d by the
totem marks on her clothing, which in ancient times the Eskimo always
wore. She found the inmates of this region leading a pleasant but
somewhat monotonous life, free from hardships and from the sleet and
cold of their earthly existence. They returned to the upper world
during the feasts to the dead, when they received the spiritual
essence of the food and clothing offered to their namesakes[20] by
relatives. According to the generosity or stinginess of the feast
givers there was a feast or a famine in spirit land, and those who
were so unfortunate as to have no namesake, either through their own
carelessness[21] or the neglect of the community,[22] went hungry and
naked. This was the worst calamity that could befall an Eskimo, hence
the necessity of providing a namesake and of regularly feeding and
clothing the same, in the interest of the beloved dead.

[19] The shapes of animals are thought by the Alaskan Eskimo to be
like those of men, and in ancient times animals possessed the power of
changing their forms at will. This was effected by pulling the muzzle
up over the head to become people or of pulling it down again to
regain their original form.

[20] The first child born in the village after his death becomes the
deceased's namesake. However, if born in camp, its mother gives it the
name of the first natural object to catch her eye.

[21] Childless people provide for this contingency by adoption.

[22] One who has made himself odious to his fellow villagers is
purposely neglected in the feasts to the dead.

THE ANNUAL FEAST, AIL['=I]GI

The Annual Feast to the Dead is a temporary arrangement, whereby the
shades of those recently departed are sustained until the advent of
the Great Feast to the Dead. The essence of the offerings of food and
drink are supposed to satisfy the wants of the dead until they can be
properly honored in the Great Festival. In the latter event the
relative discharges all his social obligations to the dead, and the
ghost is furnished with such an abundance that it can never want in
the world below.

The makers of the feast (n['ae]skut) are the nearest relatives of those
who have died during the past year, together with those villagers who
have not yet given the greater festival. The day before the festival
the male mourners go to the village burial ground and plant a newly
made stake before the grave of their relative. The stake is surmounted
b