82 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



It is also common, on overland journeys, for a woman to act 

 as leader and guide of the dog-team. (42:274, 359; 26:138, 

 215, 1.1:175.) In East Greenland the men share in work other 

 wise performed only by women, such as flensing the seal, put 

 ting up the tent, and dragging the game to the house. 

 (30:97.) 



The following words of Westermarck are perfectly applicable 

 to the Eskimo: 



It is obvious that this strict division of labor is apt to mislead the 

 travelling stranger. He sees the women hard at work, and the men look 

 ing idly on; and it escapes him that the latter will have to be busy in 

 their turn, within their own sphere of action. . . . The wife is pro 

 nounced to be an abject slave of her husband, destitute of all right. And 

 yet the strong differentiation of work, however burdensome it may be to 

 the wife, is itself a source of rights, giving her authority within a circle 

 which is exclusively her own.&quot; (71, 1: 637.) 



This division of labor, based on physical and social condi 

 tions, has become fixed by custom, so that departure from it 

 is regarded as a disgrace. As Nansen says, * t it was beneath the 

 dignity of the hunter to lend a hand&quot; in any work peculiar 

 to women. (43:123; cf. 69:434.) But it should be added, for 

 this is liable to be overlooked, that even more disgraceful than 

 for a man to do a woman s, is it for a man not to do a man s 

 work. To the point is Crantz statement that &quot;those unable 

 to catch seals are held in the greatest contempt.&quot; (16.1:151.) 

 Recall the importance of ability as a hunter as a qualification 

 for marriage. 



A certain distinction between the sexes is seen on some social 

 occasions. For instance, at meals and banquets, the women do 

 not eat with the men. They eat either afterwards, or at the 

 same time by themselves. ( 19:76; 5:563; 1.1:122; 43:134.) 

 We must be careful not to read too much significance into such 

 a custom. Certainly, there is no evidence that the Eskimo 

 women regard this as a sign of social inferiority, as some of 

 the authorities do. Indeed they may prefer this arrangement. 

 Dalager relates that the men sit in their place and discuss 

 their hunting adventures, past and future (a subject more in 

 teresting to them than to the women), while &quot;the women too 

 have in the meantime formed a little party by themselves in 

 another corner.&quot; (Quoted 43:134.) We know that women 

 take part, equally with the men, in important events, like the 



