THE CO-YUKONS.
The Co-yukons are an interior tribe, and the largest on the Yukon, which is the great river of the north, being 2,000 miles long, and navigable 1,000 miles. They may be found on the banks of the Co-yukuk, and other interior rivers. These Indians resemble the Ingeletes, already mentioned, but have a more ferocious countenance. Their dress is a double-tailed coat, one tail before, the other behind, and this style, with some modifications, prevails for a thousand miles on the Yukon.
The dress of the women is cut more squarely, and they wear an ornament of Hy-a-qua shells on the nose, which runs through a hole made in the cartilage between the nostrils. It is a singular fact that higher up the river it is the men only who wear this ornament.
Among these tribes the period of mourning for the dead is one year, the women during this time often gathering to talk and cry over the deceased. At the end of the year, they have a feast or “wake,” which is generally a queer compound of jollity and grief. One such scene, to commemorate the death of a child, was witnessed by Mr. Whymper at Nulato. “The poor old mother and some of her friends wept bitterly, while the guests were gayly dancing round a painted pole, on which strings of beads and some magnificent wolf skins were hung. They kept up singing and dancing to a fashionable hour of the morning, and one little savage, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs for hours, got up the next day without any voice at all, a case of righteous retribution. The decorations of the pole were divided among those who took part in the ‘wake.’”
Their method of disposing of the dead is not interment, but enclosure in oblong boxes, raised on posts. These are sometimes ornamented with strips of skin, and the possessions of the deceased, as the canoe, paddles, &c., are placed on the top of the box. Smaller articles are placed within the box. This four-post coffin is a custom also among the coast tribes already described. The women are quite prepossessing in appearance, are affectionate toward their children, and especially fond of their first-born. They are good-natured and playful, snowballing and rolling each other in the snow, sliding down hill on sledges or snow-shoes, with the enthusiasm of children.
There are other tribes, the names of which need only be mentioned, viz: the Kotch-a-Kutchins (or lowland people), the Au Kutchins, the Tatauchok Kutchins, Birch River and Rat River Indians. The Zanana Indians (or knoll people), Mr. Whymper thinks are the most unsophisticated of all the Indian tribes of the present day. Those he saw “were gay with painted faces, feathers in their long hair, patches of red clay at the back of their heads, covered with small fluffy feathers, double-tailed coats and pantaloons of buckskin, much adorned with fringes and beads, and elaborately worked fire-bags and belts.” Many of them, as in other Indian tribes, wore through the nose the Hy-a-qua shell as an ornament. The women of the upper tribes wear less ornament than the men, and are compelled to do more drudgery than those of the lower Yukon and coast of Alaska.
Among the coast tribes, and especially on the Yukon, there is, to some extent, a community of goods, the industrious hunter supplying the village crowd. This is a custom so much practised that the hunter gets no praise for his service. Some of the chiefs maintain their position by frequent distributions of their effects, and the game which they, being good hunters, have been able to take. “These chiefs are often the worst clothed and worst fed of all the tribe. Such generosity is expected as a matter of course. No man, woman, or child among them goes unfed, unhoused, or unwarmed, if there be food, dwelling, or fire in the settlement.”
Among the tribes of Alaska, a system of slavery exists that can hardly be surpassed for barbarism. They all buy and sell slaves. “Parents will sell their children for three or four blankets or a few dollars, and have no compunction of conscience for the use they may be put to in the future. When one tribe goes to war with another, all the prisoners taken by either tribe are called and used as slaves. When a chief or any of his family dies, it is the custom to kill one or more of these slaves, so that the chief or his deceased relative may have a servant in the other world to wait on him. In 1868 an old chief of the Sitka tribe died, and a few days before his death, when his relatives were satisfied that he could live but a short time, they selected as a victim for sacrifice a young, healthy, good-looking warrior, whom the Sitka tribe had taken prisoner while at war with one of the tribes down near Queen Charlotte’s Sound. The slave had been tied up two days about the time the old chief died, and by some means some of his friends were apprised of his condition, and immediately notified Gen. Davis that the Indian slave was liable to be killed at any moment. Gen. Davis had one of the chiefs brought before him, and after a long conversation about the foolishness of such sacrifices, he agreed to let the slave go free; and lest they might attempt to put into execution their original idea of killing him, the General permitted the Indian to remain in the city, where he would be protected.
