Part 45

Fig. 411 (No. 56619 [66] from Utkiavwĭñ) represents a pair of little whales, each carved from a walrus tooth, which probably served for buttons or toggles of some sort, though I do not recollect ever seeing such objects in use. The belly of each is flat and has in the middle a stout lug perforated with a transverse eye, and they are tied together by a piece of thong about 14 inches long. They are quite well designed and executed, but rather “stumpy” in outline, with the outline of the mouth and the spiracles incised and blackened, and little round bits of tooth inlaid for eyes. In the middle of the back of each was inlaid a small blue glass bead, which still remains in one of them. They are old and dirty and somewhat chipped about the flukes.

Fig. 412 (No. 89567 [904] from Nuwŭk) represents an imaginary quadruped 2.5 inches long, with a short, thick body and legs, no neck, and a human head, with the eyes and mouth incised. It is roughly carved from light gray soapstone, and ground pretty smooth. This figure is not new, and has probably connected with it some story which we did not succeed in learning. The seller called it an “old man.” No. 89332 [994] from Nuwŭk, is a fanciful monster, 4.2 inches long, carved in ivory. It has a human head with the tusks of a walrus, the body, tail, and flippers of a seal, with human arms. The hands, each of which has four fingers, clasp some round object against the belly. It is not old, but apparently was not made for the market. It was called a “walrus man;” but we did not learn whether it was simply a fancy figure or whether there was any story connected with it.

Fig. 413 (No. 89329 [1101] from Nuwŭk) is another monster, 3.9 inches long, carved in ivory. It has a fish’s head with large canine teeth, and a seal’s body, tail, and hind flippers. The eyes, nostrils, gill slits, the outlines of the tail, and the toes, of which there are six on each flipper, are incised and blackened. A row of nineteen small round pits, filled with dark colored dirt runs nearly straight from the nape to the tail.

Fig. 414 (No. 89339 [1099] from Nuwŭk) is a newly made ivory figure, which is interesting from its resemblance to one of the fabulous animals which figure in the Greenland legends. It is 4 inches long and represents a long-necked bear with ten legs, an animal which the maker gave us to understand had once been seen at Point Barrow. The resemblance of this animal to the “kiliopak” or “kilifvak” of the Greenland stories, which is described as “an animal with six or even ten feet”[N518] is quite striking.

[Footnote N518: Rink, Tales, etc., p. 48. See also same work, passim, among the stories.]

Fig. 415 (No. 89723 [1084] from Nuwŭk) is another representation of the giant who holds a whale in each hand. He was called in this instance “Kaióasu,” and not “Kikámigo.” This image is carved from very old pale brown walrus ivory, and is 2.3 inches high. A transverse incised line across each cheek from the wing of the nose, indicates the whaleman’s tattoo mark of the Eastern fashion. The image is ancient, but is mounted in a socket in the middle of a newly made wooden stand, which has a broad border of red ocher and a broad streak of the same paint along each diameter.

Fig. 416 (No. 89336 [1369]) is a curious piece of carving, which Nĭkawdalu said he found in one of the ruined houses on the river Kulugrua. The carving is well executed and really seems to be old, although it has evidently been retouched in a good many places. It is made from an irregularly flattened bit of reindeer antler, 3.6 inches long, blackened by the weather on the flat surfaces, and represents an animal with four legs, which appear to be dog’s legs, and at each end what appears to be a dog’s head. One of these is smaller than the other and both have the ears in relief, and the eyes, nostrils, and outlines of the mouth incised.

Fig. 417 (No. 56520 [85] from Nuwŭk) is a fanciful object made solely for the market. It consists of the rudely carved head of some carnivorous animal, made of ivory, and 2.6 inches long, fitted to the broad end of a flat pointed wooden handle, painted red. The head was called a “dog”, but it looks more like a bear. Small bits of wood are inlaid for the eyes, and the outline of the mouth is deeply incised and colored with red ocher, having bits of white ivory inlaid to represent the canine teeth. The ears, nostrils, vibrissæ, and hairs on the muzzle are indicated by blackened incisions. There is an ornamented collar round the neck, to which is joined a conventional pattern of triangular form on the throat, and a somewhat similar pattern on the top of the head between the ears.

