{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24391/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24391","id":"gutenberg_24391","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24391","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Travel Writing","Eskimos -- Alaska"],"text":"Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by The Internet Archive/American\nLibraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note: The letters \"a\" and \"e\" with a macron are rendered\nas [= ] in this text.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PRINCESS AND HER COMPANION]\n\n\n\n\nSHORT SKETCHES\n\nFROM\n\nOLDEST AMERICA\n\n\n\nBy\nJOHN B. DRIGGS, M.D.\n\n\n\nPHILADELPHIA\nGEORGE W. JACOBS & CO.\nPUBLISHERS\n\nCopyright, 1905, by\nGEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY\n_Published July, 1905_\n\n\n\n\n\nPublishers' Preface\n\n\nFrom the small size of this volume, one would hardly realize, perhaps,\nwhat an immense amount of labor and patient research its writing must\nnecessarily represent. The author, who was first sent to northwestern\nAlaska in the summer of 1890, and who, by the bye, has, with the\nexception of two vacations of a year each, been constantly at his post\nin that bleak country ever since, found himself one day landed, with\nhis possessions, upon the inhospitable sea-beach of the Point Hope\npeninsula, where for weeks he was compelled to shelter himself from\nwind and rain, as best he could, in an improvised tent made of barrels\nand boxes with canvas thrown over them. Finally, the carpenters of some\nof the whaling ships were got together and a house, which had been\nframed in distant San Francisco, was put up for him, a few hundred\nyards from the water's edge.\n\nA mile or so away lay a large native village, the inhabitants of which\nnaturally regarded him as a great curiosity. But he found himself quite\nunable to communicate with them otherwise than by signs, as the printed\nvocabularies and grammars, with which he had been supplied, proved to\nbe inaccurate and practically valueless.\n\nHis house finished and no scholars being forthcoming, he proceeded one\nday to capture a native lad whom he found on the beach, and, leading\nhim home, taught him several letters of the alphabet and then baked him\na cake. This system of rewarding attendance with something to eat\nrapidly brought other scholars. Older visitors followed, and he soon\nhad a school in active operation and then a lecture-room.\n\nPrior to Dr. Driggs's arrival, the experiences which the natives had\nhad with the whites had not been universally satisfactory. Outside of\nrare meetings with the officers and crews of the government's revenue\ncutters, their white acquaintances had been pretty much confined to the\nclass known as \"beach-combers,\" or deserters from the steam-whaling\nfleet. These are described as a rough, unscrupulous set of fellows, too\nworthless to obtain better employment in San Francisco, where they are\nenlisted. Some of these undesirable visitors had already appeared at\nPoint Hope and had outrageously abused the peaceful inhabitants before\nour author's arrival there.\n\nIn contrast with such men as these, Dr. Driggs proved himself a friend\nindeed to the poor natives, and succeeded in due time in winning the\naffection and confidence of their entire tribe. Little by little he\nmastered their language, until he has become so proficient in it that\nhe is now planning to write a grammar.\n\nDuring the summer months many of the Point Hope natives are away from\nhome for long intervals in quest of game or on fishing expeditions, and\nthe doctor would frequently follow their example, making long\nexcursions along the coast, as far north as Icy Cape, if not further;\nand southward, along the shores of Kotzebue Sound. Similarly for many\nwinters, wearied with confinement to the house during the long night,\nhe was wont to set out, accompanied by some native guide and wife with\ndog-team and sledge, to make trips of several hundred miles over ice\nand snow, exposed to blizzards such as we have no conception of,\ncamping out when weary in an improvised snow-house, or sleeping,\nperhaps, in some native settlement, where the only fare would be\nuninviting frozen fish. These last excursions, however, he has been\nobliged to discontinue in consequence of having frozen one of his feet,\nseveral years since, when he fell from an ice floe into the ocean, and\nwas with difficulty dragged out by his companions.\n\nAnd right here it might be as well to observe that the pretty picture\nwhich childhood's memories depict as adorning a page in our Physical\nGeography, with its fur-clad traveler sitting comfortably on his\nsledge, brandishing his whip and dashing gaily along behind a row of\ntrotting dogs, is more imaginative than accurate. The real use of the\ndog-team, it would appear, is merely to drag the traveler's baggage.\nThe men plough along through the snow in front, and the animals,\nharnessed in single file, drag the sledge behind them, following the\nwoman, to whom they are accustomed to turn for their food.\n\nThrown thus into close contact with Dr. Driggs, their physician when\nill, their teacher in health, their friend and protector always, the\nnatives gradually learned to discard the suspicion with which they must\nhave originally regarded him, and confided to him their traditions and\nlegends, which primarily they would naturally have guarded with the\nmost sedulous care. How many an evening camp-fire, how many a long\nconversation must these primitive tales represent! How much patience,\nupon the hearer's part, it must have required to corroborate these\ntraditions by comparing one account with another and noting their\nremarkable similarity! These sketches are real native stories put into\nreadable English, without any attempt at embellishment or enlargement.\n\nNear the native village of Tigara extends, for a considerable distance,\nthe ancient burial place of the tribe. Here, upon elevated platforms,\nsupported high above the ground on whales' jaws, out of the reach of\nwild animals, have slumbered the dead for ages past. In and beneath\nthese places of sepulture, Dr. Driggs has found many interesting relics\nof great antiquity, which he has brought away with him. Among these\nwere the original instruments used in bygone ages for making flint axes\nand arrow-heads. These the reader will find described in the text.\n\nThe site originally selected for Dr. Driggs's house was too close to\nthe shore. He found this out one night when a storm brought the water\nof the Arctic Ocean up over the land, and a succession of big waves\nforced his door open. Carrying a native lad on his back, he was\ncompelled to wade, in total darkness, through the icy water, for\nseveral hundred yards before he reached terra firma. After this\nstartling experience, his house was moved to higher ground and further\ninland; but, proving always extremely cold, it was subsequently\nreplaced, as a dwelling, by another and smaller building which was\nprotected from the piercing wind by a thick casing of sod.\n\nIn conclusion, we will say that Dr. Driggs is a man of iron constitution,\nstrong physically and mentally, an excellent shot, and one who hardly\nknows the meaning of the word _fear_. In years to come, his name will\nrightly go down to history as that of a hero.\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\n\nDuring many years spent within the Arctic Circle of Northwestern\nAlaska, at Tig-a-ra (Point Hope Village), where I have lived at the\nmission station of the Episcopal Church, acting as medical man and\nteacher, and, later on, in deacon's orders, I have naturally become\ninterested in these ancient people, and have written the following\nvolume of short stories simply to show the nature, traditions and\nlegends of the In-u-pash.[1] I have also introduced a few brief\nsketches, hoping to give a little insight into the simplicity of these\nprimitive people who have been isolated from the outside world from the\nmost remote time. There has been no attempt made to exhaust the\nsubject.\n\nJOHN B. DRIGGS, M.D.\n\n_April, 1905._\n\n      [1] IN-U-PASH--Native inhabitants of the coast of the Arctic\n      section of Alaska.\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n\n    I. INTRODUCTION                                              17\n\n   II. THE TRAGEDY OF THE THREE BROTHERS                         23\n\n  III. THE METIGEWEK                                             31\n\n   IV. ORIGIN OF MAN                                             35\n\n    V. WHAT BROUGHT AGE INTO THE WORLD                           39\n\n   VI. TOONGNA                                                   43\n\n  VII. THE \"ONGOOTKOOT\"                                          47\n\n VIII. WEBUKSIDE                                                 57\n\n   IX. BIRTH OF TOOLOOGIGRA                                      63\n\n    X. DAY AND NIGHT                                             69\n\n   XI. MAN'S FIRST CONSTRUCTED HOME                              73\n\n  XII. THE MAMMOTH                                               81\n\n XIII. FIRE-MAKING                                               85\n\n  XIV. INSTRUMENTS                                               89\n\n   XV. MUSIC                                                     99\n\n  XVI. WOODEN FACES                                             105\n\n XVII. THE EVOLUTION OF THE COOK                                109\n\nXVIII. CHOKARLUKE                                               117\n\n  XIX. INTRODUCTION OF TOBACCO                                  121\n\n   XX. WINTER EVENINGS AND STORIES                              127\n         Allugua                                                130\n         Caterpillar                                            135\n         Tungnaluke's Perplexity                                138\n         The Raven, the Barnacle Goose, and the Whale           142\n\n  XXI. COURTSHIP                                                149\n\n XXII. THE WOOING OF BILLY FISHTAIL                             155\n\nXXIII. WRITING                                                  159\n\n\n\n\nIllustrations\n\n\nThe princess and her companion                        _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                       _Facing page_\n\nA group of In-u-pash                                             22\n\nAn elevated grave                                                96\n\nNanoona's descendants                                           124\n\nMr. and Mrs. Billy Fishtail                                     156\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nOnly those who have had the experience, know the pleasure of traveling\noutside the beaten tracks and viewing new scenes that are not generally\nknown to the average tourist of to-day. Every year the Atlantic has its\nthrongs who are crossing the ocean to visit old places which have\nbecome familiar to the majority of readers. There is a route for the\nstudent of nature, which has been only partially opened of recent\nyears, that presents many points of interest. While nature has not yet\nbecome defaced by the artificial scenes which the Atlantic tourist\nmeets throughout his journey, the traveler can try the newer way by\nturning his steps toward the Pacific and visiting Alaska. There may not\nbe all the comforts one experiences on the Atlantic, but the ocean\nvoyage will be found plenty long, and there will be the satisfaction of\nviewing one's own country.\n\nAlaska is a vast and not thoroughly explored territory, with many\ndifferent tribes of people, whose history if it were but known, would\nfill many an interesting volume. The signs of an advancing civilization\nare to be noted in the way of small towns and mining camps, extending\neven as far north as Nome; then, if the journey is continued through\nthe Behring Straits into the Arctic regions--where in winter, the moon\nforms its circle in the heavens, while in summer, the sun remains up as\nif trying to make amends for its long winter's absence--up as far as\nPoint Hope to the village of Tigara, the tourist will find there an\ninteresting and friendly people. His first impression probably is, what\na bleak and barren coast! but, should he allow his thoughts to wander\nback to the remote past, he can imagine how in ages gone by this may\nhave been an Eden with its luxuriant vegetation and a much milder\nclimate. The huge mammoth roamed freely through the forest, along with\nmany other animals that have long since passed into the forgotten\nhistory of long ago. Then through the changes of nature the warming\nocean currents were shut off, causing this to become the bleak and\nbarren country it is now, enveloped in ice the greater portion of the\nyear. The belt of cold, acting as a barrier, isolates the people from\nthe outside world, and they have continued living in their primitive\ncondition until the present awakening.\n\nShould the geologist inform the villager that North America was once\nunder water, only the tops of the highest mountains extending above the\none great ocean, like so many islands, and that then the ocean currents\ncarried their warmth to the Pole, the Tigara man would reply: \"Yes, in\nvery old times only three mountain-tops extended above the ocean, and\nit was at a very remote day that my ancestors first appeared.