found a small party of peo-
ple, from Point Hope, who
were on their way up the
coast and were waiting here
for better weather. They
were living in conical lodges
covered with a patchwork
of sealskins sewed together.
~ The entrance to each lodge
was through a square hole
in one side, about two feet
from the ground, as shown
in the accompanying illus-
tration (figure itl).
At ('ape Lisbirrne was found another camp of Point Hope people on
their way noithward Two photographs of this camp were obtained,
from one of which plate Lxxxv was drawn. This camp had the usual
conical lodges, some of them being round-topped like those seeu at
Cape Espenberg.
Tbomp.-
''^'-"™' sr>[MF,i{ cAMi'.s— KriNs 263
Just north of Caite l.isburno ll,r..e or lour winter houses were seen
but It could not be deteriniii.-d whetlier tlicy were oe.upied '
Near Icy cape were several suuuner .an.ps of Point Harrow people
They were living in conical lo.ljjes, many of whi.h were ....vered with
canvas taken from wrecked whaling vess.-ls. In front of ea.^h camp
was erected a stout post from 12 to 20 fret hi-h. notched on the si.les
for convenience in climbing. Near the top was a crossbar, ns.-d as •,
seat or perch. The coast in this part of the district is very Hat anil
low, and these i)Osts are used as lookout poiids whence (he iK'oj.le are
able to see the '• blowing" of whales or the approach of ships. As we
passed by the shore each post was usually oc.iiiiied by a man who
waved his shirt to induce us to stop.
From here to I'oiTit Barrow were several similar summer camps of
from two to ten lodges each. At Point Harrow tlic winter houses were
of the ordinary half underground type with a long, tunnel like entrance
way; scarcity of driftwood had necessitated the use of whale ribs and
jawbones in framing these houses. At this jioint the storehouses for
meat were built very nearly in the style of the winter houses, except
that the only entrance was by a trajxloor in the roof, so that they
were really halfundergrounil cellars.
Near the winter houses were idatforms (i to S feet above the ground,
on which were stored spears, nets, and various hunting and household
parai)hernalia. At the titne of our visit in August tlic inhabitants
were living in conical lodges.
Ill IXS
Ruins of ancient Eskimo villages are (roTiimou on the lower Yukon and
thence along the coast line to I'oint Barrow. On the Siberian shore
they were seen from I'^ast cape along the Arctic coast to Cape \Vaid<a-
rem. Various circumstances prevented the recording of more than a
few superflcial notes in regard to them, which are here inserted for the
purpose of bringing them to the attention of future workers in that
region. On the shore of the bay on the southern side of St Michael
island I dug into an old village site where sauccr-siia])e i)its indicated
the places formerly occupied by houses. The village had been burned,
as was evident from the numerous fragments of charred timbers mixed
with tlie soil. In the few cubic feet of earth turned u|) at this place
were found a slate fisli knife, an ivory spearhead, a doll, and a toy dish,
the latter two cut from bark. Tiie men 1 had with me from the village
at St Michael became so alarmed by their su])crstitious feelings that
1 was obliged to give up the idea of getting further aid from them in
this place. I learned afterward tliat this village had been built by
people from Pastolik, at the mouth of the Yukon, avIio went there to
tish and to hunt seals before the Russians came to the country.
On the highest point of Whale island, wliich is a steep islet just off-
shore near the present villag(; of St 31ichacl, were the ruins of a
264 THE KSKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth. a.nn-. 18
kashim and of several houses. The St Michael people told me that this
place was destroyed, long before the Eussians came, by a war party from
below the Yukon mouth. The sea has encroached upon the islet until
a portion of the land formerly occupied by the village has been washed
away. The permanently frozen soil at this place stopped us at the
deptli of about two feet. Here, and at another ancient Unalit village
site which was examined superficially, we found specimens of bone and
ivory carvings which were very ancient, as many of them crumbled to
pieces on being exposed.
Along the lower Yukon are many indications of villages destroyed
by war ])arties. According to the old men these parties came from
Askinuk and Kushunuk, near the Kuskokwim, as there was almost
constant warfare between the people of these two sections before the
advent of the Eussians.
•Both the fur traders and the Eskimo claim that there are a large
number of house sites on the left bank of the Yukon, a few miles below
Ikogmut. This is the village that the Yukon Eskimo say had 35
kashims, and there are many tales rehiting to the period when it was
occupied. At the time of my Yukon trips this site was heavily cov-
ered with snow, and I could not see it; but it would undoubtedly well
repay thorough excavation during the summer months. One of the
traditions is that this village was built by people from Bristol bay,
joined by others from Xunivak island and Kushunuk. One informant
said that a portion of this village was occupied up to 1S48, when the
last inhabitants died of smallpox, but whether or not this is true I was
unable to learn.
