<^, .^r. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.^ l^ ■^ 1^ 12.2 I.I ?.** "a L25 i 1.4 — 6" 1.6 r. % /] 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 4 4 '^ v 1^ V N> 4 as WIS I . ^: '■ 1 #^«r- ^^^ /•■'v»«/'/j^/rtv. TALES AND TRADITIONS OF THE ESKIMO WITH A SKETCH OF THEIR HABITS, RELIGION, LANGUAGE AND OTHER PECULIARITIES BY DR HENRY RINK KNIGHT OF DANNEBROG DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL GREENLAND BOARD OF TRADE, AND FORMERLY ROYAL INSPECTOR OF SOUTH GREENLAND AUTHOR OF 'grONLAND GEOGRAPHISK OG STATISTISK UESKREVET,' ETC. TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY THE AUTHOR EDITED BY DR ROBERT BROWN F.L.S., F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF 'the RACES OF MANKIND.' ETC. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY ESKIMO WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINHURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXV Alt Rights rtserv*d hilcrior of tlw /loiisi' of a 7 rich fiU)\ ii/v. \ I' ifis/>i,r,\ IaU) PREFACE. THE author of this work has partly resided, partly been travelling about, on the shores of Davis Strait, from the southernmost point of Greenland up to y})"" north latitude, foi sixteen winters and twenty- two summers ; first as a scientific explorer, afterwards as Royal Inspector or Governor of the Southern Danish establishments in Greenland. The first series of tales was published by him in 1866 ; but as this field of ethnological investigation was at that time almost uncultivated, much new material came to hand after that publication, and, moreover, the author had then only acquired such a degree of familiarity with the lan- guage, as made it possible for him to understand his native informants sufficiently well to write down their verbal communications. In 1871 he determined to pub- lish a new series of tales as a supplement to the former, in which he has also described the general habits, religion, and other peculiarities of the Eskimo, having by that time been enabled to give a more comprehensive ac- count of these subjects, and to make some farther improvements on the first publication. Besides the translation into English, a twofold object has been aimed at in this edition : first, that of incor- porating the two parts into one ; and second, of partly abbreviating their contents. The principal aim of this 4r.i^9 VI PREFACE. abridgement has been to make these accounts more available to readers engaged in archrcological studies, or investigations of the earliest history of mankind by comparison of the traditional tales, languages, and re- ligious opinions of the more primitive nations, in which respect the L^skimo, and specially the Greenlanders, have been studied more minutely, perhaps, than any other similar people. Keeping this object in view, some of the tales, as well as a certain part of the original work, seemed to be of special interest only to the Danish colonies, and have therefore been wholly omitted, or only given in an abridged form, in the present publication. The wholly modern study of " prehistoric man," which in our time is making such progress, has hitherto almost exclusively been founded upon the study of the ornaments, weapons, and other remains of primitive peoples, which for this purpose have become greatly valued, and are searched for in the bowels of the earth, and drawn forth to light in nearly every part of the globe. But the time will certainly come when any relics of spiritual life brought down to us from pre- historic mankind, which may still be found in the folk- lore of the more isolated and primitive nations, will be "alued as highly as those material remains. In this respect the Eskimo may be considered among the most interesting, both as having been almost entirely cut off from other nations and very little influenced by foreign intercourse, and also as representing a kind of link between the aboriginals of the New and the Old World. Some illustrations, designed as well as drawn and engraved on wood by natives of Greenland, are given, the author having supplied the original blocks to be used in this edition for this purpose. PREFACE. Vll As to the spelling of Greenland words and names, we have to draw a distinction between those which are more properly used as representing the foreign expres- sions themselves, and those which have been wholly embodied in the Danish or English language of the text, and thereby subject to the orthography of these languages. In the first instance, the words distinguished by a different type, are spelt in exact accordance with the orthography now adopted in the native schools of Greenland. In the preliminary sketch, where this ortho- graphy is explained, it will be seen that all the sounds may be expressed by our usual Latin characters, with the exception only of a deep guttural /', for which the character k has been formed ; the other more peculiar sounds having been substituted by double consonants or expressed by accents. The other letters are pro- nounced almost identically with those of the German and Scandinavian languages. In the second instance we have, as far as possible, accommodated the mode of spelling to the English pronunciation of the letters, in some instances using j for j, gh for g, /', or in some more peculiar cases, /•' for k, &c.; as, for instance, anghiak (AngiaK), kayak (aajaK), Jcivigtok (KivigtoK). The personal and geographical names are given with fewer alterations of the kind mentioned, and nearly agree with the Danish orthography. To prevent, as far as possible, misundei tanding and farther corruption of the original Greenland words, we have added, wherever it appeared necessary, in paren- theses, how the word is most nearly to be pronounced (pron. . . .), in other instances how it is to be correctly- spelt in Grecnlandish (cor. sp. . . .) ; as, for instance* Kulange (pron. Koolaughcc), angakok (cor. sp. ang^ikoK). Vlll PREFACE. The following general rules may be laid down : The letter e at the end of a word is never mute, but always to be pronounced ; ai is pronounced like 7 in by ; i, like / in it; g, like g in good; 7/, like 00. In some instances we have used the Greenland plural, formed by substituting a / at the end of the word, such as angakut instead of angakoks. As to uncommon words or expressions in general, those peculiar to Eskimo life will be found explained in the preliminary sketch. But in order to make the stories more readable, as well as better understood, we have, without paying particular attention to this, in- serted the most necessary explanations in parentheses or in notes, in different places of the text itself, where it appeared most useful ; especially in the earlier pages, where the expressions are first niet with. Dr Robert Brown, who at the author's request has been good enough to revise the manuscript and make such corrections or emendations in the style and con- struction of the collection as in his judgment were ad- visable, has had in his travels in the northern regions of America, as Avell as in Greenland and on the western shores of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, an opportunity of visiting the aborigines of these countries in their own homes ; and these advantages, coupled with his long personal acquaintance with the author, and his experi- ence as a writer on Ethnology, have rendered him pecu- liarly fitted for this friendly editorial task. H. R. KoNGL, Gronolandske IIanukl, COI'ENHAGEN, Sept. 1875. CONTENTS. THE ESKIMO. Introductory Remarks, I. Subsistence and Mode of Life, II. Language, III. Social Order, Customs, and Laws, . IV. Religion, V. Traditif : al Tales, Science, and Art, VL Prooaljic Origin and History, VTT. Intluencc of Contact with Europeans, PAGE I 6 12 22 35 64 70 76 TALES A> J TRADITIONS. Introduction, » • • • 1. Kagsagsuk, .... 2. The Blind Man who recovered his Sight, 3. Igimarasugsuk, 4. Kuniagdlat and Asalok, . ' 5. Akigsiak, .... 6. 'J'he Friends, 7. Katerparsuk, .... 8. A Tale about Two Girls, 9- Tiie Brothers visit their Sister, 10. Kunuk the Orphan Boy, 11. The Faithless Wife, . . ] 12. The Man who mated himself with a Sea-fowl 13. The Barren Wife, 14. The Two Brothers, . 15. Giviok, .... 16. Tiggak, ..... 17. Malaise— The Man who travelled to A\ilinek, 18. Navaranak or Javraganak, . 19. Avarunguak or Agdlerut, 20. The Girl who married an Atliarusck, 21. The Lost Daughter, . 22. Angutisugsuk, . . , 83 93 99 106 109 116 119 124 126 128 '52 143 145 1 48 '5 157 162 169 174 177 183 186 189 X CONTENTS. 23. Sitlinmat, 24. Tlic Keindeer-hunt of Mcikisalik, 25. Xainak, ...... 26. The Lonely l?rotliers, . , ' 27. .Sikutluk, ...... 28. The Clirl who fled to tlie Inlanders, . 29. The Orphans, ..... 30. Tlie Girl who went aw.iy in search of her llrother, . 31. The Dofj, ...... 32. The Widow's Vencjcanee, .... ^^. A Lamentable Story, . , . 34. Uvikiak, ••■... 35. Tiie Sun anil the Moon, • . . . 36. Nivnitak, ...... 37. The I?rother who went to Akilinck in sonrdi of liis Sister, 38. Ussungussak or Savninicrsok, 39. The Child-monster, ..... 40. "^riie Kivigtok, • . . . . 41. The Woman who got connected with tlie ln,L,nicrsuit or Under world People, ..... 42. About the Children of Two Cousins, 43. The Girl who was stolen by an Inlander. 44. The Child that was stolen by the Inlanders. . 45. The Angakok's Flight to Akilinck, . 46. The Xayakers in Captivity with the Malignant Ingnnsuil, 47. The Orphan Boy Iliarsorkik, 4S. 'I'he lirothers who were lost on ihcir Journey up the Fiortl, 49. The Solitary Kayaker, .... 50. Kasiagsak, the (heat Liar, .... 51. The Revived who came to the Undor- world I'eopU', 52. The Old Bachelor, ..... 53. Salik the Kiviglok, ..... 54. Stories about the Ancient Kavtllunait — (i). Ungorlok, the Chief of Kakortok, . (2.) The First Meeting of the Kaladlit with the Ancien 1 Kavdlunait in Greenland, (3.) The Ancient Kavdhmait's Ruin near Arsut, (4.) Fiicounler of Kaladlit with the Ancient Kavdlunait on the Ice, • . . . 55. Pisagsak and the Kivigtok, . . , 56. The .\ngak(d< Tugtutsiak, , . ^ 57. 'I'iie Witchcraft of Kulange, . . . , 58. The Old Men's revenge, . . , , 50. Alerfio, 60. Iniigtujusok, . . . . . , i 61. 'ihe Sons who avenged their Mother, C2. Erncrsiak tlie Foster-son, . , , 193 197 202 208 214 217 221 224 227 228 833 236 238 248 255 258 260 262 264 265 26S 270 278 281 2S6 288 291 898 300 302 308 317 319 320 331 384 aas 330 333 337 341 346 CONTENTS. XI 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 6S. 69. 70. 71- 72- 73- 74- 75- 76. 77- 7S. 79- 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 94. 95- 90, 97- 98. 99. 100. lOI. 102. 103. 10^. 105. The Old Southlander Naujarsuak aiul Kukajak, The Two P'liends rescued by the benevolent Ingners The Strontj Man on the Isiaml of K'erka, Niakunyuak, ..... Aut;pila<;tok, .... The Ani,Mkok Ataitsiak jMacti^'nif^ \u> .\il with tiie lent Ingneisuit, .... The Stn^ii; Man on Umanak, Kii;iitikak carried off by the Whalers. The Man not to be looked at by .!ie Europeans, The Angakok from Kakortok, Utereetsok's Journey to the I'ar North, .Savan_L:;uak, ..... Inuarutlij^ak — whoeserted Woman and iier Fo>ter-dauL;litcr, Kii;arsit;ak, ..... Atalianj^uak, ..... .\ Visit to the (iiantN, Kaj^suk, ..... The Dream and Conversion of .\kamalik, Sangiak, or Nerngajorak, Atlunguak, ..... Nakasungnak, .... The Anghiak, .... The Moon— Kanak, .... A I'.arren Wife, . , , Manguarak, . . . The Woman wlio wauled to l)e a Man, \n Angakok Flight, 'l"he Means for Getting Childreu, Kanginguak, ..... Kigdliii.irarsuk, .... A .Man living on K.irusuk, . Ataisuntsiak, ..... Among tiie Fast Angakut at Kangerdlugsualsiak, .\lungak, a 'i'ale from Labrador, Malarsuak, a Story from Fast Greenland, A Tale from Fab.ador, Aklaujak, a Tale from Labrador, The Giant of Kangersuak or Cape Farewell, The Kidnappers. .... uit. lienevo- loll. at llu 35 > 354 3.58 361 362 Util .>/."> .1/" 3«^5 3 ^^9 392 3'^" J 00 404 410 414 41S 420 4-4 427 42S 43' 434 437 43^ 43^'' 439 440 44" 44' 442 443 443 444 4-14 445 440 44t) 447 44S 449 449 449 450 ^ Xll CONTENTS. 1 06. Tlie Visiting Animals, . 450 107. Avij^iatsiak, ..... 450 108. The Bird's Cliff, 451 109. Kuanak, an Anfjakok in South Greenland, . 451 no. An Anfjakok on Kekertarsuak, 452 III. Sin{;ajuk and his Descendants, 453 112. The Cousins, ...... 453 113- Manik, ...... 454 114. The Land of the Isarukitsok Bird, 455 "5- Kakortuliak, ...... 455 116. The Kuinasarinook, ..... 456 117. An Old Man, who was always anxious to outdo other Peopl e, 456 118. The Revenijing Animals, .... 456 119. The lydlokok, ..... 457 120. Ivianj^crsook travelled all around the Coast of Greenland, . 458 121. A Married Couple remained Childless on account of thei r both being Angakok, .... . 458 122. An Old Man lost his only Son, . 459 123. Angakorsiak was very proud of his Angakok Wisdom, 459 124. A Girl named Tuagtuanguak, 460 125. The Gifts from the Under-world, 461 126. 'I'lie Tupilak, 461 127. Tile Grateful Bear, . 462 128. Tlie Inhaliilants of Akilinck, 462 129. Tile Mother and Son as Kivigtut, 462 130. Tlie llelj) from Ingncrsuit, . 463 I3I- The Removal of Disco Island, 464 152. The Amarok, 464 133. An Old Bachelor 465 134- A Girl named Isserfik, , 465 I35- Tlie Sunrise, .... 466 136. Tlie /Vrnarkuagsak, . 466 >37. Saugak, .... 466 13S. The Bloody Rock, 467 139. Isigarsigak ami iiis Sister, 467 140. A Woman named Arnasugaussak, . 468 141. A Talc from Kast Greenland, 468 142. .\iiotlicr T.ile from Kast Greenland, . 468 >43- Tlie Swimmer, a Tale from Labrador, 469 144. The Natives of Lalirador, 469 145- The Shark as I'lovider, 470 146. A Woman named Alekakukiak, 470 147. The Ocean.s])ider, .... 471 148. A Woman wiio was mated with a Dog, 471 149. Katigagse, .... 471 150. Ordluvarsuk, ..... 472 THE ESKIMO. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. WITH the exception of a few small and scattered tribes who may be considered as the only link between the coast people and the inlanders, the Eskimo always have their habitations close to the sea, or on the banks of rivers in the immediate vicinity of their outlets into the sea. Even on their hunting and trading expe- ditions they seldom withdraw more than twenty, and only in very rare cases more than eighty miles, from the .sea-shore. Save a slight intermixture of European set- tlers, the Eskimo are the only inhabitants of tiie shores of Arctic America, and of both sides of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, including Greenland, as well as a tract of about four hundred miles on the Behring Strait coast of Asia. Southward they extend as far as about 50° N.L. on the eastern side, and 60" on the western side of America, and from 55" to 60° on the shores of Hudson Bay. Only on the west the Eskimo near their frontier are interrupted on two small spots of the coast by the Indians, named Kennayans and Jgalenzes, who have there advanced to the sea-shore for the sake of fishing. These coasts of Arctic America, of course, also comprise all the surroundinir islands. Of these the Aleutian 2 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. Islands form an exceptional group ; the inhabitants of these on the one hand distinctly differing from the coast people here mentioned, while on the other they show a closer relationship to the Eskimo than any other na- tion. The Aleutians, therefore, may be considered as only an abnormal branch of the Eskimo nation. The Aleutian language, though differing completely from the Eskimo with regard to the sound of the words, shows a great similarity to it in structure ; and otherwise the Aleutians only seem to differ from the Eskimo in- asmuch as some institutions have been slightly more developed among them. On the other hand, all over the eastern and widest parts of their territories the Eskimo are very distinctly severed from the adjoining natiohs. In the western part some slight transitions may be traced : namely, in the case of the inland Eskimo by the different situation of their dwelling-places ; in that of the Aleutians by their language and social insti- tutions. Finally, it may be mentioned that a few small Indian tribes have adopted somewhat of the Eskimo mode of life, which has also been the case with some of their neighbours on the Asiatic side. As regards their northern limits, the Eskimo people, or at least remains of their habitations, have been found nearly as far north as any Arctic explorers have hitherto advanced ; and very possibly bands of them may live still farther to the nortl:, as yet quite unknown to us. From the north-western to the southernmost point the Eskimo territories in a straight line measure about 3200 miles. If we consider their extreme western range to be Behring Strait, and their extreme eastern one to be Labrador and Greenland, the natives from either of these points would have to travel about 5000 miles along the coast in order to reach the others. Strictly speaking, these journeys might still be performed by the natives with their own means of conveyance ; but there are certain boundaries which, in our days at least, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. are scarcely ever passed — partly on account of natural obstacles, partly because the nation at those points has been broken up into tribes, whose mutual intercourse for the purpose of barter has been frequently interrupted by hostilities. For these reasons the Eskimo might now be divided into many smaller tribes. But from our point of view the following principal divisions will be sufficient : — 1. The East Grccnhmdci's, along the whole of the cast coast of Greenland down to Cape Farewell, the south- ernmost of whom every year make bartering excursions to the Danish settlement nearest the Cape, and have intercourse with the next section. 