134 



Any weapon bound with sinew must not be used on a whale. 

 Whaling lances and blubber hooks must be bound with sealskin 

 thongs. 



Weapons with a rotten shaft must not be used on the whale. 

 No rotten wood must be brought in contact with a whale. 



In killing seals, if the eyeball is cut, it will blind the other 

 seals, and ensure their easy capture. 



When the seal is cut up, if the tip of the heart and liver 

 are thrown back into the water, more seals will come in future 

 to the hunter. 



During the whale hunt, the women and children must 

 remain indoors silent and motionless while the men are out. 

 Once at Nachvak, while the men were out whaling and the 

 women and children were gathered inside the iglu, a mouse ran 

 across the iglu, and a child saw it and ran after it. Consequently 

 a whale, which the men had struck, was lost. 



Of the second class of taboos, contamination, I secured the 

 following : 



During her catamenial period, a woman must never step over 

 a kayak, but always go around. The evil influence believed to 

 emanate from her condition would cause the game to avoid 

 the kayak. She must wear the hind flap of her qo'lituk stitched 

 to the back of the garment (to indicate her condition to the 

 hunters). Her left hand must remain ungloved, and the first 

 two joints of her right hand finger (representing the cut-off 

 joints of Sedna's hand) must also be bared. She must not touch 

 certain foods and skins. 



The left nostril must be stopped with reindeer moss by 

 those burying a corpse to avoid the contaminating influence of 

 the dead. 



Other customs and ideas of a more miscellaneous character 

 are: 



The knife with which bear meat is eaten must be bitten 

 before the owner starts to eat. 



After anyone dies, no work must be done for three days. 

 During this period no sharp-edged instrument may be used 

 which might injure the wandering ghost. 



