The Nome daily nugget., 1914-02-04
ESKIMO STRONG
 MI )lCIj9E.
OR. Q. S. NEUMAN. U. S. Bureau of Education.

U. S. Bureau of Education.
 Tie primitive mind of the Eskimo isl tiled with numerous superstltions and fears.
 Their simple philosophy of uncom- pllcated life resembles that of the ear y cave men.
 Their reasoning power Is In some re- qpects very acute but in the great ma jority of cases, is irrational in the extreme.
 Their history based on legends and songs is very confusing The pictor- al wrtmc of the Eskimo, an ivory, IS in reality the only record, which siN"s us 4 clear and definite idea off .tn,lr ancient religious customs and .aailN Fife Unfortunately very few oil Il "sc records are ohtainahlr tt hrI present day.
 L""knI over some of those in my possession il is easy to see the inn portancr of the Angakog tEskimo doc. ',a aud r"r mr"r' in their "rdirarv .j\,.,
 Nr.n"" K impossible for tho Esti- ?" &c' tor. in his lexicon there is no .",r v"rd .r> fail and his propr, firm
 'oli"v" that he can travel at will 'o sun m"on. ar any place. n" matter
 .. far dls,an,
 1 no>" met three, of these tan%al,oal 1 w' of them were rpilcptics The
 hird totally blind and suffering from 1T, urable brain lesion. 1 It was very evident that they were ~tlf deluded and firmly believed that hey each possessed miraculous power for good and evil.
 After long conversation with one If these men during the course of which h" described his numerous won &trful cures of the sick. journeys to sun. moon and far distant lands over th' seq, which were accomplished in th" spac" "f q few hours, his songs md dances which brought abundance of game he finally demanded whether | could d" these wonderful things.
 Somewhat shamefacedly answered no" his respect for me as a medicine man instantly dropped to the zero Eark, and he eyer afterward treated ne with silent tnntpunt
 Although the natives have great cCrtidence in the magical skill of their anEakog. it is plain that at the pres. er' day at least. even those skillful mer may easily lose their reputation. This was clearly dmonstrated in the case of the blind witch doctor. be- fore mentioned. who was feared by all. his power they admitted was Iimitlcss. Che day when begging on the streets m Nome. he was informed by the po- licemen. that at repetition of the offence he would be locked up. His Hock Tn alarm requested him to de- sist. He laughed loudly and said: Let them lock me up in the jail, the same night I come to you through tho key hole or the roof"
 Next day he was arrested and se- curely placed behind the bars His people anxiously awaited his coming forth. He did not come either on that night or any other however to their great disgust. At the end of ten days he was released. On his return to the Sandspit, the people received him cold ly He tried to explain to them. that there were many good reasons, why he Rad not come out before. but they refusd [" believe and openly mockcd him.
 The few shreds of greatness which still clunG to him were completely lost when one evening he cut his lip and was unable to check the hacmorrhagc l was obliged to come to his rescue, ana loud was the laughter of the peo- pie and many Were the jeers and wit icisms at the expense of the now con- rletely discoffitted medicine man.
 The Eskimo like the ancient jews believe that sickness is a direct pun isLment for disobedience to some re- ligious or tribal law.
 The socalled medicine of the Eskimo may be subdivided into five distinct closses:
 f1rst-The objects given by the ahgakog to the patient.
 Second-Objects selected by the pa tient himself.
 Third-The medicine songs and dances performed by the angaNog and his assistants.
 Fourth--Tribal medicine.