John Murdoch Naturalist and Observer, International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, 1881-1883. 1 see caption MAP of NORTHWESTERN ALASKA Showing the region known to the Point Barrow Eskimo Based on the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey map of Alaska, 1884, with additions from the U.S.C. & G.S. “General Chart of Alaska” 1889, and from Eskimo account. Eskimo names given in the form used at Point Barrow Names of “tribes” underlined thus KÛÑmÛdliÑ Compiled by JOHN MURDOCH 1889 5 CONTENTS. Page. First Segment Introduction 19 List of works consulted 20 Situation and surroundings 26 Climate 30 People 33 Physical characteristics 33 Pathology 39 Psychical characteristics 40 Tribal phenomena 42 Social surroundings 43 Contact with uncivilized people 43 Other Eskimo 43 Indians 49 Contact with civilized people 51 Natural resources 55 Animals 55 Mammals 55 Birds 56 Fishes 58 Insects and other invertebrates 59 Plants 59 Minerals 60 Culture 61 Means of subsistence 61 Food 61 Substances used for food 61 Means of preparing food 63 Time and frequency of eating 63 Drinks 64 Narcotics 65 Habitations 72 The winter house 72 Arrangement in villages 79 Snow houses 81 Tents 83 Household utensils 86 For holding and carrying food, water, etc 86 Canteens 86 Wallets, etc 86 Buckets and tubs 86 Meat bowls 89 For preparing food 90 Pots of stone and other materials 90 Bone crushers 93 For serving and eating food 99 Trays 99 Drinking vessels 101 Whalebone cups 101 6 Spoons and ladles 104 Miscellaneous household utensils 105 Lamps 105 Clothing 109 Material 109 Style of dress 110 Head clothing 112 Frocks 113 Mantles 121 Rainfrocks 122 Arm clothing 123 Mittens 123 Gloves 124 Leg and foot clothing 125 Breeches 125 Pantaloons 126 Stockings 129 Boots and shoes 129 Parts of dress 135 Belts 135 Ornaments 138 Personal adornment 138 Skin ornamentation 138 Tattooing 138 Painting 140 Head ornaments 140 Method of wearing the hair 140 Head bands 142 Ear rings 142 Labrets 143 Neck ornaments 148 Ornaments of the limbs 148 Bracelets 148 Finger rings 149 Miscellaneous ornaments 149 Beads 149 Toilet articles 149 Second Segment Implements of general use, etc 150 Tools 150 Knives 150 Adzes 165 Chisels 172 Whalebone shaves 173 Saws 174 Drills and borers 175 Hammers 182 Files 182 Whetstones 183 Tool boxes and bags 185 Weapons 191 Projectile weapons 193 Firearms 193 Whaling guns 195 Bows 195 Arrows 201 7 Bear arrows 202 Bow cases and quivers 207 Bracers 209 Bird darts 210 Seal darts 214 Harpoons 218 Thrusting weapons 233 Harpoons 233 Lances 240 Throwing weapons 244 Hunting implements other than weapons 246 Floats 246 Flipper toggles 247 Harpoon boxes 247 Nets 251 Seal calls 253 Seal rattles 254 Seal indicators 254 Sealing stools 255 Seal drags 256 Whalebone wolf-killers 259 Traps 260 Snow-goggles 260 Meat cache markers 262 Methods of hunting 263 The polar bear 263 The wolf 263 The fox 264 The reindeer 264 The seal 268 The walrus 272 The whale 272 Fowl 276 Implements for fishing 278 Hooks and lines 278 Nets 284 Spears 286 Flint working 287 Fire making 289 Drills 289 Flint and steel 291 Kindlings 291 Bow and arrow making 291 The marline spike 291 The twisters 292 The feather setter 294 Third Segment Skin working 294 Scrapers 294 Scraper cups 299 Combs for deer skins 300 Manufacture of lines of thong 301 Builders’ tools 302 For excavating 302 Tools for snow and ice working 304 Snow knives 304 8 Snow shovels 305 Ice picks 307 Ice scoops 308 Implements for procuring and preparing food 310 Blubber hooks 310 Fish scaler 311 Making and working fiber 311 Twisting and braiding 311 Netting 312 Netting weights 315 Weaving 316 Sewing 317 Means of locomotion and transportation 328 Traveling by water 328 Kaiaks and paddles 328 Umiaks and fittings 335 Traveling on foot 344 Snowshoes 344 Staff 352 Land conveyances 353 Sledges 353 Dogs and harness 357 Hunting scores 360 Games and pastimes 364 Gambling 364 Festivals 365 Mechanical contrivances 372 Description of festivals 373 Toys and sports for children and others 376 Playthings 376 Dolls 380 Juvenile implements 383 Games and sports 383 Music 385 Musical instruments 385 Character and frequency of music 388 Art 389 Domestic life 410 Marriage 410 Standing and treatment of women 413 Children 414 Rights and wrongs 419 Social life and customs 420 Personal habits and cleanliness 420 Salutation 422 Healing 422 Customs concerning the dead 423 Abste 9 ILLUSTRATIONS. Many illustrations have labels showing scale: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, up to 1/23. What you see may be a little bigger or smaller, but all images should be proportional. The ruler shows the printed size. see caption Fig. 314.—Ivory shuttle. Twisting and braiding.— We had no opportunity of seeing the process of twisting the sinew twine, which is sometimes used in place of the braid so often mentioned but more generally when an extra strong thread is desired, as in sewing on boot soles. Fig. 314 (No.89431 [1332] from UtkiavwiÑ) is a little shuttle of walrus ivory, 3inches long and 1? broad, which we were told was used in this process. The body of this shuttle is reduced to a narrow crosspiece, and the prongs at one end are twice as long as those at the other. The tips of the long prongs are about ¼ inch apart, while those of the short ones nearly meet. There is a small round hole in one side of the body. This specimen was made for sale. As well as I could understand the seller, the ends of several strands of fine sinew were fastened into the hole in the shuttle and twisted by twisting it with one hand, while the other end was held perhaps by the other hand. The part twisted was then wound on the shuttle and a fresh length twisted. This would be a very simple form of spinning with a spindle. No special implements for twisting have been described among other 312 Eskimo. Mr. E.W. Nelson (ina letter to the writer) says that the natives of Norton Sound informed him that the cable twisters (kaputa—kÍbu´tÛk at Norton Sound) were also used for making twisted cord. He describes their use as follows: “The ends of the sinew cord are tied to the center holes in the two ivory pieces, one of the latter at each end of the cord, and then they are twisted in opposite directions, thus getting the hard-laid sinew cord used on the bows.” see caption Fig. 315.—Netting needle. The sinew twine used at Point Barrow is generally braided, almost always in a three-ply braid, usually about the size of stout packthread, such as is found on many Eskimo implements from all localities represented in the Museum collections. That they also know how to braid with four strands is shown by the hair line already described (No.56545 [410]). They also have a special word (which I can not recall) for braiding with four strands in distinction from braiding with three (pidrÁ). see caption Fig. 316.—Mesh stick. Netting.— Two implements are used as usual in netting, aneedle or long flat shuttle for carrying the twine (Fig. 315, No. 56570 [101]), and a mesh stick for gauging the length of the mesh. The knot is the universal “fisherman’s knot” or becket hitch made in the usual manner. The method of using the mesh stick, however, is rather peculiar, and somewhat clumsy compared with that used by civilized net-makers, as it serves only to measure the mesh and not also to hold the successive meshes as they are made. It is a long flat piece of bone or antler, shaped like a case knife, with a blade square at heel and point. There is often also a little blunt hook (asin Fig. 316, No. 56581 [1021]) at the point, bending upward or toward the back of the blade. The blade is the part of the stick which measures the mesh, and its length from heel to point is always precisely half the length of the mesh to be made. It is used as follows: The workman, holding the mesh stick by the handle in his left hand, with the blade downward, catches the mesh into which the knot is to be made with the hook, and holds it while the twine is carried down the left side of the blade, round the heel and through the mesh as usual, and drawn up till the preceding knot comes just to the point of the blade. This makes a loop of the proper length for a mesh round the stick. The point where the next knot is to be made is now caught between the thumb and finger of the right hand and the mesh stick taken out of the loop. The left thumb and finger, while the other fingers of this hand still hold the 313 handle of the stick, relieve the fingers of the right hand, which goes on to make the knot in the usual manner.418 We collected thirteen needles of different patterns and sizes. No. 56570 [101], Fig. 315, has been selected as the type (i´nmuvwiÑ, mÛ´kutin.) It is of walrus ivory, 11.9 inches long. The small hole near the tip of one prong is for a lanyard to hang it up by when not in use. This needle could be used only for making a large meshed net, perhaps a seal net. We collected seven needles of almost the same pattern as this, varying a little in proportions. The faces are usually more deeply hollowed out and the ends usually sinuate instead of being straight. Three of these are of reindeer antler and the rest of ivory. The longest is 9.9 inches long and the shortest 4½. This needle (No.56574 [24], from UtkiavwiÑ) is rather broad in proportion, being nearly 1 inch wide. It is of walrus ivory. No. 89433 [942] is better suited for netting a small mesh, being only 0.7 inch broad at the widest part. It is made of reindeer antler and is 7.3 inches long. These needles sometimes have a small hole through one end of the body for fastening the end of the twine, and most have some arrangement for fastening on a lanyard, either a hole as in the type or a groove round the tip of one prong as in No. 56574 [24]. see caption Fig. 317.—Netting needles. No. 89427 [1283], from UtkiavwiÑ, is a needle of a slightly different pattern, being rather thick and not narrowed at the middle. It is of reindeer antler, 8.7 inches long and 1 wide. No. 89430 [1286], Fig. 317a, from UtkiavwiÑ, is a very broad needle, with short body and long prongs, one of which is expanded at the tip and perforated for a lanyard. It is a piece of the outside hard tissue of a reindeer antler, 5.4 inches long and 1.2 broad. It is but slightly narrowed at the middle, while No. 89428 [1381], Fig. 317b, from UtkiavwiÑ, asomewhat similar broad needle of the same material is deeply notched on each side of the body. This is made from antler of smaller diameter than the preceding, and consequently 314 is not flat, but strongly convex, on one face and correspondingly concave on the other. It is 8.2 inches long and 1½ wide. see caption Fig. 318.—Netting needle for seal net. For making the seal nets a very large needle is used. The one in the collection, No. 56581 [102], Fig. 318, from UtkiavwiÑ, is 20½ inches long and only 1½ wide. It is made of two nearly equal pieces of antler, which are nearly flat, and lap over each other about 3¾ inches near the middle. They are strongly fastened together by five whalebone stitches, one at each corner of the splice and one in the middle. The corner stitches run round the edge of the two parts, and through a hole through both parts. The prongs are stout and curved, nearly meeting at the tips. They are about 3 inches long. The lateral distortion appears to be due to warping. A peculiar netting needle is shown in Fig. 319 (No. 89429 [1333], from UtkiavwiÑ), which is new and rather carelessly made from very coarse walrus ivory. The tips of the prongs, after nearly meeting, diverge again in the form of the letter U.This needle, which is 9½ inches long, was said by the maker to be of the pattern used by the “KÛÑmÛ´d’liÑ.” There are no specimens resembling it in the museum collections, though it curiously suggests certain implements from Norton Sound, labeled “reels for holding fine cord,” consisting of slender rods of antler, terminating at each end in similar shallow U-shaped forks. see caption Fig. 319.—Netting needle. 315 The mesh stick (kÚ´brin) belonging to the large netting needle, No. 56581 [102], may be taken as the type of this implement. It is a piece of the hard outside tissue of a reindeer antler. The three notches on the lower edge of the haft are for the fingers. The incised line along one face of the blade is probably a mark to which the twine is to be drawn in making a mesh. The blade is just the proper length, 7½ inches, for the large mesh of the seal net. The remaining four mesh sticks are all small, and intended for making fish nets. Three are of reindeer antler and the fourth of hard bone, with a wooden haft. see caption Fig. 320.—Mesh sticks. Fig. 320a (No. 89436 [1284], from UtkiavwiÑ) is of antler, 7.2 inches long, with a blade of 2.7 inches, protected from splitting by a stout round peg of hard bone, driven through the handle so as to lie against the heel of the blade. It terminates in a blunt point instead of a hook, and has three finger notches in the haft. No. 89437 [942], also from UtkiavwiÑ, is of the same material, 5.2 inches long, without a hook and with a blade only 1 inch long. There are two finger notches in the haft. The last of the antler mesh sticks (No.89439 [983], from UtkiavwiÑ, Fig. 320b) is double ended, having a hook and a short blade at each end. The blades are respectively 1.5 and 1.6 inches long, and the total length is 6.6 inches. Fig. 320c (No.89435 [1019], also from UtkiavwiÑ) has a blade, with a small hook, of white compact bone, and what would be the handle lashed to one side of a haft of soft wood, which is shouldered to receive it. The haft is 4.3 inches long, and the two parts are held together by two lashings of fine sinew, kept from slipping by notches. The total length is 7.3 inches, that of the blade 2.7. Netting needles and mesh sticks of essentially the same type as those just described, but varying in material and dimensions, are in general use from the Anderson River to Bristol Bay, as is shown by the Museum collections. Netting weights.— We collected 16 little ivory implements, each, when complete, consisting of the image of a fish about 3½ to 4 inches long, suspended by a string about 4 inches long to a little ivory spring hook. We never happened to see these implements in use, but we were told that they were used in netting to keep the meshes in proper shape. They generally were made in pairs. The only way of using them that I can think of is first to hook one into the bight of the first mesh made in starting the net. This would make the successive meshes, as they were netted, hang down out of the way. On starting the next row in the opposite direction, the second weight hooked into the first mesh of this row would draw the successive meshes down on the left-hand side of the stick, while the other weight would keep the meshes of the first row stretched so that one could be easily caught at a time. On beginning the third row the first weight would be transferred to the first mesh of this, and so on. Fig. 321a is one of a pair of these nepitaÚra (No.56596 [207]) which has been selected as the type. It is a rather rude figure of a salmon or trout 4 inches long, neatly carved out of walrus ivory. The string is of braided sinew and the hook of walrus ivory. 316 see caption Fig. 321.—Netting weights. Fig. 321b (No. 89442 [899] from Nuwuk) is a weight without the hook and made of compact whale’s bone. It is 4.1 inches long, and very neatly carved, having all the fins in relief, the gill openings, mouth, and eyes incised. No. 56582 [173] from UtkiavwiÑ is one of a pair very rudely carved out of a piece of snow-shovel edge. The mouth and gill openings are indicated by incised and blackened lines, the latter fringed with short lines, each ending in a dot, perhaps to represent the gill filaments. It is 4.2 inches long, and hastily made for sale. Fig. 321c (No.56578 [201] from UtkiavwiÑ) seems to be intended for a polar cod, and has the hole drilled through the root of the tail. The lateral line is marked by a scratch, colored with black lead, and the dark color of the back is represented by curved, transverse scratches also colored with black lead. When the carving is sufficiently good to show what sort of a fish is meant, it is generally a salmon or trout. Only 3 out of the 16 are of anything but walrus ivory. These 3 are of compact whale’s bone, and one had small blue glass beads inlaid for eyes, of which one still remains. The shortest is 3.4 inches long, and the longest 4.3, but most of them are almost exactly 4 inches long. see caption Fig. 322.—Shuttle belonging to set of feather tools. see caption Fig. 324.—“Sword” for feather weaving. Weaving.— A set of little tools made of bone and reindeer antler were brought over for sale, which were said to be those used in weaving the 317 feather belts. Ihad no opportunity of seeing a belt made, but the work evidently does not require all three of these tools. The little netting needle or shuttle of bone (Fig. 322, No. 89434 [1338]) can not be used in feather weaving, because, as already mentioned, the strips of feather are not fastened together into a continuous cord which could be carried on a shuttle. It is 5.9 inches long and 0.7 wide. There is also a little mesh stick of antler (Fig. 323, No. 89438 [1338]) 6.7 inches long, with a blade 1.9 inches in length, and a little hook, which appears to be fitted for nothing except netting a small net. The lower edge of the handle, however, is cut into 10 deep rounded notches, which perhaps serve the purpose of a rude “frame” for keeping apart the strands of the warp, while the woof of feather is passed through with the fingers. It would be held with this edge up, and the beginning of the belt being fastened to the wall, the warp strands would be stretched over this, as over a violin bridge, each resting in one of the notches. The last tool of the set (Fig. 324, No. 89462 [1338]) is undoubtedly a “sword” for pushing home the woof, and probably also serves to separate the strands of the warp into a “shed.” It is a flat, thin piece of antler, 9inches long and three-fourths wide, of which about 6½ inches forms a straight blade 6½ inches long, and the rest is bent round to one side and slightly down, forming a handle. When the strands of the warp are stretched over the bridge as above described, pushing this horizontally through them alternately over and under the successive strands, would make a “shed” through which the end of the woof could be thrust with one motion, and pushed up against the preceding strand of the woof by sliding the sword forward. It would then be withdrawn and passed through again, going over the strands it went under before and vice versa, so as to open a “shed” for the next strand of the woof. see caption Fig. 323.—Mesh stick. Sewing.— For sewing furs and leather they always use thread made by stripping off thin fibers from a piece of dried sinew of the reindeer, as is usual with Eskimo. Cotton or linen thread of civilized manufacture is now often used for sewing the cotton frocks, etc., and sometimes for making an 318 ornamental seam on the waterproof gut shirts. The stitches employed have already been described under the head of clothing (which see). They hold the needle between the thumb and middle finger, with the thimble on the forefinger (both are called by the same name, ti´ky?) and sew toward them. This appears to be the regular Eskimo method of sewing.419 At the present day they are well supplied with steel needles (miksun) of all sizes and patterns, but formerly they used bone needles made from the fibula (amilyerÛÑ) of the reindeer. We collected sixty of these needles, eighteen of which appear to be old and genuine. The rest were more or less carefully made for sale. NikawÁalu told us that once when he and a young man were out deer hunting a long distance from camp their boots gave out. Having killed a deer he made thread from the sinew, aneedle from the bone, and with pieces of the skin repaired their boots, so that they got home in comfort. No. 89389 [1191], Fig. 325 will serve as the type of these needles. This is a case 3½ inches long, made of the butt of a large quill, closed with a plug of walrus hide, and contains 6 needles. One is 1.8 inches long, stout, and round-pointed, with a large eye. It is much discolored from age. The second is also round-pointed but more slender, 1.9 inches long, and flattened and expanded at the butt. The third is 2.4 inches long, and has a four-sided point like a glover’s needle. All three of these are very neatly made and appear old. The other three are stout, roughly made, and flat, respectively 2.1, 2.2, and 2.5 inches long. Two of them look suspiciously new. This set was said to have been the property of the wife of Puka, NikawÁalu’s father. see caption Fig. 325.—Quill case of bone needles. see caption Fig. 326.—Needles and thimbles: (a)large bone needle and peculiar thimble; (b)leather thimbles with bone needles. Fig. 326a is a peculiarly large and flat needle (No. 89392 [1195] from UtkiavwiÑ) 3.2 inches long, with a round, sharp point and a large eye, with little grooves running to the butt on each side for the thread to lie in. This needle was perhaps specially 319 meant for sewing boat skins. With this needle belongs a peculiar large bone or ivory thimble. The remaining needles are all very much alike, though some are more roughly made than the others. Three of them have the butt square instead of rounded, and half of them, including some which are undoubtedly old, are four-sided at the point like a glover’s needle. The longest is 3 inches long and the shortest 1.4 inches, but the commonest length is about 2 or 2½ inches. Similar bone needles are mentioned by various authors.420 Nearly all the women now use ordinary metal thimbles, obtained in trade, but they wear them in the old-fashioned way, on the tip of the forefinger. Some of the older women, however, still prefer the ancient leather thimble. There are two patterns of these: one intended for the fore-finger only, and the other of such a shape that it may also be worn on the other fingers as a guard against chafing in pulling stout thread through thick leather. It is often so used at the present day. We collected three of the first-mentioned pattern, which is represented by Fig. 326b (No.89396 [1202,1246]). It is made by cutting out a narrow ring of raw sealskin 0.7 inch in diameter, with a circular flap 0.5 inch in diameter on the outside of the ring and a corresponding one on the inside of the same size, cut out of the middle of the ring. The flaps are doubled over so as to make a pad on the inside of the forefinger when the tip of the latter is inserted into the ring. The butt of the needle presses against this pad. The third thimble, which belongs with the needlecase (No. 89371 [1276]), is of precisely the same form and dimensions. There appeared to be little if any variation among those which we saw. Capt. Lyon421 figures two similar thimbles from Iglulik, which are described on page 537 of the same work as being made of leather. The flaps, however, seem to be only semicircular and not folded over, so that the shield consists of only one thickness of leather. A similar thimble with the flap also not folded is used at Cumberland Gulf.422 The other pattern, of which we brought home nine specimens, is represented by No. 89389 [1191], which belongs with the set of bone needles of the same number. It is a tube, open at both ends, one of which is larger than the other, made by bending round a strip of split walrus hide and sewing the ends together. It is 0.4 inch long and 2.1 in circumference at the larger end. It is worn smooth with handling, and impregnated with grease and dirt and marked with small pits where it has been pressed against the butt of the needle in use. Four other old thimbles (No. 89393 [1194], from UtkiavwiÑ, are made 320 in the same way, but are a trifle larger. As they show no needle-marks, they were probably used only as finger guards. The remaining four are similar to the above, but newly made, for sale. A most peculiar thimble, the only one of the kind seen, is shown in Fig. 326a (No.89392 [1195] from UtkiavwiÑ, belonging with the large bone needle of the same number already described and figured). This is made of a single piece of walrus ivory, browned with age, and the round shallow socket is for the butt of the needle. The ends of the half ring are slightly expanded and notched on the outside to receive a string to complete the ring so that it can be fitted round the finger, with the flange in the same position as the pad of a leather thimble. see caption Fig. 327.—Needle cases with belt hooks. Needles are kept in a case (ujyami), consisting of a tube of bone or ivory about 5 or 6 inches long, through which is drawn a broad strap of leather furnished with a knot at one end to keep it from slipping wholly through. Into one side of this strap the needles are thrust obliquely, so that when the strap is pulled in they are covered by the tube. To the other end of the strap is usually attached an ivory snap hook for fastening the needle case to the girdle of the pantaloons. These needle cases are made of two slightly different patterns, of which the first is represented by No. 89365 [1277], Fig. 327a. It is of white walrus ivory, 4½ inches long, and the strap is of seal thong about 11 inches long and 0.3 inch wide. At one end of this is a pear-shaped knob of walrus ivory, which is shouldered off at the small end and worked into a short flattened shank perforated with a large eye, through which the end of the strap, which is cut narrow, is thrust. It is fastened by doubling it back and sewing it to the standing part. Asky-blue transparent glass bead is inlaid in the large end of the knob. The other end of the strap is fastened in the same way into a tranverse slot in the end of the belt hook (ti´tkibwiÑ) of ivory, 4.7 inches long. This pattern appears to be usually made of walrus ivory. Only one of the six brought home is of bone, and this is an unusually small one, only 3.6 inches long, made for sale. The usual length is 4½ to 5 inches. No. 89363 [1105], Fig. 327b, from UtkiavwiÑ, is a tube very much like the one described, but is ornamented with an incised pattern colored with red ocher, and has a differently shaped belt hook. When the latter is hooked over the girdle the ring is pushed up the shank over the point of the hook till it fits tight, and thus keeps the hook from slipping off the belt. 321 Fig. 328a (No. 89364 [1243] from UtkiavwiÑ) is another ivory needle case, 4.7 inches long. The tube was once ornamented with incised patterns, but these are almost wholly worn off by constant handling. The knob is carved into an ornamental shape, having a circle of six round knobs round the middle. It has been suggested that this is meant to represent a cloud-berry (Rubus chamÆmorus), afruit known to the “NunataÑmiun” though not at Point Barrow. The hook is a snap hook very much like those described in connection with the netting weights, but larger (3inches long) and very broad at the upper end, which is made into a broad ring. The point of a steel needle still sticking in the flesh side of the strap shows how the needles are carried with the points toward the knob. see caption Fig. 328.—Needle cases: (a)case with belt hook; (b)case open, showing bone needles. No. 89370 [1033], also from UtkiavwiÑ, has no knob, but the end of the strap is kept from slipping through by rolling it up transversely and catching it with a stitch of sinew. It has a broad flat snap hook similar to the last, but cut on the edges into ornamental scallops. The tube is ornamented with an incised pattern colored red with ocher, and is 5.2 long. No. 56575 [7] is an old tube of brown walrus ivory, enlarged into a knob at one end. It has no knob or hook, but a new strap of white seal skin, in the lower end of which is tied a large knot. The other pattern has the cylinder made of a hollow “long” bone, in its natural shape. This bone appears to be almost always the humerus of some large bird, probably a swan. The strap has usually no knob, but is kept from slipping through by knotting the end or tying on a large bead or a bear’s toe, or some such object too large to go through the tube. None of these have belt hooks except one new and roughly made specimen. These bone tubes are apparently older than the neat ivory cylinders, and it is not unlikely that the belt hook was not invented till the former was mostly out of fashion. No. 89361 [1239], Fig. 328b from UtkiavwiÑ, is one of these which has for knob one of the large dark blue glass beads which used to bring such enormous prices in the early days of Arctic trading, and which are still the kind most highly prized. The 322 end of the strap is cut narrow, passed through the bead, and knotted on the end. This case carries a half-dozen of the old-fashioned bone needles, which appear to be genuine. It is 3.7 inches long and, roughly speaking, 0.4 in diameter. No. 89369 [1201], also from UtkiavwiÑ, resembles the above, but has a wolverine’s toe sewed to the end of the strap. No. 89371 [1276], from UtkiavwiÑ, also has the toe of a wolverine for a knob, and has a belt hook with two tongues made of reindeer antler. No. 89366 [1137], from UtkiavwiÑ, is a highly ornamented case of this pattern, which has a short cylindrical knob, also ornamented. No. 89368 [1089], from UtkiavwiÑ, is not made of bird’s bone, but is a piece of a long bone from some mammal, and has a brown bear’s toe for a knob. No. 89367 [1339], from the same village, is roughly made of a branch of antler, 3.9 inches long and 0.8 wide, hollowed out. It has a knob of whale’s bone, but no belt hook, the end of the strap being knotted into a leather thimble of the first pattern. Of the six specimens of this pattern in the collection only the first is a genuine old implement. All the others are merely commercial imitations rather carelessly made. This kind of needle case is very commonly used throughout Alaska, as is shown by the enormous collections in the National Museum brought home by various explorers, Nelson, Turner, Dall and others. The needle case from Iglulik, figured by Capt. Lyon,423 resembles the second or older pattern, being of bone, not tapered at the ends, and having neither knob nor belt hook. To the ends of the strap are hung thimbles “and other small articles liable to be lost.”424 Dr. Simpson425 speaks of the needle case in use at Point Barrow, but merely describes it as “anarrow strip of skin in which the needles are stuck, with a tube of bone, ivory, or iron to slide down over them, and kept from slipping off the lower end by a knob or large bead.” This appears to refer only to the second or older pattern. The old-fashioned ring thimbles were usually carried on the belt hook of the needlecase, but modern thimbles require a box. These boxes (kigiun?), which are usually small and cylindrical, also serve for holding thread, beads, and all sorts of little trinkets or knickknacks, and many of them are so old that they were evidently used for this purpose long before the introduction of metal thimbles. Little tin canisters, spice boxes, etc., are also used for the same purpose nowadays. We brought home thirteen of these boxes, of which No. 89407 [1158] Fig. 329a has been chosen as the type. It is a piece of the beam of a stout antler, 4.3 inches long, cut off square on the ends and hollowed out. Into the large end is fitted a flat bottom of thin pine, fastened in by four little treenails of wood. The cover is of the same material. It is held on by a string of sinew braid about 11 inches long, which passes out through the lower of the two little holes on one side of the box, being held by a knot at 323 the end, in through the upper, then out and in through two similar holes in the middle of the cover, and out through a hole on the other side of the box. Pulling the end of this string draws the cover down snugly into its place. Some of the remaining boxes are made of antler, and vary in length from 4.7 to 8 inches. The last is, however, unusually large, most of the others being about 5 inches long. The covers are generally held on by strings much in the manner described, and the ends are both usually of wood, though two old boxes have both ends made of antler, and one has a top of hard bone. The last is a specimen newly made for sale. These boxes are sometimes ornamented on the outside with incised lines, colored red or blackened, either conventional patterns as in Fig. 329b (No.89405 [1335], from UtkiavwiÑ) or figures of men and animals as in Fig. 329c (No.56615 [41] from the same village). The former is a new box, 4.7 inches long, and has the wooden ends both shouldered to fit tightly. The cover is worked with a string. see caption Fig. 329.—Trinket boxes. No. 56615 [41] on the other hand is very old, and has lost its cover. The wooden bottom is shouldered and held in with treenails. The surface is elaborately ornamented with incised and blackened figures. It is divided by longitudinal lines into four nearly equal panels, on which the figures are disposed as follows (the animals all being represented as standing on the longitudinal lines, and facing toward the right, that is, toward the open end of the box): On the first panel are 4 reindeer, alternately a buck and a doe, followed by a man in a kaiak, and over his head two small “circles and dots,” one above the other. 324 All the deer on this box are represented strictly in profile, so as to show only two legs and one antler each. On the second panel are 4 deer, all does, followed by a man with a bow slung across his back. On the third, aman in the middle appears to be calling 2 dogs, who, at the left of the panel, are drawing a railed sled. Reversed, and on the upper border of the panel, is a man pushing behind a similar sled drawn by 3 dogs. The head dog has stopped and is sitting down on his haunches. The dogs, like the reindeer, are all strictly in profile and rather conventionalized. In the fourth panel are 3 reindeer followed by a man in his kaiak, and upside down, above, adeer without legs, supposed to be swimming in the water, and a very rude figure of a man in his kaiak. These figures probably represent actual occurrences, forming a sort of record. see caption Fig. 330.—Trinket boxes. Fig. 330a (No. 89408 [1371] from Sidaru) is a piece of stout antler, 4.7 inches long, which has the bottom of pine fitted tightly in without fastenings. The cover is of wood, covered, to make it fit tight, with parchment, apparently shrunk on and puckered on the upper surface. Athick hank of untwisted sinew is fastened as a handle through the middle of the cover. This box is old and dirty, and contains an unfinished flint arrow-head. No. 56505 [59] from UtkiavwiÑ, is a new box, closed at the ends with thick shouldered plugs of pine wood. The tube is 8 inches long and ornamented with a conventional pattern of incised lines colored with red ocher. 325 Fig. 330b (No. 89402 [1359] also from UtkiavwiÑ), is peculiar from the material of which it is made. It is of about the same pattern as the common antler boxes, but is made of the butt end of the os penis of a large walrus, cut off square and hollowed out, and has ends of hard whale’s bone. Its length is 4.2 inches. No. 89403 [1425] Fig. 331 from Sidaru, is made of the hollow butt of a good-sized walrus tusk, 3.2 inches long. It has a neatly fitted wooden bottom, held in with 6 treenails, two of ivory and four of wood. The box has been cracked and split and mended with stitches of sinew and whalebone. Peculiar conventional patterns are incised on the box and cover. Apeculiar box is shown in Fig. 332 (No.56583 [37] from UtkiavwiÑ). This is of compact white bone, with a flat wooden bottom. Ido not recollect seeing any other boxes of the same sort. see caption Fig. 331.—Ivory box. see caption Fig. 332.—Bone box. Fig. 333 (No. 89409 [1372]) is the tip of a walrus tusk cut off and hollowed out into a sort of flask, 3.8 inches long, closed at the large end by a flat wooden bottom, fastened in with treenails and at the small end by a stopper of soft wood. see caption Fig. 333.—Little flask of ivory. see caption Fig. 334.—Box in shape of deer. The most peculiar box of all, however, is shown in Fig. 334 (No.56512 [2] from UtkiavwiÑ), the only specimen of the kind seen. It is 5.5 inches long, made of reindeer antler, and very neatly carved into a most excellent image of a reindeer lying on its left side, with the head, which has no antlers, turned down and to the left. The legs are folded up against the belly, the forelegs with the hoofs pointing backward, the hind hoofs pointing forward. The eyes are represented by small sky-blue glass beads, and the mouth, nostrils, and navel neatly incised, the last being particularly well-marked. The tips of the hoofs are rounded off, which, taken in connection with the attitude and the well marked navel, lead me to believe 326 that the image is meant to represent an unborn fetus. The whole of the body is hollowed, the aperture taking up the whole of the buttocks, and closed by a flat, thick plug of soft wood. Around peg of wood is driven in to close an accidental hole just above the left shoulder. The box is old and discolored, and worn smooth with much handling. Rarely these little workboxes are made of basketwork. We obtained four specimens of these small baskets, of which No. 56564 [88] Fig. 335, workbasket (Águma, Áma, ipiÁru), will serve as the type. The neck is of black tanned sealskin, 2½ inches long, and has 1 vertical seam, to the middle of which is sewed the middle of a piece of fine seal thong, afoot long, which serves to tie up the mouth. The basket appears to be made of fine twigs or roots of the willow, with the bark removed, and is made by winding an osier spirally into the shape of the basket, and wrapping a narrow splint spirally around the two adjacent parts of this, each turn of the splint being separated from the next by a turn of the succeeding tier. The other basket from UtkiavwiÑ (No.56565 [135]) is almost exactly like this, but larger (3.5 inches in diameter and 2.2 high), and has holes round the top of the neck for the drawstring. see caption Fig. 335.—Small basket. see caption Fig. 336.—Small basket. see caption Fig. 337.—Small basket. Two baskets from Sidaru are of the same material and workmanship, but somewhat larger and of a different shape, as shown in Fig. 336, No. 89801 [1366], and Fig. 337, No. 89802 [1427]. This was the only species of basketwork seen among these people and is probably not of native manufacture. Prof. O. T. Mason, of the National Museum, has called my attention to the fact that the method of weaving employed in making these baskets is the same as that used by the Apaches and Navajos, who have been shown to be linguistically of the same stock as the Athabascan or TinnÉ group of Indians of the North. The first basket collected, No. 56564 [88], was said by the owner to have come from the “great river” in the south. Now, the name KuwÛk or Kowak, applied to the western stream flowing into Hotham Inlet, means simply “great river,” and this is the region where the Eskimo come into very intimate commercial relations with Indians of TinnÉ stock.426 Therefore, in consideration of the Indian 327 workmanship of these baskets, and the statement that one of them came from the “great river, south,” Iam well convinced that they were made by the Indians of the region between the Koyukuk and Silawik Rivers, and sold by them to the KuwÛÑmiun, whence they could easily find their way to Point Barrow through the hands of the “NunataÑmiun” traders. The Eskimo of Alaska south of Bering Strait make and use baskets of many patterns, but east of Point Barrow baskets are exceedingly rare. The only mention of anything of the kind will be found in Lyon’s Journal.427 He mentions seeing at Iglulik a “small round basket composed of grass in precisely the same manner as those constructed by the Tibboo, in the southern part of Fezzan, and agreeing with them also in its shape.” Now, these Africans make baskets of precisely the same “coiled” work (asProf. Mason callsit) as the TinnÉ, so that in all probability what Lyon saw was one of these same baskets, carried east in trade, like other western objects already referred to. The name Áma applied to these baskets at Point Barrow (the other two names appear to be simply “bag” or receptacle) corresponds to the Greenlandic amÅt, the long thin runners from the root of a tree, “at present used in the plural also for a basket of European basketwork,” (because they had no idea that twigs could be so small)—GrØnlandske Ordbog. No. 89799 [1329] from UtkiavwiÑ, is a peculiar bag, the only one of the kind seen, used for the same purpose as the boxes and baskets just described. It is the stomach of a polar bear, with the muscular and glandular layers removed, dried and carefully worked down with a skin scraper into something like goldbeater’s skin. This makes a large, nearly spherical bag 7½ inches in diameter, of a pale brownish color, soft and wrinkled, with a mouth 6 inches wide. Asmall hole has been mended by drawing the skin together and winding it round tightly on the inside with sinew. 328 MEANS OF LOCOMOTION AND TRANSPORTATION. TRAVELING BY WATER. Kaiaks and paddles.— Like all the rest of the Eskimo race, the natives of Point Barrow use the kaiak, or narrow, light, skin-covered canoe, completely decked over except at the middle, where there is a hole or cockpit in which the man sits. Although nearly every male above the age of boyhood owns and can manage one of these canoes, they are much less generally employed than by any other Eskimo whose habits have been described, except the “Arctic highlanders,” who have no boats, and perhaps those of Siberia and their Chuckche companions. The kaiak is used only during the season of open water, and then but little in the sea in the neighborhood of the villages. Those who remain near the villages in the summer use the kaiak chiefly for making the short excursions to the lakes and streams inland, already described, after reindeer, and for making short trips from camp to camp along the coast. At PernyÛ they are used in setting the stake-nets and also for retrieving fowl which have fallen in the water when shot. According to Dr. Simpson428 the men of the parties which go east in the summer travel in their kaiaks after reaching the open water “to make room in the large boat for the oil-skins.” We obtained no information regarding this. It is at this time, probably, that the kaiak comes specially in play for spearing molting fowl and “flappers”, and for catching seals with the kÚkiga. They manage the kaiak with great skill and confidence, but we never knew them to go out in rough weather, nor did we ever see the practice, so frequently described elsewhere, of tying the skirts of the waterproof jacket round the coaming of the cockpit so as to exclude the water. It should, however, be borne in mind that from the reasons above stated our opportunities for observing the use of the kaiak were very limited. At all events it is certain that the people depend mainly on the umiak, not only for traveling, but for hunting and fishing as well, which places them in strong contrast with the Greenlanders, who are essentially a race of kaiakers and have consequently developed the boat and its appendages to a high state of perfection. We brought home one complete full-sized kaiak, with its paddle, No. 57773 [539], Fig. 338a and b, which is a very fair representative of the canoes used at Point Barrow. This is 19 feet long and 18 inches wide amidships. The gunwales are straight, except for a very slight sheer at the bow, and the cockpit is 21 inches long and 18½ inches wide. It has a frame of wood, which appears to be all of spruce, held together by treenails and whalebone lashings, and is covered with white-tanned sealskins with the grain side out. The stoutest part of the frame is the two gunwales, each 3¼ inches broad and ½-inch thick, flat, and rounded off on the upper edge inside, running the whole length of the boat and meeting 329 at the stem and stern, gradually tapered up on the lower edge at each end. The ribs, of which there are at least forty-three, are bent into nearly a half-circle, thus making a U-shaped midship section, and are ¾-inch wide by ?-inch thick, flat on the outer side and round on the inner. Their ends are mortised into the lower edge of the gunwale and fastened with wooden treenails. They are set in about 3 inches apart and decrease gradually in size fore and aft. Outside of these are seven equidistant streaks running fore and aft, ¾inch to 1 inch wide and ¼ inch thick, of which the upper on each side reaches neither stem nor stern. These are lashed to the ribs with a strip of whalebone, which makes a round turn about one rib, above the streak, going under the rib first, and a similar turn round the next rib below the streak (Fig. 339). see caption Fig. 338.