Eskimo Bible History (3)

**List: Eskimo Ministry

the Bible ( the Bible )
Eskimo...
ESQUIMAUX.

"I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS.

THE Esquimaux are dispersed over the northern coast of North America, inhabiting the shores of all
the seas, bays, gulfs, and islands of the Arctic Ocean, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.   They are also
found on the Atlantic side of the continent, along the coast of Labrador, as far south as the fiftieth degree
of latitude; and they are likewise to be met with on the opposite coast of America, along the shores
of the Pacific, from Behring Strait to Mount St. Elias, in the sixtieth degree of latitude.   Their
territory is exclusively maritime, for they are seldom found above a hundred miles from the sea-shore:
the whole extent of country which this people inhabit does not, however, measure less than 5400 miles
from one extremity to the other, reckoning along the coast.
   Few countries are more thinly populated than the sterile domains of the Esquimaux.   In Labrador,
for instance, a large peninsula, equal in extent to Spain, France, and Germany, the resident population,
including the Moravians and the natives, does not exceed 4000.   Several dialects, of which Green-
landish is one variety, prevail among the different tribes of this widely- diffused race: but in smallness
of stature and other physical peculiarities, and in their dirty, disgusting habits, the various Esquimaux
nations strongly resemble each other; and, with the exception of those who have been reclaimed by
my. efforts, they are universally characterised by abject ignorance and its concomitant vices.
The sedentary Tchuktchi, a tribe inhabiting the north-eastward extremity of Asia, adjacent to the

shores of Behring Strait, speak a dialect akin to Esquimaux, and are supposed to be the descendants
of a colony planted by the West American Esquimaux.

II.--CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.

   Although the Esquimaux have been regarded by some writers as a distinct race, yet the peculiar
structure of their language is an evidence of their relationship to the other aboriginal tribes of America.
All the languages of that vast continent, from the most polished to the least cultivated idioms, are
distinguished by certain peculiarities of internal mechanism, which, independently of historical or
other collateral testimony, distinctly indicate the fact of their having originated from one common
source.
   The distinctive characteristic of this class of languages is their tendency to compress the words
which are syntactically or logically connected together in a sentence into one single word.   This
peculiarity, which was first pointed out by Egede, in his account of Greenland, is familiarly called
"agglutination," and is of such frequent occurrence in most of the American languages, that
Du Ponccau has given the name of "Polysynthetic" to the whole group.   The process of forming
these compound words is not, however, conducted on precisely the same principles in all the languages
of this class.   In the Algonquin and Esquimaux dialects, the five or six words thus compressed into
one are all so abbreviated, that only one syllable (possibly the radical) of each is preserved.   Extreme
precision is another characteristic of American languages, every modification and qualification of an
idea being expressed with such elaborate minuteness as to appear puerile and wearisome to Europeans.
Thus, the Esquimaux have special and distinct terms for animals of the same species, according to their
age, sex, and form.   The nouns in general have no inflexions properly so called; plurality is denoted
by a suffixed particle, and the oblique case of the personal pronoun is often inserted between the verb
and the noun, producing a form of circumlocution like the following: "I saw him Peter."   In the
conjugation of verbs, on the contrary, inflections expressive of the various modes and modifications of
actions are even more numerous than in the Shemitic languages.
   The uniformity which pervades the grammatical principles on which all American languages are
constructed is not observable in their respective vocabularies; for the corresponding words in different
dialects frequently differ so widely from each other, as to warrant the supposition of their having been
deduced from distinct roots.   A comparison has been instituted, by Professors Barton and Vater,
between the words of about thirty American languages and the corresponding terms of other tongues;
and in some instances affinities have thus been traced with various languages of north-eastern Asia.
The affinity is, however, by no means sufficiently strong to indicate community of origin with any
known language; and from all that has been hitherto ascertained concerning the American Indians,
their languages, traditions, polity, manners, and customs, it is evident that this branch of the human
family separated from the parent stock at a very remote epoch of history, and from some unknown
cause, subsequently retrograded from a state of civilisation to their present degraded and unsettled
condition.

III.--VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.

