THE SONG OF THE INNUIT 1 



BY WILLIAM H. DALL 



Oh, we are the Innuit people, 



Who scatter about the floe 

 And watch for the puff of the breathing seal, 



While the whistling breezes blow. 

 By a silent stroke the ice is broke, 



And the struggling prey below, 

 With the crimson flood of its spouting blood 



Reddens the level snow. 



Oh, we are the Innuit people, 



Who flock to the broken rim 

 Of the Arctic pack where the walrus lie 



In the polar twilight dim. 

 Far from the shore their surly roar 



Rises above the whirl 

 Of the eager wave, as the Innuit brave 



Their flying lances hurl. 



Innuit is the name by which the Eskimo calls himself and his people from 

 Greenland to Mount St. Elias. The topek is the winter house of turf and wal- 

 rus hide, as contrasted with the igloo or snow-house, used where there is no 

 wood. All Innuit believe in evil spirits which dwell inland from the shores ; in 

 Greenland they are supposed to inhabit the Nunataks or peaks which rise like 

 islands out of the bosom of the glaciers. In times of starvation Innuit ethics 

 allow a mother to expose an infant, for whom she cannot supply food, in the 

 snow to die. The child's mouth is usually stuffed with grass, as otherwise its 

 spirit would return and be heard crying about the house at night. 



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