The Eskimo in Greenland and Labrador are, with few exceptions, nominally
at least, Christians. The native religion is a vague animism, and
consists of a belief in good and evil spirits, limited each to its own
sphere; in a Heaven and Hell; and a childish faith is placed in the
native wizards, who are regarded as intermediaries between mankind and
the spirit-powers. The worship of the whale-spirit, so important a
factor in their daily economy, is prevalent.
As regards language, the idiom spoken from Greenland to north-eastern
Siberia is, with a few exceptions, the same; any difference is only that
of dialect. It differs from the whole group of European languages, not
merely in the sound of the words, but more especially, according to
Rink, in the construction. Its most remarkable feature is that a
sentence of a European language is expressed in Eskimo by a single word
constructed out of certain elements, each of which corresponds in some
degree to one of our words. One specimen commonly given to visitors to
Greenland may suffice: _Savigiksiniariartokasuaromaryotittogog_, which
is equivalent to "He says that you also will go away quickly in like
manner and buy a pretty knife." Here is one word serving in the place of
17. It is made up as follows: _Savig_ a knife, _ik_ pretty, _sini_ buy,
_ariartok_ go away, _asuar_ hasten, _omar_ wilt, _y_ in like manner,
_otit_ thou, _tog_ also, _og_ he says.
The Eskimo have no chiefs or political and military rulers. Fabricius
concisely described them in his day: "_Sine Deo, domino, reguntur
consuetudine_." The government is mainly a family one, though a man
distinguished for skill in the chase, and for strength and shrewdness,
often has considerable power in the village. No political or social tie
is recognized between the villages, though general good-fellowship seems
to mark their relations. They never go to war with each other; and
though revengeful and apt to injure an enemy secretly, they rarely come
to blows, and are morbidly anxious not to give offence. Indeed, in their
intercourse with each other, all Eskimo indulge in much hyperbolical
compliment. But they are not without courage. On the Coppermine and
Mackenzie rivers, where they sometimes come into collision with their
American-Indian kinsmen, they fight fiercely. Polygamy is rare, but the
rights of divorce and re-marriage are unrestricted. The Eskimo have
intricate rules governing the ownership of property and the rights of
the hunter. As a race they are singularly undemonstrative. When they met
each other they used to rub noses together, but this, though a common
custom still among the wild Eskimo, is entirely abandoned in Greenland
except for the petting of children. There is, in Greenland at least, no
national mode of salutation, either on meeting or parting. When a guest
enters a house, commonly not the least sign is made either by him or his
host. On leaving a place they sometimes say "inuvdluaritse," i.e. live
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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