Guest guest Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 This is an exerpt from the book " The Artic Grail " by Pierre Berton about British explorer Barrow's 1819 expedition to Greenland and his encounter with Eskimos for the first time. It highlites some WAP foundations and also shows how diffrent native cultures are from modern in terms of food and abundance. == page. 54 The Eskimos lived for the day - for any day might be their last. Life for them was feast or famine. When food was available, they ate it all; when there was none, they went without, uncomplaining. The British thought them gluttons, but gluttony in that spare land was one of the few luxuries they knew. They were always thirsty and, when they could, drank copious quantities of water and other fluids. For thirst - raging thirst - was as common in the Artic as in the desert. To eat snow was tabooed for whites and natives alike, for the resultant loss of body heat could kill a man. But snow could only rarely be melted because fuel was as precious a commodity as food; water was a luxury to be obtained at its exspense. Parry once conducted an experiment by offering a young Eskimo, Tooloak, as much food and drink as he could consume overnight. In just twenty-one hours, eight of which were passed in sleep, Tooloak tucked away ten pounds of bread and meat and drank almost two gallons of liquids, including soup and raw spirits. This native gourmandizing was turned into a contest by the irrepressible Lyon, who decided to pit his man, Kangra, against Tooloak. Kangara managed to devour in nineteen hours just under ten pounds of meat, bread, and candles and six quarts soup and water. Lyon insisted that if Kangara had been given Tooloak's extra two hours, he would have " beaten him hollow " . Parry found the Eskimo diet " horrible and disgusting " . The odor of blubber, which the natives crammed into their mouths raw, " was to us almost insufferable " . Some of the crew who first encountered the spectacle in Hudson Straight turned away from the sight in order to avoid being sick, whereupon the mischevious Eskimos ran after them, gleefully holding up pieces of raw blubber, inviting them to eat. Lyon, who had nibbled on sheep's eyes in the bedouin of the Western desert, was less fastidious. He found the nerooka (partially digested vegetation from seal intestine) " acid and rather pugent, resembleing as near as I could judge a mixture of sorrel and radish leaves " . Apparantaly, he concluded, " the acidity recommends it to these people, " but he didn't ask why nor did he seem to connect the half-digested vegetable diet with the Eskimos' remarkable freedom from scurvy. The natives were just as repelled by British food. They couldn't abide sugar; even the smallest children disliked it. They spat out rum. When one was offered a cup of coffee and a plate of gingerbread, he made a wry face and acted as if he were takeing medicine. One miserable woman who had been left to starve after her husband's death was brought aboard the Hecla and offered bread, jelly, and biscuit. Lyon noticed she threw the food away after pretending to eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 11:12:50 -0500 (EST) Balbach <stephen@...> wrote: > >This is an exerpt from the book " The Artic Grail " by Pierre Berton about >British explorer Barrow's 1819 expedition to Greenland and his >encounter with Eskimos for the first time. It highlites some WAP >foundations and also shows how diffrent native cultures are from modern in >terms of food and abundance. > >== > >page. 54 > <snip> > >Parry once conducted an experiment by offering a young Eskimo, Tooloak, as >much food and drink as he could consume overnight. In just twenty-one >hours, eight of which were passed in sleep, Tooloak tucked away ten pounds >of bread and meat and drank almost two gallons of liquids, including soup >and raw spirits. Anyone know what constitutes raw spirits? Surely it must be a euphemism for some kind of alcoholic beverage as I can't imagine a raw distilled beverage. But hope springs eternal <g> Democrats, We Are Begging You Return to the days of yesteryear http://tinyurl.com/2ryhp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 , Raw spirits google search seemed to implicate vodka. Would think it to be alcohol rather than beer or wine. Watched Nanook of the North from 1922 recently. Once a year they'd go to the trading post to exchange their furs for supplies. Nanook got his children candy each time. One of the daughters they showed being given castor oil by the trading post man after getting sick from the candy. Feast and famine was Inuit life in 1922 too. Two years after that movie was made Nanook went deer hunting and died of starvation. The only thing edible where the deer were was moss which had all been eaten by the deer. > >Parry once conducted an experiment by offering a young Eskimo, Tooloak, as > >much food and drink as he could consume overnight. In just twenty-one > >hours, eight of which were passed in sleep, Tooloak tucked away ten pounds > >of bread and meat and drank almost two gallons of liquids, including soup > >and raw spirits. > > > Anyone know what constitutes raw spirits? Surely it must be a euphemism > for some kind of alcoholic beverage as I can't imagine a raw distilled > beverage. But hope springs eternal <g> Wanita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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