Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/225

204 and father in kood-le-par-mi-ung (the Innuit heaven)—I go to meet them—I must go—I cannot stop!" She asked him, "Go now?" He replied, "Yes." This was the last word he spoke. Thus Kooperarchu died. Kooperarchu was buried soon after his death. His friends and relatives wrapped him in two tuktoo skins and carried him away. The frozen corpse was suspended across the shoulders of his brother by a strap placed under the arms and across the breast, as one would carry a gun. Tookoolito headed the funeral train, and a married sister of the deceased, with a younger brother, and a couple of dogs, besides some of the natives, followed him to the grave. This grave was but a little distance from the village, and merely consisted of a recess made in the snow, with the same material piled over the dead body.

Three days after Kooperarchu's decease I was able to visit his family igloo. There I found his relations all sitting in a close group on the snow platform. They were bemoaning the loss of a brother and excellent seal-hunter. For three days from the death his family had thus to mourn, according to Innuit custom. At the end of that time they expected their lost brother would be in "kood-le-par-mi-ung," there for ever to enjoy its pleasures, feasting on reindeer meat, and wandering from star to star.