Science and the Arts

Geography and Navigation.

The Eskimo exhibit a thorough knowledge of the geography of their country. I have already treated of their migrations and mentioned that the area they travel over is of considerable extent. They have a very clear conception of all the countries they have seen or heard of, knowing the distances by day’s journeys, or, as they say, by sleeps, and the directions by the cardinal points. So far as I know, all these tribes call true south piningnang, while the other points are called according to the weather prevailing while the wind blows from the different quarters. In Cumberland Sound uangnang is west-northwest; qaningnang (that is, snow wind), east-northeast; nigirn, southeast; and aqsardnirn, the fohn-like wind blowing from the fjords of the east coast. On Nettilling these names are the same, the east-northeast only being called qanara (that is, is it snow?) In Akudnirn uangnang is west-southwest; ikirtsuq (i.e., the wind of the open sea), east-northeast; oqurtsuq (i.e., the wind of the land Oqo or of the lee side, southeast; and avangnanirn (i.e., from the north side along the shore), the northwestern gales. According to Parry the same names as in Cumberland Sound are used in Iglulik.

If the weather is clear the Eskimo use the positions of the sun, of the dawn, or of the moon and stars for steering, and find their way pretty well, as they know the direction of their point of destination exactly. If the weather is thick they steer by the wind, or, if it is calm, they do not travel at all. After a gale they feel their way by observing the direction of the snowdrifts.

They distinguish quite a number of constellations, the most important of which are Tuktuqdjung (the deer), our Ursa Major; the Pleiades, Sakietaun; and the belt of Orion, Udleqdjun.

As their knowledge of all the directions is very detailed and they are skillful draftsmen they can draw very good charts. If a man intends to visit a country little known to him, he has a map drawn in the snow by some one well acquainted there and these maps are so good that every point can be recognized. Their way of drawing is first to mark some points the relative positions of which are well known. They like to stand on a hill and to look around in order to place these correctly. This done, the details are inserted. It is remarkable that their ideas of the relative position and direction of coasts far distant one from another are so very clear. Copies of some charts drawn by Eskimo of Cumberland Sound and Davis Strait are here introduced (Plate IV, p. 643, and Figs. 543–546). A comparison between the maps and these charts will prove their correctness. Frequently the draftsman makes his own country, with which he is best acquainted, too large; if some principal points are marked first, he will avoid this mistake. The distance between the extreme points represented in the first chart (Fig. 543) is about five hundred miles.

The Eskimo have a sort of calendar. They divide the year into thirteen months, the names of which vary a great deal, according to the tribes and according to the latitude of the place. The surplus is balanced by leaving out a month every few years, to wit, the month siringilang (without sun), which is of indefinite duration, the name covering the whole time of the year when the sun does not rise and there is scarcely any dawn. Thus every few years this month is totally omitted, when the new moon and the winter solstice coincide. The name qaumartenga is applied only to the days without sun but with dawn, while the rest of the same moon is called siriniktenga. The days of the month are very exactly designated by the age of the moon. Years are not reckoned for a longer space than two, backward and forward.

Original layout of Plate V:

The Eskimo are excellent draftsmen and carvers. Most of the drawings are similar to the bear and deer shown on Plate V (Figs. d and g) or to the illustrations of the Qaudjaqdjuq tale (see Figs. –, pp. 631–633.) The rest, on Plates VI and VII, are excellently made, and by far superior to any I have seen made by other Eskimo of these regions. A number of carvings are represented on Plates VIII and IX. The narwhal and the whale are particularly admirable. Among the implements represented in this paper there are many of beautiful and artistic design.

I also add a number of engravings of implements plainly showing the influence of European patterns (Plate X).

Poetry and Music.