One of the natives at Utkiavwĭñ, in May, 1882, conceived the fancy of smoothing off the tip of a walrus tusk into the shape of a pyramid, surmounted by a little conical cap and ornamenting it with incised figures, which he colored with red ocher. It appears to have been purely an individual fancy, as it has no utility, nor are such objects made by the Eskimo elsewhere, as far as I know. Having succeeded in finding a sale for this object, either he or one of his friends, I do not now recollect which, made another, which was brought over for sale about ten days later. We saw no others afterwards.

Fig. 418_a_ (pattern developed in Fig. 418_b_, No. 56530 [220]) represents the first of these. It is made of solid white walrus ivory. The workmanship is quite rude, and the cap has been broken off and neatly fastened on with a wooden dowel. The other, Fig. 419_a_, 419_b_ (No. 56529 [254]) is 3.7 inches long.

Fig. 420 (No. 89741 [1012] from Nuwŭk) is an ivory cross 15.5 inches long. The cross is ornamented by incised rings and dots colored with red ocher. The shaft of the cross is surmounted by a female human head neatly carved from soapstone, fastened on by a lashing of sinew braid, which passes through a transverse hole in the head and round the crosspiece. No. 89742 [1091], also from Nuwŭk, closely resembles the preceding, but is slightly shorter and has a four-sided shaft. The head, moreover, which is made of bone, represents a man, as is shown by the little pits, which indicate the labrets. The cheeks and crown of the head are colored slightly red with red ocher.

The ingenious Yöksa, so often mentioned, made the first image and brought it down for sale. All he could or would tell us about it was that it was “tună´ktûp kuni´a,” “A kuni´a (jargon for woman) of soapstone.” The successful sale of this first cross encouraged him to make the second, but we saw no others before or after. Other natives who saw these objects only laughed. The whole may be simply a fanciful doll, perhaps meant for a caricature, the shaft representing the body, and the crosspiece the outstretched arms. The object is very suggestive of a crucifix, and there is a bare possibility that the maker may have seen something of the sort in the possession of some of the eastern natives who have been visited by a missionary of the Roman Catholic Church (Father Petitot).

Under the head of works of art may properly be included No. 89823 [1130], from Utkiavwĭñ. This is the skeleton of the jaws of a polar bear, cut off just back of the nose, neatly sewed up in a piece of sealskin with the hair out, so as to leave uncovered only the tips of the jawbones and the canine teeth. This specimen was put up by the same quick-witted young native after his removal from Nuwŭk to Utkiavwĭñ, evidently in imitation of the work of preparing specimens of natural history, which he had seen done at the station. For the same reason he dried and carefully preserved in a little box whittled out of a block of wood and tied up with sinew a little fresh-water sculpin (Cottus quadricornis), which he had caught at Kulugrua (No. 89536 [1145]).

I regret much that we did not save and bring home any of the pencil drawings made by these people. The children especially were anxious to get lead pencils, and made themselves rather a nuisance by covering the painted walls of the observatory with scrawls of ships and various other objects, perhaps rather more accurately done than they would have been by white children of the same age. The style of the figures on the hunting scores already described, however, is very like that of the pencil drawings.[N519]

[Footnote N519: Compare these with Nordenskiöld’s figures of “Chukch” drawings, Vega, vol. 2, pp. 132, 133. The latter are completely Eskimo in character.]

DOMESTIC LIFE.

