Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 



661 



won the ball from the other. The conquered party, men and women, now 

 travelled hastily home on their sledges, very shamefaced and accompanied 

 during a part of the way by the mocking of the conquerors. In these games 

 the upper part of the men's body is naked; they wear no boots, and have 

 only shoes and stockings on their feet. — This description from a certain 

 locality in Greenland forms an interesting parallel to that of a ball-game 

 in the Greenland tale about Niwnittaq, where the scene is probably a region 

 west of Greenland. It also supplements Egede's description ^). Here Niwnittaq 

 and his father-in-law once in each winter by increasing moon await the 

 arrival of their antagonists to play ball-game with them. Both men and 

 women of the two parties provide themselves with new clothes for the 



a 



Щ^ W w 



Fig. 389 a. Small wooden box, found in a grave at Sarqarmiut. (Amdrup coll.). "/25. 



b. The contents of the box displayed, comprising the following objects in three rows. Upper 



row: 8 teeth, 5 phalanges. Mid row: 2 toggles for dog's traces, 3 buttons, an inflating nozzle, a 



piece of mounting. Lower row: 4 teeth, 3 buttons (miniature;, a soapstone pot (miniature), 2 



pieces of mounting. The box has probably belonged to a child's grave. 



occasion and make "spoons for the ball-game" i. e. bats made of the shoulder- 

 blades of walrus. The game takes place out on the ice and the ball is a 

 seal-skin stuffed with sand and clay^). The men as well as the women of 

 both parties stand opposite each other and the most skilled stand in the 

 front row. The man begins the game by throwing the ball towards his wife 

 who runs up to the ball and sends it on to her younger daughter, she 

 throws it on to the elder daughter who again sends it on to her husband. 



.') Rink (1866) No. 55, pp. 166—172; Egede (1741) p. 93. 



^j In another tale (Rink 1. с no. 45 pp. 154 — 155) we hear of a round stone used 



as ball, which must probably mean that a round stone has been sewn into 



the seal skin in order to make the ball heavier. 