Another informant told me that near the entrance of Goodnews bay,
near the mouth of the Kuskokwim, there is a circular pit about 75 feet
in diameter, marking the former site of a very large kashim. A few
miles south of Shaktolik, near the head of Norton sound, I learned of the
existence of a large village site. Both the Eskimo and the fur traders
who told me of this said that the houses had been those of Shaktolik
people, and that some of them must have been connected by under-
ground jiassageways, judging from the ditch like depressions from one
to the other along the surface of the ground. The Shaktolik men who
told me this said that there were many other old village sites about
there and that they were once inhabited by a race of very small people
who have all disappeared.
From the Malemut of Kotzebue sound and adjacent region I learned
that there are many old village sites in that district. Many of these
places were destroyed by war parties of Tinne from the interior, accord-
ing to the traditions of the present inhabitants.
On Elephant point, at the head of Kotzebue sound, 1 saw the site of
an old village, with about fifteen pits marking the locations of the
houses. The pits sloped toward the center and showed by their out-
lines that the houses had been small and roughly circular, with a short
NELSON]
lU'IN.S AT fAI'r; WANKAHKM
2(;5
pa^aseway leading int., tbe.n. the entiro s,™..,,,. l.avinsr W-.u ,,„,„.
Tl>e Eskimo ..f I^.st .a„e. Siberia, said that ,l,e,e Mm. ,na„v old
village sites alonj^ tl,,. ,.oast in tl.at vi.-inity. These l,o,.s,.s h„l \u2
foundations ,nany of which are still in phice. There is a hir.; ruined
vilhi-e ot this kind n.'ar the one still occupied on the c ii.e '
On the extreme point of Cape Wankareni, and at it^^^atest eleva-
tion, just above the i«iosent camp of the reindeer Chukchi •. series of
three sites of old Eskimo villa-es «ere fouiul. The accoinpanvin-
sketch map of the ca])e shows the relative sites of tliese villa 'res 'and
also indicates anotlier fai^t which may .uive a slight clew to tb"e age of
oue of them.
Fui. 112— Sites of .
ill iji s al ( ,i|.f \\ aukariiii, Sihtria.
Number 1 is the site of a village which at jiresent contains the ruins
of three houses; other houses have evidently been wasiied away by the
eucroaidimentof the sea. These three houses are of mound shape, with
a pit or de])ression in the middle, and a trench-like dejjression lead-
ing out from each of them toward the sea shows the ])osition of the
entrance jiassage. Numerous ribs and Jawbones of whales lie scattered
about, and the decaying end of a whale's Jawbone, projecting through
the top of one of the mounds, shows the material used in framing them.
Number 2 represents a series of live similar house sites, facing the
dotted area on the sketch map; and at number .'> is indicated still
another series of ten house sites like the iirecediiig, all un(iuestioiiably
of Eskimo origin.
Number i is the site of the pieseiit Chukchi camii. consisting of skin
lodges, as we found it at the time of our visit. No recent whale bones
266 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING 8TRAIT [eth.ann.18
were seen about tbe Oliukclii camp, but there were many vertebne and
otlier bones gathered from the ruins of the Eskimo houses. A man
was seen digging up a whale's Jawbone from one of the okl house sites,
and there were evidences tliat many others had been removed in the
same manner by the present inhabitants.
During repeated visits made to these ruins I was impressed by
several circumstances which may serve to shed light on their age, as
shown by the following observations:
A'illages 1 and 2 are on a high knoll which rises like an island from
the low, flat shore, the sides sloping down to the narrow, pebble-cov-
ered neck of land (at 7) which separates a lagoon on one side from the
oi)en sea on the other. aSTumber 4 is on higher ground than the neck at
number 7, and is made up of sand and gravel. Number 5 is the present
seashore or water line. Xumber is a well-marked ancient water line,
close to the edge of which was built the village marked 3. There is
a gravelly beach between the present and former water lines. Number
7 is a pebble-covered beach, probably two feet above extreme high water
line at jiresent.