2. TJic West Greenhinders, or inhabitants of the Danish trading districts from the Cape upwards to 74^ N.L. In conformity with the administrative division of the colonies, they arc generally divided into North and South Greenlanders — only the latter arc not to be confounded with the next, with whom they seem to have had no intercourse whatever since these regions have been known to Europeans. 3. T/ie Northernmost GrcenlaiiderSy or inhabitants of the west coast to the north of Melville Bay, or what Sir John Ross called the "Arctic Highlanders." 4. The Labrador Eskimo. 5. The Eskimo of the middle ;r^/Vv/.f, occupy in'g all the coasts from Baffin and Hudson Bays to Barter Island no" ■ Mackenzie River. This division is the most widely spread of them all — its territories representing an extent of land, traversed and intercepted in many directions by the sea, measuring 2000 miles in length and 800 miles in breadth. Perhaps there may be reasons for estab- lishing subdivisions of this section, but they do not appear anywhere to exhibit such mutual differences as those separating them from the next tribe, with whom they have regular meetings on Barter Island. 6. The Western Eskimo, inhabiting the remaining SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. coast of America from Barter Island to the west and south. They seem to deviate from all the former in respect of certain habits, such as the labial ornaments of the men and the head-dress of the women. They must also be considered as the nearest akin to the Aleu- tians and the inland Eskimo, and in the vicinity of Alaska they show traces of intermingled Indian blood. This may be owing to the Indian women captured in war with the Eskimo having been married into the nation. 7. The Asiatic Eskimo. As regards their development when they first became known to modern Europeans, the Eskimo may be classed with the prehistoric races of the age of the ground stone tools with the exceptional use of metals. It has been usual to designate all nations of this kind as "savages ;" some authors have even described them as being totally destitute of those mental qualities through which any kind of culture is manifested, such as social order, laws, sciences, arts, and even religion. That those opinions find utterance can scarcely be wondered at when we observe the carelessness with which such important questions are discussed, and see travellers who merely go on shore from a ship and spend a couple of hours with the inhabitants proceed to make inquiries as to their ideas of God and the origin of the world ; and also how European settlers among natives whose language they are quite unconversant with pretend to have found them altogether without religion. Such views, however, resting upon the pre- judice of race and on superficial observation, are now being abandoned. We have gradually been finding out that manifestations of culture must be supposed to exist in every nation, although they may not assume the same form as those we observe among more advanced races. We think it a great mistake to suppose any people de- void of religion ; and it seems to us equally unreason- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 able to fancy a community of men living altogether without laws, if by laws we understand bonds or restric- tions by which the community voluntarily limits the free actions of its members. In the lower stages of development, the laws, being principally represented by habits and customs, leave the individual perhaps even less free than in a more civilised state, inasmuch as they dictate his mode of life, and not even in his most pri- vate and domestic affairs is he left to act at liberty. These habits and customs are closely allied to the reli- gious opinions, by which they are still more powerfully influenced. When laws and religion were asserted to be wanting, there was still less likelihood of art and .science being observed. In these introductory remarks we shall endeavour to explain how these utterances of culture are for the most part embodied in the traditional tales. It is in accordance with the views here stated that the author has been guided in attempting to divide and arrange the subject-matter of the following remarks. It has already been mentioned, and will, moreover, be- come evident from the traditions, that the Eskimo ex- hibit great conformi' and similarity, notwithstanding their being spread over such vast territories. An ex- amination of one of the principal divisions or triijes named above will therefore more or less illustrate the others. For this reason the Greenlanders, who are by far the best known of all, may here be considered to represent the Eskimo in general ; though it must not be forgotten that, as there can scarcely have e.xisted any absolute stability with regard to culture lasting for many centuries, there is also no absolute or actual identity between the different tribes. It must therefore be kept in mind that wherever no other particulars are specially brought forward, the following descriptions refer to the West Greenlanders, such as their state is supposed to hrve been when Europeans came to settle among them during last century — viz., in 1/21. 3r^^ mmmmftmmmmfmm SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. I. — Subsistence and Mode of Life. The sustenance of the Eskimo is entirely derived from the capture of seals and cetaceous animals, which has made them inhabitants of the sea-shore. Both kinds of animals enable them, especially by means of their blubber, and the seals also by their skins, to brave the severity of climate, and, independent of any vegetable resources, to settle and procure the means of life as far north as any explorers have hitherto found human ..i- habitants. The seals are sufficient, and at the same time indispensable, for this purpose. They are caught partly from kayaks, or shuttle-shaped boats, and partly from the ice and the shore. Among their more or less peculiar hunting contrivances we may mention : (i) Their kayaks, or boats ^ zvJiich consist of a fraineivork of luood, joined together principally by strings, and pro- vided zvitk a cover of skins impenetrable to the water. (2) The adjustment of the kayak itself and the kayak- coverings, with a view to provide an entire shelter for the kayaker, or seal-hunter, with the exception only of the face, to protect him against the water. Only a small number of Eskimo have kayaks fitted for more than a single man;^ and still more exceptionally, in the far- thest north some are found who have no kayaks at all, from the sea being almost constantly frozen. (3) The adaptation of a bladder filled luith air to the harpoons or Javelins, in order, by retarding the animals, to prevent them escaping after being struck, and to prevent the harpoon sinking, should the hunter miss his aim. (4) The very ingenious ivay in ivhich the point of these iveapons, and of the spears with which the animals are finally killed, are fitted into the shaft, so that having penetrated ^ Such kay.iks, suited for two people — one sitting behind the other — are the "baidars" of the Eskimo of Bchring Strait. erived which kinds their ve the etable as far an ..1- same aught partly )r less .: (I) >rk of pro- ,vater. ayak- 'or the if the small ban a 2 far- t all, The ns or svent t the (4) pons, nally 'ated other ■IIP SS^H^PP mmm im mmtm nijsr 7. SUBSISTENCE AND MODE OF LIFE. 7 the skin of the animal, the point is bent out of the shaft, which is either entirely loosened, while only the point with the line and the bladder remains attached to the animal, or keeps hanging at the point. Without this precaution, the animal in its struggles would break the shaft or make the barbs slip out of its body again. (5) The sledge zvith the dogs trained for drawing it. In speaking of these complex contrivances as characteristic of the Eskimo, we do not claim any of them as their exclusive property or invention, or as having been un- known among other nations now or in former ages. It would, however, be perhaps difficult to find anything at all like their kayaks in any other part of the globe. Their divellhigs are always of two kinds — namely, tents for the summer, and houses or huts for winter use. The tents, generally adapted for less than ten and rarely for more than twenty individuals, consist of from ten to fourteen poles, with one end raised high and leaning on the frame which forms the entrance, and the whole covered over with a double layer of skins. The tents seem to be constructed in the same way everywhere, and to differ from those of neighbouring nations in hav- ing their highest point at the entrance in front, from which the roof inclines towards the sides, resting all round upon a low wall of stones and turf; while the neighbouring tribes generally construct their tents of a conical form, with the top in the centre. The winter- houses are far more varied in structure. Generally they are built of stones and turf, the roof-spars and the pillars which support the middle of the roof being of wood. Only the Eskimo of the middle regions have vaults of snow for their habitations ; whilst the western Eskimo build their houses chiefly of planks, merely covered on the outside with green turf. Some of the very far northern Eskimo are obliged to use bones or stones instead of wood. As to the form of the houses, the passage leading into them is long and very narrow, and ViiKf 7- nnhi«.«i III -•"• II n - I 8 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. elevated towards both ends — viz., the outer and the inner entrances ; so that on entering the house one has first to descend, and afterwards again to ascend before reach- ing the interior. This consists of a single apartment, only the ledge or bench for resting and sleeping on is divided into separate portions for the different families. In Greenland the ledge or bench — the " brix," as the Danes call it — only occupies one side of the house, its length being proportioned to the number of the families, whose rooms or stalls are separated by low screens, each of these rooms having its lamp standing on the floor in front of it. The snow-huts, from their circular form, are of course arranged differently ; and this is also the case with the plank-houses in western Eskimo-Land, which have a cooking-place in the centre of the floor, with a smoke-hole in the roof, like the houses of tl j neighbouring Indians. But the house-passage h s generally everywhere a small side-room with a cooking- place. The provisions are sometimes kept in rooms connected with the house or house-passage ; in other places in separate storehouses, or in caves or holes of the rocks covered with stones. In former times it seems to have been the custom at the more populous places to have a public building for meetings, especially for solemn occasions. Such buildings are still in com- mon use among the western Eskimo : they are also spoken of in Labrador ; and in Greenland they are well known by tradition, and were called Kagsse; while in other districts they are termed kagge, karrigi, and kashim. Though the dwelling-houses are nearly always built for more than one family, the number of these is seldom found to exceed three or four. In south Green- land, however, houses have been met with more than sixty feet in length, and containing stalls for ten families. At Point Barrow, Simpson found nearly fifty houses with two karrigi, for 309 inhabitants. The dress for men and women is much alike, consist- Woman loith a child in the atmnot {after present fashion). Godlhaab. P>tge 3. tVPili! f W I A st'tl in fioluiay costume {present fashion). Gotithaab. SUBSISTENCE AND MODE OF LIFE. ing of trousers, and a jacket with a hood to be drawn up to cover the head (at least for men), and otherwise fitting tightly round the body, leaving no opening ex- cepting for the face and the hands. The same shape is adopted for the kayak-jacket, the inside border of which is pressed closely round the rim encircling the opening in which the man sits, and the hands are pro- tected by a pair of waterproof leather mittens. The foot-gear consists of different kinds of boots, exceedingly well made, and in preparing the skins for the manu- facture of which a considerable degree of cr.re and in- genuity is displayed. The Eskimo may more properly be classed among t/ie people having fixed divcllings than among the wandering nations, because they generally winter in the same place through even more than one generation, so that love of their birthplace is a rather predominating feature in their character. During the rest of the year, however, they are constantly on the move, carrying their tents and all their furniture with them from one place to another, choosing their route with different objects, generally preferring that of reindeer-hunting, but also having an eye to seal-hunting, fishery, or trade. When travelling in this manner for very distant places, they are some- times arrested on their route and obliged to take up winter quarters before reaching their proper destination. An Eskimo from the northern shores of Hudson Bay, who accompanied Franklin as interpreter, is said to have reported that people in his house reside^ during the winter on the borders of the lakes in the interior, and in summer at the sca-shorc. If this be true, it would form a remarkable exception to the general rule. The mode of life of the Eskimo being mainly that of hunters and fishers, they must, in comparison with other nations, be regarded — speaking broadly — as having no regular property. They only possess the most necessary utensils and furniture, with a stock of provisions for less lO SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. than one year ; and these belongings never exceed cer- tain limits fixed upon by tradition or custom. On account of these limits, which are of great importance as regards their social order, and the laws which will be dis- cussed hereafter, the properties may be thus classified : — 1. Property owned by an association of generally more than one family — e.g.^ the winter-house, which, however, is only of any real value as regards the timber em- ployed in raising it, the rest of it being built of such materials as are to be found everywhere, by the work of women's hands. 