Among the arts of the Eskimo poetry and music are by far the most prominent. The tales which have been related are only a small part of their stock of traditions. Besides the contents their form also is very interesting, as most of them have been handed down in unchanged form and their narration demands a great deal of art. Many traditions are told in a very abridged form, the substance being supposed to be known. A specimen of this kind is the Sedna tradition (p. 604). All these tales must be considered recitatives, many of them beginning with a musical phrase and continuing as a rhythmic recitation, others being recited in rhythmic phrases throughout. Other traditions are told in a more detailed and prosaic manner, songs or recitations, however, being sometimes included. Ititaujang, for instance, in traveling into the country looking for his wife, sings the song No. XIII, and in the Kalopaling tradition the boy, on seeing the two Inuit coming, sings:

[Music]

Some Eskimo are very good narrators and understand how to express the feelings of the different persons by modulations of the voice. In addition, as a number of tales are really onomatopoetic, an artistic effect is produced. The way of reciting is always similar to the one above described by notes (p. 648).

Besides these tales, which may be called poetic prose, there are real poems of a very marked rhythm, which are not sung but recited. The following are examples:

Merrymaking Among the Tornit.

[Music]

The Eskimo reciting this song jump up and down and to the right and left with their legs bent and their hands hanging down, the palms touching each other. In crying aq! aq! they jump as high as possible.

The Lemming’s Song.

Ikergnapigen, ikergnapigen sirdnaturenain

aχe-eroqturenain nakusungming aukturenain

pijungmadjangilatit qialungnuaralungnan

[Music]

Besides these old songs and tales there are a great number of new ones, and, indeed, almost every man has his own tune and his own song. A few of these become great favorites among the Eskimo and are sung like our popular songs. The summer song (No. I) and “The returning hunter” (No. II) may be most frequently heard. As to the contents of the songs, they treat of almost everything imaginable: of the beauty of summer; of thoughts and feelings of the composer on any occasion, for instance, when watching a seal, when angry with somebody, &c.; or they tell of an important event, as of a long journey. Satiric songs are great favorites.

The form of both old and new songs is very strict, they being divided into verses of different length, alternating regularly. I give here some examples:

Arlum Pissinga (the killer’s song).

Qiangalo taitoχalunga qolaralo taitoχalunga

Qiangalogalo qolaralogalo aisinaiisi

senilearaluqdjuara maliksiaqtuaqtugo

uvanaleunen audlatsiapiata kingodnidlaqdjuagung

qangatirgakulung uaijuvara.

[Music]

The “killer” of the song title is a killer whale (arluk, gen. arluup or arlum).

I. The killer’s song:

(1) Qiangalo taitoχalunga,

Qolaralo taitoχalunga

Qiangalogalo

Qolaralogalo

Aisinaisi.

(2) Senilearaluqdjuara

Maliksiaqtuaqtugo.

Uvanaleunen

Audlatsiapiata

Kingodnidlaqdjuagung

(3) Qangatirgakulung uaijuvara.

II. Summer song:

Aja.

(1) Ajaja adlenaipa.

Adlenaitariva silekdjua una aujaratarame

Ajaja, Ajaja!

Aja!

(2) Ajaja adlenaipa

Adlenaitariva silekdjua una tektorotikelektlune.

Ajaja, Ajaja.

Aja!

(3) Ajaja nipituovokpan!

Nipituovokpan kouvodlalimokoa nunatine aujadle

Ajaja, Ajaja

Aja!

&c.

III. Utitiaq’s song:

Aja!

(1) Adlenaipunganema adlenait.

Adlenaipunganema

Adlenaipunganema adlenait,

Aja!

(2) Sikuqdjualimena adlenait.

Atoqpoqtaromena

Tanerangitu adlenait.

Aja!

&c.

IV. Kadlu’s song:

(1) Odlaqē´, odlaqē´, odlaqē´.

Odlaqē´ saranga tutaranga atujang una ajajaja.

Odlaqē´ atedlirlungai aχigirn qodlusuaning aχiatungitunga ajaja.

Nettiulunga iχatijetingirn pinassousirdlunirn pinasuatautlirpadlirunirn.

(2) Odlaqē´, odlaqē´, odlaqē´.

Odlaqē´ saranga tutaranga atujang una ajajaja.

Odlaqē´ atedlirlungai aχigirn qodlusuaning aχiatungitunga ajaja.

Ugjurutlarunirn iχatijitingirn pinassousirdlunirn pinasuatautlirpadlirnunirn.

(3) ....&c.

