Eskimo Summer

At the top of the earth, north of wherever you may be just now, live the Eskimo. The long dark winter has gone from the Arctic and summer is returning. Ice and snow have begun to melt. Islands of ice drift in the sea current and the earth once more is bared to the sun. The Canadian Eskimo live in lands where trees cannot grow, huge open spaces stretching from Alaska to Labrador. Yet the number of Eskimos living there is only about 8,000, the population of a small English town. Most of their food comes from the sea. And so we find them mainly along the coastline. These Eskimo are starting for their summer fishing camp where they will live during the busy hunting and fishing season. Because they move about from place to place with the seasons, they travel light and carry with them only the baggage and equipment they will need. They must make the most of the short summer. Getting food during the winter is much more difficult. This community will live in tents made of canvas or seal skin and fitted with wooden doors. The doors open outward to stop the dogs from entering the tent. In the wintertime, the families live in igloos which are cleverly built of blocks of snow and make a warm and charming home. The ropes which support each tent are held down by heavy stones. This is just one of the many jobs done by women. Eskimo women are as busy with work as other men, caring for the children, making clothes and preparing the food. The Eskimo baby is carried about in the long hood of its mother's coat. On a cold or stormy day, she can pull the hood over her head and protect herself and the baby alike. Here's a simple way to catch fish. The men make a trap in shallow water by building a stone dam. They leave a small gap or opening through which the fish can enter. Entering is easy, but how to get out? The stone dam has become a very clever trap, and they cannot escape. In the shallow water, the fish are easily seen and speared. They are flung to a boy on shore and his job is to see that they don't slide back in. Catching fish looks simple enough this way and it is for Eskimos trained to handle these special spears. But even so, it takes a little practice at first. These men are going fishing. Stones are tied to the lower edge of their net so that it will hang down from the floats. One end of the net is anchored to the shore and the rest of it is stretched out across the river. This work is done in a kayak as these boats are called. The kayak is made of seal skin stretched over a wood frame and seats one person. It is light and fast and one of the best designed craft ever built. Can the nets really catch fish? Here's your answer. And here's a huge catch from a bigger net. The white whale is an important catch, particularly because of the oil that comes from it. In weight, it is about 2,500 lb, much heavier than a workhorse. Whale meat is not particularly good, and it is generally kept for the dogs, but its skin is delicious. Very little of the Eskimo's work can be done by one man or woman alone. That is one of the reasons why they travel and live in communities. Almost everyone has his part to do in a whale catch. As soon as the whale is freed from the net, it is cut up. Each family gets its share of the catch. The skin is very tasty and Eskimos enjoy it uncooked just as many of us prefer to eat seafood such as clams or oysters raw. Here the Eskimos are eating a meal of uncooked fish. The ulu or woman's knife is used for many purposes. Even young children can handle the ulu skillfully and can do about as many things with it as you can with your jack knife. The ulu is also used for cutting up the blubber of the whale. Oil will give light and heat for the long winter days and nights. It can easily be pressed out from the blubber. Stone lamps which the Eskimos use burn seal and whale oil and are fitted with wicks of moss. In the wintertime, the light from the quiet flame as it strikes the snow crystals in the walls makes the inside of an igloo shimmer and sparkle like a fairy castle. Some of the fish is cut and dried for future use, hung up much like clothes on the line. But the dogs won't always wait and must be driven off. They are willing to try it again and the women have to be chasing them off all the time. The exciting event of the summer is the yearly visit of the ship Nuscopi. Even before she has come to rest in the harbor, the Eskimos are in their kayaks and paddling out joyously to greet her arrival. She brings with her many supplies that are not otherwise to be had in the Arctic. And for the few white men there, she brings welcome news from home. Since many Eskimos use motor launchers and small schooners or canoes fitted with outboard motors, they have become good mechanics and engine trouble doesn't bother them too much. This is Cusher, the mechanic of the party. What if his friends do poke a bit of fun at him about the stalled engine? He'll have it going again in no time at all. There she is and running very nicely. The coming of the Nuscopi is the big event of the year. It also means two or three days hard work for men, women, and children alike. Cargo to be unloaded at each high tide. Supplies for the traders, the mounted police, the missionaries, articles for the Eskimos, lumber needed perhaps for the new radio and weather station. The metal drums are filled with petrol or gasoline. Some of it to be used by airplanes, no longer an uncommon sight in the Arctic. Airplanes are useful for bringing men and materials to and from places that could not be easily reached in any other way. This is one of the posts of the Hudson Bay Company, a company which has been trading in the north for almost 300 years. In the Eastern Arctic, the main business of this company is trading for the skins of the white fox, which the Eskimos trap in winter. In exchange for furs, the Eskimo is given wooden sticks which are a kind of money. These sticks are worth 50 cents each, half a crown in English money, and they are used to buy guns and traps, bullets, tea, sugar, flour, and tobacco, and perhaps even toys for the children. Sometimes the Eskimo will buy woolen or cotton clothing. Matches are very precious and by splitting each one down the center, the Eskimo can make two matches out of one. Some Eskimos, as well as using stone lamps, also own primer stoves, which they can get at the trading post. The men of the Eskimo community spend most of their time hunting and fishing. There are very few animals or fish which cannot be put to some use. For all Eskimos and particularly for the men who live in land, the caribou is an important animal. It provides them with food and its skin is used for clothing. Some of the men have telescopes with which to spot the animal. Since the bear of flat land offers no cover for them when they stalk the caribou, the men imitate its movements so that it will not be frightened away. Having come close enough, they fire. Apart from the caribou's value as food, its skin is also useful for boots and tents as well as clothing. Tools can be made from the antlers. The senus from its back are always used for sewing thread. The shiny walrus supplies food and ivory. The meat of the polar bear is used as food and its skin as clothing and bed. Polar bears are usually found alone or in small family groups. They are great swimmers and spend most of the summer in the water. Nowadays, the Eskimo hunter shoots the bear, then harpoons it and pulls it in. The bear may weigh as much as 1,000 lb, and hauling it aboard is not an easy job. The hunters store away some of the meat for other days. Seeing that the dogs have enough food is important in the Eskimo community since dogs do a great deal of the work for them. The Eskimo cannot grow food and so must live on animals and fish. In many ways, the Eskimo's lives are as full and as happy and perhaps even more exciting than ours.