Esk

(Celtic for water), the name of two small rivers in England, one in Cumber land and one in Yorkshire; and of several in Scotland, the chief being the Esk in Dumfrie hire: the North Esk and South Esk in For far shire; and the North Esk and South Esk in Edinburgh shire, Eskimo, the name of the inhabitants of the N. coast of the American continent down to lat. 60° N. and 55° on the E., and of the Arctic Islands, Green land, and about. 400 miles of the nearest Asiatic coast. Their tracks have been met with as far as Arctic discoverers have hitherto advanced toward the pole. ‘They prefer the vicinity of the seashore, from which they rarely withdraw more than 20, and hardly ever 80 miles. Their number scarcely amounts to 40,000. Neverthele they are scattered as the sole native occupants of regions étretcbing from E. to W. as far as 3,200 miles in a straight line, to travel vetween the extreme points of which would nece itate a journey of no le than 5,000 miles, ‘This distance, tas ken in connection with their homoyeneous nature and manners, makes their small bands the most thinly scattered people of the globe. Their extraordinary persistency in maintaining their language and habits must be due to the difficulties they have had to face in procuring subsistence where no other nation can live. They used to be cla ed among nae tions of the Mongolian stock; but now Gi, X a rel 4 ay rats, Lop at Yh a ayy ESKIMO MAN, they are. considered as akin to the American Indians. Their height neare ly equals the average of the N. W. Indians, They appear comparatively taller sitting than standing. Their hands and feet are small, their faces oval, but rather broad in the lower part; their skin is — slightly brown; they have coarse black hair and very little beard. Their skull is high. The Eskimos get their subsistence mostly from hunting by sea, using for this purpose skin boats where the sea is open, and dog sledges on the ice. from the skin, blubber, and flesh of the seal and the cetaceous | they procure clothes, fuel, light, an food. Their most interesting as well as important invention for hunting is the well-known small skin boat for one man, called a kayak. It is formed of a frame-work covered with skin, und, together with his waterproof jacket, it completely protects the man against the waves, so that he is able to rise unhurt by means of his. paddle, even should he capsize. A Green lander’s kayak is almost 18 feet long and 2 feet broad, and can carry 200 pounds besides the man. ‘The special weapon of the kayak is the large harpoon, connected by a line with an inflated bladder. The hunter throws it when but 25 feet from the seal, and at once drops the bladder overboard, thus retarding the speed of the wounded animal, which runs off with it till finally killed by a lance-thrust. In winter the Hskimos are undoubtedly stationary. But during the summer, when sufficient open water is found, they roam about in their large skin boats, the umiaks. Their winter dwellings vary with regard to the materials of which they are built, as well as in their form. In the farthest W. they are constructed mostly of planks, covered only with a layer of turf or sod; in.Green land the walls consist of stones and sod; in the central regions the houses are formed merely out of snow. In Alaska the interior is a square room, surrounded by the sleeping places, with the entrance on one side, while a hearth with wood as fuel occupies the middle of the floor. In Green land the room is heated only by lamps, and the sleeping places or family stalls are arranged in a row occupying one of its sides. The house for this reason is lengthened proportionally to the number of its inhabitants, Nowadays, however, the houses are not made so long as formerly —a curious fact corresponding to the disuse of the Indian “ long houses,” and like it a result of contact with civilization. The number of inhabitants at an Eskimo station is generally under 40, but in rare cases ‘more than 200 are found. A funnel shaped, half-underground pa age forms the entrance of the narrow dwellings. The dre of the Eskimos is almost the same for the women as for the men, consisting of trousers or breeches and a tunic or coat fitting close to the body, and covering also the head by a prolongation that forms the hood. For women with children to earry, this hood is widened so as to make it an excellent cradle, the amaut. Tattooing has been general among all the tribes. The ordinary materials of which clothes are made are the skins of seals, land animals, and birds. The language is characterized by. the — of expre ing in one word a whole sentence in which are embodied a number of ideas which in other languages require separate words. The Green land dictionary contains 1,370 radicals and about. 200 affixes. A radical may be made the. foundation of you sands of derivatives, and a word can be composed which expre es with perfect distinctne what in our civilized languages might require 20 words. In Green land and Labrador the mi ionaries have adapted the Roman letters for reducing the native language to writing. The printed Green land literature, including what has been published by the Moravian Brethren, amounts, with pamphlets and the like, to what might make 70 to 80 ordinary volumes. The Labrador literature contains about 10 books. It is doubtful whether an organization like that of the Indian “families” has been discovered among the Eskimos. But a division into tribes, each with their separate territories, actually exists. The tribe again is divided into groups constituting the inhabitants of the different wintering places. Finally, in the same station, the inhabitants of the same house are closely united with regard to common housekeeping. In this, and perhaps similar ways, their general communism in living, characteristic of their stage of culture, is governed by rules for partnership in house holding, for distribution of the daily game during mates, and the place fellows. One of the individual, the family, the housemates, and the place fellows. One of thé oldest and most respectable men, called in Green land it ok, in Labrador angajorkak, is obeyed as chief of a house or wintering place, though his 1uthority perhaps, may rest on tacit agreement only. In a similar way, nore or le public a emblies constiute councils, and i considered he courts of justice. ial organization has been more highly developec in Alaska than in Green land. The inhabitants of Danish Wes Green land, numbering about 10,000 the greater part of the Labrador i ans and the Southern Alaska Eskimos are Christian i zed. As for the rest, the religion of the Eskimos is what is generally designated as Shamanism, The name Eskimo is said to be formed by corruption out of an Indian word signifying “eaters of raw meat.” They call themselves Inuit. in Green land partly Kaladlit. Their origin generally has been derived from ‘Asia, but now they are believed by Some to have come from the interior of America, and, following the river courses, to have arrived at the Arctic sea, where they have developed their abilities as an Arctic coast people. The Eskimos may be divided into the following groups: (1) The Western Eskimos, inhabiting the Alaska territory and the Asiatic side of Bering Strait; (2) the Mackenzie Eskimos or Tchiglits, from Barter Island to Cape Bath hurst; (3) the inhabitants of the central regions, including the Arctic Archipelago; (4) the Labrador i ans; (5) the Green landers. A side branch inhabits the Aleutian Islands.