13 



England, Mikak, helped to pave the way. A document was drawn 

 up which the head men of the Eskimo signed,^ and a gift was 

 made to each family. The party then returned to England. 

 The next year a house and stores were brought out and the 

 Moravians settled down to their work with earnestness. 



The task of converting heathen, hostile Eskimo into peace- 

 fulminded Christians presented manifest difficulties. The habits 

 and mental attitude of the Eskimo were so entirely different 

 from what was desired that nothing short of a revolution in 

 their customs and thought had to be effected. Some of their 

 naive answers to the questions of the missionaries emphasize 

 this. One man, when asked if he believed in the Saviour, 

 declared that he believed very much, but what he wanted at 

 present was a knife. He later took unto himself some additional 

 wives, and on being remonstrated with about it, said that 

 "he needed them to man his boat," which was a good enough 

 Eskimo custom. The idea of blood-revenge cropped out when 

 the missionaries spoke of the death of Christ, for the Eskimo 

 thought they were "upbraiding them for former murders." 



But native ideas and superstitions proved to be more easily 

 overcome than the attraction of the southern white traders, 

 who held out the luring bait of tobacco, gew-gaws, and rum. 

 Many, even the famous Mikak, succumbed to such evils. It 

 was a desire to keep the Eskimo at home, away from the degen- 

 erating influences of this contact, which finally led the Moravians 

 to establish their trade stores in connexion with their missions. 

 The regulations governing native trade are strict, and the price 

 paid for native products is low. On the other hand, the Eskimo 

 receive good, honest trade goods at a reasonable price. The 

 profits of the stores are turned back into the Mission work. 

 The missionaries receive the princely salary of £23 a year, 

 which "supplies all their needs" and shows plainly enough that 

 they are not seeking to lay up treasures on earth. 



' This must have been the first document signed by the Eskimo in history. 



