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best men of the tribe , and the latter married the dead man's 

 wife, whom he hves with till this day. 



The "public opinion" has very great weight among the 

 Eskimos, and the individual is obliged to give way before it. 

 It maintains the unwritten laws or regulations , which form 

 the basis of the training and attitude towards others of every 

 Polar Eskimo. These fundamental laws are in the main the 

 same as rule among other Arctic Eskimo tribes. As regards 

 West Greenland these laws have been discussed by H. Rink, 

 and in a similar manner as he has done we can formulate 

 some of the principal rules governing the social life of the 

 Polar Eskimos. 



(1) The requirement that no man except in case of natural 

 weakness can evade making his own living, and he is still less 

 permitted to interfere with others or prevent them from making 

 their living. 



(2) The rule that no one can establish himself in a settle- 

 ment without the permission of those already settled there. 



(3) The practice that the spoils of the hunt, when they are 

 not small, for example not less than a fjord seal among the 

 Polar Eskimos, are divided partly between those taking part in 

 the hunt, partly between the natives at the settlement, and 

 according to definite rules. In times of want the division of 

 the spoils and of the depots is made even more equal, but at 

 such times any person who is disliked runs the risk of being 

 excluded from receiving help. 



The man that cannot completely make his own living, 

 owing to either bodily or mental shortcomings, cannot obtain 

 a wife and thus is unable to reproduce his kind. Similarly a 

 hunter who has lost his strength in one way or another, will 

 also as a rule loose his wife, as she will leave him and seek 

 for a better provider, if any such will have her. There is no 

 doubt that this natural selection plays a specially great part in 

 a small hunting community like the Polar Eskimos' and it is 