Some of these verses contain only a single word, the rhythm being brought about by the chorus aja, amna aja, &c. I add two examples of this kind:

V. Song in the language of the Angakut:

Ajarpaija taitlaniqdjuaq ajarpe aitarpik ajijaija.

Ajarpaija ataqdjuaq ajarpe aitarpik ajijaija.

Ajarpaija mingeriaqdjuaq ajarpe aitarpik ajijaija.

VI. Oχaitoq’s song:

Aja.

(1) Tavunga tavunga tavunga tavunga

Tavunga tavunga tavunga tavunga tavungadlo tavunga

Aja.

(2) Pissutaramaima tavunga tavunga.

Pissutaramaima tavunga tavunga tavungadlo tavunga, &c.

The rhythm of the songs will best be understood by examining the melodies. Every long syllable may be replaced by two or even three short ones; other short syllables appear as unaccented parts before the accented part of a measure; in short, the rhythmic adaptation of the words to the melody is very arbitrary and interchanges frequently occur, so that it is impossible to speak of metric feet. At the same time this furnishes distinct proof that the musical rhythm is the decisive element in determining the form. The rhythmic arrangement of the words is regulated with considerable exactness by the quantity of the syllables, and not by the accent. While, for instance, in speaking, it would be “palirtu´gun,” in song No. IV it is “palir´tugun´,” and in No. I “tekto´roti´kelek´tlune,” instead of “tektorotikelektlu´ne,” &c. Such displacements of the accent, however, are avoided if possible, and in the best and most popular songs they hardly appear at all.

The numbers refer to the songs printed below, so “No. I” is the Summer Song, No. II above. But the quoted word “tektorotikelektlune” occurs only in the first version.

The construction of the songs corresponds entirely with that of the music, inasmuch as every melody and every rhythmically spoken song is made up of musical, that is, rhythmic, phrases which are divided by cæsuræ. Repetitions of the same phrases are very frequent. The adaptation of the melodies to our divisions of time and measure is also somewhat arbitrary, as they frequently consist of a mixture of three and four part phrases. It is for this reason that I have noted down some songs without any division into bars or measures and in those cases have only marked the accented syllables.

Among the twenty melodies and rhythmic poems we find ten of binary measures, five of triple measures, and six of mixed ones. Of the whole number, nine begin on the full bar, eleven on the arsis.

The melodies move within the following range: In a fifth (No. III), one; in a minor sixth (Nos. VII, IX, X), three; in a major sixth (Nos. II, IV, XVII), three; in a seventh (Nos. XII, XIV), two; in an octave, (Nos. I, II, V, VIII, XI, XVI), six; in a minor ninth (No. VI), one; in a major ninth (No. V), one; in a tenth (No. XIII), one.

These may be divided into two very characteristic and distinct groups. The first, which would coincide with our major key, contains the following essential tones:

[Music]

The fourth and the sixth occur seldom, and then only as subordinate tones. This key is identical with the Chinese and many of the Indian ones.

In the second group, which corresponds to our minor key, we frequently find the fourth, while the sixth only appears twice and then as a subordinate tone (in No. XV). We furthermore find the major seventh in the lower position leading back to the beginning, i.e., the key note. The essential components of this key are:

[Music]

Professor R. Succo calls attention to the fact that the relation of the melodies to their key note resembles that of the Gregorian chants, especially the psalmodic ones among them.

If we, in accordance with our ideas, suppose the melody—No. XIII, for example—to begin in C major, it nevertheless does not conclude in the same key, but in E. We would say that No. XIV is written in A minor; still it ends in E. We find the same in the Gregorian chants. They also resemble the songs of the Eskimo in the retention of the same note during a large number of consecutive syllables.

On the whole the melodies, even to our musical sense, can be traced to a key note. However, changes often occur as well (see No. VI). A very striking construction appears in No. XIII, where the oft-repeated E forms a new key note, while at the conclusion the melody leaps back without any modulation to C through the peculiar interval, ḇ, c.

I. Summer Song.

Aja.

Ajaja, adlenaipa, adlenaitariva silekdjua una aujaratarame.

Ajaja, Ajaja, Aja.

[Music]

II. The Returning Hunter.

a.