—Kaiak. There is a stout keelson, hemi-elliptical in section, under the cockpit only. This is 4½ feet long, about 2 inches deep, and 1½ inches wide, and is fastened in the middle and about 1 foot from each end by a strip of whalebone, which passes through a transverse hole in the keelson, round the rib on one side, back through the keelson, and round the rib on the other side twice. The end is wrapped spirally round the turns on one side and tucked into the hole in the keelson. The deck beams are not quite so stout as the ribs and are mortised into the upper edge of the gunwales a little below the level of the deck. The ends are secured by lashings or stitches of some material which are concealed by the skin cover. They are about as far apart as the ribs, but neither exactly correspond nor break joints with the latter. see caption Fig. 133.—Adz-head of jade and bone. see caption Fig. 134.—Adz-head of bone and iron, without eyes. see caption Fig. 135.—Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes. Fig. 133, No. 89658 [1072], from UtkiavwiÑ, has a long blade of black stone with the butt slightly tapered off and imbedded in a body of whale’s bone, which has a channel 1 inch wide, for the lashing, cut round 169 it and a shallow socket on the face to receive the end of the haft. Adz heads of this same type continued in use till after the introduction of iron, which was at first utilized by inserting a flat blade of iron into just such a body, as is shown in Fig. 134 (No.89877 [752], from the cemetery at UtkiavwiÑ). From this type to that shown in Fig. 135 (No. 89876 [696] brought by the natives from the ruins on the Kulugrua) the transition is easy. Suppose, for the greater protection of the lashings, we inclose the channels on the sides of the head—in other words, bore holes instead of cutting grooves—we have exactly this pattern, namely, vertical eyes on each side of the head joined by transverse channels on the upper face. The specimen figured has on each side two oblong slots with a round eye between them. The blade is of iron, Fig. 136, No. 56640 [260] has two eyes on each side, and shows a different method of attaching the blade, which is countersunk flush with the upper surface of the body and secured with three stout iron rivets. The next step is to substitute horizontal eyes for the vertical ones, so as to have only one set of holes to thread the lashings through. This is seen in No. 89869 [878], Fig. 137, from Nuwuk, which in general pattern closely resembles No. 89876 [696], but has three large horizontal eyes instead of the vertical ones. The blade is of iron and the haft of whale’s bone. The lashing is essentially the same as that of the modern adz, No. 56638 [309]. see caption Fig. 136.—Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes. see caption Fig. 137.—Hafted bone and iron adz. That this final type of hafting was reached before stone had gone out of use for such implements is shown by Fig. 138, No. 89839 [769], from UtkiavwiÑ, which, while very like the last in shape, has a blade 170 of hard, dark purple slate. The haft is of reindeer antler. The lashing has the short end knotted to the long part after making the first round, instead of being slit to receive the latter. Otherwise it is of the usual pattern. These composite adzes of bone and stone or iron seemed to have been common at the end of the period when stone was exclusively used and when iron first came into use in small quantities, and a good many have been preserved until the present day. We obtained four hafted and six unhafted specimens, besides seven jade blades for such composite adzes, which are easily recognizable by their small size and their shape. They are usually broad and rather thin, and narrowed to the butt, as is seen in Fig. 139, No. 56685 [71], abeautiful little adz of bright green jade 2.8 inches long and 2.3 wide, from UtkiavwiÑ. No. 56670 [246] also from UtkiavwiÑ, is a similar blade of greenish jade slightly larger, being 3.4 inches long and 2 inches wide. No. 89670 [1092] is a tiny blade of hard, fine-grained black stone, probably oil-soaked jade, only 1.7 inches long and 1.5 wide. It is very smoothly ground. Such little adzes, we were told, were especially used for cutting bone. The implement,284 which NordenskiÖld calls a “stone chisel,” found in the ruins of an old Eskimo house at Cape North, is evidently the head of one of these little bone adzes, as is plainly seen on comparing this figure with the larger adzes figured above. see caption Fig. 138.—Hafted bone and stone adz. I have figured two more composite adzes, which are quite different from the rest. No. 89838 [1109], Fig. 140, has a blade of neatly flaked gray flint, but this as well as the unusually straight haft is newly 171 made. These are fitted to a very old bone body, which when whole was not over 3 inches long, and was probably part of a little bone adz. There is no evidence that these people ever used flint adzes. Fig. 141, No. 89872 [785], is introduced to show how the native has utilized an old cooper’s adz, of which the eye was probably broken, by fitting it with a bone body. see caption Fig. 139.—Small adz-blade of green jade. see caption Fig. 140.—Hafted adz of bone and flint. While the adzes already described appear to have been the predominating types, another form was sometimes used. Fig. 142, No. 89874 [964], from Nuwuk, represents this form. The haft is of whale’s rib, 1foot long, and the head of bone, apparently whale’s scapula, 5.6 inches long and 2.8 inches wide on the edge. There is an adze in the Museum from the Mackenzie River region with a steel blade of precisely the same pattern. That adzes of this pattern sometimes had stone blades is probable. No. 89840 [1317], is a clumsily made commercial tool of this type, with a small head of greenish slate. It has an unusually straight haft, which is disproportionately long and thick. see caption Fig. 141.—Old cooper’s adz, rehafted. All these adzes, ancient and modern, are hafted upon essentially the same pattern. The short curved haft, the shape of which is sufficiently well indicated by the figures, seems to have been generally made of whale’s rib or reindeer antler, both of which have a natural curve suited 172 to the shape of the haft. A“branch” of a reindeer’s antler is particularly well suited for the haft of a small adze. Not only does it have naturally the proper dimensions and a suitable curve, but it is very easy, by cutting out a small segment of the “beam” where the “branch” starts from it, to make a flange of a convenient shape for fitting to the head. Antler is besides easily obtained, not only when the deer is killed for food, but by picking up shed antlers on the tundra, and is consequently employed for many purposes. The haft usually has a knob at the tip to keep the hand from slipping, and the grip is sometimes roughened with cross cuts or wound with thong. There are usually as many holes for the lashing as there are eyes in the head, though there are two holes when the head has only one large eye. On the bone heads, the surfaces to which the haft is applied and the channels for the lashings are roughened with cross cuts to prevent slipping. The lashing always follows the same general plan, though no two adzes are lashed exactly alike. The plan may be summarized as follows: One end of the thong makes a turn through one of the holes in the haft, and around or through the head. This turn is then secured, usually by passing the long end through a slit in the short end and hauling this loop taut, sometimes by knotting the short end to the long part, or by catching the short end down under the next turn. The long part then makes several turns round or through the head and through the haft, sometimes also crossing around the latter, and the whole is then finished off by wrapping the end two or three times around the turns on one side and tucking it neatly underneath. This is very like the method of lashing on the heads of the mauls already described, but the mauls have only one hole in the haft, and there are rarely any turns around the latter. see caption Fig. 142.—Adz with bone blade. Jade adz blades, like those already described, have been brought by Mr. Nelson from Kotzebue Sound, the Diomedes, St. Michaels, etc., and one came from as far south as the Kuskoquim River. Chisels.— We collected a number of small short handled chisels, resembling the implements called “trinket makers,” of which there are so many in the National Museum. We never happened to see them in actual use, but were informed that they were especially designed for working 173 on reindeer antler. Of the eight specimens collected No. 89302 [884], Fig. 143, has been selected as a type of the antler chisel (ki´Ñnusa). The blade is of steel, and the haft is of reindeer antler, in two longitudinal sections, put together at right angles to the plane of the blade, held together by a stout round bone treenail 2½ inches from the butt. The square tip of the blade is beveled on both faces to a rough cutting edge. Fig. 144 (No.89301) [1000] has a small blade with an oblique tip not beveled to an edge, and a haft of walrus ivory yellowed from age, and ornamented with rows of rings, each with a dot in the center, all incised and colored with red ocher. The two parts of the haft are fastened together by a stout wooden treenail and a stitch of whalebone. see caption Fig. 143.—Antler chisel. see caption Fig. 144.—Antler chisel. see caption Fig. 145.—Spurious tool, flint blade. The rest of the steel-bladed chisels, four in number, are all of about the same size and hafted with antler. The blades are somewhat irregular in shape, but all have square or oblique tips and no sharp edge. Three of them have the sections of the haft put together as described, and fastened by a treenail and a whipping of seal twine or sinew braid at the tip. One has the two sections put together in the plane of the blade and fastened with a large copper rivet, which also passes through the butt of the blade, and three stout iron ones. The hafts of all these tools show signs of much handling. The remaining two specimens have blades of black flint. No. 89637 [1207], has a haft of walrus ivory, of the usual pattern, fastened together by a bone treenail and two stitches, one of sinew braid and one of seal thong. The lashing of seal twine near the tip serves to mend a crack. The haft is old and rusty about the slot into which the blade is fitted, showing that it originally had an iron blade. The flint blade was probably put in to make it seem ancient, as there was a special demand for prehistoric articles. No. 89653 [1290], Fig. 145, is nothing but a fanciful tool made to meet this demand. The haft is of light-brown mountain sheep horn, and the blade of black flint. Such flint-bladed tools may have been used formerly, but there is no proof that they were. Whalebone shaves.— There is in use at Point Barrow, and apparently not elsewhere among the Eskimo, aspecial tool for shaving whalebone, asubstance which is very much used in the form of long, thin strips for fastening together boat timbers, whipping spear shafts, etc. The 174 thin, long shavings which curl up like “curled hair,” are carefully saved and used for the padding between stocking and boot. Whalebone is also sometimes shaved for this special purpose. The tool is essentially a little spokeshave about 4 inches long, which is held by the index and second finger of the right hand, one on each handle, with the thumb pressed against one end, and is drawn toward the workman. The collection contains three specimens of the ordinary form (sÁvig?), represented by No. 89306 [885] (figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. III, Fig.6). This has a steel blade and a haft of walrus ivory. The upper face of the haft is convex and the under flat, and the blade, which is beveled only on the upper face, is set at a slight inclination to the flat face of the haft. The edge of the blade projects 0.2 inch from the haft above and 0.3 below. The hole at one end of the haft is for a lanyard to hang it up by. The other two are of essentially the same pattern, but have hafts of reindeer antler. see caption Fig. 146.—Whalebone shave, slate blade. The collection also contains six tools of this description, with stone blades, but they are all new and very carelessly made, with hafts of coarse-grained bone. The shape of the tools is shown in Fig. 146, No. 89649 [1213], from UtkiavwiÑ, which has a rough blade of soft, light greenish slate. The other five have blades of black or gray flint, roughly flaked. All these blades are glued in with oil dregs. No. 89652 [1225] is like the others in shape, but more neatly made, and is peculiar in having a blade of hard, compact bone. This is inserted by sawing a deep, narrow slit along one side of the haft from end to end. The blade is wedged into the middle of the slit, the ends of which are neatly filled in with slips of the same material as the haft. This was the only tool of the kind seen. It is very probable that shaves of stone were formerly used, though we obtained no genuine specimens. The use of oblong chips of flint for this purpose would naturally suggest itself to a savage, and the convenience of fitting these flakes into a little haft would soon occur to him. No. 89616 [1176] is such an oblong flint, flaked to an edge on one face, which is evidently old, and which was said to have been used for shaving whalebone. The material is black flint. Whalebone is often shaved nowadays with a common knife. The slab of bone is laid upon the thigh and the edge of the knife pressed firmly against it, with the blade perpendicular to the surface of the slab, which is drawn rapidly under it. Saws.— If the Eskimo had not already invented the saw before they became acquainted with the whites they readily adopted the tool even when they had scanty materials for making it. Crantz285 speaks of “alittle lock saw” as one of a Greenlander’s regular tools in his time, and Egede286 mentions handsaws as a regular article of trade. Capt. Parry287 175 found the natives of Iglulik, in 1821-1823, using a saw made of a notched piece of iron. On our asking Nikawa´alu, one day, what they had for tools before they got iron he said that they had drills made of seal bones and saws made of the shoulder blade of the reindeer. Some time afterwards he brought over a model of such a saw, which he said was exactly like those formerly used. Fig. 147, No. 89476 [1206], represents this specimen. It is made by cutting off the anterior edge of a reindeer’s scapula in a straight line parallel to the posterior edge and cutting fine saw teeth on this thin edge. The spine is also cut off nearly flat. This makes a tool very much like a carpenter’s backsaw, the narrow part of the scapula forming a convenient handle. see caption Fig. 147.—Saw made of deer’s scapula. Fig. 148, No. 56559 [15], shows how other implements were utilized before it was easy to obtain saws in plenty. It is a common case knife stamped on the blade, “Wilson, Hawksworth, ——n& Co., Sheffield,” which perhaps came from the Plover, with saw teeth cut on the edge. It was picked up at the UtkiavwiÑ cemetery, where it had been exposed with a corpse. Saws are now a regular article of trade, and most of the natives are provided with them of various styles and makes. The name for saw is ulua´ktun. see caption Fig. 148.—Saw made of a case-knife. Drills and borers.— The use of the bow drill appears to be universal among the Eskimo. Those at present employed at Point Barrow do not differ from the large series collected at the Mackenzie and Anderson rivers by MacFarlane. The drill is a slender rod of steel worked to a drill point and imbedded in a stout wooden shaft, which is tapered to a rounded tip. This fits into a stone socket imbedded in a wooden block, which is held between the teeth, so that the point of the drill can be pressed down against the object to be drilled by the head, leaving both hands free to work the short bow, which has a loose string of thong long enough to make one turn round the shaft. The collection contains ten of these modern steel or iron drills, fifteen bows, and seven mouthpieces. No. 89502 [853], figured in Point Barrow Rept., Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig. 1, has been selected as a typical drill (nia´ktun). The drill is a cylindrical rod of steel beaten out into a small lanceolate point, which is filed sharp on the edges. The shaft is made of hard wood. The remaining drills are of essentially the same pattern, varying in total length from about 11 inches to 16½. Fig. 149, No. 89499 [968] shows a somewhat unusual shape of shaft. The lashings round the large end are to keep it from splitting any more 176 than it has done already. The drill is of iron and the shaft of spruce, which was once painted with red ocher. see caption Fig. 149.—Bow drill. see caption Fig. 150.—Bow drill and mouthpiece. see caption Fig. 151.—Bow drill. No. 89497 [819] (Fig. 150) has a ferrule of coarse-grained bone neatly pegged on with two small pegs of the same material. This is unusual with steel drills. The shaft is of spruce and of the same shape as in the preceding specimen. No. 89595 [875] (Fig. 151) is figured to show the way in which the shaft has been mended. Awedge-shaped piece 3½ inches long and 0.3 to 0.4 inch wide has been split out of the large end and replaced by a fresh piece of wood neatly fitted in and secured by two tight whippings of sinew braid, each in a deep groove. No. 89515 [861], figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig. 2, is a typical bow (piziksuÁ) for use with these drills. It is of walrus ivory, 16 inches long and oval in section. Through each end is drilled a transverse hole. Astring of seal thong 21 inches long is looped into one of these holes by passing one end of the thong through the hole, cutting a slit in it, and passing the other end through this. The other end is passed through the other hole and knotted at the tip. These bows vary slightly in dimensions, but are not less than a foot or more than 16 inches long, and are almost always of walrus ivory. No. 89508 [956] (Fig. 152), is an old and rudely made bow of whalebone, which is more strongly arched than usual, and has the string attached to notches at the ends instead of into holes. This was said to belong with an old bone drill, No. 89498 [956]. Both came from Nuwuk. These bows are often highly ornamented both by carving and with incised patterns colored with red ocher or soot. The following figures are introduced to show some of the different styles of ornamentation. Fig. 153a, No. 56506 [298] is unusually broad and flat and was probably made for a handle to a tool bag. Such handles, however, appear 177 to be also used for drill bows. The tips of this bow represent seals heads, and have good sized sky-blue glass beads inserted for eyes. The rest of the ornamentation is incised and blackened. Fig. 153b, No. 89421 [1260], from UtkiavwiÑ, is a similar bow, which has incised on the back figures of men and animals, which, perhaps, tell of some real event. Mr. L.M. Turner informs me that the natives of Norton Sound keep a regular record of hunting and other events engraved in this way upon their drill bows, and that no one ever ventures to falsify these records. We did not learn definitely that such was the rule at Point Barrow, but we have one bag-handle marked with whales, which we were told indicated the number killed by the owner. Fig. 153c, No. 89425 [1732], from UtkiavwiÑ, is a similar bow, ornamented on the back with simply an incised border colored red. On the other side are the figures of ten bearded seals, cross-hatched and blackened. These are perhaps a “score.” Fig. 153d, No. 89509 [914], from Nuwuk, is a bow of the common pattern, but ornamented by carving the back into a toothed keel. Fig. 153e, No. 89510 [961], from UtkiavwiÑ, is ornamented on one side only with an incised pattern, which is blackened. Fig. 153f, No. 89511 [961], also from UtkiavwiÑ, has, in addition to the incised and blackened pattern, asmall transparent sky-blue glass bead inlaid in the middle of the back. Fig. 153g, No. 89512 [836], from the same place, is a flat bow with the edges carved into scallops. The incised line along the middle of the back is colored with red ocher. The string is made of sinew braid. see caption Fig. 152.—Drill bow. Fig. 154, No. 89777 [1004b], which belongs in the “kit” of IlÛ´bw’ga, the NunataÑmiun, previously mentioned, is interesting from having been lengthened 3¼ inches by riveting on a piece of reindeer antler at one end. The two pieces are neatly joined in a “lap splice” about 2 inches long and fastened with three iron rivets. The owner appears to have concluded that his drill bow was too short when he was at home, in the interior, where he could obtain no walrus ivory. The incised pattern on the back is colored with red ocher. The mouthpiece (ki´Ñmia) consists of a block of hard stone (rarely iron), in which is hollowed out a round cup-like socket, large enough to receive the tip of the drill shaft, imbedded in a block of wood of a suitable size to hold between the teeth. This block often has curved flanges 178 on each side, which rest against the cheeks. Such mouthpieces are common all along the coast from the Anderson River to Norton Sound, as is shown by the Museum collection. No. 89500 [800], figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig. 3, is a type of the flanged mouthpiece. The block is of pine, carved into a thick, broad arch, with a large block on the inside. Into the top of the arch is inlaid a piece of gray porphyry with black spots, which is slightly convex on the surface, so as to project a little above the surface of the wood. In the middle of the stone is a cup-shaped cavity one-half inch in diameter and of nearly the same depth. This is a rather large mouthpiece, being 6 inches across from one end of the arch to the other. see caption Fig. 153.—Drill bows. see caption Fig. 154.—Spliced drill bow. There are two other specimens of the same pattern, both rather smaller. No. 89503 [891], Fig. 150, from Nuwuk, has the stone of black and white syenite. This specimen is very old and dirty, and worn through to the stone on one side, where the teeth have come against it. No. 89787 [1004c], Fig. 155, is almost exactly the same shape as the type, but has 179 for a socket a piece of iron 1.1 inches square, hollowed out as usual. The outside of the wood has been painted with red ocher, but this is mostly worn off. This mouthpiece belonged to IlÛ´bw’ga. see caption Fig. 155.—Drill mouthpiece, with iron socket. see caption Fig. 156.—Drill mouthpiece without wings. Fig. 156, No. 89505 [892], from UtkiavwiÑ, represents the pattern which is perhaps rather commoner than the preceding. The wood, which holds the socket of black and white syenite, is simply an elliptical block of spruce. The remaining three specimens are of the same pattern and of the same material as the last, except No. 89507 [908], from Nuwuk, in which the wood is oak. As it appears very old, this wood may have come from the Plover. When not in use, the point of the drill is sometimes protected with a sheath. One such sheath was obtained, No. 89447 [1112], figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig.1. It is of walrus ivory, 3-6 inches long. The end of a piece of thong is passed through the eye and the other part fastened round the open end with a marline-hitch, catching down the end. This leaves a lanyard 9¼ inches long, which is hitched or knotted round the shaft of the drill when the sheath is fitted over the point. see caption Fig. 157.—Bone-pointed drill. The drills above described are used for perforating all sorts of material, wood, bone, ivory, metal, etc., and are almost the only boring implements used, even awls being unusual. Before the introduction of iron, the point was made of one of the small bones from a seal’s leg. We obtained four specimens of these bone drills, of which two, at least, appear to be genuine. No. 89498 [956], Fig. 157, is one of these, from Nuwuk. The shaft is of the ordinary pattern and made of some hard wood, but the point is a roughly cylindrical rod of bone, expanding at the point, where it is convex on one face and concave on the other and beveled on both faces into two cutting edges, which meet in an acute angle. The larger end of the shaft has been split and mended by whipping it for about three-quarters of an inch with sinew braid. No. 89518 [1174], is apparently also genuine, and is like the preceding, but beveled only on the concave face of the point, which is rather obtuse. No. 89519 [1258] was made for the market. It has a rude shaft of whale’s bone, but a carefully made bone point of precisely the pattern of the modern iron ones. No. 89520 [1182] has no shaft, and appears to be an old unfinished drill fitted into a carelessly made bone ferrule. 180 The drill at the present day is always worked with a bow, which allows one hand to be used for steadying the piece of work. We were informed, however, that formerly a cord was sometimes used without the bow, but furnished with a transverse handle at each end. We collected six little handles of ivory, carved into some ornamental shape, each with an eye in the middle to which a thong could be attached. All were old, and we never saw them in use. The first two were collected at an early period of our acquaintance with these people, and from our imperfect knowledge of the language we got the impression that they were handles to be attached to a harpoon line. We were not long, however in finding out that the harpoon has no such appendage, and when the other four came in a year later, at a time when the press of other work prevented careful inquiry into their use, we supposed that they were meant for handles to the lines used for dragging dead seals, as they somewhat resemble such an implement. On our return home, when I had opportunities for making a careful study of the collection, Ifound that none of the drag lines, either in our own collection or in those of the Museum, had handles of this description. On the other hand, Ifound many similar implements in Mr. Nelson’s collection labeled “drill-cord handles,” and finally one pair (No.36319, from Kashunuk, near Cape Romanzoff), still attached to the drill cord. These handles are almost identical in shape with No. 89458 [835], from UtkiavwiÑ. This leaves no doubt in my mind that the so-called “drag-line handles” in our collection are nothing more than handles for drill cords, now wholly obsolete and supplanted by the bows already described. Ihave figured all six of these handles to show the different patterns of ornamentation. They are all made of walrus ivory, and are all “odd” handles, no two being mates. Fig. 158a (No.56526) [86], is 5.2 inches long, and light blue beads are inserted for eyes in the seal’s heads. The eye for the drill cord is made by boring two median holes at the middle of one side so that they meet under the surface and make a longitudinal channel. see caption Fig. 158.—Handles for drill cords. Fig. 158b (No. 56527 [23] from UtkiavwiÑ), is 4.3 inches long, and is very accurately carved into the image of a man’s right leg and foot, dressed in a striped deerskin boot. The end opposite to the foot is the 181 head of some animal, perhaps a wolf, with bits of dark wood inlaid for eyes. The eye is a simple large transverse hole through the thigh. Fig. 158c (No. 89455 [929] from Nuwuk), is 5.9 inches long. The eye is drilled lengthwise through a large lump projecting from the middle of one side. Small blue beads are inlaid for the eyes, and one to indicate the male genital opening. Fig. 158d (No. 89456 [930] from Nuwuk) is like No. 56527 [23], but represents the left foot and is not so artistically carved. It is 3.7 inches long. Fig. 158e (No. 89457 [925] from Nuwuk) is 4.7 inches long, and resembles No. 89455 [929], but has instead of the seal’s tail and flippers a large ovoid knob ornamented with incised and blackened rings. The “eye” is bored transversely. Fig. 158f (No. 89458 [835] from UtkiavwiÑ) differs from No. 89455 [925] in having a transverse eye, and being less artistically carved. Bits of lead are inlaid for the eyes. It is 4.4 inches long. The name of this implement is kÛ´Ñ-i. We obtained six specimens of an old flint tool, consisting of a rather long thick blade mounted in a straight haft about 10 inches long, of which we had some difficulty in ascertaining the use. We were at last able to be quite sure that they were intended for drilling, or rather reaming out, the large cavity in the base of the ivory head of a whale harpoon, which fits upon the conical tip of the fore-shaft. The shape of the blade is well fitted for this purpose. It is not unlikely that such tools, worked as these are, by hand, preceded the bone drills for boring all sorts of objects, and that the habit of using them for making the whale harpoon was kept up from the same conservatism founded on superstition which surrounds the whole whale fishery. (See under “Whale fishing,” where the subject will be more fully discussed.) No. 89626 [870], figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig. 4, is a typical implement of this class (itaun, i´tÛgetsau´). The blade is of black flint, flaked, 2inches long, imbedded in the end of a haft of spruce, 10.5 inches long. The blade is held in place by whipping the cleft end of the haft with sinew braid. Two of the other specimens, No. 89627 [937] and No. 89628 [912], are of essentially the same pattern and material, but have rounded hafts. No. 89629 [960] and No. 89630 [1068], Figs. 159a, 159b, have blades of the same pattern, but have hafts fitted for use with the mouthpiece and bow, showing that sometimes, at least in later times, these tools were so used. No. 89625 [1217] (Fig. 160) has no haft, but the blade, which is rather narrow in proportion to its length (2.3 inches by 0.5), is fitted into a short ferrule of antler, with a little dovetail on the edge for attaching it to the haft. Of awls we saw only one specimen, which, perhaps, ought rather to be considered a little hand drill. This is No. 89308 [1292], Fig. 161, from UtkiavwiÑ. The point is the tip of a common three-cornered file, 182 sharpened down. It is imbedded in a handle of fossil ivory which has turned a light yellowish brown from age. Its total length is 2.8 inches. see caption Fig. 159.—Flint-bladed reamers. Hammers.— At the present day nearly every man has been able to procure an iron hammer of some kind, which he uses with great handiness. Before the introduction of iron, in addition to the bone and stone mauls above described as bone crushers, unhafted pebbles of convenient shape were also employed. No. 56661 [274] is such a stone. It is an ovoid water-worn pebble of greenish gray quartzite, 3½ inches long. The ends are battered, showing how it had been used. It was brought from one of the rivers in the interior by one of the natives of UtkiavwiÑ. Files.— Files of all kinds are eagerly sought after by the natives, who use them with very great skill and patience, doing nearly all their metal work with these tools. For instance, one particularly ingenious native converted his Winchester rifle from a rim fire to a central fire with nothing but a file. To do this he had to make a new firing pin, as the firing pin of the rim-fire gun is too short to reach the head of the cartridge. He accomplished this by accurately cutting off, to the proper length, an old worn-out three-cornered file. He then filed off enough of each edge so that the rod fitted evenly in the cylindrical hole where the firing pin works. The work was done so carefully that the new firing pin worked perfectly, and he had only to complete the job by cutting off his central fire cartridge shells to a proper length to fit the chamber of the gun. see caption Fig. 160.—Flint-bladed reamer. see caption Fig. 161.—Awl. They have almost no knowledge of working metal with the aid of heat, as is natural from the scarcity of fuel. Ihave, however, seen them roughly temper small articles, such as fire steels, etc., by heating them in the fire and quenching them in cold 183 water. One native very neatly mended a musket barrel which had been cracked by firing too heavy a charge. He cut a section from another old barrel of somewhat larger caliber, which he heated until it had expanded enough to slip down over the crack, and then allowed it to shrink on. see caption Fig. 162.—Jade whetstones. Whetstones (ipiksaun).— Knives are generally sharpened with a file, cutting a bevel, as before mentioned, on one face of the blade only. To “set” or “turn” the edge they use pieces of steel of various shapes, generally with a hole drilled in them so that they can be hung to the breeches belt by a lanyard. One man, for instance, used about half of a razor blade for this purpose, and another a small horseshoe magnet. In former times they employed a very elegant implement, consisting of a slender rod of jade from 3 to 7 inches long, with a lanyard attached to an eye in the larger end. These were sometimes made by cutting a piece from one of the old jade adzes in the manner already described. There are a few of these whetstones still in use at the present day, and they are very highly prized. We succeeded in obtaining nine specimens, of which No. 89618 [801], Fig. 162a, has been selected as the type. It is of hard black stone, probably jade, 6.3 inches long. Through the wider end is drilled a large eye, into which is neatly spliced one end of a stout flat braid of sinew 4¾ inches long. 184 The remaining whetstones are of very much the same pattern. Ihave figured five of them, to show the slight variations. Fig. 162b (No.56662 [393], from UtkiavwiÑ) is of light grayish green jade, smoothly polished and 4.1 inches long. It is chamfered only on the small end at right angles to the breadth, and has the eye prolonged into ornamental grooves on the two opposite faces. The long lanyard is of common sinew braid. No. 56663 [229] (from the same village) is of olive green, slightly translucent jade, 6.8 inches long, and elliptical in section, also chamfered only at the small end. The lanyard, which is a strip of seal thong 9 inches long, is secured in the eye, as described before, with two slits, one in the standing part through which the end is passed and the other in the end with the standing part passed through it. No. 89617 [1262] (from Sidaru) is of olive green, translucent jade, 6.1 inches long, and shaped like the type, but chamfered only at the small end. The lanyard of seal thong is secured in the eye by a large round knot in one end. No. 89619 [837] (from UtkiavwiÑ) is of bright green, translucent jade, 5.1 inches long, and unusually thick, its greatest diameter being 0.6 inch. The tip is gradually worked off to an oblique edge, and it has ornamental grooves running through the eye like No. 56662 [393]. see caption Fig. 163.—Jade whetstones. No. 89620 [865] (from Nuwuk) is shaped very much like the type, but has the tip tapered off almost to a point. It is of olive green, slightly translucent jade and is 7 inches long. The lanyard is a piece of sinew 185 braid with the ends knotted together and the bight looped into the eye. Alarge sky-blue glass bead is slipped on over both parts of the lanyard and pushed up close to the loop. Fig. 163a (No.89621 [757], from UtkiavwiÑ) is very short and broad (3.6 inches by 0.6), is chamfered at both ends, and has the ornamental grooves at the eye. The material is a hard, opaque, bluish gray stone, veined with black. A whetstone of similar material was brought by Lieut. Stoney from Kotzebue Sound. The long lanyard is of sinew braid. Fig. 163b (No.89622 [951], also from UtkiavwiÑ) is a very small, slender whetstone, 3.3 inches long, of dark olive green semitranslucent jade, polished. The tip is not chamfered, but tapers to a blunt point. It has the ornamental grooves at the eye. These are undoubtedly the “stones for making ... whetstones, or these ready-made” referred to by Dr. Simpson (Op.cit., p.266) as brought by the NunataÑmiun from the people of the “Ko-wak River.” Afew such whetstones have been collected on other parts of the northwest coast as far south as the northern shore of Norton Sound. The broken whetstone mentioned above is of a beautiful bluish green translucent jade. Bits of stone are also used for whetstones, such as No. 89786 [1004f], which belong in IlÛ´bw’ga’s tool bag. They are two rough, oblong bits of hard dark gray slate, apparently split off a flat, weathered surface. see caption Fig. 164.—Wooden tool boxes. Tool boxes and bags.— We collected six specimens of a peculiarly shaped long, narrow box, carved from a single block of wood, which we were informed were formerly used for holding tools. They have gone out of fashion at the present day, and there are but few of them left. No. 89860 [1152], Fig. 164a, represents the typical shape of this box. It is carved from a single block of pine. The cover is slightly hollowed on the under side and is held on by two double rings of twine (one of seal twine and the other of sinew braid), large enough to slip over the 186 end. Each ring is made by doubling a long piece of twine so that the two parts are equal, passing one end through the bight and knotting it to the other. The box and cover seem to have been painted inside and out with red ocher. On the outside this is mostly faded and worn off and covered with dirt, but inside it has turned a dark brown. Fig. 164b (No.89858 [1319], from UtkiavwiÑ), is a similar box, 21.1 inches long. The cover is held on by a string passing over little hooked ivory studs close to the edge of the box. There were originally five of these studs, two at each end and one in the middle of one side. The string started from one of these studs at the pointed end. This stud is broken and the string fastened into a hole close to it. To fasten on the cover the string was carried over and hooked under the opposite stud, then crossed over the cover to the middle stud, then across to the end stud on the other side, and the loop on the end hooked onto the last stud. see caption Fig. 165.—Large wooden tool boxes. No. 89859 [1318] is a smaller box (19 inches long) of the same pattern, with only four studs. The cover has three large blue glass beads, like those used for labrets, inlaid in a line along the middle. No. 89858 [1144], from UtkiavwiÑ, is the shape of the type, but has a thicker cover and six stud holes in the margin. No. 89861 [1151], Fig. 165a, from the same place, is shaped something like a violin case, 22.2 inches long. The cover has been split and “stitched” together with whalebone, and a crack in the broader end of the box has been neatly mended by pegging on, with nine little wooden treenails, astrap of reindeer antler of the same width as the edge and following the curve of its outline. There are four studs, two at each end. The string is made fast to one at the smaller end, carried over to the opposite one, then crossed to the opposite stud at the other end and back under the last one, abight of the end being tucked under the string between the two last-mentioned studs. The string is made of sinew braid, rope-yarns, and a long piece of seal thong. It was probably at first all of sinew 187 braid, and, gradually growing too short by being broken and knotted together again, was lengthened out with whatever came to hand. No. 89862 [1593], Fig. 165b, is a large box, of a very peculiar shape, best understood from the figure. The outside is much weathered, but appears to have been roughly carved, and the excavation of the box and cover is very rudely done, perhaps with a stone tool. Ahole in the larger end is mended by a patch of wood chamfered off to fit the hole and sewed on round the edges with “over-and-over” stitches of whalebone. The string is arranged in permanent loops, under which the cover can be slipped off and on. see caption Fig. 166.—Tool bag of wolverine skin. The arrangement, which is rather complicated, is as follows: On one side of the box, one-half inch from the edge and about 7 inches from each end, are two pairs of holes, one-half inch apart. Into each pair is fastened, by means of knots on the inside, aloop of very stout sinew braid, 3inches long, and similar loops of seal thong, 5inches long, are fastened into corresponding pairs of holes on the other side. Apiece of seal thong is fastened with a becket-hitch into the loop of seal thong at the small end of the box, passes through both braid loops on the other side, and is carried over through the loop of seal thong at the large end. The end of the thong is knotted into one of the pairs of holes left by the breaking away of a stitch at the edge of the wooden patch above mentioned. All these boxes are very old and were painted inside with red ocher, which has turned dark brown from age. Tools are nowadays kept in a large oblong, flat satchel, ikqÛxbwiÑ, which has an arched handle of ivory or bone stretched lengthwise across the open mouth. These bags are always made of skin with the hair out, and the skins of wolverines’ heads are the most desired for this purpose. The collection contains four such bags. No. 89794 [1018], Fig. 166, is the type of these bags. The bottom of the bag is a piece of short-haired brown deerskin, with 188 the hair out, pieced across the middle. The sides and ends are made of the skins of four wolverine heads, without the lower jaw, cut off at the nape and spread out and sewed together side by side with the hair outward and noses up. One head comes on each end of the bag and one on each side, and the spaces between the noses are filled out with gussets of deerskin and wolverine skin. Anarrow strip of the latter is sewed round the mouth of the bag. The handle is of walrus ivory, 14½ inches long and about one-half inch square. There is a vertical hole through it one-half inch from each end, and at one end also a transverse hole between this and the tip. One end of the thong which fastens the handle to the bag is drawn through this hole and cut off close to the surface. The other end is brought over the handle and down through the vertical hole and made fast with two half-hitches into a hole through the septum of the nose of the head at one end of the bag. The other end of the handle is fastened to the opposite nose in the same way, but the thong is secured in the hole by a simple knot in the end above. On one side of the handle is an unfinished incised pattern. see caption Fig. 167.