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hair up in two braids which hang down in front on her shoulders, 

 and loops her hair in side plaits under her ears and fastens it at 

 the back of her head. She leaves off the sexless square-cut 

 bottom qo'lituk and appears in the gorgeous long- tailed, big- 

 hooded affair affected by married women. Her chin is tattooed, 

 and she appears shy and bashful, where she has been a noisy, 

 romping child before. The Mission Eskimo women of Labrador, 

 like those of Greenland, wear coloured ribbons as a distinguishing 

 mark. The young girl has a pink ribbon, the married woman 

 uses blue, and the widow, white. In Greenland an unmarried 

 girl who has children wears a green ribbon, but no particular 

 disgrace attaches to it. 



The new couple usually take up their abode with the girl's 

 parents until they are able to set up a home for themselves. 

 Sometimes an extra good hunter will supply food to both sides 

 of the house, but usually he assists his wife's family. Separation 

 is frequent among young couples, due to trifling disputes or 

 incompatibility, and other partners are sought until a harmonious 

 arrangement is effected, which usually lasts for life. Divorce 

 is a simple matter; the husband tells the wife to "go outside," 

 or she "runs away," taking her pots and household utensils and 

 children, and going back to her father. Among the Labrador 

 Eskimo, if the wife has any large property, as a tent or boat 

 left her by her father or brothers, it is held in trust for her by 

 one of her male relatives during her marriage. When she 

 returns home, she has the use of it again. Separated couples 

 often are reconciled and marry again. I knew one Eskimo's wife, 

 who used to "run away" every spring, but was always taken back. 

 An exchange of wives is not binding, although sometimes the new 

 arrangement suits better and is allowed to stand. Some Eskimo 

 beat their wives when they refuse to obey, but any cruelty on 

 their part receives the disapproval of the community, and some- 

 times the woman turns the tables on the man and beats him 

 soundly. 



MORALITY. 



A good deal has been said and written about Eskimo im- 

 morality, but it seems hardl)^ fair to call them immoral. They 