\"\n\nShould the evolutionist inform the villager that man did not at first\nstand in an erect position as at present, but went round on his hands\nand feet; that the sperm whale originated from an animal akin to the\nbear; and that other great changes have taken place among the various\nmembers of the animal kingdom, the Tigara man would again reply: \"Yes,\nthe earliest men did not have their lower extremities developed for\nwalking; the Bow-head whale originated from an animal similar to the\ndeer, while another member of the whale family, called the Killer,\narmed with large teeth instead of baleen, originated from an animal\nakin to the wolf; the deer of old was a hornless and carniverous\nanimal, having teeth like those of the bear, its canines being quite\nlong, and when it appeared in herds the earlier inhabitants were\nalarmed, as it used to attack and devour the people.\" He will also tell\nyou that its fat was similar to the blubber of the seal, or perhaps\nmore like that of the domestic hog, but the animal for some unknown\nreason began eating the salmon-berries called \"achea,\" and in time\nbecame herbivorous; with the change of diet it gradually changed its\nhabits, growing horns and losing its back teeth, ultimately becoming\nthe caribou of the present.\n\nThe man of Tigara, through his traditions, has known all these things\nfor ages past, while the man of science is only finding them out\nthrough his patient investigations.\n\n[Illustration: A GROUP OF INUPASH]\n\nThe visitor can now enter into an interesting train of thought while\nsaying to himself: \"What need is there of crossing the wide ocean, with\nthe delusion we are visiting the old world, while there are here in our\nown country the oldest Americans, a race of men who, according to their\ntraditions and the rude architecture of their homes, can antedate any\npeople to be seen by the tourist on his beaten lines of travel?\"\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE TRAGEDY OF THE THREE BROTHERS\n\n\nIn the east not far from the region of the Romanzoff Mountains, toward\nthe land of the Cogmoliks, there lived during the early days four\nbrothers. The eldest had taken a trip on the ocean in his kyak or light\nskin boat. As the day drew to a close he had not returned, but it\nexcited no attention among the members of the family, as it was a usual\nthing for any of the people to stay a few days at a friendly iglo[2]\nwithout leaving word at home where they were going, or how long they\nwould be absent. Some acquaintances coming along reported that they had\nnot seen anything of the missing man; then suspicion began to be\naroused that everything might not be right and a search was instituted,\nbut no trace could be found of him or his kyak; no one along the coast\nseemed able to throw any light on his whereabouts, although they lent\ntheir aid by joining in with the searching party.\n\n      [2] Iglo, a mound house.\n\nAs time went by, all hopes of the missing one's return were abandoned.\nThe people talked about the case as one of those mysteries which had no\nsolution. Then later on, a second brother, venturing on a trip,\ndisappeared as completely as did the first. The remaining brothers were\nmuch alarmed and did not know what to do. A third brother started out\ndetermined if possible, to make a more thorough investigation, but\ndisappeared the same as the others.\n\nThere now remained only Ahvooyoolach[=a], the youngest of the four. He\nwas bowed down with grief at the great loss he had sustained, but it\nremained for him to solve the mystery. He went out in his kyak and had\nnot proceeded far from shore when his attention was attracted by what\nappeared to be a whale in the distance. It was a common sight so he\ngave it no heed, and even when the supposed whale came closer he paid\nno attention to it.\n\nNot until the creature came very near and charged him with a huge open\nmouth armed with great teeth, did he become alarmed. What to do he did\nnot know; there was no chance to escape to the shore; he was unarmed,\nwith the exception of a spear which seemed altogether too insignificant\nan instrument to defend himself with against such a huge monster; yet\nin his dilemma it was the only chance he had. Grasping the spear with a\nhand rendered firm by despair, he awaited the right moment, and just as\nthe animal was about to close its massive jaws to crush him and his\nfrail kyak (aiming down the throat, his fright lending strength to the\naction) he cast the spear with great force. The aim had been good and\nthe throw a powerful one. The creature instantly dove remaining down\nfor quite a while, then floated to the surface, dead. Upon examining\nthe body, it was found to be as large as that of a whale, at the same\ntime resembling that animal in appearance, but in addition it had four\nlegs. The mystery had been solved and Ahvooyoolach[=a] at last knew the\nfate of his three brothers.\n\n\nTHE WHALES OF ALASKA\n\nThere are two varieties of the whale much sought for on account of the\nbaleen they yield. The Right Whale of the Behring Sea, as well as of\nother waters, and the Bow-head that makes its summer run along the\nAmerican coast as far as the Arctic Archipelago. In September it\nstrikes westward to Herald Island, and in October back to the Behring\nSea, where it is supposed to spend the winter months at the southern\nedge of the ice. It is one of the large members of the whale family,\nsometimes attaining a length of sixty feet or more and yielding\nwhalebone sometimes over twelve feet in length. The Bow-head is a\ntimid, peaceful animal, preferring to visit the small bays and secluded\nnooks of the northern coast, where it can feed unmolested.\n\nAll along the coast of Arctic Alaska, there are lagoons of various\nsizes; many of them have streams as feeders, while others have no\nfeeders but have openings into the ocean, which become temporarily\nobliterated by sand when there is a heavy sea breaking on shore.\n\nIt was into the latter form of lagoon that, a very long time ago, a\nschool of Bow-heads had entered. The wind blowing on shore had\nobliterated the entrance, so the whales were entrapped with apparently\nno means of escape, yet they all crossed the beach and regained the\nocean, a feat they probably could not accomplish to-day. The people\nwatched them as they worked their way over the beach, the large ones\nmaking rapid progress while the small ones were very slow.\n\nThe Killer is one of the larger members of the whale family, which the\nnatives prefer not to attack, as it can be very vicious at times. Even\nmuch further south than Alaska, the creature has the reputation among\nthe shore whalemen, of chasing the boats to the shore occasionally and\nhas had many victims. Its chief food is the seal and beluga, while its\nsly disposition enables it also to capture the water birds. Placing\nitself just beneath the surface, with open jaws, it emits a substance\nthat attracts the birds who settle down on the waves and begin feeding;\nthe Killer then darts forward, capturing the birds which it quickly\ndevours. It is also said sometimes to attack as large an animal as the\nFin-back.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE METIGEWEK\n\n\nThe Metigew[=e]k was the largest of the numerous traditionary birds of\nTigara. Its enormous size and strength enabled it to seize and bear to\nthe interior the whales on which it used to feed. Even to-day when the\nolder inhabitants find the skeleton of a whale, back from the coast in\nthe interior of the country, they declare it was the victim of a\nMetigew[=e]k at some remote time of the past.\n\nOne of the earlier inhabitants has been credited with a somewhat\nsimilar experience to that of Ganymede.\n\nA hunter having killed a deer was in the act of cutting it up\npreparatory to carrying it home. Noticing a shadow coming over the\nground, he looked up just as a Metigew[=e]k swooped down and seized him\nin its enormous claws and bore him aloft. The bird carried him to a\ngreat height, so that the earth was almost lost to view. The man having\nretained his spear began stabbing the bird; at last the wounds proving\nfatal, the Metigew[=e]k gradually descended and reached the earth just\nas it expired. That night the hunter slept under the wing of the bird,\nultimately reaching his home in safety.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nORIGIN OF MAN\n\n\nThere is a fascination at the camp-fire. Men that have remained silent\nthrough the day will become entertaining under the genial influence of\nthe crackling logs as they blaze and send their myriads of sparks\nskyward. So this evening as I examine the notes in my Polar log-book,\ncollected at many of those fires, I find that man, no matter how\nhumiliating the admission may be, is forced to yield the palm of\nantiquity to woman and--chewing gum. Yet as we pause to consider the\nsubject, from the Polar man's point of view, it is but natural that\nwoman should be first, for without her aid there certainly would be no\nmen.\n\nMy log-book says that at a very early time of the world's history, long\nbefore day and night had been created, or the first man had made his\nappearance, there lived an old woman, indeed very old, for the\ntradition of her having had a beginning, if there ever was such a one,\nhad been lost. We must bear in mind that during the first stage of the\nworld everything remained young and fresh; nothing grew old. It was not\nuntil a much later date that the indiscretion of a boy brought those\nphysiological changes known as growing old into the world and placed a\nlimitation to the period of youth. The old woman was like a young girl\nin her appearance and feelings, and being the only inhabitant of the\nearth, naturally felt very lonesome and wished for a companion. She was\none time chewing \"pooy[=a]\" (chewing gum) when the thought arose in her\nmind that it would be pleasant to have an image to play with, so taking\nher \"pooy[=a]\" she fashioned a man, then by way of ornamentation placed\na raven's beak on his forehead.\n\nShe was delighted with her success in making such a lovely image and on\nlying down to sleep placed it near her side. On awakening her joy was\ngreat, for the image had come to life and there before her was the\nfirst man.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nWHAT BROUGHT AGE INTO THE WORLD\n\n\nAt a time long ago, before old age had been introduced and while our\nearly ancestors were still enjoying a state of perpetual youth, a boy\nwas living with his grandmother. One day she remarked that they were\nout of provisions, to which he replied: \"Never mind, grandma, I will\nset a snare and we will quickly have an owl to feast on.\" He skipped\nmerrily off and soon had ensnared a large white owl. On approaching the\nbird, the following conversation took place:\n\nOwl--\"What are you going to do with me?\"\n\nBoy--\"I am going to kill and eat you.\"\n\nOwl--\"Don't you do it.\"\n\nBoy--\"Why not?\"\n\nOwl--\"If you kill me, I will make you an old man.\"\n\nBoy--\"Grandma and I are hungry, and we are going to eat you.\"\n\nOwl--\"Again I warn you, if you kill me I will make an old man of you.\"\n\nNotwithstanding the warning, the boy killed the owl and started to\ncarry it home.\n\nHousehold duties did not hang heavily on the ladies of that day, so\ngrandma was killing time by watching for the boy's return. At last,\nslowly approaching and dragging a large white owl, she saw a withered\nold man, stricken with the infirmities of age. It was her grandson who\nhad left her but a short time previous, a merry, happy youth.\n\nSo old age was introduced into the world for the first time and has\ncontinued ever since. And often since that day many an old Inupash[3]\nwho has felt the infirmity of age coming on has sighed and sincerely\nwished that the boy had shown more discretion by hearkening to the\nwarning of the owl.\n\n      [3] Inupash, native Arctic inhabitant.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nTOONGNA\n\n\nThe belief in an evil spirit is in all probability as old as the\ninhabitated world. It seems to be one of those traditions that has\ndescended with man from the most remote times, not having lost but\nhaving gained strength through its long ages of descent. No matter\nwhere one may travel, he finds the majority of mankind firm believers\nin such a spirit.\n\nEven here in the far North among the Polarites there is such a belief.\n\"Toongna,\" the evil one, is supposed to be the adversary of man, and to\nhim is ascribed all the misfortunes that afflict the people. Some he\nmakes sick, while others he causes to be unfortunate in their\nundertakings. If a mother loses her new-born babe, Toongna was at the\nbottom of the misfortune, and she is placed under the superstitious ban\ncalled \"Karookto,\" not being allowed to mingle with the rest of the\nvillagers for a number of months, and the same tribal law is enforced\nin all families where death has occurred. Should a hunting party visit\nthe interior in quest of deer and not meet with success, Toongna has\nfollowed them and been the cause of their failure. Should foul weather\nwith heavy gales arise at an undesirable time, Toongna has been the\ncause. Hence the necessity for some one having the power to expel this\nevil spirit that afflicts man in such various ways; and the\n\"ongootkoot,\" rising to the emergency of the occasion by pretending to\nhave the desired power, early became the important man of the tribe.\n\n\"Toongna\" seems to have been one of those unfortunate spirits unworthy\nof having a history, for if he ever was on earth as a mortal his\nparents disowned him, and no one seems to have the least ambition to be\nconsidered one of his descendants.\n\nHe is simply a nagger of men that has had his day. Under the growing\nenlightenment of the people, his supposed power is diminishing, and the\n\"karookto\" is becoming a thing of the past.