38 PEANZ BOAS 



across the oceau, where they became the ancestors of the whites. The five others she sent 

 inland, where they became the ancestors of the Adlat or Erqigdlit. The resemblance of 

 part of this tradition to the Sedna myth is striking, and several other facts make it prob- 

 able that both are closely connected. The name of the old man and that of Sedna's 

 father is the same, Savirqong, that is " the one with the knife : " and the name of the 

 daughter and Sedna's second name are also identical, Uinigumissuitung, or " she who 

 would not take a husband." But what is more remarkable, in Labrador and Iglulik, Adla, 

 the name of these monsters, means " Indian." This meaning is forgotten on both coasts 

 of Davis Strait. It is evident, however, that an historical fovmdation for this legend 

 exists on the American continent, which was forgotten by the tribes who travelled north 

 and east. 



The historical basis of the following tradition is still more evident. The Eskimo of 

 Baffin Land and Greenland tell of the Tornit. In Greenland, they are a fabulous tribe of 

 inlanders, of supernatural size and strength. In Baffin Land, they are an ancient Eskimo 

 tribe differing from the present inhabitants in dialect and customs. In early times they 

 liA'ed with the Eskimo, but left the country on account of a quarrel. They cut off the tails 

 of their jumpers, and changed their head-dress, that the Eskimo might not recognise them 

 if they should meet again. The same tradition says that they did not use bows and 

 arrows, and did not know how to build kayaks. Their peculiar customs are the subject 

 of many a tale. 



It is an important and interesting problem to account for the similarity and dis- 

 similarity of the traditions and language of the Eskimo, of different parts of the Arctic 

 coast. The tradition of the origin of the whites is one of the most interesting. The 

 Eskimo cannot have become acquainted with the whites until about eight hundred years 

 ago. Yet the name for the white man is the same in the dialects of the Eskimo language 

 from Greenland to the Mackenzie. This is the more remarkable, as the root of the word 

 Qadlunac[, probably meaning " something strange," is a very rare one. How is it that all 

 these tribes use the same word for " the white man " ? We can understand its general use 

 on the continent and the islands, as continuous intercourse exists between the tribes. But 

 it seems that communication between the Greenlanders and Central Eskimo was cut off 

 hundreds of years ago. Anybody, unacquainted with the character of the Eskimo, 

 might attribute a comparatively recent origin to the tradition. But it must be borne in 

 mind, that events which happeuedmore than three hundred years since, as the remark- 

 able expedition of Frobisher to Frobisher Bay, is still told in a correct form, without any 

 additions. Besides this, the traditional form in which the legend is told, is word for word, 

 identical in Greenland and Baffin Land. The woman sings : — Angnaijaja, Taunungaima 

 tildkusilima saipaqomik pangmierfap?/se, Angnaijaja, or "when you have arrived, you will 

 make many nice little things." There is not a word on the white man in the original form 

 of the tradition, as it is handed down in a song, but it is generally understood, that these 

 " nice little things " are the whites. I do not doubt that the Eskimo, when immigrating 

 into Greenland, were in possession of the tradition, and that it was later on applied to the 

 whites. Whether this was done independently on both sides of Davis Strait is difficult 

 to decide. But I am in favor of the theory that a connection between Greenlanders and 

 the Smith Sound tribes existed later than we are inclined to think. We do not know 

 at all how far the North Greenlanders extend their migrations in Melville Bay ; and it is 



