- 166 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS Of. CANADA 
father or mother of the family. The prayer—for it can 
hardly be called anything else—is loaded with super- 
stition. The parent prepares for the ceremony by 
placing a “poalo,” or mit, upon the left hand. Then, 
bending over the afflicted one, he or she mutters, wails. 
and gesticulates in the strangest manner, also blowing 
with the mouth and motioning the departure of the evil 
spirit. This kind of audible supplication is often carried 
on for a considerable length of time. 
The Eskimo, like almost every other people under the 
sun, possesses some form of worship, and believes in a 
spirit world. He believes in the existence somewhere of 
good and evil spirits, which govern and control this 
world. The Great Good Spirit (Cood-la-pom-e-o), they 
believe, dwells in an upper world, of which the sky is 
the floor; but the evil spirits, governed by their chief, 
“'Tornarsuk,”’ dwell in a world beneath ours, which forms 
«a kind of great roof over the world below. The earth 
and this under-world are connected with each other by 
certain mountain clefts, and by various entrances from 
the sea. The spirits of those who meet with violent. 
deaths go to dwell with Cood-la-pom-e-o, in the upper 
world: but for those who die from other causes there 
is a place prepared below in the land of plenty, with the 
evil spirits. 
These latter deities are supposed to have the greater 
power of the two upon earth, and consequently their 
favor is sought, and to them supplication is usually made, 
though over certain forces, events and circumstances 
the Great Good Spirit is supposed to have control. For 
example, he is believed to be the deity governing the 
frosts, so that in the fall of the year, when the ice is 