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE \"ONGOOTKOOT\"\n\n\nThe \"Ongootkoot\" is the sorcerer, prophet and historian. He claims to\nhave the power of expelling \"Toongna\" by his enchantments, and can do\nsuch marvelous things as change the wind, drive off eclipses, avert or\ndrive off misfortunes and expel the evil one from the sick. There are\ntwo ways of becoming an \"Ongootkoot\"--one is by inheritance, the other\nby claiming to have performed some marvelous act. The Polar inhabitants\nare a primitive, confiding people, so when one claims to have performed\nan act contrary to the laws of nature, there are no questions asked or\ninquiry made; the statement is simply accepted as a truth.\n\nAt one time long ago there lived a villager who had lost both his feet.\nHe, being an invalid, remained in his iglo, simply existing as an\nobject of charity to the neighbors, who were in the habit of supplying\nhim with food. During the fall of the year, when the weather was\ngrowing cold, there occurred an eclipse of the sun, at the same time a\nsevere earthquake gave the inhabitants great alarm. The ground moved\nand rolled like the ocean waves, while large crevices opened in many\nplaces allowing smoke and sulphurous vapors to escape.\n\nThe people in their fright rushed out from their homes; the invalid,\nforgetting his crippled condition, also sought the open air and began\njumping down the beach on his stumps, or as the people said, \"He jumped\nbig.\" No doubt the alarm added to his alacrity in his effort to escape,\nthus gaining for him the reputation of being an excellent jumper. The\neclipse passed off, so also did the earthquake, but the villagers all\ndeclared that it was the jumping of the invalid that caused the\nphenomena of nature to cease, and after that, instead of being an\nobscure cripple, an object of charity to his neighbors, he arose to the\ndignity of being one of the greatest of \"Ongootkoots.\" If any of the\ninhabitants were taken ill, the cripple's aid was solicited, and he\nwould jump around the sick one a few times, exorcising the evil spirit\nand commanding it to depart. If hunting parties were about to start on\nexpeditions, they could not expect to meet with success unless the\ncripple had jumped around them and their sled a number of times. His\nfame extended throughout the surrounding country, his services being\nsolicited from far and near, and he soon became quite prosperous, the\nrule among \"Ongootkoots\" being the greater the pay, the more\nefficacious the treatment.\n\nAt a far more recent day it was discovered that a certain Puneunau had\na great admiration for his neighbor's dogs, he considering them a\ntoothsome dish. The chief banished him from the tribe, with the warning\nthat if he returned, the death penalty would be inflicted. In his\nwanderings Puneunau led quite a checkered career with its accompanying\nhardships. Several times starvation seemed to stare him in the face. It\nwas during one of these latter occasions that he discovered the art of\nrunning a small slim stick down his throat without injury or great\ndiscomfort.\n\nAfter the death of the chief, Puneunau returned to the village,\nclaiming he could perform a marvelous feat, and in proof of the\nassertion he ran the stick down his throat, then went around uttering\nguttural sounds. The thing seemed wonderful in the eyes of the\nvillagers, gaining for him the reputation of being an \"Ongootkoot.\"\n\nOne thing troubled Puneunau, however: he was still a widower, much\nagainst his will, not for any lack of perseverance in offering himself\nto all the neighboring widows, but because none of them would accept\nhis offer. At last that slight difficulty was removed. A widow\nbelonging to another tribe came to the village with her children, and\nher son being ill, Puneunau offered his services to cure the lad. Day\nafter day he would go to the iglo, run the stick down his throat, then\nwalk around uttering gutteral sounds, but the boy refused to be cured\nand finally died. This, however, did not relieve the widow of her\nobligation to pay the \"Ongootkoot\" for his valuable services, and as\nshe was very poor and had nothing with which to meet it, Puneunau took\nthe widow herself for his fee.\n\nThe Inupash believe there are spirits wandering through space.\nOccasionally one of them, becoming discontented, desires to enter the\nworld as a human being. It looks around, then selects some young woman\nabout ready to enter womanhood, one that is noted for her virtue and\nother good qualities, to become its mother. Having made the selection,\nit awaits the opportunity and uses her as the medium for gaining its\ndesire. In due course of time a child is born, which on maturity\nbecomes an \"Ongootkoot\" of the first grade. Such births of spirits,\ndesirous of entering the world as human beings, it is said, have\ncontinued down until comparatively recent times. These earth-born\nspirits had the reputation of being men with charmed lives who could\nnot be killed.\n\n\"Kownalia\" was such an one. His descendants will often relate how, when\njust born, he began talking with the people, conversing like an adult.\nAt one time while visiting further North, he and a number of men\nventured on thin ice; the ice broke and all were precipitated into the\nwater. \"Kownalia,\" stepping on the backs of the struggling men, walked\nto the shore uninjured, while all the others perished.\n\nThe claims for \"Ungmana,\" another \"Ongootkoot\" of the first grade, were\nthat he could lay his abdomen open, then, placing fuel inside, set the\nmass on fire, the people being allowed to witness the blaze and smoke.\nHe would then remove the charred mass, and on closing the wound there\nwould be no sign left of an injury having been inflicted.\n\nThese \"Ongootkoots\" have undoubtedly rendered a service to their people\nin the past by acting as their historians in preserving their\ntraditions; they have also done good in the class of cases where\nnothing more than a faith cure is needed for the sick. Concerning the\nlatter, the Polarites are not to be too much condemned when we consider\nthe large amount of superstition exhibited by some of the more\ncivilized inhabitants of the States, who have unbounded confidence in\ntheir \"Faith Healers.\" The marvelous claims that are made for these\n\"Ongootkoots\" are undoubtedly due to the zeal of their descendants, who\nare naturally anxious to place their ancestors in as favorable a light\nas possible, especially if they themselves aspire to become\n\"Ongootkoots\" by inheritance. It is also doubtful if the marvelous\ndeeds were ever known until the man had been dead fifty years or more.\n\nThe \"Ongootkoot,\" however, has had his day and is now on the decline.\nOne often hears the older people say, as they shake their heads, that\nhe is not the wonderful man he was in the days of old. The young\npeople, through their growing enlightenment, are also losing confidence\nin the man and his claims. Of those who were confirmed by the Bishop of\nAlaska at Point Hope in the summer of 1903, four were directly\ndescended from spirits entering the world as human beings; but they\ndiscarded their supposed birthrights and have become zealous church\nworkers. Others have been baptized and married to their wives, and are\nmaking good citizens as well as earnest Christian workers.\n\nShould one take a trip through the Arctic portion of Inupash land, it\nis doubtful if he would meet with very many really non-Christians, for\nthe people are now accepting the Nazarene as their great good spirit.\nThe workers in the field truly taking an interest in the people and\ntrying to benefit their condition have been few, but the people\nthemselves have spread the teachings they have received, and the seed\nhas fallen on fertile ground. It is true there is yet much of the old\nsuperstition of the past, but it has had its day and is gradually\nlessening its hold on the people.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nWEBUKSIDE\n\n\nThere is a firm belief among the Polarites that a time is to arrive\nwhen the world will come to an end, it being known as \"Webukside\" or\nthe Judgment Day. \"Tooloogigra,\" the great and good spirit who was once\non earth as a mortal, will be present to judge the quick and the dead.\nAll are to be examined. The wicked, who through the sinful lives they\nled while on earth have not merited eternal happiness, are to be\nrejected and consumed in the great fire which will finally destroy the\nworld. Those whose good lives have earned for them eternal joy are to\nbe saved; they are to pass with \"Tooloogigra\" into their future home,\nwhere they will live forever, free from all cares, or sorrows, or\nsuffering of any kind.\n\nWhen a man dies, it is believed that after the third night some member\nof the tribe, who has made the journey before, visits the grave to\nconduct the new one to his home where he is to remain while awaiting\nthe coming of \"Webukside.\" On the fourth day after a death, some member\nof the family strikes four blows with a hammer, at the recent home of\nthe deceased, which is a sign of farewell and means that the spirit is\nnot to return to that iglo again. With a woman, it takes one day longer\nto pass to the place of waiting, so not until after the fourth night\nare the knocks made. The dead have deer-skin masks over their faces and\ntheir hands are encased in mittens.\n\nLike the Jews who have so long been awaiting the coming of their\nMessiah, so the Inupash have been waiting and looking for the return of\n\"Tooloogigra\" for ages past. Besides liberating day and night from\ntheir confinement (during his childhood), \"Tooloogigra\" has been\ncredited with one miracle. When grown to manhood, he was once making a\nlong ocean voyage with some companions in their kyaks, and being\nthirsty, he longed to reach some land where fresh water could be\nprocured. His thirst becoming urgent, he cast his spear, and the\nwestern portion of the land now known as Point Hope arose from the\nwater. The village of Tigara is at the extremity of the storm swept\npoint, which used to extend westward much further.\n\nWhen \"Tooloogigra\" had fulfilled his time on earth, he did not die as\nan ordinary mortal, but ascended into the sky, the people standing\nbelow, watching him until he had faded from sight in the distance.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nBIRTH OF TOOLOOGIGRA\n\n\nAt the remote time of the earth's history when these northern regions\nwere clothed in a verdure of ferns and trees, nature presenting a far\ndifferent appearance than at present, men had begun to multiply on the\nface of the earth and were living in a state of pristine contentment.\nThe necessity for building homes to shelter the people had not yet\narrived; the trials and perplexities of the busy world were unknown,\nand the ambition for riches had not become the absorbing problem of the\nday. Day and night, according to tradition, had not been liberated from\ntheir confinement to bestow their many benefits on the human race,\nneither had that heedless youth been born who introduced old age with\nits undesirable sequelae into the world.\n\nAt this time there lived a man who was looked upon as a powerful\nchieftain. His home was a simple shelter, furnished in the rude fashion\nof those days, but what seemed to place him above his fellow men and\nstamped him as being no ordinary mortal were two balls hanging up in\nhis home, which he guarded zealously; one was bright and beautiful, the\nother dark. Living with the chieftain were his wife and daughter, the\nlatter just budding into womanhood. She was noted for her many virtues,\nwhile her laughing, merry disposition rendered her a favorite among the\npeople, and her society was much sought.\n\nWandering through space just then was a spirit grown tired of the\naimless life it was leading. It longed to enter the world, to become a\nmortal like the merry, happy people whom it daily saw. There was but\none way in which the spirit could gain its desire; that was to be born\ninto the world. On looking around in its wanderings, it fell in love\nwith the great virtue and beauty of the chieftain's daughter and\ndecided she should be its medium for entering the world, and therefore\nhovered around awaiting its opportunity.\n\nOne day the young woman's mother requested her to visit the spring as\nshe wished some fresh, cool water. The girl, like a dutiful daughter,\nskipped off merrily to fulfil her mother's command.\n\nThe spirit having heard the mother's request, hastened forward and\nentered the spring. The day was warm, the water looked inviting, and\nthe young princess, being thirsty, first dipped up for herself some of\nthe clear sparkling water, and with it dipped up the spirit. Taking a\nlong drink, which seemed particularly refreshing, she swallowed the\nspirit, and returning to her mother, not dreaming of what had occurred,\nshe was soon at play with her companions. As time went by the spirit\ngrew and the princess became the mother of a son. She named him\n\"Tooloogigra,\" and the oldest Americans of the Arctic have ever since\nlooked upon him as their great spirit.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nDAY AND NIGHT\n\n\nYoung \"Tooloogigra,\" inheriting his mother's happy disposition, was\nsoon the pet of his grandparents. As he began to run around, he became\ninfatuated with the bright ball that he saw hanging in his home, but\nhis grandfather would let him have only the dark one to play with. He\nrolled it around in his childish play, yet it did not meet with his\nfancy. He often cried and teased grandpa for the other one. The old\nchieftain, although very affectionate and indulgent in every other\nrespect, refused to let his young grandson have the bright ball that he\nhad been guarding so faithfully for so many years.