People of the Ice and Snow : Eskimo, Aleut, Aleuts, Inupiat, Yupik, Yup’ik, Inuit 0809495627, 9780809495627

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PEOPLE Of THE ICE AND

£g i

SNOW

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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PEOPLE or

THE ICE AND SNOW

TIME

am BOOKS

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This volume ry

is one of a series that chronicles the histoand culture of the Native Americans. Other books in

the series include:

THE FIRST AMERICANS THE SPIRIT WORLD THE EUROPEAN CHALLENGE PEOPLE OF THE DESERT THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR THE BUFFALO HUNTERS REALM OF THE IROQUOIS

THE MIGHTY CHIEFTAINS KEEPERS OF THE TOTEM CYCLES OF LIFE WAR FOR THE PLAINS TRIBES OF THE SOUTHERN WOODLANDS THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA

The Cover; Clad in a sealskin parka and armed with a rifle, an Eskimo from the town of Resolute on Cornwallis Island in the Northwest Territories prepares to set out for the hunt. Until recent times, the Eskimos had to rely on their skills as hunters and fishermen for survival in the cruel environment at the top of the world.

THE AMERICAN INDIANS

b

PEOPLE or

THE ICE AND SNOW

by

THE EDITORS of

TIME-LIFE

BOOKS

(;

;>

BAFFINLAND ESKIMO -FROBISHER

FOXE

my

LABRADOR COAST

\

BASIN

KING %U. JAM ISLAM) I

ESKIMO K /•'/*/ LSEBA\

-

NEWFOUNDLAND

NETSILIK

ESKIMO

x

]#>

VICTORIA STRAIT

SALLIRMIUT

INUIT

OF QUEBEC

v.^ CHESTERFIELD

CARIBOU ESKIMO

«

INLET

lll'DSON

D

BAY

only a bleak, barren desert of cold, the Eskimos

They knew where to

saw a

rich hunting ground.

to find animals in trackless landscapes.

gauge wind direction and velocity with a simple

staff

They knew how

draped with bun-

dled shavings. They studied the sea ice ceaselessly, learning to interpret

warning signs that enabled them drift

away. They learned

how

to judge

when

a floe might fracture

to navigate in the thickest fog

and

and darkest

night by the feel of the ocean currents beneath their skin-covered boats.

And

they applied these lifesaving lessons with special qualities of tem-

perament—courage,

tenacity, self-discipline,

essential to survival as

and humor— that were just as

know-how.

Like other original Americans, the Eskimos

and Aleuts can

trace their

PEOPLE OF THE ICE AMD SHOW 26

ancestry to ancient migrations from Asia. The

through what

is

now Alaska at least

1

first

wave

1,000 years ago.

of people passed

They crossed

at the

Bering Strait via a land bridge from Siberia created by widespread glaciation that locked

up moisture from the oceans during the

last Ice

Age. Most

of the people that Christopher Columbus subsequently dubbed Indians

were descended from

this first

Aleuts, however, probably first

migrants— most

likely

had been submerged by

made

the journey

some

6,000 years after the

by boat because by that time the land bridge

rising seas as the

kimos and Aleuts are thus cans; genetically, they

exodus. The progenitors of Eskimos and

massive

ice sheets melted. Es-

biologically distinct from other Native

more

closely resemble Asians.

Ameri-

THE HUNTING WAY OF LITE 27

These peoples

settled along the coasts of

nearby islands, eventually diversifying

in

mainland Alaska and the

language and culture. By

at least

5,000 years ago, one group occupied the Aleutian Islands off the south-

west

tip

of the Alaska Peninsula. Relatively isolated there in friendlier tem-

peratures, the Aleuts started evolving their

but similar in

many

own

culture— separate from

respects to the Eskimo variety. Then, perhaps 3,000

years ago, Aleut diverged from the

common ancestral tongue and became

same time, hunters of seal and caribou— foreEskimos— migrated from Alaska across Canada and

a separate language. At the

runners of today's

Greenland, to sites less than 500 miles from the North Pole. The Eskimo language, having separated from Aleut, in turn branched into two tongues, Inupiaq and Yupik. The ly

understandable

all

coast of Greenland.

in

when tive

the North Slope of Alaska to the east

for the

language

situated in northwestern

when referring to themselves.

Inupi-

Greenland prefer to be called Greenlanders. But most

use that language suffix -miut,

way from

the

A group of Inupiaq speakers

Alaska use the word

aq speakers

numerous dialects of Inupiaq are mutual-

call

themselves

meaning "people

referring to a specific

peoples living

in

of,"

Inuit,

meaning

to the

name

"persons."

who

They add the

of a geographical location

community (such as Tigara—Tigaramiut). Na-

southwestern Alaska, south of Norton Sound, speak

dialects of Yupik, a language that relates to Inupiaq

word "Eskimo"

to English. Ironically, the

exists in

much as German does neither tongue. It may

have derived from a term used by Algonquian-speaking Indians of eastern

Canada

to

mean "eater of raw meat," or it may have come from another In-

dian word meaning "snowshoe netter."

