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

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When the rays of the sun begin to be warmer and the roofs of the snow houses tumble down the natives live in a very uncomfortable way until a sufficient number of sealskins are procured to build a tent. Sometimes a family live under a roof too small to cover them all, though they sit as close as possible, and too low to permit them to sit upright; but, as seals are basking everywhere on the ice, this state of affairs does not last long. The women split a number of large skins and dry them on the snow, and by the middle of May they can build a pretty large tent; but it is not until they settle permanently at the place of the summer village that the large tent is sewed and put up.

At this season salmon and venison form the staple food of the Eskimo. The old men, women, and children, who stay at the lakes or at the salmon rivers, depend almost entirely upon this food. They fish and eat the salmon in a raw as well as in a cooked state. Birds are caught and eaten raw. The surplus salmon are split and dried on poles erected for the purpose. Deer shoulders, legs, and backs are also cut into thin pieces and dried. Sometimes the dried fish and venison are deposited in stone caches for later use, but most of it is eaten in summer, especially when the Eskimo go traveling. When the men go deer hunting they take a supply of dried salmon with them, and thus can stay out for a week or even longer. When a deer is killed it is skinned at once, the legs being slit and the belly opened. The paunch is carefully tied up, as the contents are a favorite dish of the Eskimo. The head, the legs, and the ribs are cut off and after being piled up the whole is covered with heavy stones, only the horns protruding from the top of the depot. The hams and the skin are generally carried to the hut at once, and, if the distance is not too great or the carcass can be reached with sledges or boats, the whole animal is brought home. Large depots are only made in the fall, when there is no danger of the meat spoiling.

At this season the natives visit deer passes and lakes, near which they establish their huts. The tents and all the household goods are packed up in heavy bundles, some of which are carried by the dogs, the load hanging on both sides of the back; others, by men and women, being secured by one strap which passes over the forehead and by another which passes over the breast. Their strength and their perseverance in carrying heavy loads over long distances are remarkable.

The social life in the summer settlements is rather different from that in winter. At this season the families do not cook their own meals, but a single one provides for the whole settlement. The day before it is her turn to cook, the woman goes to the hills to fetch shrubs for the fire. Three stones are put up near the hut as a fireplace, the opening facing the wind. The kettle is placed on the top of it and the fire is fed with shrubs and blubber. When the meal is ready the master of the house stands beside it, crying Ujo! Ujo! (boiled meat) and everybody comes out of the hut provided with a knife. The dish is carried to a level place and the men sit down around it in one circle, while the women form another. Then large lumps of meat are passed around, everybody cutting off a piece and taking a swallow of the soup, which is passed around in a large leather cup. These dinners, which are held in the evening after the return from the hunt, are almost always enlivened by a mimic performance. A man or an old woman sits down in the center of the circle and amuses the assembly by singing and dancing or by making faces. A favorite performance is one in which a man, with blackened face and with a thong tied around his head, writhes and makes odd grimaces.

After dinner the men sit chatting or gambling before the huts, while the women and children amuse themselves by running about, playing at ball, or dancing.

A strict religious custom forbids the Eskimo to work on the deerskins which are obtained in summer before the ice has formed; they are only dried and tied up in large bundles. In the fall, when on their way to the winter settlements, the Eskimo travel rather quickly. The boats are piled up with the spoils of the summer hunt and the place of destination is generally reached before the stormy weather sets in.

When it gets colder short excursions are made by boat in order to collect shrubs for covering the tents. Several families join in building a common hut, and on a fine day the old tents are torn down and the tent poles are converted into a strong frame, which is covered with a double roof. The bed and the platforms for the lamps are raised and henceforth all the cooking is done inside.

As soon as the first seals are caught with the harpoon the deer skins are prepared. If they were deposited under stones in summer, sledges set out to bring them to the settlements, and then they are distributed for winter clothing. According to Hall the western tribes are in the habit of spreading all the skins on one place and distributing them among the inhabitants of the settlement. I did not observe the same custom among the eastern tribes. Then they devote themselves to dressing the skins. On Davis Strait this work falls to the share of the women, while among the Hudson Bay tribes it is done by the men. At this season the great religious feasts of the natives are celebrated, which announce, as it were, the commencement of winter.

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The social order of the Eskimo is entirely founded on the family and on the ties of consanguinity and affinity between the individual families. Generally children are betrothed when very young, but these engagements, not being strictly binding, may be broken off at any time. When the children reach maturity the girl learns the duties of a woman and the boy those of a man. As soon as he is able to provide for a family and she can do the work falling to her share, they are allowed to marry. It happens frequently that the young man’s parents are unwilling to allow him to provide for his parents-in-law, and then he may be rejected at any moment. Usually the young couple must begin housekeeping with the young wife’s family and the young man, if belonging to a strange tribe, must join that of his wife. It is not until after his parents-in-law are dead that he is entirely master of his own actions. Though the betrothal be entered into in the days of childhood the bride must be bought from the parents by some present. In other instances the men choose their wives when grown up and sometimes a long wooing precedes the marriage. The consent of the bride’s parents, or, if they are dead, that of her brothers, is always necessary. Marriages between relatives are forbidden: cousins, nephew and niece, aunt and uncle, are not allowed to intermarry. There is, however, no law to prevent a man from marrying two sisters. It is remarkable that Lyon states just the reverse (p. 353). I am sure, however, that my statements are correct in reference to the Davis Strait tribes.

Should the newly married couple join the wife’s family this would serve as a check to polygamy, which, however, is quite allowable. It is only when the new family settles on its own account that a man is at full liberty to take additional wives, among whom one is always considered the chief wife. Monogamy is everywhere more frequent than polygamy, only a very few men having two or more wives. According to Ross polyandry occurs with the Netchillirmiut (II, pp. 356, 373). As long as the mother-in-law lives with the young family the wives are subordinate to her, while the mothers of both parties are independent of each other. No example came to my notice of both parents living with the newly married couple. Sometimes the man and wife do not set up a new household at once, but each remains at home. The property necessary for establishing a new family is the hunting gear of the man and the knife, scraper, lamp, and cooking pot of the women.