434 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



to eat the burbot, another man was denied ptarmigan, and a woman 1 at 

 Nuwttk was not allowed to eat &quot;earth food,&quot; that is, anything which 

 grew upon the ground. Lieut. Kay also mentions a man who was for 

 bidden bear s flesh. 2 



We observed some traces of the superstition concerning the heads 

 of seals and other marine animals taken in the chase, which has been 

 noticed elsewhere. Crantz says: 3 &quot;The heads of seals must not be 

 fractured, nor must they be thrown into the sea, but be piled in a heap 

 before the door, 4 that the souls of the seals may not be enraged and 

 scare their brethren from the coast.&quot; And Capt. Parry found that at 

 Winter Island they carefully preserved the heads of all the animals 

 killed during the winter, except two or three of the walrus which he 

 obtained with great difficulty. The natives told him that they were to 

 be thrown into the sea in the summer, but at Iglulik they readily sold 

 them before the summer arrived. 5 



I tried very hard to get a full series of skulls from the seals taken at 

 Utkiavwlii in the winter of 1882- 83, but though I frequently asked the 

 natives to bring them over for sale, they never did so, till at last one 

 young woman promised to bring me all I wanted at the price of half a 

 pound of gunpowder a skull. Nevertheless, she brought over only two 

 or three at that price. We did not observe what was done with the 

 skulls, but frequently observed quantities of the smaller bones of the 

 seals carefully tucked away in the crevices of the ice at some distance 

 from the shore. We had comparatively little difficulty in obtaining 

 skulls of the walrus, but I observed that the bottom of Tuseraru, the 

 little pond at the edge of the village, was covered with old walrus skulls, 

 as if they had been deposited there for years. The superstition appears 

 to be in full force among the Chukches, who live near the place where 

 the Vega wintered. Nordenskjiild was unable to purchase a pair of 

 fresh walrus heads at the first village he visited, though the tusks were 

 offered for sale the next day 6 and at Pitlekaj. 7 &quot; Some prejudice * * * 

 prevented the Chukches from parting with the heads of the seal, though 

 * * * we offered a high price for them. Irgatti (to-morrow) 

 was the usual answer. But the promise was never kept.&quot; 



Amulets. Like the Greenlanders 8 and other Eskimos, they place 

 great reliance on amulets or talismans, which are carried on the person, 

 in the boat, or even inserted in weapons, each apparently with some 



Keport Point Harrow Expedition, p. 46. 



! Compare Kink, Talcs, ete., p. (&amp;gt;4; CranU. vol. 1, p. 215, and Parry, 2d voyage, p. 548: &quot;Seal s flesh 

 is forbidden, for instance, in one disease, that of the walrus in the other; the heart is denied to Home, 

 and the liver to others.&quot; 



Vol.1, p. 216. 



4 Becchey saw the skulls of seals and other animals kept in piles round th houses at Hothani Inlet 

 (Voyage, p. 259). 



6 Second Voyage, p. 510. 



Vega, vol. 1, p. 435. 



Vega, vol.2, p. 11)7. 



8 John Davis describes the Greenlanders in 158G as follows: &quot;They are idolaters, and have images 

 great store, wlneli they won- about them, and in their boats, which we suppose they worship.&quot; (llak- 

 luyt, Voyages, etc., 1589, p. 782.) 