2. Property the common possession of one, or at most of three families of kindred — viz., a tent and everything belonging to the household, such as lamps, tubs, dishes of wood, soapstone pots ; a boat, or umiak, which can carry all these articles along with the tent ; one or two sledges with the dogs attached to them ; the latter, however, are wanting in South Greenland. To this must be added the stock of winter provisions, represent- ing as much as, used exclusively, will be sufficient for two or three months' consumption ; and lastly, a varying but always very small store of articles for barter. 3. As regards personal property — /.^., owned by ever}' individual — cognisance must be taken of clothes, consist- ing of, at least for the principal members of the family, two suits, but rarely more ; the sewing implements of the wo- men ; the kayaks of the men, with tools and weapons be- longing to these ; a few other tools for working in wood ; and weapons for the land-chase. Only a very few first- rate seal-hunters own two kayaks, but several of them have two suits of the appertaining implements, — namely, the iafge harpoon (tukaJc, the point ; and ernangnak, the shaft of it), with its bladder and line ; the bladder-arrow or javelin (agdligaic), a smaller harpoon with the bladder at- tached to its shaft ; the bird-arrow or bird-spear (nugflt) ; the lance or spear (anguvigaJc), the point of which is with- out barbs ; fishiug-lincsy and various smaller articles. o= =^^ The /at CI It); ith- A I'dvnki'r in half-jiulu't of skin, 'diV I* Thrower. O^- 'tuwhK Kfiiii.iiti i',/,ijfr/itji /jMW,: ^^: ^Jd7^ 'MiwMamMMm\iw\iiliM«tmii«m gM, /'//(• large harpoon, loitJi if:^ t/n% -' cr- A'avak paddle. A I'livnlvr in half- jacket of xhin, and a rohile coffon jack Throuicy. wwiimuMmmi\ii\i,iiiM'ii;li\iMiCimaigi,ii \ ^e ha7-poon, inifh if^ th)\rii.ysnd fasliioii). Tnirdhrs in umiak. PilTif io ^ mmm smaimjum^r^m SUBSISTENCE AND MODE OF LIFE. I I Excepting the houses of the western Eskimo, which, being composed of timber, are of more value, the condi- tions of property seem to be nearly alike everywhere. With a few exceptions, the natives carry all their mov- able goods along with them in the boat on their summer travels, and on arriving at some narrow strip of land which has to be crossed, everything is brought over along with the boat. Notwithstanding their very limited feeling as to ac- cumulating property, the Eskimos have kept up a kind of ira^ic among themselves, and it is for this purpose that some of their most distant journeys are undertaken. But the mere desire to travel may perhaps have urged them quite as much as the prospect of gain. The ob- jects for barter have been such as were produced or were only to be found in certain localities, and which never- theless might to a certain degree be considered almost indispensable — such as soapstone, and the lamps and vessels manufactured from it, whalebone, narwal and walrus teeth, certain kinds of skin, sometimes even finished boats and kayaks, but rarely articles of food. The articles looked upon as most precious were, how- ever, any objects made of metal, or other materials more exclusively possessed by foreign nations. In the most remote ages the Eskimo on those trading expedi- tions appear to have overpassed their present southern limits. This may be gathered partly from pure Eskimo words being found in the language of more southern tribes, partly from the sagas of the old Scandinavians, who seem to have met travelling Eskimo even to the south of Newfoundland. In more modern times, a regular trading communication has been discovered, by means of which certain articles from Asia have reached the Eskimo of the middle territories, perhaps even sometimes the shores of Davis Strait or Hudson Bay; and others, on the other hand, have travelled from there to Bchring Strait, — all through internal trading carried on among 12 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. ! the natives themselves. No communication of this kind seemed to have existed between the tracts last named and Greenland ; but the inhabitants of different parts of Greenland, with the exception of the northernmost tribes, have always maintained an intercommunication. The European settlements have, of course, entirely altered or annihilated this intercourse ; but even while it existed, the mutual trade among the natives has scarcely given rise to any organisation of labour, or furthered any kind of industry which might have been of some consequence for the development of certain manufactures. Every community of kindred being in possession of a boat and a tent, must be able to provide what is necessary to secure themselves a comfortable life, except the few articles mentioned as among the principal articles of trade. II.— Language. Of all the original American languages, perhaps none has been so minutely scrutinised, both lexicographically and grammatically, as that of the Greenlanders. The Labrador dialect also belongs to the better known amongst them. But as regards the dialect spoken by the western Eskimo on the shores of Behring Strait, our only source of information is a few lists of words given by travellers of different nations, partly modified by translation. Such exist in Russian, English, and German. There are also a few very scanty grammatical remarks given by a single author. These lists are inevitably exceedingly imperfect copies of the original words. They have been procured by questioning natives, which has been partly done by gestures and J ,i id id ts St n. le IS )r n n n ^ ^ ^ ■ 1 ^ •^ 05 •s^ ^ f I"; c.(;e 12. mtmm ■^^w^^w^wr" mmifmm mm LANGUAGE. 13 through interpreters of little intelligence ; and then the structure is so widely different from that of European languages, that a single word in most cases has no cor- responding word in these, but requires several for its complete expression. The sounds, too, may make a different impression on different hearers — may be imper- fectly expressed in Russian, English, and German writ- ing, and this also may not be free from errors of tran- scription. All this may cause any amount of misunder- standing. Let us first take up the question of a variety of dialects, where closer examination will perhaps show the contrary. These authors alluded to mention about eight different Eskimo dialects round Behring Strait. Some examples will explain how the supposed differ- ences between ihe words here and in Greenland may have originated. For instance, wife is called nulijak and ahanak ; man, uika and ;/.. . 'pack; baby, inukisskok ; shoulders, tuichka and tiiik ; hand, tatlichka and aiged; dying, tiikko and tiikocucJituk ; cold, ninhlicJitti and paz- nachtuk ; \\QdXy matschachtiik and uknachiuk ; fvvQ, eknck and knk (!). Let us now take what we find in the Greenlandish dictionary and grammar : nulioK, wife (of a man) ; axnaK, woman ; uviga, my husband ; nukagpiaii:, unmarried man ; mikissoK, small ; tuvika, my shoulders ; tuvik, shoulders ; tatdhka, my arms ; agssait, fingers or hand ; toKO, death ; toKussoK, dead ; uigdlertoK, cool ; panertoK, dry ; masagtoK, wet ; tinartoK, hot ; ingneK, fire. The apparent differences between these two lists seem evidently to have arisen from mere misunderstand- ing, without any real variation between the languages. On comparing, in the same manner, the rest of the lists of words from Behring Strait, two - thirds or three- fourths of the words are found to be more or less Green- landish. Moreover, taking into consideration the manner in which travellers have been enabled to communicate with one tribe of Eskimo, by interpreters taken from another, and that the difference between the Greenland 14 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. II and the Labrador is smaller than, for instance, between Swedish and Danish, one is induced to assume an affin- ity of language among all the real Eskimo sufficient to allow mutual intercourse everywhere. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the language of the Eskimo to the west of the Mackenzie is considerably different from that of the eastern tribes. Taking it for granted that Greenlandish may be held to represent the Eskimo tongue in general, we shall endeavour to give an idea of its remarkable construction. Its most striking general peculiarity is the length of its words ; and this, in fact, expresses its chief dissimilarity from all languages, except the American. What in other tongues may demand a whole sentence, and even additional dependent sentences, in Greenlandish may sometimes be expressed by a single verb. Consequently, Greenlandish grammar has both to construct words and to fix them in the sentence. This construction is effected by the help of additional elements or imperfect words, having no meaning by themselves, but expressive as additions to the main word, with which they can be combined in varieties of number and order, every com- bination altering or modifying the sense of the radical or adding a certain complexity of notions to it. Com- position is completed by flexion, and particul irly by conjugation, v/hich not only, as in several other dialects, can make the verb include a pronoun as subject, but also as object, and in this way can form a sentence by itself, whereby these additional elements may render the sentence compound, or even include other sentences. The following abstract of Samuel Klclnschmidt's Green- landish grammar will give a sufficient idea of this process : — Writin^i^ and pronunciation, — The language is written with the same letters as the German, only omitting some, and with the addition of the following : — K, differing from k by its being formed in the remotest \ I LANGUAGE. 15 part of the mouth, and sounding as something between gh, rk, and rkr. r, sounding like a very guttural German ch. ss, like the French j. ng and rng, nasal sounds. The pronunciation of the vowels is often modified by the next consonants. The letter a is often heard as in the English word at. The accents 'a -^^ , which show whether the syllable is to be pronounced sharp, long, or long combined with sharp, are of the greatest import- ance as to the sense of a word. Otherwise, the letters have mostly the same power as in German and the Scandinavian tongues. Greenlandish likes simplicity in its syllables, prefer- ring those composed of one vowel and one consonant. More than one consonant in a syllable is allowed, if any harshness should arise. No word can end with other consonants than k, k, p, and t, nor begin with others than these, and m, n, and s. All the combinations of consonants possible in the structure of words are limited to thirty. Parts of speech, — The words are composed of the stem and the enclitic Jor flexion. The stem can be changed, even abbre^'iatcJ to the root, which is the part always remaining. TJie stems are divided into (i) priinitivc. as igdlo, house ; (2) added, as ssuajt, great or lar^c ; lik, having or endowed with. The latter can never be used alone, but must be appended to the former singly, or followed by more, as igdlorssuait, a large house ; igdlorssualiK, one who has a large house. These added stems, which l-i -haps originally were words, are numerous as well as completely movable, and can be embodied in the word as required by the meaning. Affixes of this kind are of course not wanting in our better-known European languages, but are by no means so numerous or service- able as in Greenlandish. On the other hand, the forma- i6 tion of compound words by simply joining other real wordi.1, is completely unknown in Greenlandish. With regard to their endings, both kinds of stems are divided into (i) nominal, having of themselves the meaning of nouns ; (2) verbal, which, with their proper endings> are only used exceptionally in phrases, or with the sense of interjections, but for the verbal purpose require a particular addition, which is the part altered through the conjugation — for instance, ajoK and pisuk are incomplete words, giving the notions of illness and going, but with the verbal ending they give ajorpoK, he is bad ; pisugpoK, he goes. By help of the same ending also, nouns can be converted into verbs, but only a few of them, and then they comprise some peculiar additional signification, such as that of acquiring or get- ting, as atftK, a seal ; &tarpo&, he caught a seal. In the way here described, the stems give rise to nouns and verbs ; and in reality these are nearly the only elements of speech in this tongue, which otherwise has only some particles or inflexible words, and even these seem to have had the same source, whereas all the other parts of speech are more or less directly to be looked for in the nouns and verbs, the pronouns especially in the latter. The grammatical forms. — Flexion is obtained by help of some additional endings, combined with more or less modification of the word. It comprises the number — viz., singular, dual, and plural ; and as to the verbs, also persons, as igdlo, a house ; igdluk, two houses ; igdlut, several houses ; takuvoK, he sees ; takuvugut, we see. Next, the flexions express something relating to another thing, either as a property or as an object ; and in these cases they have obtained the name of sujjixes, as igdlua, his house ; igdluvut, our houses ; takuv^, he sees it ; takuvavut, we see them. Moreover, the nouns, be- sides their simple form, ii) which they are uiied as objects, aiid which on this I'cccunt is called objec»'Vi., al^o LANGUAGE. 17 have a subjective form given to them, either in case of their being possessors (corresponding to genitive) or subjects in a transitive sentence, as teriangniaK, the fox ; teriangniap, the fox's ; teriangniaK takuvft, he sees the fox ; teriangniap takuvft, the fox sees him. In nouns flexion also takes the place of prepositions, by help of cases answering to the questions zvhere, in ivhat way, w/ierefOy in what manner^ — as nuua, land ; nuname, on the land ; nunavtinut, to our land. Lastly, in verbs the flexion comprises seven moods — viz., indicative, inter- rogative, optative, conjunctive, subjunctive, infinitive, and participle. While end-flexion thus expresses the relations in a remarkable manner, on the other hand it has no form for sex and tense. The context must show whether the verb has the sense of present or past, and otherwise time is expressed more distinctly by help of additional stems containing the notions of begins to, has finished, is going to, joined to the original verb. As regards nouns particularly, they all in their ob- jective form end in a vowel, or in k, k, and t, the subjec- tive taking p, the dual k, and the plural t. There are two Linds of suffixes expressing the relation to the sentence itaoli", or to another ; and besides this, every suffix has its .jCuuUar form for number, subjective, objective, and the lucal cases. But in order to add the above flexional lti''f*.''_;, the nouns themselves, in certain cases, must be somewhat modified ; and the rules for this transforma- tion are nearly the only complicated part of Greenlandish grammar. Yet the natives would seem sometimes not to consider this transformation absolutely necessary in correct speaking, saying igdlo, house ; igdlut, houses ; but tiipoK, tent ; tovKit, or also tupit, tents, l^xcepting *hese transformations, the numerous forms may be re- presented by help of a scheme which can be written on a quarto page. The verbs are divided, according to the mark of the U i8 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. third person indicative, into five classes, with endings as follow : poK, rpoK, gpoK, vok, and aoK, but each still to be conjugated according to the same scheme, which com- prises all the numerous combinations of these forms — viz., numbers, persons, suffixes, and moods — and still, on account of its regularity, can be written on one folio page. Negation is expressed by the additional stem ngilaK, which is conjugated in a somewhat peculiar manner. In consequence of what has just been explained, per- sonal pronoun, <'^p<~ra\\y are of no use. Still, some words of pronoHi, signification exist, used when the person must be expressed more distinctly ; but even those words seem to have been formed by help of suffixes, such as uvanga, I, which perhaps originally signified, my being here. However, of demonstrative roots twelve are found corresponding to the notions here (ma), north, south, there, above, &c. Without any addition or flexion, they only occur as interjections, but otherwise always as nouns, answering to the questions — w/iar, ivJicncc, ivJiich zvay, and ivJicrcto. Of these roots, pronouns for the third person are formed by adding na, with the sense of, tJiis here (m&na), he there in the north, &c. The real numerals only run from i to 5, like the fingers on one hand, then the fingers on the other are enumerated, and afterwards, if necessary, the toes on the feet. For this reason 20 is called " the man finished." The rest are expressed by some partitive word show- ing the number counted, as atauseK, i ; mardluk, 2 ; pingasut, 3 ; sisamat, 4 ; tatdlimat, 5 ; but arfinoK pin- gasut, 8 (or 3 upon the other hand) ; 24 is called 4 upon the second man, and 80, finishing 4 men. Construetion of ivords. — We have already mentioned the signification of the stems. These arc derived from root.s, and it must be supposed that either several stems have a common '•oot, or that several roots have been mmm LANGUAGE. 