Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-26
WITH ARCTIC HlGHLANDERS
LACK OF A STRUCTURAL SYSTEM or
GOVERNMENT.
Land, Dwellings and Even Food Are
Held In Om..son-Curious
III %
Duels Over Wives.


Held in Com.on-Curious
Duels Over Wives.
ia \ n
From Scribner's -
Etah is but the most northern OF some
dozen stations occupied by the Smith Sound
Eskimos. One hesitatess ut the word ''set.
Element because it Conveys an idea of
permanency, both as to location and also,
in measure, as to the personnel of the
body Of settlers, and this is only half true
of the settlements of the tribe of less than
250 individuals who live at scattered points
along the coast from Cape York to Foulke
Fjord. The points of settlement are per-
manent, apparently, having been chosen.
doubtless, through process OF selection.
with reference to shelter and food supply,
continued through many generations; but
the families that inhabit them vary eaen
year in accordance with a curious reshuf-
fling which takes place quite spontaneously.
1t appears, at Peterawik Glacier, where
there Is a tribal gathering every spring.
One rarely finds more than half a dozen
families at any place, and each Of these
may have spent the previous year at a diff
ferent station from all the others. 1t Is
easy to conceive of a certain solidarity OF
tribal organization which results from such
a system and which it would be difficult to
improve upon under conditions of preca-
rious food supply that make necessary the
widely scattered living of the families OF
the tribe. Not only are there ties of all de-
grees of blood relationship which bind each
member to the others, but each is person
ally known to all through the intimacy
of closely interdependent existence, which
is the only manner of life possible to- men
encompassed by an arctic world, and the
serious business OF whose lives is the hunt
for uncertain supplies yielded by wild and
sometimes fierce animals.
There is no tribal organization, no chief.
nor any elders in authority; indeed, no pre-
meditated, structural system of any kind,
but quite simple order which issues natur-
ally from the facts OF equality and of equal
sharing in all the essentials of livelihood.
With certain naive differences from our
accepted ideals there is a homogeneous fam
ily and in it, as it was from the beginning,
the husband is the provider and the wife
the houSekeeper
As provider the husband must be hun
ter, for wild animals are the only source
of food and clothing and fuel, and division
Of labor with an accompanying medium OF
exchange have not yet been dreamed OF,
much less a system of property rights
which yields a lien upon the labor of fell
low hunters. Each with his varying skill,
and each with his own handmade imple-
ments. whose designs have come down to
him through countless generations Of hunt
ing ancestors, goes forth to the hazard OF
the hunt What he secures is his, and
game Is easily traced to its rightful owner
by means of the mark of ownership on the
harpoon or lance or arrow which has
caused death. But there come times when
each mans catch is not all his own-times
Of scarcity, when the successful hunter
shares his game equally with all the need
full families of the station, even If his own
is in bitter want Of all he has. He does
this from no sense Of charity, but out of
feeling of solidarity by which he knows in
stinctively that the strength or weakness
of The tribe is the measure of his own,
and that what he shares today will return
to him tomorrow when, luck may favor
another hunter. Even this is not the limit
of a natural altruism in the interests Of the
tribe as a larger self. If father finds
that the combined efforts Of himself and his
growing sons are more than enough for the
support of the family he appoints those OF
his sons whose LABOR he does not need as
providers for any in the, tribe whose sup
port is Insufficient.
Of the helpless there are few besides
young children. Sickness Is almost
known. and yet life among them is gener-
ally a short though merry one. Through
the infinite chances OF the chase few hun
tiers live to old age, and we were struck by
the feWness Of old women in the tribe The
enduring of almost unbroken cold is a con-
slant drain upon vitality, and before old
age has well set in ME goes out from sheer
exhaustion. OF serippes we saw only one.
and, in spite1of the 'bfe eafng in and In but
one case came to our notice of downright
feeble-mindednesst - ~ -....t-.-.
But how, we asked at once, If land and
dwellings, and even food, are held in COM
mon, how does the tribe protect itself from
supporting in idleness its lazy members?
SO modern a term as public opinion to
the case of race Of men who have no
written characters, and numerals only TO
five, who have no laws. nor courts nor po-
lice, nor newspapers. and whose tribal regu-
lations- flow chiefly through channels OF
physical fact But If 1t be not public
opinioni it is perhaps their nearest approach
to it In the obligation that each man is I'M
der not merely to be hunter. but to be
he best hunter that he can. Apart from
physical disability he must be hunter or
else he Is not man and has no chance OF
securing wife
1t is only in respect of his neighbours wife
that it Is possible, apparently, for an Es-
kimo to break the Tenth Commandment.
He does not covet his neighbours house nor
the implements Of the hunt, these are
quite as much his own as his neighbor's.
but he may covet his neighbours wife. In
that case he tells his neighbor frankly OF
his preference, and without further word
they face each other to do battle for the
woman. But even now there Is no knock
down fight. Neither has any conception OF
war; for there are no men within reach for
the tribe to make war upon. and 1t Is UNI
likely that either of the contestants has
ever seen a blow struck in anger. Silently
and with grim determination they set about
a series Of well-recognized tests to deter
mine their relative strength and endurance.
and to the victor belongs the woman. They
pull fingers and wrestle after quaint
manner Of their own, and If the contest be
still indecisive they stand facing each other.
while each with clinched fists beats the
other on the bicepS muscles of the left arm
Until one has yielded Then the other takes
the woman, whether she be his wife al
ready or the wife of his rival. The woman
has had no voice in the matter, but she is
likely to be content with the result, for in
being wife to the stronger man she has the
better provider. while the other woman will