The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-01-27
WITH ARCTIC HIGHLANDERS.
Lack of n Structural system of Gov
eminent.

From Sorbner's
Etah is but che most northern of some
dozen stations occupied by the Smith
Sound Eskimos. One hesitates at the
word settlement" because it conveys an
idea of permanency, both as to location
and also, in a measure. as to the per-
sonnet of the body of settlers, and this is
only half true of the settlements of the
tribe of less than $50 individuals who
live at scattered points along the coast
from Cape York TO Foulke Fjord The
points of settlement are permanent, APP
parently, having been chosen, doubtless,
through a process of selection, with ref
erence to shelter and food supply, con-
t,nued through many generations; but
the families that inhabit them vary each
year in accordance with curious re-
shufiling which takes place quite spon-
taneously, it appears at Peterawik Gla-
cier, 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 pre-
vious year at a different station from all
the others. 1t is easy to conceive of
certain solidarity of tribal organization
which results from such a system, and
which Il would be difficult to improve up
on under conditions of precarious food
supply that makes necessary the widely
scattered living of the families Of the
tribe Not only are their ties of all de-
gIess of blood relationship which binds
each member to the others, but each
IS personally known 20 all through the
intimacy of closely interdependent eXis-
tence which is the only manner of life
possible to men encompassed by an arc
tic 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
premedtated, structural system of any
kind, but a quite simple order which
issues naturally from che facts Of equal
tiy and of equal sharing in all the essen
tails of livelihood. With certain naive
differences from our accepted ideals there
Is a homogeneous family, and In II, as IL
was from toe begiuiIg, the husband is
the provider and the wife the housekeep-
er.
AS provider the husband must be
hunter 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 system of prop
erty rights which yields lien upon the
labor of fellow hunters. Each with his
VARYING skill and each with his own hand
made Implements whose designs have
come down to him through countless gem
erations Of hunting ancestors, goes forth
to the hazard of the hunt What he Sc
cures Is his, and game is easily traced
10 its rightfh 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 man
catch is not all his own-times OF scarcity,
when the successful hunter shares his
game equally with all the needful 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 a feeling of
solidarity by which he knows instinctively
that the strength or weakness Of the tribe
is the measure Of his own, and that what
he shares to-day win return to him to-
morrow when luck may favor another
hunter. Even this is not the limit of a
natural altruism in the interests OF the
tribe as larger self II a 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
reed as providers for any in the tribe
whose support is insufficient
OF the helpless there are few besides
Young children. Sickness Is almost I'M
known and yet life among them Is gener-
ally short, though a merry, one.
Through the infinite chances of the chase
few hunters live TO old age, and we We're
struck by the fewness Of old women N
the tribe. The enduring OF almost un.
broken cold IS a constant drain upon Vial
ity. and before old age has well set IN hfe
goes out from sheer exhaustion. OF Grip
pies we saw only one, and in spite of the
breeding IN and in but one case came
to our notice Of downright feeble minded
ness.
But how. we asked at once, Il land aud
dwellings. and even food, are held IN
common. how does the tribe protect itse.f
from supporting In ldiene8s its lazy mem-
Dere2 There is a comical incongruity I'm
applying so modern a term as public
opinion ~ the case OF race OF men who