Shamanism 193 



employs it more than the others he claims to control; for a certain amount of 

 acting is necessary in shamanistic performances, and naturally a man may find 

 one r61e easier than another. According to the belief of the natives a shaman 

 will often change his form and take on that of the animal by which he is 

 possessed, or will assume at least some of its characteristics.' This metamor- 

 phosis may even take place in the presence of spectators, though sometimes it 

 can occur only when the shaman is alone. Thus Ilatsiak said that when his 

 grandmother was a child there was a shaman named Makettak who could 

 change into a polar bear. He would bend down to the floor of the dance-house, 

 resting his hands on the ground. Slowly his hands would change into polar 

 bear's feet, then his arms become legs, and finally his whole body and head 

 would assume the shape of the bear. In this state he would go out of the dance- 

 house and visit the neighbouring houses, saying to the children in each as he 

 entered, "Stand up against the wall beside the door and then I shall not eat 

 you." 



(Photo by R. M. Anderson.) 

 Fig. 56. Women wading ashore from ice in a fishing-lake just south of Bernard harbour, 



July 3, 1915 



The natives have numberless stories of such transformations and believe 

 implicitly in their truth. Higilak's father could change into a polar bear, but 

 only when he was alone. Uloksak claimed the power of transforming himself 

 into a white or a brown bear, a wolf and a white man. Ilatsiak's wife, who 

 was a shaman like her husband, put her fingers into her mouth on one occasion; 

 gradually her hands became the feet of a wolf, then her head and body 

 began to change and finally only her legs remained human. Even Higilak, 

 according to her daughter Kanneyuk, had the same power; Kanneyuk had 

 seen her change into a polar bear. I was present myself at one of her trans- 

 formations, and in view of the interesting questions it raises regarding the 

 psychology of these Eskimos, I shall describe the incident in detail. 



'In 1916, when Ilatsiak visited our station, he chose me as his associate in magic, because, as he a* 

 serted, I could change into any form I wished. 

 23335—13 