—Tool bag of wolverine skin. Fig. 167, No. 89776 [1004], is a similar bag, made of four wolverine heads with the lower jaws attached. The bottom is of stout leather without hair. The mouth is tied up by a bit of thong passed through the nostrils of the two side heads so that it can spread open only about 1¾ inches. The handle is broad and flat, made of walrus ivory, and ornamented with an incised border on top. One end is broken and pieced out with reindeer antler secured by a clumsy “fishing” of seal twine, which is passed through holes in the two parts. The pieces seem to have been riveted together as in the drill bow, No. 89777 [1004b] (Fig. 154), which belongs to this bag. There is a rivet still sticking in the antler. It is possible that the ivory may have broken in the process of riveting the two together. The handle has two vertical holes at each end for the thong, by which it is fastened to the end noses, both in the 189 median line and joined by a short channel on top of the handle. This bag was the property of the NunataÑmiun IlÛbw’ga, so frequently mentioned, and was purchased with all its contents. The people at Point Hope are known as Tikera´Ñmiun “inhabitants of the forefinger (Point Hope)”, and their settlement is occasionally visited by straggling parties. No natives from Point Hope came north during the 2 years of our stay, but a party of them visited the Plover in 1853.38 We found some people acquainted by name with the KuwÛ´Ñmiun and Silawi´Ñmiun of the KuwÛk (Kowak or “Putnam”) and Silawik Rivers emptying into Hotham Inlet, and one man was familiar with the name of SisualiÑ, the great trading camp at Kotzebue Sound. We were unable to find that they had any knowledge of Asia (“Kokhlitnuna,”) or the Siberian Eskimo, but this was probably due to lack of properly directed inquiries, as they seem to have been well informed on the subject in the Plover’s time.39 With the people of the Nu´natak (Inland) River, the NunataÑmiun, they are well acquainted, as they meet them every summer for purposes of trading, and a family or two of NunataÑmiun sometimes spend the 45 winter at the northern villages. One family wintered at Nuwuk in 1881-’82, and another at UtkiaviÑ the following winter, while a widower of this “tribe” was also settled there for the same winter, having married a widow in the village. We obtained very little definite information about these people except that they came from the south and descended the Colville River. Our investigations were rendered difficult by the engrossing nature of the work of the station, and the trouble we experienced, at first, in learning enough of the language to make ourselves clearly understood. Dr. Simpson was able to learn definitely that the homes of these people are on the Nunatak and that some of them visit Kotzebue Sound in the summer, while trading parties make a portage between the Nunatak and Colville, descending the latter river to the Arctic Ocean.40 Ihave been informed by the captain of one of the American whalers that he has, in different seasons, met the same people at Kotzebue Sound and the mouth of the Colville. We also received articles of Siberian tame reindeer skin from the east, which must have come across the country from Kotzebue Sound. These people differ from the northern natives in some habits, which will be described later, and speak a harsher dialect. We were informed that in traveling east after passing the mouth of the Colville they came to the KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ (“Kangmali enyuin” of Dr. Simpson and other authors) and still further off “agreat distance” to the KupÛÑ or “Great River”—the Mackenzie—near the mouth of which is the village of the KupÛÑmiun, whence it is but a short distance inland to the “great house” (iglu´kpÛk) of the white men on the great river (probably Fort Macpherson). Beyond this we only heard confused stories of people without posteriors and of sledges that run by themselves without dogs to draw them. We heard nothing of the country of Kitiga´ru41 or of the stone-lamp country mentioned by Dr. Simpson.42 The KÛÑmÛdliÑ are probably, as Dr. Simpson believes, the people whose winter houses were seen by Franklin at Demarcation Point,43 near which, at Icy Reef, Hooper also saw a few houses.44 As already stated, Capt. E. E. Smith was informed by the natives that there is now no village farther west than Herschel Island, where there is one of considerable size. If he was correctly informed, this must be a new village, since the older explorers who passed along the coast found only a summer camp at this point. He also states that he found large numbers of ruined iglus on the outlying sandy islands along the coast, especially near Anxiety Point. We have scarcely any information about these people, as the only white men who have seen them had little intercourse with them in passing along the coast.45 The 46 Point Barrow people have but slight acquaintance with them, as they see them only a short time each summer. Captain Smith, however, informs me that in the summer of 1885 one boat load of them came back with the Point Barrow traders to Point Barrow, where he saw them on board of his ship. There was a man at UtkiavwiÑ who was called “the KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ.” He came there when a child, probably, by adoption, and was in no way distinguishable from the other people. Father Petitot appears to include these people in the “Ta?Èo?meut” division of his “Tchiglit” Eskimo, whom he loosely describes as inhabiting the coast from Herschel Island to Liverpool Bay, including the delta of the Mackenzie,46 without locating their permanent villages. In another place, however, he excludes the “Ta?Èo?meut” from the “Tchiglit,” saying, “Dans l’ouest, les Tchiglit communiquaient avec leurs plus proches voisins les Ta?Èo?-meut,”47 while in a third place48 he gives the country of the “Tchiglit” as extending from the Coppermine River to the Colville, and on his map in the same volume, the “Tareormeut” are laid down in the Mackenzie delta only. According to his own account, however, he had no personal knowledge of any Eskimo west of the Mackenzie delta. These people undoubtedly have a local name derived from that of their winter village, but it is yet to be learned. It is possible that they do consider themselves the same people with the Eskimo of the Mackenzie delta, and call themselves by the general name of “Ta?Èo?meut” (= Taxaiomiun in the Point Barrow dialect), “those who live by the sea.” That they do not call themselves “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” or “Kanmali-enyuin” or “Kangmaligmeut” is to my mind quite certain. The word “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ,” as already stated, is used at Norton Sound to designate the people of Point Barrow (Iwas called a “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” by some Eskimo at St. Michaels because I spoke the Point Barrow dialect), who do not recognize the name as belonging to themselves, but have transferred it to the people under consideration. Now, “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” is a word formed after the analogy of many Eskimo words from a noun kÛÑme and the affix liÑ or dliÑ (inGreenlandic lik), “one who has a ——.” The radical noun, the meaning of which I can not ascertain, would become in the Mackenzie dialect k?agma?k (using Petitot’s orthography), which with -lik in the plural would make k?agmalit. (According to Petitot’s “Grammaire” the plural of -lik in the Mackenzie dialect is -lit, and not -gdlit, as in Greenlandic). This is the name given by Petitot on his map to the people of the Anderson River,49 while he calls the Anderson River itself K?agmalik.50 The father, however, had but little personal knowledge of the natives of the Anderson, having made but two, apparently brief, visits to their village in 1865, when he first made the acquaintance of the Eskimo. He afterwards became fairly intimate with the Eskimo of the Mackenzie 47 delta, parties of whom spent the summers of 1869 and 1870 with him. From these parties he appears to have obtained the greater part of the information embodied in his Monographie and Vocabulaire, as he explicitly states that he brought the last party to Fort Good Hope “autant pour les instruire À loisir que pour apprendre d’eux leur idiome.”51 Nothing seems to me more probable than that he learned from these Mackenzie people the names of their neighbors of the Anderson, which he had failed to obtain in his flying visits 5 years before, and that it is the same name, “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ,” which we have followed from Norton Sound and found always applied to the people just beyond us. Could we learn the meaning of this word the question might be settled, but the only possible derivation I can see for it is from the Greenlandic Karma?, awall, which throws no light upon the subject. Petitot calls the people of Cape Bathurst K?agmaliveit, which appears to mean “the real KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” (“KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” and the affix -vik, “the real”). The KupÛÑmiun appear to inhabit the permanent villages which have been seen near the western mouth of the Mackenzie, at Shingle Point52 and Point Sabine,53 with an outlying village, supposed to be deserted, at Point Kay.54 They are the natives described by Petitot in his Monographie as the Ta?Èo?meut division of the Tchiglit, to whom, from the reasons already stated, most of his account seems to apply. There appears to me no reasonable doubt, considering his opportunities for observing these people, that Ta?Èo?meut, “those who dwell by the sea,” is the name that they actually apply to themselves, and that KupÛÑmiun, or Kopagmut, “those who live on the Great River,” is a name bestowed upon them by their neighbors, perhaps their western neighbors alone, since all the references to this name seem to be traceable to the authority of Dr. Simpson. Should they apply to themselves a name of similar meaning, it would probably be of a different form, as, according to Petitot,55 they call the Mackenzie Ku?vik, instead of KupÛk or KupÛÑ. These are the people who visit Fort Macpherson every spring and summer,56 and are well known to the Hudson Bay traders as the Mackenzie River Eskimo. They are the Eskimo encountered between Herschel Island and the mouth of the Mackenzie by Franklin, by Dease and Simpson, and by Hooper and Pullen, all of whom have published brief notes concerning them.57 We are still somewhat at a loss for the proper local names of the last 48 labret-wearing Eskimo, those, namely, of the Anderson River and Cape Bathurst. That they are not considered by the Ta?Èo?meut as belonging to the same “tribe” with themselves is evident from the names K?agmalit and K?agmalivËit, applied to them by Petitot. Sir John Richardson, the first white man to encounter them (in1826), says that they called themselves “Kitte-garroe-oot,”58 and the Point Barrow people told Dr. Simpson of country called “Kit-te-ga´-ru” beyond the Mackenzie.59 These people, as well as the Ta?Èo?meut, whom they closely resemble, are described in Petitot’s Monographie, and brief notices of them are given by Sir John Richardson,60 McClure,61 Armstrong,62 and Hooper.63 The arts and industries of these people from the Mackenzie to the Anderson, especially the latter region, are well represented in the National Museum by the collections of Messrs. Kennicott, Ross, and MacFarlane. The Point Barrow people say that the KupÛÑmiun are “bad;”64 but notwithstanding this small parties from the two villages occasionally travel east to the Mackenzie, and spend the winter at the KupÛÑmiun village, whence they visit the “great house,” returning the following season. Such a party left Point Barrow June 15, 1882, declaring their intention of going all the way to the Mackenzie. They returned August 25 or 26, 1883, when we were in the midst of the confusion of closing the station, so that we learned no details of their journey. Aletter with which they were intrusted to be forwarded to the United States through the Mackenzie River posts reached the Chief Signal Officer in the summer of 1883 by way of the Rampart House, on the Porcupine River, whence we received an answer by the bearer from the factor in charge. The Eskimo probably sent the letter to the Rampart House by the Indians who visit that post. The intercourse between these people is purely commercial. Dr. Simpson, in the paper so often quoted, gives an excellent detailed description of the course of this trade, which agrees in the main with our observations, though we did not learn the particulars of time and distance as accurately as he did. There have been some important changes, however, since his time. Asmall party, perhaps five or six families, of “NunataÑmiun” now come every summer to Point Barrow about the end of July, or as soon as the shallow bays along shore are open. They establish themselves at the summer camping ground at PÉrny?, at the southwest corner of Elson Bay, and stay two or three weeks, trading with the natives and the ships, dancing, and shooting ducks. The eastward-bound parties seem to start a little earlier than formerly (July 7, 1853, July 3, 1854,65 June 18, 1882, and June 29, 1883). From all accounts their relations 49 with the eastern people are now perfectly friendly. We heard nothing of the precautionary measures described by Dr. Simpson,66 and the women talked frequently of their trading with the KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ and even with the KupÛÑmiun.67 We did not learn definitely whether they met the latter at Barter Point or whether they went still farther east. Some of the Point Barrow parties do not go east of the Colville. The articles of trade have changed somewhat in the last 30 years, from the fact that the western natives can now buy directly from the whalers iron articles, arms, and ammunition, beads, tobacco, etc. The NunataÑmiun now sell chiefly furs, deerskins, and clothing ready made from them, woodenware (buckets and tubs), willow poles for setting nets, and sometimes fossil ivory. The double-edged Siberian knives are no longer in the market and appear to be going out of fashion, though a few of them are still in use. Ready-made stone articles, like the whetstones mentioned by Dr. Simpson,68 are rarely, if ever, in the market. We did not hear of the purchase of stone lamps from the eastern natives. This is probably due to a cessation of the demand for them at Point Barrow, owing to the falling off in the population. The KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ no longer furnish guns and ammunition, as the western natives prefer the breech-loading arms they obtain from the whalers to the flintlock guns sold by the Hudson Bay Company. The trade with these people seems to be almost entirely for furs and skins, notably black and red fox skins and wolverine skins. Skins of the narwhal or beluga are no longer mentioned as important articles of trade. In return for these things the western natives give sealskins, etc., especially oil, as formerly, though I believe that very little, if any, whalebone is now carried east, since the natives prefer to save it for trading with the ships in the hope of getting liquor, or arms and ammunition, and various articles of American manufacture, beads, kettles, etc. Iwas told by an intelligent native of UtkiavwiÑ that brass kettles were highly prized by the KupÛÑmiun, and that a large one would bring three wolverine skins,69 three black foxskins, or five red ones. One woman was anxious to get all the empty tin cans she could, saying that she could sell them to the KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ for a foxskin apiece. We were told that the eastern natives were glad to buy gun flints and bright-colored handkerchiefs, and that the NunataÑmiun wanted blankets and playing cards. Indians.— They informed us that east of the Colville they sometimes met “ItkÛ´dliÑ,” people with whom they could not converse, but who were friendly and traded with them, buying oil for fox skins. They were said to live back of the coast between the Colville and the Mackenzie, and were described as wearing no labrets, but rings in their ears and noses. They wear their hair long, do not tonsure the crown, and are dressed in jackets of skin with the hair removed, without hoods, and 50 ornamented with beads and fringe. We saw one or two such jackets in UtkiavwiÑ apparently made of moose skin, and a few pouches of the same material, highly ornamented with beads. They have long flintlock guns, white man’s wooden pipes, which they value highly, and axes—not adzes—with which they “break many trees.” We easily understood from this description that Indians were meant, and since our return I have been able to identify one or two of the tribes with tolerable certainty. They seem better acquainted with these people than in Dr. Simpson’s time, and know the word “kutchin,” people, in which many of the tribal names end. We did not hear the names Ko´yukan or Itkalya´ruin which Dr. Simpson learned, apparently from the NunataÑmiun.70 Iheard one man speak of the Kutcha Kutchin, who inhabit the “Yukon from the Birch River to the Kotlo River on the east and the Porcupine River on the north, ascending the latter a short distance.”71 One of the tribes with which they have dealings is the “Rat Indians” of the Hudson Bay men, probably the Vunta´-Kutchin,72 from the fact that they visit Fort Yukon. These are the people whom Capt. Maguire met on his unsuccessful sledge journey to the eastward to communicate with Collinson. The Point Barrow people told us that “Magwa” went east to see “Colli´k-sina,” but did not see him, only saw the ItkÛdliÑ. Collinson,73 speaking of Maguire’s second winter at Point Barrow, says: “In attempting to prosecute the search easterly, an armed body of Indians of the Koyukun tribe were met with, and were so hostile that he was compelled to return.” Maguire himself, in his official report,74 speaks of meeting four Indians who had followed his party for several days. He says nothing of any hostile demonstration; in fact, says they showed signs of disappointment at his having nothing to trade with them, but his Eskimo, he says, called them Koyukun, which he knew was the tribe that had so barbarously murdered Lieut. Barnard at Nulato in 1851. Moreover, each Indian had a musket, and he had only two with a party of eight men, so he thought it safer to turn back. However, he seems to have distributed among them printed “information slips,” which they immediately carried to Fort Yukon, and returning to the coast with a letter from the clerk in charge, delivered it to Capt. Collinson on board of the Enterprise at Barter Island, July 18, 1854. The letter is as follows: Fort Youcon, June 27, 1854. The printed slips of paper delivered by the officers of H.M.S. Plover on the 25th of April, 1854, to the Rat Indians were received on the 27th of June, 1854, at the Hudson Bay Company’s establishment, Fort Youcon. The Rat Indians are in the 51 habit of making periodical trading excursions to the Esquimaux along the coast. They are a harmless, inoffensive set of Indians, ever ready and willing to render any assistance they can to the whites. Wm. Lucas Hardisty, Clerk in charge.75 Capt. Collinson evidently never dreamed of identifying this “harmless, inoffensive set of Indians” with “an armed body of Indians of the Koyukun tribe.” It is important that his statement, quoted above, should be corrected lest it serve as authority for extending the range of the Koyukun Indians76 to the Arctic Ocean. The Point Barrow people also know the name of the U´na-kho-tana,77 or En´akotina, as they pronounce it. Their intercourse with all these Indians appears to be rather slight and purely commercial. Friendly relations existed between the Rat Indians and the “Eskimos who live somewhere near the Colville” as early as 1849,78 while it was still “war to the knife” between the Peel River Indians and the KupÛÑmiun.79 The name ItkÛ´dliÑ, of which I´t-ka-lyi of Dr. Simpson appears to be the plural, is a generic word for an Indian, and is undoubtedly the same as the Greenland word er?ile?—plural er?igdlit—which means a fabulous “inlander” with a face like a dog. “They are martial spirits and inhuman foes to mankind; however, they only inhabit the east side of the land.”80 Dr. Rink81 has already pointed out that this name is in use as far as the Mackenzie River—for instance, the Indians are called “eert-kai-lee” (Parry), or “it-kagh-lie” (Lyon), at Fury and Hecla Strait; ik-kil-lin (Gilder), at the west shore of Hudson Bay, and “itk?e´le´it” (Petitot) at the Mackenzie. Petitot also gives this word as itkpe´lit in his vocabulary (p.42). These words, including the term Ingalik, or In-ka-lik, applied by the natives of Norton Sound to the Indians,82 and which Mr. Dall was informed meant “children of a louse’s egg,” all appear to be compounds of the word er?e?, alouse egg, and the affix lik. (Isuspect er?ile?, from the form of its plural, to be a corruption of “er?ili?,” since there is no recognized affix -le? in Greenlandic.) Petitot83 gives an interesting tradition in regard to the origin of this name: “La tradition Innok dÉdaigne de parler ici des Peaux-Rouges. L’Áyant fait observer Á mon narrateur A?viuna: ‘Oh!’ me repondait-il, ‘il ne vaut pas la peine d’en parler. Ils naquirent aussi dans l’ouest, sur l’ile du Castor, des larves de nos poux. C’Ést pourquoi nous les nommons Itk?e´le´it.’” CONTACT WITH CIVILIZED PEOPLE. Until the visit of the Blossom’s barge in 1826 these people had never seen a white man, although they were already in possession of tobacco and articles of Russian manufacture, such as copper kettles, which they 52 had obtained from Siberia by way of the Diomedes. Mr. Elson’s party landed only at Refuge Inlet, and had but little intercourse with the natives. His visit seemed to have been forgotten by the time of the Plover’s stay at Point Barrow, though Dr. Simpson found people who recollected the visit of Thomas Simpson in 1837.84 The latter, after he had left the boats and was proceeding on foot with his party, first met the NuwuÑmiun at Point Tangent, where there was a small party encamped, from whom he purchased the umiak in which he went on to Point Barrow. He landed there early in the morning of August 4, and went down to the summer camp at Perny?, where he stayed till 1 o’clock in the afternoon, trading with the natives and watching them dance. On his return to Point Tangent some of the natives accompanied him to Boat Extreme, where he parted from them August 6, so that his whole intercourse with them was confined to less than a week.85 The next white men who landed at Point Barrow were the party in the Plover’s boats, under Lieuts. Pullen and Hooper, on their way to the Mackenzie, and the crew of Mr. Sheddon’s yacht, the Nancy Dawson, in the summer of 1849. The boats were from July 29 to August 3 getting from Cape Smyth past Point Barrow, when the crews were ashore for a couple of days and did a little trading with the natives, whom they found very friendly. They afterwards had one or two skirmishes with evil-disposed parties of NuwuÑmiun returning from the east in the neighborhood of Return Reef. The exploring ships Enterprise and Investigator also had casual meetings with the natives, who received tobacco, etc., from the ships. The depot ship Plover, Commander Maguire, spent the winters of 1852-’53 and 1853-’54 at Point Barrow, and the officers and crew, after some misunderstandings and skirmishes, established very friendly and sociable relations with the natives. The only published accounts of the Plover’s stay at Point Barrow are Commander Maguire’s official reports, published in the Parliamentary Reports (Blue Books) for 1854, pp. 165-185, and 1855, pp. 905 et seq., and Dr. Simpson’s paper, already mentioned. Maguire’s report of the first winter’s proceedings is also published as an appendix to Sherard Osborne’s “Discovery of the Northwest Passage.” We found that the elder natives remembered Maguire, whom they called “Magwa,” very well. They gave us the names of many of his people and a very correct account of the most important proceedings, though they did not make it clear that the death of the man mentioned in his report was accidental. They described “Magwa” as short and fat, with a very thick neck, and all seemed very much impressed with the height of his first lieutenant, “Epi´ana” (Vernon), who had “lots of guns.” It was difficult to see that the Plover’s visit had exerted any permanent influence on these people. In fact, Dr. Simpson’s account of their habits and customs would serve very well for the present time, except 53 in regard to the use of firearms. They certainly remembered no English. Indeed, Dr. Simpson says86 that they learned hardly any. The Plover’s people probably found it very easy to do as we did and adopt a sort of jargon of Eskimo words and “pigeon English” grammar for general intercourse. Although, according to the account of the natives, there was considerable intercourse between the sailors and the Eskimo women, there are now no people living at either village who we could be sure were born from such intercourse, though one woman was suspected of being half English. She was remarkable only for her large build, and was not lighter than many pure-blooded women. Since 1854, when the first whalers came as far north as the Point, there has hardly been a season in which ships have not visited this region, and for a couple of months every year the natives have had considerable intercourse with the whites, going off to the ships to trade, while the sailors come ashore occasionally. We found that they usually spoke of white men as “kablu´na;” but they informed us that they had another word, “tÛ´n-nyin,” which they used to employ among themselves when they saw a ship. Dr. Simpson87 says that they learned the word “kabluna” from the eastern natives, but that the latter (hegives it Tan´-ning or Tan´-gin) came from the Nunata´Ñmiun. He supposes it to apply to the Russians, who had regular bath days at their posts, and says it is derived from tan-nikh-lu-go, to wash or cleanse the person. The chief change resulting from their intercourse with the whites has been the introduction of firearms. Nearly all the natives are now provided with guns, some of them of the best modern patterns of breechloaders, and they usually succeed in procuring a supply of ammunition. This is in some respects a disadvantage, as the reindeer have become so wild that the natives would no longer be able to procure a sufficient number of them for food and clothing with their former appliances, and they are thus rendered dependent on the ships. On the other hand, with a plentiful supply of ammunition it is easier for them to procure abundance of food, both deer and seals, and they are less liable to famine than in former times. There is no reason to fear, as has been suggested, that they will lose the art of making any of their own weapons except in the case of the bow. With firearms alone they would be unable to obtain any seals, amuch more important source of food than the reindeer, and their own appliances for sealing are much better than any civilized contrivances. Although they have plenty of the most improved modern whaling gear, they are not likely to forget the manufacture of their own implements for this purpose, as this important fishery is ruled by tradition and superstition, which insists that at least one harpoon of the ancient pattern must be used in taking every whale. All are now rich in iron, civilized tools, canvas and wreck wood, and in this respect their condition is improved. 54 They have, however, adopted very few civilized habits. They have contracted a taste for civilized food, especially hard bread and flour, but this they are unable to obtain for 10 months of the year, and they are thus obliged to adhere to their former habits. In fact, except in regard to the use of firearms and mechanics’ tools, they struck me as essentially a conservative people. Petroff88 makes the assertion that in late years their movements have been guided chiefly by those of the whalers. As far as we could observe they have not changed the course or time of their journeys since Dr. Simpson’s time, except that they have given up the autumn whaling, possibly on account of the presence of the ships at that season. Of course, men who are rich in whalebone now stay to trade with the ships, while those who have plenty of oil go east. They are not absolutely dependent on the ships for anything except ammunition, and even during the short time the ships are with them they hardly neglect their own pursuits. The one unmitigated evil of their intercourse with the whites has been the introduction of spirits. Apart from the direct injury which liquor does to their health, their passionate fondness for it leads them to barter away valuable articles which should have served to procure ammunition or other things of permanent use. It is to be hoped, however, that the liquor traffic is decreasing. The vigilance of the revenue cutter prevents regular whisky traders from reaching the Arctic Ocean, and public opinion among the whaling captains seems to be growing in the right direction. Another serious evil, which it would be almost impossible to check, is the unlimited intercourse of the sailors with the Eskimo women. The whites can hardly be said to have introduced laxity of sexual morals, but they have encouraged a natural savage tendency, and have taught them prostitution for gain, which has brought about great excesses, fortunately confined to a short season. This may have something to do with the want of fertility among the women. Our two years of friendly relations with these people were greatly to their advantage. Not only were our house and our doings a constant source of amusement to them, but they learned to respect and trust the whites. Without becoming dependent on us or receiving any favors without some adequate return either in work or goods, they were able to obtain tobacco, hard bread, and many other things of use to them, all through the year. Our presence prevented their procuring more than trifling quantities of spirits, and though the supply of breech-loading ammunition was pretty well cut off, they could get plenty of powder and shot for their muzzle loaders. The abundance of civilized food was undoubtedly good for them, and our surgeon was able to give them a great deal of help in sickness. In all their intercourse with the whites they have learned very little 55 English, chiefly a few oaths and exclamations like “Get out of here,” and the words of such songs as “Little Brown Jug” and “Shoo Fly,” curiously distorted. They have as a rule invented genuine Eskimo words for civilized articles which are new to them.89 Even in their intimate relations with us they learned but few more phrases and in most cases without a knowledge of their meaning. There are a few Hawaiian words introduced by the Kanaka sailors on the whaleships, which are universally employed between whites and Eskimo along the whole of the Arctic coast, and occasionally at least among the Eskimo themselves. These are kau-kau,90 food, or to eat; hana-hana, work; pÛni-pÛni, coitus, and pau, not. WahÍne, woman, is also used, but is less common. Another foreign word now universally employed among them in their intercourse with the whites, and even, Ibelieve, among themselves, is “kunÍ?” for woman or wife. They themselves told us that it was not an Eskimo word—“When there were no white men, there was no kunÍ?”—and some of the whalemen who had been at Hudson Bay said it was the “Greenland” word for woman. It was not until our return to this country that we discovered it to be the Danish word kone, woman, which in the corrupted form “coony” is in common use among the eastern Eskimo generally in the jargon they employ in dealing with the whites. KunÍ? is “coony” with the suffix of the third person, and therefore means “his wife.” It is sometimes used at Point Barrow for either of a married couple in the sense of our word “spouse.” NATURAL RESOURCES. ANIMALS. These people are acquainted with the following animals, all of which are more or less hunted, and serve some useful purpose. Mammals.— The wolf, amÁxo (Canis lupus griseo-albus), is not uncommon in the interior, but rarely if ever reaches the coast. Red and black foxes, kaia´ktÛk (Vulpes fulvus fulvus and argentatus), are chiefly known from their skins, which are common articles in the trade with the eastern natives, and the same is true of the wolverine, ka´vwiÑ (Gulo luscus), and the marten, kabweatyÍa (Mustela americana). The arctic fox, terigÛni? (Vulpes lagopus), is very abundant along the coast, while the ermine (Putorius erminea) and Parry’s spermophile (Spermophilus empetra empetra) are not rare. The last is called siksiÑ. Lemmings, a´vwiÑ?, of two species (Cuniculus torquatus and Myodes obensis) are 56 very abundant some years, and they recognize a tiny shrewmouse (Sorex forsteri). This little animal is called ugrÚn?, aword corresponding to the name ugssungna? given to the same animal in Labrador, which, according to Kleinschmidt,91 is an ironical application of the name of the largest seal, ugssuk (ugru at Point Barrow), to the smallest mammal known to the Eskimo. The same name is also applied at Point Barrow to the fossil ox, whose bones are sometimes found. The most abundant land animal, however, is the reindeer, tu´ktu (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus), which is found in winter in great herds along the upper waters of the rivers, occasionally coming down to the coast, and affords a very important supply of food. The moose, tu´ktuwuÑ, or “big reindeer” (Alce machlis), is well known from the accounts of the NunataÑmiun, who bring moose skins to trade. Some of the natives have been east to hunt the mountain sheep, i´mnÊ? (Ovis canadensis dalli), and all are familiar with its skin, horns, and teeth, which they buy of the eastern natives. The musk ox, umiÑmau (Ovibos moschatus), is known only from its bones, which are sometimes found on the tundra. Inland, near the rivers, they also find a large brown bear, a´kqlak, which is probably the barren ground bear, while on the ice-pack, the polar bear, nÄ´nu (Thalassarctos maritimus), is not uncommon, sometimes making raids on the provision storehouses in the villages. The most important sea animal is the little rough seal, netyi? (Phoca foetida), which is very abundant at all seasons. Its flesh is the great staple of food, while its blubber supplies the Eskimo lamps, and its skin serves countless useful purposes. The great bearded seal, Úgru (Erignathus barbatus), is less common. It is especially valued for its hide, which serves for covering the large boats and making stout harpoon lines. Two other species of seal, the harbor seal, kasigÍa (Phoca vitulina), and the beautiful ribbon seal, kaixÓliÑ (Phoca fasciata), are known, but both are uncommon, the latter very rare. Herds of walrus, ai´bwÊk (OdobÆnus obesus), pass along the coast in the open season, generally resting on cakes of floating ice, and are pursued for their hides and ivory as well as their flesh and blubber. Whales, akbwÊk, of the species BalÆna mysticetus, most pursued for its oil and whalebone, travel along the coast in the leads of open water above described from the middle of April to the latter part of June in large numbers, and return in the autumn, appearing about the end of August. White whales, kilelua (Delphinapterussp.), are not uncommon in the summer, and they say the narwhal, tugÁliÑ (Monodon monoceros), is occasionally seen. They are also acquainted with another cetacean, which they call Áxlo, and which appears from their description to be a species of Orca. Birds.— In the spring, that is during May and the early part of June, vast flocks of migrating ducks pass to the northeast, close to the shore, 57 a few only remaining to breed, and return at the end of the summer from the latter part of July to the end of September. Nearly all the returning birds cross the isthmus of Point Barrow at Perny? where the natives assemble in large numbers for the purpose of taking them. These migrating birds are mostly king ducks, kiÑaliÑ (Somateria spectabilis), Pacific eiders, amau´liÑ (S.v-nigra), and long-tailed ducks, a´dyigi´a, a´hadliÑ (Clangula hyemalis), with smaller numbers of the spectacled eider, ka´waso (Arctonetta fischeri), and Steller’s ducks, ignikau´kto (Eniconetta stelleri). At the rivers they also find numbers of pintails, i´vwÛg? (Dafila acuta), which visit the coast in small numbers during the migrations. Geese of three species, the American white-fronted goose, nÛ´glÛgru? (Anser albifrons gambeli), the lesser snow-goose, kÛ´Ño (Chen hyperborea), and the black brant, nÛglÛ´gn? (Branta nigricans), are not uncommon on the coast both during the migrations and the breeding season, but the natives find them in much greater abundance at the rivers, where they also find a species of swan, ku´gru, probably Olor columbianus, which rarely visits the coast. Next in importance to the natives are the gulls, of which the Point Barrow gull, nau´y? (Larus barrovianus), is the most abundant all through the season, though the rare rosy gull, ka´Ñmaxlu (Rhodostethes rosea), appears in multitudes late in the autumn. The ivory gull (Gavia alba), nariyalbwÛÑ, and Sabine’s gull, yÛkÛ´drigÛgi´? (Xema Sabinii), are uncommon, while the Arctic tern, utyuta´kin (Sterna paradisea), is rather abundant, especially about the sandspits of Nuwuk. All these species, particularly the larger ones, are taken for food. Three species of loons are common: the great white-billed loon, tu´dliÑ (Urinator adamsi), and the Pacific and red-throated divers (U.pacificus and lumme), which are not distinguished from each other but are both called ka´ksau. They also occasionally see the thick-billed guillemot a´kpa (Uria lomvia arra), and more often the sea-pigeon, sÊkbw?k (Cephus mandtii). The three species of jaegers (Stercorarius pomarinus, parasiticus, and longicaudus) are not distinguished from one another but are all called isuÑ?. They pay but little attention to the numerous species of wading birds which appear in considerable abundance in the migrations and breeding season, but they recognize among them the turnstone, tÛli´gwa (Arenaria interpres), the gray plover, ki´raio´n (Charadrius squatarola), the American golden plover, tu´dliÑ (C.dominicus), the knot, tu´awi´a (Tringa canutus), the pectoral and Baird’s sandpipers, (T.maculata and bairdii), both called ai´bwÛki?, the red-backed sandpiper mÊkapiÑ (T.alpina pacifica), the semipalmated sandpiper, niwiliwi´lÛk (Ereunetes pusillus), the buff-breasted sandpiper, nu´dluayu (Tryngites subruficollis), the red phalarope, sabraÑ (Chrymophilus fulicarius), and the northern phalarope, sabraÑn?; (Phalaropus lobatus). The last is rare at Point Barrow, but they see many of them near the Colville. The little brown crane, tuti´drig? (Grus canadensis), is also rare at the Point, but they say they find many of them at the mouth of Kulu´grua. 58 Of land birds, the most familiar are the little snow bunting, amaulig? (Plectrophenax nivalis), the first bird to arrive in the spring, the Lapland longspur, nessau´dlig? (Calcarius lapponicus), and two species of grouse, the willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) and the rock ptarmigan (L.rupestris), which are both called akÛ´digin. These two birds do not migrate, but are to be seen all winter, as is also the well known snowy owl, u´kpik (Nyctea nyctea). Agerfalcon, ki´drigÛmiÑ (Falco rusticolus), is also sometimes seen, and skins and feathers of the golden eagle, ti´Ñmi?kpÛk, “the great bird” (Aquila chrysÆtos), are brought from the east for charms and ornaments. The raven, tulÚ? (Corvus corax sinuatus), was not seen at Point Barrow, but the natives are familiar with it and have many of its skins for amulets. Several species of small land birds also occur in small numbers, but the natives are not familiar with them and call them all “sÛ´ksaxÍ?.” This name appears to mean “wanderer” or “flutterer,” and probably belongs, Ibelieve, to the different species of redpolls (Aegiothus). Fishes.— A few species only of fish are found in the salt water. Of these the most abundant are the little polar cod (Boreogadus saida), which is plentiful through the greater part of the year, and is often an important source of food, and the capelin, aÑmÛ´grÛÑ (Mallotus villosus), which is found in large schools close to the beach in the middle of summer. There are also caught sometimes two species of sculpins, kÛ´naio (Cottus quadricornis and decastrensis), and two species of Lycodes, kÚgraun? (L.turnerii and coccineus). In the gill nets at Elson Bay they also catch two species of salmon (Onchorhynchus gorbuscha and nerka) and a whitefish (Coregonus laurettÆ) in small numbers, and occasionally a large trout (Salvelinus malma). The last-named fish they find sometimes in great numbers, near the mouth of the Colville. The greatest quantities of fish are taken in the rivers, especially Kuaru and Kulugrua, by fishing through the ice in the winter. They say there are no fish taken in IkpikpÛÑ, and account for this by explaining that the former two rivers freeze down to the bottom on the shallow bars inclosing deep pools in which the fish are held, while in the latter the ice never touches the bottom, so that the fish are free to run down to the sea. The species caught are the small Coregonus laurettÆ, two large whitefish (C.kennicottii and nelsoni), and the burbot, tita´liÑ (Lota maculosa). They speak of a fish, sulukpau´ga (which appears to mean “wing-fin” and is applied in Greenland to a species of Sebastes), that is caught with the hook in Kulugrua apparently only in summer, and seems from the description to be Back’s grayling (Thymallus signifer). In the river Ku is caught a smelt, ithoa´niÑ (Osmerus dentex). In the great lake, Ta´syÛkpÛÑ (see above, p.29), they tell of an enormous fish “as big as a kaiak.” They gave it no name, but describe it as having a red belly and white flesh. One man said he had seen one 18 feet long, but another was more moderate, giving about 3 feet as the length of the longest he had seen. 59 Insects and other invertebrates.— Of insects, they recognize the troublesome mosquito, kiktor? (Culex spp.), flies, bumblebees, and gadflies (Œestrus tarandi), both of which they seem much afraid of, and call i´gutyai, and the universal louse, ku´m?k. All the large winged insects, including the rare butterflies and moths and crane flies, are called tÛkilÛ´kica, or tÛkilÛkidja´ksÛn, which is also the name of the yellow poppy (Papaver nudicaule). We were told that “by and by” the poppies would turn into “little birds” and fly away, which led us to suppose that there was some yellow butterfly which we should find abundant in the later summer, but we saw none either season. Asmall spider is sometimes found in the Eskimo houses, and is called pidrairu´r?, “the little braider.” They pay but little attention to other invertebrates, but are familiar with worms, kupidro, aspecies of crab, kinau´r?, (Hyas latifrons), and the little branchipus, iritu´Ña (Greenlandic issitÔrak, “the little one with big eyes”), of the fresh water-pools. Cockles (Buccinum, etc.) are called siu´tigo (Gr.siuterok, from siut, ear), and clams have a name which we failed to obtain. Jellyfish are called ipiaru´r?, “like bags.” They say the “KÛÑmudliÑ” eat them! PLANTS. Few plants that are of any service to man grow in this region. The willows, u´kpik, of various species, which near the coast are nothing but creeping vines, are sometimes used as fuel, especially along the rivers, where they grow into shrubs 5 or 6 feet high. Their catkins are used for tinder and the moss, mÛ´nik, furnishes wicks for the lamps. We could find no fruit that could be eaten. Acranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idÆa) occurs, but produced no fruit either season. No use is made of the different species of grass, which are especially luxuriant around the houses at UtkiavwiÑ, where the ground is richly manured with various sorts of refuse,92 though the species of mosses and lichens furnish the reindeer with food easily reached in the winter through the light covering of snow. Little attention is paid to the numerous, and sometimes showy, flowering plants. We learned but two names of flowers, the one mentioned above, tÛkilÛ´kica, tÛkilÛkidja´ksÛn, which seemed to be applied to all striking yellow or white flowers, such as Papaver, Ranunculus, and Draba, and mai´sun, the bright pink Pedicularis. All the wood used in this region, except the ready-made woodenware and the willow poles obtained from the NunataÑmiun, comes from the drift on the beach. Most of this on the beach west of Point Barrow appears to come from the southwest, as the prevailing current along this shore is to the northeast, and may be derived from the large rivers flowing into Kotzebue Sound, since it shows signs of having been long in the water. The driftwood, which is reported to be abundant east of Point Barrow, probably comes from the great rivers emptying into the Arctic 60 Ocean. This wood is sufficiently abundant to furnish the natives with all they need for fuel and other purposes, and consists chiefly of pine, spruce, and cottonwood, mostly in the form of water-worn logs, often of large size. Of late years, also, much wood of the different kinds used in shipbuilding has drifted ashore from wrecks. MINERALS. The people of this region are acquainted with few mineral substances, excluding the metals which they obtain from the whites. The most important are flint, slate, soapstone, jade, and a peculiar form of massive pectolite, first described by Prof. F.W. Clarke93 from specimens brought home by our party. Flint, Ánma, was formerly in great demand for arrow and spear heads and other implements, and according to Dr. Simpson94 was obtained from the NunataÑmiun. It is generally black or a slightly translucent gray, but we collected a number of arrowheads, etc., made of jasper, red or variegated. Afew crystals of transparent quartz, sometimes smoky, were also seen, and appeared to be used as amulets. Slate, ulu´ks?, “material for a round knife,” was used, as its name imports, for making the woman’s round knife, and for harpoon blades, etc. It is a smooth clay slate, varying in hardness, and light green, red, purple, dark gray, or black in color. All the pieces of soft gray soapstone, tuna´kt?, which are so common at both villages, are probably fragments of the lamps and kettles obtained in former years from the eastern natives. The jade is often very beautiful, varying from a pale or bright translucent green to a dark olive, almost black, and was formerly used for making adzes, whetstones, and occasionally other implements. The pectolite, generally of a pale greenish or bluish color, was only found in the form of oblong, more or less cylindrical masses, used as hammerheads. Both of these minerals were called kau´dlo, and were said to come “from the east, along way off,” from high rocky ground, but all that we could learn was very indefinite. Dr. Simpson was informed95 that the stones for making whetstones were brought from the KuwÛk River, so that this jade is probably the same as that which is said to form Jade Mountain, in that region. Bits of porphyry, syenite, and similar rocks are used for making labrets, and large pebbles are used as hammers and net sinkers. They have also a little iron pyrites, both massive and in the form of spherical concretions. The latter were said to come from the mouth of the Colville, and are believed by the natives to have fallen from the sky. Two other kinds of stone are brought from the neighborhood of Nu´?suknan, partly, it appears, as curiosities, and partly with some ill defined mystical notions. The first are botryoidal masses of brown limonite, resembling bog iron ore, and the other sort curious concretions, looking like the familiar “clay stones,” but very heavy, and apparently containing a 61 great deal of iron pyrites. White gypsum, used for rubbing the flesh side of deerskins, is obtained on the seashore at a place called TÛ´tye, “one sleep” east from Point Barrow. Bituminous coal, alu´a, is well known, though not used for fuel. Many small fragments, which come perhaps from the vein at Cape Beaufort,96 are picked up on the beach. Shaly, very bituminous coal, broken into small square fragments, is rather abundant on the bars of Kulugrua, whence specimens were brought by Capt. Herendeen. Anative of Wainwright Inlet gave us to understand that coal existed in a regular vein near that place, and told a story of a burning hill in that region. This may be a coal bed on fire, or possibly “smoking cliffs,” like those seen by the Investigator in Franklin Bay.97 We also heard a story of a lake of tar or bitumen, Ádngun, said to be situated on an island a day’s sail east of the point. Blacklead, mi´Ñun, and red ocher are abundant and used as pigments, but we did not learn where they were obtained. Pieces of amber are sometimes found on the beach and are carried as amulets or (rarely) made into beads. Amber is called aÚm?, aword that in other Eskimo dialects, and probably in this also, means “alive coal.” Its application to a lump of amber is quite a striking figure of speech. CULTURE. MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE. FOOD. Substances used for food.