NELSON] TRADING VOYAGES 229 



Siberia, and sold as curiosities to the American Eskimo, before the Rus- 

 sians took possession of the country. They also informed me that the 

 use of tobacco was introduced among them, before they were brought 

 into direct contact with white men, by means of trade with their 

 Asiatic neighbors, who brought across Bering strait small bundles, 

 called "hands," of Circassian leaf tobacco. 



In ancient times intertribal communication along the coast was irreg- 

 ular and uncertain, owing to the hostile attitude of the people toward 

 one another. For this reason trading was then confined to those villages 

 which happened to be on friendly terms. Kow the old barriers have 

 been broken down, and active barter between the different communities 

 has become a marked feature of their life. This is particularly the case 

 among the people living between the Kuskokwim and Kotzebue sound. 

 The numerous fur-trading stations which have been established among 

 them, and the visits of trading vessels and whaling ships to the coast 

 of Bering strait, have served to quicken and encourage among them 

 the spirit of trade. In summer the people of Bering strait make visits 

 to the head of Kotzebue sound and to the mouth of the Yukon, carry- 

 ing the skins of tame reindeer purchased from the people of the Asiatic 

 coast, for which they receive in barter skins of various fur-bearing 

 animals that are used in turn for trading with vessels in Bering strait 

 or with their Asiatic neighbors. For the latter i)urpose beaver and 

 land-otter skins are the most highly prized, as the Chukchi of Siberia 

 will always offer two full-size deerskins for one of either of the skins 

 named. They cut them into strips for trimming the collars of their 

 deerskin coats, and use them also for trading with the Eussians, 



Parties of traders from East cape, Siberia, and the Diomede islands 

 also make yearly voyages to Kotzebue sound, where the Eskimo of 

 Kowak and Xoatak rivers hold a sort of summer fair. After the sea 

 freezes in winter, the Eskimo, who have thus obtained a stock of rein- 

 deer skins, start out with dogs .and sledges to travel along the coast 

 and barter for furs. In the winter of 1880 I met, on Norton sound, a 

 sledge party of Eskimo, who were making a trading trip from Sledge 

 island to Kotzebue sound. 



The Malemut along Kotzebue sound make trading trips southward 

 to the Yukon, and even to their enemies, the Tinuc, of Koyukuk river. 

 The Malemut are the most energetic and enterprising of all the people 

 of this region. They are great traders, and are more courageous and 

 domineering than most of the natives with whom they deal, and are 

 in consequence much disliked by the people with whom they come in 

 contact. 



When, in 1873-'74, the reindeer suddenly left the shores of Norton 

 sound, these people pushed on in family parties from point to point 

 until, in 1877-'78, they had reached Kuskokwim river, Nunivak island, 

 and Bristol bay. 



During trading voyages there are carried from one part of the coun- 



