C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

58 THE LADIES, THE GWICH'IN, AND THE RATto report to Gwen, and an hour or two later the great event of the day occurred.This was nothing less than the arrival of our head guide, Lazarus Sittichinli, whowas sent round by the HB Company's friendly manager to have a talk with us; hewas a Loucheux Indian with wide cheekbones and a magnificent physique. Mterthis interview we felt that our great adventure had really begun.We could now give our full attention to the murder trial and that evening wewere formally introduced to the murderer. who, with his long hair and strangeface. seemed to us like a wild man of the woods personified and a very goodlookingwild man. The whole business of the trial seemed cheerful and friendly.there was no sense of tragedy about this administration of justice in the Arctic.One had a feeling that we were all friends together. the judge. the prosecutor, thedefence, the murderer and his supporters, the witnesses and even the dead man'sfamily. There was no sign of sympathy or sorrow for the dead man, nor anysuggestion of his ghostly presence in that crowd.The counsel for the defence had told us the outline of the story. Withoutknowing a word of Eskimo he had come north to defend an unknown client; apoliceman would act as interpreter. He knew, however, something of Eskimohabits and beliefs and also the main facts about this particular murder. Theaccused had shot a neighbour's dog. The neighbour walked off to get cartridgesfor his gun. The accused then shot the neighbour in self-defence. once, twice,then he was dead. It would have been certain death if the accused had waited forthose shots because the neighbour had walked off without a smile and when theEskimo stops smiling he is dangerous. The defence was in favour of lenientsentences for Eskimo murderers, because their outlook on death, so he told us.is different from ours and they are apt to kill off their old folk and their femalebabies in hard times. Many a baby, he assured us, is dropped in the nearest lake.There are often three men to one woman and this leads to fighting, especiallywhen a man has three wives, one good sewer, one good cook and one goodhunter. Probably not since the 1880s had old people been forcibly dismissedfrom this world and as for the despatch of infants, the habit was already dying outin the early part of the 20th century. We listened, however, with the deepestinterest to the tales that we were told, keeping our doubts to ourselves. At a laterstage of our journey we heard men of widely divergent views agreeing that Eskimomurder trials are often like a farce, being an attempt to impose on those natives abelief outside their ken. Yet no one ever suggested what should be done when anEskimo murdered a white man. Meanwhile the judge, the prosecutor, the