ABSTRACT
We have now considered the general morphology of the Eskimo or, more specifically, the constant features of this morphology. But we know that this morphology also varies according to the time of year; we must now examine these variations, as these are the main concern of this study. Although the settlement is always the fundamental unit of Eskimo society, it still takes on quite different forms according to the seasons. In summer, the members of a settlement live in tents and these tents are dispersed; in winter, they live in houses grouped close to one another. Everyone, from the earliest authors onward,1 who has had a chance to follow the cycle of Eskimo life, has observed this general pattern. First, we are going to describe each of these two types of habitat and the two corresponding ways of grouping. We shall then endeavour to determine their causes and their effects.
