Читать книгу Native Americans: 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies - Льюис Спенс, James Mooney - Страница 279

Table of Contents

In order to describe the mode of life of the Aivillirmiut I shall give an abstract of Dr. John Rae’s observations in 1846-’47 and 1854-’55, of C. F. Hall’s life with these natives from 1864 to 1869, and of Lieut. F. Schwatka’s residence among them from 1877 to 1879. A pretty correct idea of the migrations and favorite resorts of this tribe at the different seasons may be obtained from the journals of these travelers.

When Rae arrived in Repulse Bay in the latter part of July, 1846, he met with twenty-six natives who were deer hunting among the numerous lakes of Rae Isthmus (I, pp. 35, 40, 48). Another part of the tribe had resorted to Akugdlit, where they hunted the musk ox near Point Hargrave (I, p. 49). Committee Bay (Akugdlit) was filled with a heavy pack about that time, and the natives hunted walrus in their kayaks (I, p. 58). Wherever they killed a deer or musk ox they made deposits of the meat and carefully put up the walrus blubber in sealskin bags for use during the winter. When, about the end of September, the deer were migrating southward and new ice was forming on the lakes, the natives settled in the center of that part of the country which had been their hunting ground during the summer, in order to be near their depots. For this reason they were well scattered all over the country, some establishing their tents on the lakes of the isthmus, others staying on the shore of Repulse Bay, where large deposits of deer meat and blubber had been made. During the winter most of the natives gathered in one settlement east of Fort Hope (near Aivillik), whence they started to bring in their deposits. About the 20th of February they scattered all over the bay (I, p. 91), but it is doubtful whether they did this in order to be nearer their depots or to go sealing. In March the first deer of the season were seen. (I, p. 93), but it was not until April that larger herds passed Repulse Bay on their migration northward (I, p. 99). At this time a small supply of trout was procured from Christie Lake, but it was not sufficient for the support of the natives (I, p. 99). Caches of venison were made and frequently visited until late in June (p. 166). The sealing had begun in the beginning of May (p. 135), when the first animals were seen basking on the ice. But the Eskimo were now almost independent of their old food supply. When the salmon left the lakes and the deer were roaming among the hills the time of plenty was at hand. The salmon creeks were visited, deer were caught, and seals pursued on the ice (p. 170). Although the first deer were caught in traps in May, the principal season for deer hunting opened after the breaking up of the ice, when they were easily taken while crossing the lakes.

When Rae wintered the second time in Repulse Bay (1854-’55) he was much surprised to find no natives there. They had wintered farther south, and did not come to the bay until May, 1855, when they could catch seals on the land ice. In 1864, when Hall arrived at Wager River, Repulse Bay was again deserted. This year of Hall’s stay in Hudson Bay is very instructive, as we learn from his account the particulars of the migration of the Aivillirmiut from Nuvung to Repulse Bay. The following facts are taken from his journal:

In June, 1865, a traveling party arrived in Repulse Bay (Hall II, p. 177), where numerous deer were met with. Their tents were erected on Uglariaq, whence seals were pursued, and they began at once to make blubber deposits (p. 179). They were very eager to store as much provision as possible, as there was no chance of obtaining a fresh stock at Repulse Bay during the winter. Some of the party brought their boats to the floe edge in order to follow the seal and walrus, which were swimming in the water or lying on the drifting ice in great numbers, while others preferred sledging on the land floe and shooting the basking seals (p. 181). After the breaking up of the ice, whales were seen, and kayaks and boats were made ready for their pursuit. In September most of the natives returned to North Pole Lake to hunt deer at the lower narrows (p. 202), where the meat was deposited for winter use (p. 204).

On the 19th of October the last deer was killed (p. 205), and most of the natives returned to the bay. They located at Naujan, the men in the party numbering 43 (p. 216). During the winter no kind of hunt was kept up, only a few salmon and trout being caught in the lakes (p. 210). Towards the latter part of March the settlement was broken up and its members scattered for the purpose of hunting and fishing (p. 227). Salmon were caught in North Pole Lake and deer shot in the narrow passes (p. 227). The sealing did not begin until the first of April (p. 239). In the summer, deer, seal, walrus, and salmon were caught in great abundance. In the following years the mode of life was about the same, but it maybe remarked that in August the natives lived at Pitiktaujang and afterwards went to Lyon Inlet (Maluksilaq) to hunt deer (p. 323). Part of them returned to Repulse Bay, where walrus were caught on the drifting ice during September. In the ensuing winter (1867-’68) 55 natives had gathered in a village about twenty miles east of Fort Hope (p. 333), where they lived on the stores deposited during the preceding summer. After the breaking up of the ice they succeeded in killing several whales, which afforded an ample supply of meat and blubber (p. 363). Subsequently, they hunted deer west of Repulse Bay (p. 364) and near Lyon Inlet, where probably the greater part of the families had staid since the previous year.