19 related to each other, as, for example, k6k, urine ; and ktik, a river. But the grammar does not explain the origin of the stems, whose formation is considered as accomplished and fixed ; and here we shall only try to give an idea of their further application in constructing words. With the exception only of the verbal ending, necessary for the formation of real verbs, words are always composed or formed by help of the additional stems, ^so called affixes. These are divided into (i) the transforming class, by which verbs can be converted into nouns, or nouns into verbs ; (2) the formative class, by which the word remains unchanged in this respect. A selection of the most remarkable additional stems or affixes. I. Added Nouns or Nominal Affixes. I. Transforming. toK or ssoK, being or doing so, consequently a sort of nomi- nal participle, as ajorpoK, he is bad ; ajortok, a bad one ; autdlarpoK, he goes away \ autdlartoK, he who is departed. taK, ssaK or gaK, representing a kind of passive participle, as ttinitipft, he gives it ; ttinitissaK:, what is given, a [)rescnt. flk, the time or place, when or where the action has passed. ut or t, the means or reason for the action, as agdlagpoK, he writes ; agdlaut, a thing to write with, pen, ink, and also the object described. 2. Formative. i p K ri w I i \ . Ml {I II. .)" •■ 56 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. of hunting, the belief was general that liberality in dis- posing of what had been taken secured future success. If a person who used to have ill-luck visited a successful hunter when an angakok was present, the latter used to cut a piece out of the liver of a seal caught by the lucky hunter and give it to the unlucky one, who chewed and swallowed it slowly. Sacrifices (mingulerterrineK or aitsuineK) were not much used. Besides the fox-flesh to the kiiugusotarissat, gifts were offered to the inue of certain rocks, capes, and ice-firths, principally when travelling and passing those places, Certain marks of homage \-;ere, moreover, ob- served towards the inue of various localities, such as iiL.iL"iining from laughing, from pointing at them, &c. The expelling, capturing, and destroying of evil and dangerous spirits was ordinarily incumbent upon the a".gakut. The traditions, however, mention similar oper- ations as pract -d also by other people; and even in cur own day, there are cases of this among the Chris- tian inhabitants, such as shooting at tupilaks and umi- arissat. Several fetid and stinking matters, such as old urine, are excellent means for keeping away all kinds of evil-intentioned spirits and ghosts. (2.) Men gifted tvith S/eeia/ Endownients. The pe'sons now to be spoken of belong to the class we have already referred to as im&inaK ingitsut, or not of common kind — not like other people. They may be regarded a. much the same as canny foU: of the Scottish peasant, wise men or clairvoyants. Tarneounek, the act of taking the soul out of the body, may be achieved either by external means, or l)y dreams or several states of the soul. When delivered in this way, especially by the power of the moon or by dreams, the soul is enabled to roam all over the universe, and return with news from thence. Piz'd/ingayak means a fool or " natural ;'' ivk\ /ii'd/er- RELIGION. 57 ortok, a mad or delirious person. By degrees as madness increases, disturbing the operation of the senses, and clouding the judgment and insight into things present, the absent or concealed things, and the events of the future, unfold themselves to the inner sight of the soul. A pivd; Tortok was even gifted with a faculty of walking upon the water, besides the highest perfection in divin- ing, but was at the same time greatly feared ; whereas the pivdlingayak, being also clairvoyant, was esteemed a useful companion to the inhabitams of a hamlet. Piarknsiak was a child born after several others had died off at a tender age. It was considered specially proof against all kinds of death-bringing influences, especially witchcraft, and therefore employed in persecuting witches. A child like this was even more than ordinarily petted, and had all its wishes complied with. Agdhrutig{Ji)issak — viz., having been the cause of agdlerneK, or of certain rules of abstinence observed by the mother — was a child fostered in a manner similar to the angherdlartMgsiak, and also considered to have a peculiar faculty for resisting witchcraft. Kiligtisiak was a man brought up by an angakok with tlio v>urpose of training him for a clairvoyant, which on the ^..irt of thj angakok was performed by taking him on his knee during his conjurations. Kilaituhissi'k and ncrfalassok wcvc people wl'.o, having failed in becoming angakok, had nevertheless acquired a faculty for detecting hidtlen thin-s and causes. In cases of sickness, the head of the invalid was made fast by a thong to the end of a stick, and on lifting it up (KilaunoK), the nature of the sickness was discovcicd. ■m t 4. AnGAKOONICK 01; PkII'STUOOI). With regard to the name angdkoK (plural, angftkut), it cannot be traced back in tlie usual way to any positive root, but it appears to be closely akin to angivoK, he is great; angojoK, the older one; angajoritat, the parents. n^Ffr *H i\ f! 58 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. In a vocabulary of the language spoken by the inland Eskimo on the borders of the river Kuskokwim, or the tribe farthest from the Grcenlanders, the " Shaniaiis " are called tungalik and analchttik, which words afford a striking instance of similarity, showing the unity of all the Eskimo tribes, the latter sounding somewhat akin to angakok, the first corresponding to the Green- landish word tdrnalife — viz., ojic ivJio oiuns tornaks, a quality that constitutes the real definition of an angakok. Another tribe nearer to Bchring Strait, denominated by the rather curious name of TscJuiagniiut (probably a corruption of a word like the Grecnlandish sinamiut, coast people), is also said to use the word tungalik for a " Shaman,'' and a third tribe in the same district to use the word augaigok for a " chief.'" Women as well i^s men might become angakut ; and this profession appears to have two, or even more, dif- ferent stages. But the highest of these, described by the older authors as that of an angakok poo/ik, is not confirmed as being known by the present Grcenlanders. The "studies" necessary before becoming an angakok were in most cases begun in infancy, an angakok edu- cating the child as kiligtisiak. Afterwards, self-applica- tion was required, consisting in strict fasting and invok- ing tornarsnk while staying alone in solitary places, in this way the soul became partly independent of the body and of the external world ; finally, tornarsuk appeared and provided the \\o\ :e with a toniak — viz., a hel[)ing or guardian spirit, whom he might call to his aid by taking certain measures any time he chose. While this revelation was being made, the apprentice or pupil-angakok fell into a state of unconsciousness, and on regaining his senses, lie was supposed to have returned to mankind. Some of the old people speak of angaknssarjiks, or caves, containing a stone with an even surface and a smaller one, the angakok api)rentice having to grintl tlic first with the second until tornarsuk RELIGION. 59 ' announced himself in a voice arising from the depths of the earth. Others maintain that only the inferior angakut perfected themselves in these caves, while the higher grade was obtained by allowing vermin to suck the blood of the apprentice in a dried-up lake, until the unconsciousness just referred to came on. On returning to men subsequent to this meeting with tornarsuk, before he became an acknowledged angakok, he had still to show his power by calling forth his tornak. During this interval, his state would sometimes be revealed by the fact of his feet sinking in the rocky ground just as in snow ; and according to others, he w^as liable to die if he ciid not manifest himself within a cer- tain time. The clairvoyants could detect the angakut from their breathing fire like the witches ; they had not, however, black arms like these. If an incipient angakok failed ten times in succession to call forth liis tornak, he had to give up his claims to become an angakok, but still remained a canny or peculiarly gifted individual. An angakok had more than one tornak, and most of the inue of land and sea could be made such, and also the souls of kivigtut, of the dead, and of animals. As to the services rcnderer'. by these, some of them were only advising and informing spirits, others assistant ones in danger, and others, again, revenging and destruc- tive powers. The first kind, called OKungassoK, were indispensable on account of their skill, but were without strength, though they boasted of their bravery, and were therefore ridiculed. According to the early authors, an angakok was raised to a higher grade, becoming/f'f 1\ r mm IK' 1 ■ t 60 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. and this belief in many ways acting upon the customs and social life of the people, the angakut necessarily became a kind of civil magistrate : and lastly, they had not only to teach their fellow-men how to obtain super- natural help, but also to give such assistance directly themselves. With regard to the mode of practising their art, it has to be remarked that they partly made use of the same medical appliances or remedies which are accessible to mankind in general, partly that tiiey had recourse to a means peculiar to the angakut — viz., summoning their tor- naks. The first kind of acts may more or less be ranked among those explained in the preceding section, only distinguished by being still more marvellous than those l)erformcd by ordinary people. Of course the art often dogencratcil into mere imposture, with a view to impress the credulous with awe. To the acts of this kind be- longed the anguiaiuck^ or taking out the entraih- of a sick i)erson, and returning them to their place after Jiaving them cleaned, the repairing of a soid, or from a tub of water divining information as to persons lost or missing articles. The other kind of deeds were per- formed by means of what is termed tdrnineK, or conjur- ing, the angakok either merely summoning a tornak and asking counsel of him, or himself starting for an ilimarnoii, or spirit-JligJit^ for the ])urposc of examining or accomplishing what was required, or finally calling forth evil spirits, such as witches and anghiaks, in order to defeat and destroy them. The art of torninck ■ ordin- arily had to be performed before a company of auditors in a house, this being made completely ilark, while the angakok was tied with the hands behind his back, and his head bet'vecn the legs, and thus placed on the floor beside a dram and a suspended skin, the rattling of which was to accompany the playing of the drum. The auditors then began a song, whicl\ being finished, tlie angakok proceeded to i.'ivoke the tornak, accompanying RELIGION. 6l ii' i his voice by the skin and the drum. The arrival of the tornak was known by a peculiar sound and the appear- ance of a hght or fire. If only information or counsel were required, the question was heard, as well as the answer- ing voice from without, the latter generally being some- vvhiit ambic^uous, in .some c.ises also said to proceed from tornarsuk himself If, on the other hand, the angakok had to make a Hight, he started through an opening which appeared of itself in the roof. Whether his llight was supposed to be a bodily one, or by his spirit alone, for the time severed from its mortal frame, is a (Question which, like many others connected with religious matters, has to be answered differently, according to the intelli- gence of the individuals applied to for information. Not until the torninck had been finished was the house allowed to be lighted as before,, on which the angakok showed himself released from his bands. During the following days no work was allowed to go on. in the house. Evil .spirits could exceptionally be summoned at daylight and in the open air, in the same way as the angakok at any time could invoke his tornaks, in case he himself required their assistance. Witchcraft, as well as certain other influences, such as the presence oi a wom.an hviving an anghiak, could make the conjuration fail, and even become fatal to the conjuror as well as to his audience. As regards their objects, the different branches of the craft cotisi-ted of the following: — Thai ' . giving counsel in all cases connected with supernatural help. That (-f discovering the cause of accidental disa.sters, including a certain judicial auth.ority — viz., that of de- nouncing certain individuals a.s guilty cither as regards witchcraft or any other violation of custoni.s or rules. '" ■ " ■' * rcised in discovering the person.') who had c'" was )fp ippt I \m I w 1 1 and ill tracing out and defeating enemies in general, as ! 1 ,il. I 62 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. well as those who, like the anghiaks, could only be per- ceived and caught by the angakut. Their other functions consisted in giving counsel and instructions as to the rules of abstinence and the mode of life, travels, hunting, and means of sustenance in general, as far as necessary on account of supernatural influence ; In procuring favourable weather (silagigsaineK) ; In procuring success in hunting (angussorsaineK or pilersaineic), either by conciliating the arnarkuagsa or by invoking a tornak in the shape of an iceberg called kiviugak. An angakok called to a sick person of any renown, if he saw his state was hopeless, used to console him in a solemn manner, if possible in company with others* praising the happiness of the life to come in low-keyed song accompanied by drum-playing. The angakut used a peculiar official language, chiefly made up of allegorical expressions and transformations of ordinary Grecnlandish words. The death of an angakok was believed to be generalTy attended by various strange phenomena. His soul, it ap- peared, had more than ordinary difficulty in disengaging itself from the body ; and he might thus happen to lie in a half-dead state, reviving at intervals. Death having finally taken place, after five days had elapsed, he was apt to reappear in the shape of a ghost. I 5. TiiKiR Ri:licious Bici.ief as inI'LUENCIng Life, Habits, AND Customs. The nation being so widely spread, its traditions, and especially the religious element in them, formed the only connecting-link between the scattered tribes ; just as the supporters of that belief, the angakut, in their persons afforded the means of connectii>n be- tween si.i.iller communities. From this cause religion, more than couUl reasonably be the case with nations in hij-;her stages of culture, became the standard by which RELIGION. 