Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/241
The man had to choose a woman from among the spectators and any woman who wished to be taken whispered his name, whereafter. he touched her with the whip and they went outside together; the wife was supposed to chastise the audience with her stick. Masks of wood or sealskin were used during the dance. Fig. 199 b is the model of a man's mask, of hairy sealskin, oval, with openings for eyes, nostrils and mouth and a prominent, hairless nose; eyebrows. moustache and beard of caribou skin with long hair; Image missingFig. 199.Masks. edged with a narrow strip with the hair-side inwards; 25 cm long. Fig. 199 a is the corresponding woman's mask, of black, unhaired sealskin, with eyebrows of hairy sealskin and tatooing marks of yellow strips of sealskin; prominent nose; 26 cm long.
The dancer was not supposed to laugh, although the audience could do so. The man who had the best meat had to hang it up in the house before the dance began and later on distribute it. At the end of the dance the house was closed and not opened again until another dance was to be held. This dancing was called tivaijoq.
Sometimes during the mask dance an artificial penis was worn; it was connected by a cord with the upper part of the body so that it could be raised and lowered; when it was raised the audience had to laugh; when it was lowered, they had to look grave.
It is now more than twenty years since the last mask dance was held at Iglulik and still longer since the Aiviliks held one. The whaler dances at the trading stations have superseded it.
In summer, when there had been particularly good hunting, great feasts were once held at places surrounded by large stones; it is these which Parry describes from Ungerlôdjan at Iglulik. At several places, for instance at Repulse Bay, we saw such large, four-sided stone walls, but as a rule they seemed to be connected with the Thule culture.
Customs and taboo regulations among the Iglulik Eskimos are dealt with at length in Parry,[1] Klutchak[2] and Boas,[3] the latter according to information supplied by Captain Comer. I myself have never been present at a burial; but through other members of the Expedition and also by means of finds and through the Eskimos.