Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional Education of a Three-Year-Old

301 Pages·19.171 MB·English

by  Jean L. Briggs

Inuit Morality Play

Inuit Morality Play
The Emotional Education
of a Three-Year-Old
Jean L. Briggs
Yale University Press
New Haven and London
Published with assistance from the Mary Cady Tew Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 1998 by Jean L. Briggs.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and xo8 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Briggs, Jean L., 1919-
Inuit morality play : the emotional education of a three-year-old I Jean L. Briggs.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN o-Joo-07137-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN: 978-0-300-08064-3
1. Inuit children-Psychology. 2. Inuit Children-Attitudes. 3. Inuit-socia!
life and customs. 4. Socialization-Northwest Territories-Baffin
Island. 5. Social skills in children-Northwest Territories-Baffin
Island. 6. Baffin Island (N.W.T.)-sociallife and customs. I. Tide.
E99.E7B744 1998
971.9' 50049711-dc11 97-31605
CIP
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on
Library Resources.
For Don Handelman
who begat this book
and for Chubby Maata
who is the book

Contents
Acknowledgments xm
People XVII
Place
The Canadian Arctic XXII
Qipisa xxm
Homes 27
Introduction: Individuals in Culture 1
Qipisa and Its Children 3
To Cause Thought 5
The Problem of Genre 8
Method, Premises, Evidence 10
Modes of Analysis 10
Psychodynamics and Culture 13
The Nature of Knowing and Problems of Evidence 16
The Story Line 20
vii
viii Contents
1 Chubby Maata's World 23
2 "Because You're a Baby" 39
The Drama Described 40
Episode I (November 26) 40
The Drama Analyzed: Intentions, Motives,
Understandings 44
Celebration 45
The Fate of Babyness I 52
Vulnerability 53
The Fate of Babyness II 6o
The Drama Analyzed: How Play Works 62
3 "Are You a Baby?" 69
Episode 2 (November 29) 74
Episode 3 (October 7) 75
Episode 4 (October 29) 75
Episode 5 (October 29) 78
Episode 6 (December 30) 78
Episode 7 (October I) 78
Episode 8 (December 21) 79
4 "Want to Come Live with Me?" 87
The Adult World of Qipisa 88
The Drama Described 91
Episode 9 (January 9) 91
The Drama Analyzed: Intentions, Motives,
Understandings 94
"Want to Come Live with Me?" 94
"Who Do You Like?" 97
"Saali Stole Your Shirt" 99
"Play 'Evil Spirit'" 1oo
"Shall I Nurse?" 102
Finale: "Turn in Circles" 105
The Drama Analyzed: Themes and Plots 106
Structures in the Dramas 106
Belonging, Possession, and Attachment 108
Wildness and Decorum 114
Contents ix
5 ''Who Do You Like?" 116
Episode IO (October I) II7
Episode II (March 3) II9
Episode I2 (December I) I2I
Episode I3 (March 4) I22
Episode I4 (November 28) I23
Episode I5 (January 27) I25
Episode I6 {October 10) I27
Episode I7 (March 4) I32
The Construction of Morality: Plot and Person, Tensions
and Ambiguities I34
Episode I8 (November 20) I43
Episode I9 (December I3) I45
6 "I Like You, I Don't Like You": Anthropologist
in the Oyster Shell I46
The Dilemma of Fear and Attraction I 50
Episode 20 (October 8) I 50
Episode 2I {November 6) I 52
Episode 22 {Novembeno) 152
Episode 23A (November 20) 152
Episode 23B (November 22) 153
Episode 24 (December 17) I 53
Episode 25 (November 20) 156
Liking and Disliking 158
Episode 26A (November 24) 158
Episode 26B (November 24) I 58
Episode 26C (November 25 or 26) I 59
Episode 27 (December 20) 159
Episode 28 (December 2I) I62
Episode 29 (December 30) I66
Episode 30A (January 5) 169
Episode 30B (January 8) I69
Episode 3I (January 17) 170
Babies and Mothers: Practicing the Management
of Ambivalence 171
Episode 32 {january 10) 172
Episode 33 (January 29) I72