Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 347 



his two wives Niiliäkkang and Isersima, the latter with her son Aaw- 

 ngutaq and his wife Nooghar and with an older adopted son Atighi- 

 lik; further a second old man Anginnoong and his wife Attaaje, who 

 had a son Usorqalaq, married to Arqamme, and their son Assorutaa- 

 ieqaa; also Anginnoong's cousin Atingili married to Qimingerserng and 

 Teemiartissaq's cousin Perqwaniia, married to Pukutjsukujoor; lastly, 

 the brothers Mittikuj Ilk and Aalyättaaq with their wives and children. 

 Since 1880 — 81, when Maratti with his family passed the winter 

 at Kialineq, no one from Ammassalik has lived up there. 



POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS. 



Distribution of the inhabitants (cf. pp. 26 — 27). — The Am- 

 massalikers live more scattered in winter than in summer. The 

 winter-houses lie apart from one another; the summer hunting of 

 the herds of large seals bring together the population in three 

 groups, one at the mouth of Sermilik, where the tenting-ground is 

 on the island Ammaain, another at Cape Dan on the island Kulu- 

 suk and a third at the ammassat station in the interior of Ammas- 

 salik Fjord (Qingaaq). When the last station is abandoned in the 

 course of the summer, a northern group migrates over to the island 

 Kulusuk, a southern to Amitsuarsuk near to Taseesaq (Holm's Tasiu- 

 sak). There are banks of the crested seal at these places. But as 

 there are banks of the crested seal at several other places, the rea- 

 son for congregating together probably lies for a great part in the 

 human desire for company. 



When the summer hunting is over, the families return to the 

 winter settlements, not at one time, but gradually. The same fami- 

 lies do not live in the same house each winter and the composition 

 of the settlement changes from year to year. Often new arrange- 

 ments are made at the summer meetings on the common hunting 

 grounds, without very much attention being paid to family relation- 

 ships and constant exchanges may occur. But this possibly springs 

 from newer tendencies in this tribe. The constant uncertainty of 

 the hunting in recent years has often led, it may be, to an increasing 

 disposition to try new hunting grounds. Originally the relationship 

 was most probably the basal principle in deciding the winter groups. 



Really new settlements are not formed or new houses built, 

 however; if the members of one settlement — or the leading men — 

 decide to dwell somewhere else during the next winter, they move 