“Recently one of the chiefs tried hard to get hold of a half-breed, named Evanoff, to sacrifice him. For the two preceding weeks this chief would go up every day to Gen. Davis, stating that he had a slave in the city, and wanting to know if he could not get him into Indiantown. The General, supposing the chief wanted one of his Indians, told him to go and get him, but it was not until the day in question that the effort was made to get this man. It seems that Evanoff’s mother was an Indian woman, but his father was a Russian, and when he was but three years of age a lady named Bengeman adopted and brought him up. The chief who claimed him had a child that was expected to die, and afterward did die. Having no slave but his claim on Evanoff, he made this effort to sacrifice him that he might be a servant for his child in the spirit world. When the general saw whom the chief claimed, in a very few well-timed words he taught him and several of his warriors more about civilization than ever they knew before. He asked the chief what he wanted with this man. Pointing to Evanoff, the Indian told him his child was sick, and he only wanted him for three hours, and then he would let him go free. The General told him that the best thing he could do was to look on Evanoff as a free man already, and warned the Indian if in the future he should ever attempt to trouble Evanoff again, he would put him in the guard-house and keep him there. The Indian went off well pleased, and stated that he would be a good Indian thereafter.
“The slaves are put to death as follows. As soon as a chief dies, the slave is compelled to wash the body of the corpse; and is then taken out and thrown flat on his back and held there, when a stick of wood is placed across his throat, and two Indians sit down on each end of it, and in this way strangle him to death. His body is then placed inside a large pile of wood and burned to ashes. It is customary when a big chief dies to put to death two or more slaves. All slaves taken in war have to act as servants for the chiefs who own them.”—(Sitka Times of Nov. 27, 1869.)
The Indian population of the whole territory of Alaska is estimated at about 30,000. They are peaceful and quite capable, learning quickly, and exhibiting considerable skill in their utensils and weapons.
CHAPTER CXLVI.
SIBERIA.
THE TCHUKTCHI—JAKUTS—TUNGUSI.
HOME OF THE TCHUKTCHI — INDEPENDENCE — DISTRICT OF THE RUSSIANS — CARAVANS — INTOXICATION BY TOBACCO — FAIR OF OSTROWNOJE — GRAVITY OF THE TCHUKTCHI — THEIR TENT — MADAME LEÜTT — HOSPITALITY — SHAMANISM — HUMAN SACRIFICE — POLYGAMY — MURDER OF THE AGED — JAKUTS — THEIR ENDURANCE — RESERVE — SUPERSTITION — THE TUNGUSI — DIFFERENT TRIBES — CANNIBALISM — ORNAMENTS — BRAVERY — DIET — SHAMANISM — DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD — A NIGHT’S HALT WITH THE TUNGUSI IN THE FOREST — SPORTS — FAIRS.
Crossing Behring’s Straits into Asia, we find in Northern Siberia several peoples whose condition and character bring them within the scope of this work.
The home of the Tchuktchi is at the extreme north-eastern point of Asia; bounded by the Polar Ocean on one side, and by Behring Sea on the other. It is, as the few travellers who have visited it say, one of the dreariest regions of the earth. There is no indication of summer before July 20th, and winter begins about the 20th of August. The sea coasts abound with seals, sea-lions, and walruses; while the wolf, reindeer, and Arctic fox abound in the interior. In this cold, desolate region dwell the only aboriginal race of Northern Asia that has resisted all attempts of the Russian government to take away its independence. Dr. Hartwig, in his sketch of this tribe, says: “The rulers of Siberia have confined them within narrower limits, but they obey no foreign leader, and wander unmolested, with their numerous reindeer herds, over the naked tundras.”
A natural distrust of their powerful neighbors has rendered them long unwilling to enter into any commercial intercourse with the Russians, and to meet them at the fair of Ostrownoje, a small town, situated not far from their frontiers, on a small island of the Aninj, in 68° N. lat.
From the East Cape of Asia, where, crossing Behring’s Strait in boats covered with skins, they barter furs and walrus teeth with the natives of America, the Tchuktchi come with their goods and tents drawn on sledges to the fair of Ostrownoje. One of these caravans generally consists of fifty or sixty families, and one fair is scarcely at an end when they set off to make their arrangements for the next.
Tobacco is the primum mobile of the trade which centres in Ostrownoje. Their pipes are of a peculiar character, larger at the stem than the bowl, which holds a very small quantity of tobacco. In smoking, they swallow the fumes of the tobacco, and often, after six or eight whiffs, fall back, completely intoxicated for the time.
