It is one of their favorite tricks to have their hands tied up and a thong fastened around their knees and neck. Then they begin invoking their tornaq, and all of a sudden the body lies motionless while the soul flies to any place which they wish to visit. After returning, the thongs are found untied, though they had been fastened by firm knots. The resemblance of this performance to the experiments of modern spiritualists is striking.
The angakut use a sacred language in their songs and incantations. A great number of words have a symbolic meaning, but others are old roots, which have been lost from common use in the lapse of time. These archaic words are very interesting from a linguistic point of view. Indeed, some are found which are still in use in Greenland, though lost in the other dialects, and others which are only used in Alaska.
I ought to add here that most of the angakut themselves believe in their performances, as by continued shouting and invoking they fall into an ecstasy and really imagine they accomplish the flights and see the spirits.
The angakoq, who must be paid at once for curing a sick person, receives pretty large fees for services of this kind.
Although witchcraft occupied a prominent place in the belief of the Greenlanders I could only find very faint traces of it in Baffin Land, to wit, the opinion that a man has the power of injuring a distant enemy by some means the details of which I did not learn.
I shall add here the numerous regulations referring to eating and working, many of which are connected with the Sedna tradition, and the observance of which is watched by the angakut. As all sea animals have originated from her fingers the Eskimo must make an atonement for every animal he kills. When a seal is brought into the hut the women must stop working until it is cut up. After the capture of a ground seal, walrus, or whale they must rest for three days. Not all kinds of work, however, are forbidden, for they are allowed to mend articles made of sealskin, but they must not make anything new. For instance, an old tent cover may be enlarged in order to build a larger hut, but it is not permitted to make a new one. Working on new deerskins is strictly forbidden. No skins of this kind obtained in summer may be prepared before the ice has formed and the first seal is caught with the harpoon. Later, as soon as the first walrus is caught, the work must stop again until the next fall. For this reason all families are eager to finish the work on deerskins as quickly as possible, as the walrusing season is not commenced until that is done.
The laws prohibiting contact with deer and sea animals at the same time are very strict. According to the Eskimo themselves Sedna dislikes the deer (probably for some reason connected with the tradition of its origin,) and therefore they are not allowed to bring it in contact with her favorites. The meat of the whale, seal, or walrus must not be eaten on the same day with venison. It is not permitted that both sorts of meat lie on the floor of the hut or behind the lamps at the same time. If a man who has eaten venison in the morning happens to enter a hut in which seal meat is being cooked he is allowed to eat venison on the bed, but it must be wrapped up before being carried into the hut and he must take care to keep clear of the floor. Before changing from one food to the other the Eskimo must wash themselves. For the same reason walrus hide must not be carried to Lake Nettilling, which is considered the domain of deer.
A similar custom requires that the Ukusiksalirmiut carry salmon into a hut by a separate entrance, for it must not pass through the same one as seal oil. Besides, the fish must only be cooked at the distance of a day’s journey from the place where they have been caught. If eaten on the spot they must be eaten raw (Klutschak, p. 158).
Their customs referring to hunting are manifold. When skinning a deer they must not break a single bone; then, they cut off bits of different parts of the animal and bury them in the ground or under stones (Hall I, p. 386). I have never noticed this custom myself. On the west shore of Hudson Bay dogs are not allowed to gnaw deer bones during the deer hunting season or seal bones during the sealing season (Klutschak, p. 123). Deer bones must not be broken while walrus are hunted (Hall II, p. 155).
When the men go out hunting in their kayaks the women of the Aivillirmiut take a cup down to the shore and leave it there, believing that it will bring luck (Hall II, p. 103). On Davis Strait they throw a piece of seal’s blubber on their husband’s kayak when he is about to go hunting (Kumlien, p. 45). After the capture of a whale the Aivillirmiut are not allowed to burn shrubs, but use bones of the whale instead, which are mixed with blubber (Hall II, p. 364). If an animal that is with young is killed the fetus must not be taken and used for food (Hall II, p. 253). When a bear is caught the Nugumiut and the Oqomiut are accustomed to fasten its bladder to a stick which is placed upright near the hut or encampment for three days.