Angutivun taina taunane taina,

auvasimameta avavasimameta neriopaluktunga,

hanga anga;

hanga anga agaga.

[Music (a)]

b.

Angutivun taina taunane taina,

auvasimameta avavasimameta neriopaluktunga;

hanga anga agaga.

[Music (b)]

III. Song of the Tornit.

Savu saujaqdjuin tetetlirpavun, aqtungan.

Surqarmun pilaktutu aχi lurpa, aqtungan.

[Music]

IV. Song of the Inuit Traveling to Nettilling.

Aja.

Aχagodlo palirtugun;

uangnangmun tipavunga,

ija jija ajaja.

Aja.

[Music]

V. Oxaitoq’s Song.

Aja.

Tavunga tavunga tavunga tavunga.

Tavunga tavunga tavunga tavunga tavungadlo tavunga.

Aja.

[Music]

VI. Utitiaq’s Song.

Aja.

Adlenaipunganema adlenait.

Adlenaipunganema adlenaipunganema adlenait.

Aja.

[Music]

VII. Song.

[Music]

VIII. Song.

Hajajaja hajaja hajajaja hajaja

hajajaja hajaja hajajaja hajaja.

[Music]

IX. Song of the Tornit.

Savungaja aja aja

Sama ajaja aja.

Nunataχatoq sedna,

sersertaχatoq sedna.

[Music]

X. The Fox and the Woman.

Sourme oχomejame, kangedlirpiuk tajajajaja.

Irdning nuχingnaq ujarqamoma satuaitiem

aqbiranga pirietukilaunga.

[Music: melody, recitative]

XI. The Raven Sings.

Aaja aja aja ajaja aja aja ajaja.

Aaja aja aja aja qilirsiutarata taunane.

Arnaqdjuqpun una qiavoqtung qitungnaqdjuago nutingmen.

[Music]

XII. Song of a Padlimio.

Ananema Padli unguatane naunirpunga

ananega oqsomiksema qijanurpomena kijutaidle

noutlarputin kungesiening qaqoamudle

noutlarputidle aja.

[Music]

XIII. Ititaujang’s Song.

Tavungavunga pisupagasupunga pisupagasupunga

silapotuadnun tigmidjen nunanun tavungaja ijaaja.

Nutitavun okoa

quliqdjuaq una

niguviksao adjirdjangirtun

qangiqsao adjirdjangirtun

kissieni okoa oχomeangitigun

majoardlunga tavunga

imma pisutalupurmalirmijunga.

[Music]

XIV. Playing at Ball.

Sake-etan sungmunpingmeta naumunpingmeta

qaujarajuva udlujarajuva

amutai qimutai idlo-oma una qagiela una

idnir sorivara inung ikoa oaitiangikoa audlertouqikoa

togitjugitjuge togitjugitjuge setidle sinadle

arnarisaigneman tigmidjen arnaining tunigo

anejuidla qausirtuming ita itjamuna

majaoadlelatit ikuseka avasituko

oqsukena taotugnite akataotuktara

sugavikana kananepa iluqio gnariputit

aaiqtodlutidlo nesertodlutidlo

avatirtunggiengodlutidlo

[Music]

XV. Playing at Ball.

χolurpajause χolupirpajause

surivanga pangmane majoriva pangmane.

[Music]

XVI. From Parry, Second Voyage, p. 542, Iglulik.

Amna aya aya amna ah

amna aya aya amna ah ah

etc.

The sixteenth bar is probably

[Music]

XVII. From Lyon, Private Journal, p. 135, Iglulik.

Pilitai, avata vat . . .

ah! hooi! ah! hooi!

[Music: as printed]

According to Parry, p. 542, the fourth bar of XVII is written: ;
the eighth, ;
Lyon bar after the twelfth bar inserted.

[Music: with all changes]

XVIII. From Kane, Arctic Explorations. The Second Grinnell Expedition, I, p. 383. From Ita, Smith Sound.

Amna gat amnaya amna ja amnayet.

[Music]

XIX. From Bessels’s Amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition, p. 372.

Ahjajajajajajajajaja

ahjajajajajajajajaja

ahjajajajajajajajaja ah.

[Music: line 1, line 2, line 3, line 4.]