V 



440 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ethann.ik 



Xu-na' khiTili' -tulx is the Unalit name for a spot of ground where 

 certain things are tabooed, or where there is to bo feared any evil 

 influence caused b}' the presence of ofleuded shades of men or animals, 

 or through the influence of other supernatural means. This ground 

 is sometimes considered unclean, and to go uj)on it would bring mis- 

 fortune to the olllender, producing sickness, death, or lack of success in 

 hunting or fishing. The same term is also applied to ground where 

 certain animals have been killed or have died. 



Under the latter circumstance the ground is not considered danger- 

 ous unless a person j)erforms there some forbidden act. The ground 

 about the place on the shore where a dead white whale has been beached 

 is so regarded. At such a time to chop wood with an iron ax is sup- 

 posed to produce death. The same result is said to follow the cutting 

 of wood Avith an iron ax near where salmon are being dressed. 



An old man at St Michael told me that he knew of a case in which 

 an Eskimo began to chop a log near a woman who was splitting salmon, 

 and both of them died soon afterward. The cause of this, he said, was 

 that the iniia of the salmon and the yii-a of the ground did not like 



it and became angry. 



^^---"^^^^^^ ■~-^-^. When offenses of this 



/^\^^,,...----"*i^ ^~~~~^~^,._^^ kind are committed ev- 



U^ \ Q A^ ^^y ^^® present is sup- 



V. ~>vy^ e>^^^^ posed to die. If one or 



^^ 7==-^^^ ^ '•' » ' ' ■ r r ~~^ more people die sudden- 



— -^^i^- "^^^^^^r^ ly of any strange or un- 



y^ usual disease, the occu- 



FiG.i52-whaie fetich of wood (i). P^^^s of the dwelling 



immediately forsake it, 

 saying that the place is bad. I saw places of this kind on the Yukon, 

 and a group of four houses were pointed out on the shore of Kotzebue 

 sound that had been deserted by the people because a woman had died 

 there in this manner. 



This evil influence in certain spots may be brought about by witch- 

 craft, and while shamans may sometimes succeed in counteracting it, 

 the danger is regarded as great and may even kill the priests as well 

 as other people. 



There are other kinds of uncleanness which are less serious, but which 

 produce sickness or bad luck in hunting. These consist of a kind of 

 invisible, impalpable atmosphere like a vapor, which may attach itself 

 to a person from some contamination. If a hunter gets in this condi- 

 tion he becomes much more than ordinarily visible to game, so that his 

 success in the chase is destroyed until he succeeds in becoming clean 

 once more. During menstruation women are considered unclean and 

 hunters must avoid them or become unable to secure game. During 

 the period that the bladders are in the kashim the hunters avoid all 

 intercourse with womeii, saying that if they fail in this respect the 

 shades will be offended. 



