RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF TEE CENTRAL ESKIMO. 629 



season begins, all the winter clothing, and the tent that has been in 

 use during the walrus-hunting season, are buried, and not used again 

 until the following walrus-hunting season. No walrus hide, or thongs 

 made of such hide, must be taken inland, where is the abode of the 

 caribou. 



Similar laws, although not quite so stringent, hold good in regard 

 to contact between seal and walrus. The natives always change their 

 clothing or strip naked before eating seal during the walrus season. 



The soul of the salmon is considered to be very powerful. Salmon 

 must not be cooked in a pot that has been used for boiling other kinds 

 of meat. It is always cooked at some distance from the hut. Boots 

 that were used while hunting walrus must not be worn when fishing 

 salmon, and no work on boot-legs is allowed until the first salmon has 

 been caught and placed on a boot-leg. 



The fact that these taboos are not restricted to caribou and walrus 

 suggests that the mythical explanation given above does not account 

 for the origin of these customs, but must be considered as a later effort 

 to explain their existence. 



The transgressions of taboos do not affect the souls of game alone. 

 It has already been stated that the sea mammals see their effect upon 

 man also, who appears to them of a dark color, or surrounded by a vapor 

 which is invisible to ordinary man. This means, of course, that the 

 transgression also affects the soul of the evil-doer. It becomes attached 

 to it and makes him sick. The shaman is able to see, by the help of 

 his guardian spirit, these attachments, and is able to free the soul from 

 them. If this is not done the person must die. In many cases the 

 transgressions become attached also to persons who come in contact 

 with the evil-doer. This is especially true of children, to whose souls 

 the sins of their parents, and particularly of their mothers, become 

 readily attached. Therefore when a child is sick the shaman, first of 

 all, asks its mother if she has transgressed any taboos. The attach- 

 ment seems to have a different appearance, according to the taboo that 

 has been violated. A black attachment is due to removing oil-drip- 

 pings from under the lamp. As soon as the mother acknowledges the 

 transgression of a taboo, the attachment leaves the child's soul and the 

 child recovers. 



The souls of the deceased stay with the body for three days. If a 

 taboo is violated during this time the transgression becomes attached 

 to the soul of the deceased. The weight of the transgression causes the 

 soul pain, and it roams about the village, endeavoring to free itself of 

 its burden. It seeks to harm the people who, by their disobedience to 

 custom, are causing its sufferings. It causes heavy snows to fall and 

 brings sickness and death. Such a soul is called a tupilak. Toward 

 the middle of autumn it hovers around the doors of the huts. When a 



