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these things the Polar Eskimos do not exact the precise, well- 

 founded understanding as in the case of the actions which 

 have to do with earning their livelihood. They are carried out 

 simply because they have been prescribed in this way in the 

 old traditions, the origin of which is lost in the dim past. 



We touch here on an interesting point, namely, the rela- 

 tion between their absolute, social freedom on the one side 

 and their dependence on tradition on the other. The Polar 

 Eskimo is his own master in everything he does, and he per- 

 mits no interference from others. He will only take up some- 

 thing new when it has been shown to him in such a manner, 

 that his desire to imitate has been roused. On the other 

 hand, if he is accustomed to do anything, he continues to 

 do it owing to man's natural inertia, even after the rea- 

 soning has been forgotten. Even after such a tradition has 

 lost its practical significance, indeed after it has come into 

 conflict with practical interests, it may still be retained as a 

 survival or remnant. 



The cultural history of the Polar Eskimos has in fact 

 shown examples of such survivals, which stand in direct con- 

 flict with the interests of the tribe. I may recall here firstly, 

 how they had earlier failed to hunt the reindeer, though their 

 neighbourhood was sometimes teeming with these animals, which 

 for most other Eskimos constitute such an important part of 

 the hunt. Further, how they did not fish for the salmon, 

 though they had the opportunity of observing every year, at 

 least in one lake at Etah , the great abundance of this fish, 

 which is also of importance for most other Eskimos. The 

 same thing applies to their ignorance of the kayak. There 

 can be no doubt that these cultural shortcomings must be 

 regarded as survivals of traditions from the time that the 

 Polar Eskimos lived under conditions, when the hunting of 

 the reindeer and the fishing for salmon had to be given up for 

 natural reasons. 