It will be noticed that nund)er 13 fronts directly upon 7 and is located
exactly as an Eskimo village would be placed if 7 were an open chan-
nel. The western Eskimo have an almost invariable custom of build-
ing their villages facing the water and parallel with the shore line. I
think it may safely be stated that none of these people ever placed a
village site in the relation to the sea that the site of number 2 now bears,
and it conse(juently follows, almost as a demonstrated fact, that village
nuud)er 2 was built and occu])ied when 7 was an open waterway, sepa-
rating the high knoll of Ga])e Wankareni from the mainland and thus
forming it into an island.
I think number 2 marks the most ancient of the villages, for number
3 is so i)laced in regard to the ancient beach (G) that it could not have
been safely inhabited until the sea came to occupy nearly its present
water line. 1 should conclude that the land had been raised about
three feet from its ancient level at the time the water line stood at 6,
when village number 3 was occujiied. The gradual upraising of the
coast nmst have made village number 2 untenable and caused the
peojile to change to number 3, that and number 1 jirobably being the
last villages occupied by the Eskimo, who had disappeared from this
part of the coast before the historical period.
Tlie severity of the Arctic climate on this bleak coast renders it very
difficult, if not impossible, to make an estimateof any value (basing cal-
culations upon the decay of perishable articles) as to the length of time
that has elapsed since an ancient site was occupied. If data were at
hand to estinuite the rate of the rise of the laud on the northwestern
Alaska and Siberian coasts, we would have a key to the approxinmte
age of villages 2 and 3 at Cape AN'ankarem, and i)robably to the age of
numerous other settlements along tbe same shore.
'"='-*""'l -MEAT AM) KISH C1-KIN(; 2(;7
FOOD
Boiit- a race of Imntors ainl lisI,(.n.H-n ll„.|oo,l s„p,,lv ..f tl,.' Eskimo
IS essentially composed of oa,,,,. ami lisli. ^^â– Uuâ– h air' pn-pir,.,! in i
variety of ways. JJ„t little attention is paid to rleanliness in ti,e
preparation of food amon- these people. The llesh of reindeer nionn
tain sheep, bears, seals, walrns and other larjre -ame are n.mnioniv
boiled in sea water to nive it a salty llavor.
Jleat is freuuently kept for a considerable len-tli of time and .some-
times until it beeomes semijjntrid. At Point Harrow, in the middle of
Angn.st, I8S1. the people still had the eareasses of deer wiii.h had been
killed the preceding winter and spring. Tiiis meat was kept in small
underground pits, whi.di the frozen snbsoil rendered cold, bnl not etihl
enough to prevent a bluish fnngiis growth which eomi)lelely covered
the earcas.ses of the animals and the walls of the storero s.
Meat killed in summer is often tlried. as are also the various kinds of
salmon, which are split down to the base of the tail and hung on wooden
frames until dry. TIk- smaller species of salmon, known as dog salmon,
ai-e tied iu buuches of twenty when dry and i)laeed in stnrehouses for
future use.
The large tlakes of dried king salmon are usually packed away in
bales or bundle.s. Toineod, scnlpin, and whitelish also are dried, the
smaller species, such as tomcod and .senli)in, being hung upon strings.
The roe of herring is gathered on the seaweed during spawning time
and some of this is dried and preserved for winter u.se, when it is boiled
aiul eaten with great relish.
On the lower Kuskokwim and thence ti> the Yukon the people try
out the oil from a species of whitelish found there and sttu-e in bags
for winter use the clear white fat thus obtained.
Fish are boiled and .sometimes are roasted over an open tire as is
freijuently done with meat, but boiling is the usual method of prepar-
ing both tish and meat. Fish taken in winter are nsindly placed in
gras.s bags and kept frozen until re(]uired, when they are eaten raw,
while still frozen, or are boiled. Crabs, mussels, ami ascidiansare boiled.
In the district between the Yukon and the Kuskokwim, the heads of
king salmon, taken iu summer, are placed in small i)its in the ground
surrounded by strawand covered with tnrf. They are kej)! there during
summer and iu the aiitninn have decayed until even the bimes have
become of the same consistency as the general mas.s. They are then
taken out and kiu'aded in a wooden tray until they form a pasty com-
lioniid and are eaten as a favorite dish by some of the i)eo|)le. The
odcir of this mess is almost unendurable to one not accustomed to it,
and is even too strong for the stomachs of many of the Kskiino.
