106 TURNER ON THE INDIANS 



by the less influential people. Differences of opinion and of decision often arise, and 

 the factions separate temporarily, but within the year they reassemble as though no 

 discord had previously existed. 



As the wealthier alone are able to possess an umiak, the means of procuring seals to 

 furnish the skins, which are indispensable to Innuit economy, are placed within their 

 power to a greater degree than is the case with one unable to journey by water, through 

 want of that necessary couA^eyance to which the kaiak, or individual boat, is more often an 

 adjunct. The possessor of the large or open boat is able to move with his family and 

 effects to a locality where, from his kaiak, he has discovered an abundance of seals, 

 walrus or other creatures ; while the men who have no boat, can procure only that which 

 comes near the shore. These latter, accordingly, accompany the wealthier as assistants, 

 and receive whatever their more fortunate employers may choose to give in return. 



The dwellings of the Innuit are the skin-tent and the snow-hut. Several families 

 may dwell under the same shelter and, as often happens, those so dwelling, constitute a 

 party in the community going and coming at their own pleasure, and several of these 

 communities comprise the population of a locality ; and among the Sûkhinimyut, there 

 is the same character of subdivisions of the people of a locality as obtains among the 

 remainder of the Innuit here included. 



The possession of a kaiak is the first great desire of a youth, for even many of the men 

 do not own an individual boat, the second is for an umiak, the third for a team of dogs 

 and sled, the fourth for a skin-tent. A gun and a wife are easily obtained, but not so 

 readily as those properties, which enable a man to take his place, not only among the 

 wealthier and respected members of the community, btrt among all the Innuit with whom 

 he comes in contact. The first possession enables him to procure skins with which to 

 cover the second ; the frame is easily fashioned. When he owns the means of transpor- 

 tation, his next object is to possess the tent for shelter, and the team of dogs to drag the 

 sled loaded with his household effects or the products of his success in the hunt. As his 

 wealth increases, a second or third wife may be added to assist in the labors that attend 

 it. A family springs up around him, and he is happy if the child be a male to inherit 

 his property. 



The Innuit of the Ungava district attain a good age, many of them reaching sixty 

 years and not a few living to seventy. Gray hairs rarely appear until the latter age, and 

 baldness is extremely rare. None of these Innuit practice the tonsure; they wear no 

 labrets, and do not pierce the ears or nose to insert ornaments. 



The practice of tattooing is rapidly going out of existence, although one of the most 

 profusely tattooed women I ever saw (and the custom is confined alone to that sex) was 

 a fair-skinned young woman of the Tahagmyut. Other women are content with a few 

 dots of tattoo-marks upon the concealed portions of the breast and shoulders. The designs 

 have no significance, and are produced by some old woman who has charge of the person 

 when she arrives at puberty. This old woman prepares some lamp-black, mixes it with 

 juice from the blueberry, punctures the skin, and rubs the mixture upon it. The two 

 persons retire to a secluded spot, and remain there until the second appearance. The girl 

 is then permitted to return, and must indicate the period of recurrence by folding the hind 

 flap of her coat. 



When a child is born, the mother wraps it in the softest skins she is able to procure ; 



