60 THENORTHPOLE 



She may return to her parents, if they are living; she 

 may go to a brother or a sister; or she may send word 

 to some man in the tribe that she is now at liberty and 

 is willing to start life again. In these cases of primi- 

 tive divorce, the husband keeps one or all of the chil- 

 dren if he wants them; if not, the woman takes them 

 with her. 



The Eskimos do not have many children, two or 

 three being the usual number. The woman does not 

 take her husband's name in any case. Akatingwah, 

 for instance, will remain Akatingwah, whether she 

 has had one husband or several. Children do not 

 address their parents as father and mother, but call 

 them by their names, though sometimes very small 

 children use a diminutive which corresponds to our 

 "mamma." 



Among the Eskimos the woman is as much a part 

 of the man's property as his dog or sledge — except 

 in some rare cases. The cause of the suffragettes 

 has as yet made little headway in this region. I 

 remember one instance in which an Eskimo woman had 

 a difference of opinion with her husband, and proved 

 her right to independence by blackening the old man's 

 eye; but I am afraid that the more conservative 

 members of the tribe attributed this unfeminine 

 behavior to the corrupting influence of contact with 

 civilization. 



As there are more men than women among the 

 Eskimos, the girls marry very young, often about the 

 age of twelve. In many cases the marriages are 

 arranged between the parents when the children are 

 quite young; but the boy and girl are not bound, and 



