James Mooney - Native Americans - 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies

Die Amerikanische | Nordpol-Expedition | von | Emil Bessels. | Mit zahlreiche Illustrationen in Holzschnitt, Diagrammen und | einer Karte in Farbendruck. | Leipzig. | Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann. | 1879. (Cited, Bessels.)

Contributions | to the | Natural History of | Arctic America, | made in connection with | the Howgate Polar expedition, 1877-’78, | by | Ludwig Kumlien, | Naturalist of the expedition. | Washington: | Government Printing Office. | 1879.

Report | of the | Hudson’s Bay expedition, | under the command of | Lieut. A. R. Gordon, R.N., | 1884.

Traditions indiennes | du | Canada nord-ouest | par Émile Petitot | Ancien missionnaire. | Paris | Maisonneuve frères et Ch. Leclerc, | 25, Quai Voltaire, | 1886.

The following is a list of the papers published by the author on the results of his journey to Baffin Land and of studies connected with it. The ethnological remarks contained in these brief communications have been embodied in the present paper. The method of spelling in the first publications differs from that applied in the present paper. It was decided to use the latter after a conference with Dr. H. Rink.

“Reiseberichte aus Baffin-Land.” Berliner Tageblatt, August 4, October 28, November 4, November 25. 1883; September 28, October 19, November 2, November 9, November 16, November 23, December 28, 1884; January 4, April 3, April 27, 1885.

“Unter dem Polarkreise.” New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung, February 1, February 22, March 2, 1885.

“The configuration of Ellesmere Land.” Science, February 27, 1885.

“A journey in Cumberland Sound and on the west shore of Davis Strait in 1883 and 1884, with map.” Bull. Am. Geogr. Soc., pp. 241–272, 1884.

“Die Wohnsitze und Wanderungen der Baffin-Land Eskimos.” Deutsche geogr. Blätter, p. 31, 1885.

“Cumberland Sound and its Esquimaux.” Popular Science Monthly, p. 768, May, 1885.

“Die Eskimos des Baffin-Landes.” Verh. des V. deutschen Geographentags zu Hamburg. Berlin, 1885.

“Reise im Baffinlande, 1883 und 1884.” Verh. der Ges. für Erdkunde zu Berlin, 1885, Nos. 5, 6.

“Die Sagen der Baffin-Land Eskimos.” Verh. der Berlin, anthrop. Gesellschaft, 1885, p. 161.

“The Eskimo of Baffin Land.” Transactions of the Anthropological Society of Washington, Vol. 3, pp. 95–102.

“Sammlung aus Baffin-Land.” Original Mittheilungen aus der ethnol. Abtheilung der Kgl. Museen zu Berlin, 1886, p. 131.

Table of Contents

In the spelling of Eskimo words the author has adhered as closely as possible to Kleinschmidt’s orthography, as he did not deem it proper to introduce a linguistic alphabet after so much has been published in another and almost sufficient one.

Accents and lengths have been marked where it seemed to be desirable. In quotations Eskimo words are spelled according to this system where it is possible to recognize their meaning and derivation. In other cases the original spelling of the authors has been retained. The alphabet used in this paper is as follows:

Table of Contents

The Eskimo inhabit almost the whole extent of the coast of Arctic America. A large part of this country is occupied by the Central Eskimo, one of the great groups into which that people is divided. They live in the northeastern part of the continent and on the eastern islands of the Arctic-American Archipelago. In Smith Sound they inhabit the most northern countries visited by man and their remains are even found at its northern outlet. The southern and western boundaries of this district are the countries about Fort Churchill, the middle part of Back River, and the coast west of Adelaide Peninsula. Along the whole extent of this line they are the neighbors of Indian tribes, with whom they are generally on very bad terms, a mutual distrust existing between the two races.

The geography of the whole country is known only in outline, and a great portion of it awaits its explorer. Following is a sketch of what is known about it, so far as it is of importance to the ethnologist.

The vast basin of Hudson Bay separates two large portions of the American continent: Labrador and the region of the large Arctic rivers. The southern shore of the bay is inhabited by Indian tribes who interrupt the communication between the Eskimo of both regions. Hudson Bay, however, has the character of a true mediterranean sea, the northern parts of its opposite shores being connected by a number of islands and peninsulas. The low and narrow Rae Isthmus, which presents an easy passage to the Arctic Ocean, unites Melville Peninsula to the main body of the continent. From this peninsula Baffin Land stretches out toward the north of Labrador, with only two narrow channels intervening: Fury and Hecla Strait and Hudson Strait. Another chain of islands, formed by the parts of Southampton Island and Mansfield Island, stretches from Repulse Bay to the northwest point of Labrador, but the distances between the islands and the roughness of the sea prevent communication.

On the western part of the continent the great bays, Chesterfield Inlet and Wager River, are of importance, as they allow the Eskimo, though they are a coast people, to penetrate into the interior of the continent. A narrow isthmus separates the head of the bays from the lakes of Back River. At Coronation Bay the latter approaches the Arctic Ocean very closely, and it is probable that the coast west of Adelaide Peninsula, which is skirted by innumerable islands, is indented by deep inlets extending towards the lakes of Back River. Thus communication between the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay is facilitated by this large river, which yields an abundant supply of fish. From Wager River an isthmus leads to its estuary.

Boothia Felix, the most northern peninsula of the continent, is united to it by two narrow isthmuses, the former extending from Pelly Bay to Shepherd Bay, the latter from Lord Mayor Bay to Spence Bay. It is separated from North Somerset by the narrow Bellot Strait. Farther west Adelaide Peninsula and King William Land form the continuation of the continent toward the western extremity of Boothia, thus outlining a spacious bay sheltered from the currents and the pack ice of Melville Sound and the adjoining bays. The eastern sides of Boothia and North Somerset and the western coasts of Melville Peninsula and Baffin Land form a gulf similar to Fox Basin.