledge is moved backward and forward for about a foot, so as to make a short track in which it moves easily. Then the driver sings out to the dogs, at the same time drawing the traces tight with his hands and pulling at the sledge. The dogs, feeling a weight at the traces, begin to draw, and when the driver suddenly lets go the traces the sledge receives a sudden pull and begins to move. If a.s.sistance is at hand the sledge may be pushed forward until it gets under way.

It is extremely hard work to travel with a heavy load, particularly in rough ice or on soft snow. The dogs require constant stimulating; for this purpose a great number of exclamations are in use and almost every Eskimo has his own favorite words for driving. The general exclamation, used for stimulating is the above mentioned h! h! or aq! aq! which is pressed out from the depths of the breast and the palate, the vowel being very indistinct. Others are: djua! the a being drawn very long and almost sung in a high key, or ah! p.r.o.nounced in the same way; iat.i.t! or jauksa koksa! and smacking with the tongue. If a seal is seen basking on the ice or if the sledge happens to pa.s.s a deserted snow hut, the driver says, Ha! Do you see the seal? Ai! A seal! a seal! (Ha! Takuviuk? Ai!

Uto! uto!) and Ai! There is a house; a small house! (Ai! Iglu; igluaqdjung!) or, Now we go home! (Sarpoq! Sarpoq!) The latter, however, are only used when the dogs are going at a good rate.

For directing the sledge the following words are used: Aua, aua! Aua!

ja aua! for turning to the right; ?oia?oi! ja ?oia! for turning to the left. In addition the whip lash is thrown to the opposite side of the dogs. The leader is the first to obey the order, but a turn is made very slowly and by a long curve. If the driver wants to make a sharper turn he must jump up and run to the opposite side of the sledge, throwing the whip lash at the same time toward the team. For stopping the dogs the word Ohoha! p.r.o.nounced in a deep key, is used.

If the traveling is difficult the driver must walk along at the right side of the sledge and wherever hummocks obstruct the pa.s.sage he must direct it around them either by pus.h.i.+ng its head aside or by pulling at the deer's skull at the back. But notwithstanding all this stimulating and all the pulling the sledge is frequently stopped by striking a piece of ice or by sinking into soft snow. As soon as it sinks down to the cross bars it must be lifted out, and when the load is heavy the only means of getting on is by unloading and afterwards reloading. In the same way it must be lifted across hummocks through which a road is cut with the end of the spear, which, for this purpose, is always lashed in a place where it is handy for use, generally on the right side of the bottom of the sledge. The difficulties of traveling across heavy ice which has been subjected to heavy pressures have frequently been described. When the sledge stops the dogs immediately lie down, and if they cannot start again, though pulling with all their strength, the leader frequently looks around pitifully, as if to say, We cannot do more!

Traveling with a light sledge and strong dogs is quite different. Then the team is almost unmanageable and as soon as it is. .h.i.tched up it is off at full speed. The driver sits down on the fore part and lets the whip trail along, always ready for use. Now the dogs have time enough for playing and quarreling with one another. Though they generally keep their proper place in the team, some will occasionally jump over the traces of their neighbors or crawl underneath them; thus the lines become quickly entangled, and it is necessary to clear them almost every hour.

If any dog of the team is lazy the driver calls out his name and he is lashed, but it is necessary to hit the dog called, for if another is struck he feels wronged and will turn upon the dog whose name has been called; the leader enters into the quarrel, and soon the whole pack is huddled up in one howling and biting ma.s.s, and no amount of las.h.i.+ng and beating will separate the fighting team. The only thing one can do is to wait until their wrath has abated and to clear the traces. It is necessary, however, to lay the mittens and the whip carefully upon the sledge, for the leader, being on the lookout for the traces to be strung, may give a start when the driver is scarcely ready, and off the team will go again before the driver can fairly get hold of the sledge.

