34 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



" No work must be done for three days after 

 a bear or a ground seal has been killed. The 

 women must not comb their hair." 



" The bedding must not be disturbed until late on 

 the day when a ground seal has been caught," and so 

 on ad infinitum. The origin of these taboos is impos- 

 sible to find, though in some cases there are stories 

 concerning them. For instance, walrus and caribou 

 must not come in contact any more than seal and 

 caribou, as in the first taboo mentioned above. This 

 is accounted for by the dislike of these animals for 

 each other as indicated in the following tradi- 

 tion : "A woman created both these animals 

 from parts of her clothing. She gave the walrus 

 antlers and the caribou tusks. When man began 

 to hunt them the walrus upset the boats with his 

 antlers and the caribou killed the hunter with his 

 tusks. Therefore the woman called both animals 

 back and took the tusks from the caribou and gave 

 them to the walrus. She kicked the caribou's 

 forehead flat and put the antlers on it. Ever since 

 that time it is said that the walrus and caribou 

 avoid each other, and the people must not bring 

 the meat of these animals into contact." 



In further explanation why portions of the 

 dead animals must not be brought into proximity, 

 it is said that the soul or innua of some sea animals 

 stays with the body that has been killed for three 

 days. Then it goes back to the chief goddess 



