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Prophecy, Sorcery, and Reincarnation
many Inuit and non-Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic. We decided
to take our host family’s children to Iqaluit’s community pool for an
hour of recreational swimming. Aged nine, seven, and four at the time,
Tukya, Noodloo, and Levi are the children of Mary Ellen Thomas and
Udlu Pisuktie. Mary Ellen, a longtime northern resident, devout An-
glican, community activist, and friend to many scientific researchers
working in the Northwest Territories, had witnessed our trials and
tribulations as struggling and now-desperate researchers at the local
Science Research Center, built to provide logistical support and lodg-
ing for non-local researchers. Eager to make my low-budget fellow-
ship stretch for a year, we became distressed when our rent suddenly
increased from free to $ 30 a night per person, an amount we could
not afford given all our other expenses. Not wanting to impose di-
rectly on Mary Ellen and her family, but knowing she was well con-
nected in the community, we asked if she knew anyone who was will-
ing to rent a room or part of a house to a young couple. Much to our
delight, she invited us to stay in her newly built home, and she even
gave us a room to ourselves. The house was already full; but that did
not bother this family. For years they had been welcoming a constant
flow of visitors, family, friends, and even the occasional visiting sci-
entist, into their homes.
Ever mindful of the sacrifices Mary Ellen and her family made, we
were eager to reciprocate their kindness and generosity as best we could
by contributing to the household budget and by taking care of the
children if either (or both) of the parents wanted or needed a respite.
When Michelle and I offered to take the children to the local public
pool, Mary Ellen enthusiastically supported the idea, and she imme-
diately began to coax Tukya, Noodloo, and Levi into packing their
bathing suits and towels. Although I was glad we could be helpful,
and I knew swimming would be fun, I was also feeling anxious about
the progress of my research and the quality of my research methods.
Taking a bunch of children on an excursion of fun and swimming did
not seem to be authentic ethnography, what real arctic anthropolo-
gists do while conducting research. My field notes at this time of my
research reveal a deep ambivalence about staying with the Pisuktie
