44 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



Yet there is undoubtedly much truth in these words of Murdoch : 



&quot;While a boy is desired, since he will be the support of his father 

 when the latter grows too old to hunt, a girl is almost as highly prized, 

 for not only will she help her mother with the cares of housekeeping 

 when she grows up, but she is likely to obtain a good husband who 

 may be induced to become a member of his father-in-law s family.&quot; 

 (42: 419.) 



The difference in the valuation put upon boys and girls is 

 shown in the case of orphaned children. Of these Nansen says : 



&quot;If a boy s parents die, his position is never a whit the worse, for 

 all the neighbors are quite willing to receive him into their houses, and 

 do all they can to make a man of him. With the girls it is different; 

 if they lose their parents and have no relations, they can always, indeed, 

 have plenty of food, but they have often to put up with the most miser 

 able clothing.&quot; (43: 135.) 



Such neglect of orphan girls must, however, be far from uni 

 versal, as shown in numerous stories in folk-lore. This same 

 authority also adds: 



&quot;When they come to marriageable age, they stand on pretty much the 

 same level as girls who have been more fortunately situated; for no 

 such thing as a dowry is known, and their chances simply depend upon 

 beauty and solidity, which shall secure them favor in the eyes of men.&quot; 



The position of the orphan boy in Eskimo folk-lore is an 

 exceedingly interesting theme. 



He is the hero par excellence; his struggles against difficulties and 

 final triumphs form a favorite subject. In the tale, &quot;The Little Angakoks 

 from the North Land&quot; (63: 281 sqq.) two orphans secured seals for 

 the people, after all the old angakoks had failed. A frequent theme is 

 that of an orphan boy, who has been neglected or tormented, becoming 

 a strong man and taking fatal revenge, often by the aid of supernatural 

 powers. In one story, the hero killed all his persecutors, &quot;only the poor 

 people who had been kind to him he spared.&quot; (53: 98.) In another 

 he &quot;slaughtered all but the little girl who had befriended him. She 

 became his wife.&quot; ((66: 265.) The words of one orphan-hero is the 

 keynote in most of these stories, &quot;They had no mercy on me when I was 

 weak, now that I am strong, I will have my revenge. 



Rink points out that this class of tales has &quot;a moral tendency, 

 bringing before us the idea of a superior power protecting the 

 helpless, and avenging mercilessness and cruelty/ (53:92; 

 cf. 3 : 272.) They are closely akin to the belief that 



