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Labrador Eskimo, I was told that this is left to the decision 

 of a living relative, who gives the child his name. Among the 

 Alaskan Eskimo the choice is left to the community. The 

 community settle on a name, or give the child when it grows up 

 a nickname according to some characteristic, which invariably 

 sticks better than the other name. I have known Eskimo 

 nicknames such as "Broken," "Walrus," "Big Toe," etc., which 

 were passed on to white men, who took up their quarters in 

 houses which had been occupied by these characters. When 

 an Eskimo falls sick or becomes old, he often changes his name 

 to deceive the spirits and prolong his life. 



CHILDHOOD. 



As the child grows up, it plays at the work of its elders. 

 The girl helps her mother around the house, or plays with her 

 dolls 1 and minature house and utensils. Small children are 

 provided by admiring relatives with small ivory carvings of 

 animals and birds, with which they play by the hour, arranging 

 them for various plays and hunts. 



The boys early receive small harpoons and bows and arrows, 

 and try their skill on small birds and floating pieces of wood. 

 The sling is a favourite amusement in summer, when myriads of 

 waterfowl visit the shores. When the "young ice" forms on the 

 shore-line, the boys delight in making a minature boat out of 

 one of the cakes and paddle around with a little oar, or leap from 

 cake to cake, following the leader, or perform an impromptu 

 song and dance on a shifting "pan." Although Eskimo children 

 do not learn to swim, I have never heard of one of them being 

 drowned. Their hardiness is something wonderful, perhaps due 

 to letting them run around the iglu naked when young. I 

 have seen them in the early spring, only a few weeks after the 

 ice has broken up, running up and down the beach, and splashing 

 and wading in the icy water, perfectly naked, and evidently 

 having the times of their lives. 



1 Eskimo girls play their dolls are babies as white children do. They undress them and 

 put them to bed at night, and dress them up again in the morning. During the day they crary 

 them around in their hoods. 



