GILBERTSON: ESKIMO CULTURE 49 



132.) In another a second wife killed the first, of whom the husband 

 had not informed her. She took the slain woman s child. The man 

 &quot;was not angry with her on account of the murder because she had let 

 the boy live.&quot; (53: 276.) 



Finally we may refer to an account by Khitschak. 



The expedition of which he was a member (Schwatka s) had secured an 

 Eskimo and his wife to accompany them. The couple had a girl five or 

 six years old, who, according to common usage, was &quot;betrothed&quot; to an 

 adult. The latter demanded the child as a hostage, lest they would not 

 return. &quot;It was a painful situation for Nalijau and his wife. On the 

 one hand was a better, care-free, easier life without their beloved child 

 on the other, the most wretched conditions with their child.&quot; But after 

 a long struggle, the father came and announced that they had decided 

 to remain. &quot;The love of the parents for their child had won in the 

 struggle with the prospect of a better life.&quot; And the author adds that 

 this decision met with the general approval of the other Eskimo. (34: 169.) 



I think facts like these throw more light, than would a long 

 discussion, on the psychology and ethics of infanticide among 

 the Eskimo. ( See also 9 : 192 ; 66 : 192 ; 42 : 415. ) 



Fceticide would be very difficult for an observer to discover. 

 From the desire of the Eskimo for children we would suppose it 

 to be very rare. Of a case described by Holm, that author says 

 that it was * a great offense to the other Eskimo. 



15. CANNIBALISM 



Deniker enumerates as causes of anthropophagy, or cannibal 

 ism, necessity, gluttony, and superstition. (17a:147.) Of the 

 second of these, no instance has been found among the Eskimo. 

 The third is given as a reason in only two reported cases. 

 In Greenland, according to Rink, &quot;a slain man is said to have 

 the power to avenge himself by rushing into him/ which can 

 only be prevented by eating a piece of his liver.&quot; (53:45.) 

 At Bering Strait, Nelson informs us, 



&quot;when young men fought in their first battle each was given to drink 

 some of the blood, and made to eat a small piece of the first enemy 

 killed by them, in order to render them brave.&quot; (45: 328.) 



But there are many cases recorded of the eating of human 

 flesh under the pressure of imminent starvation necessity 

 that force which we saw to be cause of the killing of children, 

 sick and aged. (6:144, 258, 278, 489, 494; 1. 1:278, 281; 

 30: 162.) Generally it is only bodies already dead from disease 



