214 



Inasmuch 



Social 

 Organization 



Eskimo 



Beliefs 



For an estimate of the Eskimo character and 

 habits we must consider the extracts given in the 

 preceding chapter, in connection with what is now 

 to be said concerning their response to the teach 

 ing and demands of the Christian faith. 



&quot;The Eskimauan social organization is ex 

 ceedingly loose. In general the village is the 

 largest unit, although persons inhabiting a cer 

 tain geographical area have sometimes taken the 

 name of that area as a more general designation, 

 and it is often convenient for the ethnographer 

 to make a more extended use of this native cus 

 tom. In matters of Government each settlement 

 is entirely independent, and the same might 

 almost be said for each family, although there 

 are customs and precedents, especially with regard 

 to hunting and fishing, which define the relations 

 existing between them. Although hardly de 

 serving the name of chief, there is usually some 

 advisory head in each settlement, whose dictum 

 in certain matters, particularly as to the change 

 of village sites, has much weight, but he has no 

 power to enforce his opinions.&quot; 



&quot;The Eskimo believe in spirits inhabiting 

 animals and inanimate objects. Their chief 

 deity, however, is an old woman who resides in 

 the ocean, and may cause storms or withhold 

 seals and other marine animals if any of her 

 tabus are infringed. Her power over these 

 animals arises from the fact that they are sections 

 of her fingers cut off by her father at the time 

 when she first took up her abode in the seas. 



