The Washington herald., 1911-05-14


have monopoly Of all the games
IAI they play. Little savages in far. off
IL III lands-savages who have never heard
81 Of or seen white boys--havc for hun.
drcds OF years engaged in sports, many
Of which are types OF those known to civilized
youth.
The boys Of far-ofr Greenland, for instance.
have games that bear a remarkable resem.
blance to those enjoyed by young America,
and engage in them with the same snap and
pleasure. Moreover, it is certain that their
fathers and grand fathers and their ancestors
long before the days Of Columbus knew OF
these games and played them as children.
One OF these sports is football, and so an.
cent is 1t with the EsIimos that these people
have woven it with one Of their many pretty
sometimes called the northern lights, an cleo.
trcal phenomenon common and Of more than
ordinary magntcence in the Arctic regions.
Whenever the sky is covered with the
crimson and golden shafts Of light, the Eski-
mos say the spirits Of the departed are play.
ing at great game Of football and the bright.
er the light tbe harder, they claim, the ball
is being kicked about.
But while the spirits use mostly walrus
skulls for balls, the living Eskimos employ
an article fashioned out Of scalskin. about
double the size of those in use by civilized
youngsters. 1t is, in fact, the whole hide Of
a baby seal, so closely scwed together that
when air Is blown into it. not d particle
escapes.
Exactly what are the rules of the game I
cannot say. but the fundamental principle is
the same here. The players are divided
into two sides and each tries to kick the
ball into the others territory. They have rushes
aud scrimmages, too and these are. if anv.
thing, rougher than by the white boy and the
college young man.
Next to football, "shinney' is the favoritc
game, and in this sport the players appear
to crack each other over the shins with as
mi and L..
living.
In this sport the young Eskimos use as a
shinney sonnet ines the rib Of the ooksook, or
silver seal, and sometimes the rib of a wal
rus. The ball is rather larger than a base.
ball. and is made Of pebbles wrapped with
sinews and covered with hide.
There must be some system Of play, hut
confess it looks as though those engaged sim.
ply content themselves with running and
shouting, and with hitting the ball and each
other over the shins
'Hi spy is also known to the little husk.
les, as the Eskimos are called by the whalers
and others who on rare occasions find their
way to the shores Of Greenland
| have seen the boys playing it quite oft en-
on the shores Of Mccormick Bay, where Lieu.
tenant Pcary had his winter quarters, in 1891
~. The game. however, does not seem to be
the same in every particular as the one played
here, but beyond two or three points Il
would be difficult to note wherein all the
diift rnces lie.
One OF the points in which the game is not
like the one so familiar and dear to the Amer.
ican boy and girl is that the one who is "it''
must chase and tag the discovered cont" be-
fore the latter is considered finally cap
tured
This game of "IIi spy" is very like another
that the little Eskimos play-one not known
to the white boy, but one which is very
useful to the young Innuit as the dwcllers
Of the frozen north call themselves, in that
it prepares them for the only calling by which,
when they grow to manhood, they make their
livelihood. This game they variously call
oolksook, pussy, after the two most common
seals, or awik. the Eskimo's name for walr7s.
1t is in short. an imitation hunt, and to an
on-looker quite exciting. At least two are
necessary to play-one takes the part Of n
goes from the sight Of the other. and hides
behind rock or cake Of ice and then the
hunter. armed with headlcss harpoon,
scare hes stealthily for the seal, the latter do,
ing his best to keep out Of the way and
when found, TO avoid being struck by the
harpc on. When, at length, the latter happens,
each boy takes tho others place. and the
game goes on until it is topped through wear.
mess.
The skill displayed by the boy in avoiding
the blow. and the accuracy. OF the lad in
casting the harpoon, are simply marvellous; |
have often seen little huskies, not more than
eight or nine years old, throw their weapons
thirty or forty feet, in quick succession md
rarely fail TO strike within few inches of
the object aimed at, provided it remained
still
While wrestling may be practiced BY the
Esknos living above Melville Bay, and that
is the southern limit OF the wild members of