Man, Past and Present

by A. H. Keane

The mode of life of all the Eskimo, as F. Boas[806] has pointed out, is fairly uniform and depends on the distribution of food at the different seasons. The migrations of game compel the natives to move their habitations from time to time, and as the inhospitable country does not produce vegetation to an extent sufficient to support human life they are forced to depend entirely upon animal food. The abundance of seals in Arctic America enables man to withstand the inclemency of the climate and the sterility of the soil. The skins of seals furnish the materials for summer garments and for the tent, their flesh is almost their only food, and their blubber their indispensable fuel during the long dark winter when they live in solid snow houses. When the ice breaks up in the spring the Eskimo establish their settlements at the head of the fiords where salmon are easily caught. When the snow on the land has melted in July the natives take hunting trips inland in order to obtain the precious skins of the reindeer, or of the musk-ox, of whose heavy pelts the winter garments are made. Walrus and the ground seal also arrive and birds are found in abundance and eaten raw.

Origin and Affinities.

The Eskimo[807] occupy more than 5000 miles of seaboard from north-east Greenland to the mouth of the Copper river in western Alaska. Many views have been advanced as to the position of their centre of dispersion; most probably it lay to the west of Hudson Bay. Rink[808] is of opinion that they originated as a distinct people in Alaska, where they developed an Arctic culture; but Boas[809] regards them "as, comparatively speaking, new arrivals in Alaska, which they reached from the east." A westward movement is supported by myths and customs, and by the affinities of the Eskimo with northern Asiatics. There was always hostility between the Eskimo and the North American Indians, which, apart from their very specialised mode of life, precluded any Eskimo extension southwards. The expansion of the Eskimo to Greenland is explained by Steensby[810] as follows:—the main southern movement would have followed the west coast from Melville Bay, rounded the southern point and proceeded some distance up the east coast. From the Barren Grounds north-west of Hudson Bay the Polar Eskimo followed the musk-ox, advanced due north to Ellesmere Land, then crossed to Greenland, and, still hunting the musk-ox, advanced along the north coast and down the east coast towards Scoresby Sound. Another line of migration apparently started from the vicinity of Southampton Island and pursued the reindeer northwards into Baffin Land; on reaching Ponds Inlet these reindeer-hunting Eskimo for the most part turned along the east coast.

Physical Type.

Physically the Eskimo constitute a distinct type. They are of medium stature, but possess uncommon strength and endurance; their skin is light brownish yellow with a ruddy tint on the exposed parts; hands and feet are small and well formed; their heads are high, with broad faces, and narrow high noses, and eyes of a Mongolian character. But great varieties are found in different parts of the vast area over which they range. The Polar Eskimo of Greenland, studied by Steensby, were more of American Indian than of Asiatic type[811]. Of their psychology this writer says, "For the Polar Eskimos life is deadly real and sober, a constant striving for food and warmth which is borne with good humour, and all dispensations are accepted as natural consequences, about which it is of no use to reason or complain." "The hard struggle for existence has not permitted the Polar Eskimo to become other than a confirmed egoist, who knows nothing of disinterestedness. Towards his enemies he is crafty and deceitful—he does not attack them openly, but indulges in backbiting.... It is only during the hunt that a common interest and a common danger engender a deeper feeling of comradeship[812]."

Still less Mongolian in type are the "blond Eskimo" recently encountered by Stefánsson in south-west Victoria Island[813], who are regarded by him as very possibly the mixed descendants of Scandinavian ancestors who had drifted there from west Greenland. It is known that Eric the Red discovered Greenland in the year 982 and that 3 years later settlers went there from the Norse colony in Iceland.

Social Life.

The winter snow houses, which are about 12 × 15 ft. in diameter and 12 ft. high, usually with annexes, are always occupied by two families, each woman having her own lamp and sitting on the ledge in front of it. If more families join in making a snow house, they make two main rooms. Whenever it is possible the men spend the short days in hunting and each woman prepares the food for her husband. The long nights are mainly spent in various recreations. The social life in the summer settlement is somewhat different. The families do not cook their own meals, but a single one suffices for the whole settlement. The day before it is her turn to cook the woman goes to the hills to fetch enough shrubs for the fire. When a meal is ready the master of the house calls out and everybody comes out of his tent with a knife, the men sit in one circle and the women in another. These dinners, which are always held in the evening, are almost always enlivened by a mimic performance. The great religious feasts take place just before the beginning of winter.

There are three forms of social grouping: the Family, House-mates, and Place-mates. (1) The family consists of a man, his wife or wives, their children and adopted children; widows and their children may be adopted, but the woman retains her own fireplace. Sometimes men are adopted, such as bachelors without any relatives, cripples, or impoverished men. Joint ownership and use of a boat and house, and common labour and toil in obtaining the means of support define the real community of the family. (2) House-mates are families that join together to build and occupy and maintain the same house. This form of establishment is especially common in Greenland, but each family keeps its separate establishment inside the common house. (3) Place-fellows. The inhabitants of the same hamlet or winter establishment form one community although no chief is elected or authority acknowledged.

Generally children are betrothed when very young. The newly married pair usually live at first with the wife's family. Both polygyny and polyandry occur. A man may lend or exchange his wife for a whole season or longer, as a sign of friendship. On certain occasions it is even commanded by religious law. There is no government, but there is a kind of chief in the settlement, though his authority is very limited. He is called the "pimain," i.e. he who knows everything best. He decides the proper time to shift the huts from one place to another, he may ask some men to go sealing, others to go deer hunting, but there is not the slightest obligation to obey him. The men in a community may form themselves into an informal council for the regulation of affairs. The decorative art of the Eskimo is not remarkably developed, but the pictorial art consists of clever sketches of everyday scenes and there is a well developed plastic art. Many of the carvings are toys and are made for the pleasure of the work. "The religious views and practices of the Eskimo while, on the whole, alike in their fundamental traits, show a considerable amount of differentiation in the extreme east and in the extreme west. It would seem that the characteristic traits of shamanism are common to all the Eskimo tribes. The art of the shaman (angakok) is acquired by the acquisition of guardian spirits.... Besides the spirits which may become guardian spirits of men, the Eskimo believes in a great many others which are hostile and bring disaster and death.... The ritualistic development of Eskimo religion is very slight[814]."