THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE ESKIMO 35 



Perhaps the efforts of the medicine man are all 

 in vain, and when death seems certain the patient 

 is carried to a small skin tent or snow hut, where he 

 is left alone to die ; for if death should occur in 

 the ordinary dwelling, everything within would 

 have to be broken and thrown away. The Eskimo 

 *are terrified of a dead body, but the dying person 

 is said to be very courageous, and not at all un 

 willing to leave this world ; one young girl asked 

 for some tobacco and meat which she wished to take 

 to her mother, who had died a few weeks before. 



The body, wrapped in deer skin, is buried at 

 once, and if the season is summer, a pile of stones 

 is erected, great care being taken that these do not 

 rest over the body, for their weight would be thought 

 to hinder the journey of a soul in the next world. 

 Evidently the Eskimo believes that life in the 

 next world is very like existence here, for with a 

 man is buried a variety of hunting implements ; 

 a dead woman requires pots, lamps, and knives ; 

 while toys are always placed with the body of a 

 little child. The nearest relatives always pull 

 the body to the burial-ground; dogs may not be 

 used on such solemn occasions, and the sledge 

 used must always be left by the grave. Silently 

 the friends return to their hut, where for three 

 days and nights they mourn for the dead person. 



Sitting around their tiny lamp, the Eskimo hear 

 the raging of the storm, and with awe listen to the 

 terrible noises of shrieking winds or crunching ice. 

 For these are said to be the voices of spirits who 

 knock wildly at the huts and pursue the dogs ; terrible 

 is the fate of a poor Eskimo who falls into their grip. 



