These rules, some of which are observed at birth, and others at death, are the moral foundation of the Eskimo mode of life, and form the nucleus of their religious ideas. These latter may be explained more clearly through the remarks of the Polar Eskimos themselves.
After a conversation with a Polar Eskimo on the Christian faith, I asked him, "But what do you believe?"
"We do not believe in any God, as you do," said he. "We do not all understand the hidden things, but we believe the people who say they do. We believe our Angákut, our magicians, and we believe them because we wish to live long, and because we do not want to expose ourselves to the danger of famine and starvation. We believe, in order to make our lives and our food secure. If we did not believe the magicians, the animals we hunt would make themselves invisible to us; if we did not follow their advice, we should fall ill and die."
A little episode that occurred during the winter will illustrate this.
We had taken into our tent a young fellow whose parents had recently died. We had taken him in, partly because he had no home, and partly because we thought we should get some help from him in our household. But it was very soon to be seen that it was we who had to wait upon him in everything. One day that some one was wanted to fetch ice to melt, our Greenlandic companion, Jörgen Brönlund, had, without our knowledge, told him to do it. He might well let his old traditions slide for one day, thought Jörgen. And so Agpalinguaq (that was his name) had fetched the ice.
He was seen, however, by some old women, and they were very much concerned about this breach of rule.
123
