Introduction-E

e careful not to touch the placenta with her nails. The woman in labour would have to
move her hips very hard and try to get the child out.
Elisapee and Saullu said that if you adopted a child the only way to feed the baby
would be to put stew in your mouth and feed it to the baby. Breast-feeding was the only
method they used as a sort of birth control. Saullu says she was told by her mother-inlaw
that she shouldn’t expect to have her periods for at least two years after the birth of
a child. When Saullu got her period sooner, she thought something must be wrong with
her, but she was fine.
I have learned quite a bit about the rules for women. I understand why women had
more rules to observe now, and what kind of a life they had in the traditional days.
References
Interviews with elders: Pauloosie Angmarlik, Saullu Nakasuk, Elisapee Ootoova and
Hervé Paniaq.
Rasmussen, K.
1929 Intellectual Culture of The Iglulik Eskimos. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel,
Nordisk Forlag.
1931 The Netsilik Eskimos. Social life and Spiritual culture. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske
Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag.
134 Introduction to the Oral Traditions