Ethnological Sketch of the Angmagsalik Eskimo. ß3^ 



Childhood. — The first time a child is dressed in an anorak, 

 the mother receives gifts from her housemates; and when the anorak 

 is taken off, she presses her mouth to the child's breast, shoulders, 

 hips, and navel with a sucking kiss 'in order that the child may be 

 healthy'. This is repeated every time the anorak is taken off, until 

 the child is able to walk; sometimes, however, the practice is dis- 

 continued before this. When the child cuts its first tooth, and the 

 parents have any provisions, they give a share of the latter to all 

 the house-mates. The children are suckled until they are at least 

 two years old, which, however, does not prevent them from getting 

 dry meat and blood to eat, even when they are quite small. A 

 child which was only three and a half months old, was fed with 

 dried seal blood. As long as the children are small, they are carried in 

 the amaut in the open air on the back of the mother or of a girl. 

 They grow up in the most untrammelled liberty. Their parents 

 cherish an unspeakable love for them , and never punish them, 

 however refractory they may be. In spite of this, it is wonderful 

 to see how well brought-up the little children are. However, we 

 heard of one instance of a child having been punished : it had 

 been crying violently, and as a punishment it was laid in the snow 

 outside, and left there till it quieted down. 



The most common games of the Greenlandish children are 

 hunting, rowing in kaiaks and umiaks, etc. They make figures of 

 stone representing kaiaks, umiaks, tents, and houses. In their games 

 they represent in a very life-like manner situations which actually 

 occur at sea, for instance manoeuvering an umiak in waters filled 

 with ice, or harpooning a seal from a kaiak. The small boys prac- 

 tise their hand at making hunting implements, and display an ama- 

 zing skill in fashioning miniature models. Excellent specimens of 

 these are to be found in the collection which we have brought 

 home. With these weapons they begin to practise shooting and hunt- 

 ing; thus, for instance, they shoot at sparrows with small cross- 

 bows or darts. 



As to children's toys, I may mention dolls and animals carved 

 out of wood. Other toys, whijch, however, are perhaps most used 

 by grown-up people — are: wind-mill wings, buzz toys, cup-and- 

 ball games, tops, 4wo birds eating' and a puzzle with beads (figs. 

 373 to 381). 



At what age the boy gets his kaiak, depends very much on 

 how well-off the parents are; but the usual age seems to be about 

 twelve. Before they get their kaiaks, they take part in all kinds of 

 hunting on the ice, and on land in the hunting of white grouse, 

 foxes, and ravens. A thirteen year old boy Kakartok had already 



