80 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



Such incidents as these seem to make unnecessary Petitot s 

 theory that the one line of the Eskimo s ancestry came of a 

 conquered race, which the victors assimilated by marrying and 

 subjecting their women. &quot;I can explain in no other way the 

 complete servility of the fair sex.&quot; (49:104.) 



But such domestic unpleasantnesses need not be supposed to 

 be common occurrences among the Eskimo. Like similar hap 

 penings among ourselves, they are of course more likely to get 

 &quot;in print&quot; than the even tenor of the average home life. 

 Nearly all who are familiar with the Eskimo would agree with 

 Holm when he says that &quot;the men as a rule treat their wives 

 well.&quot; (30:96.) Petitot, in the passage referred to above, 

 compares the general treatment of women by the Eskimo and 

 by the Indians among whom he worked much to the credit of 

 the former. Nansen, after describing some turbulent episodes, 

 adds, &quot;Scenes of this sort, however, are rare among this peace 

 able people.&quot; (43:121, 148.) Murdoch declares &quot;there often 

 appeared to be a warm attachment between married people.&quot; 

 (42:410; cf. 1.1:308.) Several writers describe scenes of 

 demonstrative affection. According to Holm, &quot; it is a usual thing 

 to see married people caressing each other with extraordinary 

 intimacy.&quot; (30:96; cf. 110; also 50:59.) Rasmussen writes: 



&quot;On the whole I have retained the pleasantest impression of the mutual 

 relations between man and woman. . . . We are quick to judge the 

 men, because they strike; and we are sorry for the women, who get a 

 black eye now and again as the result of a little temper. But we forget 

 that we civilized men, by a poisoned word, can often strike harder and 

 more brutally than the Eskimo with his fist.&quot; (50: 63 sqq.) 



The mutual affection of married people grows with age. To 

 quote Dalager, &quot;the longer a married couple live together, the 

 more closely are they united in affection, until at last they pass 

 their old age together like innocent children.&quot; (43:148; cf. 

 30:97.) Murdoch points out that marital troubles are chiefly 

 among young couples. (42:414.) 



As to the position of woman in the community, we have 

 very divergent testimony. Holm, for instance, remarks that 

 &quot;the women have social importance only in as far as they 

 give occasion for disagreement among men. Their position can 

 nearest be regarded as that of servants.&quot; (30:87.) But there 

 are many more witnesses which take a quite different view of 

 &quot;woman s sphere.&quot; Thus Murdoch says: 