63 social and private life was alike regulated ; and this cir- cumstance also very likely accounts for the marked dis- inclination of the people to any change in their habits. It must be observed that, the angakut being the only authority who were acknowledged to derive their power from the supernatural world, naturally make the religious belief a governing principle in their ac- tions. Their influence, of course, at the same time, rested upon their greater intelligence and talent. The unshaken faith with which the population regarded their marvellous deeds cannot be explained except by supposing them to have had a more profound knowledge of the laws of nature, enabling them to form a more accurate conception than others of what was likely to happen as regards weather, hunting, sickness, and every- thing depending upon physical laws ; while as to their own belief, their skill in divination most probably was confounded in their own fancy with imagined revelations from superior beings. No doubt they themselves relied upon the reality of their supernatural performances, not- withstanding the necessity which, on the other hand, often caused them to act with the sole aim f more or less consciously deceiving others as well as themselves. The rules and customs concerning property, position, and what represented the administration of justice, evidently bore a close relation to their religious belief. The customs according to which an individual becanie member of a family, partaking of its reputation as well as its means of subsistence, were supported and C(M1- firmed by the belief that tlie souls of ancestors remained guardian spirits to their descendants, having left tliem their amulets and serrats as a kind of pledges. The same ideas must be regarded as having formed the princi))al foundation for the avenging of blood. The social institutions in connection with the local conditions leaving still ample room for arbitrary acts of violence, the fear of vengeance by ghosts, kivigtoks. ' I ■■•' ' \^' (; ■ I, il Mr til » "iwm n 64 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. ,1 ^^\ ■ -^ anghiaks, serrats, amulets, and tupilaks, must have powerfully contributed to prevent weak and helpless persons being wronged. By the custom of naming a child after a deceased person, it was intended to secure rest in his grave for the latter. The child, when grown up, was bound to brave the influences which had caused his death. If, for instance, the deceased had perished at sea, his successor had only so much greater an inducement for striving to grow a skilful kayaker. The education of children was apparently managed without any corporal punishment ; but threatening them with the vengeance of malevolent spirits, principally the kungusotarissat, was one of the means employed to keep unruly urchins in check. The various rules for abstinence in many instances certainly had a direct relation to health. As to the funeral rites, the treatment of the body being considered in some way to influence the state of the soul after death, it was generally placed on the floor, for the purpose of guiding the soul on its road to the under world ; but in the case of malefactors, the body was dismembered, and the separate limbs were thrown apart. Otherwise the funeral rites differed extremely, the Asiatic Eskimo, it is said, burning their dead, the East Greenlanders throwing them into the sea ; whereas the rest and greater part of the nation buried them beneath a heap of stones, or in a kind of stone cell. v.— Traditional Tales, Science, and Arts. In the Introduction to the Tales and Traditions which precedes them we shall endeavour to explain the pro- bable origin and the significance of the tales, as re- presenting the science, poetry, and religious doctrines of the nation. While these three elements are nene- nig TRADITIONAL TALES, SCIENCE, AND ARTS. 6$ rally more or less associated, there are many tales in which one of them may be said to predominate, so that these might with propriety be called either reli- gious, historical, or merely amusing tales. Anything traditional, apart from the tales, which could in any sense be called science, is only to be found in the anga- kok-wisdom, in addition to some trifling knowledge of medicine, of astronomy, and of dividing the year into seasons in conformity with the wanderings of animals, the position of the sun, moon, and stars, and other scanty observations derived from experience. Art, on the con- trary, we may properly consider to be separately repre- sented by songs, already mentioned as an entertain- ment at the festive meetings. In being recited or intoned, it will be remembered that they combined mimicry and music with poetry. To be properly appre- ciated, even the tales must be heard in Greenland, re- lated by a native raconteur in his own language ; but the songs are still more unfit for rendering by writing or translation, the words themselves being rather trifling, the sentences abrupt, and the author evidently presuming the audience to be familiar with the whole subject or gist of the song, and able to guess the greater part of it. Every strophe makes such an abrupt sentence, or con- sists of single and even abbreviated words, followed by some interjectional words only used for songs and with- out any particular signification. The gesticulations and declamation, accompanied by the drum, are said to have been very expressive, while the melody itself was rather monotonous and dull. The old mode of sing- ing is now nearly extinct in the Danish districts of Greenland. The author, however, succeeded in collect- ing several songs which were still remembered, of which the following may serve as samples. The first is given for this purpose in the original language, with the inter- jectional burden complete as it is said by the natives to have been suncr. 11 ? M m '- ' ¥ ■' : Ul r 1 66 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. A NITH-SONG OF KUKOOK, who was a bad hunter, but anxious to acquire the friendship of the Europeans ; sung about sixty years ago at a large meeting in the southernmost part of Greenland. KuKorssuanguaK imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija oKalulerangame imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija avalagkumarpunga imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija umiarssuarssuarmik imaKaja haija imakaja ha haija ivnarssuangussaK imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija sapangarsiniukuvko imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija usussarssuarnik imaKaja haija imaKaja haija haija avalagsimasinardlunga imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija nunaligkumarpunga imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija erKardlerssuangudka imaKaja haija imakaja ha haija KarKuvdlarsinardlugit imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija unatalerumarpdKa imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija agdlunaussarssuarmik imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija nuHarumarpunga imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija ernginaK mardlungordlugit imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija ivnarssuangussaK imaKaja haija imaKaja ha . TRADITIONAL TALES, SCIENCE, AND ARTS. d-J haija Kassigidinarnik atortugssaK imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija aiparssuangussa imaKaja haija imaKaja ha haija natserssuaralingussaK imaKaja haija imaKaja ha Translation. The wicked little Kukook imakayah hayah, ima- kayah hah — hayah uses to say, .... I am going to leave the country .... in a large ship . . . . for that sweet little woman I'll try to get some beads .... of those that look like boiled ones Then when I've gone abroad, .... I shall return again My nasty little relatives .... I'll call them all to me . . . . and give them a good thrashing .... with a big rope's end Then I'll go to marry, .... taking two at once That darling little creature .... shall only wear clothes of the spotted seal-skins, .... and the other little pet .... shall have clothes of the young hooded seals % ' H f> k if M ir MUTUAL NITH-SONG BETWEEN SAVDLADT AND PULANGITSISSOK. J : \ {From East Greenland^ Savdlat. The south, the south, oh the south yonder. . . When settling on the midland coast I met Pulangitsissok, . . . who had grown stout and fat with eating halibut. . . . Those people from the midland coast they don't know speaking, ... be- cause they are ashamed of their speech. . . . Stupid i^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I -IM 12.5 ■ 50 m' S lii ■ 2.2 £ lit 11-25 III 1.4 '/] '^I'V V > /; ^^ 7 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIIT M«^(K ITRIIT WIUVM.N.Y. MSM (716)a73-4S09 ^ w^mim mmmimmmmmmmm m 68 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. < I 1 k 5,1 l" they are besides. . . . Their speech is not alike, . . . some speak like the northern, some like the southern ; . . . therefore we can't make out their talk. Pidangitsissok. There was a time when Savdlat wished that I should be a good kayaker, . . . that I could take a good load on my kayak. . . . Many years ago some day he wanted me to put a heavy load on my kayak. . . . (This happened at the time) when Savdlat had his kayak tied to mine (for fear of being capsized). . . . Then he could carry plenty upon his kayak. , . . When I had to tow thee, and thou didst cry most pitiful, . . . and thou didst grow afcared, . . . and nearly wast upset, . . . and hadst to keep thy hold by help of my kayak strings. A SONG FRON SANERUT. {South Greenland^ I behold yon laiid of Nunarsuit ; . . the mountain- tops on its south side are wrapped in clouds ; . . it slopes towards the south, . . towards Usuarsuk. . . What couldst thou expect in such a miserable place } . . All its surroundings being shrouded with ice, . . not before late in the spring can people from there go travelling. ■i <'' A SONG FROM ARSUT. (South Grccuiaud.) The great Koonak mount yonder south, . . I do behold it ; . . the great Koonak mount yonder south, . . I regard it ; . . the shining brightness (clouds ?) yonder south, . . I contemplate. . . Outside of TRADITIONAL TALES, SCIENCE, AND ARTS. 69 Koonak . . it is expanding, . . the same that Koonak towards the seaside . . doth quite encom- pass. . . Behold how in the south . they (clouds i*) shift and chatt'ire. . . Behold how yonder south . . they tend to beautify each other, . . while from the seaside it (the mountain-top) is envel- oped . . in sheets still changing, . . from the seaside enveloped, . . to mutual embellishment. ANOTilKR SONG FROM ARSUT. I j| Towards the south I ever turn my gaze, . . for at the point of Isua land, . . for near the strand of I. sua, . . yonder from the south he will appear ; . . that way he certainly will come. . . Korsarak is sure to clear the point, . . no doubt Korsarak will be equal to it (in his kayak). . . But if still he did not happen to come, . . not until the season of the halibuts, . . not before the halibut-fishing begins, . . not until the men are hauling up the halibuts. These latter songs, of course, like the first, have different interjectional burdens added to the strophes, here only separated by breaks. Lastly, it must be noticed that though the present Greenlanders appear to have a pretty fair talent for drawing and writing, scarcely any traces of the arts of drawing and sculpture belonging to earlier times re- main, with the exception of a few small images cut out in wood or bone, which have probably served children aa playthings. The western Eskimo, on the other hand, displayed great skill in carving bone ornaments principally on their weapons and tools. mm i^tH^^R— H !^^ tVWt ■pwJtswr *>.l.U.. ■«■■ ^•1 f!, 'ci , v:. •I Ml l! 70 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. VI.— rROBABLE Origin and History. If wc suppose the physical conditions and the climate of the Eskimo regions not to have -altered in any re- markable way since they were first inhabited, their in- habitants of course must originally have come from more southern latitudes, and, after their arrival in those regions, have made the inventions and adopted the mode of life which constitute their character as Eskimo. When we consider how uniformly this character now manifests itself, notwithstanding the great separation of the tribes for upwards of a thousand years or more, it seems probable, firstly, that the nation during such a period of development must have lived in closer con- nection, allowing of concurrence in making the necessary inventions, as well as in bringing about a general adop- tion of the same mode of life ; and secondly, that the development of their culture during that period must have been active and rapid in comparison with the time of separation which followed, during which the tribes have been leading a very stationary existence, almost without any perceptible change. Passing on to the next question — where this development or this change of a migrating tribe from the south into a polar coast people has taken place — it appears evident on many grounds that such a southern tribe has not been a coast people migrating along the sea-shore, and turning into ICskimo on passing beyond a certain latitude, but that they have more probably emerged from some interior country, following the river-banks towards the shores of the polar sea, having reached which they became a coast people, and, moreover, a polar coast people. The I'^skimo most evidently representing the polar coast people of North America, the first question which arises scorns to be whether their development can be conjee- PROBABLE ORIGIN AND HISTORY. tured with any probability to have taken place in that part of the world. Other geographical conditions ap- pear greatly to favour such a supposition. It has been stated (principally by Lewis Morgan) that the primitive hunting nations of North America have obtained their principal means of subsistence from the rivers, espe- cially by the salmon-fishery. The north-west angle of America, from California to the Coppermine river, con- tains several large rivers very rich in fish. The general tendency of all the primitive nations to expand by driving out one another must have almost necessarily compelled those of them who occupied the extreme confines to go onward till they reached the sea-shore. If this happened to be that of the polar seas, the new settlers would at once in its animals find a rich source of sustenance, at the same time as the country which they had passed through and left behind had gradually grown more barren and destitute of the means of sup- porting human life. This almost sudden change in their whole mode of life is also very likely to have given rise to the general sharp separation of this coast people from the inland tribes, and the position of hostility in which they stood to each other. The North-West Indians might be considered as forming an intermediate link between them. These derive about one-half of their supplies from the sea by whale-fishery. The rivers taking their course to the sea between Alaska and the Coppermine river, seem well adapted to lead such a migrating people onwards to the polar sea. While still resident on the river-banks in the interior, they may be supposed to have had the same language, and to have been able to communicate overland from one river to the other. This intercourse we may assume to have been still maintained while those of the bands most in advance had already settled down on the sea-shore and begun catching seals and whales, covering their boats with skins instead of birch-bark, and making the prin- m 'A ii m^, 72 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. cipal inventions with regard to seal-hunting peculiar to the Eskimo ; and while the whole nation in this way gradually settled down on the sea-shore, it also main- tained the unity necessary for the purpose of defending itself against the hostile inland people. If, in accord- ance v/ith what has been above stated, we likewise suppose the principal part of the folk-lore to have originated about this period, the subjects mentioned in the tales would constitute a means for guiding us in search of the locality where the first settling on the sea-shore is likely to have taken place. For this pur- pose it will be sufficient to call to mind the tales treating of the following subjects : — 1. An expedition to the inlanders for the purpose of procuring metal knives. 