\n\nAt last an opportunity arrived for the boy to gain his desire. The\nchieftain was absent from home and some people venturing into the place\nwere amazed at the great beauty of the balls. Curiosity has always been\na strong element in the human character, and as the people of that day\nwere no exception to the rule, they soon experienced a desire to examine\nthose balls. Unfastening the bright one from its place of confinement,\nthey carried it outside to admire, when little \"Tooloogigra,\" gaining\npossession, broke the ball with his hands. Instantly a bright light,\nwhich had been kept in confinement, escaped, flooding the world with\ndaylight for the first time. The people in their amazement threw up\ntheir hands and cried \"couru,\" which has ever since remained the name\nfor daylight.\n\nNot satisfied with their experience and the changed condition of\nthings, they soon had the second ball unfastened and in their hands,\nwhen little \"Tooloogigra,\" gaining possession of this also, broke it as\nhe had the first. A dark vapor was liberated, which, spreading over the\nearth, extinguished the bright light. The people then cried \"oongnoo,\"\nfrom which has been derived \"oongnoorpuk\"--night.\n\nEver since that time, many a polar mother has interested her children\nby telling them how young \"Tooloogigra\" liberated day and night from\ntheir confinement.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nMAN'S FIRST CONSTRUCTED HOME\n\n\nNorth America, having gradually emerged from the water, had come into\nexistence. To the east of Alaska, the warm Atlantic currents had become\nrestricted by the rising land and did not flow so freely as formerly.\nTo the south, the Seward Peninsula was forming, first appearing as a\nstring of islands with shoals, then gradually rising more and more,\nuntil it restricted the ocean currents from the Pacific. The Arctic\nregions, being deprived of their warming influences, were beginning to\nfeel the cold of winter.\n\nThe birds had taken the warning and were commencing to form their\nmigratory habits by flying south to escape the cold and to find regions\nwhere their food supply was more abundant, returning north each summer\nto their earlier homes for the nesting season. The mammoth had also\napparently tried to make its escape, but had perished in large numbers\nin the region of Escholtz Bay, at a section often called the Mammoth\nGraveyard. The birds and ducks seemed to be trying to overtake the\nretreating sun as it worked its way southward, the godwit continuing\nits flight as far as New Zealand, where it yet continues to spend the\nwinter months.\n\nMany of the inhabitants of Alaska, in trying to make their escape from\nthe cold, apparently preferred to follow the sun in its western course.\nThese people had progressed far enough to know the art of canoe\nbuilding. The remains of three of their canoes are to be seen to-day on\nmountains inland, where they have been well preserved by the ice and\nsnow, remaining as silent witnesses of an early day and showing where\nthe ocean used to be in the remote past. Also on higher ground inland\ncan be seen the skeleton of a whale; while on the Seward Peninsula, on\nland between four and five hundred feet higher than the ocean, an\nacquaintance found a driftwood log in a fair state of preservation. The\npeople, following the chain of islands which separate Behring Sea from\nthe Pacific Ocean, reached Siberia, which they probably crossed. We\nread that there lived in Europe at a very early date, a rude race of\nhunters and fishers, closely allied to the Eskimos, who were apparently\ndriven there from the east by the increasing cold. They seem to have\nmade an impression on the older languages of Europe in the line of\ntheir words and grammar, and it is also probable that their tradition\nof the earliest state of man may have led to the fable of the sea\nnymph.\n\nThe Seward Peninsula continued rising until at last it entirely emerged\nabove the water, disclosing those wonderful deposits of gold that of\nlate years have made Nome famous throughout the world. The rising land\nformed a barrier against the warming influence of the Japan current.\nThen the Arctic winters set in with their utmost severity, continuing\nuntil at last Nature came to the relief of this ice-bound region. A\nportion of the land nearest Asia sank, forming what is now known as the\nBehring Straits, again admitting the Japan current to exert its\nameliorating influence on the Arctic sections. Our seasons then assumed\npretty much the same conditions they have now. Tradition states that in\nthe past there have been severe earthquakes in this section and it may\nbe due to such a cause that the land subsided.\n\nAs the seasons grew more and more severe, Nature, according to\ntradition, took care of the seal and the wolf, by changing the fat of\nthe former to the blubber of to-day, and by causing the thin, short\nhair of the latter to grow into the thick, warm fur of the present.\nMan, with his superior intellect, was left to solve his own problem.\nThose people who had remained behind soon found that their cave-dwellings\nwere not a sufficient protection against the cold, which was recurring\nwith greater severity each succeeding winter, and undoubtedly many\nperished. The polar bear had solved the problem of sheltering herself\nby building a home, according to circumstances, either on the land, or\non the ocean ice, and it was the latter that suggested to man how to\nconstruct his first mound house, called iglo.\n\nThe female bear, in making the winter home in which her cub is born,\nselects a site where the ocean ice extends up against a cliff, and\nwhere the snow has drifted the deepest; with her massive paws she digs\ninto the drift, throwing the snow behind her. The entrance becomes\nfilled, while the drifting snow soon obliterates any external sign of\nher presence. A good-sized room is formed and a small hole in the roof,\nmade by the warmth inside, acts as a ventilator. The escaping steam is\nthe sign which shows the hunter where a bear is to be procured. She\nmakes a hole in the ice, at one end of the room, through which she can\ndive to procure a seal when hungry. Here she has a warm, comfortable\nhome for herself and cub, where they remain until the warmer weather of\nspring reminds the family that it is time to begin their travels with\nthe ice pack.\n\nMan imitated the bear in constructing his iglo. First excavating the\nground for a short distance, he erected over it a frame of driftwood\nand whale jaws. At one end of the room the excavation was made somewhat\ndeeper, a hole large enough to admit a man being left in the floor over\nthe excavation to serve as an entrance, and a driftwood passageway\nending at a mound left open at the top, whose elevation prevented the\nsnow drifting in, made an exit to the outer world. A small hole in the\nroof of the one room acted as a ventilator and a larger one covered\nwith the dried intestines of a seal served as a window. All was then\ncovered over with sods and earth, making a home constructed on the same\nprinciple as that of the bear; one that resisted the cold and could be\neasily warmed by the seal-oil lamp. The same principle is still adhered\nto in constructing the modern iglo, though a small room has been added\nat the entrance to serve as a cooking room, while for the hole in the\nfloor for an entrance a small door has been substituted.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nTHE MAMMOTH\n\n\nThe traditions regarding the mammoth, called the \"keleegewuk,\" are few\nand short. They are not of an interesting nature, further than to give\nsome idea of the great age of these traditions. They were undoubtedly\nmuch longer at first, but by their descent through a vast length of\ntime, they now appear in their present curtailment. There is one that\ngives a slight insight into the condition of those early days, both as\nregards the heat of the weather, and the changes that have taken place\nwith the wolf.\n\nA man had gone into the interior on a hunting expedition. The weather\nproved to be very warm, so he sought the shelter of a cave, intending\nto await the passing of the heat of the day. He had not been in the\nshelter long before the sound of a heavy animal passing rapidly over\nthe earth greeted his ears, and on looking out he saw a mammoth in full\nflight, the huge creature exhibiting great fear, as it was being chased\nby a thin, short-haired wolf. The man watched the two until they had\npassed from sight.\n\nThe fear exhibited by the mammoth for so small an animal as the wolf\nputs one in mind of the reports that the modern elephant will\noccasionally exhibit much alarm when a mouse appears in its exclosure.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nFIRE-MAKING\n\n\nThe art of fire-making was known among these people at a very remote\ntime. The earliest method appears to have been through the agency of\niron pyrites, called \"cozgeen\" or \"igneen,\" and from the latter has\nbeen derived \"ignek,\" the Tigara word for fire. Two pieces of \"igneen,\"\nbeing struck together, would emit a spark; a small-sized heap of tinder\nbeing placed on the ground the operator would continue striking the\nglancing blows until a lucky spark ignited the mass. The operation, to\nsay the least, must have required a great amount of patience on the\npart of the operator. It was the only method of fire-making known for a\ngreat length of time; then the second method was happily discovered.\n\nIt had been found that a small round stick with a piece of flint\ninserted in the end, revolved by hand, would bore through bone, ivory\nor even stone. Later on some inventive genius introduced the bow and\nstring, to revolve the instrument more rapidly, while a wooden\nmouth-piece was used to exert pressure and to steady the instrument. It\nis still in use for boring, a piece of wire having replaced the flint.\nAfter the introduction of the bow and string and the mouth-piece, it\nwas found that the rapidly revolving tool excited friction enough to\nproduce fire. That was the second method known, but it did not displace\nthe \"igneen\" which continued in use until rendered obsolete by the\nwell-known flint and steel. This last is of comparatively recent\nintroduction, iron not having been known in Alaska until the past fifty\nor sixty years. The domestic match, however, has now almost displaced\nall the other methods, although the flint and steel are still in use\nwith some of the older smokers.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nINSTRUMENTS\n\n\nMan is more poorly endowed, both as regards speed and natural weapons\nof defense, than almost any other member of the animal kingdom. Had it\nnot been for his superior intellect from the first, he would\nundoubtedly have been exterminated long ago. From the earliest time he\nhas been forced to exercise his ingenuity to make amends for the\nnatural inferiority he labored under in striving for his food, yet he\nhas advanced step by step until he has proved his superiority by\nsubduing all the other creatures of his kingdom, standing to-day\nwithout a rival, his only capable adversary being his fellow man.\n\nThere was, of course, a very early prehistoric time, at which he was\nforced to procure his food without artificial aid, the Inupash will\ntell you; then, as his inventive genius began exercising itself, a\nstone with a thong attached was employed to dispatch the game he\nsought. The stick sharpened at one end was probably introduced about\nthe same time, it being the forerunner of the spear, which has proved\nas useful for small game as it has for the great brown bear. When the\nanimal charged, the hunter quickly placed the butt of the spear on the\nground, and the bear, thus coming in contact with the sharpened end,\nwas pierced and killed. The noose also proved of service for bear and\ndeer. If hunting the former, a steep bank, where the creature was known\nto walk, was chosen and the noose set. On becoming entangled, the bear\nin its struggle fell over the bank, where it would hang until dead. The\nsling probably never proved very efficacious, as its accuracy for birds\non the wing is too uncertain. It was useful for casting stones into the\nocean to frighten and drive the beluga into the nets set for that\npurpose. The \"kalimetown\" was a far more effective instrument. It was\nmade of seven small ivory balls, each having a string of deer sinew\nattached, the strings being joined at the end by a feather. On being\nthrown into a flock of ducks on the wing, any one of the balls striking\na bird would act as a pivot for the others to encircle the victim and\nbring it to the ground.\n\nBone or ivory hooks were used in fishing through the ice, the line\nbeing made from strips of whalebone or spines from the feather of the\ngannet. A spear formed from two pieces of bone arranged in the shape of\na V proved effective in capturing fish. The net was of service, not\nonly for fish and beluga, but also for ptarmigan and foxes. For the\nlatter, it was set stationary, the hunters remaining hidden in snow\nshelters constructed for the occasion. On the approach of a fox, the\nmen in hiding jumped up and made a noise, and the frightened creature\nin its efforts to escape was driven forward into the net. In netting\nptarmigan, the only caution necessary is not to frighten the birds, but\nto keep them walking forward slowly. The meshes of the net are large\nand of fine sinew; the bird on attempting to pass through, becomes\nentangled. On the cliffs, during the summer months, the hand-net on a\npole is a favorite device for capturing the murres, which fly back and\nforth among the rocks in immense numbers, making one continuous war\nnight and day. These methods of hunting are all very old, yet all are\nstill in use among the Inupash with the exception of that of netting\nfoxes, the net having been abandoned for the steel trap.