140 



The missionaries say that these feasts were accompanied 

 by a great deal of "rowdyism," in which the women were in- 

 volved, which may refer to an exchange of wives or favours 

 at the close of the festival, as is recorded in other sections (see 

 Boas and Nelson). 



The whaling festival is undoubtedly an old custom of the 

 Eskimo and formerly widespread. We find it among the Central, 

 Alaskan, and Asiatic Eskimo as well. It may have been intro- 

 duced in the west through Siberian tribes, as the Chukchee 

 and Koryak have a similar festival, but in the east it has 

 all the earmarks of an original Eskimo custom. 



THE SCULPING (SKINNING) DANCE. 1 



Information and pictures of this peculiar dance were ob- 

 tained from Mr. Holloway of St. Johns, Newfoundland, who 

 witnessed its performance on the "Home" some ten years ago 

 by a Hopedale Eskimo named Simon. Simon was one of the 

 Eskimo who took part in the World's Fair exhibition. Addi- 

 tional information was obtained from the Hopedale Eskimo 

 and a former trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, who were 

 acquainted with the dance. The dance is chiefly interesting 

 as it raises the question whether the Eskimo did not have dances, 

 like their stories, which contained an indirect ethical teaching. 

 The Eskimo themselves said that it was intended to teach the 

 people not to be too greedy. 



Simon's assistant, a small boy, lay down on the deck with 

 outstretched hands and feet, simulating a dead animal. A 

 shawl representing a skin was thrown over him. 



Then Simon started dancing around him, and began ex- 

 pressing his great joy at having killed so valuable an animal. 

 He sang that he was a very ambitious young man who had fallen 

 in love with a very pretty girl. To gain her favour he had trav- 

 elled north for valuable furs, far beyond the limits that any 

 of his tribe had ever known, and now he had slain this strange 

 animal with its rare fur, and he would return home rich and marry 

 the girl he had undergone such hardship to win. 



1 To "sculp" a seal is to skin it with the fat adhering to the hide. This is a term employed 

 by the Newfoundland sealers. 



