44 KXI'EDITION TO POINT BARROW, ALASKA. 



their husbands than they arc by savages of the lower latitudes, though to her falls the drudgery 

 of housekeeping, dressing skins, and making boots and clothing; his task is equally hard, as lie 

 is exposed to the dangers <;!' the ice and storms in the pursuit of seal and deer, often returning to 

 his iglu completely exhausted. She aids and assists him by following his trail with the dogs ami 

 sleds to bring in the game which the hunter catches in the .snow where he kills it, setting up a 

 cake of snow or ice with his mark upon it, to mark the place. The wife is invariably consulted 

 when any trade is to be made, and the husband never thinks of closing a bargain of any impor- 

 tance without her consent. When traveling they take turn about in leading out ahead of the 

 team, and all assist in building the snow hut when camp is made. The wife also has the care of 

 the dogs, with whom she often shares her food, giving as much care to the puppies as she would 

 to a child, carrying them in the back of her ahtega or wrapped in skin on the sled when traveling, 

 until they are old enough to be harnessed into the team, when by their faithfulness and endur- 

 ance they make full return for all kindness shown them in their childhood (puppyhood), and 

 although a dog team would try the patience of a saint, they never use a whip and rarely strike 

 them ; they coax and encourage them along by the voice ; and often toward the end of a journey 

 they hasten their pace by dragging a piece of fresh meat by a string in front of the team, being 

 careful to keep it just beyond their reach. They give the most careful attention to their foot-gear, 

 especially when traveling during the winter; and here a woman's services are invaluable, as she 

 is very expert in the use of her needle, and she dries and repairs the boots of the party before 

 she sleeps ; this is necessary owing to the frail character of the skins used in making their winter 

 boots. Men do such work when alone, but not so well as the women. She also carries a seal- 

 skin water-bottle on her back under her " alige," which is replenished with snow after each draught, 

 and is their sole dependence for water on long, rapid journeys during the winter. 



Large families are very rare, and children are born at intervals of from two to four years ; 

 they do not often bear children before twenty, and a couple is very seldom met with that has a 

 family of more than three, though upon inquiry they may have some that "nuna-mi-.sinik, 

 " sleep on the ground," and where the people are poor it is not unusual for a mother to give away 

 all but the first-born to some couple that have no children ; boys are in greater demand than girls 

 for adoption, and the adopted mother gives it all the care she would a child of her own, and will 

 rarely if ever tell who the real mother is. So it is very difficult to trace the antecedents of any one 

 man, for during his childhood he may have passed into two or three different families by adoption, 

 and many of them do not know who their mother is, much less their father, and matters are still 

 further complicated by a custom of exchanging wives. This is often done when a man is obliged 

 to make a long trip, and his wife from any cause is unable to accompany him. He will exchange 

 with some friend who has an able-bodied wife, each entering upon their new relations with the 

 greatest cheerfulness. 



Polygamy is not common, being confined to the leading influential men; even then, they are 

 taken into the family more as assistants for the first wife, as she rules over them, treating them as 

 servants; the system is not popular among the women, and we knew instances where the first 

 wife abandoned the iglu in a rage when a second was brought home. 



When a man of matured years loses his wife, either by death or from incompatibility of tem- 

 per, he selects one for himself, and that they sometimes use force to coerce them, when they have 

 no near relations to protect them, I am well satisfied from an incident that occurred at the station. 

 A native from a village to the westward, whose wife had left him, came up to tJglaamie to obtain 

 another; one day we were attracted by loud outcries from a woman who had been waiting around 

 the station for food, and upon going out to see what the difficulty was, we found our friend from 

 Sidarn vigorously cuffing her ears, and it was some time before we could make him desist; as 

 soon as she got free from him she ran off, and he explained that he wanted her for a wife, but that 

 she was not willing to go with him, and he was persuading her. His courtship was certainly 

 unique, and I never heard that he succeeded in winning the affections of an Uglaamie maiden, and 

 it is but just to add that he was very unpopular among both men and women. 



The tie of relationship binds them to deeds of kindness that they would not show to people 

 outside of the family ; if a brother dies the survivor takes the family to his iglu until he can find 

 another husband for the widow, and we know of an instance where a man lost his wife, and his 