2. A man descended both from the coast people and the inlanders, and his deeds among both. 3. The brothers visiting their sister, who had been married into a tribe of cannibals. 4. An onslaught on the coast people, from which only a couple of children were saved, who went off roaming far and wide, and performed great deeds. 5. A woman living alternately among the coast people and the inlanders, persuading them to wage war against each other. 6. Women who from different causes went and settled down among the inlanders. 7. A man taming wild animals for the purpose of crossing the frozen sea. 8. Different travels to Akilinek. On comparing these subjects of the tales with the present geographical conditions, we will find that in all respects they suggest America and not Asia. The pro- bable identity of the "inlanders" with the Indians has already been remarked on. When the new coast people began to spread along the Arctic shores, some bands of them may very probably have crossed Behring Strait PROBABLE ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 11 and settled on the opposite shore, which is perhaps identical with the fabulous country of Akilinek. On the other hand, there is very little probability that a people can have moved from interior Asia to settle on its polar sea-shore, at the same time turning Eskimo, and afterwards almost wholly emigrated to America. On comparing the Eskimo with the neighbouring nations, their physical complexion certainly seems to point at an Asiatic origin ; but, as far as we know, the latest investigations have also shown a transi- tional link to exist between the Eskimo and the other American nations, which would sufficiently indicate the possibility of a common origin from the same continent. As to their mode of life, the Eskimo decidedly resemble their American neighbours ; whereas all the northern- most nations of the Old World, with the exception of the Kamtskadales, are pastoral tribes, regarding fishing on their rivers as only a secondary occupation ; and when some of them have settled on the river-sides, or even on the sea-shore, given up their reindeer, and made fishing and hunting their main means of subsistence, these have still been families originally belonging to the pastoral tribes, who have changed their mode of life chiefly on account of poverty. In the Old World we nowhere find anything at all like a coast race as opposed to an inland people, with the exception of the Asiatic Eskimo on the coast (Tschoukschees), who are quite difterent from, but still live in friendly relations with, the pastoral Tschouk- schees. As to religion, the Eskimo are also allied to the Americans, and differ from the Asiatic nations, who have a more perfect system of deities, worship idols, and with whom sacrifices form the principal part of their religious rites. With regard to their language, the Eskimo also appear akin to the American nations in regard to its decidedly polysynthetic structure. Here, however, on the other hand, we meet with some very remarkable similarities between the Eskimo idiom and 74 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. n i i' / in the language of Siberia, belonging to the Altaic or Finnish group : first, as to the rule of joining the affixes to the end and not the beginning of the primi- tive word ; and second, the very characteristic mode of forming the dual by I' and the plural by /. At all events, it must be granted that the origin of the Eskimo people remains very obscure ; and that, possibly, early intercourse and subsequent mutual in- fluence may once have existed between the northernmost nations of the two continents, which future researches may yet reveal. As regards their numbers, the Eskimo must also be supposed to have increased considerably in early periods beyond what has been the case in later times ; and the feuds between the single families, or larger bands, must probably have accelerated their being dis- persed to the far east of Greenland and Labrador. Ac- cording to the sagas of the Icelanders, they were already met with on the east coast of Greenland about the year looo, and almost at the same time on the east coast of the American continent, on the so-called Vinland, probably Massachusetts or Rhode Island. Thorvald, the son of Erik the Red, was killed in a fight which ensued at this meeting ; but later travellers in Vinland en- gaged in barter with the same natives, and brought two young Eskimo back with them, who were subsequently baptised, and stated that their mother's name was Vatheldi, and that of their father Uvoege (probably the Greenlandish fiz'ia, signifying her husband). Between the years 1 000 and 1300, they do not seem to have occupied the land south of 65° N.L., on the west coast of Green- land, where the Scandinavian colonies were then situated. But the colonists seem to have been aware of their existence in higher latitudes, and to have lived in fear of an attack by them, since, in the year 1266, an ex- pedition was sent out for the purpose of exploring the abodes of the Skrcclings, as they were called by the ?( PROBABLE ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 75 colonists. In 1379, the northernmost settlement was attacked by them, eighteen men being killed and two boys carried off as prisoners. About the year 1450, the last accounts were received from the colonies, and the way to Greenland was entirely forgotten in the mother country. It must be supposed that the colonists, on being thus cut off from the world abroad, retired into the interior of the fiords and creeks ; while the Eskimo gradually settled on the islands, — and that the latter defeated and partly destroyed the remains of the former. The features of the natives in the southern part of Green- land indicate a mixed descent from Scandinavians and Eskimo, the former, however, not having left the slightest sign of any influence on the nationality or culture of the present nativer^. In the year 1585, Greenland was dis- covered anew by John Davis, and found inhabited ex- clusively by Eskimo. After a series of exploring and fishing expeditions, during which many acts of violence and cruelty were perpetrated on the natives, the present colonies were founded by Egede in the year 17,21 ; and since then the whole west coast, upwards to 74° N.L., has been brought into complete and regular connection with Denmark. I have spoken of the habits of the Greenlanders chiefly in the past tense, simply for the reason that though their hunting habits, ways of life, and methods of thought are still much as they always were, the influence of the Danish officials, who conduct the trading monopoly, and of the missionaries, has been such that they have within the bounds of the Danish posses- sions abandoned many of their ancient customs along with their paganism, which change we shall endeavour to explain in the following section. I!i S.- :1 I" 111 ...r;.' I fe '$^, 76 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. i^ ( .i VII. — INFLUENXE OF CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS. The natives of the Danish districts, whose numbers during last century seem to have been greatly on the decrease, were afterwards, for a long period, again in- creasing; while, since 1855, they have remained almost stationary between 9400 and 9700 souls. They have long been Christianised, and brought into a regular state of subjection to the Danish Government, by means of the monopolised trade, the missionaries and schools, as well as several other administrative institutions. *The intro- duction of intoxicating liquors, as well as those acts of violence and oppression which in other countries have destroyed the primitive races, especially those who live by hunting, have been here unknown. Scarcely any other country will be found where the Europeans have shown so much consideration for, and been so careful of, the uncivilised natives as in this case. From the very beginning of the monopolised trade, it has been carried on with a view to introduce and make accessible to them such articles as were judged to be most neces- sary and useful to them ; and not without much hesita- tion have such articles of luxury as bread, coffee, and sugar, besides tobacco, been sold to them. By help of native schoolmasters, instruction is given to the children in all the wintering places, except a few where the num- ber of inhabitants is too small. Attempts have been made to provide the natives with necessary medicines, alongwith some medical aid, although the latter remains, of course, very insufficient and illusory, on account of the extreme distances ; and finally, the Government has endeavoured to establish regular institutions for the relief of the poor, and likewise taken measures for the administration of justice and laws, as far as circumstances would admit. Still, the general destructive influence of nations at a far more advanced stage of culture upon those on a INFLUENCE OF EUROPEANS. n lower stage may here be traced — poverty, combined with predisposition to certain diseases, having sensibly in- creased. Greenland must be considered peculiarly ad- apt jd for making closer inquiries as to the nature of this iniliience. From the earliest times of the colonisation, Europeans of the working classes have intermarried with native women, and formed their household after the Greenland model, with merely a few European improvements. These marriages have generally been rich in offspring ; and have probably become a concurring means of tem- porarily increasing the population, the children, for the most part, growing up as complete Greenlanders. This mixed offspring being now very numerous, and its individuals representing the mixture of European and native blood in almost every possible proportion, any marked distinction between the Europeans and the na- tives might be supposed to have gradually disappeared. But the real difference of nationality depending on edu- cation, not on physical constitution, there are still suffi- ciently sharp distinctions to indicate what we mean by Europeans and natives. The average number of Euro- peans in the country, excepting at the time of existence of some temporary establishments peculiarly European, has varied between 200 and 300. When the natives saw the first Europeans approach- ing their country from the sea in great ships, furnished with things all wonderful to them, they can hardly have failed to combine the idea of something supernatural with them. The Europeans, on their part, on settling down in the country, in order to make their existence more secure, were involuntarily led to aboli ,n all native authority, especially that of the angakut, and to suppress all kinds of national meetings. Religious zeal — here of course, as everywhere else, combined with worldly and social aims — and national prejudice tended to make them despise and indiscriminately denounce all the native \ I Ici^ 78 SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. customs and institutions as heathenish ; and in time, European authority more and more became the prin- cipal law among them. From this abolition of native laws and authority, and a kind of self-abasement and disheartening consequently arising among them, the real or principal source of the national evils must be considered to proceed. Two national treasures yet remain to the natives, by means of which they still maintain a kind of independ- ence and national feeling — viz., their language and their folk-lore. Through the tales, they also still preserve a knowledge of their ancient religious opinions, combined somewhat systematically with the Christian faith. Tor- narsuk, in being converted into the devil by the first missionaries, was only degraded, getting in the mean- time, on the other hand, his real existence confirmed for ever. In consequence of this acknowledgment in part of tornarsuk, the whole company of inue or spirits were also considered as still existing. The ingnersuit were expressly charged by Egede as being the devil's ser- vants. The Christian heaven comirg into collision with the upper world of their ancestors, the natives very ingeniously placed it above the latter, or, more strictly, beyond the blue sky. By making tornarsuk the prin- ciple of evil, a total revolution was caused with regard to the general notions of good and evil, the result of which was to identify the idea of good with what was conformable to European authority ; but, unhappily, the rules and laws given by the Europeans often varied with the individuals who successively arrived from Europe quite ignorant of the natives. In the same way as the ancient belief in the world of spirits has been kept up, the Greenlanders also maintain their old faith respecting the aid to be got from it, and have habitually recourse to it. The kayakers, in their troublesome and hazardous occupation, still believe themselves taken care of by invisible ingnersuit. Although the natives e c c r i r INFLUENCE OF EUROPEANS. 79 are aware that the aid required from the spirit-world of the angakut is opposed to Christianity, they still discern as clearly as formerly between that and witchcraft. Only in rare instances have some of the natives at- tempted to form a Christian community independent of the Europeans, and founded on alleged immediate revelations from heaven ; but these efforts have been soon suppressed. No attempts have ever been made to re-establish the ancient authority of the angakut. Excepting the introduction of firearms, no essential change has taken place in the hunting operations of the natives. The principal means of subsistence^ are still procured in the same way as they were a thou ->; ad years ago. It will also be evident that a consumption of from thirty to forty pounds of bread annually r jr individual, besides coffee, sugar, and tobacco, cannot ha\'e essen- tially coutiibuted to change the habitual foou of the population. As to the rules regarding property, and the distribution of the daily gains from hunting and fishing, some changes must of course have arisen from the settling of Europeans among the natives ; besides, a great portion of the produce of the chase is now turned into articles of trade. But still, the ancient principle of mutual assistance and semi-communism, out of the feeling of clanship it may be, still predominates among the Eskimo. When, however, the lazy and the active, the skilled and the unskilled, fared the same, owing to this division of the produce of the hunt, personal energy and activity necessarily abated. As to the body of per- sons constituting the family, the Europeans from the first made a practice of interfering with the discipline exercised by the head member, and even with the choice of husband or wife ; while, at the same time, the chil- dren were not, as before, invariably brought up to the national occupation of hunters and fishers, and accord- ingly a temptation to waste the proceeds of the good man's labour increased. As to the communities com- 4 So SKETCH OF THE ESKIMO. prising the inhabitants of the same house or the same hamlet, their mutual relations have also necessarily been essentially altered, partly in having members added to their band who did not contribute to the common household, and also by their being enabled to barter away their seal-oil, and even the flesh, for European articles, principally such as would serve to improve their meals. On the other hand, in cases of any particular want, public opinion still requires the neighbouring seal- hunter to proffer his aid, if he had anything left beyond his own needs for the day. In fact, the Europeans, and perhaps those who are in their service, are now con- sidered the only persons really entitled to possess pro- perty to any extent, the native sooner or later finding too much trouble in keeping what he may have saved up. Probably, by way of lessening the demands made on a provider by his house-fellows, a growing tendency has been observed in Greenland to make the houses smaller ; but still it is extraordinary how many persons are entirely supported by a single man. All this taken into consideration, the security for person and property, which ought to have been one of the first advantages of the social order introduced by the Europeans, though prospering on the whole, on closer investigation still shows itself in some respects illusory as far as concerns the natives. Although the general economical conditions of the Greenlanders now present a somewhat disheartening picture, there remain various circumstances which leave some ground for hope that they may regain their former prosperity, and that contact with a people in a higher stage of civilisation v/ill prove no absolute hindrance to their existence and welfare. Firstly, in many places we meet with pure natives who have been able to combine the industry of their ancestors with the advantage to be derived from the use of European articles which are now for sale, and by means of these have established a house- INFLUENCE OF EUROPEANS. 