MriiiM-ii.| (JOVKHXMKXT. 42!&amp;gt; 



tin- surplus of any individual or community., fixed by the arbitrary rule 

 which tradition or custom liad assigned, was made over to those who 

 had less. At Point Barrow, however, the idea of individual ownership 

 appears to be much more strongly developed. As far as we could 

 learn, there is no limit to the amount of property which an individual, 

 at least the head of a family, may accumulate. 1C veil though the whale 

 bone be, as already described, divided among all the boats crews &quot; in 

 at the death,&quot; no objection is made to one man buying it all up, if he 

 has the means, foi his own private use. 



This has given rise to a regular wealthy and aristocratic, class, who, 

 however, are not yet sufficiently differentiated from the poorer people 

 to refuse to associate on any terms but those of social equality. The 

 men of this class are the nmialiks, a word which appears in many cor 

 rupted forms on the coast of Western America and is often supposed 

 to mean &quot; chief. Dr. Simpson says : The chief men are called O-nie- 

 liks (wealthy),&quot; but wealthy &quot; is au explanation of the position of these 

 men, and uot a translation of the title, which, as we obtained it, is pre 

 cisely the same as the Greenland word for uirner of &amp;lt;i Ixtat, iimialik 

 (from nmia(A ), and the termination Ilk or li-fi. This is one of the few 

 cases in which thelinal k is sounded at Point Harrow as in Greenland). 



Dr. Rink has already observed 2 that the word used by Simpson &quot;no 

 doubt must be the same as the Greenlandish iimialik, signifying owner 

 of a boat,&quot; and as 1 heard the title more than once carefully pronounced 

 at Point Barrow it was the identical word. The nmialiks, as Simpson 

 says, :l &quot; have acquired their position by being more thrifty and intelli 

 gent, better traders, ami usually better hunters, as well as physically 

 stronger and more daring.&quot; 4 They have acquired a certain amount of 

 influence and respect from these reasons, as well as from their wealth, 

 which enables them to purchase the services of others to man their 

 boats, but appear to have absolutely no authority outside of their own 

 families. 9 Petroff 6 considers them as a sort of &quot; middlemen or spokes 

 men,&quot; who make themselves &quot;prominent by superintending all inter 

 course and traffic with visitors.&quot; 



This sort of prominence, however, appears to have been conferred 

 upon them by the traders, who, ignorant of the very democratic state of 

 Eskimo society, naturally look for &quot; chiefs&quot; to deal with. They pick out 

 the best looking and best dressed man in the village and endeavor to 

 win his favor by giving him presents, receiving him into the cabin, and 

 conducting all their dealings with the natives through him. The chief, 



Op. &amp;lt;-it .p. 27 . . 

 * Tales, etc., p. jr.. 



3 Op. cit. 



4 Compare what the Krause Brothers nay of the &quot;chiefV on the Siberian eoaat (Geofjrapliische mat 

 ter, vol. 5, pt. 1, p. 20) : &quot;Die Autoritiit, welche die obenerwahnten Manner RUgenschelnllcll ;ms- 

 iiben, ist wolilauf Kechnnn^ihres ^rossereli Besit/.es /. setzen. I&amp;gt;er &quot;Chief UjedesMal (lerreichste 

 Mann, ein biir man. &quot; 



See, also, Dr. Simpson, op. eit., p. 27:f. 

 6 Report, etc., p. 12o. 



