He went right under, then and there—under the ice—and was immediately drowned and frozen. A handy piece of ice served to seal the death trap, and all was over. Nandla had died on the hunt, and had entered the Eskimo heaven like the other valiant men of his tribe, and taken his place with the doughtiest of them, where there would be joy and plenty for evermore. [[154]]
CHAPTER XI
Tribal Life—Continued
Childhood in the arctics does not last long. There are among the Eskimo a number of strange customs and superstitions attending not only the transition time between girlhood and maturity, but the whole physical life of woman, which may have their interest for the ethnologist (especially from the point of view of the interpretation of the mentality of primitive peoples), but in which the general reader would scarcely find much interest. Suffice it to say that the root reason—probably instinctive—underlying many of these observances and rites, these taboos and indications, is very possibly a hygienic one, since in nearly every instance some purpose of the sort seems to be unconsciously served. It may be that herein lies one of the true distinctions between uncivilised and civilised existence. In the latter, most of the functional aspects of life are subordinated to the intellectual and the spiritual, while in the former they bulk self-consciously and far more obtrusively even than among the lower animals.
The Eskimo community in sanitation or in sex matters has few reticences. This may be another way [[155]]of saying it has no pruderies. The native attaches no more importance to the functions of sex than to those of eating, drinking or sleeping. It would, of course, be easier to attribute complete insouciance in these respects to the native mind if, instead of trapping some of them out with rather elaborate ceremonial, it kept them all much on a level. In most instances of insistence, however, a hygienic motive, conscious or unconscious, lies behind them. Although the people live under very crude conditions, crowded together in the igloo, without privacy or special quarters for women, they are not without a sense of the fitness of things or some idea of personal modesty. It is the height of ill-breeding to stare, for instance, at anyone whilst dressing or undressing.
Like the Indians, and like most other uncivilised people, the Eskimo marry early, sometimes indeed at the age of twelve years. Unions are arranged by the mothers and grandmothers. A woman with a marriageable daughter is fully alive to the advantage of seeing a good hunter attach himself to the domestic circle. She looks round in good time, and noting some promising youth, makes overtures to his mother on the score of the cleverness, the docility and the industry of her girl. The whole thing at once becomes a fertile topic of discussion. Some amicable understanding having been reached, presents are interchanged and the young couple are informed that they are to be married. There is no ceremony. The girl is sent to her mother-in-law’s house, and for a [[156]]month or more works there under a pair of sufficiently vigilant eyes. This gives the boy also an opportunity of making up his mind about her. And the prospective bride has a chance to do the same about him. As a rule, the whole thing works out quite satisfactorily, and even happily; but if the girl turns out lazy or careless or bad-tempered, a divorce is declared and she returns to her parents’ igloo, to be married elsewhere, with better luck next time.
This sending of the bride to the hunter’s mother’s house scarcely amounts to an interval of probation. The girl certainly expects to stay. In all probability the young folk have known each other from childhood up, and there is no reason to suppose their marriage will be anything but a success. It is the Eskimo way of asserting the world-wide fact that you never know a person until you have to live with him—or her.
Should, however, real faults of temper or character be presently discovered on either side, it is quite open to the bride or bridegroom to ask to have a divorce declared. The matter is arranged between the families concerned, not necessarily by the Angakok. Should a girl be returned on her people’s hands enceinte, after an experiment of this sort (not a likely contingency at an early age), the child forms no obstacle to her contracting another union later on. It is adopted into the mother’s family and cared for as usual, without a trace of stigma attaching to either. In the Arctics, where families are small, children are an asset, and represent little burden to a community [[157]]every member of which is willing to help feed and support them. If a child is a boy, he will grow up to be a hunter, and catch seals for the tribesfolk; if a girl, she will become the wife of a hunter and the mother of more hunters.
The difference between married life and free or promiscuous unions, even with this primitive folk, is quite clearly marked. A married woman, i.e., a woman belonging definitely and recognisedly to such and such a man, is faithful to him and he to her, so long as harmony reigns between them and no “divorce” takes place. The occasional interchange of wives, such as during the Sedna ceremony, is a recognised institution of Eskimo life, and interrupts the even tenor of the connubial way in no permanent sense. There is a good deal of “immorality” (according to standards entirely inapplicable to this people in the native state), and promiscuous intercourse with widows and discarded wives. It is from this class that strangers staying in camp are accommodated with their temporary partners.