Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-04-03

of these houses at the stopping place
makes all the difference between
comfort and misery They are al
constructed after an invariable pat
| tern. A famous philosopher by simply
remarking that all swallows builG
| alike thought he had proved that an
| imals do not reason. If that proof is
! valid, Esquimaus must be included
among animals, for. except a slight
difference in size, there is no vafiatic.
in the plan of their houses. In point
of economy of space it would be hard
to beat them. The ordinary move
ments required in eating, cooking
dressing and undressing and going to
sleep, etc, may be performed in the
inclosed space with perfect comfort
but you must not move further than
usual i'll any direction if you do not
wish to run up against the wall The
ground plan has the shape of a horse.
shoe with two eXcrescences at the Col
ners. The walls and roof are of stone
large fiat slabs being used for the
roof. The whole is covered with peat.
We see the sleeping platform Ggleng)
raised about - feet above the floor
(nateng), thus securing both dryness
and warmth The top of the igleng
is levelled off by means of fat stones.
Grass is spread over these, next seal
skins, then the mattress (ka), con-
sisting of a reindeer skin. Another
reindeer skin (keping) serves as cover
let. The heads of the sleepers are
turned toward the door; the feet. re-
curing less space. converge toward
the rear. Two adults and two chill
dren can sleep comfortably on this
platform, but in emergencies they
manage to find room for eight people
On the cooking platforms fkpanJ at
each side is the stone lamp (kodleng)
over which hangs the kettle CkOlip-
SUM, and over this the drying frame
(inuten). The lamp, made of soap
stone, has almost exactly the shape Of
a dustpan and varies from s inches
to 2 feet in length. Along the front
edge a quantity of pulverized moss is
arranged in the form of a little ridge,
saturated with seal oil and lighted.
Soon the flame spreads all along the
edge. The body of the lamp is filled
with pieces of blubber, which, melting
fill the lamp with oil and thus feed the
flame.
For the most part the natives con-
fine their Journeys to the Inhabited
coast. There is not an adult in the
tribe that has not dived INTO every
bay on the coast. If at Cape York you
ask a boy of seventeen or eighteen
how far he has been, he may tell you
that he has gone no further north
than Piterarwi; if you ask a boy at
Etah, he may say that he has been nc
further south than Netidliwi; but
every person over twenty has been
everywhere on the coast. Little
Akatengwa and Niakautya, the chill
dren of our Esquimau family, ten and
seven years old, respectively, had
been in every nook of the coast eXceD{.
the extreme head of Inglefeld Gulf
Thus every individual in the tribe
meets every other individual every
few years, and most of chem several
times year; every one knows every
one elSe's biography and family his
tory The whole tribe. of some two
hundred and fifty individuals, in fact
forms one large family. Marriage, in
deed, is strictly forbidden within
known limits of kinship; but this very
fact insures a constant fusion of blood
When a man cannot marry within mis-
known circle of relatives, comprisiEg.
say, One-fOurth of the tribe. he neces-
sarily has to extend his Relationship to
another fourth. Such intimate blend
ing might be expected to produce a
type so homogeneous that individuals
would be almost indistinguishable.
AS might be expected, parental iO1e
without which no species of bird or
beast could long survive, is pronounced
among the EsQuimaus. Our man
AkOmadingwa, sullen and morOSe as a
rule. grew cheerful only in company of
his little son NiakOutya, whom he
would dance on his knee and fondIe
and hug by the hour. both father and
son being convulsed with laughter all
the time 1t was useless &c try TO in
duce him to go on trip lasting more
than a day unless he could nave the
boy with him. Angutibluahsu, at Cape
York. dotted on his boy living tor I'M
erahsu) in just the same way. II
gave him a slice of Australian mutton
! Ga gift of Captain Milne of the whalel
! Eclipsel he would take a bite OF il
and put the rest away-for living, as
! he said.
What is to be the future of this most
northerly outpost of our race? The
question may be looked at from two
standpoints, that of the Esquimau anC
that of the civilized world. AS fol
the Esquimaus, very little will suffice
to make them very happy. First ant
| foremost, they need a constant supply
of wood and iron to build their SledgeE
and tents and to fashion their hunting
gear. 1t is touching to see the jo!
| beaming in their faces when you Civ,
them a board or al iron rod. The com
parative abundance of these articles
in recent years has enabled many II
set up decent housekeeping, AM
! should there be once more a deartl
in this respect they would feel the PR
walton very keenly. There are NJ
whaleribs now, which formerly, in
manner. supplied the lack of wood
for the white men have killed off al
} the whales in that region. fey
boats would enable them to get fror
place to place easily in summer, a