\n\nBows and arrows are of very ancient origin, too remote to trace out\ntheir first introduction. The bow was made from selected pieces of\ndriftwood, reinforced by strips of whalebone, and bound with deer\nsinew. The arrow had two principal forms of head, one of brown flint,\nthe other of deer horn, much longer than the first and nicked on the\nsides, to make it hold in the wounded game. On being struck, an animal\nwould try to dislodge the arrow, giving the hunter a chance to send a\nsecond one, and so it would continue until a lucky shot proved fatal.\n\nIn constructing the flint arrow-heads, two instruments were used, the\n\"natkenn,\" a small hammer made preferably from the base of the horn of\na deer where it enters into the bony portion of the skull, and the\n\"kigleen,\" a kind of sharpener made from a piece of deer horn, with a\nsmall round piece of ivory overlapping and bound to its upper surface.\nA piece of flint being chosen, the man making the arrow-head would\nplace a deerskin mitten on his left hand, then, placing the flint on\nthe palm and wrist of the protected hand, would strike the edge of the\nflint with the \"natkenn\" so that small slivers would be detached from\nthe under surface. The operation would be continued until the flint had\nassumed the proper shape, and then the \"kigleen\" was employed to drive\nand make the edge even.\n\nFor the horn arrow-heads, deer horns were immersed in hot water, then\nstraightened and shaped with stone knives. Two pieces of feather,\nproperly bound at the lower end of the shaft, gave the arrow a rotary\nmotion as it passed through the air, and insured a greater accuracy. It\nis a principle that has been adopted by manufacturers of modern rifle\nguns to impart to the projectile a spinning motion in its flight.\n\nThe first guns introduced among the Inupash were the old flintlocks,\nalthough this was probably not over thirty-five or forty years ago;\nthey must have been the flintlocks left over with some trading company,\nafter the introduction of the percussion caps, that had found their way\nthis long distance across the country.\n\n\"Koonooya\" is the name of the villager who was the first to own a\ndouble-barreled shotgun; previous to that he had killed fourteen white,\nand two brown bears with his bow and arrow. The older people laugh as\nthey relate how those standing near the man firing would place their\nhands over their ears to deaden the sound, while the little girls\ncried, declaring the big noise hurt their ears.\n\nThe first knives were of flint, jade and slate; the boring tools of\nflint; the adze of jade; hammers were made mostly from jade and wedges\nof bone; while flint was used to saw the jade, and the brown variety\nwas employed for tools. The women's knives were largely of slate, but\nsometimes of jade, and their needles of ivory or bone.\n\nPots were crudely manufactured by mixing clay with heavy-spar that had\nbeen roasted and powdered fine,--called \"k[=e]tik,\" blood from a seal\nbeing added and sometimes the pin-feathers from a bird. Utensils thus\nmade were less liable to fracture than those formed simply from clay.\nOccasionally a flat stone was hollowed out to about the depth of a\nfrying-pan, and used for a cooking utensil, it having the advantage of\nboiling more quickly than the clay vessel over the seal-oil lamp. These\nlamps were simply flat stones, hollowed out with the flint instruments\nso as to hold oil. A few copper kettles of Russian make found their way\ninto Tigara from the Diomedes about sixty years back; they were very\nexpensive and could be afforded by but few. The \"Ongootkoots\"\nfrequently broke up these kettles and pounded the copper into knives,\nthese being the first metal blades known among the Inupash.\n\n[Illustration: AN ELEVATED GRAVE]\n\nWood shovels, tipped with bone, and picks made from whale jaws, were\nemployed in cutting sods and excavating the ground for the iglos, and\nalso for digging pits in the deep snow, back in the valleys, into which\nthe deer would fall and could then be easily captured.\n\nThe first spear heads were of bone or ivory; later on they were nicked\non the sides so as to hold more firmly. Afterward, the heads were made\nmovable with a line attached, having the advantage of holding crosswise\nwhen driven well in. About one hundred miles east of the village of\nTigara, in the land of the Kivalinyas, a man once darted a beluga, but\nbecoming entangled in the line he was dragged off into the ocean. The\nbeluga was afterward killed at the mouth of the Mackenzie River, it\nhaving towed the body considerably more than one thousand miles.\n\nFor clothing, deerskins were stretched and scraped with flint\ninstruments, then dressed with powdered heavy-spar, making the skin\nsoft and pliable. Fresh skins from the common seal were rolled up and\nkept in a warm place until the hair loosened, then stretched and dried,\nand afterward scraped and worked until soft. These were employed to\nmake the upper portions of the summer waterproof boots and shoes. The\nskin of the giant seal, treated in the same way, was used for boot\nsoles, the soles being crimped into shape by biting with the teeth. All\nsewing was done with deer or whale sinew, the former being considered\nthe best. The same methods are yet employed for dressing skins and\nmaking clothing as of old.\n\nLines for the seal spear, hauling lines for the boat or sled, and all\nlashings, are made from the skin of the giant seal, treated as above,\nthen cut into long strings.\n\nAll the stone implements that were formerly in use have been rendered\nobsolete by the introduction of iron, and it is now difficult to\nprocure any of these old reminders of the past.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nMUSIC\n\n\nThe Polarites have but two musical instruments, the \"ahtooktoora,\" or\none-string fiddle, and the \"calown,\" or one-headed drum. The latter is\nby far the more important, being used on all festive occasions both to\nbeat time for the dancers and also to accompany the singers.\n\nMany of the songs of these people relate fragments of tradition, while\nothers deal with a crude mythology. There is yet another class, looked\nupon as prayers; some of these are very old, and are highly treasured\nby the possessors, being guarded as great secrets. When a father is\nabout to pass away, he will call his son and impart to him the song as\na legacy. No one else is allowed to be present on such an occasion, it\nbeing regarded in the same solemn light as a dying parent's blessing.\nThe son in his turn, when he has grown old, and is about ready to take\nleave of the world, will impart the song to the next one in line of\ninheritance. These heirlooms have descended through families from one\ngeneration to another for an immense length of time. They are supposed\nto have a mystic charm and are never sung loud, but are hummed in a low\nvoice. No outsider is allowed to learn the words or hear the tunes. If\na seal on the ice is very watchful, the hunter that has received such a\nlegacy will lie still and sing the magic words, at which the animal is\nsupposed to go to sleep and so be readily approached. The same is said\nabout the whale; if it has been struck, and there is danger of its\nbeing lost, the initiated will sing the magic words, after which the\nwhale can be captured.\n\nOne song of the first named class relates the experiences of a young\nwoman. Her parents, who are growing old, are desirous that she should\nchoose a husband from among the young men of the village. She, refusing\nto do so, selects a skull as her lover. Her mother is indignant, and\none day during the daughter's absence accuses her son-in-law of keeping\nher awake the previous night by too much whispering. Taking a stick she\nthrusts it into the eye socket, then tosses the skull out-of-doors. The\nwind rolls it down the beach and far out into the ocean. The daughter,\non returning and finding her lover absent, eagerly inquires where he\nis. On going outside the trail of the skull is discovered and followed\nto the water. A mouse coming along the trail is killed and, on its\nbeing thrown into the ocean, a path is made visible which leads down\ninto the shades. There the lover is found; he has grown a new body and\nis living with two old women. The young woman is overjoyed at finding\nher Orpheus, but he, pointing to the wound in the eye, tells her that\nher mother was the cause of it and refuses to return with her. She\nmournfully retraces her steps to earth and decides to choose the other\nroad thence leading to Paradise.\n\nTaking the winding path that ascends toward the sky, she finds that the\nscene grows more enchanting as she proceeds. At last she arrives at the\nmoon, where everything is found to be most beautiful. After viewing the\namazing scene, she expresses a desire to cast her eyes upon the earth\nagain, but the keeper refuses to open the door. Finally, however, her\nearnest pleadings have the desired effect, and he concedes to her\nrequest by opening the door a little. While she is looking down, a\ngreat shout is heard, as the villagers cry out, \"There's the new moon!\"\nOne man, taking a cup, tosses water so high that it enters the door of\nthe moon; at the same time he shouts, \"Send me a whale.\" A second man\ndoes the same, but tosses the water only a short distance, for he has\nmet with disappointment in his whaling. All these scenes, with the\ndistinctness of the voices, have the effect of making her homesick to\nreturn to the village. She pleads with the doorkeeper to allow her to\nretrace her steps, but he declares that the path has vanished, and that\nno one entering the moon can return by the same road. She, becoming\ndisconsolate, is at last informed that if she will braid a rope long\nenough to reach the earth a descent can be made by that means; so she\nsets to work and after diligent labor the task is ultimately completed.\nAs she starts to lower herself, the doorkeeper tells her to keep her\neyes closed until her feet touch the ground, and following his\ninstructions she at last reaches the earth once more.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nWOODEN FACES\n\n\nMany families treasure old family portraits--paintings of ancestors who\nhave rendered themselves famous in one way or another. Such paintings\nhave their unwritten stories, repeated by word of mouth from one\ngeneration to another, thereby preserving the family history which is\nlooked back upon with pride by the descendants.\n\nAmong the inhabitants of the Arctic regions the same sentiment long ago\nprevailed. They had no pencils or paints, neither did they know\nanything of the painter's art, so with their stone knives or other rude\ntools they carved faces from driftwood, which were hung up in their\nhomes as mementos of former great men and ancestors. With these faces\nwere always associated the unwritten stories of the men they\nrepresented, descending by word of mouth from one generation to\nanother, thereby preserving the family history. Sometimes the accounts\nof the deeds these men performed were carved on ivory, thus aiding in\nthe preservation of their stories.\n\nIt is doubtful if these masks were very good likenesses of the\nindividuals, but they have served their purpose remarkably well. It is\nalso doubtful if our more civilized artists could have done much better\nthan these untrained sculptors with the same rude tools and materials\nwith which they had to work. Sometimes the untutored artist would\ncreate an unsatisfactory face, one rather hideous in its appearance;\nthen he would declare that he had made the face of Toongna. At other\ntimes faces would be created without any intention of their\nrepresenting any particular individual. Such faces were hung up in\nhomes for the same reason that we adorn our walls with oil paintings or\nphotographs, simply to look at them. Other large faces were made and\nused in the festivities of a feast, but I have never learned that such\nfaces were looked upon with any degree of superstition, as many have\nsupposed.\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nTHE EVOLUTION OF THE COOK\n\n\nThe Arctic cook's necessary tools are first a fire, then a pot and a\nspoon or stick, and a piece of seal meat. Judging from tradition, these\nmust have been known to the first old woman. The forerunner of the\nspoon was the \"allutok,\" a name derived from two words, \"allukto,\" to\nlick, and \"tock,\" occurring only in the construction of compound words\nand having a reference to bringing. The first \"allutok\" was simply a\nsmall stick like the Chinese chop-stick. It continued in use for a\ngreat many centuries, or to within the past ten or twelve years. Since\nthen it has been entirely replaced by the modern spoon, which has\nretained the same name.\n\nCalling boiled seal meat the first, we will look upon \"pooy[=a]\" as the\nsecond triumph of the culinary art. I give the recipe for number two.