RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMO.[B]
By Professor FRANZ BOAS.
[B] A description of the religious beliefs of the Central Eskimo, based upon observations made by the writer, was published in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. The following account embodies observations which Capt. James S. Mutch, of Peterhead, Scotland, following a suggestion of the writer, had the kindness to make. The material for this study was collected by Capt. Mutch during a long-continued stay in Cumberland Sound.
The Eskimo who inhabit the coasts of Arctic America subsist mainly by the chase of sea-mammals, such as seals of various kinds, walruses and whales. Whenever this source of supply is curtailed, want and famine set in. The huts are cold and dark—for heat and light are obtained by burning the blubber of seals and whales—and soon the people succumb to hunger and to the terrors of the rigorous climate. For this reason the native does everything in his power to gain the good-will of the sea-mammals and to insure success in hunting. All his thoughts are bent upon treating them in such a manner that they may allow themselves to be caught. On this account they form one of the main subjects of his religious beliefs and customs. They play a most important part in his mythology, and a well-nigh endless series of observances regulates their treatment.
The mythological explanation of all the prevailing customs in regard to sea-mammals is contained in a tale which describes their origin:
“A girl named Avilayuk refused all her suitors, and for this reason she was also called ‘She who does not want to marry.’ There was a stone near the village where she lived. It was speckled white and red. The stone transformed itself into a dog and took the girl to wife.
“She had many children, some of whom became the ancestors of various fabulous tribes. The children made a great deal of noise, which annoyed Avilayuk’s father, so that he finally took them across the water to a small island. Every day the dog swam across to the old man’s hut to get meat for his family. His wife hung around his neck a pair of boots that were fastened to a string. The old man filled the boots with meat, and the dog took them back to the island.
“One day, while the dog was gone for meat, a man came to the island in his kayak[C] and called the young woman. ‘Take your bag and come with me,’ he shouted. He had the appearance of a good-looking, tall man, and the woman was well pleased with him. She took her bag, went down to the kayak, and the man paddled away with her. After they had gone some distance, they came to a cake of floating ice. The man stepped out of the kayak on to the ice. Then she noticed that he was quite a small man, and that he appeared large only because he had been sitting on a high seat. Then she began to cry, while he laughed and said, ‘Oh, you have seen my seat, have you?’ [According to another version, he wore snow-goggles made of walrus-ivory, and he said, ‘Do you see my snow-goggles?’ and then laughed at her because she began to cry.] Then he went back into his kayak, and they proceeded on their journey.
[C] The one-man hunting canoe of the Eskimo.
“Finally they came to a place where there were many people and many huts. He pointed out to her a certain hut made of the skins of yearling seals, and told her that it was his, and that she was to go there. They landed. The woman went up to the hut, while he attended to his kayak. Soon he joined her in the hut, and staid with her for three or four days before going out sealing again. Her new husband was a petrel.
“Meanwhile her father had left the dog, her former husband, at his house, and had gone to look for her on the island. When he did not find her, he returned home, and told the dog to wait for him, as he was going in search of his daughter. He set out in a large boat, traveled about for a long time, and visited many a place before he succeeded in finding her. Finally he came to the place where she lived. He saw many huts, and, without leaving his boat, he shouted and called his daughter to return home with him. She came down from her hut, and went aboard her father’s boat, where he hid her among some skins.