Part 46

One widow of my acquaintance, who appeared to have no relatives in the village, was reduced almost to beggary, though her husband had been quite well-to-do. All his property and even his boy were taken from her by some of the other natives. Widows who have well-to-do relatives, especially grown-up sons, are well taken care of and often marry again. According to Captain Parry,[N538] unprotected widows were robbed at Iglulik.

[Footnote N538: Second Voyage, p. 522.]

_Children._--From the small number of births which occurred during our stay at Point Barrow, we were able to ascertain little in regard to this subject. When a woman is about to be confined, she is isolated in a little snow hut in winter or a little tent in summer, in which she remains for some time--just how long we were unable to learn. Captain Herendeen saw a pregnant woman in Utkiavwĭñ engaged, on March 31, in building a little snow house, which she told him was meant for her confinement, but she had evidently somehow miscalculated her time, as her child was not born till much later, when the people had moved into the tents. She and her child lived in a little tent on the beach close to her husband’s tent, evidently in a sitting position, as the tent was not large enough for her to lie down in. Her husband was desirous of going off on the summer deer hunt, but, under the circumstances, custom forbade his leaving the neighborhood of the village till the ice at sea broke up. The same custom of isolating the women during childbirth has been observed by Kumlien and Boas at Cumberland Gulf[N539], and in Greenland the mother was not allowed to eat or drink in the open air.[N540] Lisiansky describes a similar practice in Kadiak in 1805,[N541] and Klutschak also notes it among the Aivillirmiut.[N542]

[Footnote N539: Contributions, p. 28, and “Central Eskimo,” p. 610.]

[Footnote N540: Egede, p. 192; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 215, and Rink, Tales, etc., p. 54.]

[Footnote N541: Voyage, p. 200.]

[Footnote N542: “Als Eskimo, etc.,” p. 199.]

The custom of shutting up the mother and child in a snow house in winter must be very dangerous to the infant, and, in fact, the only child that was born in winter during our stay lived but a short time. Capt. Herendeen visited this family at Nuwŭk shortly after the death of the child, and saw the snow house in which the woman had been confined. He was about to take a drink of water from a dipper which he saw in the iglu, but was prevented by the other people, who told him that this belonged to the mother and that it was “bad” for anyone else to use it. In Greenland the mother had a separate water pail.[N543] For a time, our visitors from Utkiavwĭñ were very much afraid to drink out of the tin pannikin in our washroom, for fear it had been used by Niăksăra, a woman who had recently suffered a miscarriage. One man told us that a sore on his face was caused by his having inadvertently done so. This same woman was forbidden to go out among the broken ice of the land floe, during the spring succeeding her miscarriage, though she might go out on the smooth shore ice. Her husband also was forbidden to work with a hammer or adz or to go seal-catching for some time after the mishap.

[Footnote N543: Egede, p. 192; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 215, “no one else must drink out of their cup;” and Rink, Tales and Traditions, p. 54.]

Children are nursed until they are 3 or 4 years old, according to what appears to be the universal habit among Eskimo, and which is probably due, as generally supposed, to the fact that the animal food on which the parents subsist is not fit for the nourishment of young children. The child is carried naked on the mother’s back under her clothes, and held up by the girdle, tied higher than usual. When she wishes to nurse it, she loosens her girdle and slips it round to the breast without bringing it out into the air. Children are carried in this way until they are able to walk and often later.

A large child sits astride of his mother’s back, with one leg under each of her arms, and has a little suit of clothes in which he is dressed when the mother wishes to set him down. When the child is awake, this hood is thrown back and the child raised quite high so that he looks over his mother’s shoulder, who then covers her head with a cloth or something of the sort. The woman appears to be very little inconvenienced by her burden, and goes about her work as usual, and the child does not seem to be disturbed by her movements. The little girls often act as nurses and carry the infants around on their backs, in the same way. It is no unusual sight to see a little girl of ten or twelve carrying a well grown, heavy child in this way.

This custom or a very similar one seems to prevail among the Eskimo generally. In Greenland, the nurse wears a garment especially designed for carrying the child, an amaut, i.e., a garment that is so wide in the back as to hold a child, which generally tumbles in it quite naked and is accommodated with no other swaddling clothes or cradle.[N544] In East Greenland, according to Capt. Holm, “Saa længe Børnene ere smaa, bæres de i det fri paa Moderens Ryg.”[N545]

[Footnote N544: Crantz, vol. 1, p. 138. See also Egede, p. 131, and the picture in Rink’s Tales, etc., opposite p. 8.]

[Footnote N545: Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, p. 91.]

