The Indianapolis journal., 1903-09-01
ESKIMO CHILDREN.
Pastimes That EnIiven the Long VIM
ter Night.

ter Night.
New York Sun.
Most northern of all Uncle Sans chill
dren are the Eskimo, who live around
Point Barrow, which juts ont into the Po-
lar sea beyond the Arctic circle. There it
is night all winter long and day all sum-
mer long. So far from becoming gloomy
because of their gloomy surroundings and
their long nights, the Point Barrow chill
dren are particularly bright and lively, and
full of mischief and play. One of their
pastimes in winter is TO dance to the north
ern lights. They are warmly clothed in
garments made of the skin of the northern
deer or the Arctic fox. There is an upper
garment something like a sweater with a
hood to 1T, skin trousers and deerskin boots
coming to the knee.
They wear deerskin mittens, and when
they sing their song to the aurora borealis
and dance with IL, they frequently attach
the tail of blue or white fox TO their belt
behind. Each dancer clenches the fist, and
bending the elbows, strikes them against
the sides of the body, keeping time to
song and stamping vigorously with the
the left knee. The song has large num-
ber of stanzas and begins 'Kioya Ike kioya,
ke. which means hail to the northern
lights. When the aurora is bright and in
an especially dancing mood the children
will often keep up the song and dance for
hours al time.
In winter the Point Barrow children have
their feet They wet some snow and make
a ball about as big as two fists. The cold
is so intense that the ball Immediately be-
comes solid ice. Then the player balances
the ball on the toes of one foot and with a
kick and jump throws it TO the other
foot, which catches it and throws it back.
Some of the players are SO expert that they
will keep this up for a number of strokes
without letting the ball fall to the ground
The children of this tip-end of Uncle
Sans land also amuse themselves in win
Of
frozen snow which form under the cliffs
along the shores of the frozen sea. They
use no sleds or toboggans. not even boards
in this sport. but slide down the steep de-
clivities on their knees. Kneeling down
and sitting well back with their hands
graspiag grasp 6s, their cir ankles they go shooting
ing and shouting, and now and then losing
their balance and getting tumble which
sends them rolling in a heap to the foot
of the snow hill
Both boys and girls at Point Barrow are
fond of playing football, but they seem to
have no order or system. They simply get
bits of waste deerskin rags, and then
kick ii about with merry shouts and in
great confusion. The children are very
fond of dancing, and if they can get hold
of an old tin which some whaler has
left, they are happy. Beating the tin can
for a drum, they improvise dances for
themselves and invent songs to accompany
them.
The little Esquimaux of Point Barrow
have most mischevious little Instrument
which they call ''mitiglgaum." 1t is to
the Esquimaux boy what the bean snapper
is to the white boy. 1t is made of a piece
of stiff whalebone about five inches long
and half an inch wide. IL is narrowed off
and bent up for about an inch at one end
On the upper side of this bent-up end is a
little hollow large enough to hold a small
pebble, and the other end is cut into sharp
teeth This is purely an instrument of
mischief, and many a little Esquimaux boy
is compelled to retire with his mother into
one of their snow huts for a painful inter-
view because of the reckless manner in
which he uses his pebble snapper.
The children who frolic by the shores of
the frozen sea and dance with the northern
lights even have mechanical toys among
their playthings. One is a wooden doll rep
resenting man dressed in skins. He holds
other. The arms are made of whalebone
and by pressing them together at the
shoulders the figure can be made to move
as If beating the drum.
Then they have little toy kaiaks or ca
noes, in which are seated dolls with pad
dies in their hands. BY pulling a string
the doll is made to move its head from
side to side and make a motion as if pad
ding. The girls are fond of playing cats
cradle. Two little girls will sit in one of
the underground houses. or in one of the
huts made of frozen snow, and by the light
of a stone lamp. fed by seal oil. will play
at this game for hours, making all sorts
of complicated figures with the string.
The favorite figure, and a difficult one
Is the representation of reindeer, which,
by moving the fingers is made to run down
hill from one hand TO the other. Lieutenant
Ray, who was in charge of the govern
ment station at Point Barrow, says that
the children are so polite that they would
take pains to mispronounce native words
in the same way as he did not to
hurt his feelings by appearing to correct
him bIuntIV