As the Inupiaq speakers dispersed from the Bering land, a

new and

distinct culture

evolved about

AD

Strait to

Green-

1000. Migrants appar-

new ways, which would later be known culture— named after an arctic research station

ently helped carry eastward these Pinned up

to dry, in-

flated walrus stom-

achs hangfrom a on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. These stomach skins were used in the creation of musical drums. line

to science as the Thule

and trading post

in

northwest Greenland established

in

1910 by the part-

Eskimo, part-Danish ethnographer Knud Rasmussen. From Thule, Ras-

mussen launched the Thule expeditions, a series of studies conducted between 1912 and 1935 that have contributed much to an understanding of the history of the Inuit. The Thule culture was marked by such key developments as the skin-covered umiaks and kayaks, dog-drawn sleds, and toggle-headed harpoons, which were established across the top of the

New World by the The impetus whale.

A

climatic

13th century. for this

eastward thrust

warming nibbled

may have been

at the polar

pack

ice,

the

bowhead

allowing whales

28

lankctcd with snow. coat offur, the dogs I car round -although during the >orst weather, they arc permitted to shclu i the entrance tunnel of the home. J

»lc

idr

In the Far North,

dogs

r*f\MT}l\ lVIf^ IV C

more than 4,000

years Several -

vA/1 ll/li llUl lO

\

people have traine.

to pull sleds for

legends link

according to one

story,

Inuit creatioi

man and dog;

humans de-

scended from a creature that was part woman and part dog. These remarkab animals, in

fact,

trace their ancestry di-

and in the past, ownrenewed the bloodline by staking k male dogs on the tundra to crossbreed with their wild cousins. Over time, specific types of sled dog evolved, all bred for strength and endurance. During the 19th century, these legendary dogs came to be known as "huskies"— an English slang word originally applied tc the Eskimos themselves. Sled dogs are the progenitors of sucl popular modern breeds as the Siberian Husky, Samoyed, and Alaskan malarectly to the wolf,

ers

mute. Across the Arctic, however, the people always considered them work ing partners, not pets. Sled dogs are

a

medium

given as wedding

gifts.

Above

all,

dogs have enabled the Eskimos vail in the

ment. Inuit

The

An

it

Inuit

sled

to pre

world's harshest environ arctic explorer

once askec

how far was to a distant

long way.

still

of exchange, and often

ri(

answered: "No good do

Good

dogs,

cl


a

w

who took charge of the catch after her husband

pyi^

Membership was

,#•

relative.

As a

result,

i^v

d

*W

quite flex-

people

tf-

j

related

person could join any band in

for a

which he or she had a

fre-

A

^

m 3

^i 1 1

m*jfi l|V^\ 5^

more than one band during the course of a lifetime. Although each band claimed huntquently traveled with

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Graceful curvilinear

markings— which

may symbolize spirit helpers— embellish this 1,000-year-old spearpoint from the Bering Sea region.

o

Used by a hunter to gain speed and distance as he hurled his spear, this wooden throwing stick is ornamented with small ivory seals in honor of this important game animal.

^»

Images of the legendary Thunderbird are used to decorate this

bear-shaped ar-

row straightener, which worked as a lever to align bent

wooden

shafts.

Affixed to the prow of a kayak as a cradle for a hunter's weapon, this har-

poon

rest

branches

into twin polar bear heads. Engravings

of Th underbirds clutching whales in their talons also decorate the tool,

perhaps to imbue the harpoon with the power of the great winged hunter.

•

TOOLS FOR WOMEN'S WORK

*j*

as-

*>

&

-Sfc"

*W

Two ivory thread spools reflect the imagination of individual craftsmen: The top spool is carved in the likeness of a seal; the bottom features a legendary mermaid creature, with the head and arms of a woman joined to the flippers of a walrus.

Topped by a bear's head, this sinuous ivory rod is a boot sole creaser—a com-

mon household implement employed to maintain the shape of the heels and toes of boots.

Used to crush lice removed during routine

grooming,

this

utilitarian device is

whimsically shaped as a four-toed foot.

~^

Slim and elongated, an ivory polar bear forms the handle of this utility knife.

Knives such as these

were usedfor skinning and cutting up fish

and game.

Flanked by seals, a frowning woman

and a smiling mansymbols of balance

and harmony when depicted together— decorate opposite

bagfasThe device is

sides of a tener.

used to secure the small skin bag, known as a "housewife," in

which Eski-

mo women store their tools.

CREAT

R THE OUTSIDE MARKET

-

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• •

•••••

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Embellished with

many real and fanciful creatures, this exquisitely crafted

cribbage boardused for scorekeeping in a popular card game— retains the curve of the walrus tusk from

M The mottled core of the walrus tusk is evident in this pair

which it was carved.

m '•'•

of salt and pepper shakers shaped like bears. Shakers that were modeled after animals became popular souvenirs during the 1930s.

.*,