24 



wintering place have the exclusive right of permitting others to 

 settle there. 



When the ESKIMO "TRIBES- are spoken of in works on 

 the Arctic l\egions, their native names will generally be found 

 ending in — mhit or -mut which signifies «inhabitants of». — 

 The ending is joined to a name which refers either simply to 

 a territory or to a particular wintering station , but comprising 

 the surrounding territory with the other stations that may be 

 found there. The application of the term «TRIBE» is undoubt- 

 edly the most correct in this case. As to the Eskimo it will 

 imply the possession of a territory and generally of a dialect in 

 the strictest sense. .Moreover, it will indicate the ordinary limits 

 of the «law of hospitality» and defense not only against other 

 tribes, but also against individuals dangerous to their own, in 

 other words the same to «tribe» as bloodvengeance is to «gens». 



Concerning government it must be remembered that the 

 regular ASSEMBLIES OF THE PROVIDERS in each wintering place 

 and occassionally LARGER MEETINGS of people from different 

 stations have served for councils as well as courts. Recent 

 investigations in the extreme East have confirmed what has 

 formerly been but vaguely alluded to, namely that EACH LARGER 

 HOUSEHOLD COMPHISIiN'G SEVERAL FAMILIES HAS A CHIEF, as con- 

 scientiously venerated and obeyed as heads of communities or 

 magistrates are elsewhere. 



As to the courts and the possibility of maintaining the 

 authority of law, it must be remembered that the members in 

 these isolated communities are, more immediately dependent on 

 their fellow men than the members of a civilised society, and 

 that, what is considered at the most a trifling inconvenience 

 in the latter, may be a severe punishment in the former. We 

 know that anciently in Greenland, public opinion formed the 

 real judgement seat, the general punishment consisting in the 

 offenders being shamed in the eyes of people. The regular 

 courts were the public meetings or parties which at the same 



