Across the sub-Arctics of Canada

by J. W. Tyrrell

The clothing of the Eskimo is made entirely of the skins of animals, chiefly of the seal and reindeer, the former being used for summer and the latter for the winter. They are nicely softened and dressed, and are neatly made up by the women, whose chief duty it is to provide clothing for their husbands and children.

The cut of the native garb, both for the men and the women, is somewhat peculiar. A man’s suit may briefly be described as follows: Commencing at the foundation, it consists of a pair of fur stockings or duffles, covered by long waterproof moccasins which reach to the knees and are just met by short seal or deer-skin trousers. The suit is completed by a jacket or jumper, made of the same material as the trousers, which is pulled on over the head, there being no opening in front to admit of its being put on like a coat. This jacket is provided with a hood, which takes the place of a cap, and may either be worn over the head or pushed back when not required.

In the summer season, a single suit of seal-skin, made as above, constitutes a man’s entire clothing, but in the winter time he wears two such suits, the inner one having the hair on the inside, and the outer one reversed.

The female costume is rather more complex in make-up than the above. The foot-wear is the same with both sexes, but in place of the trousers worn by the men, the women wear leggings and trunks, and in place of the jacket a peculiarly constructed over-skirt, having a short flap in front, and a long train, in shape something like a beaver’s tail, just reaching to the ground behind. The back of the over-skirt is made very full, so as to form a sort of bag, in which the mothers carry their children. Like a man’s jacket, it is provided with a hood, but of much larger size, so as to afford shelter for both mother and child. The women are very fond of decorating their dresses with beads or other ornaments, and all their garments are made with great neatness.

Like many other savage people, the Eskimos, and especially the women, tattoo extensively. They do not all thus adorn themselves, but many of them have their faces, necks, arms or hands all figured over in such a way as to give them a wild and savage appearance.

Many of the ladies, when in full dress, wear head-bands, usually made of polished brass or iron, over their foreheads. These are held in position by being tied with a cord behind the head.

A stranger custom still is that of wearing stones in the cheeks, upon each side of the mouth. This practice is not universal with the Eskimos, but, as far as my knowledge extends, it is limited to those inhabiting the Mackenzie River district. The natives of this region have the reputation of being a bad lot, and it is said that when they are heard to rattle their cheek-stones against their teeth it is time to be on the look-out. The stones are cut in the shape of large shirt-studs, and are let through the cheeks by cutting holes for them.

As to the origin of the Eskimo people, very little is known, but the most probable theory accounting for their existence on this continent is that they were originally Mongolians, and at some very early date crossed over the Behring Straits and landed in Alaska. This theory is based upon the fact that a similarity is traced between the Eskimo language and the dialects of some of the Mongolian tribes of northern Asia. A certain Eskimo tradition would rather tend to bear out this theory. It is something like this: A very long time ago there were two brothers made by the beaver and placed on an island in the Western Sea. There they lived and fed upon birds which they caught with their hands, but at length food grew scarce, and the brothers, being hungry, fought for the birds they had taken. This quarrel led to a separation, and one brother went to live in the western portion of our “Great North Land,” and became the father of the Eskimos in that region; while the other went still farther east, and became the father of the natives of Hudson Bay and Straits.

The range of the Eskimos is very large, extending completely across the northern part of North America—toward the south, to about the sixtieth parallel of latitude, west of Hudson Bay, but east of the bay, to about the fifty-fifth parallel; while toward the north their range is almost unlimited. They are a very thinly scattered race, roving in small bands over great treeless wildernesses.

My first meeting with the Eskimos led me to think them a wild people. There were thirty-six of them, all women and children, piled into one of their “oomiacks,” or skin boats, and all were whooping and yelling at the top of their voices, while those not paddling were swinging their arms (and legs, too) in the wildest manner. They were natives of Prince of Wales Sound, Hudson Straits, coming out from shore to meet the steamship Alert, which to them was a fiery monster of mystery.