The Chemawa American, February 23, 1927, Page 4, Image 4

THE CHEM AWA AMERICAN
PAGE 4
ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND ESKIMOS
(Continued from page 1)
and sang, changing the expression of his voice accord­
ing to the story of the song. The first dance was giv­
en by two sturdy young men. All wore gloves of skin.
The dancing was largely a series of postures in which
the arms were swung this way and that. They kept
time to the music by stamping the floor.
Later one woman joined the dance to show that she
was related to these men. She kept time by bending
her knees and swinging her arms. After the dance
was over we went outside for an exhibition of blanket
tossing. Forty men surrounded a walrus hide about
fifteen feet square, holding it low. A boy jumped into
the middle of the hide. He stood upon his feet and
at a word they jerked the hide taut, sending him up
into the air. As he fell they came closer together,
then again threw themselves back tossing him higher,
continuing to do so as long as he could keep his feet.
A girl took his place and was tossed into the air
amid the hilarity of her friends. She had been prac­
ticing ever since she was small and therefore won the
contest. The blanket tossing and dancing are very
much the same as mainland games except that we cele­
brate by tossing only when a whale is caught.
The leaders of St. Lawrence Island Eskimos organ­
ized a Co-operative Reindeer Commercial Company,
paying big dividends of furs and carving ivory to the
stockholders. It is the most prosperous of all native
stores.
There was but one family there which had lived as
Christians since Dr. and Mrs. Cambell went out, after
being there for nine years.
Mr. Nickerson organized a Sunday School and
Christian Endeavor Society and before he left there
were about forty young Christians on the island. Mis­
sionaries are more needed on that island than in any
other part of Northern Alaska.
PREHISTORIC TOOTH IN MONTANA
Many people and many races are proud of their
ancestry—their family tree—and do an immense
amount of unwarranted boasting we are inclined to
believe, if the truth were known. We fancy that one
race of people is about as old as another, and all are
mixtures of good and bad.
From an article published not long ago it seems that
the aborigines of this country can as justly claim the
distinction of being of the “first family” as any race
on earth. If what scientists say is correct, their an­
cestors dated from “way back,” far enough back to
bring glory to those of our Indian people to care to
“glory” in such things. Read for yourself:
In a coal mine about 45 miles from Billings, Mont.,
a human tooth was found which scientists think may
be older than either the Neanderthal or Java man.
The find was made by Dr. J. C. Siegfriedt who has
been collecting fossils in the coal deposits for several
institutions, including the University of Iowa. This
tooth, it is believed, belonged to a primitive type of
man who lived in this region in the eocene period
when the mammals first began to appear upon the earth
in great numbers. The coal deposit itself is supposed
to have been formed a million years or so ago.
Previously to the finding of the tooth Dr. Siegfriedt
had found other valuable fossils of ganoids, which are
scales of certain types of fish. The scientist was
fortunate in uncovering the tooth in that he preserved
the matrix which encloses the top of the tooth. The
mold is perfect. Thousands of years ago the enamel
of the tooth had already turned to carbon and the
lime of the roots to iron. Dentists pronounced the
tooth the second lower molar of a human being.
INDIAN LANGUAGE
J. W. Johnson of Columbia Falls, Montana, in a
letter addressed to The Pathfinder, makes a few ob­
servations relative to Indian languages which are of
considerable interest. For instance, he says that the
Indians have no “cuss” words, neither have they a
word for “kiss,” but read the article yourself:
The writer is a veteran of the Civil war. I came
west in the late 60s. I had dealings with the Crow,
Cheyenne and Sioux Indians, and was a scout under
General Terry and General Miles during the Sioux,
Cheyenne and Nez Perce wars. Naturally I was in­
terested in your article “A Model Language.” Rev.
Ashley is correct in saying the Indians have no cuss
words; neither have they a word for kiss. The closest
the Sioux comes to it is “Sle-pa,” meaning to lick
with the tongue. The flick of the middle finger is an
expression of scorn all right, but they have still a
stronger expression of contempt which is to close the
hand close to and in front of the nose, giving the
hand a slight twist. The scowl of the face is sure the
limit of contempt. The sign language was very ex­
pressive and was handy in dealing with the different
tribes.
NINTY MILES BY LITTER
Under date of Feb. 16 the following dispatch from
Aberdeen, Wash., appeared in the papers:
An heroic trek through the wilderness of the West­
ern Olympic mountains to save the life of an Indian
woman and her infant child ended here Thursday
with the arrival of eight Quillayute Indians bearing
the mother, Mrs. Chris Penn, and the body of her ba­
by, who died enroute.
The terrific march of the natives had continued
steadily since early Sunday when they started from the
mouth of the Quillayute river, almost 90 miles north­
west of here, for Grays Harbor hospital.
The eight braves, carrying the woman and her five-
months-old son on an improvised litter, mushed their
way over snow-covered trails to Lake Quinault where
the party was convoyed to Aberdeen.
During the entire trip both the mother and child
were helpless from fever, the baby finally succumbing
in the arms of one of the bearers between Lunch Creek
and Lake Quinault, the last stage of the long trek.
The mother, stricken with grief, is reported to be re­
covering from her illness. The eight braves, almost
exhausted, are being cared for by members of the In­
dian agent’s office in Hoquiam.