8i hold undoubtedly preferable to that which formed the highest stage of comfortable life among the ancient Greenlanders. Next, it must be noticed that in many- families the children even, of European fathers, who are more exposed than other natives to the influence of European habits, and also to the use of European articles, have often become the most able kayakers and industrious seal-hunters. Next, it must be remarked that the natives show a great aptitude for learning, and are anxious to profit by the instruction imparted at schools, regular school attendance being perhaps in no country more popular than in Greenland ; and lastly, it has been proved by experience that the natives them- selves are acquiring a notion of the benefit arising from suitable laws and social institutions, which are necessary for the bringing about a more regulated way of making those habits which are inseparable from their trade and mode of life conformable to their relation with the Europeans. ' )i :t t 'I!, INTRODUCTION TO THE TALES AND TRADITIONS. M The talcs and traditions, the relation of which forms one of the principal amusements and entertainments of the Greenlanders, appear to be instructive, and not without signification in regard to the study of the origin and development of traditions in general. Firstly, it must be observed that the natives them- selves divide their tales into two classes — the ancient tales, called OKalugtuat (plural of oKalugtuaK), and the more recent ones, called OKalual&rutit (plural of OKalu- alftrut). The first kind may be more or less considered the property of the whole nation, at least of the greater part of its tribes; while the tales included under the second are, on the other hand, limited to certain parts of the country, or even to certain people related to each other, thus presenting the character of family records. The Eskimo are, more than any other nation, spread over a wide extent of country, only occupied by them- selves, and thus are little acted upon by alien settlers. The inhabitants of their extreme western bounds, with their native means of transport, would have to traverse somewhere about five thousand miles before reaching the dwellings of their countrymen in the farthest east, ^•^ mmmmm mm 84 INTRODUCTION. and in this journey would meet only with scanty little bands of their own tribes settled here and there, gene- rally consisting of less than a hundred souls. Their little hamlets are severed from each other by desolate tracts of ten to twenty — nay, even hundreds of miles. Though there is every probability that the various tribes of these vast regions have originated from one common home, their present intercourse is very limited ; and it may without exaggeration be asserted that the inhabi- tants of Greenland and Labrador, and those of the shores of Behring Strait, cannot in any likelihood have communicated with each other for a thousand years or more, nor have they any idea of their mutual existence.^ In accordance with this isolation, a closer study of ♦'he traditions will also show how wide a space of time must be supposed to exist between the origin of the two classes of tales. The greater part of the ancient talcs probably date from a far remoter period than one thousand years ; the invention of the more recent tradi- tions, on the other hand, must be supposed in most cases not even to go back so far as two hundred years, and they chiefly comprise events concerning families living in the very district where they are told. It may, however, be taken for granted, that in days of yore such new tales may have appeared at any time ; but after a short existence they were gradually forgotten, giving place to others, and so on, continuously alternating during the lapse of ages : while the ancient tales have been pre- served unchanged, like some precious heirlooms which it would have been sacrilege to have touched. The defi- nition we have here tried to give of the two classes is, however, by no means exhaustive, nor without excep- tions. In our collection will be found stories which undoubtedly must have originated between the two * When Dr Kane fust visited the small tribe of Eskimo living in Smith's Sound, they were nstonishcd to find that they were not the only people on the face of the cnrth. I c r hS ■:»v wm INTRODUCTION. 85 ^ periods described, and therefore should form an inter- mediate or exceptional class, if the division were to be complete and fully carried out. There are, moreover, many others which we are at a loss how to classify. The art of story-telling is in Greenland practised by certain persons specially gifted in this respect ; and among a hundred people there may generally be found one or two particularly favoured with the art of the raconteur, besides several less tolerable narrators. The art requires the ancient tales to be related as nearly as possible in the words of the original version, with only a few arbitrary reiterations, and otherwise only varied according to the individual talents of the narrator, as to the mode of recitation, gesture, &c. The only real discretionary power allowed by the audience to the narrator is the insertion of a few peculiar passages from some shorter traditions ; but even in that case no altera- tion of these original or elementary materials used in the composition of tales is admissible. Generally, even the smallest deviation from the original version will be taken notice of and corrected, if any intelligent person happens to be present. This circumstance accounts for their existence in an unaltered shape through ages ; for had there been the slightest tendency to variation on the part of the narrator, or relish for it on that of the audience, every similarity of these tales, told in such widely-separated countries, would certainly have been lost in the course of centuries. It would also appear ti it is the same narrators who compose the more recent stories by picking up the occurrences and adven- tures of iheir latest ancestors, handed down occasional 1\' by some old members of the family, and connecting and embellishing them by a large addition of the sui)cr- natural, for which purpose resort is always had to the same traditional and mystical elements of the ancient folk-lore. Undoubtedly the ancient tales have originally been invented in a similar way, but at a time when the I m: li 86 INTRODUCTION. :^\ different tribes were living in closer connection with each other and perhaps endowed with greater origin- ality. It is to be supposed that the real or principal traditions, with the power of continuance through many centuries, are only produced after long intervals, and at certain periods peculiarly qualified for their production. As regards the Greenlanders, probably a new era of this kind may have arisen from the time of their being Christianised, many of the recent tales exhibiting con- siderable similarity to Christian legends. The ele- mentary parts used in composing all kinds of tales being very numerous, it may be seen from the collection itself that, notwithstanding the stability and limited number of the ancient tales, the narrators, by help of the interpolations mentioned, and by their power of manufacturing modern tales, possess means for an almost unlimited variety at their story-telling enter- tainments. The traditional tales, or rather the traditional elements of the ancient as well as the more recent tales, would never have been able to withstand the influence of cen- turies among these scattered and isolated bands if thev had not been one of the most important means of maintaining their national life. Generally, all sorts of mythical traditions are looked upon chiefly as materials to aid in the search for historical facts. But with regard to a stage of culture like that of the Greenland Eskimo before their conversion to Christianity,^ the traditions in reality may be said to comprise the whole national store of intellectual or moral property — viz., religion, science, and poetry at once, these manifestations of culture being but very imperfectly represented separately in a more specialised form. In the first place, the traditions are to be considered as including a .system of religion and morals as well as of laws and rules for social life. Such knowledge as ' The last pagan died in Danish Greenland only a few years ago. \\\ INTRODUCTION. ^7 they convey is unconsciously imbibed by the native from his earliest childhood through listening to the story-tellers, exactly as a child learns to speak. And when the Greenlander nowadays is in doubt about any question regarding the superstitions or customs of his ancestors, he will try to find an answer by looking for some sample out of his tales, ancient or modern, the latter also containing elementary parts of ancient origin kept up in this manner by succeeding generations. The information used for our introductory remarks has also been chiefly derived from this source. Ethnologists and travellers will find themselves mis- taken if they expect to discover traditions that might supply direct information regarding the origin and his- tory of the Eskimo. The more recent tales only may be said to include such real historical material, and that merely relating to family matters and events going back as far as four or six generations. The author has often made inquiries among the natives about events that have taken place two or three hundred years ago, and more especially about such occurrences as might be supposed to have impressed themselves deepest upon the memory of the population, — as. for instance, the first arrival of European ships, or even the terrible smallpox epidemic of comparatively recent date — viz., 1733-34. But these attempts have been almost entirely without result ; and, as already said, the tales dating from an intermediate period are either very scanty, or at least must be sup- posed devoid of any historical interest. It may be considered certain that the present tribes of the nation have not the remotest idea of their common original home, nor of the migrations and rovings by which their ancestors have peopled the territories now occupied by them. Still, it may be supposed that at least a part of their oldest tales have originated in true historical events — are, in a word, " myths of observation ; " but in order to extract any reliable historical information 88 INTRODUCTION. K i\ from this source, the following precautions have to be observed : — Firstly, it not unfrequently seems that a series of occurrences happening within a limited period of time, and bearing some resemblance to each other, have in various cases been reduced to a single record which, so to speak, represents them all in one. This is confirmed by one of the few stories which undoubtedly dates from a period intermediate between ancient and modern times. When the Eskimo invaded the southern part of Greenland, they soon commenced hostilities with the ancient Scandinavian settlers, who were at length defeated, or totally disappeared. Among the gener- ations immediately succeeding these events, there must doubtless have existed several traditions about the numerous feuds which must be supposed to have occurred between the parties ; but by-and-by they were forgotten, with the exception of one or two which had perhaps been preferred to the rest, and listened to with most satisfaction. Of these, two tales still remain. The most remarkable one is now claimed as belonging to both the districts in which the ruins of the old colonies are found, each of which claims to be the homestead of the heroes mentioned in the tale. Among the older and most widely-spread tales, we need only refer to one treating of a man who wished to cross the frozen ocean, and for this purpose caught different wild beasts, which he trained to pull his sledge. It is not improbable that this story represents a whole series of similar tales, originating from the period when the Eskimo got their first dogs by domesticating some species of wild animal, such as the wolf Next, it must be remembered that no tale could main- tain its existence unless it was entertaining to the audiences to whom it was related from time to time, and especially unless it was easy to comprehend without any elaborate explanation. For this pur- INTRODUCTION. 89 pose the tales had to be localised, or adapted to the different countries in which the tribes in course of time came to settle down, carrying their original traditions with them — as, for instance, when told in Greenland, their heroes were described as inhabitants not only of Greenland, but even of various districts of the country, according to the location of the narrator and his lis- teners. And, moreover, when foreign nations and animals unknown in Greenland happened to be men- tioned in the ancient tales, they were generally, as time went on, transformed into supernatural beings, with which the imagination of the Greenlanders forthwith peopled the vast interior of their land, as well as the adjacent sea. Besides religion and history, these traditional talcs also represent the poetry of the inhabitants of the frozen North ; and this element has mainly inspired their lis- teners with that love for them which still continues. They present a true picture of what is likely to have formed the principal objects of the people's imagination, of what is considered great and delightful on one side, and hateful and dreadful on the other, in human life as well as in nature. They continually picture to us the great struggle for existence, which has caused personal courage and strength to be acknowledged and admired as the first condition of happiness ; and per contra, the idea of improving and securing the comforts of life by the aid of property is only very scantily developed in them. Not even to the almost universal sentiment of love do we find the poetry of Greenland affording much room. No wonder that such a scarcity of objects, and such simplicity of passions and feelings in these details of human life, render them uniform and rather fatiguing to us ; but. on the other hand, we cannot but admit that their inventors have exhibited a peculiar skill in pro- ducing effect and variety with the help of such very scanty materials. Closer examination will scarcely fail \} 'i 'I 90 INTRODUCTION. m to discover real poetical feeling in their way of causing the highest perfection to be developed from the very- smallest beginnings, as well as in their art of holding forth the dangers on one side and the means of over- coming them on the other, just as it might suit the nar- rator's object of arresting the attention of their audience. The poetical elements are also closely connected with the religious contents, and many religious opinions may further be regarded as emblematical or poetical. Such, for example, are expressions for certain ideas — such as, for instance, certain human qualities, the voice of con- science, an invisible ruling justice, and several powers of nature in their relation to mankind. A tendency to figurative expression is also shown in their habit of representing mankind in different stages of sexes and ages as personifications of certain common human qualities. For instance, the old bachelors always repre- sent some ridiculous oddity ; the wife is in general re- presented as with no care but of providing for her house- hold, or how best she can economise ; the poor widow is represented as especially excelling in benevolence and mercy ; a band of five brothers, generally called " a lot of" brothers or men, represent haughtiness and bru- tality, and " the middlemost " of them, moreover, means envy. The materials upon which the author has founded this collection have been written down partly by natives, partly by Europeans, from the verbal recital of the natives, and in the latter case to a large extent by the author himself. The manuscripts collected in this manner amounted to upwards of five hundred sheets or two thousand pages, and could be referred to about fifty native narrators or story-tellers. Several difficul- ties were met with in collecting these materials. The mode most generally adopted by travellers when making inquiries among a barbarous or foreign people about their traditions is that of selecting certain facts as sub- INTRODUCTION. 