_Marriage._--As far as we could learn, the marriage relation was entered upon generally from reasons of interest or convenience, with very little regard for affection, as we understand it, though there often appeared to be a warm attachment between married people. A man desires to obtain a wife who will perform her household duties well and faithfully, and will be at the same time an agreeable companion, while he often plans to marry into a rich or influential family. The woman, on the other hand, appears to desire a husband who is industrious and a good hunter. There were, nevertheless, some indications that real love matches sometimes took place. Marriages are usually arranged by the parents of the contracting parties, sometimes when the principals are mere children. We knew of one case when a young man of about twenty-two offered himself as the prospective husband of a girl of eight or ten, when she should reach a marriageable age. This practice of child betrothal seems to be practically universal among the Eskimo everywhere.[N520]

[Footnote N520: Compare Crantz, vol. 1, p. 159 (Greenland); Kumlien, Contributions, p. 164 (Cumberland Gulf); Hall, Arctic Researches, p. 567 (Baffin Land); Parry, 2nd Voyage, p. 528 (Fury and Hecla Straits); Schwatka, Science, vol. 4, No. 98, p. 544 (King William’s Land); Gilder, Schwatka’s Search, p. 250 (Hudson’s Bay); Franklin, First Exp., vol. 2, p. 41 (Chesterfield Inlet); Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 209 (Plover Bay); Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, p. 26 (Pitlekaj).]

Dr. Simpson, in describing the marriage customs at Point Barrow, says:

The usual case is, that as soon as the young man desires a partner and is able to support one, his mother selects a girl according to her judgment or fancy, and invites her to the hut, where she first takes the part of a “kivgak” or servant, having all the cooking and other kitchen duties to perform during the day, and returns to her home at night. If her conduct proves satisfactory, she is further invited to become a member of the family.[N521]

[Footnote N521: Op. cit., p. 252.]

We only knew this to be done on one occasion; and on the contrary knew of several cases where the bridegroom became a member of the wife’s family.

One youth, who had had his lips pierced for the labrets just previously to our arrival, was, we soon learned, betrothed to a young girl at Nuwŭk. This girl frequently came down from Nuwŭk and visited her lover’s family, staying several days at a time, but we could not discover that she was treated as a servant. She went with them to the spring deer hunt, but we were distinctly given to understand that the young couple would not be married till after the return from this hunt, and that no intercourse would take place between them before that time. When the season came for catching reindeer fawns, the couple started off together, with sled and dogs and camp equipage in pursuit of them, and always afterwards were considered as man and wife.

Most of the marriages took place before we heard of them, so that we had no opportunity for learning what ceremony, if any, occurred at the time. Some of the party, however, who went over to make a visit at Utkiavwĭñ one evening, found the house full of people, who were singing and dancing, and were told that this was to celebrate the marriage of the daughter of the house. Marriage ceremonies appear to be rare among the Eskimo. A pretended abduction, with the consent of the parents, is spoken of by Bessels at Smith Sound[N522] and Egede in Greenland (p. 142), and Kumlien was informed that certain ceremonies were sometimes practiced at Cumberland Gulf.[N523] Elsewhere I have not been able to find any reference to the subject. A man usually selects a wife of about his own age, but reasons of interest sometimes lead to a great disparity of age between the two. I do not recollect any case where an old man had a wife very much younger than himself, but we knew of several men who had married widows or divorced women old enough to be their mothers,[N524] and in one remarkable case the bride was a girl of sixteen or seventeen, and the husband a lad apparently not over thirteen, who could barely have reached the age of puberty.

[Footnote N522: Naturalist, vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 877.]

[Footnote N523: Contributions, p. 16.]

[Footnote N524: Compare Holm’s observations in East Greenland--“idet et ganske ungt Menneske kan være gift med en Kone, som kunde være hans Moder.” Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, p. 91.]

This couple were married late in the winter of 1882-’83, and immediately started off to the rivers, deer hunting, where the young husband was very successful. This union, however, appeared to have been dissolved in the summer, as I believe the girl was living with another and older man when we left the station. In this case, the husband came to live with the wife’s family.

