CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 99 



ISNU1TS. 



Neither the origin nor meaning of the name Esquimaux, or Eskimo, as it is now spelled, is 

 known. According to Dr. Rink the name "Esquimaux" was first given to the inhabitants of 

 Southern Labrador as a term of derision by the inhabitants of Northern Labrador, and means raw- 

 fish eater. Sir John Richardson says the name l l Esquimaux" is probably of Canadian origin, and 

 has reference to a peculiar shout given by the natives when paddling with their kyacks, ceux qui 

 miaux. Dall says the appellation "Eskimo" is derived from a word indicating a sorcerer or 

 shaman in the language of the northern tribes. It is probable Sir John Richardson's explanation 

 is the true one, since the people themselves do not recognize the name as belonging to their lan- 

 guage. 



The name "Innuit," which they recognize as properly belonging to them, is in common use 

 from Greenland to Bering Strait. The name is understood by all to mean the people inhabiting 

 the regions referred to, and probably had its origin when they supposed themselves the only inhab- 

 itants of the earth. 



The Innuits are divided by Dr. Rink into groups as follows : 



First. The East Greenlanders; few in number, every year advancing farther south, and hav- 

 ing intercourse with the next section. 



Second. The West Greenlanders; civilized, living under the Danish crown, and extending 

 from Cape Farewell to 74° north latitude. 



Third. The northernmost Greenlanders, the "Arctic Highlanders" of Ross, confined to Smith, 

 Whale, Murchison, and Wolsteu holme Sounds, north of Melville Bay glaciers. These are very 

 isolated and have greatly decreased of late years. They did not until recently possess the kyack 

 or skin-covered canoe, the oomiac or open skin-boat, or the bow and arrow. They are bold hunters, 

 and are perhaps the most typical of the Innuits of Greenland. 



Fourth. The Labrador Eskimo, mostly civilized. 



Fifth. The Innuit of the middle regions, occupying the coast from Hudson Bay to Barten 

 Island, beyond the Mackenzie River. 



Sixth. The Western Iunuitfrom Barten Island to the Western Innuit in America. They differt 

 somewhat from the other groups in various habits-, such as the use of the bidarka or double-manned 

 skin-covered canoe, in the clothing of the men, in their labrets, and in the head-dress of the women. 

 They are allied to the Aleutians and the Indians of Alaska. 



Seventh. The Asiatic Innuit or Tuski. No exact statement can be made in regard to their 

 numbers. At the date of the last census the entire population of Greenland was about 10,000. 

 The entire Innuit race is roughly estimated at 40,000. This does not include the Tuski (Tchuktchis) 

 or Asiatic Innuit, of which Dr. Rink speaks; and indeed, although classed with the Innuits by both 

 Richardson and Rink, the inhabitants of the coast of Asia adjacent to Bering Sea and Strait differ 

 so greatly from them in appearance, habits, language, and character that I cannot think they are 

 the same people. Richardson says : 



They even cross the Straits of Bering, a part of the nation dwelling on the Asiatic coast between the Anadyr an 

 the Tchtikatsky Noss, where they are known to the Russians by the name of Nomallos or sedentary Tchuktchis. 



Undoubtedly a few Innuits have at some time crossed over Bering Strait and attempted to 

 settle on the Asiatic side. But these should not be confounded with the sedentary Tchuktchis, 

 who are descendants of the reindeer men of Siberia. Having lost their herds through disease or 

 other cause, they have been compelled to abandon their nomadic mode of life and settle upon the 

 sea-shore, where they manage to exist by hunting seals, walrus, and birds, catching fish, and trap- 

 ping a few foxes. At Cape Waukerem and at other places on the Siberian coast we found the 

 ruins of houses similar to those now in use by the Innuits. These houses, which have been found 

 by different travelers at many places along that coast, are not at all like those used by the Tchuk- 

 tchis, which, on account of the migratory habits of the reindeer tribes, are so constructed that they 

 can be taken down and put up again at will. They are composed of a covering of skin stretched 

 over an umbrella-shaped frame of poles. Inside of the houses are square sleeping-rooms (called 

 pologs) of deer-skin. These resemble an inverted box. They have no door and can only be entered 

 by raising the edge and crawling under. The space between the outside covering or tent proper 



