At the end of each paragraph its result will be mentioned. The “positive cases” are the tribes which probably keep slaves, the “negative cases” those which probably do not keep slaves. Under the head of “no conclusion” we have given the cases in which the probability that slavery exists is nearly as great, or as little, as the inverse probability. The tribes, the names of which are printed in italics, are those which afford “clear cases”, i.e. where the probability nearly amounts to certainty.
At the end of the chapter a brief recapitulation will show the occurrence of slavery among savages in the several parts of the globe.
When, in the following paragraphs, we say: “Such a tribe keeps slaves,” or: “Such a tribe does not keep slaves,” this does not imply that the same state of things still prevails. The tribe we speak of may have died out; or, where slavery existed, it may have been abolished. When we know that such a thing has taken place, we shall use the past tense. But in many cases the only information we have got concerning some tribe dates from many years back; and we do not know what has become of this tribe in the meantime. Then, not to be obliged always to use such tedious formulas as: “In Mr. X.’s time slavery existed among such a tribe,” we shall simply say: “slavery exists.” Whether it still exists is certainly of [[47]]much interest to a philanthropist; but to us, for the purposes we have set ourselves in the present volume, it is quite immaterial.
§ 2. North America.
1. Eskimos.
Rink’s account applies especially to Western Greenland at the time of the first European settlement, but may be taken as a general description of the Eskimos[7]. According to him the family in the restricted sense comprehended foster-children, widows, helpless persons adopted as relatives and more or less treated as servants. They were regarded as subordinate members of the family but never subjected to any corporal punishment[8]. He then describes their social organization, but makes no mention of slavery[9]. The question remains whether these helpless persons are to be called slaves. This does not very clearly appear; but, happily, we have more detailed accounts of the several Eskimo tribes.
Crantz, in his description of the Greenlanders, gives many particulars about their servants. Mothers of illegitimate children are despised; sometimes a childless person buys her children. When a married couple have no children or no full-grown children, the husband adopts one or two orphan boys, who help him in his work and must provide the family with the necessaries of life. The same is done by the wife with daughters of others or with a widow. Although the adopted youths are employed as servants, they are free from any compulsion, and are regarded as the future lords of the house. The adopted maid-servant or daughter can leave when she likes. A man will never beat his man-servant, and were he to touch a maid-servant, he would incur great disgrace[10]. We see that the condition of these servants is not slavery. The boy is the future lord of the house, the girl may leave when she pleases. Servants are only required to occupy the place that in a normal household is taken up by the children. [[48]]Labour is not asked for. “If a man dies without leaving behind relatives, or full-grown sons, nobody cares for the children, unless one wants a maid-servant.” A widow must try to get a lodging, in which she does not always succeed[11]. It is clear that to these Greenlanders slaves would not be of any use. Nansen, too, makes no mention of slavery[12].
Boas, describing the Central Eskimos, states that among them too children are adopted and regarded by the adoptive parents as their own children; so “an elder adopted son has a preference over a younger son born of the marriage,” viz. as to the right of inheritance. The following statement still more directly bears on our subject: “Sometimes men are adopted who may almost be considered servants. Particularly bachelors without any relations, cripples who are not able to provide for themselves, or men who have lost their sledges and dogs are found in this position. They fulfil minor occupations, mend the hunting-implements, fit out the sledges, feed the dogs, etc.; sometimes however, they join the hunters. They follow the master of the house when he removes from one place to another, make journeys in order to do his commissions, and so on. The position, however, is a voluntary one, and therefore these men are not less esteemed than the self-dependent providers”[13]. The last sentence clearly shows that these servants are not slaves. And as in no other place does Boas make any mention of slaves, it is certain that slavery does not exist.
Ribbach gives some notes on the Eskimos of Labrador. There is nothing on slavery in these notes. Describing their dwellings he says: “The principal family has of course the best place; the servants, widows or orphans, if there are such, have to content themselves with a place near the door, where the cold is most severe”[14]. This agrees so much with the foregoing descriptions, that we may suppose that the same state of things prevails here.