If anything has dropped from it he must drive in a wide circle to the same place before he can stop the team and pick it up. On an old track it is very difficult to stop them at all. When attempting to do so the driver digs his heels into the snow to obstruct their progress and eventually comes to a stop. Then he stands in front of the sled and makes the dogs lie down by las.h.i.+ng their heads gently. Should the dogs start off he would be thrown upon the sledge instead of being left behind, which might easily happen should he stand alongside.

The sledge is steered with the legs, usually with the right foot of the driver, or, if it must be pulled aside from a large hummock, by pulling the head aside or by means of the deer's antlers. If two persons are on the sledge--and usually two join for a long drive--they must not speak to each other, for as soon as the dogs hear them they will stop, turn around, sit down, and listen to the conversation. It has frequently been said that the method of harnessing is inconvenient, as the dogs cannot use their strength to the best advantage; but whoever has driven a sledge himself will understand that any other method would be even more troublesome and less effective. On smooth ice and hard snow any method of harnessing could be used; but, on rough ice, by any other method every cross piece would quickly break on attempting to cross the hummocks. Frequently the traces catch a projecting point and the dogs are then pulled back and thrown against the ice or under the sledge if the trace does not break. If for any reason a dog should hang back and the trace should trail over the snow the driver must lift it up to prevent it from being caught by the sledge runner, else the dog will be dragged in the same way as if the trace were caught by a hummock. Many dogs are able in such cases to strip off their harnesses and thus escape being dragged along, as the team cannot be stopped quickly enough to prevent this. Besides the driver must see to it that the dogs do not step across their traces, which in such cases would run between their hind legs, for should this happen the skin might be severely chafed.

If the driver sees a trace in this position he runs forward and puts it back without stopping the team. Particular attention must be paid to this matter when the dogs rise just before starting.

The sledges are not used until the ice is well covered with snow, as the salt crystals formed on the top of the ice in the autumn hurt the dogs'

feet and cause sores that heal slowly. Late in the spring, when the snow has melted and sharp ice needles project everywhere, the feet of the dogs are covered with small pieces of leather, with holes for the nails, which are tied to the leg. As they are frequently lost and the putting on of these shoes takes a long time, their use is very inconvenient.

At this season numerous cracks run through the floe. They are either crossed on narrow snow bridges which join the edges at convenient places or on a drifting piece of ice by floating across.

A few more words in conclusion concerning the training of the dogs. The Eskimo rarely brings up more than three or four dogs at the same time.

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 even allowed to lie on the couch or are hung up over the lamp in a piece of skin. When about four months old they are first put to the sledge and gradually become accustomed to pull along with the others. They undergo a good deal of las.h.i.+ng and whipping before they are as useful as the old ones.

If food is plentiful the dogs are fed every other day, and then their share is by no means a large one. In winter they are fed with the heads, entrails, bones, and skins of seals, and they are so voracious at this time of the year that nothing is secure from their appet.i.te. Any kind of leather, particularly boots, harnesses, and thongs, is eaten whenever they can get at it. In the spring they are better fed and in the early part of summer they grow quite fat. In traveling, however, it sometimes happens at this time of the year, as well as in winter, that they have no food for five or six days. In c.u.mberland Sound, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay, where the rise and fall of the tide are considerable, they are carried in summer to small islands where they live upon what they can find upon the beach, clams, codfish, &c. If at liberty they are entirely able to provide for themselves. I remember two runaway dogs which had lived on their own account from April until August and then returned quite fat.

The Eskimo of all these regions are very much troubled with the well known dog's disease of the Arctic regions. The only places where it seems to be unknown are Davis Strait and Aggo. Here every man has a team of from six to twelve dogs, while in c.u.mberland Sound, in some winters, scarcely any have been left. (See Appendix, Note 2.)

HABITATIONS AND DRESS.

THE HOUSE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 490. Various styles of snow knife. (National Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton. _a_, 10386; _b_, 10385.)]

