A TREASURY OF
ESKIMO TALES
BY
CLARA K. BAYLISS
Author of "A Treasury of Indian Tales,"
"Old Man Coyote," etc.
illustrated in color by
GEORGE CARLSON
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1922,
By THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
Second Printing
Printed in the U. S. A.
PREFACE
The Central Eskimo live away up north in that great Americanarchipelago which lies between Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, and the ArcticOcean; an archipelago in which the islands are so large, so numerous,and so irregular in outline that, as one looks at a map of them, hecould fancy they were "chunks" of the continent which had been brokento pieces by some huge iceberg that bumped into it.
The land is ice-bound during so much of the year that the inhabitantscannot depend upon getting a living by the cultivation of the soil,and have to subsist almost entirely upon meat which they get fromreindeer, seal, bear, whale, and walrus.
In summer their clothing is of sealskin and fishskin; and in winter itis of the thicker reindeer hides. Their life is a hard one owing tothe rigorous climate, and they make it harder by their superstitions,for diseases are supposed to be cured by charms and incantations ofthe shaman or priest; and everything in the way of hunting, fishing,[Pg iv]cooking, or of clothing themselves must be done in a prescribed way orit is "taboo" or "hoodoo" as the negroes say. When you read "The BabyEskimo" you will see just a tiny bit of the hardships, but I shouldnot like to tell you how much more terrible a time he might have had,if he had happened to be a girl baby.
By referring to the Table of Contents you will note that the firstgroup of tales were told by the Central Eskimo. The second group werederived from the Eskimo living along Bering Strait, to the west; andit is interesting to compare many of these folk tales along similarsubjects.
The writer is indebted to the Sixth Ethnological Report, issued by theU. S. Government, for many of the legends found in the Central Eskimogroup; and to the Eighteenth Report for many of those from BeringStrait. She wishes to express her thanks for this invaluable andunique material.