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NELSON] SHADES OF THE DEAD 423 



lu ancient times the sinews in the arras and legs of a dead person 

 who bad been of evil repute during life Avere cut in order to prevent 

 the shade from returning- to the body and causing it to walk at night as 

 a ghoul. 



Nearly every attribute possessed by the shades of i)eople is also 

 believed to be possessed equally by the shades of animals, and the 

 inua or shade of every animal is believed to possess semihuman form. 



There are two places to which the shades of the dead may dei)art. 

 Some of the Eskimo told me it was believed that the shades of shamans 

 or persons who died by accident, violence, or starvation^ go to a land of \ 

 plenty in the sky, where it has light, food, and water in abundance. 



Shades of people who die from natural causes go to the under- 

 ground land of the dead. There also go the shades of all dead animals, 

 where each kind lives in a village of its own. In this underground 

 world the shades of people depend entirely on the offerings of food, 

 water, and clothing made to them by their relatives in the festivals 

 given to the dead. Even the shades in the land of plenty can be made 

 happier by being remembered with presents in these festivals. 



Some few persons are supposed to be uncomfortable after death. 

 These are mainly thieves who steal from their fellow villagers, sorcerers 

 or bad shamans, witches, and the people who practice certain forbidden 

 customs. The shades of evil persons, as well as those of animals, are 

 sometimes believed to return and haunt the vicinity of their burial 

 place. In illustration of this belief I saw a curious custom observed at 

 the village of Kigiktauik. A hunter entered the kasliim bringing a red 

 fox which he had just taken from the trap; after skinning it the pelt 

 was stretched and placed in his storehouse. Then he returned to the 

 kashim and, taking the carcass, carefully cut the tendons of the fore 

 and hind legs and a hole at the navel. Carrying the carcass outside 

 he took it to the roof and, opening the smoke hole, held the body over 

 it. The men sitting in the kashim at once united in shouting, '■^An-olc'! 

 (he goes) An-olc'! An-ok'!^^ at the top of their voices. The carcass was 

 then placed on the top of the hunter's storehouse, so that no dogs could 

 reach it. The peoijle told me that by this ceremony the shade of the 

 fox was dismissed either to the land of the dead or back to the tundra, 

 where it would be harmless. If this should not be done it might remain 

 with the body and go about in that shape, doing evil to the hunters or 

 others in the village. The legs must have the tendons cut in order to 

 keep the shade from reentering the body and walking about in that 

 form. No dog must be permitted to touch or defile the body for fear 

 of rendering the shade angry, and thus causing it to bring misfortune 

 to the hunter. 



There is considerable difference between the Eskimo of different dis- 

 tricts in their manner of regarding the dead. At Eazbinsky, on the 

 Yukon, the graves are placed so close to the houses that they form a 

 part of the village, and become excessively offensive during summer. 

 The same custom is observed throughout that section of country. 