In November, Hall found near the head of this inlet a number of natives who came to Repulse Bay towards the end of the year, having heard that a whale had been taken there. By this addition the village of Repulse Bay suddenly increased in population to 120 inhabitants (p. 369). This was the only winter in which the natives, began sealing in January (p. 371). In March they built their huts upon the ice and scattered early in the spring for sealing and catching salmon.

From these reports and some more general accounts of these travelers, an idea can be formed of the mode of life of this part of the Aivillirmiut during the different seasons. In the spring, when the seals commence to bask upon the ice, the tents are established on the floe of Repulse Bay, the large winter settlements being broken up into a number of smaller ones. During this season they begin to store away blubber, which is carefully put into sealskin bags. Besides, reindeer are killed in the deer passes. In July a great number of the natives leave the ice and resort to the salmon rivers, where an abundant supply of food is secured, but the sealing is also continued until the breaking up of the ice. At this time of the year (i.e., in August), walrus and seal are taken in large numbers, and thus an ample stock of provisions for winter use is collected. In some seasons a few whales are caught and stored away at once. In September, most of the natives move to the lakes or rivers, particularly North Pole Lake, to hunt deer as well as the musk ox on the hills. Other favorite localities for deer hunting are west of Repulse Bay or near Lyon Inlet. Large deposits of venison are made, and when the deer go south the natives settle in the center of their summer’s hunting ground, building their snow houses on the lakes in order to have a supply of water near at hand. About January most of them gather in one settlement, which is established at Uglariaq, Naujan, or Inugsulik. Those who come from Lyon Inlet do not always join the Repulse Bay tribe, but may be identical with Parry’s Winter Island Eskimo, who move to the bay south of Lyon Inlet in winter. They go sealing in winter only in case of need, for the hunt seems to be unproductive, and they subsist on the stores deposited during the preceding summer. Towards the latter half of March the settlements are broken up and some of the natives go to the lakes to fish for trout and salmon, while others begin the sealing.

Another winter station of the Aivillirmiut is Akugdlit, which, however, has never been as important as Aivillik itself. Rae found some families here in August, 1846. They hunted the musk ox on the western shore of the bay, and later in the season, upon the pack ice which filled the sea, they hunted the walrus (Rae I, p. 58). They reported that the bay was very unfavorable for any kind of chase, as it is usually filled with closely packed ice, which prevents the visits of animals and endangers the boats of the natives (p. 49). In July the salmon creeks of Akugdlit (Committee Bay) were visited by these families, who extended their hunting ground from Colville Bay to the most northern parts of Melville Peninsula (p. 145). According to Hall a number of families live here at times. They were in the habit of staying at Repulse Bay during the early part of the summer and went to Akugdlit in the autumn to hunt the musk ox and deer. In the winter they transferred their deposits of blubber from Aivillik across the lakes to their settlement. Probably these families returned to Repulse Bay about the first of March, at which time their deposits were always exhausted (Hall II, p. 383). In some seasons the natives journey much farther south, that is, to the country between Cape Fullerton and Wager River. Klutschak’s report upon this subject, which is extracted from his observations during Schwatka’s search for the Franklin records, will be found tolerably correct (Deutsche Rundschau für Geographie und Statistik, III, 1881, p. 422). The report contains the following statement:

In the spring of every year these Eskimo live on the land floe of Hudson Bay, at some distance from the point where the tides and winds carry the pack ice past the shore. Here is the favorite feeding place of the walrus, and the Eskimo confine themselves to the pursuit of this animal. They settle near one of the numerous islands situated near the shore.

