When any of the tribe are dangerously ill, a conjurer is sent for,
and the bearer of the message carries a suitable present to induce his
attendance. Upon his arrival he encloses himself in the tent with
the sick man, and sings over him for days together without tasting
food; but Augustus, as well as the rest of the uninitiated, are
ignorant of the purport of his songs, and of the nature of the Being
to whom they are addressed. The conjurers practise a good deal of
jugglery in swallowing knives, firing bullets through their bodies, cfc.,
but they are at these times generally secluded from view, and the
bystanders believe their assertions, without requiring to be eye-witnesses
of the fact. Sixteen men and three women amongst Augustus’
tribe are acquainted with the mysteries of the art. The skill of the
latter is exerted only on their own sex.
Upon the map being spread before Augustus, he soon comprehended
it, and recognised Chesterfield Inlet to be “ the opening into
which salt waters enter at spring tides, and which receives a river at
its upper end.” He termed it Kannceuck Kleenceuck. He had never
been farther north himself than Marble Island, which he distinguished
as being the spot where the large ships were wrecked, alluding
to the disastrous termination of Barlow and Knight’s Voyage
of discovery*. He says, however, that Esquimaux of three different
tribes have traded with his countrymen, and that they described
themselves as having come across land from a northern sea. One
tribe, who named themselves Ahwhaeknanhelett, he supposes may
come from Repulse Bay; another, designated Ootkooseek-kalingmoeoot,
or Stone-Kettle Esquimaux, reside more to the westward; and the
third, the Kang-orr-mceoot, or White Goose Esquimaux, describe
themselves as coming from a great distance, and mentioned that a
party of Indians had killed several of their tribe on the summer preceding
their visit. Upon comparing the dates of this murder with
that of the last massacre which the Copper Indians perpetrated
* See Introduction to H e a e n e ’s Journey, page xxiv.
on these harmless and defenceless people, they appear to differ two
years; but the lapse of time is so inaccurately recorded,, that this
difference in their accounts, is not sufficient to destroy their identity;
besides the Chipewyans, the only other Indians who could possibly
have committed the deed, have long since ceased to go to war. If
this massacre should be the one mentioned by the Copper Indians,
the Kang-orr-mceoot must reside near the mouth of the Anatessy, or
River of Strangers.
The winter habitations of the Esquimaux, who visit Churchill are
built of snow, and judging from one constructed by Augustus to-day,
they are very comfortable dwellings.. Having selected a spot on the
river, where the snow was about two feet deep, and sufficiently compact,
he commenced by tracing out a. circle twel ve feet in diametei.
The snow in the interior of the circle was next divided with a broad
knife having a long handle, into slabs three feet long, six inches thick,
and two feet deep, being the thickness of the layer of snow. These
slabs were tenacious enough to admit of being moved about without
breaking, or even losing the sharpness of their angles, and they had
a slight degree of curvature, corresponding with that of the circle
from which they were cut. They were piled upon each other exactly
like courses of hewn stone around the circle which was traced out,
and care was taken to smooth the beds of the different courses with
the knife, and to cut them so as to give the wall a slight inclination
inwards, by which contrivance the building acquired the properties
of a dome. The dome was closed somewhat suddenly and flatly by
cutting the upper slabs in a wedge-form, instead of the more rectangular
shape of those below. The roof was about eight feet high, and
the last aperture was shut up by a small conical piece. The whole
was built from within, and each slab was cut so that it retained its
position without requiring support until another was placed beside it,
the lightness of the slabs greatly facilitating the operation. When
the building was covered in, a little loose snow was thrown over it* ' ' 2 M