Some of the ethnographies (Boas I888; Stefansson IgI3; Jenness I922; Rasmussen I929, I93I, I932; Spencer I959; Balikci I964) deal with food distribution procedures and provide the bases for such generalizations as those of Birket-Smith and Weyern but seldom is there available a comprehensive account of the various systems of distribution that are found in any particular group. This paper is chiefly intended as an ethnographic contribution-the presentation of detailed descriptions of aboriginal1 food-sharing practices among the three Gentral Eskimo groups of Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik Eskimo.2 This material will be summarized according to the concept of function, and the presentation will conclude with a co-nsideration of some aspects of Central Eskimo food-sharing practices as they relate to points of economic theory.
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David Damas (1972) studied this question.