172 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



The first salmon must be caught before work on bootlegs 

 begins, and boots worn while hunting walrus must not be used 

 when salmon fishing. Salmon is always cooked over shrub fires 

 outside the tent, and in vessels used only for that purpose ; con- 

 sequently fish taken in the winter are eaten raw. 



Amulets in the shape of small pieces of skin or cloth are sewn 

 to the under coat by the wife of an angekok to ward off sickness 

 and to bring good luck. Many of these are decorated with 

 beads. The tip of the deer's tail is sewn to the tail of the coat 

 for success in hunting, and when sewn to the coat of a boy 

 ensures his becoming a successful hunter. A gull's feather 

 dipped in the drippings of the lamp is placed between the har- 

 poon and spear line, and so carried to the ice, where the hunter 

 sucks the feather and spits in the water in order that the walrus 

 may not know that it is being hunted. The dried skin of a 

 newly-born lemming, when attached to the float of a walrus 

 harpoon, prevents the animal from attacking the boat when 

 wounded, and the skin of a lemming carried in the boat ensures 

 safety. 



There are numerous other charms used, together with invoca- 

 tions and songs for success in hunting. 



ANGEKOK. 



The angekok, or medicine man, is believed by the other 

 Eskimos to possess supernatural powers, whereby he can charm 

 away sickness, lighten the displeasure of Nuliayok when she 

 sends famine and misfortune to the band, put the evil-eye or 

 something similar on those who displease him, and see into the 

 future. He is supposed to do this by the aid of a familiar spirit 

 called his tonwak, which usually assumes the form of some 

 animal often that of a walrus. 



To become an angekok it is necessary to receive instructions 

 in the mysteries from some other angekok, and usually more 

 than one take part in the instruction and initiation of the candi- 



