HOME-LIFE OF THE ESKIMOS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6962, 30 October 1909, Page 15

HOME-LIFE OF THE ESKIMOS

GETTING MARRIED IN GREENLAND. ■j.THB BRIDE'S "DOT." Since tho return to the civilised world of Dr Cook and of Commander Poatry, tho Eskimos havo been talked of inoro than they ever wore. Wo have heard etrange talcs about them. The whole world,, knows now, for instance, thanks to Dr" Cook, "tua,t an Eskimo who possesses'a gun and a few knives is a. millionaire in his own country, and wo have been 'informed that these myuteiious inhabitants of 1 the Arctic call the tolc the - ".big Nail." It may interest tho reader (says a writer in . the "Daily Mail") to know more details about the brown-chinked natives of Greenland,.the men who live on blubber and are tho indispensable companions of the Arctic explorer. Whatever the achievements of I'eaxyn.ud Cook, no one can deny that they were made possible by the assistance of men picked among the little and poor peoplo who dwell "way up North" in desolate Groonlamd, near the limit-line of "eternal snow."

What in on Eskimo like? His portrait in easily sketched: A email person (five f«et five inchrn in the average height of the m»n and five feet that of th» m»u«ii), with a greyish-oopp»ri»h *nd oily «lci», thick lip*, dt«p-nt and oblique *.T»f like the JapaMM, a Sit, »t«J f«c» ivitk flit chocks, a, low, rrtrstting f«r«he»d, and black, f.los*y, »traisht hair, which is Allowed to grow to its fall length. The hands a.nd feet arc renuirkably amall. The noes is abnormally flat. The face of the children is generally so fat that the eyes almost disappear and the. nose is sunken between the cheeks instead, of protruding. BIS CHILDREN. The Eskimos have a happy, careless, optimistic look about them. Nordonskjold need to call tjjsm "big children," and stated that "these unfortunate creatures,' who arc deprived of every comfort, are conceited and jocular. They are hospitable, too, and when brought into contact with Europeans they prow civilised quite trapidly, though they retain a number of their old habits." A« regards drsss, it is almost tho same for women as for-men: A closefitting sealskin coat, with a hood for the head, and breeches of the eame .material.

Needless to fi.iy, the Eskimos <tVl:'c> water a 3 a "cleanrfns agent," and they lack But they do not consider Europeans as very attractive, and the rofinementfl of civilisation are repulsive to them. The same Nordew;k]old onca told * very amusing rtoiry on this matter. H« gave a bottle of eau-de-Colocn« to an oyed Eskimo lady to small. Sho almost tainted oad called the scent "dreadfully gtenchinj." But she dwelt in a sordid hut where the air whs "njibrcathable" and lived on fowl "of whicii on-e hestitafces to think.

The Eskimos have no religion worthy of the name. They are extremely superstitious, but how cow Id they lwlp boing so, surrounded is they aro by truly fan. tastio scanery—mysterious caverns and grottoes, mountains of ice, bathed iu the weird light-effects of the Arctic atmosphere or in the owe4nspiriug gloom of too Polar nightP The Eskimos, however, have much respect for the '"head, of tho family." Funerals are a complicated affair in Greenland, and tho most curious .custom ,in connection with such ceremonies is the burying of a- doe's head—meant, to not as a guide—together with the dead body. ,; ; They live under tonte during tho summer and under snow bute during the> cold season: TJiey possess a skin canoe called kayak, a sledge, raids few dogs. .They mairry at - an early ace. -The bride brings to her new homo herclothos, a kroife, and a lamp. The Invbaudgives her a cooking-pot. .Eskimo etiqnclfcta compels the bride to object to marriago, and she must rjretend to escape from, her husband two or three times be-fora settling down to her duties and accepting her share of responsibilities. ■i ■ x : ■