LIFE AND HISTORY OF THE ESKIMOS 



because in the dead the sap is strong, and their power is without 

 limit. We believe that, it' we paid no attention to thai over 

 which we ourselves are not masters, huge avalanches of stones 

 would come down and crush us, that enormous snowstorms 

 would spring up to destroy us, and that the ocean would rise in 

 huge waves whilst we were in our kayaks far out at sea." But 

 one may also acquire additional strength through one's life and 

 increased powers to resist danger, with good fortune in all 

 matters of chance, by using amulets and magic formula'. 



The amulet is a protector against danger, and imparts to its 

 owner certain qualities ; under certain conditions it may even 

 change him from man into the animal from which the substance 

 of his amulet is derived. An amulet of a bear which was not 

 slain by human hands renders the owner immune from wounds ; 

 a part of a falcon gives certainty in the kill ; the raven makes 

 one content with little ; the fox imparts cunning. Often the 

 Eskimos wear a Poroq of a stone from a fireplace, because this 

 has been stronger than the fire ; or they smear an old man's 

 spittle round a child's mouth, or put some of his lice into a 

 child's head, thus transferring the vital force of the old one to 

 the young. 



The magic formulae are "old words, the inheritance of 

 ancient time when the sap of man was strong and the tongues 

 were powerful." They may also consist of apparently meaning- 

 less connected words dreamed by old men. They are handed 

 down from generation to generation, and the single individual 

 looks upon them as invaluable treasures which one must not 

 give away until death draws near. They are impossible to 

 translate, and would therefore be difficult to recount in this 

 short summary, which merely purports to give what is abso- 

 lutely necessary for the understanding of these strange people 

 who will so often be mentioned in the following narrative. 



Of the religious traditions of the Polar Eskimos I may 

 mention, furthermore, that man is divided into a sold, a body, 

 and a name. 



The soul, which is immortal, exists outside the man and 

 follows him as shadow follows sunshine. It is a spirit which 



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