The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-01-18
RIGHTS OF PROPERTY AMONG THE
ESQUIMAUX.

OF every seal caught at winter sta
tion small pieces of flesh, with proper
tionate share Of blubber, were distribu-
ted among all the place fellows. In this
way the very poorest could never want
for seal meat or lamp oil, provided the
usual capture of seals did not fail. There
could be no Esquimaux Jack Horners
sitting on the ledge Of the house al
alone, and munching the seal which they
they had been fortunate enough to har
poon. Beyond the confines Of the dis
trict inhabited by such community any
one was at liberty to set UP his house
and hunt and fish and every one,
whether in a community or cut of ii,
had the right to all drift wood he found,
aud was strong enough to carry up on
the shore above high water mark, taking
care to put stone upon it to mark it as
his own. If seal was harpooned, and
escaped with the harpoon sticking in it,
it belonged to the harpooner SO long as
the bladder was attached to it. Il two
hunters at the same time hit seal or
bird, it was their joint property, and was
equally divided. Whales, however, and
bears, however captured, were consid-
cred common property, as being OF that
size and strength that. except in rare
cases, they could only be secured by the
united strength Of the community. In
case no seals or other food were brought
home to house, those families who
were the best off for provisions invited
the inmates, but not the place fellows,
to share their meat with them. In no
stipulation does the common right to
share all the property that another had
beyond necessary articles stand out so
prominently as in that which provided
that if another man borrowed the tools
or weapons of another and lost or inju
ed them ne Has not bound to make any
compensation to the owner ; for It was
based on the notion that If 1pen had
anything to spare or to lend It was con
sidered as surperfuous and nothald with
the same tight of possession as his more
necessary belongings, but on the con-
trary, as something to be classed among
those goods which were possessed in
common with others.
In fact we are led to the conclusion
that the right Of any individual To hold
more than certain amount Of property
was jealously regarded by the rest of the
community, who did not scruple to bor-
row it and waste 1t. No one could de-
prive any man of his weapons or his
clothes but if he possessed more than
a certain amount of that property, his
right to it passed away and became vest
ed rather in the community who could
use and wear it than in him who could
not. There was no room in the Esqui-
mauX code for the hundreds of coats and
waist-coats which fashionable tailors
send in to the account of silly young
men. This common sense view of the
accumulation Of property led to very
natural result. Superfuous clothes OR
weapons rarely existed, and even in the
case of kayaks, though man might
possess two Of these necessary boats, if
he owned three the third must be lent TO
some relative or housemate. According
to this view of political economy, any
thing thai was not used was regarded as
idle and wasted, and liable to forfeiture
for the good of the community.
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