BOAS] SOCIAL LIFE IN SUMMER. 577 



all, though they sit as close as possible, and too low to permit them 

 to sit upright ; but, as seals are basking everywhere on the ice, this 

 state of affairs does not last long. The women split a number of large 

 skins and dry them on the snow, and by the middle of May they can 

 build a pretty large tent; but it is not until they settle permanently 

 at the place of the summer village that the large tent is sewed and 

 put UJ). 



At this seascjn salmon and venison form the staple food of the 

 Eskimo. The old men, women, and children, who stay at the lakes 

 or at the salmon rivers, depend abnost entirely upon this food. They 

 lish and eat the salmon in a raw as well as in a cooked state. Birds 

 are caught and eaten raw. The surplus salmon are split and dried 

 on poles erected for the purpose. Deer shoulders, legs, and backs 

 are also cut into thin pieces and dried. Sometimes the dried fish and 

 venison are deposited in stone caches for later use, but most of it is 

 eaten in summer, especially when the Eskimo go traveling. When 

 the men go deer hunting they take a supply of dried salmon with 

 them, and thus can stay out for a week or even longer. When a 

 deer is killed it is skinned at once, the legs being slit and the belly 

 opened. The paunch is carefully tied up, as the contents are a favor- 

 ite dish of the Eskimo. The head, the legs, and the ribs are cut off 

 and after being piled up the whole is covered with heavy stones, only 

 the horns protruding from the top of the depot. The hams and the 

 skin are generally carried to the hut at once, and, if the distance is 

 not too great or the carcass can be reached with sledges or boats, the 

 whole animal is brought home. Large depots are only made in tlie 

 fall, when there is no danger of the meat spoiling. 



At this season the natives visit deer passes and lakes, near which 

 they establish their huts. The tents and all the household goods are 

 packed up in heavy bundles, some of which are carried by the dogs, 

 the load hanging on both sides of the back; others, by men and 

 women, being secured by one strap which passes over the forehead 

 and by another which passes over the breast. Their strength and 

 their perseverance in carrying heavy loads over long distances are 

 remarkable. 



The social life in the summer settlements is rather different from 

 that in winter. At this season the families do not cook their own 

 meals, but a single one provides for the whole settlement. The day 

 before it is her turn to cook, the woman goes to the hills to fetch 

 shrubs for the fire. Three stones are put up near the hut as a fire- 

 place, the opening facing the wind. The kettle is placed on the top 

 of it and the fire is fed with shrubs and blubber. When the meal is 

 ready the master of the house stands beside it, crying Ujo! Ujo! 

 (boiled meat) and everybody comes out of the hut provided with a 

 knife. The dish is carried to a level place and the men sit down 

 around it in one circle, while the women form another. Then large 

 ETH 37 