As is the case with most Eskimo, most of the men content themselves with one wife, though a few of the wealthy men have two each. I do not recollect over half a dozen men in the two villages who had more than one wife each, and one of these dismissed his younger wife during our stay. We never heard of a case of more than two wives. As well as we could judge, the marriage bond was regarded simply as a contract entered into by the agreement of the contracting parties and, without any formal ceremony of divorce, easily dissolved in the same way, on account of incompatibility of temper, or even on account of temporary disagreements.

We knew of one or two cases where wives left their husbands on account of ill treatment. One of these cases resulted in a permanent separation, each of the couple finally marrying again, though the husband for a long time tried his best to get his wife to come back to him. In another case, where the wife after receiving a beating ran away to Nuwŭk, and, as we were told, married another man, her first husband followed her in a day or two and either by violence or persuasion made her come back with him. They afterwards appeared to live together on perfectly good terms.

On the other hand, we know of several cases where men discarded wives who were unsatisfactory or made themselves disagreeable. For instance, the younger Tuñazu, when we first made his acquaintance, was married to a widow very much his senior, who seemed to have a disagreeable and querulous temper, so that we were not surprised to hear in the spring of 1882 that they were separated and Tuñazu married to a young girl. His second matrimonial venture was no more successful than his first, for his young wife proved to be a great talker. As he told us: “She talked all the time, so that he could not eat and could not sleep.” So he discarded her, and when we left the station he had been for some time married to another old widow.

In the case above mentioned, where the man with two wives discarded the younger of them, the reason he assigned was that she was lazy, would not make her own clothes, and was disobedient to the older wife, to whom he was much attached. As he said, Kakaguna (the older wife) told her, “Give me a drink of water,” and she said, “No!” so Kakaguna said, “Go!” and she went. He did not show any particular concern about it.

Dr. Simpson says, “A great many changes take place before a permanent choice is made;” and again, “A union once apparently settled between parties grown up is rarely dissolved.”[N525] And this agrees with our experience. The same appears to have been the case in Greenland. Crantz[N526] says, “Such quarrels and separations only happen between people in their younger years, who have married without due forethought. The older they grow, the more they love one another.”

[Footnote N525: Op. cit., p. 253.]

[Footnote N526: Vol. 1, p. 160.]

Easy and unceremonious divorce appears to be the usual custom among Eskimo generally, and the divorced parties are always free to marry again.[N527] The only writer who mentions any ceremony of divorce is Bessels, who witnessed such among the so-called “Arctic Highlanders” of Smith Sound (Naturalist, vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 877). Dr. Simpson, in the paragraph referred to above, says that “A man of mature age chooses a wife for himself and fetches her home, frequently, to all appearance, much against her will.” The only case of the kind which came to our notice was in 1883, when one of the Kĭlauwitawĭñmeun attempted by blows to coerce Adwû´na, an Utkiavwĭñ girl, to live with him, but was unsuccessful.

[Footnote N527: “They often repudiate and put away their wives, if either they do not suit their humors, or else if they are barren, * * * and marry others.” Egede, Greenland, p. 143. Compare also Crantz, vol. 1, p. 160; Parry, Second Voyage, p. 528 (Fury and Hecla Straits); Kumlien, Contributions, p. 17 (Cumberland Gulf); and Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 100--“repudiation is perfectly recognized, and in instances of misconduct and sometimes of dislike, put in force without scruple or censure. * * * The rejected wife * * * does not generally wait long for another husband;” (Plover Bay.) Compare also Holm, Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, pp. 91-92, where he gives an account of marriage and divorce in east Greenland, remarkably like what we observed at Point Barrow.]

A curious custom, not peculiar to these people, is the habit of exchanging wives temporarily. For instance, one man of our acquaintance planned to go to the rivers deer hunting in the summer of 1882, and borrowed his cousin’s wife for the expedition, as she was a good shot and a good hand at deer hunting, while his own wife went with his cousin on the trading expedition to the eastward. On their return the wives went back to their respective husbands.

The couples sometimes find themselves better pleased with their new mates than with the former association, in which case the exchange is made permanent. This happened once in Utkiavwĭñ to our certain knowledge. This custom has been observed at Fury and Hecla Straits,[N528] Cumberland Gulf,[N529] and in the region around Repulse Bay, where it seems to be carried to an extreme.

