19 



As to the rest of what we know about THK TRADITIONS OF 

 THE WESTERN TRIRES an article by John Murdoch in the "American 

 Naturalist» (July 1886) under the title of «a few legendary frag- 

 ments from Point Barrow», must be greeted as the first attempt 

 to procure the materials hardly to be dispensed with by the student 

 of American archæology. The fragments treat of: (I) How people 

 have their origin from a dog as one of their remote progenitors. 

 The Eastern Eskimo refer this descent not to their own race 

 but to that of the Indians and Europeans as children of the 

 same couple. As for the question about the first intercourse 

 with these races it will be interesting to know how far from Point 

 Barrow this divergeance of evidently the same ideas begins. — 

 (2) Another account of the origin of human beings ; this seems 

 not to be known before. — (3) The origin of reindeer and fish; 

 the first part of this is new, the other is also known in Green- 

 land. — (4) Thunder and lightening. The Greenland version 

 of this, mentioned by Crantz and Egede, is already almost sunk 

 in oblivion, but 1 believe that a similar one is still popular in 

 Baffin's Land. — (5) The story of Kokpausina. The authors 

 suggestions with regard to a relationship between this story and 

 some Greenland tales are quite correct, we recognise 3 or 4 

 of its principal elements in the latter. — (6) A murder at Cape 

 Smith, and (7) the people who talked like dogs, are said to be 

 of more recent origin. — (8) The «house-country». The author's 

 hints at its resemblance to the mysterious Akilinek of the Green- 

 landers and his added remarks on fabulous men and animals all 

 perfectly agree with what I have been able to infer from the 

 Greenland folklore. 



According to A. Pinart, the Eskimo of Kadjak were at one 

 time for a certain period subdued by the Koliushes and adopted 

 some of their religious ideas. This gave rise to a sort of 

 MIXED MYTHOLOGY, speaking of 5 heavens which the human 

 soul had to pass after death before the real death took place, 

 and they invoked the Eskimo »hlam chouan (Greenland: i^Uap 



