A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Boas describes this spirit as the owner of a communal house used for song, dancing and feasting. Its knees bend outward and forward, its body has no hair, and the back of its head has no bones. The associated narrative begins with a woman entering the dark house after disregarding warnings. She challenges the presence to reveal itself; it answers while remaining unseen.

The woman questions it progressively about its feet, legs, torso, shoulders, neck and head. The spirit answers each question, but when she touches its head she dies. The episode ties danger to contact during this particular encounter, not to a battle or a known attack on every gathering. The title is a relational designation, house owner, rather than a supplied personal biography, and Boas's description should not be treated as a template for every spirit connected with communal buildings.

Owner of a singing and dancing houseInvisible speech precedes contactHairless, structurally unusual head
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Origins & earliest records

Boas published this witness in The Central Eskimo (1888), a work based chiefly on his Cumberland Sound and Davis Strait travels and supplemented by other travellers' reports. The selected passage does not supply a named speaker or a specific interview date. Its historical spellings and editorial framework remain attributed rather than generalized to every Inuit region.

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Records & interpretation

Description printed p.597 and complete The Woman and the Spirit of the Singing House, p.636. Entire selected narrative and relevant accompanying description read. No unsupplied narrator or historical identification is inferred.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Central Eskimo

    Franz Boas · 1888

    Description printed p.597 and complete The Woman and the Spirit of the Singing House, p.636.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textBoas1888: Description printed p.597 and complete The Woman and the Spirit of the Singing House, p.636.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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