428 THE I OINT BARKOW ESKIMO. 



formulated certain rules in regard to some kinds of property and the 

 division of game, which are remarkably like those noticed among Ks- 

 kimo elsewhere, and which may be supposed to have grown np among 

 the ancestors of the Kskiiuo, before their separation. 



For instance, in Greenland, &quot;Anyone picking up pieces of driftwood 

 or goods lost at sea or on land was considered the rightful owner of 

 them; and to make, good his possession he had only to carry them up 

 above high-water mark and put stones upon them, no matter where 

 his homestead might be.&quot; Now, at Point Harrow we often saw the 

 natives dragging driftwood up to the, high-water mark, and the owner 

 seemed perfectly able to prove his claim. Lieut. Itay informs me that 

 he has seen men mark such sticks of timber by cutting them with their 

 adzes and that sticks so marked were respected by the other natives. 

 On one occasion, when lie was about to have a large piece of drift- 

 timber dragged up to the station, a woman came up and proved that 

 the timber belonged to her by pointing out the freshly cut mark. I 

 have myself seen a native claim a barrel which had been washed ashore, 

 by setting it up on end. 



As far as we could learn, the smaller animals, as for instance, birds, 

 the smaller seals, reindeer, etc., are the property of the hunter, instead of 

 being divided as in some other localities, for example at Smith Sound. 2 

 The larger seals and walruses appeared to be divided among the bout s 

 crew, the owner of the bout apparently keeping the tusks of the walrus 

 and perhaps the skin. A bear, however, both flesh and skin, is equally 

 divided among all who in any way had a hand in the killing. We 

 learned this with certainty from having to purchase the skin of a bear 

 killed at the village, where a number of men had been engaged in the 

 hunt. When a whale is taken, as 1 have already said, the whalebone 

 is equally divided among the crews of all the boats in sight at the time 

 of killing. All comers, however, have a right to all the flesh, blubber, 

 and blackskin that they can cut off. 11 



Dr. Kink, in describing the social order of the ancient Greenlanders, 4 

 says: Looking at what has been said regarding the rights of prop 

 erty and the division of the people into certain communities, in connec 

 tion with t lie division of property into the classes just given, we are led 

 to the conclusion that the right of any individual to hold more than a 

 certain amount of property was. if not regulated by law, at least 

 jealously watched by the rest of the community, and that virtually 



1 Kink. Talcs mid Traililious. p. 28. Compare also Crantz, vol. 1. p. 181. 



2 Keasels, Naturalist, vol. -J .t, ]it. p. ST:I. 



Compare Itink, Tales, etc.. p. U J: &quot; l!nt it :m animal of the lari 

 was captured, it was 