But Ostrownoje attracts not only Tchuktchi and Russians; a great number of the Siberian tribes, from a vast circuit of 1,000 or 1,500 versts,—Jukahiri, Lamutes, Tungusi, Tschuwanzi, Koriacks,—also come flocking in their sledges, drawn partly by dogs, partly by horses, for the purpose of bartering their commodities against the goods of the Tchuktchi. Fancy this barbarous assembly meeting every year during the intense cold and short days of the beginning of March. Picture to yourself the fantastic illumination of their red watch-fires blazing under the starry firmament, or mingling their ruddy glare with the aurora flickering through the skies, and add to the strange sight the hollow sound of the Shaman’s drum, and the howling of several hundreds of hungry dogs, and you will surely confess that no fair has a more original character than that of Ostrownoje.
The imperturbable gravity of the Tchuktch forms a remarkable contrast with the greedy eagerness of the Russian trader. Although the Tchuktchi have no scales with them, it is not easy to deceive them in the weight, for they know exactly by the feeling of the hand whether a quarter of a pound is wanting to the pound. The whole fair seldom lasts longer than three days, and Ostrownoje, which must have but very few stationary inhabitants indeed (as it is not even mentioned in statistical accounts, which cite towns of seventeen souls), is soon after abandoned for many months to its ultra-Siberian solitude.
But before we allow the Tchuktchi to retire to their deserts, we may learn something more of their habits by accompanying Mr. Matiuschkin Wrangell’s companion on a visit to the ladies of one of their first chiefs. “We enter the outer tent, or ‘wamet,’ consisting of tanned reindeer skins supported on a slender framework. An opening at the top to let out the smoke, and a kettle in the centre, announce that antechamber and kitchen are here harmoniously blended into one. But where are the inmates? Most probably in that large sack made of the finest skins of reindeer calves, which occupies, near the kettle, the centre of the ‘wamet.’ To penetrate into this sanctum sanctorum of the Tchuktch household, we raise the loose flap which serves as a door, creep on all-fours through the opening, cautiously re-fasten the flap by tucking it under the floor-skin, and find ourselves in the reception or withdrawing-room,—the ‘polog.’ A snug box, no doubt, for a cold climate, but rather low, as we cannot stand upright in it, and not quite so well ventilated as a sanitary commissioner would approve of, as it has positively no opening for light or air. A suffocating smoke meets us on entering. We rub our eyes, and when they have at length got accustomed to the biting atmosphere, we perceive, by the gloomy light of a train-oil lamp, the worthy family squatting on the floor in a state of almost complete nudity. Without being in the least embarrassed, Madame Leütt and her daughter receive us in their primitive costume. But, to show us that the Tchuktchi know how to receive company, and to do honor to their guests, they immediately insert strings of glass beads in their greasy hair. Their hospitality equals their politeness; for, instead of a cold reception, a hot dish of boiled reindeer flesh, copiously irrigated with rancid train-oil by the experienced hand of the mistress of the household, is soon after smoking before us. Unfortunately, our effeminate taste is not up to the haut goût of her culinary art, and while Mr. Leütt does ample justice to the artistic talent of his spouse, by rapidly bolting down pieces as large as a fist, we are hardly able to swallow a morsel.”
Though most of the Reindeer or nomadic Tchuktchi have been baptized, yet Wrangell supposes the ceremony to have been a mere financial speculation on their part, and is convinced that the power of the Shamans is still as great as ever. An epidemic had carried off a great number of persons, and also whole herds of reindeer. In vain the Shamans had recourse to their usual conjurations. The plague continued. They consulted together, and directed that one of their most respected chiefs, named Kotschen, must be sacrificed, to appease the irritated spirits. Kotschen was willing to submit to the sentence, but none could be found to execute it, until his own son, prevailed on by his father’s exhortations, and terrified by his threatened curse, plunged a knife into his heart, and gave his body to the Shamans.
Polygamy is general among the Tchuktchi, and they change their wives as often as they please. Still, though the women are certainly slaves, they are allowed more influence, and are subjected to less labor, than among many savages. Among other heathenish and detestable customs, is that of killing all deformed children, and all old people as soon as they become unfit for the hardships and fatigues of a nomad life. They do not indulge in any needless cruelty, but stupefy the aged victim, by putting some substance up the nostrils before opening a vein. Two years before Wrangell’s arrival at Kolyma there was an instance of this in the case of one of their richest chiefs. Waletka’s father became infirm and tired of life, and was put to death at his own express desire, by some of his nearest relations.
The number of the Tchuktchi is greater than one might expect to find in so sterile a country. According to the Russian missionaries, there were, some years back, 52 ulusses or villages of the Onkilon (or stationary Tchuktchi), with 1,568 tents, and 10,000 inhabitants, and Wrangell tells us that the Tennygk (or Reindeer Tchuktchi), are at least twice as numerous, so that the entire population of the land of the Tchuktchi may possibly amount to 30,000.