— The food of these people consists almost entirely of animal substances. The staple article of food is the flesh of the rough seal, of which they obtain more than of any other meat. Next in importance is the venison of the reindeer, though this is looked upon as a kind of dainty.98 Many well developed foetal reindeer are brought home from the spring deer hunt and are said to be excellent eating, though we never saw them eaten. They also eat the flesh of the other three species of seal, the walrus, the polar bear, the “bowhead” whale, the white whale, and all the larger kinds of birds, geese, ducks, gulls, and grouse. All the different kinds of fish appear to be eaten, with the possible exception of the two species of Lycodes (only a few of these were caught, and all were purchased for our collection) and very little of a fish is wasted except the hardest parts. Walrus hide is sometimes cooked and eaten in times of scarcity. Mollusks of any kind are rarely eaten, as it is difficult to procure them. After a heavy gale in the autumn of 1881, when the beach was covered with marine animals, mostly lamellibranch mollusks with their shells and softer parts broken off by 62 the violence of the surf, we saw one woman collect a lapful of these “clam-heads,” which she said she was going to eat. The “blackskin” (epidermis) of the whale is considered a great delicacy by them, as by all the other Eskimo who are able to procure it, and they are also very fond of the tough white skin or gum round the roots of the whalebone.99 We saw and heard nothing of the habit so generally noticed among other Eskimo and in Siberia of eating the half-digested contents of the stomach of the reindeer, but we found that they were fond of the fÆces taken from the rectum of the deer. Ifind that this curious habit has been noticed among Eskimo only in two other places—Greenland in former times and Boothia Felix. The Greenlanders ate “the Dung of the Rein-deer, taken out of the Guts when they clean them; the Entrails of Partridges and the like Out-cast, pass for Dainties with them.”100 The dung of the musk ox and reindeer when fresh were considered a delicacy by the Boothians, according to J.C. Ross.101 The entrails of fowls are also considered a great delicacy and are carefully cooked as a separate dish.102 As far as our observations go these people eat little, if any, more fat than civilized man, and, as a rule, not by itself. Fat may occasionally be eaten (they are fond of the fat on the inside of duck skins), but they do not habitually eat the great quantities of blubber spoken of in some other places103 or drink oil, as the Hudson Bay Eskimo are said to do by Hall, or use it as a sauce for dry food, like the natives of Norton Sound. It is usually supposed and generally stated in the popular accounts of the Eskimo that it is a physiological necessity for them to eat enormous quantities of blubber in order to obtain a sufficient amount of carbon to enable them to maintain their animal heat in the cold climate which they inhabit. Acareful comparison, however, of the reports of actual observers104 shows that an excessive eating of fat is not the rule, and is perhaps confined to the territory near Boothia Felix. Eggs of all kinds, except, of course, the smallest, are eagerly sought for, but the smaller birds are seldom eaten, as it is a waste of time and ammunition to pursue them. We saw this people eat no vegetable substances, though they informed us that the buds of the willow were sometimes eaten. Of late years they have acquired a fondness for many kinds of civilized food, especially bread of any kind, flour, sugar, and molasses, and some of them are learning to like salt. They were very 63 glad to purchase from us corn-meal “mush” and the broken victuals from the table. These were, however, considered as special dainties and eaten as luncheons or as a dessert after the regular meal. The children and even some of the women were always on the watch for the cook’s slop bucket to be brought out, and vied with the ubiquitous dogs in searching for scraps of food. Meat which epicures would call rather “high” is eaten with relish, but they seem to prefer fresh meat when they can get it. Means of preparing food.— Food is generally cooked, except, perhaps, whale-skin and whale gum, which usually seem to be eaten as soon as obtained, without waiting for a fire. Meat of all kinds is generally boiled in abundance of water over a fire of driftwood, and the broth thus made is drunk hot before eating the meat. Fowls are prepared for boiling by skinning them. Fish are also boiled, but are often eaten raw, especially in winter at the deer-hunting camps, when they are frozen hard. Meat is sometimes eaten raw or frozen. Lieut. Ray found one family in camp on Kulugrua who had no fire of any kind, and were eating everything raw. They had run out of oil some time before and did not like to spend time in going to the coast for more while deer were plentiful. When traveling in winter, according to Lieut. Ray, they prefer frozen fish or a sort of pemmican made as follows: The marrow is extracted from reindeer bones by boiling, and to a quantity of this is added 2 or 3 pounds of crushed seal or whale blubber, and the whole beaten up with the hands in a large wooden bowl to the consistency of frozen cream. Into this they stir bits of boiled venison, generally the poorer portions of the meat scraped off the bone, and chewed up small by all the women and children of the family, “each using some cabalistic word as they cast in their mouthful.”105 The mass is made up into 2-pound balls and carried in little sealskin bags. Flour, when obtained, is made into a sort of porridge, of which they are very fond. Cooking is mostly done outside of the dwelling, in the open air in summer, or in kitchens opening out of the passageway in winter. Little messes only, like an occasional dish of soup or porridge, are cooked over the lamps in the house. This habit, of course, comes from the abundant supply of firewood, while the Eskimo most frequently described live in a country where wood is very scarce, and are obliged to depend on oil for fuel. Time and frequency of eating.— When these people are living in the winter houses they do not, as far as we could learn, have any regular time for meals, but eat whenever they are hungry and have leisure. The women seem to keep a supply of cooked food on hand ready for any one to eat. When the men are working in the kÛ´dyigi, or “club house,” or when a number of them are encamped together in tents, as at the whaling camp in 1883, or the regular summer camp at Pe´rnyÛ, the women at intervals through the day prepare dishes of meat, which the 64 men eat by themselves. When in the deer-hunting camps, according to Lieut. Ray, they eat but little in the morning, and can really be said to take no more than one full meal a day, which is eaten at night when the day’s work is done.106 When on the march they usually take a few mouthfuls of the pemmican above described before they start out in the morning, and rarely touch food again till they go into camp at night. When a family returns from the spring deer hunt with plenty of venison they usually keep open house for a day or two. The women of the household, with sometimes the assistance of a neighbor or two, keep the pot continually boiling, sending in dishes of meat at intervals, while the house is full of guests who stay for a short time, eating, smoking, and chatting, and then retire to make room for others. Messes are sometimes sent out to invalids who can not come to the feast. One household in the spring of 1883 consumed in this way two whole reindeer in 24 hours. They use only their hands and a knife in eating meat, usually filling the mouth and cutting or biting off the mouthful. They are large eaters, some of them, especially the women, eating all the time when they have plenty, but we never saw them gorge themselves in the manner described by Dr. Kane (2dGrinnell Exp., passim) and other writers. Their habits of hospitality prevent their laying up any large supply of meat, though blubber is carefully saved for commercial use, and they depend for subsistence, almost from day to day, on their success in hunting. When encamped, however, in small parties in the summer they often take more seals than they can consume. The carcasses of these, stripped of their skins and blubber, are buried in the gravel close to the camp, and dug up and brought home when meat becomes scarce in the winter. DRINKS. The habitual drink is water, which these people consume in great quantities when they can obtain it, and like to have very cold. In the winter there is always a lump of clean snow on a rack close to the lamp, with a tub under it to catch the water that drips from it. This is replaced in the summer by a bucket of fresh water from some pond or lake. When the men are sitting in their open air clubs at the summer camps there is always a bucket of fresh water in the middle of the circle, with a dipper to drink from. Hardly a native ever passed the station without stopping for a drink of water, often drinking a quart of cold water at a time. When tramping about in the winter they eat large quantities of ice and snow, and on the march the women carry small canteens of sealskin, which they fill with snow and carry inside of their jackets, where the heat of the body melts the snow and keeps 65 it liquid. This great fondness for plenty of cold water has been often noticed among the Eskimo elsewhere, and appears to be quite characteristic of the race.107 They have acquired a taste for liquor, and like to get enough to produce intoxication. As well as we could judge, they are easily affected by alcohol. Some of them during our stay learned to be very fond of coffee, “ka´fe,” but tea they are hardly acquainted with, though they will drink it. Ihave noticed that they sometimes drank the water produced by the melting of the sea ice along the beach, and pronounced it excellent when it was so brackish that I found it quite undrinkable. NARCOTICS. The only narcotic in use among these people is tobacco, which they obtain directly or indirectly from the whites, and which has been in use among them from the earliest time when we have any knowledge of them. When Mr. Elson, in the Blossom’s barge, visited Point Barrow, in 1826, he found tobacco in general use and the most marketable article.108 This undoubtedly came from the Russians by way of Siberia and Bering Strait, as Kotzebue found the natives of the sound which bears his name, who were in communication with the Asiatic coast by way of the Diomedes, already addicted to the use of tobacco in 1816. It is not probable that tobacco was introduced on the Arctic coast by way of the Russian settlements in Alaska. There were no Russian posts north of Bristol Bay until 1833, when St. Michael’s Redoubt was built. When Capt. Cook visited Bristol Bay, in 1778, he found that tobacco was not used there,109 while in Norton Sound, the same year, the natives “had no dislike to tobacco.”110 Neither was it introduced from the English posts in the east, as Franklin found the “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ” not in the habit of using it—“The western Esquimaux use tobacco, and some of our visitors had smoked it, but thought the flavor very disagreeable,”111—nor had they adopted the habit in 1837.112 When the Plover wintered at Point Barrow, according to Dr. Simpson’s account,113 all the tobacco, except a little obtained from the English discovery ships, came from Asia and was brought by the NunataÑmiun. At present the latter bring very little if any tobacco, and the supply is obtained directly from the ships, though a little occasionally finds its way up the coast from the southwest. 66 They use all kinds of tobacco, but readily distinguish and desire the sorts considered better by the whites. For instance, they were eager to get the excellent quality of “Navy” tobacco furnished by the Commissary Department, while one of our party who had a large quantity of exceedingly bad fine-cut tobacco could hardly give it away. Alittle of the strong yellow “Circassian” tobacco used by the Russians for trading is occasionally brought up from the southwest, and perhaps also by the NunataÑmiun, and is very highly prized, probably because it was in this form that they first saw tobacco. Snuff seems to be unknown; tobacco is used only for chewing and smoking. The habit of chewing tobacco is almost universal. Men, women, and even children, though the latter be but 2 or 3 years old and unweaned,114 when tobacco is to be obtained, keep a “chew,” often of enormous size, constantly in the mouth. The juice is not spit out, but swallowed with the saliva, without producing any signs of nausea. The tobacco is chewed by itself and not sweetened with sugar, as was observed by Hooper and NordenskiÖld among the “Chukches.”115 Iknew but two adult Eskimo in UtkiavwiÑ who did not chew tobacco, and one of these adopted the habit to a certain extent while we were there. Map of Northwestern Alaska 2 II. Map of the hunting grounds of the Point Barrow Eskimo 18 Fig.1. Unalina, a man of Nuwuk 34 2. MÛmÛÑina, a woman of Nuwuk 35 3. Akabiana, a youth of UtkiavwiÑ 36 4. Puka, a young man of UtkiavwiÑ 37 5. Woman stretching skins 38 6. Pipes: (a) pipe with metal bowl; (b)pipe with stone bowl; (c)pipe with bowl of antler or ivory 67 7. Pipe made of willow stick 68 8. Tobacco pouches 69 9. Plans of Eskimo winter house 72 10. Interior of iglu, looking toward door 73 11. Interior of iglu, looking toward bench 74 12. House in UtkiavwiÑ 76 13. Ground plan and section of winter house in Mackenzie region 77 14. Ground plan of large snow house 82 15. Tent on the beach at UtkiavwiÑ 85 16. Wooden bucket 86 17. Large tub 87 18. Whalebone dish 88 19. Meat-bowl 89 20. Stone pot 90 21. Small stone pot 91 22. Fragments of pottery 92 23. Stone maul 94 24. Stone maul 94 25. Stone maul 95 26. Stone maul 95 27. Stone maul 96 28. Stone maul 96 29. Bone maul 97 30. Bone maul 97 31. Bone maul 98 32. Bone maul 98 33. Meat-dish 99 34. Oblong meat-dish 100 35. Oblong meat-dish, very old 100 36. Fish dish 100 37. Whalebone cup 101 38. Horn dipper 101 39. Horn dipper 102 40. Dipper of fossil ivory 103 10 41. Dipper of fossil ivory 103 42. Wooden spoon 104 43. Horn ladle 104 44. Bone ladle 104 45. Bone ladle in the form of a whale 105 46. Bone ladle 105 47. Stone house-lamp 106 48. Sandstone lamp 107 49. Traveling lamp 108 50. Socket for blubber holder 108 51. Man in ordinary deerskin clothes 110 52. Woman’s hood 111 53. Man’s frock 113 54. Pattern of man’s deerskin frock 113 55. Detail of trimming, skirt and shoulder of man’s frock 114 56. Man wearing plain, heavy frock 114 57. Man’s frock of mountain sheepskin, front and back 115 58. Man’s frock of ermine skins 116 59. Pattern of sheepskin frock 117 60. Pattern of ermine frock 117 61. Woman’s frock, front and back 118 62. Pattern of woman’s frock 119 63. Detail of edging, woman’s frock 119 64. Details of trimming, woman’s frock 119 65. Man’s cloak of deerskin 121 66. Pattern of man’s cloak 121 67. Deerskin mittens 123 68. Deerskin gloves 124 69. Man’s breeches of deerskin 125 70. Pattern of man’s breeches 126 71. Trimming of man’s breeches 126 72. Woman’s pantaloons 127 73. Patterns of woman’s pantaloons 128 74. Pattern of stocking 129 75. Man’s boot of deerskin 131 76. Pattern of deerskin boot 131 77. Man’s dress boot of deerskin 132 78. Pattern of man’s dress boot of deerskin 132 79. Man’s dress boot of skin of mountain sheep 133 80. Pair of man’s dress boots of deerskin 134 81. Woman’s waterproof sealskin boot 135 82. Sketch of “ice-creepers” on boot sole 135 83. Man’s belt woven of feathers 136 84. Diagram showing method of fastening the ends of feathers in belt 137 85. Woman’s belt of wolverine toes 137 86. Belt-fastener 138 87. Man with tattooed cheeks 139 88. Woman with ordinary tattooing 140 89. Man’s method of wearing the hair 141 90. Earrings 143 91. Plug for enlarging labret hole 144 92. Labret of beads and ivory 145 93. Blue and white labret from Anderson River 146 94. Oblong labret of bone 147 95. Oblong labret of soapstone 147 11 96. Ancient labret 148 97. Beads of amber 149 98. Hair combs 150 99. Slate knives 151 100. Slate knife-blade 152 101. Slate knife 152 102. Slate knife 152 103. Slate hunting-knife 152 104. Blade of slate hunting-knife 153 105. Large slate knife 153 106. Large single-edged slate knife 153 107. Blades of knives 154 108. Peculiar slate knife 154 109. Knife with whalebone blade 155 110. Small iron knife 155 111. Small iron knives 156 112. Iron hunting knife 156 113. Large crooked knife 158 114. Large crooked knife with sheath 158 115. Small crooked knives 159 116. Crooked knife 159 117. Crooked knives, flint-bladed 160 118. Slate-bladed crooked knives 161 119. Woman’s knife, steel blade 161 120. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162 121. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162 122. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162 123. Woman’s knife, slate blade 162 124. Woman’s ancient slate-bladed knife 163 125. Ancient bone handle for woman’s knife 163 126. Large knife of slate 163 127. Woman’s knife of flaked flint 164 128. Hatchet hafted as an adz 165 129. Hatchet hafted as an adz 166 130. Adz-head of jade 167 131. Adz-head of jade 167 132. Hafted jade adz 168 133. Adz-head of jade and bone 168 134. Adz-head of bone and iron, without eyes 168 135. Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes 169 136. Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes 169 137. Hafted bone and iron adz 169 138. Hafted bone and stone adz 170 139. Small adz-blade of green jade 170 140. Hafted adz of bone and flint 171 141. Old cooper’s adz, rehafted 171 142. Adz with bone blade 172 143. Antler chisel 173 144. Antler chisel 173 145. Spurious tool, flint blade 173 146. Whalebone shave, slate blade 174 147. Saw made of deer’s scapula 175 148. Saw made of a case-knife 175 149. Bow drill 176 150. Bow drill and mouthpiece 176 12 151. Bow drill 177 152. Drill bow 177 153. Drill bows 178 154. Spliced drill bow 178 155. Drill mouthpiece with iron socket 179 156. Drill mouthpiece without wings 179 157. Bone-pointed drill 179 158. Handles for drill cords 180 159. Flint-bladed reamers 182 160. Flint-bladed reamers 182 161. Awl 182 162. Jade whetstones 183 163. Jade whetstones 184 164. Wooden tool-boxes 185 165. Large wooden tool-boxes 186 166. Tool-bag of wolverine skin 187 167. Tool-bag of wolverine skin 188 168. Drills belonging to the tool-bag 189 169. Comb for deerskins in the tool-bag 189 170. Bag handles 190 171. Bag of leather 190 172. Little hand-club 191 173. Slungshot made of walrus jaw 191 174. Dagger of bear’s bone 192 175. Bone daggers 192 176. So-called dagger of bone 193 177. Boy’s bow from UtkiavwiÑ 196 178. Loop at end of bowstring 197 179. Large bow from Nuwuk 197 180. Large bow from Sidaru 198 181. Feathering of the Eskimo arrow 201 182. Flint-headed arrow (kukiksadliÑ) 202 183. Long flint pile 202 184. Short flint pile 202 185. Heart-shaped flint pile 203 186. (a) Arrow with “after pile” (ipudligadliÑ); (b)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (c)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (d)arrow with copper pile (savidliÑ); (e)deer-arrow (nÛtkodliÑ) 203 187. Pile of deer arrow (nÛtkaÑ) 205 188. “KÛnmÛdliÑ” arrow pile 205 189. (a) Fowl arrow (tugaliÑ); (b)bird arrow (kixodwain) 206 190. Bow case and quivers 208 191. Quiver rod 209 192. Cap for quiver rod 209 193. Bracer 210 194. Bracer of bone 210 195. Bird dart 211 196. Point for bird dart 212 197. Ancient point for bird dart 212 198. Point for bird dart 213 199. Bird dart with double point 213 200. Ancient ivory dart head 214 201. Bone dart head 214 202. Nozzle for bladder float 215 203. Seal dart 215 13 204. Foreshaft of seal dart 217 205. Throwing board for darts 217 206. Harpoon head 218 207. Harpoon head 219 208. Ancient bone harpoon head 219 209. (a) Ancient bone harpoon head; (b)variants of this type 220 210. Bone harpoon head 220 211. Bone harpoon head 220 212. Harpoon head, bone and stone 221 213. Harpoon head, bone and stone 221 214. Walrus harpoons 224 215. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 226 216. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 226 217. Typical walrus-harpoon heads 227 218. Walrus-harpoon head, with “leader” 227 219. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 228 220. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 228 221. Walrus-harpoon head, with line 229 222. Foreshaft of walrus harpoon 230 223. Harpoon head for large seals 230 224. Retrieving seal harpoon 231 225. Details of retrieving seal harpoon 232 226. Jade blade for seal harpoon 233 227. Seal harpoon for thrusting 233 228. Diagram of lashing on shaft 234 229. Model of a seal harpoon 235 230. Large model of whale harpoon 235 231. Model of whale harpoon, with floats 236 232. Flint blade for whale harpoon 237 233. Slate blade for whale harpoon 237 234. Body of whale harpoon head 238 235. Whale harpoon heads 238 236. Whale harpoon head with “leader” 239 237. Foreshaft of whale harpoon 239 238. Whale lance 240 239. Flint head of whale lance 241 240. Flint heads for whale lances 241 241. Bear lance 242 242. Flint head for bear lance 242 243. Deer lance 243 244. Part of deer lance with flint head 243 245. Deer lance, flint head 244 246. Flint head for deer lance 244 247. Bird bolas, looped up for carrying 245 248. Bird bolas, ready for use 245 249. Sealskin float 247 250. Flipper toggles 248 251. Boxes for harpoon heads 249 252. Seal net 251 253. Scratchers for decoying seals 253 254. Seal rattle 254 255. Seal indicators 255 256. Sealing stool 255 257. Seal drag and handles 257 258. Whalebone wolf killers 259 14 259. Wooden snow-goggles 261 260. Bone snow-goggles 262 261. Wooden snow-goggles, unusual form 262 262. Marker for meat cache 262 263. Marker for meat cache 263 264. Tackle for shore fishing 279 265. Knot of line into hook 279 266. Small fish-hooks 280 267. Hooks for river fishing 280 268. Tackle for river fishing 280 269. Burbot hook, first pattern 281 270. Burbot hook, second pattern 281 271. Burbot hook, made of cod hook 281 272. Burbot tackle, baited 281 273. Ivory sinker 282 274. Ivory jigger for polar cod 282 275. Section of whalebone net 284 276. Mesh of sinew net 285 277. Fish trap 285 278. Fish spear 286 279. Flint flakers 288 280. Haft of flint flaker 288 281. Flint flaker, with bone blade 289 282. Fire drill, with mouthpiece and stock 289 283. Set of bow-and-arrow tools 291 284. Marline spike 292 285. Marline spike 292 286. “Twister” for working sinew backing of bow 293 287. “Feather setter” 294 288. Tool of antler 294 289. Skin scraper 295 290. Skin scrapers—handles only 295 291. Skin scrapers 296 292. Skin scraper 296 293. Peculiar modification of scraper 296 294. Skin scraper 297 295. Skin scraper 297 296. Skin scraper 297 297. Flint blade for skin scraper 298 298. Straight-hafted scraper 298 299. Bone scraper 299 300. Scraper cups 299 301. Combs for cleaning deer-skins 301 302. “Double slit” splice for rawhide lines 302 303. Mattock of whale’s rib 303 304. Pickax-heads of bone, ivory, and whale’s rib 303 305. Ivory snow knife 305 306. Snow shovels 305 307. Snow shovel made of a whale’s scapula 307 308. Snow pick 307 309. Snow drill 308 310. Ice scoop 308 311. Long blubber hook 310 312. Short-handled blubber hook 310 313. Fish sealer 311 15 314. Ivory shuttle 311 315. Netting needle 312 316. Mesh stick 312 317. Netting needles 313 318. Netting needles for seal net 314 319. Netting needle 314 320. Mesh sticks 314 321. Netting weights 316 322. Shuttle belonging to set of feather tools 316 323. Mesh stick 317 324. “Sword” for feather weaving 317 325. Quill case of bone needles 318 326. (a) Large bone needle and peculiar thimble; (b)Leather thimbles with bone needles 318 327. Needle cases with belt hooks 320 328. (a) Needle case with belt hook; (b)needle case open, showing bone needles 321 329. Trinket boxes 323 330. Trinket boxes 324 331. Ivory box 325 332. Bone box 325 333. Little flask of ivory 325 334. Box in shape of deer 325 335. Small basket 326 336. Small basket 326 337. Small basket 327 338. Kaiak 329 339. Method of fastening together frame of kaiak 329 340. Double kaiak paddle 330 341. Model kaiak and paddle 334 342. Frame of umiak 336 343. (a) Method of fastening bilge-streaks to stem of umiak; (b)method of framing rib to gunwale, etc. 337 344. Method of slinging the oar of umiak 339 345. (a) Model of umiak and paddles; (b)model of umiak, inside plan 340 346. Ivory bailer for umiak 340 347. Ivory crotch for harpoon 341 348. Ivory crotch for harpoon 342 349. Crotch for harpoon made of walrus jaw 342 350. Snowshoe 345 351. Knot in snowshoe netting 346 352. (a) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe; (b)first and second round of heel-netting of snowshoe 347 353. (a) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe; (b)first, second, and third rounds of heel-netting of snowshoe 348 354. Small snowshoe 350 355. Old “chief,” with staffs 353 356. Railed sledge (diagrammatic), from photograph 354 357. Flat sledge 355 358. Small sledge with ivory runners 355 359. Small toboggan of whalebone 357 360. Hunting score engraved on ivory 361 361. Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse 362 362. Hunting score engraved on ivory 362 363. Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse 363 16 364. Game of fox and geese from Plover Bay 365 365. Dancing cap 365 366. Wooden mask 366 367. Wooden mask and dancing gorget 367 368. Old grotesque mask 368 369. Rude mask of wood 369 370. Wolf mask of wood 369 371. Very ancient small mask 369 372. Dancing gorgets of wood 371 373. Youth dancing to the aurora 375 374. Whirligigs 377 375. Teetotum 378 376. Buzz toy 378 377. Whizzing stick 379 378. Pebble snapper 379 379. Carving of human head 380 380. Mechanical doll—drum-player 381 381. Mechanical toy—kaiak paddler 381 382. Kaiak carved from block of wood 382 383. Drum 385 384. Handle of drum secured to rim 386 385. Drum handles 387 386. Ivory drumsticks 388 387. Ancient carving—human head 393 388. Wooden figures 393 389. Carving—face of Eskimo man 394 390. Grotesque soapstone image—“walrus man” 394 391. Bone image of dancer 395 392. Bone image of man 396 393. Grotesque bone image 396 394. Bone image—sitting man 396 395. Human figure carved from walrus ivory 396 396. Ivory carving—three human heads 397 397. Rude human head, carved from a walrus tooth 397 398. Elaborate ivory carving 398 399. Bear carved of soapstone 398 400. Bear flaked from flint 399 401. (a) Bear carved from bone; (b)bear’s head 399 402. Ivory figures of bears 400 403. Rude ivory figures of walrus 401 404. Images of seal—wood and bone 401 405. White whale carved from gypsum 402 406. Wooden carving—whale 403 407. Whale carved from soapstone 403 408. Rude flat image of whale 404 409. Ivory image of whale 404 410. Ivory image of whale 404 411. Pair of little ivory whales 405 412. Soapstone image of imaginary animal 405 413. Ivory carving, seal with fish’s head 405 414. Ivory carving, ten-legged bear 406 415. Ivory carving, giant holding whales 406 416. Double-headed animal carved from antler 407 417. Ivory carving—dog 407 17 418. (a) Piece of ivory, engraved with figures; (b)development of pattern 408 419. (a) Similar engraved ivory; (b)development of pattern 408 420. Ivory doll 409 421. Whale flaked from glass 435 422. Whale flaked from red jasper 435 423. Ancient whale amulet, of wood 436 424. Amulet of whaling—stuffed godwit 438 425. Amulet consisting of ancient jade adz 438 426. Little box containing amulet for whaling 439 427. Amulet for catching fowl with bolas 439 428. Box of dried bees—amulet 440 Map of Northwestern Alaska	2
II.	Map of the hunting grounds of the Point Barrow Eskimo	18
Fig.1.	Unalina, a man of Nuwuk	34
2.	MÛmÛÑina, a woman of Nuwuk	35
3.	Akabiana, a youth of UtkiavwiÑ	36
4.	Puka, a young man of UtkiavwiÑ	37
5.	Woman stretching skins	38
6.	Pipes: (a) pipe with metal bowl; (b)pipe with stone bowl; (c)pipe with bowl of antler or ivory	67
7.	Pipe made of willow stick	68
8.	Tobacco pouches	69
9.	Plans of Eskimo winter house	72
10.	Interior of iglu, looking toward door	73
11.	Interior of iglu, looking toward bench	74
12.	House in UtkiavwiÑ	76
13.	Ground plan and section of winter house in Mackenzie region	77
14.	Ground plan of large snow house	82
15.	Tent on the beach at UtkiavwiÑ	85
16.	Wooden bucket	86
17.	Large tub	87
18.	Whalebone dish	88
19.	Meat-bowl	89
20.	Stone pot	90
21.	Small stone pot	91
22.	Fragments of pottery	92
23.	Stone maul	94
24.	Stone maul	94
25.	Stone maul	95
26.	Stone maul	95
27.	Stone maul	96
28.	Stone maul	96
29.	Bone maul	97
30.	Bone maul	97
31.	Bone maul	98
32.	Bone maul	98
33.	Meat-dish	99
34.	Oblong meat-dish	100
35.	Oblong meat-dish, very old	100
36.	Fish dish	100
37.	Whalebone cup	101
38.	Horn dipper	101
39.	Horn dipper	102
40.	Dipper of fossil ivory	103
10 41.	Dipper of fossil ivory	103
42.	Wooden spoon	104
43.	Horn ladle	104
44.	Bone ladle	104
45.	Bone ladle in the form of a whale	105
46.	Bone ladle	105
47.	Stone house-lamp	106
48.	Sandstone lamp	107
49.	Traveling lamp	108
50.	Socket for blubber holder	108
51.	Man in ordinary deerskin clothes	110
52.	Woman’s hood	111
53.	Man’s frock	113
54.	Pattern of man’s deerskin frock	113
55.	Detail of trimming, skirt and shoulder of man’s frock	114
56.	Man wearing plain, heavy frock	114
57.	Man’s frock of mountain sheepskin, front and back	115
58.	Man’s frock of ermine skins	116
59.	Pattern of sheepskin frock	117
60.	Pattern of ermine frock	117
61.	Woman’s frock, front and back	118
62.	Pattern of woman’s frock	119
63.	Detail of edging, woman’s frock	119
64.	Details of trimming, woman’s frock	119
65.	Man’s cloak of deerskin	121
66.	Pattern of man’s cloak	121
67.	Deerskin mittens	123
68.	Deerskin gloves	124
69.	Man’s breeches of deerskin	125
70.	Pattern of man’s breeches	126
71.	Trimming of man’s breeches	126
72.	Woman’s pantaloons	127
73.	Patterns of woman’s pantaloons	128
74.	Pattern of stocking	129
75.	Man’s boot of deerskin	131
76.	Pattern of deerskin boot	131
77.	Man’s dress boot of deerskin	132
78.	Pattern of man’s dress boot of deerskin	132
79.	Man’s dress boot of skin of mountain sheep	133
80.	Pair of man’s dress boots of deerskin	134
81.	Woman’s waterproof sealskin boot	135
82.	Sketch of “ice-creepers” on boot sole	135
83.	Man’s belt woven of feathers	136
84.	Diagram showing method of fastening the ends of feathers in belt	137
85.	Woman’s belt of wolverine toes	137
86.	Belt-fastener	138
87.	Man with tattooed cheeks	139
88.	Woman with ordinary tattooing	140
89.	Man’s method of wearing the hair	141
90.	Earrings	143
91.	Plug for enlarging labret hole	144
92.	Labret of beads and ivory	145
93.	Blue and white labret from Anderson River	146
94.	Oblong labret of bone	147
95.	Oblong labret of soapstone	147
11 96.	Ancient labret	148
97.	Beads of amber	149
98.	Hair combs	150
99.	Slate knives	151
100.	Slate knife-blade	152
101.	Slate knife	152
102.	Slate knife	152
103.	Slate hunting-knife	152
104.	Blade of slate hunting-knife	153
105.	Large slate knife	153
106.	Large single-edged slate knife	153
107.	Blades of knives	154
108.	Peculiar slate knife	154
109.	Knife with whalebone blade	155
110.	Small iron knife	155
111.	Small iron knives	156
112.	Iron hunting knife	156
113.	Large crooked knife	158
114.	Large crooked knife with sheath	158
115.	Small crooked knives	159
116.	Crooked knife	159
117.	Crooked knives, flint-bladed	160
118.	Slate-bladed crooked knives	161
119.	Woman’s knife, steel blade	161
120.	Woman’s knife, slate blade	162
121.	Woman’s knife, slate blade	162
122.	Woman’s knife, slate blade	162
123.	Woman’s knife, slate blade	162
124.	Woman’s ancient slate-bladed knife	163
125.	Ancient bone handle for woman’s knife	163
126.	Large knife of slate	163
127.	Woman’s knife of flaked flint	164
128.	Hatchet hafted as an adz	165
129.	Hatchet hafted as an adz	166
130.	Adz-head of jade	167
131.	Adz-head of jade	167
132.	Hafted jade adz	168
133.	Adz-head of jade and bone	168
134.	Adz-head of bone and iron, without eyes	168
135.	Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes	169
136.	Adz-head of bone and iron, with vertical eyes	169
137.	Hafted bone and iron adz	169
138.	Hafted bone and stone adz	170
139.	Small adz-blade of green jade	170
140.	Hafted adz of bone and flint	171
141.	Old cooper’s adz, rehafted	171
142.	Adz with bone blade	172
143.	Antler chisel	173
144.	Antler chisel	173
145.	Spurious tool, flint blade	173
146.	Whalebone shave, slate blade	174
147.	Saw made of deer’s scapula	175
148.	Saw made of a case-knife	175
149.	Bow drill	176
150.	Bow drill and mouthpiece	176
12 151.	Bow drill	177
152.	Drill bow	177
153.	Drill bows	178
154.	Spliced drill bow	178
155.	Drill mouthpiece with iron socket	179
156.	Drill mouthpiece without wings	179
157.	Bone-pointed drill	179
158.	Handles for drill cords	180
159.	Flint-bladed reamers	182
160.	Flint-bladed reamers	182
161.	Awl	182
162.	Jade whetstones	183
163.	Jade whetstones	184
164.	Wooden tool-boxes	185
165.	Large wooden tool-boxes	186
166.	Tool-bag of wolverine skin	187
167.	Tool-bag of wolverine skin	188
168.	Drills belonging to the tool-bag	189
169.	Comb for deerskins in the tool-bag	189
170.	Bag handles	190
171.	Bag of leather	190
172.	Little hand-club	191
173.	Slungshot made of walrus jaw	191
174.	Dagger of bear’s bone	192
175.	Bone daggers	192
176.	So-called dagger of bone	193
177.	Boy’s bow from UtkiavwiÑ	196
178.	Loop at end of bowstring	197
179.	Large bow from Nuwuk	197
180.	Large bow from Sidaru	198
181.	Feathering of the Eskimo arrow	201
182.	Flint-headed arrow (kukiksadliÑ)	202
183.	Long flint pile	202
184.	Short flint pile	202
185.	Heart-shaped flint pile	203
186.	(a) Arrow with “after pile” (ipudligadliÑ); (b)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (c)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (d)arrow with copper pile (savidliÑ); (e)deer-arrow (nÛtkodliÑ)	203
187.	Pile of deer arrow (nÛtkaÑ)	205
188.	“KÛnmÛdliÑ” arrow pile	205
189.	(a) Fowl arrow (tugaliÑ); (b)bird arrow (kixodwain)	206
190.	Bow case and quivers	208
191.	Quiver rod	209
192.	Cap for quiver rod	209
193.	Bracer	210
194.	Bracer of bone	210
195.	Bird dart	211
196.	Point for bird dart	212
197.	Ancient point for bird dart	212
198.	Point for bird dart	213
199.	Bird dart with double point	213
200.	Ancient ivory dart head	214
201.	Bone dart head	214
202.	Nozzle for bladder float	215
203.	Seal dart	215
13 204.	Foreshaft of seal dart	217
205.	Throwing board for darts	217
206.	Harpoon head	218
207.	Harpoon head	219
208.	Ancient bone harpoon head	219
209.	(a) Ancient bone harpoon head; (b)variants of this type	220
210.	Bone harpoon head	220
211.	Bone harpoon head	220
212.	Harpoon head, bone and stone	221
213.	Harpoon head, bone and stone	221
214.	Walrus harpoons	224
215.	Typical walrus-harpoon heads	226
216.	Typical walrus-harpoon heads	226
217.	Typical walrus-harpoon heads	227
218.	Walrus-harpoon head, with “leader”	227
219.	Walrus-harpoon head, with line	228
220.	Walrus-harpoon head, with line	228
221.	Walrus-harpoon head, with line	229
222.	Foreshaft of walrus harpoon	230
223.	Harpoon head for large seals	230
224.	Retrieving seal harpoon	231
225.	Details of retrieving seal harpoon	232
226.	Jade blade for seal harpoon	233
227.	Seal harpoon for thrusting	233
228.	Diagram of lashing on shaft	234
229.	Model of a seal harpoon	235
230.	Large model of whale harpoon	235
231.	Model of whale harpoon, with floats	236
232.	Flint blade for whale harpoon	237
233.	Slate blade for whale harpoon	237
234.	Body of whale harpoon head	238
235.	Whale harpoon heads	238
236.	Whale harpoon head with “leader”	239
237.	Foreshaft of whale harpoon	239
238.	Whale lance	240
239.	Flint head of whale lance	241
240.	Flint heads for whale lances	241
241.	Bear lance	242
242.	Flint head for bear lance	242
243.	Deer lance	243
244.	Part of deer lance with flint head	243
245.	Deer lance, flint head	244
246.	Flint head for deer lance	244
247.	Bird bolas, looped up for carrying	245
248.	Bird bolas, ready for use	245
249.	Sealskin float	247
250.	Flipper toggles	248
251.	Boxes for harpoon heads	249
252.	Seal net	251
253.	Scratchers for decoying seals	253
254.	Seal rattle	254
255.	Seal indicators	255
256.	Sealing stool	255
257.	Seal drag and handles	257
258.	Whalebone wolf killers	259
14 259.	Wooden snow-goggles	261
260.	Bone snow-goggles	262
261.	Wooden snow-goggles, unusual form	262
262.	Marker for meat cache	262
263.	Marker for meat cache	263
264.	Tackle for shore fishing	279
265.	Knot of line into hook	279
266.	Small fish-hooks	280
267.	Hooks for river fishing	280
268.	Tackle for river fishing	280
269.	Burbot hook, first pattern	281
270.	Burbot hook, second pattern	281
271.	Burbot hook, made of cod hook	281
272.	Burbot tackle, baited	281
273.	Ivory sinker	282
274.	Ivory jigger for polar cod	282
275.	Section of whalebone net	284
276.	Mesh of sinew net	285
277.	Fish trap	285
278.	Fish spear	286
279.	Flint flakers	288
280.	Haft of flint flaker	288
281.	Flint flaker, with bone blade	289
282.	Fire drill, with mouthpiece and stock	289
283.	Set of bow-and-arrow tools	291
284.	Marline spike	292
285.	Marline spike	292
286.	“Twister” for working sinew backing of bow	293
287.	“Feather setter”	294
288.	Tool of antler	294
289.	Skin scraper	295
290.	Skin scrapers—handles only	295
291.	Skin scrapers	296
292.	Skin scraper	296
293.	Peculiar modification of scraper	296
294.	Skin scraper	297
295.	Skin scraper	297
296.	Skin scraper	297
297.	Flint blade for skin scraper	298
298.	Straight-hafted scraper	298
299.	Bone scraper	299
300.	Scraper cups	299
301.	Combs for cleaning deer-skins	301
302.	“Double slit” splice for rawhide lines	302
303.	Mattock of whale’s rib	303
304.	Pickax-heads of bone, ivory, and whale’s rib	303
305.	Ivory snow knife	305
306.	Snow shovels	305
307.	Snow shovel made of a whale’s scapula	307
308.	Snow pick	307
309.	Snow drill	308
310.	Ice scoop	308
311.	Long blubber hook	310
312.	Short-handled blubber hook	310
313.	Fish sealer	311
15 314.	Ivory shuttle	311
315.	Netting needle	312
316.	Mesh stick	312
317.	Netting needles	313
318.	Netting needles for seal net	314
319.	Netting needle	314
320.	Mesh sticks	314
321.	Netting weights	316
322.	Shuttle belonging to set of feather tools	316
323.	Mesh stick	317
324.	“Sword” for feather weaving	317
325.	Quill case of bone needles	318
326.	(a) Large bone needle and peculiar thimble; (b)Leather thimbles with bone needles	318
327.	Needle cases with belt hooks	320
328.	(a) Needle case with belt hook; (b)needle case open, showing bone needles	321
329.	Trinket boxes	323
330.	Trinket boxes	324
331.	Ivory box	325
332.	Bone box	325
333.	Little flask of ivory	325
334.	Box in shape of deer	325
335.	Small basket	326
336.	Small basket	326
337.	Small basket	327
338.	Kaiak	329
339.	Method of fastening together frame of kaiak	329
340.	Double kaiak paddle	330
341.	Model kaiak and paddle	334
342.	Frame of umiak	336
343.	(a) Method of fastening bilge-streaks to stem of umiak; (b)method of framing rib to gunwale, etc.	337
344.	Method of slinging the oar of umiak	339
345.	(a) Model of umiak and paddles; (b)model of umiak, inside plan	340
346.	Ivory bailer for umiak	340
347.	Ivory crotch for harpoon	341
348.	Ivory crotch for harpoon	342
349.	Crotch for harpoon made of walrus jaw	342
350.	Snowshoe	345
351.	Knot in snowshoe netting	346
352.	(a) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe; (b)first and second round of heel-netting of snowshoe	347
353.	(a) First round of heel-netting of snowshoe; (b)first, second, and third rounds of heel-netting of snowshoe	348
354.	Small snowshoe	350
355.	Old “chief,” with staffs	353
356.	Railed sledge (diagrammatic), from photograph	354
357.	Flat sledge	355
358.	Small sledge with ivory runners	355
359.	Small toboggan of whalebone	357
360.	Hunting score engraved on ivory	361
361.	Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse	362
362.	Hunting score engraved on ivory	362
363.	Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse	363
16 364.	Game of fox and geese from Plover Bay	365
365.	Dancing cap	365
366.	Wooden mask	366
367.	Wooden mask and dancing gorget	367
368.	Old grotesque mask	368
369.	Rude mask of wood	369
370.	Wolf mask of wood	369
371.	Very ancient small mask	369
372.	Dancing gorgets of wood	371
373.	Youth dancing to the aurora	375
374.	Whirligigs	377
375.	Teetotum	378
376.	Buzz toy	378
377.	Whizzing stick	379
378.	Pebble snapper	379
379.	Carving of human head	380
380.	Mechanical doll—drum-player	381
381.	Mechanical toy—kaiak paddler	381
382.	Kaiak carved from block of wood	382
383.	Drum	385
384.	Handle of drum secured to rim	386
385.	Drum handles	387
386.	Ivory drumsticks	388
387.	Ancient carving—human head	393
388.	Wooden figures	393
389.	Carving—face of Eskimo man	394
390.	Grotesque soapstone image—“walrus man”	394
391.	Bone image of dancer	395
392.	Bone image of man	396
393.	Grotesque bone image	396
394.	Bone image—sitting man	396
395.	Human figure carved from walrus ivory	396
396.	Ivory carving—three human heads	397
397.	Rude human head, carved from a walrus tooth	397
398.	Elaborate ivory carving	398
399.	Bear carved of soapstone	398
400.	Bear flaked from flint	399
401.	(a) Bear carved from bone; (b)bear’s head	399
402.	Ivory figures of bears	400
403.	Rude ivory figures of walrus	401
404.	Images of seal—wood and bone	401
405.	White whale carved from gypsum	402
406.	Wooden carving—whale	403
407.	Whale carved from soapstone	403
408.	Rude flat image of whale	404
409.	Ivory image of whale	404
410.	Ivory image of whale	404
411.	Pair of little ivory whales	405
412.	Soapstone image of imaginary animal	405
413.	Ivory carving, seal with fish’s head	405
414.	Ivory carving, ten-legged bear	406
415.	Ivory carving, giant holding whales	406
416.	Double-headed animal carved from antler	407
417.	Ivory carving—dog	407
17 418.	(a) Piece of ivory, engraved with figures; (b)development of pattern	408
419.	(a) Similar engraved ivory; (b)development of pattern	408
420.	Ivory doll	409
421.	Whale flaked from glass	435
422.	Whale flaked from red jasper	435
423.	Ancient whale amulet, of wood	436
424.	Amulet of whaling—stuffed godwit	438
425.	Amulet consisting of ancient jade adz	438
426.	Little box containing amulet for whaling	439
427.	Amulet for catching fowl with bolas	439
428.	Box of dried bees—amulet	440