The houses of the Eskimo differ according to the season. All the tribes from Smith Sound to Labrador and from Davis Strait to Victoria Land are in the habit of building snow houses in winter. Though they erect another more durable kind of winter house, these are more frequently in use. The principles of construction are the same everywhere. A level place is selected for erecting the snow house. To be suitable for cutting into blocks the s...o...b..nk must have been formed by a single storm, for blocks which are cut from drifts composed of several layers break when cut. It must be very fine grained, but not so hard that it cannot be readily cut with the saw or the snow knife. The whole building is constructed of blocks of about three feet or four feet in length, two feet in height, and from six inches to eight inches in thickness. They are cut with snow knives or dovetail saws, which for this reason are much in demand. The old snow knife (sulung) was made of ivory and had a slight curve (Fig. 490). The blocks are cut either vertically or horizontally, the former way being more convenient if the snowdrift is deep. Two parallel cuts of the breadth and the depth of the blocks are made through the drift, and after having removed a small block the Eskimo go on cutting or sawing parallel to the surface. A cross cut is then made and the block is loosened with the point of the foot and lifted out of the bank. Vertical blocks are more easily detached from the snowdrift than horizontal ones.

Two men unite in building a house, the one cutting the blocks, the other building. At first a row of blocks is put up in a circle, the single pieces being slanted so as to fit closely together. Then the first block is cut down to the ground and the top of the row is slanted so as to form one thread of a spiral line. The builder places the first block of the second row with its narrow side upon the first block and pushes it with his left hand to the right so that it touches the last block of the first row. Thus the snow block, which is inclined a little inward, has a support on two sides. The vertical joint is slanted with the snow knife and tightly pressed together, the new block resting on the oblique side of the former. In building on in this way the blocks receive the shape of almost regular trapezoids. Every block is inclined a little more inward than the previous one, and as the angle to the vertical becomes greater the blocks are only kept in their places by the neighboring ones. In order to give them a good support the edges are the more slanted as their angle is greater.

This method of building is very ingenious, as it affords the possibility of building a vault without a scaffold. If the blocks were placed in parallel rows, the first block of a new row would have no support, while by this method each reclines on the previous one. When the house has reached a considerable height the man who cuts the blocks outside must place them upon the last row. The builder supports them with his head and pushes them to their proper places. The key block and those which are next to it are either cut inside or pushed into the house through a small door cut for the purpose. The key block is generally shaped irregularly, as it is fitted into the hole which remains; usually the last two blocks are triangular. When the vault is finished the joints between the blocks are closed up by cutting down the edges and pressing the sc.r.a.ps into the joints. Larger openings are closed with snow blocks and filled up with loose snow pressed into the fissures. Thus the whole building becomes a tight vault, without any holes through which the warm air inside may escape. Such a snow house, about five feet high and seven feet in diameter, is used as a camp in winter journeys. It takes about two hours for two skilled men to build and finish it. For winter quarters the vaults are built from ten to twelve feet high and twelve to fifteen feet in diameter. In order to reach this height the builder makes a bench on which he steps while finis.h.i.+ng the upper part of the building.

The plan of a snow house of the Davis Strait tribes is a little different from that of the Hudson Bay and the Iglulik tribes.

I shall first describe the former according to my own observations (Figs. 491 and 492).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 491. Ground plan of snow house of Davis Strait tribes.]

The entrance to the main building is formed by two, or less frequently by three, small vaults. The first one (uadling) is a small dome about six feet in height, with a door two and a half feet in height; the second one is a long pa.s.sage of equal height formed by an elliptical vault (igdluling). Its roof is generally arched, but sometimes the top is cut off evenly and covered with slabs of snow. Both vaults together form the entrance and are called toqsung. A door about three feet high leads into the main room, the floor of which is about nine inches above that of the former. Two very small vaults are always attached to the whole building (Fig. 491). One is situated alongside of the uadling and the igdluling, and serves as a storeroom for clothing and harness (sirdloang). It is not connected with the interior of the hut, but one of the blocks of the vault can be taken out and is made to serve as a lid. On the left side of the entrance of the main building is another small vault (igdluarn), which is accessible from the main building. It serves for keeping spare meat and blubber. Frequently there is a second igdluarn on the opposite side, and sometimes even a third one in the igdluling. Another appendix of the main building is frequently used, the audlitiving (Fig. 491 and Fig. 492 _c_). It is a vault similar to the sirdloang and is attached to the back of the main room. It serves for storing up meat for future use.