Petitot’s description of the method of carrying the children in the Mackenzie district is so naïve that it deserves to be quoted entire.[N546]

Les mères qui allaitent portent une jaquette ample et serrée autour des reins par une ceinture. Elles y enferment leur chère progéniture qu’elles peuvent, par ce moyen, allaiter sans l’exposer à un froid qui lui serait mortel. Ces jeunes enfants sont sans aucun vêtement jusqu’à l’âge d’environ deux ans. Quant aux incongruités que ces petites créatures peuvent se permettre sur le dos de leur mère, qui leur sert de calorifère, l’amour maternel, le même chez tous les peuples, les endure patiemment et avec indifférence.

[Footnote N546: Monographie, etc., p. xv.]

At Fury and Hecla Straits, according to Parry[N547], the children are carried in the hood, which is made specially large on purpose, but sometimes also on the back, as at Point Barrow. The enormous hoods of the Eskimo women in Labrador also served to hold the child. The same custom prevails at Cumberland Gulf.[N548] In some localities, for instance the north shore of Hudson’s Straits, where the woman wear very long and loose boots, the children are said to be carried in these.[N549] Franklin[N550] refers to the same custom “east of the Mackenzie River.” The Siberian children, however, are dressed in regular swaddling clothes of deerskin, with a sort of diaper of dried moss.[N551]

[Footnote N547: Second Voyage, p. 495.]

[Footnote N548: Kumlien, Contributions, p. 24.]

[Footnote N549: See Ellis, Voyage, etc., p. 136, and plate opposite p. 132.]

[Footnote N550: Second Ex., p. 226.]

[Footnote N551: Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, p. 101.]

We never heard of a single case of infanticide, and, indeed, children were so scarce and seemed so highly prized that we never even thought of inquiring if infanticide was ever practiced. Nevertheless, Simpson speaks of the occurrence of a case during the Plover’s visit; “but a child, they say, is destroyed only when afflicted with disease of a fatal tendency, or, in scarce seasons, when one or both parents die.[N552]” Infanticide, according to Bessels, is frequently practiced among the Eskimo of Smith Sound, without regard of sex,[N553] and Schwatka speaks of female infanticide to a limited extent among the people of King William’s Land.[N554]

[Footnote N552: Op. cit., p. 250.]

[Footnote N553: Naturalist, vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 874.]

[Footnote N554: Science, vol. 4, p. 544.]

The affection of parents for their children is extreme, and the children seem to be thoroughly worthy of it. They show hardly a trace of the fretfulness and petulance so common among civilized children, and though indulged to an extreme extent are remarkably obedient. Corporal punishment appears to be absolutely unknown and the children are rarely chidden or punished in any way. Indeed, they seldom deserve it, for, in spite of the freedom which they are allowed, they do not often get into any mischief, especially of a malicious sort, but attend quietly to their own affairs and their own amusements.

The older children take very good care of the smaller ones. It is an amusing sight to see a little boy of six or seven patronizing and protecting a little toddler of two or three. Children rarely cry except from actual pain or terror, and even then little ones are remarkably patient and plucky. The young children appear to receive little or no instruction except what they pick up in their play or from watching their elders.

Boys of six or seven begin to shoot small birds and animals and to hunt for birds’ eggs, and when they reach the age of twelve or fourteen are usually intrusted with a gun and seal spear and accompany their fathers to the hunt. Some of them soon learn to be very skillful hunters. We know one boy not over thirteen years old who, during the winter of 1881-’82, had his seal nets set like the men and used to visit them regularly, even in the roughest weather. Lads of fourteen or fifteen are sometimes regular members of the whaling crews. In the meantime the little girls are learning to sew, in imitation of their mothers, and by the time they are twelve years old they take their share of the cooking and other housework and assist in making the clothes for the family. They still, however, have plenty of leisure to play with the other children until they are old enough to be married.

Affection for their children seems a universal trait among the Eskimo and there is scarcely an author who does not speak in terms of commendation of the behavior and disposition of the Eskimo children. Some of these passages are so applicable to the people of Point Barrow that I can not forbear quoting them. Egede says:[N555]

They have a very tender Love for their Children, and the Mother always carries the infant Child about with her upon her back. * * * They suck them till they are three or four years old or more, because, in their tender Infancy, they cannot digest the strong Victuals that the rest must live upon. The Education of their Children is what they seem little concerned about, for they never make use of whipping or hard words to correct them when they do anything amiss, but leave them to their own Discretion. Notwithstanding which, when they are grown, they never seem inclined to Vice or Roguery, which is to be admired. It is true, they show no great Respect to their Parents in any outward Forms, but always are very willing to do what they order them, though sometimes they will bid their Parents do it themselves.

[Footnote N555: Greenland, p. 146.]