Later in the season they live in tents, and the hunting of seals and walrus is continued as long as the presence of ice permits. The greater part of the Aivillirmiut live near Depot Island (Pikiulaq). Here, on Cape Fullerton, and near the northern entrance of Chesterfield Inlet, the natives deposit their stores for winter use. As soon as the ice is gone they resort to the mainland, where deer, which descend to the shore at this season, are hunted. When the snow begins to cover the country they move inland, where they continue the deer hunt. In October they settle near a deer pass or a lake which is crossed by the herds migrating southward. In December all the deer have left the country and the natives live upon the stores deposited in the fall. Towards the beginning of the new year part of them return to the sea and live upon the deposits of walrus meat or disperse over the land floe, where seals are killed in their breathing holes. Another part take to the hills near Chesterfield Inlet and Wager River, a favorite feeding ground for the musk ox. They only return to the bay in March or April, to hunt seals until the breaking up of the ice. If the supplies of walrus meat are very abundant the Eskimo gather in one large settlement.

It appears from Klutschak’s own journal that this report is not quite complete, and I shall therefore add those of his own observations which seem to be important:

The natives who had hunted deer in the fall returned in December to Depot Island, where ten inhabitants lived at that time. They hunted walrus at the edge of the floe during the whole winter, but did not exclusively use their old stores (Klutschak, p. 32). In summer whales were hunted by means of kayaks, the blubber and meat being immediately stored for future use (p. 269). It is interesting to learn that a single family spent a whole year in the interior of the country, about two or three days’ journey west of Depot Island, living on the flesh of the musk ox most of the time (p. 196). He does not say what kind of fuel they used.

In Klutschak’s chart of Hudson Bay, which is published with his essay, a winter settlement is marked on Wager River, where the natives probably lived on seals caught in the breathing holes.

The mode of life of this tribe, as observed by Hall during his stay among them in 1864, differs in some material points from Klutschak’s account. It is particularly important that Hall found them at Wager River.

About forty Eskimo are said to have lived in Nuvung during that year, while others were at Depot Island. Large depots of deer meat were scattered over the country around the settlement (Hall II, p. 76) and were brought in by the natives one by one. In the middle of November, after having finished the work of currying their deerskins, they commenced the walrus hunt, but meantime they frequently fed on deer meat from their depots (Hall II, pp. 102, 128, 132, 133). Towards the end of February they commenced to disperse, at first moving southward in order to be nearer the floe edge (p. 144). In the beginning of March an advance party of natives moved to Wager River, where they intended to catch salmon through the ice and to visit depots in that part of the country (p. 149). In April all the former inhabitants of Nuvung had settled on the ice of Wager River, where salmon in moderate numbers were caught (p. 164), but the main subsistence was the seals, which were at first watched for at the breathing holes, while later on they were killed when basking on the ice.

As a summary of the foregoing statements, we may say that the five principal settlements of the Aivillirmiut are Pikiulaq (Depot Island), Nuvung and Ukusiksalik (Wager River), Aivillik (Repulse Bay), Akugdlit (Committee Bay), and Maluksilaq (Lyon Inlet). They may be divided into two groups, the former comprising the southern settlements, the latter the northern ones. Every one of these settlements has certain well known sites, which are frequented at the proper seasons.

It yet remains to describe the roads which are used in the intercourse between these settlements. From Pikiulaq to Nuvung the natives travel by means of sledges. In the winter of 1864-’65 two journeys were made, the first in December, the latter in January. Besides, boats are used in traveling along the shore in summer. Sledge journeys from Nuvung to Ukusiksalik cannot be accomplished on the ice, as in the entrance of the bay large water holes are formed. The sledges follow a chain of long, narrow lakes beginning near Nuvung and running almost parallel with the coast through a deep gorge. The bay is but a short distance beyond this gorge. I am not acquainted with the sledge road from Nuvung to Aivillik. Rae was visited at Fort Hope by a number of Eskimo, who came by sledges from Nuvung in June (I, p. 169). Hall traveled with the natives in boats, passing the narrows and following the edge of the land ice, while the rest of the families sledged on the shore or on the land ice (II, p. 177). The principal road across Rae Isthmus leads over North Pole Lake and is described by Rae and Hall. The latter accompanied the natives on two sledge roads, the one leading from Sagdlua, in Haviland Bay, to Qariaq, in Lyon Inlet, the other crossing the land farther south. I am not sure whether a road leading from Nebarvik to Committee Bay connects Maluksilaq with Akugdlit. It is doubtful whether the coast between Aivillik and Gore Bay is visited by the natives.

It is remarkable that the Aivillirmiut very rarely go to Southampton Island, though they are sometimes carried across Frozen Strait or Rowe’s Welcome by drifting ice. Scarcely ever of their own accord do they visit the island, which they call Sagdlirn. They know that it is inhabited, but have very little intercourse with its people.