ODD CUSTOMS 67 



other foods to keep the infant alive. If they have 

 reverted to the old custom during my absence, they 

 have not mentioned the fact to me, knowing of my 

 disapproval. 



If a death occurs in a tent, the poles are removed, 

 and the tent is left on the ground to rot or blow away. 

 It is never used again. If the death occurs in an igloo, 

 the structure is vacated and not used again for a long 

 time. The relatives of the dead observe certain for- 

 malities in regard to food and clothing, and the name of 

 the lost one is never mentioned. If any other members 

 of the tribe have the same name, they must take 

 another until an infant is born to which the proscribed 

 name can be given. This appears to remove the ban. 



Eskimos are children in their grief, as in their 

 pleasure; they weep for a dead friend a few days, then 

 they forget. Even a mother who has been inconsolable 

 at the death of her baby soon laughs again and thinks 

 of other things. 



In a country where the stars are visible for so many 

 weeks at a time it is not strange perhaps that they re- 

 ceive much attention from the natives. The Eskimos 

 are, within barbaric limits, astronomers. The prin- 

 cipal constellations visible in northern latitudes are 

 well known to them and they have given them their 

 own names and descriptions. In the Great Dipper 

 they see a herd of celestial reindeer. The Pleiades are 

 to the Eskimos a team of dogs pursuing a solitary 

 polar bear. Gemini they describe as two stones in the 

 entrance of an igloo. The moon and the sun represent 

 to the Eskimo, as to some of our North American In- 

 dian tribes, a fleeing maiden and her pursuing admirer. 



