582 THE CENTRAL ESKIMO. 



Wheu a seal is 1)r()uglit to the huts everybody is entitled to a sliare 

 of the meat and blubber, which is distributed by the hunter himself 

 or carried to the individual huts by his wife. This custom is only 

 practiced when food is scarce. In time of plenty only the housemates 

 receive a share of the animal. 



A ground seal belongs to all the men who take part in the hunt, 

 the skin especially being divided among them. A walrus is cut up 

 at once into as many parts as there are hunters, the one who first 

 struck it having the choice of the parts and receiving the head. A 

 whale belongs to the whole settlement and its capture is celebrated 

 by a feast (p. G03). 



A bear or a young seal belongs to the man who first saw it, no 

 matter who kills it. 



Lost objects must be restored to the owner if he Is known, game, 

 however, excepted; for example, if a harpoon line breaks and the 

 animal escapes, but is found later by another man, the game belongs 

 to the latter. In Hudson Bay he is also allowed to keep the harpoon 

 and line. 



There is no way of enforcing these unwritten laws and no punish- 

 ment for transgressors except the blood vengeance. It is not a rare 

 occurrence that a man who is offended by another man takes revenge 

 by killing the offender. It is then the right and the duty of the 

 nearest relative of the victim to kill the murderer. In certain quar- 

 rels between the Netchillirmiut and the Aivillirmiut, in which the 

 murderer himself could not be apprehended, the family of the mur- 

 dered man has killed one of the murderer's relations in his stead. 

 Such a feud sometimes lasts for a long time and is even handed down 

 to a succeeding generation. It is sometimes settled by mutual agree- 

 ment. As a sign of reconciliation both parties touch each other's 

 breasts, saying, Ilaga (my friend) (Klutschak, p. 70). 



If a man has committed a murder or made himself odious by other 

 outrages he may be killed by any one simply as a matter of justice. 

 The man who intends to take revenge on him must ask his country- 

 men singly if each agrees in the opinion that the offender is a bad man 

 deserving death. If all answer in the affirmative he may kill the 

 man thus condemned and no one is allowed to revenge the murder. 

 (See Appendix, Note 4. ) 



Their method of carrying on such a feud is quite foreign to our 

 feelings. Strange as it may seem, a murderer will come to visit the 

 relatives of his victim (tlinui^li lie knows that theyare allowed to kill 

 him in revenge) and will sdtlc \vH]\ them. He is kindly welcomed 

 and sometimes livesquirtly for weeks and months. Then he is sud- 

 denly challenged to a wrestling match (see p. 60!)), and if defeated is 

 killed, or if victorious he may kill one of the ojjposite party, or when 

 hunting he is suddenly attacked by his companions and slain. 