According to Capt. Holm,[N556] in East Greenland, “De opvoxe i den mest ubundne Frihed. Forældrene nære en ubeskrivelig Kjærlighed til dem og straffe dem derfor aldrig, selv om de ere nok saa gjenstridige. Man maa imidlertid beundre, hvor velopdragne de smaa alligevel ere.”

[Footnote N556: Geografisk Tidskrift, vol 8, p. 91.]

Parry speaks still more strongly:[N557]

The affection of parents for their children was frequently displayed by these people, not only in the mere passive indulgence and abstinence from corporal punishment for which Esquimaux have been before remarked, but by a thousand playful endearments also, such as parents and nurses practice in our own country. Nothing, indeed can well exceed the kindness with which they treat their children. * * * It must be confessed, indeed, that the gentleness and docility of the children are such as to occasion their parents little trouble and to render severity towards them quite unnecessary. Even from their earliest infancy, they possess that quiet disposition, gentleness of demeanor, and uncommon evenness of temper, for which in more mature age they are for the most part distinguished. Disobedience is scarcely ever known; a word or even a look from a parent is enough; and I never saw a single instance of that frowardness and disposition to mischief which, in our youth, so often requires the whole attention of a parent to watch over and to correct. They never cry from trifling accidents, and sometimes not even from very severe hurts, at which an English child would sob for an hour. It is, indeed, astonishing to see the indifference with which, even as tender infants, they bear the numerous blows they accidentally receive when carried at their mothers’ backs.

[Footnote N557: Second Voyage, p. 529.]

I should be willing to allow this passage to stand as a description of the Point Barrow children. It is interesting to compare with these passages Nordenskiöld’s account[N558] of the children at Pitlekaj, who, if not as he and other writers believe, of pure Chukch blood, are at any rate of mixed Chukch and Eskimo descent:

The children are neither chastised nor scolded. They are, however, the best behaved I have ever seen. Their behavior in the tent is equal to that of the best brought up European children in the parlor. They are not perhaps so wild as ours, but are addicted to games which closely resemble those common among us in the country. Playthings are also in use. * * * If the parents get any delicacy they always give each of their children a bit, and there is never any quarrel as to the size of each child’s portion. If a piece of sugar is given to one of the children in a crowd it goes from mouth to mouth round the whole company. In the same way the child offers its father and mother a taste of the bit of sugar or piece of bread it has got. Even in childhood the Chukchs are exceedingly patient. A girl who fell down from the ship’s stairs head foremost and thus got so violent a blow that she was almost deprived of hearing scarcely uttered a cry. A boy three or four years of age, much rolled up in furs, who fell down into a ditch cut in the ice on the ship’s deck, and in consequence of his inconvenient dress could not get up, lay quietly still until he was observed and helped up by one of the crew.

[Footnote N558: Vega, vol. 2, p. 140.]

The only extraordinary thing about the Chukch children is their large number, mentioned by the same author.[N559] This looks as if the infusion of new blood had increased the fertility of the race. All authors who have described Eskimo of unmixed descent agree in regard to the generally small number of their offspring. Other accounts of Eskimo children are to be found in the writings of Bessels,[N560] Crantz,[N561] Schwatka,[N562] Gilder,[N563] J. Simpson,[N564] and Hooper.[N565]

[Footnote N559: Vega, vol. 1, p. 449.]

[Footnote N560: Naturalist, vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 874.]

[Footnote N561: History of Greenland, vol. 1, p. 162.]

[Footnote N562: Science, vol. 4, No. 98, p. 544.]

[Footnote N563: Schwatka’s Search, p. 287.]

[Footnote N564: Op. cit., p. 250.]

[Footnote N565: Tents, etc., pp. 24, 201.]

The custom of adoption is as universal at Point Barrow as it appears to be among the Eskimo generally, and the adopted children are treated by the parents precisely as if they were their own flesh and blood. Orphans are readily provided for, as there are always plenty of families ready and willing to take them, and women who have several children frequently give away one or more of them. Families that have nothing but boys often adopt a girl, and, of course, vice versa, and we know of one case where a woman who had lost a young infant had another given her by one of her friends.

This very general custom of giving away children, as well as the habit already mentioned of temporarily exchanging wives, rendered it quite difficult to ascertain the parentage of any person, especially as it seems to be the custom with them to speak of first cousins as “mĭlu ataúzĭk” (“one breast,” that is, brothers and sisters). While a boy is desired in the family, since he will be the support of his father when the latter grows too old to hunt, a girl is almost as highly prized, for not only will she help her mother with the cares of housekeeping when she grows up, but she is likely to obtain a good husband who may be induced to become a member of his father-in-law’s family.[N566]

[Footnote N566: Accounts of this custom of adoption are to be found in Crantz, vol. 1, p. 165; Parry, Second Voyage, p. 531; Kumlien, Contributions, p. 17; Gilder, Schwatka’s Search, p. 247, and the passage concerning children quoted above, from Dr. Simpson.]