Directly over the entrance a window is cut through the wall, either square or more frequently forming an arch, which is generally covered with the intestines of ground seals, neatly sewed together, the seams standing vertically (Fig. 493). In the center there is a hole (qingang) through which one can look out. In some instances a piece of fresh water ice is inserted in the hole. According to Ross it is always used by the Netchillirmiut (II, p. 250), who make the slab by letting water freeze in a sealskin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 492. Snow house of Davis Strait, sections.]

In the rear half and on both sides of the door a bank of snow two and a half feet high is raised and cut off straight, a pa.s.sage trench five feet wide and six feet long remaining. The rear half forms the bed, the adjoining parts of the side benches are the place for the lamps, while on both sides of the entrance meat and refuse are heaped up. Frequently the s...o...b..nk on which the hut is built is deep enough so that the bed needs very little raising, and the pa.s.sage is cut into the bank. As this is much more convenient in building, the huts are generally erected on a sloping face, the entrance lying on the lower part, which faces the beach.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 493. Section and interior of snow house.]

Before the bed is arranged and the hut furnished the vault is lined with skins, frequently with the cover of the summer hut. The lining (ilupiqang) is fastened to the roof by small ropes (nirtsun), which are fastened by a toggle on the outside of the wall (Fig. 493). In the lower part of the building the lining lies close to the wall; in the upper part it forms a flat roof about two or three feet below the top of the vault. The effect of this arrangement is to prevent the warm air inside from melting the snow roof, as above the skins there is always a layer of colder air. Close to the top of the building a small hole (qangirn) is cut through the wall for ventilation. The lamps require a good draught, which is secured by this hole. The cold air enters through the door, slowly filling the pa.s.sage, and after being warmed rises to the lamps and escapes through the skin cover and the hole. The moisture of the air forms long ice needles on the inside of the roof. Sometimes they fall down upon the skins, and must be immediately removed by shaking it until they glide down at the sides, else they melt and wet the room thoroughly. Frequently a high ice funnel forms around the hole from the freezing moisture of the escaping air.

The southern and western tribes rarely line the snow house. The continuous dropping from the roof, however, causes great inconvenience, and, besides, the temperature cannot be raised higher than two or three degrees centigrade above the freezing point, while in the lined houses it is frequently from ten to twenty degrees centigrade, so that the latter are much more comfortable. To avoid the dropping the natives apply a cold piece of snow to the roof before the drop falls down, which at once freezes to it, the roof acquiring by this repeated process a stalact.i.tic appearance. The eastern tribes use the lining in their permanent houses without any exception. The western and southern tribes, who leave the walls bare, heap a thick layer of loose snow over the whole building, almost covering it up, the window and the ventilating hole alone excepted. For this purpose snow shovels are used.

The edge of the bed is formed by a long pole. The surface of the s...o...b..nk which forms the foundation for the bed is covered with pieces of wood, oars, paddles, tent poles, &c. These are covered with a thick layer of shrubs, particularly _Andromeda tetragona_. Over these numerous heavy deerskins are spread, and thus a very comfortable bed is made.

According to Parry the arrangement in Iglulik is as follows (II, p.

501):

The beds are arranged by first covering the snow with a quant.i.ty of small stones, over which are laid their paddles, tent poles, and some blades of whalebone; above these they place a number of little pieces of network made of thin slips of whalebone, and lastly a quant.i.ty of twigs of birch and of the _Andromeda tetragona_. * * * The birch, they say, had been procured from the southward by way of Nuvuk. * * * There deerskins, which are very numerous, can now be spread without risk of their touching the snow.

