ur on the fourth night. I understand that the four men who
gather the wild parsnips represent the four clans of the tribe.

The next day a hole is made in the ice near the kasgi, and each hunter
dips his spear in the water, and, running back to the kasgi, stirs up
the bladders with it. The presence of the sea water reminds the inua
of their former home, and they make ready to depart. The bladders are
then tied into one large bundle, and the people await the full moon.

At sunrise the morning after the full moon each hunter takes his load
of bladders, and filing out of the kasgi starts for the hole in the
ice on a dead run. Arriving there, he tears off the bladders one by
one, and thrusts them under the water. This signifies the return of
the inua to the sea.

As the bladders float or sink success is prophesied for the hunter by
the shaman in attendance.

In the meantime the old men build a fire of driftwood on the ice in
front of the kasgi. The small bundle of parsnip stalks which stood in
front of the bladders is brought out and thrown on the fire, and as
the stalks kindle to the flame, each hunter utters a shout, takes a
short run, and leaps through in turn. This performance purifies the
hunter of any matter offensive to the inua, and concludes the
ceremony.

During the Bladder Feast all intercourse between the married men and
their wives is tabooed. They are required to sleep in the kasgi with
the bachelors. Neither is any girl who has attained puberty
(Wingiktoak) allowed near the bladders. She is unclean (Wahok).

THE FEASTS TO THE DEAD

The Eskimo idea of the life after death and the rationale for their
most important ritual, the Feast to the Dead, is nowhere better
illustrated than in a quaint tale current along the Yukon, in which
the heroine, prematurely buried during a trancelike sleep, visited the
Land of the Dead. She was rudely awakened from her deathlike slumber
by the spirit of her grandmother shaking her and exclaiming, "Wake up.
Do not sleep the hours away. You are dead!" Arising from her grave
box, the maiden was conducted by her guide to the world beneath, where
the dead had their dwellings in large villages grouped according to
the localities from which they came. Even the animal shades were not
forgotten, but inhabited separate communities in human shape.[19]
After some travel the girl found the village allotted to her tribe,
and was reclaimed by her departed relatives. She was recognize