18

see caption

The Hunting Grounds
of the
Point Barrow Eskimo

Based on Lieut. P. H. Ray’s “Map of
Explorations in Northwestern Alaska,”
Signal Service, U.S.A. 1885
Completed by
John Murdoch

see caption

Fig. 339.—Method of fastening together frame of kaiak.

At the after end of the cockpit is an extra stout beam or thwart to support the back, 1¾ inches wide and three-quarters inch thick, with rounded edges, the ends of which are apparently lashed with thong. The first beam forward of the cockpit is rounded, and appears to be a natural crook forming a U-shaped arch, and is followed by seven V-shaped knees, thickest in the middle and enlarged a little at the ends, successively decreasing in height to the seventh, which is almost straight. This makes the rise in the deck forward of the cockpit.

330

Every alternate deck beam is braced to the gunwale at each end by an oblique lashing of whalebone, running from a transverse hole in the beam about 1 inch from the gunwale to a corresponding hole in the gunwale, three-quarters inch from the lower edge. The lashing makes three or four turns through these holes and around the lower edge of the gunwale, and the end is wrapped spirally round these turns for their whole length. Above these beams a narrow batten runs fore and aft amidships from cockpit to stem and stern, mortised into the two beams at the cockpit, and lashed to the others with whalebone. The coaming of the cockpit is made of a single flat piece of wood, 1¾ inches broad and one-quarter inch thick, bent into a hoop with the ends lapping about 6 inches and “sewed” together with stitches of whalebone. Round the upper edge of this, on the outside, is fitted a “half-round” hoop, which appears to be made of willow, three-quarters by one-third inch, with its ends lapped about 4 inches, this lap coming over the joint of the larger hoop. It is fastened on by short stitches of whalebone about 5 or 6 inches apart, leaving room enough between the two hoops to allow a lacing of fine whalebone to pass through. The coaming is put on over the edge of the skin cover, which is drawn up tight inside of the coaming and over its upper edge and fastened by a lacing of whalebone, which runs spirally round the outer hoop and through holes about one-half inch apart in the edge of the cover.

The coaming fits over the crown of the arch of the forward deck beam and rests on the middle of the thwart aft, and is secured by lashings of whalebone, which pass through holes in the coaming and over its upper edge. The forward lashing makes three turns, which pass round the beam with the end wrapped spirally round the parts between beam and coaming; the after lashing, four similar turns, which pass through a hole in the thwart and around its forward edge. On each side is a stout vertical brace of wood 3¼ inches long, 1inch wide, and one-half inch thick, with rounded edges and corners. The ends are cut out parallel to the breadth, so that one end fits on to the upper edge of the gunwale, while the other receives the lower edge of the coaming, protruding on the outside through a hole in the cover.

The cover is of six sealskins, put together heads to tails, so that there is only one longitudinal seam, which runs irregularly along the deck. The transverse seams, which run obliquely across the bottom are double and sewed 331 with a blind stitch, like the seams already described on the waterproof boots, from the inside. These seams are nearly 2 inches wide. The longitudinal seam is sewed in the same way from the outside, but not so broadly lapped, with the edge turned over into a roll. There are two pieces of stout thong stretched across the deck, one forward of the cockpit and the other aft, which serve to fasten articles to the deck. The thong passes out through a hole in the gunwale, one-half inch from the upper edge and 6 inches from the cockpit, on the starboard side forward and on the port side aft, and is secured by a knot in the end inboard. The other end passes in through a corresponding hole in the other gunwale and is loosely knotted to the deck beams, so that the line can be slackened off or tautened up at pleasure. Three feet from the bow is a becket for holding spears, etc., fastened into two little holes bored diagonally outward through the edge of the gunwales. It is of two parts of seal thong, one part twisted round the other, but is broken in the middle, so that only one-half of it is left. The weight of this kaiak in its present dry condition is 32 pounds.

This is about the ordinary pattern of kaiak used at Point Barrow, and is a medium-sized one. These boats are made to fit the size of the owner, ayouth or small man using a much smaller and lighter kaiak than a heavy adult. They are never made to carry more than one person, and I have never heard of their being used by the women. In carrying the kaiak across the land from lake to lake, it is held horizontally against the side with the bow pointing forward, by thrusting the forearm into the cockpit. We never saw them carried on the head, in the manner practised at Fury and Hecla Straits.429

In entering the canoe the man takes great care to wipe his feet clean of sand and gravel, which would work down under the timbers and chafe the skin. The canoe is launched in shoal water, preferably alongside of a little bank, and the man steadies it by sticking down his paddle on the outer side and holding it with his left hand, while he balances himself on his right foot, and with his free hand carefully wipes his left foot. He then steps with his left foot into the kaiak, and still balancing himself with the help of the paddle, lifts and wipes his right foot before he steps in with that. He then pushes his feet and legs forward under the raised deck, settles himself in a proper position for trimming the boat, and shoves off. As elsewhere, the kaiak is always propelled with a paddle.

No. 89246 [539], Fig. 340, is the paddle which belongs to the kaiak just described. It is 7 feet long. The shaft joining the blades is elliptical in section, with its greatest width at right angles to the plane of the blades so to present the greatest resistance to the strain of paddling. The shape of the blade, with rounded tip and thin rounded edges is admirably adapted to give the blade a clean entry into the 332 water. The whole is very neatly and smoothly made, and the blades are painted with red ocher. This is a much more effective paddle than those used by the Greenlanders and other eastern Eskimo, the blades of which, probably from the scarcity of wood430 are very narrow, not exceeding 4 inches in width. In Greenland and Labrador, also, the blades are square at the ends like those of ordinary oars, and are usually edged with bone to prevent them from splitting. The absence of this bone edging on the paddles from Point Barrow perhaps indicates that they are meant for summer use only and not for working among the ice. In accordance with the general custom in northwestern America, the double-bladed paddle (pÁutiÑ) is used only when great speed is desired, as in chasing game. It is handled in the usual way, being grasped with both hands near the middle, and dipped alternately on opposite sides. For ordinary traveling they use a single-bladed paddle (ÁÑun), of the same shape as those used in the umiak but usually somewhat smaller, of which we neglected to procure a specimen. With this they make a few strokes on one side, till the boat begins to sheer, then shift it over and make a few strokes, on the other side. They do this with very great skill, getting considerable speed, and making a remarkably straight wake. The use of this single paddle appears to be universal along the coast of Alaska, from Point Barrow southward, and it is also used at the Mackenzie and Anderson rivers, as shown by the models collected by MacFarlane in that region. It is, however, unknown among the eastern Eskimo about whom we have any definite information on the subject, namely, the Greenlanders, the people of Baffin Land, Hudson Strait, and Labrador.431

Curiously enough the Greenlanders had a superstition of a sort of malevolent spirits called kajariak, who were “kayakmen of an extraordinary size, who always seem to be met with at a distance from land beyond the usual hunting grounds. They were skilled in the arts of sorcery, particularly in the way of raising storms and bringing bad weather. Like the umiarissat [other fabulous beings], they use one-bladed paddles, like those of the Indians.”432 This tradition either refers back to a time when the ancestors of the Greenlanders used the single paddle or to occasional and perhaps hostile meetings between eastern and western Eskimo.

Though the kaiak is essentially the same wherever used, it differs considerably in size and external appearance in different localties. The kaiak of the Greenlanders is perhaps the best-known model, as it has 333 been figured and described by many authors. It is quite as light and sharp as the Point Barrow model, but has a flat floor, the bilge being angular instead of rounded, and it has considerably more sheer to the deck, the stem and stern being prolonged into long curved points, which project above the water, and are often shod with bone or ivory. The coaming of the cockpit also is level, or only slightly raised forward. The kaiaks used in Baffin Land, Hudson Straits, and Labrador are of a very similar model, but larger and heavier, having the projecting points at the bow and stern rather shorter and less sharp, and the coaming of the cockpit somewhat more raised forward. Both of these forms are represented by specimens and numerous models in the museum collections. Ihave seen one flat-floored kaiak at Point Barrow. It belonged to a youth and was very narrow and light.

The kaiak in use at Fury and Hecla Straits, as described by Capt. Lyon433 and Capt. Parry434 is of a somewhat different model, approaching that used at the Anderson River. It is a large kaiak 25 feet long, with the bow and stern sharp and considerably more bent up than in the Greenland kaiaks, but round-bottomed, like the western kaiaks. The deck is flat, with the cockpit coaming somewhat raised forward.435

In the kaiaks used at the Anderson and Mackenzie rivers, as shown by the models in the National Museum, the bending up of the stem and stern posts is carried to an extreme, so that they make an angle of about 130° with the level of the deck. The bottom is round and the cockpit nearly level, but sufficient room for the knees and feet is obtained by arching not only the deck beams just forward of the cockpit, but all of them from stem to stern, so that the deck slopes away to each side like the roof of a house. At Point Barrow, as already described, the deck beams are arched only just forward of the cockpit, and the stem and stern are not prolonged. This appears to be the prevailing form of canoe at least as far south as Kotzebue Sound and is sometimes used by the Malemiut of Norton Sound. At Port Clarence the heavy, large kaiak, so common from Norton Sound southward, appears to be in use from NordenskiÖld’s description, as he speaks of the kaiaks holding two persons, sitting back to back in the cockpit.436 The kaiaks of the southwestern Eskimo are, as far as I have been able to learn, large and heavy, with level coamings, with the deck quite steeply arched fore and aft, and with bow and stern usually of some peculiar shape, as shown by models in the Museum. See also Dall’s figure (Alaska, p.15.)437

334

While the kaiak, however, differs so much in external appearance in different localities, it is probable that in structure it is everywhere essentially the same. Only two writers have given a detailed description of the frame of a kaiak, and these are from widely distant localities, Iglulik and western Greenland, both still more widely distant from Point Barrow, and yet both give essentially the same component parts as are to be found at Point Barrow, namely, two comparatively stout gunwales running from stem to stern, braced with transverse deckbeams,438 seven streaks running fore and aft along the bottom, knees, or ribs in the form of hoops, and a hoop for the coaming, bound together with whalebone or sinew.439

see caption

Fig. 341.—Model kaiak and paddle.

The double-bladed paddle is almost exclusively an Eskimo contrivance. The only other hyperborean race, besides the Aleuts, who use it, are the Yukagirs, who employ it in their narrow dugout canoes on the River Kolyma in Siberia.440 Double-bladed paddles have also been observed in the Malay Archipelago.

Fig. 341, (No. 56561 [224] from UtkiavwiÑ) is a very neatly made model of a kaiak, 13.3 inches long. It is quite accurate in all its details, but has only five streaks on the bottom, and its width and depth are about twice what they should be in proportion to the length. The frame is lashed together with fine sinew and covered with seal entrail. The paddle is also out of proportion. Many similar neatly finished 335 models were made for sale. The natives are so skillful in making them that it is possible that they are in the habit of making them for the children to play with. Ido not, however, recollect ever seeing a child with one.

Umiaks and fittings.—

The large skin-covered open boat, essentially the same in model as that employed by almost all Eskimo, as well as the Aleuts and some Siberian races, is the chief means of conveyance by water, for traveling, hunting, and fishing. Though the women do a great share of the work of navigating the boat when a single family or a small party is making a journey, it is by no means considered as a woman’s boat, as appears to be the case among the Greenlanders and eastern Eskimo generally.441 On the contrary, women are not admitted into the regularly organized whaling crews, unless the umialik can not procure men enough, and in the “scratch” crews assembled for walrus hunting or sealing there are usually at least as many men as women, and the men work as hard as the women. Ido not, however, recollect that I ever saw a man pull an oar in the umiak. They appear always to use paddles alone. This is interesting in connection with the Greenland custom mentioned by Egede in the continuation of the passage just quoted: “And when they first set out for the whale fishing, the men sit in a very negligent posture, with their faces turned towards the prow, pulling with their little ordinary paddle; but the women sit in the ordinary way, with their faces towards the stern, rowing with long oars.”

We were unable to bring home any specimen of these boats on account of their size, but Fig. 342, from a photograph by Lieut. Ray, will give a good idea of the framework. These boats vary considerably in size, but are usually very nearly the dimensions of an ordinary whaleboat—that is, about 30 feet in length, with a beam of 5 or 6 feet and a depth of about 2½ feet. The boat resembles very much in model the American fisherman’s dory, having a narrow flat bottom, sharp at both ends, with flaring sides, and considerable rake at stem and stern. Both floor and rail have a strong sheer, fore and aft, and the gunwales extend beyond the stem so as to meet at the bow. Both stem and stern are sharp nearly to the rail, where they flare out and are cut off square. These boats are exceedingly light and buoyant, and capable of considerable speed when fully manned. They are very “quick” in their motion and quite crank till they get down to their bearings, but beyond that appear to be very stiff.

I never heard of one being capsized, though the natives move about aboard of them with perfect freedom. The frame is neatly made of pieces of driftwood, which it usually takes a considerable time to accumulate.442

336

A stout square timber, of perhaps 3 inches scantling, runs along the middle of the bottom forming a keel or keelson. This of necessity is usually made of several pieces of wood scarfed together and fastened with treenails and whalebone lashings. At each end it is fastened in the same way to the stem and sternpost, which are both of the same shape, broad and flat above or inside, but beveled off to a keel outside, and curving up in a knee, at the same time tapering off to the point where the bow (orstern) begins to flare. Here it is mortised into the under side of a trapezoidal block of wood, widest and thickest on the inboard end, and concaved off on the under face, to a thin edge outboard. It is held on by a transverse lashing passing through holes in the end of the post and the thickest part of the block. Along each side of the bottom, at what would be the bilge of a round bottom boat, runs a stout streak, thinner and wider than the keelson and set up edgewise. These are spread apart amidships, but bent together fore and aft so as to be scarfed into the stem and sternpost (see diagram, Fig. 343a).

see caption

Fig. 342.—Frame of umiak.