The back fat of the reindeer is cut into small pieces and chewed by
the women until it becomes a i)asty mass, which is ]int into a wooden
dish. When enough of this has been prepareii, a ipiantity of snow and
2G8 THE ESKIMO AHOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.ann. 18
some salmon or cranberries are mixed witli it and tbe tvIio e is kneaded
nntil it becomes a liotnofjeneons mass. This componnd is regarded as
tie greatest delicacy that can be served to gnests and at feasts.
Tlie blubber of seals, walrus, or whales is stored and often eaten in
its natural form; or the oil may be tried out and stored in bags and
used for food as well as for burning in lamps. When used as food it
is phu'cd in a small wooden tray or dish and the people dip their dried
iish or other meat into it. The oil is never drunk by them except when
desiring to take it as a purgative; at such times a large draft of seal
oil is usually effective.
The oil obtained from whitefish is regarded as a great delicacy when
eaten with dried salmon. Walrus flippers and the skin of the white
whale are also among the choice bits of the Eskimo larder. The blood
of seals or other large game is made into a stew called kai-n'-shul: The
soup of bt)iled meat is called mi-chu'-d and is greatly relished.
On tlie mainland it is customary for the women to go out every spring
and search the marshes for the eggs of wild fowl which breed there.
U](on the islands waterfowl are caught and their eggs taken from the
clilfs facing the sea, and many geese and ducks are speared or netted
while molting at the end of the breeding season.
In autumn the women gather a large supply of blaeberries, heath
berries, salmon berries, and cranberries, which they store for winter
use. At this season is also gathered a kind of wild sorrel, which is
boiled and crushed with a pestle and then put into a wooden tub or
barrel and covered with water, where it is left to ferment in the sun.
This makes a very pleasant acid relish, which is added to various dishes
in the winter and is called hn-pa'-tuli. Young willow leaves are also
boiled and eaten.
The women also gather the bulbous roots of a species of grass, which
are either boiled or eaten raw ; they have a sweetish, nutty flavor. They
also search for the little stores of these roots which have been gathered
by field mice. They feel around among the grass-covered knolls with
a long-handle staff until a soft spot is found, showing the location of
the hidden store, which they quickly transfer to their baskets.
All the Eskimo are forced by the harsh nature of their climatic sur-
roundings to provide a supply of food for winter, but they are careless
and improvident in many ways. They frequently consume nearly all of
their stores during midwinter festivals and live in semi-starvation
throughout the early spring.
The seal nets set out in the foil are of the utmost importance to the
natives, as they depend upon the catch ot seals at this time for food
and for a sui)]>ly of oil tor their lamps and other purposes, as well as
the skins for buying necessary articles from the traders.
Just before the netting season, one of my paddle men, an unusually
industrious hunter, found that there was some whisky in a village
where we stopped. Before I knew it he had traded off his OTily seal
net for enough whisky to make himself intoxicated, in which condition
>-Ei-soNl FAMiXK OX ST LAWKKMK ISLAM) 26'J
Le iuiniediiitely pnu-ccded to i.hico liiinsclf. Tl.e n-sult was that lie ami
his laiiuly were very short oC food dmiiii;- tiic tbllowiii.;- winter.
The terribU" fan. ine and aco.iupaiiyi]]- diseasi> which caused thi'death
of over a thousand peopU^ on Sr l.awn-nee island dnriu,;,- the wniter of
1879 and ISSO was said to have been caused by the use of wliisky.
The i)eople of that ishmd usually obtained their supply of foo.l for the
winter by killuiji walrus from the threat herds of these animals that mt
through Bering strait on the first ice In the fall. The walrus remain
about the island only a few days and then go south, when the ice clo.ses
about and shuts the island in till spring.
Just before the time for the walrus to reach the island that season,
the Eskimo obtained a supi)ly of whisky from some vessels and began
a prolonged debauch, which ended only when the supiily was exhausted.
When this occurred the annual migration of the walrus had passed,
and the people were shut in for the winter by the ice. The result was
that over two-thirds of the population died before spring. The follow-
ing si)ring, when the Conrin visited the islamls, some of the survivors
came ou board bringitig a few articles for trade. They wished only to
liurchase ritle cartridges and more whisky.
During July, 1881, the Conrin made a visit to this famine stricken
district, where the miserable survivors were seen. Only a single dog
was left among them, the others having been eaten by the starving
people. Two of the largest villages were entirely depopulated.
In July I lauded at a phu^e on the northern shore where two houses
were standing, in which, wrapped in their fur blankets on the sleei)ing
platforms, lay about -'t dead bodies of adults, and ui)on the ground
and outside were a lew others. Some miles to the eastward, along the
coast, was another village, where tlicre were L'OO dead people. In a
large house were found about !."» bodies placed one upon another like
cordwood at one end of the room, while as many others lay dead in
their blankets on the platforms.
