From Edward Curtis’ Field Notes:

“The Alaskan Eskimo have no belief in or conception of a personified supreme power. They believe strongly that spirits inhabiting animal bodies or inanimate objects, as well as spirits of the dead, may impart supernatural powers to humans. The principal ceremonies are dramatizations of legends.” – Edward S. Curtis

Volume 20, The Alaskan Eskimo, 1930. Plate facing page 80.