30 The Story of the New England Whalers 



work is not done because the Eskimo dislikes 

 dirt to any extent, but because his religion or his 

 ideas about luck make him think the things 

 should be cleaned. In this particular respect 

 the Eskimo differs, by the way, from the white 

 whalers, many of whom think that cleaning away 

 the dirt that accumulates on the masts of a ship 

 while cutting in blubber would surely bring bad 

 luck. 



When the owners of the umiaks have their 

 cleaning done, they hire their crews. For it is to 

 be noted that the modern Eskimo is a capitalist 

 an employer of labor. Some of them own 

 property of considerable value by the white man's 

 standard. That is to say, some of them own 

 harpoons, lances, and bomb guns to the value of 

 several hundred dollars, as well as boats. In 

 hiring his crew the boat owner sometimes pays 

 stated wages in tobacco, knives, guns, cartridges, 

 etc., which he obtains by selling bone to white 

 traders. Usually, however, he follows the white 

 custom and gives each man a "lay" or share of 

 the whalebone taken, the bone being the mer- 

 chantable portion of the whale. 



