6 H. Р. STEENSBY. 
CO 
did not use the kayak, they were obliged to spend the summer near the 
sea-fowl clifis, where food was easily obtainable in the form of the birds 
and eggs. Before the period mentioned the Polar Eskimo did not even go 
reindeer hunting towards autumn as part of the tribe, at any rate, does 
now. Even salmon-catching in rivers appear to have been forgotten. That 
is to say, the summer economic-culture had been reduced to the tribe’s last 
and easiest obtainable reserve means of subsistence, viz., bird-catching along 
the Auk clifis of the coast. All the other sides of the Eskimo summer- 
culture had gone out of use. In addition, the scarcity of wood for boats 
and implements has undoubtedly also played a determining role here. 
When the sea becomes ice-covered, the walrus, white whale, and narwhal 
go out to the ice-free waters. Within the fjord the Ringed Seal is hunted 
at the breathing holes. As long as the ice is smooth and without a snow- 
covering, the smooth-ice method is used, the hunter being then able to run 
up noiselessly and harpoon the animal through the breathing hole. Afterwards 
the Maupok method is used throughout the winter, in the event of their 
not having sufficient supplies from the autumn. When the Arctic night has 
ended in February, and the period of light returns, the Polar Eskimo leave 
their winter houses and set out on their dog sledges to the best walrus- 
hunting grounds at the edge of the firm ice. From this time onwards they 
live in snow houses. The methods used for walrus hunting correspond with 
those used for seal hunting, only they have been adapted to suit the pursuit 
of the larger animal. Here attention will be drawn only to the peculiar 
tackle which is used to haul the animal up onto the firm ice — a surprising 
feature in the technical winter-culture of a tribe of which the summer-culture 
was so impoverished. 
In addition to walrus hunting, seal hunting is also carried on during 
the spring months. At first spring hunting, which has also often been described 
from the Central Eskimo, is pursued, the object being to find the snow- 
burrows in which the female seals have brought forth their young. Another 
and more profitable method of hunting is the Utok hunting, which is now 
carried out with firearms. During May the ice becomes cracked, and hunting 
at the cracks begin. The sun is now above the horizon all day; the snow 
houses are no longer fit to be dwelt in and the Eskimo move into tents. 
The clifis have again been taken possession of by the sea-fowl, and now, 
late in May and during June, bird-hunting is largely carried on; the point, 
especially in olden days, being to reach on dog sledges the good sea-fowl 
cliffs before the sea-ice breaks up. 
A brief, but typical account of the annual economic cycle of the Polar 
Eskimo has now been given. No mention has been made of the hunting 
of Polar bear, fox, and hare, or of the rare excursions made for hunting 
musk-ox in Ellesmereland; all these things being more occasional undertak- 
ings; though the hunting of Polar bears and foxes in particular, on account 
of their skin, is absolutely necessary in order to provide the tribe with an 
adequate supply of warm clothes. 
