At the time of the European discovery of the northern parts of America, the Eskimos extended along the coasts considerably south of their present limits. They occupied the entire Atlantic coast of Labrador, and lived far along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Eskimos and Indians have always been open enemies. With the advent of the whites, the Indians soon became possessed of firearms, which gave them a great advantage over their northern foes, who were compelled to retreat beyond the tree-limit in the northern regions; here they were safe, as the Indians cannot live without firewood.
The Eskimos continued to inhabit the eastern part of the shore of the gulf of St. Lawrence until about 1630, when they were expelled by the French and Indians. Captain W. Coats, in his notes on Hudson bay, states that in 1748 the Iroquois sent to the Indians of the bay for captive Eskimos, to be used as human sacrifices at some great feast; that the chief of the northern Indians proceeded forthwith on the war-path against the Eskimos capturing seven and killing thirteen; the captives were sent south to the land of the Iroquois in what is now New York State.
In 1770-72, Samuel Hearne accompanied a band of Chippewyan Indians on a journey from Churchill to the mouth of the Coppermine river. These Indians were only induced to go to the Arctic coast on the chance of killing Eskimos. This they did, by surprising a band busily engaged in fishing at the first fall above the mouth of the river, massacring them all.
This warfare appears to have continued until the Eskimos obtained firearms, when, the conditions becoming equal, the Indians soon found that the pleasure of the Eskimo chase did not compensate for the danger incurred, and, for many years past, active hostilities have ceased, though the two races are still unfriendly, and rarely, or never, intermarry.
Scattered over such a wide area of country, with such poor means of communication, it naturally follows that the Eskimo race is broken up into a number of tribes, distinguished by difference in dialect, and by slight differences in manners and customs. But these are so surprisingly few, considering the conditions, that an Eskimo from the Atlantic coast has no difficulty in conversing with the natives of the west coast of Hudson bay, or with those of Greenland. Their religious beliefs and ceremonies are also wonderfully alike everywhere, and only minor differences are to be seen in their sleds, boats, tents and implements of the chase, these being largely due to the materials used. In fact so close are the essential resemblances that a description of the language, manners and customs of any tribe requires only slight modifications to suit those of the other tribes.
DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBERS OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS.
Dr. Franz Boas, who has devoted much attention to the study of the Eskimos, has named those of the eastern half of the continent the Central Eskimos, to distinguish them from the natives of Greenland and from those of the western Arctic coast and Alaska.
The following divisions are taken from Boas, with such modifications as have been found necessary.
The numbers of the different divisions are in many instances only approximate, as it is exceedingly difficult to arrive at a correct census, even when actually on the ground, owing to the lack of appreciation of the natives of numbers and to their want of interest in such investigations.