. Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-18. Scientific expeditions. 238 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 The social morality of the Copper Eskimos takes no account of personal cleanliness. I have already mentioned their uncleanliness in the matter of food. Normally the natives never wash, nor have they any equivalent for soap. In the winter, indeed, they have no -means of washing, for their blubber lamps melt no more water than is required for drinking purposes. They sometimes rub oil on their faces in spring, but rather for its soothing effect on their sunburnt skins than for any o
. Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-18. Scientific expeditions. 238 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 The social morality of the Copper Eskimos takes no account of personal cleanliness. I have already mentioned their uncleanliness in the matter of food. Normally the natives never wash, nor have they any equivalent for soap. In the winter, indeed, they have no -means of washing, for their blubber lamps melt no more water than is required for drinking purposes. They sometimes rub oil on their faces in spring, but rather for its soothing effect on their sunburnt skins than for any other reason. The children enjoy bathing, however, during the two short months that bathing is possible in this climate, and they seemed to like washing with soap and water at our station. They clean the nits from each other's head and eat them, and swallow the mucus from the nose. Yet these same people were horrified to see a white man swallow phlegm, and it must be admitted that they are far less infested with vermin than the Indians or the Eskimos of the Mackenzie river and of North Alaska. Moreover, however they may treat their bodies, they are very careful to keep their clothing scrupu- lously clean and free from all stains and grease spots, with the exception of course of their ordinary working Fig. 6S. The coming of the missionary. Rev. H. Girling among the Eskimos of Dolphin and Union strait Every tribe of Eskimos has been notorious for the levity of its sexual morahty, a,nd the Copper Eskimos are no exception. The entire lack of privacy in their lives leads to little children of seven and eight years of age knowing more of the mysteries of sex than many an adult among Europeans. Bluntness and plain- speaking in such matters might indicate a trait of manners rather than of morals, were it not that some of the men and a few of the old women exceed the limits of free speech and find a pleasure in bandying coarse and obscene remarks. After the strenuous outdoor s
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