   The glad tidings of the Gospel were first proclaimed in these inclement regions by the Moravian
mies., who were induced to visit Labrador from the supposition that the natives spoke the
same language as the Esquimaux of Greenland, among whom a Moravian mission had been established.
It was, however, soon discovered that the dialect of Labrador differed in so many respects from that of
Greenland, that the same version of the Scriptures would not be available for both countries.   The
mies. therefore addressed themselves in the first instance to the preparation of a harmony of the
Gospels for the Esquimaux of Labrador: many years were spent in revising and correcting this work,
and at length, in 1809, it was sent for publication to London.   Mr. Kohlmeister, who had been many
years a my. in Labrador, extracted from this MS. an entire version of the Gospel of St. John;

and in 1810 an edition of 1000 copies of that Gospel was published in London, at the expense of the
British and Foreign Bible Society.   The copies were transmitted to Labrador, and were received with
great thankfulness.   "Our people (said the mies.) take this little book with them to the islands
when they go out in search of provisions; and, in their tents or snow houses, they spend their evenings
in reading it with great edification and blessing."
   This reception of the Gospel of St. John induced the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible
Society to comply with the entreaties of the Labrador mies., to publish an edition of the other
three Gospels.   A version had been prepared by the venerable superintendent of the Labrador Mission,
the Rev. C. F. Burghardt, who was permitted to complete his revision of the text shortly before
his sudden dissolution.   An edition of 1000 copies, to correspond with the Gospel of St. John, was
therefore issued by the Society in 1813.   A version of the Acts and Epistles, prepared by the conjoint
labour of the Moravian mies., was published by the Society in 1819; and in 1826 a complete
edition of the Esquimaux New Testament left the Society's press in London.   In 1826 a version of
the Psalms was also printed, and in 1839 a revised edition of the Acts, Epistles, and book of Revelation
was completed.   Other editions have been given by the Society at successive periods, and with the
exception of some of the historical books, the Esquimaux version of the Old Testament has been com-
pleted.   The Pentateuch was published in London in 1847, followed in 1849 by an edition of the
Proverbs and the prophetical books.   The number of copies of the sacred volume, in whole or in
part, hitherto bestowed by the Society on the Esquimaux of Labrador, is as follows:--

New Testament   .   .   .   .   4000
Pentateuch and Psalms   . . . 2016
Proverbs and Prophets . . .   1000
Isaiah         .     .   .   .   .   .   1006

IV.--RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION.

   The blessing of God on this version of His Word has been abundantly manifested from the earliest
period of its circulation.   A my., who had laboured thirty-four years in Labrador, gave, in
1825, the following account of the effects of its perusal:--"The most efficacious means of promoting
growth in grace among our Esquimaux is the reading of the New Testament.   They peruse it daily
in their houses and tents with the greatest earnestness, delight, and edification.   Their understanding
of the Word of God has greatly increased, and the influence upon their moral conduct is manifest; for
they now, more than ever, desire to regulate their walk and conversation in conformity to truly Chris-
tian principles.   Surely (after stating other interesting facts, he adds) this is an astonishing display of
the goodness and mercy of God, in sending out his light and truth to a benighted people, who but half
a century ago were immersed in the grossest superstition, and addicted to the most cruel vices.   Those
things which were formerly practised among the Esquimaux by their sorcerers and angekoks are at
present hardly ever heard of, the heathen themselves being ashamed of them.   In the Christian settle-
ments the very names of angekok, tomgak, etc., are almost unknown to the rising generation."
   In the schools established at the four my. stations in Labrador for the instruction of the
young, the study of the Scriptures has been attended with spiritual fruit more or less abundant; and in
some of the more recent reports the mies. state that, at the yearly examination of the schools, it
is truly gratifying to observe the readiness with which "the pupils bring forth out of the treasury of
the Word of God the many precious truths they have learned from its pages."   At Easter [Resurrection] (says a later
writer) many of the Esquimaux visited Hopedale, and all appeared much gratified with the celebration
of the sacred season.   "In conversing with them we were pleased to find that they were not altogether
without knowledge of religious truth, and that they know what they must do to inherit eternal life.
The Bible is their only instructor.""--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only]

ESQUIMAUX.--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.]

[Christian Helps Ministry (USA)] [Christian Home Bible Course]