When I was a wee lad, my dad told me the following allegedly-true tale:
There is a particular tribe of Eskimos, somewhere, whose means of enduring the harsh arctic winters is somewhat unusual. Since the winter temperatures can fall to 50 degrees below zero, it is dangerous to venture outside the safety of their igloos even to go to the bathroom. However, defecating indoors produces problems just as bad.
So, just before their winter hibernation, these eskimos consume a local plant which causes their bowel movements to cease. They then hole themselves up and live off their meagre food stores for the long winter months. When spring comes, they venture outside and find a particular species of willow bark which acts as a laxative. They then spend several hours pushing out a single enormous turd which is approximately the size of a football, as though they were giving birth to it.
Has anybody else ever heard a story like this one? Does it have any basis in reality whatsoever, or is it just a mythical tale that parents might regale their kids with when the topic of constipation comes up?
Fabrication. Eskimos don’t “hibernate,” even in a loose sense of staying indoors all winter long; they hunt seals during the winter. And it’s hardly 50 below for most of the winter. I believe that eskimos historically may have kept some sort of latrine bucket or chamber pot near the entrance to the winter dwelling for use when the weather was too bad, but they wouldn’t have had to do this all winter long.
One problem with the story is that it requires some plant diversity in an area that doesn’t have many plants at all. The really remote Inuit live on fish and seals and things. Homeopathic salads aren’t readily available.
You would think that if such a plant did exist, it would be valuable in areas where diarrhea is a major cause of death.
I’ve read something of the sort, but not exactly as the post says – thee’s nothing about hibernation or magical herbs to start or stop defecation. But I heard or read – I don’t remember where – that for some reason in the spring virtually everyone has some impressive case of constipation, although I don’t recall why. Maybe something to do with the change of diet.
The fact that can’t recall the source or the details doesn’t inspire me with feelings that this story is accurate.
I wouldn’t discount it right away. The Inuit have 17 different words for feces and it is unlikely that would have happened if it wasn’t a central part of their culture.
With the limited diet and few fresh fruits and veggies for fiber over the winter, consipation would be a major problem. The tales of little poop eventualy got to the point of…no shit, Sherlock.
Hmmm, it does make me wonder how they got the job done.
I worked at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska many years ago and I never heard anything like the story in the OP, but in the deep cold of winter I know exposed body parts didn’t last long. We used to run outside with a cup of hot coffee, turn around and toss the contents against the door. It was ice by the time it hit and rattled to the ground.
Of course, we wondered if we could get the same effect with a stream of fresh urine but I never encountered anyone who was curious enough to endure the discomfort that exposing the equipment would entail.
IANAE but as a child at summer camp I would refrain from defecating for an entire week rather than use the outhouses. The only dietary requirement was abstaining from the sloppy joes.
:eek: I came this close to posting the same comment verbatim on the recent outhouse thread. Can I take a wild guess at a frothing evangelical religious camp somewhere up in Minnesota?
As someone who grew up with winter temperatures of -40, I can assure you that as long as there isn’t a strong wind, exposing your buttocks (or any other skin) for a few minutes is not going to harm you.
Why, do you think the Eskimos weren’t smart enough to have invented chamber pots? Do your business in the pot, put a lid on it, and then take it outside to empty it the next time you go outdoors.
I went there too! Methodist camp by Brainerd? It wasn’t very evangelical the years I went, though depending on the camp dean it could seem that way. I even worked there one summer, along with several other humanists and pseudo-buddhists, actually. Those outhouses were traumatic that first week - I think I only pooped once.
As for the OP - I gotta remember that story for when I’ve got an impressionable youngster around.