Marriage, Childbirth, etc. 161 



first wife still has a claim upon him. Some years before we entered the country 

 Ikpakhuak divorced his wife Kitiksik and married the widow Higilak. He did 

 not see Kitiksik again for many years; in fact he might have forgotten her 

 existence altogether if Higilak had not reminded him occasionally by pouring 

 ridicule on her or inducing others to make jests at her expense. Kitiksik, how- 

 ever, had not forgotten, and when the rumour spread that Ikpakhuak was now 

 a wealthy man she made up her mind to share his prosperity, whether he wanted 

 her or not. Accordingly, in the early spring of 1916, she journeyed westward, 

 and at the beginning of April I found her living alone in a small hut that Ikpak- 

 huak had built for her adjoining his own and Higilak's. Kitiksik was old and 

 ugly, as Higilak had said, and even more voluble than Higilak herself. It was 

 clear that Ikpakhuak and his people did not welcome her, but she had a claim 

 on him which he could not honourably overlook. She rarely entered his hu,t 

 unless there were other natives present with whom she could converse, for 

 Higilak always affected to ignore her presence, while Ikpakhuak never addressed 

 her except when it was absolutely necessary, and then only in the briefest possible 

 manner. Yet whenever the camp was moved he always made a separate dwell- 

 ing for her, and was careful to see that she lacked none of the necessaries of life, 

 such as clothing and bed-skins and blubber for her lamp. Higilak too had to 

 send over some food for her each day. It could hardly be expected, however, 

 that Ikpakhuak should support her indefinitely, so towards the end of spring he 

 paid her relatives to take her east again. 



Very few men have more than one wife each. Polygamy increases their' 

 responsibilities and the labour required of them; moreover it subjects them to 

 a great deal of jealousy and ill-feeling, especially on the part of men who cannot 

 find wives for themselves. The Eskimo polygamist, therefore, must be a man 

 of great energy and skill in hunting, bold and unscrupulous, always ready to 

 assert himself and to uphold his position by an appeal to force. Such a man was 

 Uloksak. He had two wives when we first encountered him, but later he took 

 a third wife from Kikpak. Uloksak was more intelligent than the average 

 native; he was strong and capable and energetic, possessing all the prestige of 

 a skilful hunter increased by his repute as a shaman to whom was ascribed the 

 most extraordinary powers over the spirit world. There was a great deal of 

 bluff in his character, but the bluff was successful as long as he had only his own 

 people to deal with and did not come into opposition with any white men. His 

 first wife well supported the dignity of her husband's position; she was a quiet 

 kind-hearted woman of much sense and judgment, an excellent housewife, and 

 a successful hunter of both seals and caribou. Uloksak much preferred her to 

 both his other wives, but she had one failing — hitherto she had borne him no 

 children. His second wife was reputed to be one of the best-looking girls in 

 the country, but there her good qualities ended; she was bad-tempered and idle 

 and merely a burden to her husband. He married her, he said, because she 

 was good-looking, and he needed some one to help in the summer's packing and 

 in dressing the meat that he brought in to camp. Possibly h6 would have 

 divorced her again had she proved childless, but she bore him a son, and a son 

 is the delight of every Eskimo household. He kept both his wives, therefore, 

 the good one and the bad, and took a third, Hakungak, who became the drudge 

 of the family. It is not easy to say what the ultimate outcome will be, especially 

 if Hakungak bears him a child also. Sooner or later he is sure to lose one or 

 more of his wives. Some younger rival will forcibly take one from him, unless 

 Uloksak has already forestalled the event and unburdened his household of 

 some of its superfluous members. He was the only native we actually encounter- 

 ed who had more than one wife for any long period, though in several instances 

 a native took a second wife into his house for a few days and sent her away 

 again as soon as he grew tired of her. 



23336—11 



