Shamanism 



197 



might seize them. Of course, it is a dangerous thing for a shaman to let it be 

 known that he practises witchcraft against his fellow-men, for some one is 

 likely to end his career with a knife. It is often attempted, however, when the 

 passion for revenge is strong enough to overcome the dictates of prudence. 



I was told that rude human figures are sometimes made from the bark of 

 the cotton-wood tree, ningok, and used in connection with magic; both the 

 bark itself and the figure that is made from it are called kaisalluk. The shaman 

 holds the figure in his hand and calls his familiar into it, then asks it questions. 

 Sometimes, it is said, the fetish by its own might will clothe itself in clean white 

 deer-skin garments, much whiter than any the Eskimos themselves ever wear. 

 I believe that various ceremonies are carried out with it, for example, that it is 

 sometimes stabbed with a knife, but my enquiries brought me very little infor- 

 mation. I am not certain, therefore, whether the fetish served the purposes of 

 legitimate magic or was used in connection with witchcraft.' 



(Photo by J.J. O'Neill.) 

 Fig. 57. An Eskimo in his kayak, Port Epworth 



The most extraordinary feats and miracles are ascribed to shamans when 

 under the inspiration of their familiars. They swallow fire, fly through the air, 

 change into animals, sink into the ground or water, kill and restore to life again 

 and discover things that are hidden from ordinary sight. Once they were able 

 to visit the moon, but the modern shamans have lost that power. On returning 

 from a trip to Coronation gulf in March, 1915, I was handed a little note written 

 by our Mackenzie river native Palaiyak describing what the shamans in Dolphin 

 and Union strait had done in my absence. Translated it ran: "I shall relate 

 what I was told about the shamans. Well, a man cut off both his legs and his 

 arms. While he was holding this seance the children were forbidden to go outside ; 

 if they went out they would die. Once he killed a strong man (who left the 

 dance-house during the seance). He exchanged his familiar spirit with Uloksak 

 (i.e., the two shamans sent their familiars into each other's bodies). Uloksak 

 too forbade the children on pain of death to go outdoors while he was holding a 

 seance. Some of the people were stricken with sickness (one of the patients 

 was Uloksak's own wife Kukkilukak) and the shamans extracted some bones 

 and worms from their bodies." 



iCf. Nelson, p. 494. 



