Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-01-22
THE ESKIM0S.
THEIR TRAITS CUSTOMS AND
METHODS OF EXISTENCE.
DociIe and Bright, but Dirty-ReliG-
1ous Beliefs-Fond of Theatri-
cals-Ingenious Traps to
Capture Wild Beasts.

simply because it is so cold il their
country that washing is very uncomfort.
able. Their winter dwellings are under
ground, for the sake of warmth. The
entrance is a square hoie, through which
the visitor descends about eight feet to
an entry-way. This entry-way is per
haps twenty feet long and never more
than four feet high. Sometimes it is
much lower, SO that one has literally to
crawl through it in order to reach the
two rooms at the end. Those two rooms,
each from ten to twenty feet across, are
the homes of two families, which thus
lave common hall and front door.
From six to ten persons live in each
room, around three sides of which is
raised platform. On the platform are
spread furs and skins for beds. The most
important article OF furniture IS a stove
two feet in length with a shallow depres-
sion on top of it. 1t is both lamp aad
stove, being filed with whale or seal oil.
Cooking, however, is merely for the
purpose of taking the frost ont of ti3
meat, which is eaten practically raw.
For lighting purposes wick Of mos IS
used.
The natives wear reindeer skins for
clothing. They buy them OF the Siberian
Chukchees, who come over to an inter
national fair that is held every summer
on Kotzebuc Sound, just above Beriug
Sound Strait or the Alaskan 81 le. For
the pelts, seal oil and walru' oil are cx-
changed. There is much dancing and
fcasting on these occasions, as well as
trading. All the railing is by barter,
no sort Of money being In circulation.
At this fair also many wives are bought.
One can purchase very gooi article Of
wife for ten dollars. Wives among the
Eskimo people are usually bougat. Some
times thc women are consulted. Chill
dren are commonly sold, the price for a
little girl being sealskin ba5 Of oil o.;
a. Old suit of clothes.
The religion Of the natives IS merely
belief in witchcraft ald evil spirits.
Mystery men attend to driving away bal
spirits and to the curing of illnesses
caused by these diabolical agencies.
Wien the sick arc near death, they arc
usually carried to an outhousc to die,
though often they are killed by the mys-
terry man in Attendance, with stab in
the temple or breast Frequently the
aged and helpless are slain at their own
request. The dead are wrappe in skins
and placed on elevated scaGolds, to keep
tLem from wild animals, though some
tribes throw out their corpses to be de-
youred by the dogs.
Both sexes among the E'kimOs are
ta.tooed. Llbrets are fayoritc oThl-
ments. In early youth clt is male N
the lower lip aud snail woOle1 plug
introduced, to keep it from closing.
Gradually it IS enlarged, and the adult
is decorated with a labrct OF jlle, iv0ry,
bone, or glass, shaped like a silk hat in
miniature, the rim being inside the
mouth, to hold it. Girls have their ears
and sometimes their noses pierced, for
chains or other such ornaments. Along
TIC Arctic coast men cut OF the hair on
top Of their heads, so that they look like
monks, the object being to avoid scaring 8
the caribou by the hutter of their LOCKS.
The E5kimos are fond Z eggs not yet
hatched but about t. be. Taey are
much addicted to both liquo: and
tobacco, and it is Common thing to see
an infant with quid OF toblcoo in its
mouth.
The natives are very fond OF
theatrcals. They mimic all sorts OF
animals wonderfully, and the man who
can do this best is considered great
actor. This sort of mimicry is woven
into the shape oil dramatic entertain
ments. One performer will be bear,
fol example, clad in appropriate skins
while the Others hunt him. Commonly
the hunt winds up with the death Of the
bear or seal, which is stabbed with q
knife or spear, the blood gushing ont Of
u concealed bladder so as to produce a
realistic effect. Then the dead animll
gets up and bows to the audience, winch
applauds wildly. The Eskimo5 arc a
merry people. They are lond of snow
baIIing and football, playing the latter
game with ball made OF skin stuffed
with hair. They make grotesqns mask,
to frighten each ather with, AMI the
little girls are devoted to dolls.
Some of their traps for the beasts .hey
capture are remarkably ingelius. ThcJ
fold up a strip of wialebone, doubling
it half-a-dozen times, and tic it in that
shape with sinew. Then they cover il
with a hunk of fat, let it freeze, and
leave it on the ice. BY and by bear
comes along and swallows it at II gulp.
The fat aud the sincw bindings arc
digestel, and the released whalebonc
springs out at length across tie stomach
of the animal, which soon dies OF lock-
jaw. When it is dead the trapper gets
the skin. An even more effective lure is
employed 10 secure the pelts of wolves.