438 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
eat cast down food and water offerings to the yu-a before eating or 
drinking themselves, and often add propitiatory words. If offended, a 
yu-a has the power of causing a person’s death, or making him ill, or 
taking away his success as a hunter. It is also believed that many 
animals have supernatural powers of hearing, it being claimed that if 
they are spoken of, although far away, they will know it. In this 
respect red and black bears are much feared, and it is said that if a 
man makes sport of bears or calls them by any disrespectful nickname 
or epithet, no matter where he is, the bears will hear and will watch 
for and kill him the next time he enters the mountains. For this 
reason a hunter who is going out for bears will speak of them with the 
greatest respect and announce that he is going for some other animal, 
so that they will be deceived and not expect him. They never like to 
speak of what they intend to hunt for fear that the animals may hear 
and give them bad luck. On one occasion I was talking with my guide, 
who was going reindeer hunting, and spokeof his chances of success 
in securing deer; he appeared to be offended and reproved me for letting 
the deer know what he wished to do. 
The beaver is another animal that is regarded as especially gifted 
with power of learning the intentions of people; it is also said to 
understand what a man says to it, and if a beaver is driven into a hole 
and the hunter finds that the animal holds down its tail so closely that 
he can not raise it, all he need do is to say, ‘Beaver, lift your tail,” 
whereupon the beaver does as told and can be drawn out easily. 
The dead bodies of various animals must be treated very carefully 
by the hunter who obtains them, so that their shades may not be 
offended and bring bad luck or even death upon him or his people. 
This is illustrated by the various observances which were seen when a 
white whale was killed by an Unalit hunter. No one who aids in kill- 
ing a white whale, or even helps to take one from the net, is permitted 
to do any work on the four days following, this being the time during 
which the shade stays with the body. No one in the village must use 
any sharp or pointed instrument at this time for fear of wounding the 
whale’s shade, which is supposed to be in the vicinity but invisible; 
nor must any loud noise be made for fear of frightening and offending 
it. Whoever cuts a white whale’s body with an iron ax will die. The 
use of iron instruments in the village is also forbidden during the four 
days, and wood must not be cut with an iron ax during the entire 
season for hunting these animals. 
Dogs are regarded as very unclean and offensive to the shades of 
game animals, and great care is exercised that no dog shall have an 
opportunity to touch the bones of a white whale. Should a dog touch 
one of them the hunter might lose his luack—his nets would break or be 
avoided by the whales and his spears would fail to strike. 
One of the best hunters at St Michael once let a dog eat a portion of 
a white whale’s head, and the people attributed to this the fact that he 