91 jects for questioning them upon, such as how their country was originally peopled, if their first ancestors came from the West or from the East, if they happened to know anything about a great deluge, &c. By this mode of inquiry the natives mo^t likely, finding that they have no real information to offer, in order to satisfy the questioner and get rid of the trouble he causes them, will be influenced in their answers chiefly by what they think the questioner would best like to hear. The only way to acquire the information wanted is simply to make the natives relate what forms the principal sub- ject of the stories told at their own assemblies. To make them understand that this was all we desired caused, however, the first difiiculty. The next arose from their fear of being accused of heathenish supersti- tion by revealing those superstitious tales to strangers. In consequence of these hindrances, several Europeans whom the author had specially requested to make in- vestigations among the natives with whom they lived, came to the erroneous conclusion that no traditions at all, or only the most trifling ones, existed in the country. Lastly, it may easily be imagined that part of the manuscripts forwarded to him were in an incomplete and exceedingly illegible condition — some of them, indeed, conveying no meaning whatever. The principal tales have for the most part been col- lated from more than one version, and all the variations have been most carefully examined and compared for the purpose of composing a text such as might agree best with the supposed original and most popular mode of telling the same story. In the first and principal part of the collection, the tales are in gene- ral to be considered as a nearly literal rendering of the verbal narratives, with only the omission of the more arbitrary reiterations and interpolations already referred to. The natives who have contributed to this collection i '> 92 INTRODUCTION. were inhabitants of the following parts of Eskimo- land : — South Greenland, or the west coast of Greenland up to 6f N.L. North Greenland, or the same coast from 67° up to 74° N.L. East Greenland, and Labrador. Of these regions South Greenland, in which the author chiefly resided, has supplied the lion's share ; while, on the contrary, the east coast has furnished us with only a few tales, which are not even written down in that part of the country, but were picked up on the west coast from east-coast people who had wandered round Cape Farewell into the Danish settlement. From Labrador only sixteen tales have been obtained, from materials written down by Moravian missionaries resi- dent in that country in the years 1861-63, and one hal of those are undoubtedly identical with Greenland tales, some passages of them even exhibiting the most strik- ing verbal conformity. Besides the tales written down in North Greenland in 1861-63, the author was furnished with a very valuable collection written down by natives there in the years 1823-28, but never published. It has generally been an easy task to make out whether the written relations had the character of true folk-lore, or might have been of foreign origin — i. ^?., either from European sources or to be traced to mere indi- vidual invention. Only a few instances of this still remain doubtful. The entire collection of manuscripts consisted of more than five hundred tales, which, however, by uniting those which were judged to be identical, have been diminished to less than three hundred. Of that number, in this edition a great many have been omitted or given in an abridged form, as being more or less of only local interest. 1 TALES AND TRADITIONS. 1. KAGSAGSUK. [The following tale has been constructed from nine different copies, received partly from various places in Greenland, and partly from Labrador, all, however, agreeing upon every principal point. It does not appear to reft upon any historical basis, but merely to have a moral tender y, bring, ig before us the idea of a superior power protecting the helpless, and avenging mercilessness and cruelty.] THERE was once a poor orphan boy who lived among a lot of uncharitable men. His name was Kagsagsuk, and his foster-mother was a miserable old woman. These poor people had a wretched little shed adjoining the Jiouse-passagc^ and they were not allowed to enter the main room. Kagsagsuk did not even venture to enter the shed, but lay in the passage, seeking to warm himself among the dogs. In the morn- ing, when the men were rousing their sledge-dogs with their whips, they often hit the poor boy as well as the dogs. He then would cry out, *' Na-ah ! Na-ah!" * Or doorway, a long and very narrow, sometimes half- subterranean, tunnel, leading by an upward step to the main, or rather the only, room of the winter hut, and adapted to keeping out the cold air. Its ends we have called the outer and the inner entrance. s I ■ ^S I' 94 TALES AND TRADITIONS. mocking himself in imitating the dogs. When the men were feasting upon various frozen dishes, such as the hide of the walrus and frozen meat, the little Kagsagsuk used to peep over the threshold, and sometimes the men lifted him up above it, but only by putting their fingers into his nostrils ; these accordingly enlarged, but otherwise he did not grow at all. They would give the poor wretch frozen meat, without allowing him a knife to cut it with, saying his teeth might do instead ; and sometimes they pulled out a couple of teeth, com- plaining of his eating too much. His poor foster- mother procured him boots and a small beard-spear, in order to enable him to go outside the house and play with the other children ; but they would turn him over and roll him in the snow, filling his clothes with it, and treating him most cruelly in various ways : the girls sometimes covered him all over with filth. Thus the little boy was always tormented and mocked, and did not grow except about the nostrils. At length he ven- tured out among the mountains by himself, choosing solitary places, and meditating how to get strength. His foster-mother had taught him how to manage this. Once, standing between two high mountains, he called out : " Lord of strength, come forth ! Lord of strength, come to me !" A large animal now appeared in the shape of an amarok (now a fiibulous animal, originally a wolf), and Kagsagsuk got very terrified, and was on the point of taking to his heels ; but the beast soon overtook him, and, twisting its tail round his body, threw him down. Totally unable to rise, he heard the while a rustling sound, and saw a number of seal-bones, like small toys, falling from his own body. The amarok now said : •' It is because of these bones that thy growth has been stopped." Again it wound its tail round the boy, and again they fell down, but the little bones were fewer this tim" ; and when the beast threw him down the third time, the last bones fell off. The fourtli time he TALES AND TRADITIONS. 95 did not quite fall, ana at the fifth he did not fall at all, but jumped along the ground. The amarok now said : " If it be thy wish to become strong and vigorous, thou mayst come every day to me." On his way home, Kagsagsuk felt very much lighter, and could even run home, meanwhile kicking and strikin^^ the stones on his way. Approaching the house, the girls who nursed the babies met him, and shouted, "Kagsagsuk is coming — let us pelt him with mud ; " and the boys beat him and tormented him as before: but he made no opposition, and following his old habits, he went to sleep among the dogs. Afterwards, he met the amarok every day, and always underwent the same piocess. The boy felt stronger every day, and on his way home he kicked the very rocks, and rolling himself on the ground, made the stones fly about him. At last the beast was not able to overthrow him, and then it spoke : " Now, that will do ; human beings will not be able to conquer thee any more. Still, thou hast better stick to thy old habits. When winter .-^ets in, and the sea is frozen, then is thy time to show thyself; three great bears will then appear, and they shall be killed by thy hand." That day Kag- sagsuk ran all the way back, kicking the stones right and left, as was his wont. Ikit at home he went on as usual, and the people tormented him more than ever. One day, in the autumn, the kayakers ^ returned home with a large piece of driftwood, which they only made fast to some large stones on the beach, finding it too heavy to be carried up to the house at once. At nightfall, Kagsagsuk said to his mother, " Let me have thy boots, mother, that I too may go down and have a look at the large piece of timber." When all had gone to rest, he slipped out of the house, and having reached the beach, and loosened the moorings, he flung the piece of timber on his shoulders and carried it up behind the house, where * Men in llicir kayaks, or skin canoes, made for the i)r'i)ose of seal- hunting, with room only for a single person. f! I f.^ 96 TALES AND TRADITIONS. 11 he buried it deep in the ground. In the morning, when the first of the men came out, he cried, " The driftwood is gone! " and when he was joined by the rest, and they saw the strings cut, they wondered how it could possibly have drifted away, there being neither wind nor tide. But an old woman, who happened to go behind the house, cried, "Just look ! here is the spar !" whereat they all rushed to the spot, making a fearful noise, shouting, " Who can have done this ? tliere surely must be a man of extraordinary strength among us!" and the young men all gave themselves great airs, that each might be believed to be the great unknown strong man — the impostors ' In the beginning of the winter, the housemates of Kagsaguk ill-treated him even worse than before ; but he stuck to his old habits, and did not let them suspect anything. At last the sea was quite frozen over, and seal-hunting out of the question. But when the days began to lengthen, the men one day came running in to report that three bears were seen climbing an iceberg. Nobody, however, ventured to go out and attack them. Now was Kagsagsuk's time to be up and doing. " Mother," he said, " let me have thy boots, that I too may go out and have a look at the bears ! " She did not like it much, but, hov ever, she threw her boots to him, at the same time mocking hirn, saying, " Then fetch me a skin for my couch, and another for my coverlet, in return." He took the boots, fastened his ragged clothes around him, and then was off for the bears. Those who were standing outside cried, "Well, if that is not Kagsagsuk ! What can he be about ? Kick him away ! " and the girls went on, " He must surely be out of his wits 1" But Kagsagsuk came run- ning right through the crowd, as if they had been a shoal of small fish ; his heels seemed almost to be touching his neck, while the snow, foaming about, sparkled in rainbow colours. He ascended the iceberg ,t TALES AND TRADITIONS. 97 by taking hold with his hands, and instantly the largest bear lifted his paw, but Kagsagsuk turned round to make himself hard (viz., invulnerable by charm), and seizing hold of the animal by the fore-paws, flung it against the iceberg, so that the haunches were severed from the body, and then threw it down on the ice to the bystanders, crying, " This was my first catch ; now, flense away ^ and divide ! " The others now thought, " The next bear will be sure to kill him." The former process, however, was repeated, and the beast thrown down on the ice ; but the third bear he merely caught hold of by the fore-paws, and, swinging it above his head, he hurled it at the bystanders, crying, "This fellow behaved shamefully towards me!" and then, smiting another, " That one treated me still worse ! " until they all fled before him, making for the house in great conster- nation. On entering it himself he went straight to his foster-mother with the two bear-skins, crying, "There is one for thy couch, and another for thy coverlet!" after which he ordered the flesh of the bears to be dressed and cooked. Kagsagsuk was now requested to enter the main room ; in answer to which request he, as was his wont, only peeped above the threshold, saying, " I really can't get across, unless some one will lift me up by the nostrils ; " but nobody else venturing to do so now, his old foster-mother came and lifted him up as he desired. All the men had now become very civil to him. One would say, " Step forward ;" another, " Come and sit down, friend." " No, not there where the ledge''' has no cover," cried another; "here is a nice seat for Kagsagsuk." But rejecting their offers, he sat down, as usual, on the side-ledge. Some of them went ii i;^i •Ji Ji i ( r I > * Take off the skin and l)lul)l)er. ' The main ledge or bench ; n low and broad bench for sitting and sleep- ing places, occupying the whole length of the wall opposite to the windows, the narrower side-ledge and winilow-leilge bordering the other walls. It is generally known in (ireenland as the "brix." 98 TALES AND TRADITIONS. f^ ■ IS k f: on, " We have got boots for Kagsagsuk ; " and others, "Here are breeches for him!" and the girls rivalled each other in offering to make clothes for him. After supper, one of the inmate i of the house told a girl to go and fetch some water for " dear Kagsagsuk." When she had returned and he had taken a drink, he drew her tenderly towards him, praising her for being so smart for fetching water ; but, all of a sudden, he squeezed her so hard that the blood rushed out of her mouth. But he only- remarked, " Why, I think she is burst ! " The parents, however, quite meekly rejoined, " Never mind, she was good for nothing but fetching water." Later on, when the boys cam^ in, he called out to them, "What great seal-hunters ye will make!" at the same time seizing hold of them and crushing them to death ; others he killed by tearing their limbs asunder. But the parents only said, " It does not signify — he was a good-for-nothing ; he only plaj^ed a little at shooting." Thus Kagsagsuk went on attacking and putting to death all the inmates of the house, never stopping until the whole of them had perished by his hand. Only the poor people who had been kind to him he spared, and lived with them upon the provisions that had been set by as stores for the winter. Taking also the best of the kayaks left, he trained himself to the use of it, at first keeping close to the shore ; but after some time he ventured farther out to sea, and soon went south and northwards in his kayak. In the pride of his heart he roamed all over the country to show off his strength ; therefore, even nowadays he is known all along the coast, and on many places there are marks of his great deeds still shown, and this is why the history of Kagsagsuk is supposed to be true. Noi'K. — In the Lnbrador tale, the name of the cli.nmpion is called A'nu jakjiik\ and in dilTeront copies from Clreenland, A'atisaksnl', A'dssa/^si/i; A'anstisi({\ and A'tr/th