SCIENCE. 



85 



SATURDAY, AUGUST ax, 1880. 



ETHNOLOGY.* 



FRAGMENTARY NOTES ON THE ESKIMO OF CUMBERLAND 

 SOUND. 



By Ludwig Kumlien. 



The record of the voyage of the Florence, the vessel 

 which conveyed the Howgate preliminary Polar ex- 

 pedition, has been printed by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution by request of Professor Spencer F. Baird, and 

 forms the fifteenth of a series of papers intended to 

 illustrate the collection of natural history and ethnol- 

 ogy belonging to the United States, constituting the 

 National Museum, placed in charge of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution by an act of Congress. 



The report on " Ethnology " by Ludwig Kumlien is 

 of great interest, and on this occasion we confine our 

 attention to this part of the work, reserving other 

 branches for future notice. 



He states that the Cumberland Straits, Sound, Gulf 

 or Inlet, extends from about lat. 65° N. to lat. 67 ° 

 + N. It is the Cumberland Straits of Baffin, its 

 original discoverer at the end of the sixteenth century ; 

 the Hogarth Sound of Captain Penny, who re-dis- 

 covered it in 1839; an d the Northumberland Inlet of 

 Captain Wareham in 1841. 



During the last quarter century it has often been 

 visited by Scotch and American whalemen, ships fre- 

 quently wintering on the southwestern shores. 



It is at present unknown whether it be a sound or gulf ; 

 it is generally considered to be a gulf, but some Eskimo 

 say that the Kingwah Fjord, one of the arms extend- 

 ing to the NE., opens into a large expanse of water, 

 to them unknown. Icebergs are also sometimes 

 found in this fjord which from their positions, seem to 

 have come from the northward, and not from the 

 south. 



The eastern shore of this sound forms the western 

 boundary of that portion of Cumberland Island which 

 lies between its waters and Davis Straits, and known 

 as the Penny Peninsula. 



In about lat. 66° N. the Kingnite Fjord extends 

 from the sound in a ENE. direction, and nearly joins 

 Exeter Sound from Davis Straits • they are separated 

 only by a portage of a few miles. The Cumberland 

 Eskimo make frequent excursions to the eastern shore 

 via these fjords, but seem to have extended their mi- 

 grations but a short distance northward, finding Cum- 

 berland Sound more to their tastes. 



The width of Cumberland Sound opposite Niantilic 

 is about thirty miles, possibly its widest part. It is 

 indented by numerous and large fjords, few, if any, of 

 them having been explored ; many islands are scat- 

 tered along both shores, and in some instances form 

 quite considerable groups. 



The present Eskimo are few in numbers. We 

 would estimate the entire population, men, women, 



* Bulletin (15) of the U. S. National Museum. Contributed to the Natural 

 History of Arctic America made in connection with the Howgate Polar 

 expedition 1877-78. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1879. 



and children, on both sides of the sound, from Cape 

 Mercy on the east to Nugumeute on the west, not to 

 exceed four hundred individuals. It is certain that 

 within the last thirty years the mortality has been very 

 great among them ; even the whalemen remark an 

 astonishing diminution in their numbers at the present 

 day, as compared with twenty years ago. 



Numerous traditions exist among them of the time 

 when they warred with other tribes, and old men, now 

 living, have pointed out to us islands that were once 

 the scene of battles, where the besieged party was 

 starved into submission by their enemies. According 

 to the usual story, the hurling of stones was one of 

 the most effective and common modes of warfare ; 

 this was especially the case when one party could get 

 upon a ledge above the other. At the present day 

 they are peaceful and quiet, have no recognized 

 leader, and no desire to fight, even if their numbers 

 would permit of it. 



As the story goes, the present population were the 

 victors in those fights, and took possession of the 

 country they now inhabit. Some say they came from 

 the northwest, and found another tribe, which they 

 overcame and drove away. Their stories on this sub- 

 ject vary, and sometimes with this unusually interest- 

 ing tradition, as well as many others, they get events 

 of a very recent date hopelessly mixed up with the 

 rest ; and it is no unusual instance to find that some 

 whaler, with a good imagination, has supplied and re- 

 stored lost portions of the narrative, to their entire 

 satisfaction ; but these restorations are chiefly remark- 

 able for their utter disregard of truth or possibility. 



The following tradition is a translation from one of 

 the most reliable natives we became acquainted with : 



"A long time ago {tichemaniadld) other Innuits 

 (Eskimo) were found here ; they were called ' Tunak ' ; 

 they were very strong, very large, and had short legs 

 and large arms; they had very wide chests. Their 

 clothes were made of bear skins, and their knives 

 from walrus tusks. They did not use bows and arrows, 

 but only the harpoon-lance ; they harpooned the 

 reindeer in the water, from their kyacks, which were 

 very large. The Tiimiks made houses out of stone. 

 They were able to lift large stones. We were afraid 

 of them ; we fought with them and killed them. 

 They (the Tunuks) came in the first place from 

 Greenland. The women made clothes from their 

 own hair. They had no dogs at that time, but they 

 made sledges and harnesses, and finally {witchou = by 

 and by) put the harnesses on three rocks, one white, 

 one red, and one black ; they then called, and when 

 they looked they found the stones had been trans- 

 formed into dogs. After a time they got plenty of dogs ; 

 then they went about more. The present Eskimo 

 could not understand their language. They lived to 

 a great age (£. tukeivouk nami = did not die !). Far 

 to the west some Eskimo lately saw some Tunuks ; 

 they had bear-skin clothing. In the Tunuks land 

 (where ?) the musk ox {oming muk), bear, and seals 

 are abundant. They build walls of stones on the 

 land, and drive the reindeer into ponds, and catch 

 them in kyacks. They have a large, long callytong 

 (coat, or jumper jacket) that they fasten down around 

 them on the ice while they are watching a seal's hole ; 

 underneath this garment, on the ice, they place a 

 lamp ; over this lamp they cook meat. Their eyes 