RIGHTS AND WRONGS.

I have already spoken of the feelings of these people in regard to offenses against property and crimes of violence. As to the relations between the sexes there seems to be the most complete absence of what we consider moral feelings. Promiscuous sexual intercourse between married or unmarried people, or even among children, appears to be looked upon simply as a matter for amusement. As far as we could learn unchastity in a girl was considered nothing against her, and in fact one girl who was a most abandoned and shameless prostitute among the sailors, and who, we were told, had had improper relations with some of her own race, had no difficulty in obtaining an excellent husband.

Remarks of the most indecent character are freely bandied back and forth between the sexes in public, and are received with shouts of laughter by the bystanders. Nevertheless, some of the women, especially those of the wealthier class, preserve a very tolerable degree of conjugal fidelity and certainly do not prostitute themselves to the sailors. I believe that prostitution for gain is unknown among themselves, but it is carried to a most shameless extent with the sailors of the whaling fleet by many of the women, and is even considered a laudable thing by the husbands and fathers, who are perfectly willing to receive the price of their wives’ or daughters’ frailty, especially if it takes the form of liquor. Dr. Simpson[N567] says: “It is said by themselves that the women are very continent before marriage, as well as faithful afterward to their husbands; and this seems to a certain extent true.” But he goes on to add: “In their conduct toward strangers the elderly women frequently exhibit a shameless want of modesty, and the men an equally shameless indifference, except for the reward of their partner’s frailty.” It seems to me that he must have been deceived by the natives concerning the first statement, since the immorality of these people among themselves, as we witnessed it, seems too purely animal and natural to be of recent growth or the result of foreign influence. Moreover, a similar state of affairs has been observed among Eskimo elsewhere, notably at Iglulik at the time of Parry’s visit.[N568]

[Footnote N567: Op. cit., p. 252.]

[Footnote N568: Second Voyage, p. 529.]

SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS.

_Personal habits, cleanliness, etc._--Though the idea of cleanliness among these people differs considerably from our ideas, they are as a rule far from being as filthy as they appear at first sight. Considering the difficulty of obtaining water, even for purposes of drinking, in the winter season, the iglu, unless dirty work, like the dressing of skins, etc., is going on, is kept remarkably clean. The floor and walls are scrupulously scraped and all dirt is immediately wiped up. They are particularly careful not to bring in any snow or dirt on their feet, and the snow and hoar frost is carefully brushed off from the outer garment, which is often removed before entering the room and left in the passage. They are also careful not to spit on the floor or in the passage, but use for this purpose the large urine tub. This is practically the only offensive object in the house, as it is freely used by both sexes in the presence of the rest. This is done, however, with less exposure and immodesty than one would suppose.[N569]

[Footnote N569: Compare Nordenskiöld’s account of the comparative cleanliness of the Chukch dwellings at Pitlekaj: “On the other hand it may be stated that in order not to make a stay in the confined tent chamber too uncomfortable certain rules are strictly observed. Thus, for instance, it is not permitted in the interior of the tent to spit on the floor, but this must be done into a vessel which, in case of necessity, is used as a night utensil. In every outer tent there lies a specially curved reindeer horn, with which snow is removed from the clothes; the outer _pesk_ is usually put off before one goes into the inner tent, and the shoes are carefully freed from snow. The carpet of walrus skins which covers the floor of the inner tent is accordingly dry and clean. Even the outer tent is swept clean and free from loose snow, and the snow is daily shoveled away from the tent doors with a spade of whalebone. Every article, both in the outer and inner tent, is laid in its proper place, and so on.” (Vega, vol. 2, p. 104.)]

The contents of this vessel, being mixed with feces, is not fit for tanning skins, etc., and is consequently thrown out doors. The men use a small tub (kuovwĭñ) as a urinal, and the contents of this is carefully saved. Though the interior of the house is thus kept clean, as much can not be said for its surroundings. All manner of rubbish and filth is simply thrown out upon the ground, without regard to decency or comfort, and this becomes exceedingly offensive when the snow melts in summer. The only scavengers are the dogs, who greedily devour old pieces of skin, refuse meat, and even feces. In regard to personal cleanliness, there is considerable difference between individuals. Some people, especially the poorer women and children, are not only careless about their clothes, going about dressed in ragged, greasy, filthy garments, but seldom wash even their faces and hands, much less their whole persons. One of these women, indeed, was described by her grown-up daughter as “That woman with the black on her nose.”