22 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



Boas has presented what, he himself rightly says, &quot;seems an 

 attractive hypothesis&quot; (6:570), and it may be added, a very 

 suggestive one, for the explanation for this group of taboos. To 

 state it in his own words : 



&quot;The Eskimo taboo forbidding the use of caribou and of seal on 

 the same day may be due to the alternating inland and coast life of 

 the people. When they hunt inland, they have no seals, and conse 

 quently can eat only caribou, and of course, when they hunt sea-animals, 

 this is reversed. 



&quot;From the simple fact that for a long period the two kinds of meat 

 could not be eaten at the same time, the law developed that the two 

 kinds of meat must not be eaten at the same time.&quot; (9: 222.) 



A good summary of the fundamental ideas of the Eskimo on 

 the raison d etre of this striking feature of their moral and 

 religious life is furnished in the explanations given Rasmussen. 



&quot;We do not believe in any God, as you do,&quot; the Eskimo said. &quot;We 

 do not all understand the hidden things, but we believe people who say 

 they do. We believe our magicians, and we believe them because we 

 wish to live long, and because we do not want to expose ourselves to the 

 danger of famine and starvation. We believe, in order to make our lives 

 and our food secure. If we did not believe the magicians, the animals 

 we hunt would make themselves invisible to us; if we did not follow their 

 advice, we should fall ill and die.&quot; (50: 123.) 



&quot;We observe our old customs, in order to hold the world up, for the 

 powers must not be offended. . . . We observe our customs in order 

 to hold each other up; we are afraid of the great evil. Men are so help 

 less in face of illness. The people here do penance, because the dead are 

 strong in their vital sap, and boundless in their might. If we did not 

 take these precautions we believe that great masses of snow would slide 

 down and destroy us, that snowstorms would lay us waste, that the sea 

 would rise in violent waves while we are out in our kayaks, or that a 

 flood would sweep our houses out into the sea.&quot; (50: 124.) 



Typical of the legends which are related to show &quot;the recoil 

 of the action on the doer,&quot; as it is aptly called, is one recorded 

 by Rasmussen, * The man who did not perform his penance. 



This individual had buried his wife, &quot;but refused to observe the penances 

 that are imposed on those who have handled corpses. He did not believe 

 in the precepts of his forefathers, he said.&quot; He deliberately did many 

 things which he was forbidden to do, in order &quot;to fling defiance at what 

 his countrymen believed. It was all lies, he said.&quot; But one day he was 

 found torn to pieces, &quot;just as the spirits always do treat people,&quot; so 

 the tale ends, &quot;who will not believe in the traditions of their fathers.&quot; 

 (50: 133.) 



