Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/247

Image missingFig. 201.Walrus tusk, used by a shaman. particular are untruthful, but I have heard just as many examples of it among the men.

Hospitality and helpfulness towards us white men were very marked, although I will readily admit that the motives were not always unselfish. While we were poor and dependent upon the Eskimos on Southampton Island, and could only pay them with promises. their behaviour towards us was rather different to when we were great and mighty people who possessed many things and with whom it would pay to be on a good footing.

Religion. I will not venture upon a description of the old religious ideas of the Iglulik Eskimos — the shamanism, taboo rules, amulets, legends and songs I will not touch upon, as they are outside the scope of this work and will be dealt with by the one who has made a special study of them, Dr. Knud Rasmussen. Many of them have a very great influence upon the daily life of the Eskimos, this being true particularly of shamanism and the innumerable taboo rules, among which the sharp differentiation between what concerns land and sea is especially of great importance.

I may, however, describe one or two specimens in the collection which illustrate religious matters:

Fig. 201 (Iglulik) is a walrus tusk used by a shaman; two of these are used during a séance, being placed in his mouth to represent a walrus; it is of ivory, 17½ cm long, pointed, blunt, rather curved; at the thick end is a large hole. A similar one, from Chesterfield Inlet, is of wood, with no hole in the root end, 17½ cm long.

Fig. 202 (Ponds Inlet and Iglulik) are two small knives of ivory which have hung at a shaman's belt; 1. represents a broad, two-edged knife, about 5.1 cm long. 2. represents a snow-knife. single-edged, 7.0 cm long.

From Ponds Inlet there is an old figure of a bird (tingmiujaq), the head being broken off; it is pierced by a hole in which is fastened a skin strap; it has apparently been used as an amulet.

I might also add something about the first appearance of Christianity among the Iglulik Eskimos.

In 1912 the Catholic Mission started a station at Chesterfield Inlet, under the leadership of Father H. Turquetil. but its influence did not become greater