112 



The placenta is carefully wrapped up and buried on the 

 beach. The Eskimo are very careful that no dogs get hold of it. 

 Probably their care is due to the same idea that impels them to 

 preserve their hair and nail parings, a feeling that it is a part 

 of themselves, which may be used for purposes of witchcraft. 



Eskimo mothers recover very quickly from the effects of 

 childbirth. It is not unusual to see them out the same day, with 

 the babe in their hood. Ordinarily the babe spends the first 

 few days of its life sleeping in a warm reindeer sack. When it 

 gets older, it is placed naked in the mother's hood, or, in very 

 severe weather, partly clothed. When the babe can just begin 

 to toddle around, a suit is made for him, which has the ends of 

 the sleeves sewn up to keep his hands warm. The suit has a 

 flap beneath and a bunch of moss for a diaper, which is renewed 

 as needed. The babe spends its days happily tumbling on the 

 floor of the iglu among the other children and the dogs, or is 

 carried around outside in the hood of his older sister who is always 

 very proud of her baby brother. The babe is the pet of the entire 

 family and receives the attention of all visitors, old and young, 

 with a gravity befitting the occasion. He early attains a knowl- 

 edge of his power, and acquires a habit of speaking with authority 

 which cannot be misunderstood. He is treated with great respect 

 by his parents, and his smallest wishes gratified. 



The custom among the Eskimo of treating a child with all 

 the deference due an adult, and asking his will or opinion with 

 mature respect, is perhaps due to their idea of the namesake 

 (at'itsi'ak) by which the child receives the name of the last 

 person who has died in the village. 1 It does not matter if the 

 child is of different sex, as names are not limited to sex among 

 the Eskimo, although certain names are more apt to be given 

 to one sex than the other. Often, when the child is born it 

 receives several names from those recently deceased, and the 

 correct name is left to a future decision. Among the East 

 Greenland Eskimo the right name is discovered by divination, 

 the diviner repeating the names of dead relatives until a pro- 

 pitious sign occurs at a certain one. 2 Among the modern 



1 In Labrador a widower names his first child after his deceased wife. 

 *Cf. Holm, The Angmagsolik Eskimo, p. 81. 



