GILBERTSON: ESKIMO CULTURE 39 



presented a whole year later, when they were honored &quot;to their 

 great delight.&quot; (1. 2:64; cf. 3:299.) Among the very same 

 Eskimo spoken of above as so distrustful of the whites, Nelson 

 states that it was 



A constant practice to obtain credit at the trading stations to be paid 

 for when they should have procured the necessary skins/ And he adds 

 that they were &quot;very honest, paying all debts contracted in this way,&quot; 

 in many cases when the trader would have had no means of obtaining 

 his pay. He remarks that * a curious part of this custom was that very 

 often the same Eskimo who would be perfectly honest and go to great 

 trouble and exertion to settle a debt, would not hesitate to steal from 

 the same trader. &quot; (45: 294.) 



I find in this fact an illustration of their strict fidelity to a 

 promise, as compared with a rather disrespectful attitude toward 

 uncovenanted property. Cartwright relates a striking and 

 significant incident ; an Eskimo absolutely refused to part with 

 a bundle of whalebone, which he brought to pay a debt with; 

 notwithstanding I assured him that the person to whom he owed 

 it was not in this country, nor would ever return to it.&quot; 

 (12:296.) Amundsen tells of a native mail-carrier, who 

 although urged by his family to remain at home to take care 

 of an injury, 



&quot;withstood all temptations, and continued on his route. . . . He 



was stimulated by a desire to prove that he was a man of his word. He 



was especially delighted at the praise I gave him for his integrity and 

 sense of honor.&quot; (1. 2: 76; cf. 1.1: 196.) 



Westermarck says that the regard in which truth is held by 

 the Eskimo seems to vary among different tribes.&quot; (71. 2: 75.) 

 There is no reason why such a statement may not be made of 

 different individuals of the same tribe- Because a traveler 

 happens to encounter an honest man in New York and a dis 

 honest one in Chicago, it would hardly do to say that American 

 cities differ in honesty. Indeed, we have evidence that quite 

 opposite types of character may be found in one and the same 

 Eskimo community. Even allowing full face value to all damag 

 ing evidence, after a careful consideration of all available data 

 I think there is no reason why we may not say of the Eskimo 

 what Matthews does of the Indians, that they are &quot; not less 

 truthful than the average of our race. Also it is well to bear 

 in mind, what this same writer reminds us of, that &quot;all people, 

 in all times, have found it convenient to condone a certain 