In the houses all the wooden and clay food vessels were found turned
bottom upward and put away m one corner— mute evidences of the
famine. Scattered about the houses on the outside were various tools
and imi)lements, clay pots, wooden dishes, trays, guns, knives, axes,^
amuinuition, and empty bottles; among these articles were the skulls of
walrus and of many dogs. The bodies of the people were found every-
where in the village as well as scattered along in a line toward the
graveyard for half a mile inhiud.
The first to die liad been taken farthest away, and usually placed
at full length beside the sled that had carried the bodies. .Scattered
about such bodies lay the tools and implements belonging to the dead.
In one instance a body lay outstretched upon a sled, while behind it,
proue upon his face, with arms outstretched and almost t<.uchiiig the
sled runners, lay the body of a man who had died while pushing the
sled bearing the body of his friend or relative.
Others were found lying m the underground passageways to the
270 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.ann. 18
houses, and oue body was found halfway out of the entrance. Most of
the bodies lying about the villages had evidently been dragged there
and left wherever it was most eonvenieut by the living during the later
period ol' tlie famine. The total absence of the bodies of (ihildreu in
those villages gave rise to the suspicion that they had been eaten by the
adults; but possibly this may not have been the case. The strongest
evidence in this regard, however, was in one village where there were
over two hundred dead adults, and although 1 looked carefully for the
bodies of children, none could be found; yet there was no positive evi-
dence that cannibalism had been practiced by the natives. That this
custom sometimes prevailed, however, in ancient times, during famines,
I learned from the Unalit; nevertheless they openly expressed their
abhorrence of the practice.
On the bluff at the northwest ])oint of this island we found a couple
of surviving families living in round top, walrus-hide summer houses.
At the foot of the bill not far from their present camping jilace was a
winter village, where about 100 i)eople lay dead; the bodies were scat-
tered about outside or were lying in their blankets in the houses, as we
had seen them in other places.
The two families living there consisted of about a dozen people; the
adults seemed very much depressed and had little animation. Among
them were two bright little girls, who had the usual childish careless-
ness, and kept near us while we were on shore. When 1 shot a snow
bunting near the village they called to me and ran to show me its nest
on the hillside.
When I asked one of the inhabitants what had become of the people
who formerly lived on that jtart of the island, he waved his hand toward
the winter village, saying, "All viucky hkr'A//," being the Jargon term
for "dead."'
I tried to obtain a photograph of the women and little girls, and for
that purpose placed them in position and focused the camera. While
I was waiting tor a lull in the wind to take the picture, the husband of
one of the women came up and asked in a listless, inatter-of fact tone,
"All )iiitckij now?" meaning, "Will they all die now!" He evidently
took it for granted that my camera was a conjuring box, which would
complete tlie work of the famine, yet he seemed perfectly indifterent to
the consequences.
A curious trait noticed among these survivors was their apparent
loss of the customary fear which the natives usually show when near a
spot where many persons have died. The death of all their friends
and relatives seemed to have rendered them apathetic and beyond the
influence of ordinary fear of that kind. The two families mentioned
were cami)ed on the hill just above the village full of dead bodies, and
whenever they went down to the shore to launch their umiak they were
forced to pass close to the dead, yet they seemed oblivious to their
gruesome surroundings.
IREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOL'
'jy^ |g[ isijii
TOBACCO AND SNUFF BOXES AND SNUFF-MAKING IMPLEMENTS uml-fh
MODK OK Pin:r-Aiii\(: tobacco
TOlS.VfCO AM) S>[(»KIX(;
METHODS OK CSIM; TnltACCO
Tol.ac..., was first intn>,ln,.i.,i ainong tl,. Alaskan l^skinio iVo.n Asia
by way ..I l.tMiii- strait, by tlidr Siij,.riai. i.ei-l,l„„s, an.l ],v the s.„„e
route came the pipes wit), .'ylindiical h„wis utul wi.je rinis,' similar to
those used in <'astcrii Asia.
Tobacco is nse.l in ditlcreiit l„rins l,y hot), sexes; tl,c vv„in..|. us„.,1Iv
chew It or take it in the form of snuli; hnt rarely smoke if the meii
use It m all these ways. The tobacco now used bv these people is
obtained from the traders, and is usually in the tbriii of the natural leaf,