220 INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 



Fifteen — Akainiak .seepiuiklog-u 



Sixteen — Kolam achovindluk. 



Seventeen — Kolam iiialiarachovindluk seepnukloga. 



Twenty — Yuweena. 



Twentj^-one — Yuweenam atassik seepnukloga 



Tliirty — Yuweenam kolam seepnukloga. 



Forty — Yuwokomal(g)liok. 



Siipplication to deities. — Prayer to their deities is not made oftener 

 by any one than once in three month.s. The supplicant goes off alone, 

 arranges his mittens so that the under side is on top of his hand; the 

 arms arc vised somewhat as in a dance, accompanying the prayer, I 

 think. One must not presume to talk to God on any and all themes, 

 unless I am mistaken. The weather is the only proper topic. God 

 may be far distant, and may not therefore hear prayers. 



Superstitions. — The skull of a seal, after the meat has been removed, 

 is thrown by the women into the sea. It would bring bad luck if this 

 were neglected, especially if the skull were thrown on the ground 

 and the dogs had a chance to further clean it. As a matter of fact, I 

 have seen dogs accompany a woman on her way to the shore and suc- 

 ceed in getting some bones of the skull when they were cast from the 

 shore ice to some cakes of ice below. The woman must have been 

 aware of the sacrilege, but doubtless took refuge in the hope that her 

 motives, at least, were of the best. Seals are looked upon as a great 

 boon, not only because of their meat and skins, but because their 

 "blubber-' can be "tried out" into oil, which furnishes both light and 

 warmth. Before the natives were provided with firearms not many 

 seals were secured, 1 understand, and hence the underground house 

 was a necessity, as it was warmer than the structure built above 

 ground. Light was admitted through a window in the roof, but the 

 winter was naturally very gloomy under these conditions. When it 

 became possible to secure a large number of seals, and oil was conse- 

 quently abundant, the lamps could be kept burning day and night, and 

 consequently the present style of house could be erected, no window 

 being necessaiy. The people are fearful of offending the seals, and are 

 most punctilious in throwing the skulls back into the sea, as they fear 

 that their sacrilege would result in a great scarcity, if not the entire 

 withdrawal of the seals. I have been told that the flippers of the seal 

 are thrown into the sea as well as the skull. 



Charms. — The first men saw some luminous objects fall from the 

 sky to the earth, and ran after them, observing them becoming smaller 

 and smaller, and fading from their view, save when god permitted 

 some favored man to secure one of these coveted stones. They were 

 never taken in the bare hand, but caught with mittens. They were 

 handed down as precious heirlooms from father to son, and are 

 regarded as luck stones. In all probability the luminous objects 