[Footnote N528: Parry, 2nd Voyage, p. 528.]

[Footnote N529: Kumlien, Contributions, p. 16.]

According to Gilder[N530] it is a usual thing among friends in that region to exchange wives for a week or two about every two months. Among the Greenlanders the only custom of the kind mentioned is the temporary exchange of wives at certain festivals described by Egede.[N531]

[Footnote N530: Schwatka’s Search, p. 197.]

[Footnote N531: Greenland, p. 139.]

Holm also describes “the game of putting out the lamps,” or “changing wives,” as a common winter sport in East Greenland. He also, however, speaks of the temporary exchange of wives among these people much as described elsewhere.[N532]

[Footnote N532: Geogr., Tids., vol. 8, p. 92.]

I am informed by some of the whalemen who winter in the neighborhood of Repulse Bay, that at certain times there is a general exchange of wives throughout the village, each woman passing from man to man till she has been through the hands of all, and finally returns to her husband. All these cases seem to me to indicate that the Eskimo have not wholly emerged from the state called communal marriage, in which each woman is considered as the wife of every man in the community.

_Standing and treatment of women._--The women appear to stand on a footing of perfect equality with the men both in the family and in the community. The wife is the constant and trusted companion of the man in everything except the hunt, and her opinion is sought in every bargain or other important undertaking.[N533]

[Footnote N533: Compare Parry, 2d Voyage, pp. 526-528, Nordenskiöld (Vega, vol. 1, p. 449): The women are “treated as the equals of the men, and the wife was always consulted by the husband when a more important bargain than usual was to be made.” (Pitlekaj.) This statement is applicable, word for word, to the women of Point Barrow.]

Dr. Simpson’s description[N534] of the standing of the women at Point Barrow in his time is so true at the present day that I may be pardoned for quoting the whole of it:

A man seems to have unlimited authority in his own hut, but, as with few exceptions his rule is mild, the domestic and social position of the women is one of comfort and enjoyment. As there is no affected dignity or importance in the men, they do not make mere slaves and drudges of the women; on the contrary, they endure their full share of fatigue and hardship in the coldest season of the year, only calling in the assistance of the women if too wearied themselves to bring in the fruits of their own industry and patience; and at other seasons the women appear to think it a privation not to share the labors of the men. A woman’s ordinary occupations are sewing, the preparation of skins for making and mending, cooking, and the general care of the supplies of provisions. Occasionally in the winter she is sent out on the ice for a seal which her husband has taken, to which she is guided by his footmarks; and in spring and summer she takes her place in the boat if required.

[Footnote N534: Op. cit., p 252.]

The statement in the first sentence that the husband’s rule is mild is hardly consistent with that on the following page that “obedience seems to be the great virtue required, and is enforced by blows when necessary, until the man’s authority is established.” According to our experience the first statement is nearer the truth. We heard of few cases of wife-beating, and those chiefly among the younger men. Two brothers, who habitually ill-treated their wives, were looked upon with disfavor, by some of our friends at least. We heard of one case where a stalwart wife turned the tables on her husband who attempted to abuse her, giving him a thorough beating and then leaving his house.

Wife-beating was not uncommon among the Greenlanders.[N535] We did not learn whether a woman brought anything like a dowry, but Simpson[N536] says: “The woman’s property, consisting of her beads and other ornaments, her needlecase, knife, etc., are considered her own; and if a separation takes place the clothes and presents are returned and she merely takes away with her whatever she brought.” According to Crantz[N537] a widow in Greenland had no share of her husband’s property, but owns only what she brought with her, and I am inclined to believe that this is the case at Point Barrow.

[Footnote N535: See Egede, p. 144, “for according to them it signifies nothing that a man beats his wife.”]

[Footnote N536: Op. cit., p. 253.]

[Footnote N537: Vol. 1, p. 165.]