\nAt the same time, it is doubtful if any of the modern ladies of the\nkitchen will care to experiment with its manufacture. The only things\nof interest about \"pooy[=a]\" are its age, the ingredients and style of\nits construction, and its one great product (according to the\nInupash)--the first man.\n\nDuring those very early days, the woman appears not to have washed her\ndishes, although she may have spent a great deal of time in the water.\nThe recipe says: Scrape the old dried dinner from the \"allutok\" used at\na previous feast of seal meat. To the scrapings add a small pinch of\nthe tender pin feathers of a bird. The two ingredients are to be mixed,\nthen masticated until metamorphosed into chewing-gum.\n\nThere were no clocks or watches in those early days, so the Polar man's\nfirst mother had lots of time. After a few centuries had passed, some\ngenius invented a new form of chewing-gum called \"[=a]noon.\" It appears\nto have been the third triumph in the culinary line. Seal oil is\nboiled; the upper portion being poured off, the thick sediment\nremaining is again boiled until it becomes black and nearly burnt, when\nit is ready for chewing. The use of this is said to shorten time\nconsiderably, but the mass does not look inviting.\n\n\"Keveh,\" made by warming deer tallow, then beating it into a light mass\nwith salmon berries, was the fourth innovation, and \"ahkootoo,\" the\nfifth. \"Ahkootoo\" is made from deer marrow, mixed with whale oil, a\nsmall amount of soup from boiled deer meat and also some of the meat\ncut fine. The mass is to be beaten until it becomes quite light. It is\nan article of food very highly esteemed by the Inupash.\n\nThese remained the only dishes known to the cook for a vast length of\ntime, but I take it that much meat and fish were devoured raw. On the\nfirst introduction of flour, the people did not care for it, but about\n1890 they learned the art of making \"nookpowras,\" flour mixed with a\nsmall amount of water, then dropped into boiling seal or whale oil.\n\"Nookpowras\" proved quite popular, and flour became a demand.\n\nA few years back instructions were begun among the young people at\nTigara in the simple art of cooking. At first the girls viewed it in\nthe line of a novelty, but when they noticed the eligible young men\npicking out the cooks for their wives, it was astonishing to see what\nzeal all the marriageable girls suddenly developed. As soon as they had\nlearned to turn a slapjack, or to make a cup of coffee, they would, on\nreturning to their homes in the evening, pass around among the young\nmen, bragging of what good cooks they were; or if a whale ship was\nsighted, off would scamper the cooks, anxious to be the first on board,\ninvariably hunting up the cooks' galley, where they introduced\nthemselves as cooks, seeming to feel that there should be a\nprofessional bond of sympathy between them.\n\nIt was not alone in cooking that instructions were given, but also in\nthe art of sewing; simple cutting was taught and the making of such\nthings as towels, snow shirts and trousers.\n\nAt one time the young tribal princess and her companion were under\ninstruction. They tried to excel all previous apprentices in various\nways. No sooner would the breakfast dishes be through with than the\ngirls would disappear out-of-doors. On searching for them, they would\nbe found in some secluded corner playing housekeeping; or, if a\ndoctor's patient came along, after his departure they would prescribe\nsmall powders of flour for each other. When the time came for them to\nreceive instruction in sewing, they were set to making woolen trousers.\nA great amount of whispering and tittering went on; then when the work\nwas brought for inspection it was found that, as before these girls had\ntried to excel all previous attempts. They had procured some bright\npieces of calico with which they had trimmed the garments in a style\nthe princess thought quite pretty. Fancy trousers immediately became\nthe rage among the villagers. One young man of dudish propensities came\nout with a pair that had been worked in rings of various colors down\neach leg, while his competitor introduced knee breeches made from fancy\nbed ticking, heavily frilled at the knees and fancily embroidered in\nbright colors. The village belles, not to be outdone by the young men,\ndiscarded the old bone fish-hooks they had been wearing for ear jewelry\nand adopted the more natty safety-pin, at the same time making for\nthemselves pretty waist belts with can-openers for danglers, and also\ngiving their cloaks a liberal supply of the same.\n\nIt was the beginning of a new era among the people. They were awaking\nfrom the long sleep they had been taking, ever since the beginning of\nthe Polar race. Old ways that had been followed from the most remote\ntime were to give way to the new conditions that were advancing, and\nwould ultimately end in the improvement and benefit of the people.\n\nThe art of cooking has now greatly advanced. Nearly all the young\npeople understand how to cook. It is doubtful if there is an iglo in\nthe village that has not one or two cooks. Eating raw meat is pretty\nmuch of the past, its place being filled by bread, slapjacks, soup, and\ntea or coffee. Nearly all the young people can make their own yeast,\nand as good a loaf of bread as is to be found anywhere, far surpassing\ntheir instructor. Soap and water, and with them cleanliness, have also\nbeen introduced. If in traveling along the coast one meets with clean\nyoung natives, who ask for a piece of soap, he may know that they are\nfrom Tigara, or have spent a season or two in the village; at least so\nsay the persons who have had this experience.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nCHOKARLUKE\n\n\nLuke occurs frequently as an affix to many nouns, more especially in\nthe names of individuals, but no one seems able to throw any light on\nthe meaning of it. If it ever had any, it has been lost. In the\ninterpretation of the names of individuals, Katuktorluke becomes Lost\nLuke; Covewluke, Slop-bucket Luke; Chummerroyluke, Beads-on-the-hair\nLuke; Tatke[=a]luke, Moon Luke; and Chokarluke, Whalebone Luke.\n\nChokarluke was the traditionary strong man of the Polar race. He lived\nin the neighborhood of Cape Lisburne, near which place the traveler may\nsee two large stones that he has been credited with carrying in his\narms and placing in their present position. They were used for the\npurpose of stretching his seal lines to dry. He is also credited with\nhaving been a wonderful pedestrian, having had great power of\nendurance. At one time the neighbors had killed a whale but were in\ndanger of losing their prize, the strong ocean current threatening to\ncarry it away. Chokarluke, happening along, seized the whale by the\ntail and lifted it half out of the water and upon the ice, a deed of\nstrength far surpassing any of our modern strong men's feats and well\nearning for him the name of Whalebone Luke.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nINTRODUCTION OF TOBACCO\n\n\nThere is always a pleasure in recording the deeds of great men, and\nalthough they may have been taking their long sleep for many a year,\nyet those innovations they introduced still live on. So I take pleasure\nin introducing \"Nanoona\" for the first time, and leave it to the\nhistorian to record his name along with that of \"Bobo,\" the introducer\nof roast pork, or to place this story with that of Sir Walter Raleigh's\ninvoluntary bath.\n\nThe inhabitants of the Arctic Circle are as fond of their smoke as any\nother race of men, but the high price of the first tobacco necessitated\nthe invention of the small pipe, and also the method of smoking which\nis peculiar to the Inupash. The tobacco is first cut fine, then the\nbowl of the pipe, which holds about as much as a thirty-two cartridge\nshell, has a pellet of fine wood shavings crowded into its base. A\nsmall amount of tobacco is then introduced, about enough to give one or\ntwo puffs, and a piece of tinder being placed at the edge, fire is\nstruck with a flint and steel. The smoker is now ready to enjoy\nhimself; he takes a long pull and then tries to swallow the smoke, but\nlower down there is an objection; the stomach refuses to be considered\na smoke bag, and, puckering up, does all in its power to repel the\nintrusion, while above the act of swallowing is persisted in. At last\nthe stomach gains the victory and the smoke is expelled, the smoker\ncoughs, wipes his eyes and puts the pipe away. He has had a good smoke.\n\n[Illustration: NANOONA'S DESCENDANTS]\n\nIt was during the earlier days of the past century that a small amount\nof the strong Russian tobacco found its way through Siberia and across\nthe Behring Straits. \"Nanoona\" was a great traveler for those days, and\nhad ventured as far south as what is now known as the Seward Peninsula.\nObtaining some of the tobacco, he returned to his home, and the news\nsoon spread that \"Nanoona\" could actually swallow fire and then belch\nforth smoke. The thing seemed incredible; it even surpassed the doings\nof the wonderful \"Ongootkoot\" who was very successful in driving off\neclipses, thereby saving the villagers from some terrible catastrophes.\nAt the appointed time the people gathered, filling \"Nanoona's\" iglo;\neven the roof was packed. The seal-gut window having been removed, the\npeople gathered there several rows deep, all desirous of witnessing the\nwonderful act.\n\nOur hero no doubt felt the importance of the occasion and filled his\npipe more times than his discretion should have allowed; first came the\nstage of exhilaration, the world looked beautiful, and he spoke\nentertainingly of the traditions of the past, a subject that is always\ninteresting to an Inupash, even if he has already heard them many\ntimes; then came the well-known after effects, which nearly all\nbeginners with the weed experience.\n\nHis transient indisposition served as no warning to the people; neither\ndid the odor of the smoke that they had been forced to shield their\nnoses from. Had they not seen him swallow fire and belch forth smoke?\nHad they not seen him during the stage of exhilaration? They all wished\nto pass through a similar experience, but tobacco was scarce and held\nat a fabulous price. One pull at the pipe was worth two dressed\nsealskins; or a pipeful of the weed, affording two good swallows, cost\ntwo deerskins. Only the wealthy could afford such a luxury.\n\n\"Nanoona\" has long since gone to his rest, but his name remains green\namong the villagers. To-day the traveler can see his elevated grave at\nTigme[=a]rook, about six miles east of the village of Tigara, at which\nplace his career came to a sudden end through the agency of an arrow\ndriven by the bow of an enemy.\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nWINTER EVENINGS AND STORIES\n\n\nThe inhabitants of the busy world have no end of amusements, besides\ntheir newspapers and magazines with which to pass their leisure hours.\nIt is not so with the less fortunate inhabitants of the far north.\nTheir winter evenings are long and their homes but dimly lighted by the\nseal-oil lamps. To the uninitiated, it would seem a dreary sight, yet\nthe people have their enjoyment in the shape of an occasional dance, a\nmost innocent form of amusement, being as much singing as dancing,\naccompanied by the beating of the one-headed drum.\n\nThe dancer stands up and makes a few graceful movements with the arms,\nas well as limbering at the knee joints, then sits down. Others go\nthrough the same motions in their turn, while the audience does the\nsinging. Their main festivities occur at the full of the moon, in the\nmonth of \"Nekanok-kochevik,\" corresponding to our December, at which\ntime, besides the dancing and feasting, presents are given by the\nleading men.\n\nTheir other form of amusement is story-telling. The stories may be old,\nbut that makes no difference to an Inupash, he is one of the most\nattentive listeners, no matter how many times he may have heard the\nsame tale before. The repetition has the advantage of fixing the story\nin the minds of the people, enabling them to retain and pass down their\ntraditions from one generation to another for an immensely long period\nof time. Outside of their traditions, their stories deal largely with\nthe supernatural in the form of ghosts and fairies. Occasionally, one\nmay hear a fable that apparently has a moral attached. The following\nare a few of the stories that mothers interest their children with, and\nthat are eagerly listened to by the older ones also:--\n\n\nALLUGU[=A]\n\nLittle Allugu[=a] had been born blind. It had worried his father and\nmother greatly, for they knew when he grew to manhood he would not be\nable to hunt and support himself. They hoped as he grew older he might\nyet receive his eyesight, although both eyes were white and sightless.\nAt last when he became seven or eight years of age his parents gave up\nall hope.\n\nThe summer season was approaching, a time when all the villagers would\nbe going on their annual trips, some to the north in quest of deer,\nwhile others would go to the east, down the Kotzebue Sound, where they\nwould meet natives of other tribes, and do their trading. All would\nleave the village; the place would be entirely abandoned. Little\nAllugu[=a]'s father and mother, in talking the matter over with some of\nthe neighbors, came to the conclusion that the child was hopelessly\nblind and would never be able to support himself. It was therefore\ndecided to leave him behind. The parents placed him in their iglo,\nlaying heavy whale jaws over the window and blocking up the entrance,\nthus leaving no way of escape. They then left him without food,\nexpecting him to starve to death during their absence.