Ethnological Sketch of the Angmagsalik Eskimo. 



71 



The following incidents will serve to throw light on the irre- 

 gularities by which married life in Angmagsalik may be attended. 



Our neighbour Saninminak, a man of about thirty years of 

 age, an angakok and a smart hunter, had last spring two wives. 

 For one of them, who was called Puitek, he had given his father- 

 in-law a knife; he had been married to her for several years and 

 had two sons with her. The other, Amakotak, was taken from 

 him soon after their marriage by Uitinak. This was in revenge for 



Fig. 39. Saiiimuinak (Knutsen phot. 1885). 



his [having urged Ingmalukuluk to take Uiiinak's former wife, who 

 was Paitek's sister, 'because he (Uitinak) had not caught anything 

 for five days' — so at least was Uitinak's version. Amakotak's, 

 mother now told Uitinak that Sanimuinak could not support two 

 wives, and therefore urged him to take her daughter. Amakotak 

 was only too willing to change husbands, as Sanimuinak had been 

 in the habit of scolding and abusing her. 



Sanimuinak was therefore at enmity with Amakotak and her 

 mother, as will be more fully shown in the sequel. 



Sanimuinak was very fond of travelling about and visiting other 

 inhabited places along the fjord, especially at times when the home 



