426 



NA TURE 



[August 29, 1901 



find a certain Don Pedro de Tobar sent on an exploring 

 expedition by Coronado, in the year 1540, into the pro- 

 vince called Tiisayan, which, in Coronado's letter trans- 

 lated by Hakluyt, is spelt " Tucano." His party consisted 

 of about twenty men, chiefly on horseback, and when 

 they had reached the outskirts, they hid themselves for 

 the night under the edge of the mesa, where the Indians 

 found them next morning armed and drawn up in line. 

 The Indian chief scattered a handful of meal across the 

 path, thereby meaning that they should have no passage 

 into the pueblo ; but during the parley by an accident 

 the two parties came to blows, and the Hopi were 

 worsted, though without loss of life. These latter then 

 brought their conquerors presents, and Tobar here 

 received the homage of all the province. 



Both at Awatobi and Sikyatki Dr. Fewkes' diggings 

 met with success, and he was fortunate in his discoveries. 

 The latter place yielded up antiquities which, it is 

 maintained, show no Spanish influence, and it is to this 

 place we must look for the aboriginal culture of the 

 fifteenth century. Tradition says that Sikyatki was de- 

 stroyed before the advent of the Spaniards, and no men- 

 tion of it can be found in documents relating to this 

 district and period. Further, no fragment of glass or 

 metal, or indeed anything that could give token of 

 European civilisation, was discovered in the excavations. 

 The pottery found at Awatobi resembles that of Sikyatki, 

 but hears little likeness to modern ware, and the symbols 

 used in decoration on vessels found at either of these 

 places are very similar. Comparatively few stone axes, 

 hammers or spearheads were found, but arrowheads 

 were common, and many fragments of obsidian were to 

 be seen scattered over the ruins of Tusayan. From the 

 living rooms of Awatobi were obtained a large number of 

 bone needles, awls and whistles, and it is probably only 

 because the principal excavations at Sikyatki were carried 

 on in the graves that more were not found at this latter 

 place also. Dr. Fewkes has gone very fully into the 

 question of the pottery, and his analysis of the markings 

 and symbols is amplified by excellent illustrations both 

 in black and white and in colours. The whole volume 

 is an earnest of the increasing interest taken by Americans 

 in the science of folklore, and future ethnologists will owe 

 a great debt of gratitude to Mr. MindelefF and Dr. 

 Fewkes and their staff for their untiring energy in labour- 

 ing in these fields. 



Part I of the eighteenth volume contains part of the 

 material gathered by Mr. E. W. Nelson during several 

 years' sojourn among the Eskimos, and well bears out his 

 statement that "the Eskimauan family or stock con- 

 stitutes one of the most remarkable peoples of the 

 world." In 1877 Mr. Nelson was stationed at St. Michael, 

 in Alaska, and was thus able to study and observe the 

 Eskimos of the Bering Straits until 18S1, when he was 

 appointed naturalist to an expedition to northern Siberia. 

 His researches were continued on this expedition, and it 

 was only through ill health that he was prevented from 

 publishing the results of his labours immediately after 

 his return. Even now, with the publication of this 

 volume of more than five hundred closely-printed pages, 

 a large section of his work remains to be elaborated. 



The western Eskimos, with whom Mr. Nelson was 

 principally concerned, inhabit an area which he calls the 

 "Alaskan-Arctic" district, which includes the treeless 

 coast belt, from three to one hundred miles in width, 

 stretching from the peninsula of Alaska northwards to 

 Point Barrow. The aboriginal inhabitants of the 

 greater part of this tract, although separated by no 

 physical barriers, can be divided up into well-defined 

 groups characterised by distinct dialects. As a race 

 they are very hardy and insensible to cold, but from 

 exposure to damp are very liable to consumption and 

 rheumatism, and but few live to an advanced age ; in 



NO. 1 66 1, VOL. 64] 



stature they vary in different tribes, some averaging no 

 more than five feet two or three inches. Hitherto, before 

 the arrival of traders, the land provided them with all 

 their needs ; reindeer, both tame and wild, and seal 

 afforded most of the necessaries of life, and although wild 

 reindeer are now being gradually exterminated, seals are 

 still a profitable source of income. Eskimo clothes con- 

 sist, for the most part, of reindeer skin, while a kind of 

 waterproof frock is made from seal intestines. The cold, 

 of course, necessitates the use of ear-flaps, gloves and 

 mittens, while in the matter of personal adornment, 

 besides tattooing, the Alaskan Eskimo wear what are 

 known as " labrets," two small pieces of ivory, generally 

 sickle-shaped, placed in holes specially bored for the 

 purpose in the lower lip. Their implements and 

 domestic utensils have been exhaustively described, but 

 space does not allow of our going into details. We may 

 note, however, the method of obtaining fire by the 

 ubiquitous fire-drill, i.e. from the heat set up by the rapid 

 friction of a stick against soft wood, which was in 

 common use among the Eskimos of these regions, and 

 the curious implements known as "snow-beaters," for 

 beating snow from boots and clothing. Stone appears 

 to be still very generally used for wood-cutting and skin- 

 dressing, though the metal tools obtained from traders 

 are now ousting the older material. 



Among the fauna of these districts are to be reckoned 

 the reindeer, mountain sheep, bear, wolf, mink, fox, 

 lynx, beaver and marmot, but since the introduction of 

 firearms the reindeer have woefully decreased in 

 numbers. The Eskimos, though they have some idea of 

 sport in some of their pursuits, have little forethought in 

 their methods of hunting, and have sometimes killed off a 

 whole herd of deer that has been driven into a cul-de-sac. 

 On the other hand, it is held to be a test of endurance 

 for a hunter to pursue a deer-calf on foot and run it down 

 without shooting it, tiring it out so that it allows itself to 

 be captured. The natives are adepts at all forms of 

 trapping and snaring, and pass no small part of their 

 lives in seal-stalking and tomcod-catching. 



But the most interesting part of the volume is that 

 devoted to an account of the habits, customs and 

 traditions of this people. In Eskimo villages the centre 

 of all social life is the kas/iiiii, a building essentially for 

 men, from which women, although they frequently bring 

 food thither, are at certain festivals rigidly excluded. 

 It is the recognised place of oral instruction where 

 the old men hand down the traditions of the clan 

 to the younger generation, the sleeping place of all 

 the unmarried men of the village, and the common 

 house of welcome for guests. With regard to the 

 views of moral obligation held by the Eskimos, Mr. 

 Nelson considers that the only feeling of conscience 

 appeared to be "an instinctive desire to do that 

 which was most conducive to the general good of 

 the community," which is, after all, an excellent funda- 

 mental principle of society. Stealing from the same 

 village or tribe is regarded as wrong, but in the case of 

 a stranger or another tribe there is no moral restraint 

 provided the theft does not inculpate the robber's own 

 community. Blood-feuds exist, and we find a custom 

 very similar to the vendetta of Corsica and Sardinia 

 prevalent among the Eskimos, and it is a commonplace 

 among them that a man who has committed a murder 

 may easily be recognised by the restless and watchful 

 expression of his eyes. Marriages are sanctioned in 

 various ways. Among the Unalit, when a young man 

 falls in love he leaves his parents to arrange matters 

 with those of his inamorata, and then, arrayed in his 

 best, goes down to her house and, after presenting her 

 with a new trousseau, leads her home. Burials vary in 

 different places; at St. Michael the dead are buried in 

 a sitting posture with the knees drawn up, while on the 