At night, when the Eskimo go to bed, they put their clothing, their boots excepted, on the edge of the platform under the deerskins, thus forming a pillow, and lie down with the head toward the entrance. The blankets (qipiq) for their beds are made of heavy deerskins, which are sewed together, one blanket serving for a whole family. The edge of the blanket is trimmed with leather straps.

On the side benches in front of the bed is the fireplace, which consists of a stone lamp and a framework from which the pots are suspended (see Fig. 493). The lamp (qudlirn), which is made of soapstone, is a shallow vessel in the shape of a small segment of a circle. Sometimes a small s.p.a.ce is divided off at the back for gathering in the sc.r.a.ps of blubber.

The wick consists of hair of _Eryophorum_ or of dried moss rubbed down with a little blubber so as to be inflammable. It is always carried by the women in a small bag. The whole vessel is filled with blubber as high as the wick, which is spread along the straight side of the vessel.

It requires constant attention to keep the desired length burning without smoking, the length kindled being in accordance with the heat or light required. The tr.i.m.m.i.n.g of the wick is done with a bit of bone, asbestus, or wood, with which the burning moss is spread along the edge of the lamp and extinguished or pressed down if the fire is not wanted or if it smokes. At the same time this stick serves to light other lamps (or pipes), the burnt point being put into the blubber and then kindled.

Sometimes a long, narrow vessel stands below the lamp, in which the oil that drops from the edge is collected.

In winter the blubber before being used is frozen, after which it is thoroughly beaten. This bursts the vesicles of fat and the oil comes out as soon as it is melted. The pieces of blubber are either put into the lamp or placed over a piece of bone or wood, which hangs from the framework a little behind the wick. In summer the oil must be chewed out. It is a disgusting sight to see the women and children sitting around a large vessel all chewing blubber and spitting the oil into it.

The frame of the fireplace consists of four poles stuck in the snow in a square around the lamp and four crossbars connecting the poles at the top. From those which run from the front to the back the kettle (ukusik) is suspended by two pairs of strings or thongs. It is made of soapstone and has a hole in each corner for the string. The kettle which is in use among the eastern tribes has a narrow rim and a wide bottom (Fig. 494), while that of the western ones is just the opposite. Parry, however, found one of this description in River Clyde (I, p. 286). When not in use it is shoved back by means of the strings. Since whalers began to visit the country a great number of tin pots have been introduced, which are much more serviceable, the process of cooking being quickened.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 494. Ukusik or soapstone kettle.]

On the top of the frame there is always a wood or bone hoop with a net of thongs stretched across it (inetang). It serves to dry clothing, particularly boots, stockings, and mittens, over the fire. In the pa.s.sage near the entrance to the hut there is frequently a small lamp (adlirn), which is very effective for warming the cold air entering through the door, and in the remotest corner in the back of the hut there is sometimes another (kidlulirn). When all the lamps are lighted the house becomes warm and comfortable.

Two small holes are frequently cut in the s...o...b..nk which forms the ledge, at about the middle of its height (see Fig. 492 _a_). They are closed with small snow blocks, each of which has a groove for a handle, and serve to store away anything that must be kept dry. At night the entrance of the inner room is closed with a large snow block, which stands in the pa.s.sage during the day.

These huts are always occupied by two families, each woman having her own lamp and sitting on the ledge in front of it, the one on the right side, the other on the left side of the house. If more families join in building a common snow house, they make two main rooms with one entrance. The plan of such a building is seen in Fig. 495.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 495. Plan of double snow house.]

The plans of the Iglulik and Hudson Bay houses are different from the one described here. The difference will best be seen by comparing the plans represented in Fig. 496 and Fig. 497, which have been reprinted from Hall and Parry, respectively, with the former ones. Among the eastern tribes I have never seen the beds on the side of the pa.s.sage, but always at the rear of the house.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 496. Plan of Iglulik house. (From Parry II, p.