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.”