160 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



Ikpakhuak adopted an orphan girl named Arnauguk, or Kila. In the spring 

 of 1915 she married a young man Aiyalligak with whom she lived until the 

 winter. For some reason or other he divorced her, and she fell back on Ikpak- 

 huak's hands again. Ikpakhuak married her three or four weeks later to the 

 young divorcee Kikpak. One evening, as she was returning from the dance- 

 house, a man who already had a wife of his own tried to drag her to his hut 

 and force her to spend the night with him. She struggled to release herself, 

 and, with the assistance of two other girls tumbled him into the snow and 

 escaped to her hut. Kikpak divorced her after they had been married only a 

 fortnight, and for many months she remained single again, though several 

 natives made overtures to her. Finally she married a western Eskimo from 

 the Mackenzie river delta. ^ 



The old shaman Ilatsiak told me of a bigamist Anengnak who was living 

 with a band of other natives near Cape Krusenstern. He was tall and heavily 

 built, and his teeth, like those of old Eskimo women, were worn right down to 

 the gums. In the same settlement was another man named Norak who was 

 not nearly as big as Anengnak. Norak, , being unable to obtain a wife else- 

 where, laid hands on Anengnak's second wife one day and began to drag her away. 

 Anengnak caught hold of her on the other side, and a tug of war ensued, but 

 finally Norak, though the smaller of the two, succeeded in dragging her away 

 to his hut and made her his wife. The Rev. Mr. Girling tells me that in the 

 winter of 1917-18 an Eskimo in Coronation gulf tried to carry off another man's 

 wife, and the woman was injured so severely that she died shortly afterwards.^ 



For the first year or two at least a marriage is considered a kind of trial 

 in which the young couple discover whether they can adapt themselves to each 

 other and live together harmoniously or not. The girl may leave her husband 

 at any time and return to her parents taking, with her all her possessions; but 

 in that case the bride-price, if any has been paid, must be restored to her former 

 husband. Natkusiak's rifle, for example, was returned to him when Kaulluak 

 deserted him and went back to her own people. An interesting case was that 

 of a widow named Kullahuk who married a young man named Agluak, but 

 quarrelled with him the very next morning and was severely beaten and dragged 

 in the snow. Immediately she gathered up all her belongings, transferred them 

 to the house of another man named Utugaum and became his wife instead. 



It often happens that a girl is divorced, or divorces herself, two or three 

 times within a year. On the other hand instances of genuine affection are not 

 at all uncommon, even before a child is bom to cement the union. Avranna 

 and Milukkattak might often be seen stretched out on the bed-skins in their 

 hut pressing noses and caressing each other, wholly oblivious of the presence 

 of other natives around them. Milukkattak would go out hunting with him, 

 and sealing too at times, so that they might not be separated for a single hour. 

 In February, 1916, Avranna accompanied me on a visit to the Bathurst inlet 

 natives. Milukkattak wanted to go too, but as her time of delivery was near 

 it was thought advisable for her to remain behind. She entreated me to look 

 after her husband, not to allow any eastern woman to seduce his affections but 

 to bring him safely back again. We were absent only a few weeks, but Avranna 

 was worried about his wife all the time; he was certainly the happiest man in 

 all the country when he. joined her again and saw a little baby face peering over 

 her shoulder. 



I never knew of any instance where a couple separated after a child was 

 bom to them. It does occur, though very rarely. One reason perhaps why it 

 seldom happens is that the wife can still claim to be supported by her husband. 

 Even in childless marriages, if the man divorces his wife and takes another, the 



'Two women from Kittigaryuit, the big settlement in the Mackenzie river delta, told me that similar 

 contests were not infrequent among their people also in the days before the coming of the white men. 

 Cf . for parallels from other, mainly Greenland, Eskimos, the authorities cited by Gilbertson, Journal 

 of Religious Psychology, Vol. VII, p. 53 et aeq. 



