15 



tlisfigured by the introduction of the trading- jargon, wliioh contains corrup- 

 tions not only of Inniiit and Chukchi, but also of English, Russian, and 

 even Hawaiian words. The only pure vocabularies I have received have 

 been from East Cape and Seniavine Strait ; the latter very scanty. 



OKEE-OG'-]\rUT. 



< Eidh'lil iiinuin of tbo Wcstcrii Iiinfiit, Dr. Siniiisnu. 

 = Okcc-oij'-mul <if (be Norton Sound Innuit. 



< Maltmiul of Tikhinenicf. 



Local names : 

 Imukliij' dmut of Katmunoff Island, Dioiuedes, or Imuklit. 

 IngdVii/mut of Krnsenstern Island, Diomedes, or Iii<iu]iuk. 



Kikhtog'amut of St. Lawrence Island, which is called Iwo'rien by the Plover Bay Innuit, teste Hooper. 

 Vkivog'-miit of King's Island, or Ukivok. 



These people inhabit the islands between Asia and America north of 

 latitude G3°, and, as might be expected from their habitat, are among the 

 most agile and hardy of the northern canoe-men. They are great traders, 

 and do most of the intercontinental trading, in summer reaching St. 

 Michael's and Kotzebue Sound on the east and the shores of Siberia on the 

 west. They are practically middle-men, living to a great extent on the 

 profits of their trade. The trade from America is chiefly in deer-skins and 

 sinew and wooden ware, the material for which does not exist on the Asiatic 

 shore. From St. Lawrence Island, especially, frames of kyaks and umiaks 

 are trausjiorted to Plover Bay and exchanged for tame-reindeer skins, 

 walrus-ivory, and Avhale sinew and blubber. The distance traveled is 

 about forty miles, occupying nearly twenty-four hours, and the voyage is 

 never undertaken except under the most fjxvorable circumstances and with 

 all possible precautions. 



The Okee-og'mut wear labrets, and in habits and aj^jiearance are more 

 like the American Innuit than those of Asia. They are obstinate and 

 courageous, and have given serious trouble to the traders on more than one 

 occasion. Those of the island of St. Lawrence are said to be unusually 

 immodest and filthy in their manners. The dialect of the Okee-og'mut is 

 hardl}^ distinguishable from that of the following tribe. 



