192 



THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



stones ofdiflferent sizes are piled around it to prevent the birds and ani- 

 mals from getting at it. (See Fig. 21.) It is considered a great offense 

 if a dog be seen eating the flesh from a body. In case of a beloved 

 child dying it is sometimes taken with the people to whom it belonged 

 if they start for another locality before decomposition has progressed 

 too far. 



Fig. -1. Eskimo grave. 



The dying person resigns himself to fate with great calmness. Dur- 

 ing illness, even though it be of most painful character, complaint is 

 seldom heard ; and so great is fortitude that the severest paroxysms 

 of pain rarely produce even a movement of the muscles of the coun- 

 tenance. 



The friends often exhibit an excessive amount of grief, but only in 

 exceptional instances is much weeping indulged in. The loss of a 

 husband often entails great hardships on the wife and small children, 

 who eke out a scanty living by the aid of others who are scarcely able 

 to maintain themselves. 



These people have an idea of a future state and believe that death 

 is merely the separation of the soul and the material body. The spir- 

 its of the soul go either up to the sky, " keluk," when they are called 

 Kelugmyut, or down into the earth, "Nuna," and are called "Nuna- 

 myut." These two classes of spirits can hold communication with each 

 other. 



The place to which the soul goes depends on the conduct of the per- 

 son on earth and especially on the manner of his death. Those who 

 have died by violence or starvation and women who die in childbirth 

 are supposed to go to the region above, where, though not absolutely in 



