OCR Text |
Show SOME FRUGAL DINNERS V - . . . , d In striking contrast to tho Joyous and delicious Thanksgiving dinners of American civilization aro tho frugal repasts of the many thousands dwelling dwel-ling in remote and Inhospitable parts of tho United States. Tho natives who llvo on tho coast of Alaska have a somewhat harder Btrugglo for existence exist-ence than do their reindeer breeding neighbors of tho interior. All during the year tho former aro forced to wago a ceaseless warfaro upon the whale, seal and walrus for subsistence. subsist-ence. In gathering their Thanksgiving Thanksgiv-ing repast or feast the efforts of the wholo household aro employed. In November and all through tho winter hunting of tho sea animals 1b mainly carried on through holes In tho Ice. Fish Is obtained entirely In this manner. man-ner. A young girl will sit on blocks of Ice, covered with a fow skins., all day fishing. In the face of a bitter wind, with tho temperature 00 degrees de-grees below zero. In hunting the seals young boys locato tho openings with keen-scented dogs trained for tho purpose. The seals, as well as tho walruses, are compelled to frequent fre-quent these for occasional breathing spells. Hesldo ono of theso fissures tho hunter will watch for hours, waiting for his prey. As soon ns tho animal Is heard blowing ho ..ulckly plunges his harpoon down Into the holo with all his strength. The wounded wound-ed seal or walrus at onco pulls strongly strong-ly on tho coll, but soon becomes exhausted, ex-hausted, and Is easily killed and drawn up on tho Ice. Tho whlto whalo, on account of Ito great amount of oil blubber, as well as meat. Is ono of tho cholco food animals. ani-mals. The expert and eager hunter, when first ho discovers one of these .whalo holes, usually five miles or moro from shore, out on tho lco floe, rushes at onco with the glad tidings to his home. Thoro is at onco a great furor and excitement. The sledges aro mado ready, nnd the wife sometimes some-times thoro aro soveral together with all tho avnllablejnombers of tho family, dash over tho ice pack to tho "blowhole." Arriving on tho scene, harpoons and guns are utilized for shooting nnd capturing- the proy. About every twelvo or eighteen minutes min-utes tho school of whalo will nrlso to blow, swimming tho length of tho holo, to nnd fro. Tho broathlng spells only last about two seconds. Often when tho main rising occurs iho holo becomes so filled that tho body of a whalo will bo pushed two-thirds out of tho wator and held in this position for soveral seconds before going un-dor un-dor agnln. Awaiting theso opportunities, tho natlvos aim for a place Just back of tho skull, tho bullet breaking or dislocating dis-locating tho spinal column. All killed In this way lloat on tho surfaco, and aro Immediately drawn upon tho Ice, and either dragged or taken ashoro on a slodgo. This work Is ropeated, and sometimes as many as ono hundred hun-dred carcasses aro obtained and stored away for futuro uso. Getting one of tho big monsters ashoro, which moans a royal feaBt. Is n wclcomo tug of war, which old and young lend a hand In Walrus meat Is tho most highly prized and appetizing of all their animal ani-mal diet. No feast, Thanksgiving or othorwiso, Is considered completo without tho head, which is thought to bo tho most delirious part The most welcome son of tho housohnld Is tho ono seen appronchlng the camp with n largo walius head on his back So toraptlng Is this 1losh that It Is cut off in slices and c'nten raw. I,Ifo among tho reindeer breeders of tho Interior Is a .trifle easier and moro assured than that of the eoas,t pcoplo, hut tho dlot is wollnlgh ns poor and scanty, tho rolndoer furnish ing food, clothing and transportation. Tho neighborhood of a herder's household house-hold or camp, as It will bo found on Thanksgiving day, is probably ono of tho most isolated nnd dreary on tho" globe. His skin tent nbodo Is pitched on tho deBolnto, snow covered tundra, fnr from tho outposts of civilization. Tho herder Is tho record breaking mover of tho world. Every forty-eight forty-eight hours for nlno months his fmil tent homo Is pulled down and set up ngaln In the vicinity of his ever roving rov-ing flock. Tho deer nro not allowed to feed long on ono pasture, as the constant scraping of their lioofB hardens har-dens tho snow, nnd It becomes dull-cult dull-cult for them to get at the moss un-dcrnenth. un-dcrnenth. Largo honlB huvo to movo every fow hours, and aro actually kept on the go all the winter, as a territory that has beon grazed over for a day Is useless till next season. The moss upon which tho deer Teed Is a foot or moro below tho surfaco of the snow, and Is obtained by burrowing bur-rowing down with their sharp cloven hoofs. New Mexico is supposed to bo protty well supplied with tho articles nnd comforts of civilization, yet natives of Old Mexico aro to ho found along the southern border who llvo In tho most prlmltlvo way. A woman of this kind, for Instance, prepares bread tor n Thanksgiving spread by kneeling kneel-ing down and grinding corn upon tho aboriginal stono raetate, used hundreds hun-dreds of years ago, or maybe she makes frIJoles from beans ground In tho somo laborious way. |