\n\nThe little fellow sat on the floor, with his head bowed on his breast,\nfeeling very bad at the fate which awaited him. He was growing very\nhungry and had apparently no means of relief. Everything was dark to\nhim. His hunger grew still worse, with a terrible gnawing sensation in\nhis stomach. If he could only get something to eat! and his thirst was\nterrible! He was beside himself with despair; if death would only come,\nwhat a relief it would be. It seemed a terribly long time that he sat\nthere in the darkness with his head bowed on his breast.\n\nAt last he heard a noise; what could it mean? He knew that none of the\nvillagers would return for a long time. It must be one of those\nhallucinations that hunger and thirst often create. Then the noise came\nnearer, and a little woman coming up through the floor asked him why he\nwas there and what made him so sad. He soon told the story of how he\nhad been left to starve to death and how he was suffering for food and\nwater. If he could only get a drink from the spring near by, how it\nwould relieve the terrible parched condition of his mouth and throat!\nWater, oh, if he only had some water!\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the little woman, \"you shall not starve to death,\"\nand she placed by his side some nice pieces of whale meat and black\nskin, with a pailful of clear cold water. How Allugu[=a] did enjoy the\nwater, and then the whale meat and black skin! He had never in all his\nlife tasted anything half so good. Every day the little woman brought a\nfresh supply of meat and water; she knew just what to choose so that he\nwould gain strength and grow.\n\nAt last the fall season came, bringing with it the colder weather. The\nvillagers were returning from their summer trips, and Allugu[=a]'s\nfather and mother were among the arrivals. Soon he heard some one\nmoving the barricade from the entrance, then his mother looked up\nthrough the hole in the floor. She was greatly surprised to see him\nalive and well; here was a fat, healthy boy instead of the emaciated\nbody of her son, who, she supposed, had starved to death during her\nabsence.\n\n\"Why you are alive and hearty, what makes you so fleshy?\" she remarked,\n\"and how you have grown!\" Allugu[=a] did not tell his mother that a\ngood little fairy had been feeding him. He simply said that the food\nand water she had left had proved very nourishing. After that his\nparents decided that as he would not die they would take care of him.\n\nIn time he grew up and was approaching manhood, when he expressed a\ndesire to join one of the whaling crews. His parents said no; he was\nblind and would simply be in the way of the whalers. But he persisted,\ndeclaring that he would kill a whale. At last they consented, and he\nwent with one of the crews. He had not been long out when he insisted\nthat he should be placed at the head of the boat with the whaling\nspear. The men at first refused, but ultimately acceded to his request\nby placing him at the head with the spear. Just then a whale coming\nalong quite close, they told him to dart, but he said no; that was not\nthe right one, as it passed off. Then the ice began crowding in and the\ncanoe was quickly hauled out. The men stepped back to a safe place, but\nAllugu[=a] stayed at the edge.\n\nAfter a while he began beckoning to the men to come forward. But no,\nthey would not, for they thought it was simply the crowding ice he\nheard. Later on, the ice moved off and another whale came quite close.\nThe men again placed the spear in his hand and told him to dart, but he\nsaid no; that was not the right one. The ice again crowding in as\nbefore, he took his stand at the edge. After listening a while he\nbeckoned for the men to come forward. At last they did so, remarking\namong themselves, that it was only the crowding of the ice he heard. He\nstood for a moment listening, then darted the spear, but instead of\nstriking the ice, it went under, and the line with the floats was drawn\nout with great rapidity. He had darted a large whale which was soon\ndispatched.\n\nBefore the season closed he had killed three more, and the following\nyear he did the same thing again; so that instead of being a poor blind\nman, a care to his parents, Allugu[=a] proved to be one of the most\nsuccessful whalers in the village.\n\n\nCATERPILLAR\n\nIt is not long since ghosts and fairies were fully believed in in the\nfar north, as they were in the olden days in our more civilized\ncountries. The men and women who claimed they had seen such apparitions\nwere so common that no one doubted their statements or gave the subject\nan investigation, but would listen patiently, no matter how extravagant\nthe story might be. Even to-day, superstition seems to exist among the\nolder people, although there is scarcely any one who would care to\nassert that he had seen such a thing at a very recent date. In 1892 a\nyoung woman came to me with the information that the previous evening\nan \"Ongootkoot\" had seen a black man and boy walk slowly across the\nland, then out upon the ocean, where they disappeared.\n\nQuite a while back, a man and his wife had gone into the interior\ncountry in search of deer. The man was meeting with unusually good\nsuccess in his hunting, while the woman busied herself with cutting and\npacking willow brush for the camp. One day while at her task, happening\nto look up, she saw a woman near at hand with a very fine deerskin coat\non. It was all fancily trimmed with wolverine and other furs, making\none of those beautiful coats any woman would love to possess. At the\nsame time, looking down at her own shabby artege, she sighed and\nremarked to the stranger, \"What a beautiful coat you have.\" The woman\nsmilingly replied, \"Yes, how would you like to have it?\" Of course she\nwas delighted with the proposition, and when the stranger offered to\nmake the exchange, was only too glad to accept the offer. The exchange\nwas soon made, but on putting on the new coat she was instantly\ntransformed into a caterpillar. The stranger put on the old coat, then\npicking up the bundle of willow brush went to the camp, where she took\nthe place of the real wife.\n\nThe hunter, on returning, remarked to his supposed wife, \"Why, dear,\nyou don't look the same as usual, and you have a different odor.\" To\nwhich she replied, \"Why, husband, you know I have been working hard all\nday, cutting and packing brush and have become overheated.\" The man,\nnot being very inquisitive, accepted the explanation and was satisfied,\nespecially so as there was a nice hot dinner awaiting him.\n\nSo matters continued for some time.\n\nThe real wife felt terribly over her misfortune, wishing sincerely she\nhad never coveted the other woman's coat. She slowly crawled back\ntoward the camp, but, make the greatest exertion she could, it was very\nslow work. Then, when she thought she had nearly arrived at the place\nwhere her husband was, he and the fraudulent wife would break camp and\nmove to a new site. It was such slow work crawling; besides, the poor\nwife had several narrow escapes from hungry birds, only escaping by\nhiding in the crevice of a rock or under a blade of grass. The season\nwas advancing and her husband would soon return to the village; she\nmust hurry or be left behind. So crawling night and day, she at last\nreached the camp and managed to crawl in among the deerskins, as they\nwere being lashed preparatory to taking them home.\n\nOn arriving in the village she could only crawl around and see her\nfriends, but no one took any notice of her. She crawled around the iglo\nand watched the fraudulent wife making love to her husband. It filled\nher with jealousy and indignation, but she could do nothing to help\nmatters. The season was arriving when she would turn into a cocoon for\nher long winter's sleep. If something did not happen quickly, her hopes\nwould be blasted forever. Crawling up over the place where her mother\nwas cooking, the caterpillar accidentally fell down at the edge of the\nfire, burst open and the woman escaped from her prison. Her mother was\ngreatly surprised. Explanations were made, and the fraudulent wife was\nsoon turned into a caterpillar. Crawling off she has never since been\nheard from, and may be crawling yet, as far as any of the villagers\nknow.\n\n\nTUNGN[=A]LUKE'S PERPLEXITY\n\nTungn[=a]luke was one of those slow-of-comprehension, good-natured,\nshiftless fellows, that the men of the world would consider as not\nbeing very bright. He would rather hang around his neighbors doing a\nbit of gossiping, than to exert himself by hunting for his family. As\nusual with such characters, he had chosen for a wife a woman his\nextreme opposite, and she was not to be blamed if, at times, she\nexercised her fiery tongue or wielded a stick. It was the only way to\nexcite a little energy in the man she had accepted as her life partner.\nThere was a certain amount of affection existing between the two; she\nlooking upon him as a man she could control, while on his part, he\nviewed her with a considerable amount of respect.\n\nKnowing the man's gossiping disposition so well, she had ordered him to\ngo up the river alone for three or four weeks and lay in a winter's\nsupply of fish. He would much rather have taken a companion, for\nspending three or four weeks alone fishing through the ice, with no one\nto converse with, did not meet with his approbation; yet he knew better\nthan to raise any objections with Mrs. Tungn[=a]luke. So he obeyed and\nwent off. Feeling the loneliness of his position, he worked with an\nunusual amount of energy, trying to hurry the task through. Still the\nfeeling of, \"Oh, if I only had some one to talk to,\" would occasionally\nsteal over him.\n\nOne day, meeting with unusual success, he stayed at the task much later\nthan usual and the twilight had begun to fade. At last casting his eyes\ntoward his hut he was surprised to see the place brightly illuminated.\nWhat could it mean? He knew that the seal-oil lamp had not been lighted\nthat day and there was no other person within many miles.\n\nThe number four seems to be regarded among the villagers with some\ndegree of superstition, though why it is hard to say. Perhaps it\noriginated from the idea that man ascends on the fourth day after\ndeath, and the four raps with the hammer are given on that day at the\nrecent home of the deceased.\n\nTungn[=a]luke, on seeing the illumination, hastily picked up four\nfrozen fish and on entering the hut he was delighted to see a woman.\nHere was somebody to talk to. To be sure, she had a deerskin mask over\nher face, and he knew that was the way the villagers dressed the dead,\nbut he gave the subject no heed. The place was nice and warm, and he\nfelt that his solitude was at an end. He could now have a nice long\nconversation; so seating himself on the floor he spoke to the visitor.\nBut she made no reply. He then pushed one of the frozen fish toward\nher, but the fish came flapping back. Then he offered the other fish\none by one, telling her to eat; but they came flapping back as did the\nfirst. Thinking that the warmth of the room had brought them back to\nlife, he gave the subject no further attention.\n\nHis curiosity being aroused, and wishing to see who the visitor was, he\npulled the death mask from her face and threw it outside; but it came\nback and covered the face again. Supposing that it was the wind which\nhad blown it back, he pulled it off again and threw it outside; but\nwith the same result as before. It was not until the fifth time that\nthe mask stayed away. Then recognizing one of the young women of the\nvillage, he spoke but received no reply. Passing his hand over her face\nhe felt that she was cold and clammy, and supposing it was a chill she\nhad he placed her in his bed.\n\nAfter awhile he had the satisfaction of knowing that his visitor was\ngrowing warmer. Then she spoke and told him she had died and been\nburied, but that he had warmed and made her comfortable again. After\ntalking together for quite awhile, the visitor proposed that they\nshould return to the village together, Tungn[=a]luke taking her for his\nwife.\n\nAt last the truth began to dawn through his mind, and he found himself\nin a perplexity. Here he had been making a ghost comfortable, and it\nwas now insisting on being his wife. He already had one in the village,\nwhom he had a great amount of respect for, and knew she would be highly\nindignant if he brought a second wife home, especially so if the new\none was the recently deceased neighbor. So he refused, but the ghost\ninsisted. He was in a great perplexity, not knowing how to escape from\nhis dilemma. The ghost was growing more and more imperative in its\ndemands.\n\nAt last the idea arose in his mind that he would try the hammer. So\ngoing around the room he struck the four magic blows, at which the\nghost disappeared, and he returned alone to his home to relate his\nadventure.\n\n\nTHE RAVEN, THE BARNACLE GOOSE AND THE WHALE\n\nA raven that lived along the cliffs near Cape Lisburne became tired of\nthe humdrum life he was leading. He had noticed that his friends, the\ngannets and murres, with many other acquaintances, were in the habit of\ngoing on long trips each fall and not returning again until the warmer\nweather of spring had arrived. His own family was content to stay at\nhome the year round, not showing the least ambition to travel or visit\nany of those other countries about which their neighbors were\ncontinually talking. He was particularly interested to learn that in\nthe south the sun was never lost in winter and the days were warm and\nbalmy, just the same as in summer. He was growing tired of his\nbachelorship, and therefore he decided to seek a bride outside of his\nown people, one that would be willing to travel with him. Meeting one\nof the young ladies of the Barnacle Goose family, he proposed that she\nshould become his wife, lauding himself by saying what a sweet voice he\nhad, and what a good husband he would make. Miss Goose hung her head\nand demurred a little, nevertheless she accepted the offer, and they\nbegan their wedding tour together.