412 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



That these things are frowned on by missionaries has gradually- 

 brought about the Eskimo belief that, while they are true and 

 efficacious, the ancient charms are wicked. Some Eskimos seem 

 to think that tiie mere knowledge of them is wicked and likely to 

 endanger salvation. Others consider that knowing the charms is 

 not wicked if you never say them. Accordingly, some Eskimos 

 who have full confidence in me will tell me that they know some 

 charms but are afraid to tell them to me, while others will assert 

 that they know no charms. They admit that they knew them once 

 but claim to have forgotten them. 



Illun's powerful charm consisted of the same word repeated 

 three times and three other words each pronounced once. One 

 of the words had a meaning unknown to him, a point not uncommon 

 in the ancient charms which in some cases are in their entirety 

 composed of words either partly intelligible or not understood at 

 all by the people of the present day. This charm was to be pro- 

 nounced in a low singsong that could scarcely be called a chant. 

 It was to be used only in cases of extremely difficult childbirth. 

 One should wait until in his opinion the woman was about to die. 

 The possessor of the charm would then go outside the house. He 

 was to walk around the house once in the same direction that the 

 sun moves around the horizon. The charm should then be pro- 

 nounced distinctly and but once, and must be finished just before 

 one reaches the door at the end of the walk. The child may be 

 delivered during the middle of the chant, or in a very difficult case 

 not until the last word is being pronounced. I rather inadvertently 

 asked Illun whether the charm was to be repeated a second time 

 if it did not work the first time. At this he was naturally of- 

 fended, saying to me with dignity that he had already said that 

 the child was delivered during the pronouncing of the very last 

 word; consequently one need not worry about the necessity for 

 repetition. He warned me that if I ever had occasion to use the 

 charm I must for a time not eat any of the native fats, caribou, 

 mountain sheep, polar bear, seal, marmot, and the like. He said 

 that eating butter or bacon would do no harm. 



Both Kutok and Pusimmik had said when Illun began to teach 

 me the charm that they did not want to possess it. By the time 

 I had learned to repeat it correctly I felt quite sure that both of 

 the women must have learned it also, and I asked how they were 

 going to avoid the spiritual guilt of knowledge. I was now told 

 that the trouble in their opinion — they admitted that other Eskimos 

 might have different views — was not with the actual knowledge 