On the model they are fastened here with treenails, and this is probably also the case on the large canoes. They are spread apart by cross pieces or floor timbers, flat rather broad boards laid across the keelson with their ends mortised into the bilge streaks. These are longest amidships and decrease regularly in length fore and aft. There were fifteen of them on NikawÁalu’s umiak. On the model they are pegged to the keelson and bilge streaks. The ribs are straight, slender, square timbers, eighteen on each side (onNikawÁalu’s umiak; the canoe photographed has fifteen). These are all of the same length, but fitted obliquely to the outer edge of the bilge-streaks in such a way (see diagram, Fig. 337 343b) that those amidships slant considerably outward while the others become gradually more and more erect fore and aft, thus producing the sheer in the lines. To these ribs, inside, alittle below the middle of each, is fastened a streak on each side, of about the dimensions of the bilge streak, running from stem to stern, and the gunwales are fitted into the notched ends of the ribs, where they are secured by lashings of whalebone. These on NikawÁalu’s umiak were each a single round pole about 2 inches in diameter. Such long pieces of wood as this were probably obtained by trade from the NunataÑmeun. These extend about 2½ or 3 feet beyond the stem, to which they are fastened on each side by whalebone lashings, and meet at a sharp angle, being lashed together with whalebone. On the model, this lashing passes through holes in both gunwales and round underneath. The gunwales are fastened to the sternpost in the same way as to the stem, in both cases resting on the upper surface of the block so as to form a low rail, but project only 5 or 6 inches.

Between the post and the last pair of long ribs at each end are two pairs of short ribs running only from the gunwale to the inside streak. The frame is still further strengthened by an outside streak between the bilge streak and the inside streak, and NikawÁalu’s canoe had an extra streak of “half-round” willow outside of the latter. The thwarts rest on the inside streak and are secured by whalebone lashings. The block or head of the stern-post serves as a high seat for the steersman. Crantz’s443 description and diagram show that the frame of the Greenland umiak consists of essentially the same timbers, lacking only the two outside streaks.

The cover is made of the skins of the larger marine animals. Walrus hide is often used and sometimes the skin of the polar bear, which makes a beautifully white cover, but the skin of the bearded seal is preferred, the people from Point Barrow sometimes making journeys to Wainwright Inlet in search of such skins, which are dressed with their oil in them in the manner already referred to. We were informed that six of these skins were required to cover one umiak. They are put together in the same way as the skins for the kaiak and sewed with the same seam. The edges of the cover are stretched over the gunwale, and laced to the inside streak with a stout thong, which passes through holes in the edge of the cover. At stem and stern the cover is laced with a separate thong to a stout transverse lashing of thong running from gunwale to gunwale close to the edge of the posthead.

338

The cover is removed in the winter and stowed away on the cache frame or some other safe place (MÛÑialu, when preparing to start for the spring deer hunt in 1883, carefully buried his boat cover in a snowbank) out of reach of the dogs, and the frame is placed bottom upwards on a staging 4 or 5 feet from the ground.

When they are ready to refit the canoe for the spring whaling, ahole is cut in the sea ice close to the shore, and the cover immersed in the sea water for several days to soften it, the hole being covered with slabs of snow to keep it from freezing up. Crantz444 mentions a similar custom in Greenland. After removing the hair from the boat-skins “they lay them in salt water for some days to soften them again, and so cover the women’s boats and kajaks with them.” When not in use, the umiak is drawn up on the beach and usually laid bottom upward with the gear, spears, etc., underneath it, but sometimes propped up on one gunwale to make a shelter against the wind. This is a common practice in the camp at PernyÛ, where there is usually at least one boat set up edgewise, sheltered by which the men sit to whittle and gossip.

In the whaling camp at ImÊkpÛÑ in 1883, the boats which were not ready to go out to the open water were laid up bottom up with one end resting on a sled set up on its side and the other supported by a block of snow. They do not appear to be in the habit of using the canoe for a tent, as is said to be the custom among the more southern natives,445 as they always carry a tent with them on their journeys. The umiak is propelled by paddles, oars, and a sail, and in smooth weather when the shore is clear of ice by “tracking” along the beach with men and dogs, one person at least always remaining on board to steer with a paddle at the stern.

The sail, which they are only able to use with a free wind, is square, narrow, and rather high, and is nowadays always made of drilling. Dark blue drilling appeared to be the most popular sort at the time of our visit. The head of the sail is laced to a light yard, and hoisted to the masthead by a halyard through a hole in the latter. The mast is a stout square pole 10 or 12 feet long and is set up well forward of amidships, without a step, the square butt resting against a bottom board, and held up by two forestays and two backstays, running from the masthead to the inside streak. All the rigging, stays, halyards, towing line, etc., are made of stout thong. The Greenlanders set up the mast in the bow of the umiak—as a sailor would say, “in the very eyes of her,”446 but as far as I can learn the Western Eskimo all set it up as at Point Barrow.

The oars are very clumsily made with very narrow blades not over 3 inches broad. They are about 7 feet long and somewhat enlarged at the loom. Instead of resting in rowlocks, they are secured by two long 339 loops of thong as in the diagram Fig. 344. To keep the oar from chafing the skin on the gunwale, they lash to the latter a long plate of bone. No. 89696 [1197] from UtkiavwiÑ is one of these plates. Two of these oars are commonly used in an umiak, one forward and one aft, and the women row with great vigor, swinging well from the hips, but do not keep stroke. The use of oars is so unusual among savages that it would be natural to suppose that these people had adopted the custom from the whites. If this be the case, the custom reached them long ago, and through very indirect channels.

When Thomas Simpson, in 1837, bought an umiak from some Point Barrow natives at Dease Inlet, he bought with it “four of their slender oars, which they used as tent poles, besides a couple of paddles; fitted the oars with lashings, and arranged our strange vessel so well that the ladies were in raptures, declaring us to be genuine Esquimaux, and not poor white men.”447 The custom, moreover, appears to be widespread since Lyon speaks of seeing in 1821, “two very clumsy oars with flat blades, pulled by women,” in the umiaks at Hudson Strait.448 It was practiced at a still earlier date in Greenland.449

see caption

Fig. 344.—Method of slinging the oar of umiak.

While at Point Barrow the oars have very narrow blades and the double paddles very broad ones, the reverse seemed to be the case in Greenland, where the double paddle, as already noticed, has blades not over 3 or 4 inches broad. Crantz describes the oars as “short and broad before, pretty much like a shovel, but only longer, and * * confined to their places on the gunnel with a strap of seal’s leather.” (Vol. 2, p.149 and pl. VI) Although both oars and sails are undoubtedly quite ancient inventions (Frobisher in his description of Meta Incognita in Hakluyt’s Voyages (1589) pp. 621 and 628, speaks of skin boats with sails of entrail),450 Iam strongly inclined to believe that they are both considerably more recent than the paddles, not only on general principles, but from the fact that the whaling umiaks at Point Barrow use only paddles. There is no practical reason against using either oars or sails, and in fact the latter would often be of great advantage in silently approaching a whale, as the American whalemen have long 340 ago discovered. It seems to me that this is merely another case of adhering to an obsolete custom on semireligious grounds. The paddles are usually about 4 or 5 feet long, made of one piece of driftwood, with slender round shafts, and lanceolate blades about 6 inches broad, and a short rounded cross handle at the upper end. (Fig. 345 shows two of the paddles belonging to the model.) The steersman uses a longer paddle, and stands in the stern or sits up on the head of the sternpost.

see caption

Fig. 345.—Model of umiak and paddles: (a)side view; (b)inside plan.

Fig. 345a represents the model (No. 56563 [225] from UtkiavwiÑ), which gives a very good idea of the shape of one of these boats. It is quite correct in all its parts, though the timbers are rather too heavy, and there are not so many ribs and floor timbers as in a full-sized canoe. The breadth of beam, 6.2 inches, is at least 1 inch too great in proportion to the length, 25 inches. The cover is one piece of seal skin which has been partially tanned by the “white-tanning” process, and put on wet. In drying it has turned almost exactly the color of a genuine boat cover. The frame, as is often the case with a full-sized boat, is painted all over with red ocher. (See Fig. 345b, inside plan.)

see caption

Fig. 346.—Ivory bailer for umiak.

For bailing these boats a long narrow dipper of ivory or bone is used, of such a shape as to be especially well suited for working in between the floor timbers. Fig. 346 represents one of these (No.56536 [40] from UtkiavwiÑ). It is a piece of walrus tusk 16.3 inches long. The cavity is 1.1 inches deep and was excavated by drilling vertical holes and cutting away the substance between them. Some of the holes have not been completely worked out. Asimilar bailer (No.89835 [1010] also 341 from UtkiavwiÑ) is made of reindeer antler, asubstance much more easily worked than the ivory, as the soft interior tissue exposed by cutting the upper side flat is readily carved out. As with the walrus tusk, the natural curve of the material gives the proper inclination to the handle. It is 18.3 inches long.

When the umiak is fitted out for whaling a stout U-shaped crotch of ivory or bone, about 7 inches long and 5 wide, is lashed between the gunwales where they meet at the bow. In this the heavy harpoon rests when they are approaching a whale. It is only used when whaling. The Museum collection contains specimens of this sort from as far south as the Diomede Islands.

We brought home five specimens of these kÛ´nn?, of which No. 56510 [117] Fig. 347 has been selected as the type. This is made of two bilaterally symmetrical pieces of white walrus ivory, each piece consisting of one arm of the crotch and half the shank. Its total length is 7.8 inches. The two pieces are held together by a stout wooden tree-nail, and above this a lashing of sinew-braid, lodged in two deep vertical channels one on each side of the shank just below the arms, and wedged above and below on both sides with slips of wood. Ahole is drilled through each side of the butt close to the end, and through these a lashing is stretched across the reentering angle of the butt consisting of four turns of sinew braid with the end closely wrapped round the parts between the holes, and neatly tucked in.

Just at the bend of each arm is a small round becket hole, running obliquely from the back to the outer side. In each of these is a neat becket, about ¾ inches long, made of several turns of sinew braid, with the end neatly wrapped around them. These beckets serve to receive the lashings for attaching the crotch to the gunwales. All the ornamental figures are incised and blackened.

Three of the remaining four specimens are of walrus-ivory, and of essentially the same pattern, differing only in ornamentation and other minor details. No. 56511 [116], from UtkiavwiÑ, is almost exactly like the type and of very nearly the same size. It is fastened together with a lashing only, but no treenail, and the beckets have been removed from the becket holes. The border is colored with red ocher, and there are two whales’ tails instead of one on the shank. The other two have the tips of the arms carved into the shape of whales’ heads. No. 89418 [1224], Fig. 348, from UtkiavwiÑ, is otherwise of the same shape as those already described, but is lashed together with stout seal thong, 342 and has four beckets of the same material, two in the usual position and two at the widest part of the shank. These take the place of the loop running across the butt. On the middle of the back of each arm is a small cross incised and blackened with a small blue glass bead inlaid in the center, and there are two whale’s tails on the opposite face of the shank. It is 8 inches long.

No. 89419 [926], from Nuwuk, has a nearly straight shank with a flange on each side at the butt. It is lashed together with whalebone and has also a treenail, like the type. The upper beckets are of sinew-braid. Alarge becket at the butt is made by looping and knotting the ends of a bit of thong into a hole in each flange. There is one whale’s tail engraved on the front of the shank. When lashed in position the front or ornamental side faces inboard, as is indicated by the shape of the shank, which is slightly narrower behind than in front, so as to fit between the converging gunwales. No. 8917 [1104], Fig. 349, from Nuwuk, the only one of the kind seen, is a very interesting form. It is made by cutting a horizontal slice out of the lower jaw of a walrus, so that it form the arms of the crotch, while the thick symphysis is cut into a shank of the usual shape, with the two upper beckets in the usual place and a large one at the butt, passing through a transverse hole. These beckets are roughly made of thong. Its total length is 6.6 inches.

This specimen from its soiled condition is undoubtedly quite ancient, and probably of an older type than the highly ornamented ivory crotches 343 of the present day. The latter are evidently only copies of the jawbone crotch in a material susceptible of a higher finish than the coarse bone. The only reason for making them in two pieces is that it is impossible to get a single piece of walrus ivory large enough for a whole one. It seems to me highly probable that the crotch was suggested by the natural shape of the walrus jaw, since these are frequently used for crotches to receive the cross pieces of the cache frames. Perhaps, for a while, the whole jaw was simply lashed to the bow of the boat. The next step would obviously be to cut out the shank and reduce the weight of the crotch by trimming off the superfluous material. The reason for making the crotch of ivory is perhaps purely esthetic; but more likely connected with the notions already referred to which lead them to clean up their boats and gear and adorn themselves and paint their faces when they go to the whale fishery.

Although, as I have already stated, there appears to be no essential difference in the general plan of the frame of the Greenland umiaks and those used at Point Barrow, there seems to be considerable difference in the size and outward appearance. As well as can be judged from the brief descriptions and rude figures of various authors451 and various models in the National Museum (the correctness of which, however, Ican not be sure of, without having seen the originals) the umiak not only in Greenland, but among the Eskimo generally as far west as the Mackenzie, is a much more wall sided square ended boat than at Point Barrow, having less sheer to the gunwales with the stem and stern-post nearly vertical.452 Mr. L.M. Turner informs me that this is the case at Ungava Bay. It was also a larger boat. Egede says that they “are large and open *** some of them 20 yards long;”453 Crantz gives their length as “commonly 6, nay 8 or 9 fathoms long;”454 Kumlien says that it required “about fifteen skins of Phoca barbata” to cover an umiak at Cumberland Gulf,455 and Mr. Turner informs me that eight are used at Ungava. Capt. Parry found no umiaks at Fury and Hecla straits456 and Kumlien says that they are becoming rare at Cumberland Gulf. The so-called Arctic Highlanders of Smith Sound have no boats of any kind. The model used at Point Barrow probably prevails as far south as Kotzebue Sound. The boats that boarded us off Wainwright Inlet in the autumn of 1883, and those of the NunataÑmiun who visited Point Barrow, seemed not to differ from those with which we were familiar, except that the latter were rather light and low sided, nor do I remember anything peculiar about the boats which we saw at Plover Bay in 1881.

344

There is very little accessible detailed information regarding the umiaks used in the rest of Alaska. From Dall’s figure457 and a few models in the Museum, the Norton Sound umiak appears to have the gunwales united at both stem and stern. Those that we saw at St. Michael’s in 1883, were so much modified by Russian ideas as to be wholly out of the line of comparison. The same is true of the Aleutian “baidara,” if, indeed, the latter be an umiak at all.

TRAVELING ON FOOT.

Snowshoes (tÛglu.)—

Snowshoes of a very efficient pattern and very well made are now universally employed at Point Barrow. Although the snow never lies very deep on the ground, and is apt to pile up in hard drifts, it is sufficiently deep and soft in many places, especially on the grassy parts of the tundra, to make walking without snowshoes very inconvenient and fatiguing. Ihave even seen them used on the sea ice for crossing level spaces when a few inches of snow had fallen. Practically, every man in the two villages, and many of the women and boys, have each their own pair of snowshoes, fitted to their size. Each shoe consists of a rim of light wood, bent into the shape of a pointed oval, about five times as long as the greatest breadth, and much bent up at the rounded end, which is the toe. The sides are braced apart by two stout cross-bars (toe and heel bar) a little farther apart than the length of the wearer’s foot. The space between these two bars is netted in large meshes (foot netting) with stout thong for the foot to rest upon, and the spaces at the ends are closely netted with fine deerskin “babiche”458 (toe and heel netting). The straps for the foot are fastened to the foot netting in such a way that while the strap is firmly fastened round the ankle the snowshoe is slung to the toe. The wearer walks with long swinging strides, lifting the toe of the shoe at each step, while the tail or heel drags in the snow. The straps are so contrived that the foot can be slipped in and out of them without touching them with the fingers, agreat advantage in cold weather. When deer hunting, according to Lieut. Ray, they take a long piece of thong and knot each end of it to the toe of one snowshoe. The bight is then looped into the belt behind so that the snowshoes drag out of the way of the heels. When they wish to put on the shoes they draw them up, insert their feet in the straps, and fasten the slack of the lines into the belt in front with a slip knot. When, however, they come to a piece of ground where snowshoes are not needed, they kick them off, slip the knots, and let them “drop astern.”

We brought home three pairs of snowshoes, which represent very well the form in general use. No. 89912 [1736], Fig. 350, has been selected as the type. The rim is of willow, 51 inches long and 10½ inches 345 wide at the broadest part, and is made of two strips about 1 inch thick and ¾ wide, joined at the toe by a long lap-splice, held together by four short horizontal or slightly oblique stitches of thong. Each strip is elliptical in section, with the long axis vertical, and keeled on the inner face, except between the bars. Each is tapered off considerably from the toe bar to the toe, and slightly tapered toward the heel. The two points are fastened together by a short horizontal stitch of whalebone. The tip is produced into a slight “tail,” and the inner side of each shoe is slightly straighter than the outer—that is to say, they are “rights and lefts.”

The bars are elliptical in section, flattened, and have their ends mortised into the rim. They are about a foot apart, and of oak, the toe bar 9.2 inches long and the heel bar 8.5. Both are of the same breadth and thickness, 1by ½ inch. There is also an extra bar for strengthening the back part of the shoe 10 inches from the point. It is also of oak, 4.8 inches long, 0.5 wide, and 0.3 thick. The toe and heel nettings are put on first. Small equidistant vertical holes run round the inside of each space. Those in the rim are drilled through the keel already mentioned, and joined by a shallow groove above and below; those in the bars are about ½ inch from the edge and joined by a groove on the under side of the toe bar only. Into these holes is laced a piece of babiche, which is knotted once into each hole, making a series of beckets about ¾ inch wide round the inside of the space. There are no lacing holes in the parts spliced at the toe, but the lacing passes through a bight of each stitch. At the toe bar the lacing is carried straight across from rim to rim about three times, the last part being wound round the others.

On the left shoe the end is brought back on the left-hand side, passed through the first hole in the bar from above, carried along in the groove on the underside to the next hole, up through this and round the lacing, and back through the same hole, the two parts being twisted together between the bar and lacing. This is continued, “stopping” the lacing in festoons to the bar, to the last hole on the right, 346 where it is finished off by knotting the end round the last “stop.” The stops are made, apparently, by a separate piece on the right shoe. The lacing on the heel bar is also double or triple, but the last part, which is wound round the others, is knotted into each hole as on the rim. The lacings on the rim of the heel space are knotted with a single knot round each end of the extra bar.

In describing the nettings it will always be understood that the upper surface of the shoe is toward the workman, with the point upward, if describing the heel nettings, and vice versa for the toe. To begin with the heel netting, which is the simpler: This is in two parts, one from the heel bar to the extra bar (heel netting proper) and one from the latter to the point (point netting). The netting is invariably fastened to the lacing by passing the end through the becket from above and bringing it back over itself. In making the point netting the end of the babiche is knotted round the bar at the right-hand lower corner with a single knot. The other end goes up to the lacing at the point and comes down to the left-hand lower corner, where it is hitched round the bar, as in Fig. 351, then goes up to the lowest becket on the left side, crosses to the corresponding one on the right, and comes down and is hitched as before round the bar inside of the starting point. This makes a series of strands round the outside of the space, two running obliquely from right to left, along one on the right side and a short one on the left side; two similar strands from left to right, the long one on the left and the short one on the right, and one transverse strand at the base of the triangle (see diagram, Fig. 352a). The next round goes up to the first becket at the top on the left hand, crosses to the corresponding one on the right, and then makes the same strands as the first round, running parallel to them and about half an inch nearer the center of the space (see diagram, Fig. 352b). Each successive round follows the last, coming each time about ½ inch nearer the center, till the space is all filled in, which brings the end of the last round to the middle of the bar, round which it is knotted with a single knot. This makes three sets of strands, two obliquely longitudinal, one set from right to left and one from left to right, and one transverse, all of each set parallel and equidistant, or nearly so, and each interwoven alternately over and under each successive strand it meets.

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Fig. 168.—Drills belonging to the tool bag.

These are two bow drills, one large and one small (Figs. 168a and 168b, Nos. 89778 and 89779 [1004a]); a drill bow (Fig. 154, No. 89777 [1004b]); a mouthpiece (Fig. 155, No. 89787 [1004c]); a large crooked knife with a sheath (Fig. 114, No. 89780 [1004d]); a flint flaker (No.89752 [1004e]); a comb for deerskins (Fig. 169, No. 89781 [1005]); ahaircomb made of antler (No.89785 [1006]); afishhook (No.89783 [1007]); and a small seal harpoon head (No.89784 [1008]).

No. 89796 [1118], from Nuwuk, is of rather unusual materials. The bottom is of brown reindeer skin and the sides and ends are the heads of two wolves and a red fox. The wolf heads meet on one side, and the fox head is put in between them on the other. The fox head has no lower jaw, and one wolf head has only the left half of the lower jaw. The vacant spaces around the mouth are filled by triangular gussets of wolf and reindeer skin. The eyeholes are patched on the inside with deerskin. It has no handle. No. 89795 [1309], the remaining bag, is of the usual pattern, but carelessly made of small pieces of deerskin, with a handle of coarse-grained whale’s bone. It was probably made for sale.

I have figured four handles of such bags to show the style of ornamentation. Fig. 170a(No.89420 [1111], from Nuwuk) has incised figures of men and reindeer on the back, once colored with ocher, of which traces can still be seen. This is perhaps a hunting score. (See remarks on this subject under “Bow drills.”) Fig. 170b (No.89423 [996], from UtkiavwiÑ) is a very elaborate handle, with scalloped edges and fluted back, which is also ornamented with an incised pattern colored with red ocher. The other side is covered with series of the incised circles, each with a dot in the center, so frequently mentioned. Fig. 170c (No.89424 [890], from Nuwuk) has on the under side two rows of figures representing the flukes and “smalls” of whales. This is the specimen already mentioned, which the natives called an actual score. The series of twenty-six tails were said to be the record of old YÛksi´Ña (“Erksinra” of Dr. Simpson), the so-called “chief” at Nuwuk. All the above handles are of walrus ivory, and have been in actual use. Fig. 170c (No.56513 190 [43], from UtkiavwiÑ) is a handle of different material (reindeer antler) and of somewhat different pattern. One end is neatly carved into an exceedingly accurate image of the head of a reindeer which has shed its antlers, with small blue beads inlaid for the eyes. The back of the handle is ornamented with an incised pattern colored with red ocher. We were told that such handles were sometimes fitted to the wooden buckets, but I never saw one so used.

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Fig. 170.—Bag handles.

No. 89798 [1075], Fig. 171, is a bag of rather unusual pattern, the only one of the kind we saw. The bottom is a single round piece, 9inches in diameter, of what seems to be split skin of the bearded seal, flesh side out, and the rest of the bag is of white-tanned seal leather. The sides are of five broad pieces (6,4½, 4, 5½, and 5 inches broad at the bottom, respectively, narrowing to 2½, 1½, 1¼, 2, and 2?, respectively, at the top), alternating with five straight strips, respectively 1½, 1, 1?, 1¼, and 1½ inches broad. The edges of these strips overlap the edges of the broad pieces, and are neatly stitched with two threads, as on the soles of the waterproof boots. The outer thread, which is caught in the loop of each stitch of the other, is a slender filament of black whale-bone. This produces a sort of embroidery. The neck is stitched to the bag with the same seam, but the hem at the mouth is merely “run” round with sinew. This bag was probably for holding small tools and similar articles.

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Fig. 171.—Bag of leather.

191

WEAPONS.

As would naturally be expected from what has been said of the peaceful character of these people, offensive weapons, specially intended for use against men, are exceedingly rare. In case of quarrels between individuals or parties the bows, spears, and knives intended for hunting or general use would be turned against their enemies. Even their rifles, nowadays, are kept much more for hunting than as weapons of offense, and the revolvers of various patterns which many of them have obtained from the ships are chiefly carried when traveling back and forth between the two villages as a protection against a possible bear. We, however, obtained a few weapons which were especially designed for taking human life. One of these was a little club (ti´glun) (No.89492 [1310], Fig. 172, from UtkiavwiÑ) made of the butt end of an old pickax head of whale’s bone, with the point cut down to a blunt end. It is 6.4 inches long and meant to be clenched in the hand like a dagger, and used for striking blows, probably at the temple. The transverse grooves for hafting give a good hold for the fingers. This was the only weapon of the kind seen.

We collected a single specimen of a kind of slung shot, No. 89472 [905] (Fig. 173), made of a roughly ovoid lump of heavy bone, the symphysis of the lower jaw of a walrus, 3? inches long. At the smaller end two large holes are bored in obliquely so as to meet under the surface and form a channel through which is passed a slip of white seal skin about 15 inches long, the ends of which fasten together with two slits, so as to make a loop. This may be compared with the stone balls used by the ancient Aleuts for striking a man on the temple.

The commonest weapon of offense was a broad dagger made of a bone of the polar bear. This was said to be especially meant for killing a “bad man,” possibly for certain specified offenses or perhaps in cases of insanity. Insane persons were sometimes killed in Greenland, and the act was considered “neither decidedly admissible 192 nor altogether unlawful.”288 The use of bears’ bones for these weapons points to some superstitious idea, perhaps having reference to the ferocity of the animal. We collected five specimens of these daggers, of which No. 89484 [767], Fig. 174, has been selected as the type. It is the distal end of the ulna of a polar bear, with the neck and condyles forming the hilt, and the shaft split so as to expose the medullary cavity and cut into a pointed blade. It is very old, blackened, and crumbling on the surface, and is a foot long.

Fig. 175a, No. 89475 [988], from Nuwuk, is made of a straight splinter from the shaft of one of the long bones, 9¾ inches long. No. 89480 [1141], from UtkiavwiÑ, has a roughly whittled hilt and a somewhat twisted blade, rather narrow, but widened to a sharp lanceolate point. It is 12 inches long. No. 89481 [1175], from the same place, has the roughly shaped hilt whipped with two turns of sinew. No. 89482 [1709], Fig. 175b, also from UtkiavwiÑ, is dirk-shaped, having but one edge and a straight back. The hilt, as before, is roughly sawed from the solid head of the bone. No. 89485 [965], Fig. 176, from Nuwuk, was also said to be a dagger, but could not have been a very effective weapon. It is of whale’s bone, 5inches long. It is rather rudely carved, old, and dirty, but the notches on the haft are newly cut.

Dirks or daggers of bear’s bone, like those described, are really rather formidable weapons, as it is easy to give the splinter of bone a very keen point. The Museum contains a bone dagger curiously like these Eskimo weapons, but made of the bone of the grizzly bear, and used by the Indians of the McCloud River, northern California. They believe that the peculiar shape of the point, having a hollow (the medullary cavity) on one face, like the Eskimo daggers, causes the wound to bleed internally.

193

PROJECTILE WEAPONS.

Firearms.—

When Dease and Simpson first met these people, in 1837, they had no firearms, but the next party of whites who came in contact with them (Pullen and Hooper, in 1849) found the “chief” in possession of an old shaky musket of English make, with the name “Barnett” on the lock.289 Hooper believed this to be the gun lost by Sir John Franklin’s party in 1826.290 This gun was, however, often seen by the people of the Plover (infact, Capt. Maguire kept it on board of the Plover for some time291), and was found to have on the lock, besides the name “Barnett,” also the date, “1843,” so that of course it was not lost in 1826. Armstrong292 also mentions seeing this gun, which, the natives told him, they had procured “from the other tribes to the southward.” In the summer of 1853 they began to purchase guns and ammunition from the eastern natives. YÛksiÑa and two other men each bought a gun this year.293

As the whalers began to go to Point Barrow in 1854, the opportunity for obtaining firearms has been afforded the natives every year since then, so that they are now well supplied with guns, chiefly of American manufacture. That all their firearms have not been obtained from this source is probable from the fact they have still in their possession a number of smoothbore percussion guns, double and single barreled, of Russian manufacture. They are all stamped in Russian with the name of Tula, atown on the Oopa, 105 miles south of Moscow, which has received the name of the “Sheffield and Birmingham of Russia,” from its vast manufactory of arms, established by Peter the Great. These guns must have come from the “NunataÑmiun,” who obtained them either from the Siberian traders or from the Russians at Norton Sound through the Malemiut. Both smoothbore and rifled guns are in general use. The smoothbores are of all sorts and descriptions, from an old flintlock musket to more or less valuable single and double percussion fowling-pieces. Three of the natives now (1883) have cheap double breechloaders and one a single breechloader (made by John P.Lovell, of Boston). Guns in general are called “cupÛÑ,” an onomatopoeic word in general use in western America, but many of the different kinds have special names. For instance, adouble gun is called madro´liÑ (from madro, two). The rifles are also of many different patterns. The kind preferred by the natives is the ordinary Winchester brass-mounted 15-shot repeater, which the whalers and traders purchase cheaply at wholesale. This is 194 called akimi?liÑ (“that which has fifteen,” sc., shots). The whalers are also in the habit of buying up all sorts of cheap or second-hand guns for the Arctic trade, so that many other kinds of guns are also common. Of breechloaders, we saw the Sharpe’s rifle, savigro´liÑ (from a fancied resemblance between the crooked lever of this gun and the crooked knife, savigro´n); other patterns of Winchester; the Spencer repeater, kai´psualiÑ (from kaipsi, cartridge); the peculiar Sharps-Hankins, once used in the U.S.Navy, and which was the favorite weapon of the rebel Boers in South Africa; the Peabody-Martini, made in America for the Turkish Government, marked on the rear sight with Turkish figures, and, exposed with a corpse at the cemetery, one English Snider. The regulation Springfield rifles belonging to the post, which were often loaned to the natives for the purpose of hunting, were called mÛkpara´liÑ (from mÛkpara´, book, referring to the breech action, which opens like a book).

They formerly had very few muzzle-loading rifles, but of late years, since the law against trading arms to the natives has been construed to refer solely to breech-loading rifles, the whalers have sold them yÄger rifles, of the old U.S.Army pattern, Enfield rifles, ship’s muskets with the Tower mark on them, and a sort of bogus rifle made especially for trade, in imitation of the old-fashioned Kentucky rifle, but with grooves extending only a short distance from the muzzle. They of course depend on the ships for their supplies of ammunition, though the NunataÑmiun sometimes bring a few cartridges smuggled across from Siberia. They naturally are most desirous to procure cartridges for the rim-fire Winchester guns, as these are not intended to be used more than once. They have, however, invented a method of priming these rim-fire shells so that they can be reloaded. Acommon “G.D.” percussion cap is neatly fitted into the rim of the shell by cutting the sides into strips which are folded into slits in the shell, alittle hole being drilled under the center of the cap to allow the flash to reach the powder. This is a very laborious process, but enables the natives to use a rifle which would otherwise be useless. Such cartridges reloaded with powder and home-made bullets—they have many bullet molds and know how to use them—are tolerably effective. Great care must be taken to insert the cartridge right side up, so that the cap shall be struck by the firing pin, which interferes with using the gun as a repeater.

They are very careless with their rifles, allowing them to get rusty, and otherwise misusing them, especially by firing small shot from them in the duck-shooting season. As a rule they are very fair shots with the rifle, but extremely lavish of ammunition when they have a supply. The only economy is shown in reloading cartridges and in loading their shotguns, into which they seldom put a sufficient charge. In spite of this some of them shoot very well with the shotgun, though many of them show great stupidity in judging distance, firing light 195 charges of shot at short rifle range (100 to 200 yards). Though they mold their own bullets, Ihave never known any of them to attempt making shot or slugs. This, which they call kakrÚra (little bullets, from ka´kru, originally meaning arrow and now used for bullet as well) is always obtained from the whites. The gun is habitually carried in a case or holster long enough to cover the whole gun, made of sealskin, either black-tanned or with the hair on the outside. This, like the bow case, from which it is evidently copied, is slung across the back by a thong passing round the shoulders and across the chest. This is the method universally practiced for carrying burdens of all sorts. The butt of the gun is on the right side, so that it can be easily slipped out of the holster under the right arm without unslinging it. Revolvers are also carried slung in holsters on the back in the same way. Ammunition is carried in a pouch slung over the shoulder. They are careless in handling firearms and ammunition. We knew two men who shot off the tip of the forefinger while filing cartridges which had failed to explode in the gun.

Whaling guns.—

In addition to the kinds of firearms for land hunting above described a number of the natives have procured from the whalemen, either by purchase or from wrecks, whaling guns, such as are used by the American whalers, in place of the steel lance for dispatching the whale after it is harpooned. These are of various patterns, both muzzle and breech loading, and they are able to procure nearly every year a small supply of the explosive lances to be shot from them. They use them as the white men do for killing harpooned whales, and also, when the leads of open water are narrow, for shooting them as they pass close to the edge of the ice.

Bows (pÍzi´kse).—

In former times the bow was the only projectile weapon which these people possessed that could be used at a longer range than the “dart” of a harpoon. It was accordingly used for hunting the bear, the wolf, and the reindeer, for shooting birds, and in case of necessity, for warfare. It is worthy of note, in this connection, as showing that the use of the bow for fighting was only a secondary consideration, that none of their arrows are regular “war arrows” like those made by the Sioux or other Indians; that is, arrows to be shot with the breadth of the head horizontal, so as to pass between the horizontal ribs of a man. Firearms have now almost completely superseded the bow for actual work, though a few men, too poor to obtain guns, still use them.

Every boy has a bow for a plaything, with which he shoots small birds and practices at marks. Very few boys, however, show any great skill with it. We never had an opportunity of seeing an adult shoot with the bow and arrow; but they have not yet lost the art of bow-making. The newest boys’ bows are as skillfully and ingeniously constructed as the old bows, but are of course smaller and weaker. The bow in use among these people was the universal sinew-backed bow of 196 the Eskimo carried to its highest degree of efficiency.294 It was of what I have called the “Arctic type,” namely, arather short bow of spruce, from 43 to 52 inches in length, nearly elliptical in section, but flatter on the back than on the belly, and slightly narrowed and thickened at the handle. The greatest breadth was usually about 1¼ inches and the thickness at the handle about three-fourths of an inch. The ends were often bent up as in the Tatar bow, and were sometimes separate pieces mortised on. Strength and elasticity was given to the brittle spruce by applying a number of strands of sinew to the back of the bow in such a way that drawing the bowstring stretched all these elastic cords, thus adding their elasticity to that of the wood. This backing was always a continuous piece of a three-ply braid of sinew, about the size of stout pack thread, and on a large bow often 40 or 50 yards long. It began, as on all Eskimo bows which I have been able to examine (except those from St. Lawrence Island and the mainland of Siberia—my “western type”), with an eye at one end of the cord looped over one nock of the bow, usually the upper. The cord was then laid on the back of the bow in long strands running up and down and round the nocks, as usual on the other types of bow, but after putting on a number of these, began running backward and forward between the bends (ifthe bow was of the Tatar shape), or between corresponding points on a straight bow, where they were fastened with complicated hitches around the bow in such a way that the shortest strands came to the top of the backing, which was thus made to grow thicker gradually toward the middle of the bow, where the greatest strength and elasticity were needed. When enough strands had been laid on they were divided into two equal parcels and twisted from the middle into two tight cables, thus greatly increasing the tension to be overcome in drawing the bow. These cables being secured to the handle of the bow, the end of the cord was used to seize the whole securely to the bow.

see caption

Fig. 177.—Boy’s bow from UtkiavwiÑ.