\n\nThe goose, knowing the route, took the lead straight out over the\nocean, while the raven followed, trying to keep pace with his bride. As\nthe day waned, the raven began to feel the effects of the long flight,\nwhile hunger was admonishing him that he had partaken of only a light\nbreakfast that morning. So addressing his wife, he said, \"My dear,\ndon't you think it is about time for us to take a rest while we try to\nfind something to eat?\"\n\n\"All right, husband,\" was her reply, as she settled lightly down on the\nwaves. But there was no place for the raven to alight, unless upon his\nwife's back. All was water, so with a slight apology, he lit on the\nbride's back. After a short time she began to feel her husband's weight\nto be somewhat of a burden. Seeing a small fish, she remarked, \"Look\nout, dear,\" as she dove and captured it. The raven just had time to\nopen his weary wings, to avoid a ducking; then he had the mortification\nof seeing how selfish his bride was, as she swallowed the whole fish\nwithout offering him even a small piece, although he was famishing with\nhunger.\n\nThe goose then started to continue the journey, while the raven\nimplored her to rest just a little longer; but no, she would not. There\nwas nothing else for him to do but to continue his flight, trying to\nkeep up with his wife, while beseeching her to take another short rest.\nSo the night wore away.\n\nAs the dawn came, the bride, who had gradually gained in her flight,\nwas far ahead, while the bridegroom could scarcely flap his wings any\nlonger. The situation began to look serious. If he should alight on the\nwater his feathers would become wet and that would be his end. What to\ndo he did not know. Just then a whale came along, and thinking it would\nbe a good place to alight, he managed to reach its head just as his\nwings gave out.\n\nThe whale had just started to take a fresh breath, and the raven\nentered the blow hole along with the rush of air. Looking around he\nsaid to himself, \"What a nice long room this is,\" and commenced walking\nabout picking at the walls here and there. The whale remarked to some\nof its companions, \"What a cold I have taken in my nose,\" and began\nsneezing. The raven thought he was in a very draughty apartment, but he\nhad been born on the cliffs at Cape Lisburne, where the gales are\nfrequent and severe, so he did not mind the present wollies[4] to any\nextent.\n\n      [4] Wollie, a sudden high gust of wind rushing through a gulch.\n\nHe took a walk in the long passageway until the road divided up into\nthe many small by-paths of the lungs. At last, finding a crevice where\nthe drafts did not seem quite so strong, he settled down for a good\nsleep. On awakening, he began examining the comfortable crevice and\nfound that the walls were not quite so thick as at the other places. So\nsetting to work with bill and claws on a thin portion, he soon had a\nhole made through the membrane; at the same time the whale was\ngrumbling at having the tickling sensation in its nose and throat that\nmade it sneeze so often.\n\nThe raven walked through the opening and found himself in a much larger\napartment, where there was a great deal to excite his interest, but\nwhat seemed the most curious thing of all was a great red object that\nwas thumping in regular order. After standing and watching it for quite\na while, his curiosity became much aroused. He thought he would feel\nit, just to see if it was hard or soft. He commenced feeling with his\nbill and found it was quite firm, but on trial discovered that it was\neasy to nip off a small piece. The fragment tasted very good, and as he\nhad not breakfasted yet he made up his mind to keep nipping off small\npieces until his hunger was appeased. The whale told its friends that\nthese colds in the nose were awful things, for sometimes they struck\nthrough to the heart. The raven declared he had never before had such a\ngood thing in all his life. Here was a nice large room with plenty to\nexcite his curiosity, while there was no end of good things to eat.\n\nAt the end of a week he found himself growing quite fleshy, but the big\nred object was not beating with the same regularity as at first. At\nlast it ceased, and the whale lay floating on the water, dead. The\nwhale's friends declared that their late comrade had died suddenly from\nheart failure, induced by a cold in the nose and aggravated by too much\nsneezing.\n\nThe raven soon began to suspect that all was not quite right. The big\nred object did not work any longer, while everything remained so still.\nAfter a while, the breaking of the surf on the beach greeted his ears.\nThen people's voices were heard shouting, \"Here comes some new meat and\nblack skin floating on the ocean.\"\n\nThe whale drifted on shore and the inhabitants were soon cutting off\nthe meat and blubber. One man, working on the ribs, quickly had a hole\nmade and light began streaming through. The raven said to himself,\n\"Here I have grown quite corpulent during the lazy life I have been\nleading; I must not let the men see me.\" So, crouching down and hiding,\nhe waited until the hole was made large enough, then suddenly opening\nhis wings flew out. Everybody was much surprised to see the raven come\nout of the whale. But they heard him say before he disappeared toward\nhis home on the cliffs, that in the future he would stick by his own\npeople and avoid those frivolous young ladies of the Barnacle Goose\nfamily.\n\n\n\n\nXXI\n\nCOURTSHIP\n\n\nAs viewed by the outsider, the average Inupash courtship is devoid of\nromance. The first mating of young people is usually suggested and\narranged by the mothers, yet there are slight indications noticeable to\nthe initiated that will often point to the intentions of the persons\ninterested. If one sees a young man beating out a piece of metal and\nfashioning a finger ring, it is apt to be for some young woman; or\nshould a young woman be making a fancy tobacco bag, of course it is for\nsome young man, and the whispering of love is probably back of the\ninspiration. It only remains for the meeting of the two mothers to\narrange matters.\n\nThe two families may be living close together, yet the mother of one\nwill call on her neighbor and tell her how she has intended to be more\nneighborly, but she has been so busy. Then the neighbor will declare\nhow delighted she is to see her, after which the conversation is\ncarried on in the usual strain, or until mother number one commences to\ntell what a great hunter her son is and how good he is. Then mother\nnumber two remarks that her daughter is such a good sewer and knows how\nto chew a beautiful boot sole. Mother number one declares that they are\nnever hungry in their iglo, as son is always so successful and brings\nlots of seals home. Mother number two now remarks that daughter is such\na lovely cook, having taken lessons and knows how to cook everything.\n(At the same time, she may consider herself fortunate if she has half a\nsack of China flour in the house.) The conversation continues for a\nwhile, each mother trying to present her side in its most favorable\nlight.\n\nThe father now arriving, and being suspicious of what is taking place,\nwill naturally try to be as agreeable as possible. He will relate some\nold story that has been doing duty in the tribe for a number of\ngenerations. Of course the women gather around and listen with a great\ndeal of interest, as if it was entirely new to them. Returning to\nbusiness, it is decided that the young man shall enter the family on a\nsort of trial. If the girl turns up her nose and makes faces, he might\nas well leave, as the match will never amount to anything; but should\nshe greet him with an occasional smile and allow him to sit by her side\nin the evening, with his arm around her, it will be all clear sailing\nand they will unite as husband and wife.\n\nWith older people courtship is different. They plead and arrange their\nown affairs, usually without the assistance of a third party. As I have\nwatched these marriages, I could not help but think that they turn out\nas happily as in any other section. Divorces, formerly so common, are\nnow far less frequent, and when the people marry it is usually for\nlife, most couples living together happily until parted by death.\n\n\n\n\nXXII\n\nTHE WOOING OF BILLY FISHTAIL\n\n\nThere was a bond of sympathy between Billy and myself, for I had looked\nupon him as a permanent bachelor, and he was always such a reliable\nfellow. If I set him to whittling a bit of wood or to sawing a board,\nhe was sure soon to apply for a bandage to stop the flow of blood from\na wound. On trying to bore a hole through a board with a sharpened\nknitting-needle, only the bone of his second finger prevented the\ninstrument from passing through that also. Even with the axe he was an\nexpert; lifting it high to take a vigorous blow he would bring the back\ndown on his own head, and rush for aid.\n\n[Illustration: MR. AND MRS. BILLY FISHTAIL]\n\nHe was very faithful, however, and nothing seemed to make him so happy\nas to be doing what he thought would give me pleasure. Some one had\ninformed Billy that far away in the States, the singing on Sundays was\naccompanied by an organ, so on the following Sunday Billy brought his\nsmall accordion to church and tried to accompany the singers. He had\nnot practiced the tunes, and there seemed to be a difference between\nthe drums of his ears, for one would catch a tune one way while the\nother gave a different interpretation. The accordion could not please\nboth ears, so it squeaked and wheezed out an air of its own.\n\nAt last a time came when it was evident that a change was coming over\nBilly. He was growing more particular in his personal appearance, and\nwas even trying to learn how to whistle.\n\nJust about the same time, rumor said that the widow Okpoktoah had been\nseen running around the village trying to procure the loan of a cake of\nsoap. It looked very suspicious, but Billy would not admit anything. He\nwould simply hang his head and grin. Then the cook came one morning\nwith the information that Billy had been seen very late the previous\nevening talking earnestly with the widow at her iglo.\n\nTime has now rolled along and Billy is very happy for he owns the\nwidow, yet those gossiping neighbors will persist in saying that Billy\nis not finding his nights quite as restful as formerly, for his little\ndaughter has a very imperative way of ordering him to take a walk\nduring those hours of the night when sleep seems the most refreshing.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\nWRITING\n\n\nTo the uninitiated children of nature, the art of reading and writing\nseemed at first as great a mystery as the electric current. How those\nscrawls of black lines were words, that could be spoken just the same\nas in conversation, was beyond their comprehension. At first, they\ngathered around every time a letter was received and listened eagerly.\nThen arose the desire for them to be able to make out those\nintelligible scrawls that had a meaning.\n\nOne elderly woman seemed to feel slighted that she had not received a\nletter; so going on board the whalers at anchor, she inquired if there\nwas not one for her. At last her heart was made glad by receiving a\nmukpar[=a] (letter) which read as follows:--\"Give this woman a dose of\npoison.\" Carefully wrapping the precious missive in a piece of sealskin\nand attaching a string, she wore it around her neck as an ornament, and\nguarded it zealously.\n\nWith the young people, it was a proud day when they had advanced far\nenough in their studies to be supplied with a pen for the first time.\nEagerly taking the pen and copy, the scholar would lie flat on the\nfloor, in the most secluded part of the room, then call loudly to all\nthe others to stand out of the light. If a blot accidentally occurred,\nan attempt would be made to erase it with the finger-nail. So the young\nInupash gradually advanced until he became proficient enough to begin\nwriting compositions.\n\nThe young tribal prince, for his first composition, chose to write upon\nthe seal, and supposed he had exhausted the subject when he wrote, \"Man\nhe go on ice, shoot him seal. By and by woman she come dog sled, take\nhim seal home. By and by man he go home tell woman, You cook him seal\nvery big quick, me big plenty hungry.\"\n\nThose earlier days have passed by and the mystery of the scrawls has\nbeen solved. The young Inupash are learning to read quite nicely and\ncan now write their own letters. They still have the English grammar to\nmaster; it is very different from their own, but at length they will\naccomplish that task, and at no very distant time. The days when they\nused to borrow each other's fingers to do their counting with have gone\nby. They are steadily advancing and will, in the course of time, be\nnumbered among our good and intelligent citizens. They are the only\nones that are naturally fitted to inhabit this, the most northern part\nof our country.","title":"Short Sketches from Oldest America","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":18744}