The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-09-18

boreal brethren Of the bay
they absorb like . sponge, AND
are as unreliable as the circular Of ,
summer resort. They are the homeless
Esquimaux l ever met, and while none
Of them are at all beautiful. this particu
lar variety is the ugliest ever saw. and
some Of my experience is spread among
Indian tribes and other savages cele.
brated in this particular line. TheiI
noses-if they camb said to have any
are spread all over the center of their
faces, and hardly rise above their pro.
tuberant cheek bones. They have q
ccronic grin on their countenances, indi-
cative of good nature, but having about
the same effect to render it pleasant
that the light from . full moon has to
warming q person on cold night.
Characteristic of all savages. especially
those low in the scale, they have quite
small hands and feet, even for persons
of such small stature. They are fond Of
personal Ornamentatiou, dirt being the
principal article used, and they are
quite lavish in their display of it. Aside
from purposes of navigation, they evil
IDENTIFY have no use for water. Their
principal food is seal and reindeer. the
walrus beingpracticallv unknown in the
strait except as rare wanderer to these
regions. Reindeer are quite plentiful
inland, journey of day or two away,
and the principal time for hunting them
is in the fall, when their skins are in the
best condition for making the winter
clothing of the Esquimaux. The word
looming mung." meaning musk oxen.
is in their vocabulary, although. strange
~ enough, the animal il unknown in
their country. 1t may indicate that it
once existed in their land, but more
probably they know of it through visits
from members of far distant tribes who
have spoken of it. Such visits, though
rare. are undertaken now and then by
adventurous Innuits. All of the Esqui-
maux live on the northern shores of the
great strait. although evidences of their
former existence have also been found
on the southern side. On southampton
Island, in Hudson's Bay, are found the
Sedluk Innuits, of whom almost little or
nothing is known except that they are a
very destitute and degraded branch of
the family. On the mainland of the
northern shores of the great bay are the
three tribes among whom l spent much
of my time.
These three tribes had been widely
over various estuaries of the
bay in times past, but for ten or fifteen
years American whalers had fished on
the northern whaling grounds of this in
land sea, and the inducements they
offered the natives had collected them
near their principal grounds, and espe-
cially near their winter harbors, for the
American method of whaling in North
Bay is to enter as early as
possible after the ice breaks up in one
year, capture whales one summer. con-
sistiDg of about q month or six weeks,
then going into winter harbor. Cutting
out of the ice early next spring, they
get about two months whaling. and
eave the place as late rs they can with
safety the second year. The induce
ments found by these savages in the
presence of the whaling ships is in the
given to the best young
men, who are far superior whalers TO the
white men, and in their chances to dis
pose of their reindcer-skin clothing to
he crew for their winter use. The seal
md walrus meat, and especially that Of
he reindeer they can readily exchange
'or occasional meals of very weak tea or
coffee. well sweetened with refuse mo-
asses, into which has been thrown
handful of bread-crumbs
ito give it body" as I heard a whale
mans cook remark, and must confess
i looked as if it was all soul before
hat. Inscase of famine and dire dis
.ress the whalemen form a reserve. on
which the natives can fall back until the
game that has temporarily fled for
unknown causes may return again.
Their principal diet is the flesh
Of the walrus, large numbers
Of which they kill every month in
he year. With the capture of fair
sized walrus the natives secure from a
half to three quarters of ton of meat,
not an ounce of which is ever wasted, SO
far-reaching is the Esqutmau economy.
In fact, one of the three tribes mentioned
is the I-williks, signifying walrus eaters.
from i-wick, the Innuit for walrus.
them to the west is another
Of the three tribes and one of the rare
instances of which l have spoken as
being an Innuit people not living on the
seashore. They live inland from the
shores of the Chesterfield Inlet, their
principal subsistence being reindeer,
and as this is undoubtedly the most
palatable meat in the Arctic rs far as
subsistence is concerned they are to be
envicd, although in not catching seal or
walrus they have no Oil with which to
cook it, and nearly all of the flesh is de-
voured in raw state. Raw meat in
The Arctic. it should be remembered,
means that it has been frozen solid. and
is undoubtedly method of
Frozen reindeer meat tastes
very much like canned corned beef rs
now prepared. without the salt of that
article. The Esquimaux of Chesterfield
Inlet, or rather the inland country away
from it. are called the KinnepetoOs. the
word in Innuit signifying the trimming
On the tops of the reindeer boots, this
fribe making a more cOnspiuous dis
play of these than the natives along
heir frontiers. The Iwilliks were the
people directly among whom we lived.
Their country was about two or three
hundred miles further northward, the
Repulse Bay of the charts. having been
named Iwillik by an exploring expedi-
ion. many years ago. ON account of
heir inability to Navigate its waters,
md as the whalers had not been able to
10 any better in later times. the Iwilliks
had to abandon their country. to be
near the white men. in order to trade
or such things as they wanted. includ-