This seizing and the hitches already mentioned served to incorporate the backing very thoroughly with the bow, thus equalizing the strain and preventing the bow from cracking. This made a very stiff and powerful bow, capable of sending an arrow with great force. We were told by a reliable native that a stone-headed arrow was often driven by 197 one of these bows wholly through a polar bear, “if there was no bone.” Three bows only were obtained: One from Nuwuk, one from UtkiavwiÑ (alad’s bow), and one from Sidaru.

The bow from UtkiavwiÑ, No. 89904 [786] (Fig. 177), though small, is in some respects nearer the type than the other two, and has been selected for description. The body of the bow is a single piece of the heart of a log of spruce driftwood 36¼ inches long, elliptical in section, flattened more on the back than on the belly. It is tapered to the nocks, which are small club-shaped knobs, and narrowed and thickened at the handle. The backing is of round three-ply braid of sinew in one continuous piece. The string is a round four-ply braid with a loop at each end, made by tying a single knot in the standing part, passing the end through this and taking a half hitch with it round the standing part (Fig. 178). The upper loop is a little the larger.

No. 89245 [25] (Fig. 179), from Nuwuk, is a full-sized man’s bow, which is old and has been long in use. It is of the same material, and is 47.3 inches long. Its greatest breadth is 1? inches, and it is 0.8 inch thick at the handle. It is slightly narrowed and thinned off from the broadest part to about 6 inches from each tip, and is then gradually thickened to the nocks and bent up so that the ends make an angle of about 45° with the bow when unstrung. The ends are separate pieces fitted on at the bends. The ends of the body are chamfered off laterally to a wedge which fits into a corresponding notch in the end piece, making a scarf 3¼ inches long, which is strengthened by a curved strap of antler, convex above and thickest in the middle, fitting into the bend on the back. The joint is held together wholly by the backing.

We never saw bows of this pattern made and consequently did not learn how the bending was accomplished. The method is probably the same as that seen by Capt. Beechey in 1826, at Kotzebue Sound (Voyage, p.575). The bow was wrapped in wet shavings and held over the fire, and then pegged down on the ground (probably on one side), into shape. Astrip of rawhide (the split skin of the bearded seal, with the grain side out), 1inch wide, runs along the back from bend to bend under the backing. The chief peculiarity of this bow is the third cable, above the other two, and the great and apparently unnecessary complication of the hitches.

198

No. 72771 [234], from Sidaru (Fig. 180a and b), is a bow with bent ends like the last, but all in one piece and smaller. Its length is 43½ inches and its greatest breadth 1?. The backing has only two cables, and its chief peculiarity is in having the loose end of the last strand twisted into one of the cables, while the seizing, of the same pattern as in the last bow, is made of a separate piece. The workmanship of this bow is particularly neat, and it is further strengthened with strips of rawhide (the skin of the bearded seal, split), under the backing. The method of making the string is very ingenious. It appears to have been made on the bow, as follows: Having the bow sprung back one end of a long piece of sinew twine was made fast temporarily to the upper nock, leaving an end long enough to finish off the bowstring. The other end was carried round the lower nock and the returning strand half-hitched round the first snugly up to the nock, and then carried round the upper nock and back again. This was repeated, each strand being half-hitched round all the preceding at the lower nock until there were eight parallel strands, and an eye fitted snugly to the lower nock. The bight was then slipped off the upper nock, the end untied and the whole twisted tight. This twisted string is now about 2 inches too long, so the upper eye is made by doubling over 2 inches of the end and stopping it down with the free end mentioned above, thus making a long eye of seven strands. With the end, six similar strands are added to the eye, each being stopped to the twist with a half hitch. The end is neatly tucked in and the strands of the eye twisted tightly together.

In my paper on Eskimo bows, already mentioned, I came to the conclusion that the bows formerly used by the Eskimo of western North America and the opposite coast of Asia were constructed upon three well defined types of definite geographical distribution, and each easily recognized as a development of a simple original type still to be found in Baffin Land in a slightly modified form. These three types are:

I. The Southern type, which was the only form used from the island of Kadiak to Cape Romanzoff, and continued in frequent use as far as Norton Sound, though separated by no hard and fast line from

II. The Arctic type, to which the bows just described belong, in use 199 from the Kaviak peninsula to the Mackenzie and Anderson rivers; and

III. The Western type, confined to St. Lawrence Island and the mainland of Siberia.

I have shown how these three types differ from each other and from the original type, and have expressed the opinion that these differences result from the different resources at the command of the people of different regions. Ihave also endeavored to account for the fact that we find sporadic examples of the Arctic type, for instance as far south as the Yukon, by the well known habits of the Eskimo in regard to trading expeditions.

Outside of the region treated in my paper above referred to, there is very little material for a comparative study of Eskimo bows, either in the Museum or in the writings of travelers. Most writers have contented themselves with a casual reference to some of the more salient peculiarities of the weapon without giving any detailed information. Beginning at the extreme north of Greenland, we find that the so-called “Arctic Highlanders” have hardly any knowledge of the bow. Dr. Kane saw none during his intercourse with them, but Dr. Bessels295 mentions seeing one bow, made of pieces of antler spliced together, in the possession of a man at Ita. In Danish Greenland, the use of the bow has been abandoned for many years. When Crantz296 wrote it had already gone out of use, though in Egede’s297 time it was still employed. It appears to have been longer than the other Eskimo bows. NordenskiÖld298 reproduces a picture of a group of Greenlanders from an old painting of the date of 1654 in the Ethnographical Museum of Copenhagen. The man holds in his left hand a straight bow, which appears to have the backing reaching only part way to the ends like a western bow without the end cables, and yet twisted into two cables. If this representation be a correct one, this arrangement of the backing, taken in connection with what Crantz and Egede say of the great length of the bow, would be an argument in favor of my theory that the St. Lawrence Island bow was developed from the primitive form by lengthening the ends of the bow without lengthening the backing. The addition of the end cables would then be an after invention, peculiar to the western bow. In Baffin Land the bow is very rudely made, and approaches very closely to my supposed primitive form. Owing to the scarcity of wood in this region the bow was frequently made of reindeer antler, asubstance still more unsuitable for the purpose than the soft coniferous woods used elsewhere. There are in the Museum three specimens of such antler bows, brought from Cumberland Gulf by Mr. Kumlien.

200

The first mention of the Eskimo bow with sinew backing will be found in Frobisher’s account of his visit to Meta Incognita in 1577:299 “Their bowes are of wood of a yard long, sinewed on the back with strong sinewes, not glued too, but fast girded and tyed on. Their bowe strings are likewise sinewes.”

Of the bow used at the straits of Fury and Hecla we have a most excellent figure in Parry’s Second Voyage (Pl.opposite p.550, Fig.22), and the most accurate description to be found in any author. It is, in fact, as exact a description as could be made from an external examination of the bow. From the figure the bow appears to have been almost of the arctic type, having an unusual number of strands (sometimes sixty, p.511) which are not, however, twisted, but secured with a spiral wrapping, as on southern bows. The backing is stopped to the handle, but not otherwise seized. It appears to have been rather a large bow, as Parry gives the length of one of their best bows, made of a single piece of fir, as “4feet 8 inches” (p.510). “Abow of one piece is, however, very rare; they generally consist of from two to five pieces of bone of unequal lengths, fastened together by rivets and treenails” (p.511). Parry also speaks of the use of wedges for tightening the backing. Schwatka300 speaks of the Netyilik of King Williams Land as using bows of spliced pieces of musk-ox horn or driftwood, but gives no further description of them. Ellis301 describes the bow in use at Hudson’s Strait in 1746 as follows:

Their greatest Ingenuity is shown in the Structure of their Bows, made commonly of three Pieces of Wood, each making a part of the same Arch, very nicely and exactly joined together. They are commonly of Fir or Larch, which the English there call Juniper, and as this wants Strength and Elasticity, they supply both by bracing the Back of the Bow with a kind of Thread or Line made of the Sinew of their Deer, and the Bowstring of the same material. To make them draw more stiffly, they dip them into Water, which causes both the Back of the Bow and the String to contract, and consequently gives it the greater force.302

Ellis’s figure (plate opposite p. 132) shows a bow of the Tatar shape, but gives no details of the backing, except that the latter appears to be twisted.

We have no published descriptions of the bows used in other regions.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, the practice of backing the bow with cords of sinew is peculiar to the Eskimo, though some American Indians stiffen the bow by gluing flat pieces of sinew upon the back.

One tribe of Indians, the “Loucheux” of the Mackenzie district, however, used bows like those of the Eskimos, but Sir Alexander Mackenzie303 expressly states that these were obtained from the Eskimo.

201

Arrows.—

With these bows were used arrows of various patterns adapted for different kinds of game. There are in the collection fifty-one arrows, which are all about the same length, 25 to 30 inches. In describing these arrows I shall employ the terms used in modern archery304 for the parts of the arrow. The greatest variation is in the shape and size of the pile. The stele is almost always a straight cylindrical rod, almost invariably 0.4 inch in diameter, and ranging in length from 20 to 28 inches. Twenty-five inches is the commonest length, and the short steles, when not intended for a boy’s bow, are generally fitted with an unusually long pile. From the beginning of the feathering the stele is gradually flattened above and below to the nock, which is a simple notch almost always 0.2 inch wide and of the same depth. The stele is sometimes slightly widened just in front of the nock to give a better hold for the fingers. The feathering is 6 or 7 inches long, consisting of two, or less often, three feathers. (The set of sixteen arrows from Sidaru, two from Nuwuk, and one from UtkiavwiÑ, have three feathers. The rest of the fifty-one have two.) The shaft of the feather is split and the web is cut narrow, and tapered off to a point at each end (Fig. 181). The ends of the feathers are fastened to the stele with whippings of fine sinew, the small end of the feather which, of course, comes at the nock, being often wedged into a slit in the wood (with a special tool to be described below), or else doubled back over a few turns of the whipping and lashed down with the rest. The small end of the feather is almost always twisted about one turn, evidently to make the arrow revolve in flight, like a rifle ball. Generally, if not universally, the feathering was made of the feathers of some bird of prey, falcon, eagle, or raven, probably with some notion of giving to the arrow the death-dealing quality of the bird. Out of the fifty-one arrows in the collection, only nine are feathered with gull’s feathers, and of these all but two are new, or newly feathered for sale to us.305 Dr. Simpson306 says that in his time “feathers for arrows and head-dresses,” probably the eagles’ feathers previously mentioned, were obtained in trade from the “NunataÑmiun.”

see caption

Fig. 181.—Feathering of the Eskimo arrow.

Four kinds of arrows were used: the bear arrow, of which there were three varieties, the deer arrow, the arrow for geese, gulls, and other large fowl, and the blunt headed arrow for killing small birds without mangling them.

202

Bear arrows.—

These are of three kinds, all having a broad, sharp pile, often barbed. The first kind has a pile of flaked flint, called kuki (“claw” or “nail”), and was known as kuki´ksadliÑ (“provided or fitted with claw material”). Of this kind we have eight complete arrows and one shaft.

No. 89240 [25], Fig. 182, will serve as the type. The pile is of black flint, double edged and sharp pointed, 2inches long, with a short tang inserted into a cleft in the end of the stele, and secured by a whipping of about fifteen turns of fine sinew. The stele is of spruce, 25½ inches long and four-tenths inch in diameter, and painted with red ocher from the feathering to 5 inches from the pile. The three feathers, apparently those of the gyrfalcon, have their ends simply whipped to the stele. They are 6 inches long. This is one of the two arrows from Nuwuk with three feathers.

see caption

Fig. 182.—Flint-headed arrow (kukiksadliÑ).

No. 72780 [234a], from Sidaru, is feathered with three raven feathers, of which the small ends are wedged into slits in the wood. The pile is of brown jasper, long and lancet-tipped, expanding into rounded wings at each side of the base. The stele is peculiar only in being slightly widened in front of the nock. It is of pine, 26.8 inches long, and painted with two rings, one red and one green, at the middle of the feathering.

The only variations of importance in these arrows are in the shape of the pile, which is made of black or gray flint, or less often of jasper, mostly variegated, brown and gray. There are four patterns to be found in the series of eight arrows and twenty-two stone piles. The first is long and narrow, like No. 56704 [232], Fig. 183, from UtkiavwiÑ, which is of gray flint. The next is similar in shape, but shorter, as shown in Fig. 182 (No.89240 [25], from Nuwuk), which is only 2 inches long, exclusive of the tang. The third pattern, which is less common than the others, is about the size of the last, but rhomboidal in shape (Fig. 184, No. 56691c [64c], from UtkiavwiÑ, of dark grayish brown flint, rather coarsely flaked). The fourth kind is very short, being not over 1½ inches, including the half-inch tang, but is 1 inch broad, thick and convex on both faces. It is triangular, with a square base and curved edges (Fig. 185, No. 56702b [113b], from UtkiavwiÑ, newly made for sale).

203

see caption

Fig. 186.—Arrows: (a)Arrow with “after-pile” (ipudligadliÑ); (b)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (c)arrow with iron pile (savidliÑ); (d)arrow with copper pile (savidliÑ); (e)deer-arrow (nÛtkodliÑ).

No stone arrow or dart heads made by these people have anything like barbs except the square shoulders at the base. They seem never to have attained to the skill in flint-working which enabled many other savages to make the beautiful barbed heads so often seen. To keep the flint-headed arrow from dropping out of the wound they hit upon the contrivance of mounting it not directly in the stele but in a piece of bone upon which barbs could be cut, or, as is not unlikely, having already the deer arrow with the barbed head of antler, they added the flint head to this, thus combining the penetration of the flint arrow with the holding power of the other. Iwas at first inclined to think that this piece of bone bore the same relation to the rest of the arrow as the fore shaft of many Indian arrows, and was to be considered as part of the stele. Considering, however, that its sole function is to furnish the pile with barbs, it evidently must be considered as part of the latter. Ishall designate it as “after-pile.” Arrows with this barbed “after-pile” form the second kind of bear arrows, which are called ipudli´gadliÑ (“having the ipu´dlig?” [Gr. ipuligak, the similar bone head of a seal lance with iron tip]). After the introduction of iron, metal piles sometimes replaced the flint in arrows of this kind. We collected eight with flint and two with metal piles. No. 72787 [234a], Fig. 186a, has been selected to illustrate this form of arrow. This pile is of gray flint with the tang wedged by a slip of sealskin into the tip of the after-pile, which is cleft to receive it and kept from splitting by a whipping of sinew. The after-pile is fitted into the tip of the stele with a rounded sharp-pointed tang, slightly enlarged just above the tip. It is of reindeer 204 antler. The rest of the arrow does not differ from those previously described. The stele is of pine and is feathered with three gyrfalcon feathers.

Two others from Sidaru have only a single barb on the after-pile, but the other four have two, one behind the other on the same side. No. 89237 [164], from UtkiavwiÑ, differs in no respect from the single-barbed flint arrows from Sidaru, but No. 72763 [164], from the same village, has four small barbs on the after-pile, which is unusually (nearly 7 inches) long, and a pile of sheet brass. This has the basal angles on each side cut into three small, sharp, backward-pointing teeth. The total length of this arrow is 28 inches.

The after-piles of all arrows except one were of reindeer antler, which is another reason for supposing that this form of arrow is a modification of the deer arrow. After the introduction of iron, this metal or copper was substituted for the flint pile of the kuki´ksadliÑ, making the third and last form of bear arrow, the sa´vidliÑ (“fitted with iron”). This arrow differs from the others only in the form of the pile, which is generally broad and flat, and either rhomboidal, with the base cut into numerous small teeth, or else triangular, with a shank. The barbs are usually bilateral.

No. 72758 [25], from Nuwuk, represents the first form. The pile is of iron, rough and flat, 2½ inches long. No. 72770 [241b], from UtkiavwiÑ, is of the same form. No. 72760 [165], Fig. 186c, from UtkiavwiÑ, has a similar pile 3.3 inches long, but has each of the under edges cut into four sharp, backward-pointing teeth. No. 72778 [234b], Fig. 186d, has a pile of sheet copper 2.3 inches long, of the same shape, but with six teeth. This arrow came from Sidaru. No. 72765 [25], from Nuwuk, is a long, narrow iron pile with three bilateral barbs, all simple.

Nos. 72755 [25], from Nuwuk, 72759 [25], also from Nuwuk, and 72764 [165], from UtkiavwiÑ, show the shanked form. The first is triangular, with a flat shank and a simple barb at each angle of the base. It is of steel (piece of a saw) and 2.8 inches long. The second resembles No. 72760 [165], with more teeth, mounted on a slender cylindrical shank 1½ inches long. It is of iron and 3.9 inches long. The third is a long pile with a sinuate outline and one pair of simple bilateral barbs, and a flat shank one-half inch long. Nos. 72757 [25] (Fig. 186b) and 72762 [25], both from Nuwuk, are peculiar in being the only iron-pointed arrows with unilateral barbs. The piles are made of the two blades of a pair of large scissors, cut off at the point, with enough of the handle left to make a tang. The unilateral barb is filed out on the back of the blade, which has been beveled down on both faces to a sharp edge. All of these broadheaded arrows have the breadth of the pile at right angles to the plane of the nock, showing that they are not meant to fly like the Sioux war arrows. Although iron makes a better material for arrow piles and is more easily worked than flint, the quivers which some men still carry at Point Barrow contain flint as well as iron headed arrows. They are probably 205 kept in use from the superstitious conservatism already mentioned. It is certain that the man who raised a couple of wolf cubs for the sake of their fur was obliged by tradition to have a flint-headed arrow to kill them with. These arrows, we were informed, were especially designed for hunting “nÄ´nu,” the polar bear, but of course they also served for use against other dangerous game, like the wolf and brown bear, and there is no reason to believe that they were not also shot at reindeer, though the hunter would naturally use his deer arrows first.

see caption

Fig. 187.—Pile of deer arrow (nÛtkaÑ).

Deer arrows have a long trihedral pile of antler from 4 to 8 inches long, with a sharp thin-edged point slightly concaved on the faces like the point of a bayonet. Two of the edges are rounded, but the third is sharp and cut into one or more simple barbs. Behind the barb the pile takes the form of a rounded shank, ending in a shoulder and a sharp rounded tang a little enlarged above the point.

No. 72768 [162], Fig. 186e from UtkiavwiÑ, has a pile 3½ inches long with two barbs. The pile of No. 89238 [162] from the same village is 3½ inches long and has but one barb, while that of No. 89241a [162] is 7.8 inches long and has three barbs. The rudely incised figure on the shank of No. 89238 [162] represents a wolf, probably a talisman to make the arrow as fatal to the deer as the wolf is. No. 56588 [13], Fig. 187, is a pile for one of these arrows slightly peculiar in shape, being elliptical in section, with one edge sharp and two-barbed and a four-sided point. The figure shows well the shape of the tang. The peculiarity of these arrows is that the pile is not fastened to the shaft, but can easily be detached.307 When such an arrow was shot into a deer the shaft would easily be shaken out, leaving the sharp barbed pile in the wound.

Tobacco is smoked in pipes of a peculiar pattern called kui´ny?, of which the collection contains a series of ten specimens.

Of these, No. 89288 [705],116 figured in Ray’s Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. I, Fig. 1, will serve as a type. The bowl is of brass, neatly inlaid on the upper surface with a narrow ring of copper close to the edge, from which run four converging lines, 90° apart, nearly to the center. Round the under surface are also three concentric rings of copper. The wooden stem appears to be willow or birch, and is in two longitudinal sections, held together by the lashing of sealskin thong which serves to attach the bowl to the stem. This lashing was evidently put on wet and allowed to shrink on, and the ends are secured by tucking under the turns. The whipping at the mouthpiece is of fine sinew thread. Apicker of steel for cleaning out the bowl is attached to the stem by a piece of seal thong, the end of which is wedged under the turns of the lashing. The remaining pipes are all of the same general pattern, but vary in the material of the bowl and in details of execution. The stems are always of the same material and put together in the same way, but are sometimes lozenge-shaped instead of elliptical in section. The lashing is sometimes of three-ply sinew braid. The bowl shows the greatest variation, both in form and material.

Fig. 6a (No. 56737 [10], from UtkiavwiÑ) has an iron bowl, noticeable for the ornamentation of the shank. The metal work has all been done with the file except the fitting of the saucer to the shank. This has evidently been heated and shrunk on. Three pipes have bowls of 67 smoothly ground stone. No. 89289 [1582] (Fig. 6b from UtkiavwiÑ) is of rather soft greenish gray slate. No. 89290 [864] is of the same shape, but of hard greenish stone, while the third stone pipe (No.89291 [834], from UtkiavwiÑ), of gray slate, is of quite a different pattern. Three of the series have bowls of reindeer antler, lined with thin sheet brass, and one a bowl of walrus ivory, lined with thin copper. (See Fig. 6c, Nos. 89285 [954], 89286 [915], and 89287 [1129].)

see caption

Fig. 6.—Pipes: a, pipe with metal bowl; b, pipe with stone bowl; c, pipe bowl of antler or ivory.

Antler and stone pipes of this pattern and rather small are usually carried by the men out of doors, while the more elaborate metal pipes, which are often very large and handsome (Ihave seen some with a saucer at least 3 inches in diameter) are more frequently used in the house and by the women. The stem is usually 1 foot or 13 inches long, though pipes at least 18 inches long were seen.

To most pipes are attached pickers, as in the type specimen. The picker is in all cases of metal, usually iron or steel, but sometimes of copper (see the pickers attached to pipes above). When not in use the point is tucked under the lashing on the stem. The pipes are readily taken apart for cleaning.

68

No. 89292 [1752] (Fig. 7) is an extemporized pipe made in a hurry by a man who wished to smoke, but had no pipe.

see caption

Fig. 7.—Pipe made of willow stick.

It is simply a rough willow stick, slightly whittled into shape, split and hollowed out like a pipestem. It is held together by a whipping of sinew thread and a lashing of deerskin thong, fastened by a slip-knot at one end, the other being tucked in as usual. Asmall funnel-shaped hole at one end serves for a bowl, and shows by its charred surface that it has been actually used. This pipe was bought from one of the “NunataÑmiun,” who were in camp at PernyÛ in 1883, and shows its inland origin in the use of the deerskin thong. Acoast native would have used seal thong.

The pipe is carried at the girdle, either with the stem thrust inside the breeches or in a bag attached to the belt. No. 56744 [55] (UtkiavwiÑ) is the only specimen of pipe bag in the collection. It is a long, narrow, cylindric bag, made of four white ermine skins, with two hind legs and two tails forming a fringe round the bottom, which is of dressed deerskin, in one piece, flesh side out. The band round the mouth is of gray deerskin, running only two-thirds of the way round. The piece which fills the remaining third runs out into the strap for fastening the bag to the belt. The ornamental strips on two of the longitudinal seams and round the bottom are of deerskin. The seams are all sewed “over and over” on the “wrong” side with sinew thread. This is an unusually handsome bag.

Tobacco is carried in a small pouch of fur attached to the girdle, and tucked inside of the breeches, or sometimes worn under the jacket, slung round the neck by a string or the necklace. The collection contains three of these, of which No. 89803 [889] (Fig. 8a) will serve as a typical specimen.

It is made by sewing together two pieces of wolverine fur, hair out, of the same shape and size, and round the mouth of this a band of short-haired light-colored deerskin, also hair out, with the ends meeting at one side in a seam corresponding to one of the seams of the wolverine fur. The mouth is ornamented with a narrow band of wolverine fur, the flesh side, which is colored red, turned out. It is closed by a piece of seal thong about 5 inches long, one end of which is sewed to the middle of the seam in the deerskin band and the other passed through a large blue glass bead and knotted. This string is wound two or three times round the neck of the bag, and the bight of it tucked under the 69 turns. The seams are all sewed “over and over” on the “wrong” side with sinew thread.

see caption

Fig. 8.—Tobacco pouches.

These tobacco pouches are usually of a similar pattern, often slightly narrowed at the neck, and generally fringed round the mouth with a narrow strip of wolverine fur as above. They are often ornamented with tags of wolverine fur on the seams (asin No. 89804 [1341, Fig. 8b]), and borders of different colored skin. No. 89805 [1350] is very elaborately ornamented. It is made of brown deerskin, trimmed with white deerskin clipped close and bordered with narrow braids of blue and red worsted, and little tags of the latter. According to Dr. Simpson,117 these bags are called “del-la-mai´-yu.” We neglected to obtain the proper names for them, as we always made use of the lingua franca “tiba´ pÚksak,” bag for tiba´ (tobacco). No. 89903 [889] contains a specimen of tobacco as prepared for smoking by the Eskimo. This consists of common black Cavendish or “Navy” tobacco, cut up very fine, and mixed with finely chopped wood in the proportion of about two parts of tobacco to one of wood. We were informed that willow twigs were used for this purpose. Perhaps this may have some slight aromatic flavor, as well as serving to make the tobacco go further, though I did not recognize any such flavor in some tobacco from an Eskimo’s pouch that I once smoked and found exceedingly bad. The smell of an Eskimo’s 70 pipe is different from any other tobacco smoke and is very disagreeable. It has some resemblance to the smell of some of the cheaper brands of North Carolina tobacco which are known to be adulterated with other vegetable substances. The method of smoking is as follows: After clearing out the bowl with the picker, alittle wad of deer hair, plucked from the clothes in some inconspicuous place, generally the front skirt of the inner jacket, is rammed down to the bottom of the bowl. This is to prevent the fine tobacco from getting into the stem and clogging it up. The bowl is then filled with tobacco, of which it only holds a very small quantity. The mouthpiece is placed between the lips, the tobacco ignited, and all smoked out in two or three strong inhalations. The smoke is very deeply inhaled and allowed to pass out slowly from the mouth and nostrils, bringing tears to the eyes, often producing giddiness, and almost always a violent fit of coughing. Ihave seen a man almost prostrated from the effects of a single pipeful. This method of smoking has been in vogue since the time of our first acquaintance with these people.118

Though they smoke little at a time, they smoke frequently when tobacco is plentiful. Of late years, since tobacco has become plentiful, some have adopted white men’s pipes, which they smoke without inhaling, and they are glad to get cigars, and, since our visit, cigarettes. In conversation with us they usually called all means for smoking “pai´pa,” the children sometimes specifying “pai´pa-sigya´” (cigar) or “mÛkparapai´pa,” paper-pipe (cigarette). The use of the kui´ny?, which name appears to be applied only to the native pipes, seems to be confined to the adults. We knew of no children owning them, though their parents made no objection to their chewing tobacco or owning or using clay or wooden pipes which they obtained from us. They carry their fondness for tobacco so far that they will even eat the foul oily refuse from the bottom of the bowl, the smallest portion of which would produce nausea in a white man. This habit has been observed at Plover Bay, Siberia.119 Tobacco ashes are also eaten, probably for the sake of the potash they contain, as one of the men at UtkiavwiÑ was fond of carbonate of soda, which he told the doctor was just like what he got from his pipe. Pipes of this type, differing in details, but all agreeing in having very small bowls, frequently of metal, and some contrivance for opening the stem, are used by the Eskimo from at least as far south as the Yukon delta (asshown by the collections in the National Museum) to the 71 Anderson River and Cape Bathurst,120 and have even been adopted by the Indians of the Yukon, who learned the use of tobacco from the Eskimo. They are undoubtedly of Siberian origin, as will be seen by comparing the figure of a “Chukch” pipe in NordenskiÖld’s Vega, vol. 2, p.117, Fig. 7, and the figure of a Tunguse pipe in Seebohm’s “Siberia in Asia” (p.149), with the pipes figured from our collection. Moreover, the method of smoking is precisely that practiced in Siberia, even to the proportion of wood mixed with the tobacco.121

The consideration of the question whence the Siberians acquired this peculiar method of smoking would lead me beyond the bounds of the present work, but I can not leave the subject of pipes without calling attention to the fact that NordenskiÖld122 has alluded to the resemblance of these to the Japanese pipes. Agentleman who has spent many years in China also informs me that the Chinese pipes are of a very similar type and smoked in much the same way.123 The Greenlanders and eastern Eskimo generally, who have learned the use of tobacco directly from the Europeans, use large-bowled pipes, which they smoke in the ordinary manner. In talking with us the people of Point Barrow call tobacco “tiba´” or “tibaki,” but among themselves it is still known as ta´wak, which is the word found in use among them by the earliest explorers.124 “Tiba” was evidently learned from the American whalers, as it was not in use in Dr. Simpson’s time. It is merely an attempt to pronounce the word tobacco, but has been adopted into the Eskimo 72 language sufficiently to be used as the radical in compound words such as “tiba´xutika´ktÛÑ?,” “Ihave a supply of tobacco.” There is no evidence that anything else was smoked before the introduction of tobacco, and no pipes seen or collected appear older than the time when we know them to have had tobacco.125

HABITATIONS.

The winter house (i´glu).—

The permanent winter houses are built of wood126 and thickly covered with clods of earth. Each house consists of a single room, nearly square, entered by an underground passage about 25 feet long and 4 to 4½ feet high. The sloping mound of earth which covers the house, grading off insensibly to the level of the ground, gives the houses the appearance of being underground, especially as the land on which they stand is irregular and hilly. Without very careful measurements, which we were unable to make, it is impossible to tell whether the floor is above or below the surface of the ground. It is certainly not very far either way. Iam inclined to think that a space 73 at or near the top of a hillock is simply leveled to receive the floor. In this case the back of the house on a hill side, like some in UtkiavwiÑ, would be underground.

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Fig. 9.—Plans of Eskimo-winter house.

The passage is entered at the farther end by a vertical shaft about 6 feet deep in the center of a steep mound of earth. Round the mouth is a square frame or combing of wood, and blocks of wood are placed in the shaft to serve as steps. One or two houses in UtkiavwiÑ had ship’s companion ladders in the shaft. This entrance can be closed with a piece of walrus hide or a wooden cover in severe weather or when the family is away. The passage is about 4 feet wide and the sides and roof are supported by timbers of whalebone. On the right hand near the inner end is a good-sized room opening from the passage, which has a wooden roof covered with earth, forming a second small mound close to the house, with a smoke hole in the middle, and serves as a kitchen, while various dark and irregular recesses on the other side serve as storerooms. The passage is always icy and dark.

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Fig. 10.—Interior of iglu, looking toward door.

At the inner end of the passage a circular trapdoor in the floor opens into the main room of the house, close to the wall at the middle of one end. The floor is at such a height from the bottom of the tunnel that a man standing erect in the tunnel has his head and shoulders in the room. These rooms vary somewhat in dimensions, but are generally about 12 or 14 feet long and 8 or 10 feet wide. The floor, walls, and roof are made of thick planks of driftwood, dressed smooth and neatly fitted together, edge to edge. The ridgepole runs across the house and the roof slopes toward each end. The two slopes are unequal, the front, or that towards the entrance, being considerably the longer. The walls 74 are vertical, those at the ends being between 3 and 4 feet high, while the sides run up to 6 or 7 feet at the ridgepole. The wall planks run up and down, and those of the roof from the ridge to the ends of the house, where there is a stout horizontal timber. In some houses the walls are made of paneled bulkheads from some wrecked whaler.

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Fig. 11.—Interior of iglu, looking toward bench.

In the front of the house over the trapdoor there are no planks for a space of about 2 feet. The lower part of this space is filled in with short transverse beams, so as to leave a square hole close to the ridge. This hole has a stout transverse beam at the top and bottom and serves as a window. When the house is occupied it is covered by a translucent membrane made of strips of seal entrail sewed together and stretched over two arched sticks of light wood—whalebone was used in Dr. Simpson’s time127—running diagonally across from corner to corner. The window is closed with a wooden shutter when the house is shut up in winter, but both apertures are left open in summer. Just above the window, close to the ridgepole, is a little aperture for ventilation. Across the back of the room runs a platform or banquette, about 30 inches high in front and sloping back a little, which serves as a sleeping and lounging place. It is about 5 feet wide, and the front edge comes nearly under the ridgepole. It is made of thick planks running across the house, and supported at each end by a horizontal beam, the end of which projects somewhat beyond the bench and is supported by a round post. At each side of the house stands a lamp, and over these are suspended racks in the shape of small ladders for drying clothing,128 etc. Deerskin blankets 75 for the bed, which are rolled up and put under the bench when not in use, and a number of wooden tubs of various sizes—I counted nine tubs and buckets in one house in UtkiavwiÑ—complete the furniture.

Two families usually occupy such a house, in which case each wife has her own end of the room and her own lamp, near which on the floor she usually sits to work. Some houses contain but one family and others more. Iknew one house in UtkiavwiÑ whose regular occupants were thirteen in number, namely, afather with his wife and adopted daughter, two married sons each with a wife and child, his widowed sister with her son and his wife, and one little girl. This house was also the favorite stopping-place for people who came down from Nuwuk to spend the night. The furniture is always arranged in the same way. There is only one rack on the right side of the house and two on the left. Of these the farther from the lamp is the place for the lump of snow. In this same corner are kept the tubs, and the large general chamber pot and the small male urinal are near the trap door. Dishes of cooked meat are also kept in this corner. This leaves the other corner of the house vacant for women visitors, who sit there and sew. Male visitors, as well as the men of the house when they have nothing to do, usually sit on the edge of the banquette.

In sleeping they usually lie across the banquette with their feet to the wall, but sometimes, when there are few people in the house, lie lengthwise, and occasionally sleep on the floor under the banquette. Petitot says that in the Mackenzie region only married people sleep with their heads toward the edge of the banquette. Children and visitors lie with their heads the other way.129 (See Fig. 9, ground plan and section of house, and Figs. 10 and 11, interior, from sketches by the writer. For outside see Fig. 12, from a photograph by Lieut. Ray).

At the back of the house is a high oblong scaffolding, made by setting up tall poles of driftwood, four, six, or eight in number, and fastening on cross pieces about 8 or 10 feet from the ground, usually in two tiers, of which the lower supports the frames of the kaiaks and the upper spears and other bulky property. Nothing except very heavy articles, such as sledges, boxes, and barrels, is ever left on the ground. Aman can easily reach this scaffold from the top of the house, but it is high enough to be out of reach of the dogs. The cross pieces are usually supported on crotches made by lashing the lower jaw of a walrus to the pole, so that one ramus lies along the latter. Scaffolds of this sort, usually spoken of as “caches” or “cache frames,” are of necessity used among the Eskimos generally, as it is the only way in which they can protect their bulky property.130

76

Around Norton Sound, however, they use a more elaborate structure, consisting of a regular little house 6 feet square, raised 6 to 10 feet from the ground on four posts.131

Belonging to each household, and usually near the house, are low scaffolds for the large boats, rows of posts for stretching lines of thong, and one or more small cellars or underground rooms framed with whales’ bones, the skull being frequently used for a roof, which serve as storehouses for blubber. These may be called “blubber rooms.”

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Fig. 12.—House in UtkiavwiÑ.

These winter houses can only be occupied when the weather is cold enough to keep the ground hard frozen. During the summer the passageways are full of water, which freezes at the beginning of winter and is dug out with a pickax. The people of UtkiavwiÑ began to come to us to borrow our pickax to clean out their iglus about September 24, 1882, and all the houses were vacated before July 1, both seasons.

This particular form of winter house, though in general like those built by other Eskimo, nevertheless differs in many respects from any described elsewhere. For instance, the Greenland house was an oblong flat-roofed building of turf and stones, with the passageway in the middle of one side instead of one end, and not underground. Still, the door and windows were all on one side, and the banquette or “brix” only on the side opposite the entrance. The windows were formerly made of seal entrails, and the passage, though not underground, was still lower than the floor of the house, so that it was necessary to step up at each end.132

A detailed description of the peculiar communal house of the East 77 Greenlanders, of which, there is only one at each village, will be found in Capt. Holm’s paper in the Geografisk Tidskrift, vol. 8, pp. 87-89. This is the long house of West Greenland, still further elongated till it will accommodate “half a score of families, that is to say, 30 to 50 people.” John Davis (1586) describes the houses of the Greenlanders “neere the Sea side,” which were made with pieces of wood on both sides, and crossed over with poles and then covered over with earth.133

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Fig. 13.—Ground plan and section of winter house in Mackenzie region.

At Iglulik the permanent houses were dome shaped, built of bones, with the interstices filled with turf, and had a short, low passage.134 No other descriptions of permanent houses are to be found until we reach the people of the Mackenzie region, who build houses of timbers, of rather a peculiar pattern, covered with turf, made in the form of a cross, of which three or all four of the arms are the sleeping rooms, the floor being raised into a low banquette.135 (See Fig.13.) Petitot136 gives a very excellent detailed description of the houses of the Anderson River people. According to his account the passageway is built up of blocks of ice. He mentions one house with a single alcove like those at Point Barrow.137

We have no description of the houses at the villages between Point Barrow and Kotzebue Sound, but at the latter place was found the 78 large triple house described by Dr. Simpson, and compared by him with that described by Richardson, though in some respects it more closely resembles those seen by Hooper.138 This house really has a fireplace in the middle, and in this approaches the houses of the southern Eskimo of Alaska. According to Dr. Simpson,139a “amodification of the last form, built of undressed timber, and sometimes of very small dimensions, with two recesses opposite each other, and raised a foot above the middle space, is very common on the shores of Kotzebue Sound,” but he does not make it plain whether houses like those used at Point Barrow are not used there also.

This form of house is very like the large snow houses seen by Lieut. Ray at hunting camps on Kulugrua. Dr. Simpson describes less permanent structures which are used on the rivers, consisting of small trees split and laid “inclining inward in a pyramidal form towards a rude square frame in the center, supported by two or more upright posts. Upon these the smaller branches of the felled trees are placed, and the whole, except the aperture at the top and a small opening on one side, is covered with earth or only snow.”139b These buildings, and especially the temporary ones described by Dr. Simpson, used on the Nunatak, probably gave rise to the statement we heard at Point Barrow that “the people south had no iglus and lived only in tents.” The houses at Norton Sound are quite different from the Point Barrow form. The floor, which is not planked, is 3 or 4 feet under ground, and the passage enters one side of the house, instead of coming up through the floor, and a small shed is built over the outer entrance to the passage. The fire is built in the middle of the house, under the aperture in the roof which serves for chimney and window, and there is seldom any banquette, but the two ends of the room are fenced off by logs laid on the ground, to serve as sleeping places, straw and spruce boughs being laid down and covered with grass mats.140

The houses in the Kuskokwim region are quite similar to those just described, but are said to be built above ground in the interior, though thy are still covered with sods.141 There are no published accounts of the houses of the St. Lawrence islanders, but they are known to inhabit subterranean or partly underground earth-covered houses, built of wood, while the Asiatic Eskimo have abandoned the old underground houses, which were still in use at the end of the last century, and have adopted the double-skin tent of the Chukches.142 In addition to the cases quoted by Dall, Capt. Cook speaks of finding the natives of St. Lawrence Bay in 1778 living in partly underground earth-covered houses.143

79

Arrangement in villages.—

The village of UtkiavwiÑ occupies a narrow strip of ground along the edge of the cliffs of Cape Smyth, about 1,000 yards long, and extending some 150 yards inland. The houses are scattered among the hillocks without any attempt at regularity and at different distances from each other, sometimes alone, and sometimes in groups of two contiguous houses, which often have a common cache frame. Nuwuk, from Dr. Simpson’s account144 and what we saw in our hurried visits, is scattered in the same way over the knolls of Point Barrow, but has its greatest extension in an east and west direction. From Simpson’s account (ibid.) double houses appear more common at Nuwuk than at UtkiavwiÑ, and he even speaks of a few threefold ones. All the houses agree in facing south. This is undoubtedly to admit the greatest amount of light in winter, and seems to be a tolerably general custom, at least among the northern Eskimo.145

The custom of having the dwelling face south appears to be a deeply rooted one, as even the tents in summer all face the same way.146

The tents on the sandspit at Plover Bay all face west. The same was observed by the Krause brothers at East Cape.147 At UtkiavwiÑ there are twenty-six or twenty-seven inhabited houses. The uninhabited are mostly ruins and are chiefly at the southwest end of the village, though the breaking away of the cliffs at the other end has exposed the ruins of a few other old houses. Near these are also the ruins of the buildings destroyed by the ice catastrophe described above (p.31). The mounds at the site of the United States signal station are also the ruins of old iglus. We were told that “long ago,” before they had any iron, five families who “talked like dogs” inhabited this village. They were called IsÛ´tkwamiun. Similar mounds are to be seen at PernyÛ, near the present summer camp. About these we only learned that people lived there “long ago.” We also heard of ruined houses on the banks of Kulugrua.

Besides the dwellings there are in UtkiavwiÑ three and in Nuwuk two of the larger buildings used for dancing, and as workrooms for the men, so often spoken of among other Eskimo.

Dr. Simpson states148 that they are nominally the property of some of the more wealthy men. We did not hear of this, nor did we ever hear the different buildings distinguished as “So-and-so’s,” as I am inclined to think would have been the case had the custom still prevailed. They are called kÛ´dyigi or kÛ´drigi (karrigi of Simpson), aword which corresponds, mutatis mutandis, with the Greenlandic kagsse, which means, first, acircle of hills round a small deep valley, and then a circle of 80 people who sit close together (and then, curiously enough, abrothel). At UtkiavwiÑ they are situated about the middle of the village, one close to the bank and the others at the other edge of the village. They are built like the other houses, but are broader than long, with the ridgepole in the middle, so that the two slopes of the roof are equal, and are not covered with turf, like the dwellings, being only partially banked up with earth.

The one visited by Lieut. Ray on the occasion of the “tree dance” was 16 by 20 feet and 7 feet high under the ridge, and held sixty people. In the fall and spring, when it is warm enough to sit in the kÛ´dyigi without fire and with the window open, it is used as a general lounging place or club room by the men. Those who have carpentering and similar work to do bring it there and others come simply to lounge and gossip and hear the latest news, as the hunters when they come in generally repair to the kÛ´dyigi as soon as they have put away their equipments.

They are so fond of this general resort that when nearly the whole village was encamped at ImÊkpÛÑ in the spring of 1883, to be near the whaling ground, they extemporized a club house by arranging four timbers large enough for seats in a hollow square near the middle of the camp. The men take turns in catering for the club, each man’s wife furnishing and cooking the food for the assembled party when her husband’s turn comes. The club house, however, is not used as a sleeping place for the men of the village, as it is said to be in the territory south of Bering Strait,149 nor as a hotel for visitors, as in the Norton Sound region.150 Visitors are either entertained in some dwelling or build temporary snow huts for themselves.

The kÛ´dyigi is not used in the winter, probably on account of the difficulty of warming it, except on the occasions of the dances, festivals, or conjuring ceremonies. Crevices in the walls are then covered with blocks of snow, aslab of transparent ice is fitted into the window, and the house is lighted and heated with lamps. Buildings of this sort and used for essentially the same purposes have been observed among nearly all known Eskimo, except the Greenlanders, who, however, still retain the tradition of such structures.151 Even the Siberian Eskimo, who have abandoned the iglu, still retained the kÛ´dyigi until a recent date at least, as Hooper saw at Oong-wy-sac a performance in a “large tent, apparently erected for and devoted to public purposes (possibly as a council room as well as a theater, for in place of the 81 usual inner apartments only a species of bench of raised earth ran roundit).”152 These buildings are numerous and particularly large and much used south of Bering Strait, where they are also used as steam bath houses.153

Snow houses (apÚya).—

Houses of snow are used only temporarily, as for instance at the hunting grounds on the rivers, and occasionally by visitors at the village who prefer having their own quarters. For example, aman and his wife who had been living at Nuwuk decided in the winter of 1882-’83 to come down and settle at UtkiavwiÑ, where the woman’s parents lived. Instead of going to one of the houses in the village, they built themselves a snow house in which they spent the winter. The man said he intended to build awooden house the next season. These houses are not built on the dome or beehive shape so often described among the Eskimo of the middle region of Dr. Rink.154

The idea naturally suggests itself that this form of building is really a snow tupek or tent, while the form used at Point Barrow is simply the iglu built of snow instead of wood. When built on level ground, as in the village, the snow house consists of an oblong room about 6 feet by 12, with walls made of blocks of snow, and high enough for a person to stand up inside. Beams or poles are laid across the top, and over these is stretched a roof of canvas. At the south end is a low narrow covered passage of snow about 10 feet long leading to a low door not over 2½ feet high, above which is the window, made, as before described, of seal entrail. The opening at the outer end of the passage is at the top, so that one climbs over a low wall of snow to enter the house.

At the right side of the passage, close to the house, is a small fireplace about 2½ feet square and built of slabs of snow, with a smoke hole in the top and a stick stuck across at the proper height to hang a pot on. When the first fire is built in such a fireplace there is considerable melting of the surface of the snow, but as soon as the fire is allowed to go out this freezes to a hard glaze of ice, which afterwards melts only to a trifling extent. Opposite to the door of the house, which is protected by a curtain of canvas, corresponding to the Greenlandic ubkua?, “askin which is hung up before the entrance of the house,”155 the floor is raised into a banquette about 18 inches high, on which are laid boards and skins. Cupboards are excavated under the banquette, or in the walls, and pegs are driven into the walls to hang things on. 82 As such a house is only large enough for one family, there is only one lamp, which stands at the right-hand side of the house156.

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Fig. 14.—Ground plan of large snow house.

At the hunting grounds, or on the road thither in the winter, aplace is selected for the house where the snow is deeply drifted under the edge of some bank, so that most of the house can be made by excavation. When necessary, the walls are built up and roofed over with slabs of snow. Such a house is very speedily built. The first party that goes over the road to the hunting ground usually builds houses at the end of each day’s march, and these serve for the parties coming later, who have simply to clear out the drifted snow or perhaps make some slight repairs. On arriving at the hunting ground they establish themselves in larger and more comfortable houses of the same sort; generally for two families. Lieut. Ray, who visited these camps, has drawn the plan represented in Fig. 14. There is a banquette, a, at each end of the room, which is much broader than long (compare the form of house common at Kotzebue Sound, mentioned above, p.78), but only one lamp, on a low shelf of snow, b, running across the back of the room and excavated below into a sort of cupboard. There are also similar cupboards, c, at different places in the walls, and a long tunnel, f, with the usual storerooms, i, and kitchen, h, from which a branch tunnel often leads to an adjoining house. The floor is marked d, the entrance to the tunnel g, and the door e. The house is lighted by the seal-gut windows of the iglu brought from the village.

On going into camp the railed sled is stuck points down into the snow and net-poles, or ice-picks, thrust through the rails, making a temporary cache frame,157 on which are hung bulky articles—snowshoes and 83 guns.158 Small storehouses of snow or ice are built to contain provisions. In the autumn, many such houses are built in the village, of slabs of clear fresh-water ice about 4 inches thick cemented together by freezing. These resemble the buildings of fresh-water ice at Iglulik, described by Capt. Lyon.159

Other temporary structures of snow, sometimes erected in the village, serve as workshops. One of these, which was built at the edge of the village in April, 1883, was an oblong building long enough to hold an umiak, giving sufficient room to get around it and work, and between 6 and 7 feet high. The walls were of blocks of snow and the roof of canvas stretched over poles. One end was left open, but covered by a canvas curtain, and a banquette of snow ran along each side. It was lighted by oblong slabs of clear ice set into the walls, and warmed by several lamps. Several men in succession used this house for repairing and rigging up their umiaks, and others who had whittling to do brought their work to the same place.

Such boat shops are sometimes built by digging a broad trench in a snowbank and roofing it with canvas. Women dig small holes in the snow, which they roof over with canvas and use for work-rooms in which to dress seal skins. In such cases there is probably some superstitious reason, which we failed to learn, for not doing the work in the iglu. The tools used in building the snow houses are the universal wooden snow-shovel and the ivory snow-knife, for cutting and trimming the blocks. At the present day saws are very much used for cutting the blocks, and also large iron knives (whalemen’s “boarding knives,” etc.) obtained from the ships.

Tents (tupek).—

During the summer all the natives live in tents, which are pitched on dry places upon the top of the cliffs or upon the gravel beach, usually in small camps of four or five tents each. Afew families go no farther than the dry banks just southwest of the village, while the rest of the inhabitants who have not gone eastward trading or to the rivers hunting reindeer are strung along the coast. The first camp below UtkiavwiÑ is just beyond the double lagoon of Nunava, about 4 miles away, and the rest at intervals of 2 or 3 miles, usually at some little inlet or stream at places called SÊ´kqluka, Nake´drixo, Kuosu´gru, Nuna´ktuau, Ipersua, Wa´lakpa (Refuge Inlet, according to Capt. Maguire’s map, Parl. Rep. for 1854, opp. p.186), Er´nivwiÑ, Si´Ñaru, and Sa´kamna. It is these summer camps seen from passing ships which have given rise to the accounts of numerous villages along this coast. There is usually a small camp on the beach at Si´nnyÛ and one at ImÊ´kpÛÑ, while a few go to PernyÛ even early in the season.

As the sea opens the people from the lower camps travel up the coast and concentrate at PernyÛ, where they meet the NuwuÑmiun, the NunataÑmiun 84 traders, and the whalemen, and are joined later in the season by the trading parties returning from the east, all of whom stop for a few days at PernyÛ. On returning to the village also, in September, the tents are pitched in dry places among the houses and occupied till the latter are dry enough to live in. Tents are used in the autumnal deer hunts, before snow enough falls to build snow houses. In the spring of 1883, when the land floe was very heavy and rough off UtkiavwiÑ, all who were going whaling in the UtkiavwiÑ boats went into camp with their families in tents pitched on the crown of the beach at ImÊkpÛÑ, whence a path led off to the open water.

The tents are nowadays always made of cloth, either sailcloth obtained from wrecks or drilling, which is purchased from the ships. The latter is preferred as it makes a lighter tent and both dark blue and white are used. Reindeer or seal skins were used for tents as lately as 1854. Elson saw tents of sealskin lined with reindeer skin at Refuge Inlet,160 and Hooper mentions sealskin tents at Cape Smyth and Point Barrow.161 Dr. Simpson gives a description of the skin tents at Point Barrow.162 Indeed, it is probable that canvas tents were not common until after the great “wreck seasons” of 1871 and 1876, when so many whaleships were lost. The NunataÑmiun at PernyÛ had tents of deerskin, and I remember also seeing one sealskin tent at the same place, which, it is my impression, belonged to a man from UtkiavwiÑ. Deerskin tents are used by the Anderson River natives,163 while sealskins are still in use in Greenland and the east generally.164 The natives south of Kotzebue Sound do not use tents, but have summer houses erected above ground and described as “generally log structures roofed with skins and open in front.”165 That they have not always been ignorant of tents is shown by the use of the word “topek” for a dwelling at Norton Sound.166

The tents at Point Barrow are still constructed in a manner very similar to that described by Dr. Simpson (see reference above). Four or five poles about 12 feet long are fastened together at the top and spread out so as to form a cone, with a base about 12 feet in diameter. Inside of these about 6 feet from the ground is lashed a large hoop, upon which are laid shorter poles (sometimes spears, umiak oars, etc.). The canvas cover, which is now made in one piece, is wrapped spirally round this 85 frame, so that the edges do not meet in front except at the top, leaving a triangular space or doorway, filled in with a curtain of which part is a translucent membrane, which can be covered at night with a piece of cloth. Astring runs from the upper corner of the cloth round the apex of the tent and comes obliquely down the front to about the middle of the edge of the other end of the cloth. The two edges are also held together by a string across the entrance. Heavy articles, stones, gravel, etc., are laid on the flap of the tent to keep it down, and spears, paddles, etc., are laid up against the outside. (See Fig. 15, from a photograph by Lieut. Ray.)

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Fig. 15.—Tent on the beach at UtkiavwiÑ.

Inside of the tent there is much less furniture than in the iglu, as the lamp is not needed for heating and lighting, and the cooking is done outdoors on tripods erected over fires. The sleeping place is at the back of the tent, and is usually marked off by laying a log across the floor, and spreading boards on the ground. Not more than one family usually occupy a tent. The tents at the whaling camp mentioned above were, at first, fitted out with snow passages and fireplaces like a snow hut, and many had a low wall of snow around them, but these had all melted before the camp was abandoned.

These tents differ considerably in model from those in use in the east, though all are made by stretching a cover over radiating poles. For example, the tents in Greenland have the front nearly vertical,167 while at Cumberland Gulf two sets of poles connected by a ridgepole are used, those for the front being the shorter.168 The fashion at Iglulik is somewhat 86 similar.169 Small rude tents only large enough to hold one or two people are used as habitations for women during confinement, and for sewing rooms when they are working on deerskins in the autumn. Tents for the latter purpose are called “su´dliwiÑ,” the place for working.

HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS.

FOR HOLDING AND CARRYING FOOD, WATER, ETC.

Canteens (i´mutin).—

None of the canteens, the use of which has been described above (under “Drinks”), were obtained for the collection. They were seen only by Lieut. Ray and Capt. Herendeen, who made winter journeys with the natives. They describe them as made of sealskins and of small size. Ifind no published mention of the use of such canteens among the Eskimo elsewhere, except in Baffin Land.170

Wallets, etc.—

Food and such things are carried in roughly made bags of skin or cloth, or sometimes merely wrapped up in a piece of skin or entrail, or whatever is convenient. Special bags, however, are used for bringing in the small fish which are caught through the ice. These are flat, about 18 inches or 2 feet square, and made of an oblong piece of sealskin, part of an old kaiak cover, doubled at the bottom and sewed up each side, with a thong to sling it over the shoulders.

Buckets and tubs.—

Buckets and tubs of various sizes are used for holding water and other fluids, blubber, flesh, entrails, etc., in the house, and are made by bending a thin plank of wood (spruce or fir) round a nearly circular bottom and sewing the ends together. These are probably all obtained from the NunataÑmiun, as it would be almost impossible to procure suitable wood at Point Barrow. The collection contains four specimens—two tubs and two buckets.

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Fig. 16.—Wooden bucket.

No. 56764 [370] (Fig. 16) will serve as a type of the water bucket (kÛtau´?). Athin strip of spruce 8 inches wide is bent round a circular bottom of the same wood 10¼ inches in diameter. The edge of the latter is slightly rounded and fits into a shallow croze one-fourth inch from the lower edge of the strip. The ends of the strip overlap 3½ inches and are sewed together with narrow strips of whalebone in two vertical seams of short stitches, one 87 seam close to the outer end, which is steeply chamfered off and painted red, and the other 1.6 inches from this. Both seams are countersunk in shallow grooves on the outer part. The bucket is ornamented with a shallow groove running round the top, and a vertical groove between the seams. These grooves and the seam grooves are painted red. The bail is of stout iron wire fastened on by two ears of white walrus ivory cut into a rude outline of a whale, and secured by neat lashings of whalebone passing through corresponding holes in the ear and the bucket. The bucket has been some time in use.

No. 56763 [369] is a bucket with a bail, and very nearly of the same shape and dimensions. It has, however, abail made of rope yarns braided together, and the ears are plain flat pieces of ivory. Buckets of this size, with bails, are especially used for water, particularly for bringing it from the ponds and streams. The name “kÛtau?” corresponds to the Greenlandic kÁtaua?, “awater-pail with which water is brought to the house.”171

18

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Fig. 17.—Large tub.

No. 89891 [1735] (Fig. 17), which is nearly new, is a very large tub (iluli´kpÛÑ, which appears to mean “acapacious thing”) without a bail, and is 11 inches high and 20 in diameter. The sides are made of two pieces of plank of equal length, whose ends overlap alternately and are sewed together as before. The bottom is in two pieces, one large and one small, neatly fastened together with two dowels, and is not only held in by having its edge chamfered to fit the croze, but is pegged in with fourteen small treenails. The seams, edges, and two ornamental grooves around the top are painted red as before.

No. 89890 [1753] is smaller, 9.7 inches high and 14.5 in diameter. It has no bail, and is ornamented with two grooves, of which the lower is painted with black lead. The bottom is in two equal pieces, fastened together with three dowels. This is a new tub and has the knotholes neatly plugged with wood. There are a number of these tubs in every house. They are known by the generic name of imusiÁru (which is applied also to a barrel, and which means literally “an unusual cup or dipper,” small cups of the same shape being called i´musyÛ), but have special names signifying their use. For instance, the little tub about 6 inches in diameter, used by the males as a urinal, is called kÚvwiÑ (“the place for urine.”) One of these large tubs always stands to catch the drip from the lump of snow in the house, and those of the largest size, like No. 89891 [1735], are the kind used as chamber pots.

Vessels of this sort are in use throughout Alaska, and have been observed among the eastern Eskimo where they have wood enough to 88 make them. For instance, the Eskimo of the Coppermine River “form very neat dishes of fir, the sides being made of thin deal, bent into an oval form, secured at the ends by sewing, and fitted so nicely to the bottom as to be perfectly water-tight.”172 There are specimens in the Museum from the Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, described in the MacFarlane MS. as “pots for drinking with, pails for carrying and keeping water, and also as chamber pots. Oil is also sometimes carried in them in winter.”

In some places where wood is scarce vessels of a similar pattern are made of whalebone. Vessels “made of whalebone, in a circular form, one piece being bent into the proper shape for the sides,” are mentioned by Capt. Parry on the west shore of Baffins Bay,173 and “circular and oval vessels of whalebone” were in use at Iglulik.174 This is the same as the Greenlandic vessel called perta? (aname which appears to have been transferred in the form pi´tÚÑo to the wooden meat bowl at Point Barrow), “adish made of a piece of whalebone bent into a hoop, which makes the sides, with a wooden bottom inserted.”175 NordenskiÖld speaks of vessels of whalebone at Pitlekaj, but does not specify the pattern.176 Whalebone dishes were used at Point Barrow, but at the present day only small ones for drinking-cups are in general service. One large dish was collected. (Fig. 18. No. 89850 [1199]).

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Fig. 18.—Whalebone dish.

A strip of whalebone 4¼ inches wide is bent round a nearly circular bottom of cottonwood so as to form a small tub. The edges of the bottom are chamfered to fit a shallow croze in the whalebone. The overlapping ends of the whalebone are sewed together with a strip of whalebone in long stitches. This dish is quite old and impregnated with grease. Vessels of this kind are uncommon, and it is probable that none have been made since whalebone acquired its present commercial value. They were very likely in much more general use formerly, as when there was no such market for whalebone as at present it would be cheaper to make tubs of this material than to buy wooden ones. In corroboration of this view it may be noted that Dr. Simpson does not mention woodenware among the articles brought for sale by the NunataÑmiun.177 The small whalebone vessels will be described under drinking cups, which see.

89

Meat bowls.—(Pi´tÛÑo, see remarks on p.88.)

Large wooden bowls are used to hold meat, fat, etc., both raw and cooked, which are generally served on trays. These are of local manufacture and carved from blocks of soft driftwood. The four specimens collected are all made of cottonwood, and, excepting No. 73570 [408], have been long in use and are thoroughly impregnated with grease and blood.

No. 89864 [1322] (Fig. 19) will serve as the type. This is deep and nearly circular, with flat bottom and rounded sides. The brim is ornamented with seven large sky-blue glass beads imbedded in it at equal intervals, except on one side, where there is a broken notch in the place of a bead.

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Fig. 19.—Meat bowl.

Another, No. 89863 [1320], is larger and not flattened on the bottom, and the brim is thinner. It is also provided with a bail of seal thong, very neatly made, as follows: One end of the thong is knotted with a single knot into one of the holes so as to leave one long part and one short part (about 3 inches). The long part is then carried across and through the other hole from the outside, back again through the first hole and again across, so that there are three parts of thong stretched across the bowl. The end is then tightly wrapped in a close spiral round all the other parts, including the short end, and the wrapping is finished off by tucking the end under the last turn. The specimen shows the method of mending wooden dishes, boxes, etc., which have split. Ahole is bored on each side of the crack, and through the two is worked a neat lashing of narrow strips of whalebone, which draws the parts together.

In No. 89865 [1321], which has been split wholly across, there are six such stitches, nearly equidistant, holding the two parts together. This bowl is strengthened by neatly riveting a thin flat “strap” of walrus ivory along the edge across the end of the crack. These three bowls are of nearly the same shape, which is the common one. The new bowl (No.73570 [408]) is of a less common shape, being not so nearly hemispherical as the others, but shaped more like a common milk pan. It is ornamented with straight lines drawn in black lead, dividing the surface into quadrants. These were probably put on to catch the white man’s eye, as the bowl was made for the market. Dishes of this description are common throughout Alaska (see the National Museum collections) and have been noted at Plover Bay.178

90

FOR PREPARING FOOD.

Pots of stone and other materials (u´tkuziÑ).—

In former times, pots of soapstone resembling those employed by the eastern Eskimo, and probably obtained from the same region as the lamps, were used for cooking food at Point Barrow, but the natives have so long been able to procure metal kettles directly or indirectly from the whites (Elson found copper kettles at Point Barrow in 1826)179 that the former have gone wholly out of use, and at the present day fragments only are to be found. There are four such fragments in the collection, of which three are of the same model and one quite different.

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Fig. 20.—Stone pot.

No. 89885-6 [1559] (Fig. 20) is sufficiently whole to show the pattern of the first type. It is of soft gray soapstone. Alarge angular gap is broken from the middle of one side, taking out about half of this side, and a small angular piece from the bottom. From the corner of this gap the pot has been broken obliquely across the bottom, and mended in three places with stitches of whalebone made as described under No. 89865 [1321]. One end is cut down for about half its height, and the edge carried round in a straight line till it meets the gap in the broken side. This end appears to have been pieced with a fresh piece of stone, as there are holes for stitches in the edge of the whole side and in the upper edge of the broken side. There are also two “stitch holes” at the other side of the gap, showing how it was originally mended. Alow transverse ridge across the middle of the whole end was probably an ornament. Holes for strings by which the pot was hung up are bored one-fourth to one-half inch from the brim. Two of these are bored obliquely through the corners, which are now broken off. The holes in the sides close to the corners were probably made to take the place of these. The pot is neatly and smoothly made, and the brim is slightly rounded. It shows signs of great age, and is blackened with soot and crusted with oil and dirt.180

Nos. 89886 [680] and 89868 [1096] are much less complete. They are the broken ends of pots slightly smaller than the above, but of precisely the same pattern, even to the ornamental transverse ridge across the end.181 The string holes are bored through the corners as before, and 91 in both pots are holes showing where they have been mended by whalebone stitches, fragments of which are still sticking in one pot. This method of mending soapstone vessels by sewing is mentioned by Capt. Parry as practiced at Iglulik.182

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Fig. 21.—Small stone pot.

No. 89883 [1097] (Fig. 21) is a small pot of a quite different shape, best understood from the figure. Round the edge are eight holes for strings nearly equidistant. The outside is rough, especially on the bottom. One of the sides is much gapped, and the acute tip has been broken off obliquely and mended with a stitch of whalebone. The care used in mending these vessels shows that they were valuable and not easily replaced. Ican find no previous mention of the use of stone vessels for cooking on the western coast, and there are no specimens in the National Museum collections. The only Eskimo stone vessels are a couple of small stone bowls from Bristol Bay. These are very much the shape of the wooden bowls above described, and appear to have been used as oil dishes and not for cooking, as the inside is crusted with grease, while the outside is not blackened. On the other hand, stone cooking pots are very generally employed even now by the eastern Eskimos, and have been frequently described.183 The close resemblance of the pots from Point Barrow to those described by Capt. Parry, taken in connection with Dr. Simpson’s statement184 that the stone lamps were brought from the east, renders it very probable that the kettles were obtained in the same way. The absence of this utensil among the southern Eskimo of Alaska is probably due to the fact that being inhabitants of a well wooded district they would have no need of contrivances for cooking over a lamp.

I obtained three fragments of pottery, which had every appearance of great age and were said to be pieces of a kind of cooking-pot which they used to make “long ago, when there were no iron kettles.” The material was said to be earth (nu´na), bear’s blood, and feathers,185 and appears to have been baked. They are irregular fragments (No. 92 89697 [1589], Fig.22) of perhaps more than one vessel, which appears to have been tall and cylindrical, perhaps shaped like a bean-pot, pretty smooth inside, and coated with dried oil or blood, black from age. The outside is rather rough, and marked with faint rounded transverse ridges, as if a large cord had been wound round the vessel while still soft. The largest shard has been broken obliquely across and mended with two stitches of sinew, and all are very old and black.

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Fig. 22.—Fragments of pottery.

Beechey (Voyage, p. 295) speaks of “earthen jars for cooking” at Hotham Inlet in 1826 and 1827, and Mr. E.W. Nelson has collected a few jars from the Norton Sound region, very like what those used at Point Barrow must have been. Choris figures a similar vessel in his Voyage Pittoresque, Pl. III (2d), Fig. 2, from Kotzebue Sound. Metal kettles of various sorts are now exclusively used for cooking, and are called by the same name as the old soapstone vessels, which it will be observed corresponds to the name used by the eastern Eskimo. Light sheet-iron camp-kettles are eagerly purchased and they are very glad to get any kind of small tin cans, such as preserved meat tins, which 93 they use for holding water, etc., and sometimes fit with bails of string or wire, so as to use them for cooking porridge, etc., over the lamp. They had learned the value of these as early as Maguire’s time,186 as had the people of Plover Bay in 1849.187

Bone crushers.—

In preparing food it is often desirable to break the large bones of the meat, both to obtain the marrow and to facilitate the trying out of the fat for making the pemmican already described. Deer bones are crushed into a sort of coarse bone-meal for feeding the dogs when traveling. For this purpose heavy short-handled stone mauls are used. These tools may have been formerly serviceable as hammers for driving treenails, etc., as the first specimen obtained was described as “savik-pidjÛk-nunamisini´ktu?-kau´te?” (literally “iron-not-dead-hammer”), or the hammer used by those now dead, who had no iron. For this purpose, however, they are wholly superseded by iron hammers, and are now only used for bone crushers. The collection contains a large series of these implements, namely, 13 complete mauls and 13 unhafted heads. All are constructed on the same general plan, consisting of an oblong roughly cylindrical mass of stone, with flat ends, mounted on the expanded end of a short haft, which is applied to the middle of one side of the cylinder and is slightly curved, like the handle of an adz. Such a haft is frequently made of the “branch” of a reindeer antler, and the expanded end is made by cutting off a portion of the “beam” where the branch joins it. Ahaft so made is naturally elliptical and slightly curved at right angles to the longer diameter of the ellipse, and is applied to the head so that the greatest thickness and therefore the greatest strength comes in the line of the blow, as in a civilized ax or hammer. The head and haft are held together by a lashing of thong or three-ply braid of sinew, passing through a large hole in the large end of the haft and round the head. This lashing is put on wet and dries hard and tight.188 It follows the same general plan in all the specimens, though no two are exactly alike. The material of the heads, with three exceptions (No.56631 [222], gray porphyry; No. 89654 [906], black quartzite, and No. 89655 [1241], coarse-grained gray syenite), is massive pectolite (see above, p.60), generally of a pale greenish or bluish gray color and slightly translucent, sometimes dark and opaque. No. 56635 [243] will serve as the type of these implements.189

The head is of light bluish gray pectolite, and is lashed with a three-ply braid of reindeer sinew to a haft of some soft coniferous wood, probably spruce, rather smoothly whittled out and soiled by handling. The transverse ridge on the under side of the butt is to keep the hand from slipping off the grip. The whole is dirty and shows signs of considerable age.

94

These mauls vary considerable in size. The largest is 7.1 inches long and 2.5 in diameter, and the smallest 2.1 inches long by 2.4. This is a very small hammer, No. 56634 [83] having a haft only 4.7 inches long. The haft is usually about 5 inches long. The longest (belonging to one of the smaller heads, 4inches by2) is 7.2 inches long, and the shortest (belonging to a slightly larger head, 4.7 by 3.1 inches) is 4.5 inches. The largest two heads, each 7.1 by 2.5 inches, have hafts 5 inches long.

The lashing of all is put on in the same general way, namely, by securing one end round the head and through the eye, then taking a variable number of turns round the head and through the hole, and tightening these up by wrapping the end spirally round all the parts, where they stretch from head to haft on each side. Seal thong, narrow or broad, is more generally used than sinew braid (only three specimens out of the thirteen have lashings of sinew). When broad thong is used the loop is made by splicing, as follows: Aslit is cut about 1½ inches from the end of the thong, and the end is doubled in a bight and passed through this slit. The end is then slit and the other end of the thong passed through it and drawn taut, making a splice which holds all the tighter for drawing on it. Asimple loop is tied in sinew braid.

The following figures will illustrate the most important variations in the form of this implement. Fig. 23, No. 56634 [83] from UtkiavwiÑ, has a head of light gray pectolite, slightly translucent, and evidently ground flat on the faces, and the haft is of reindeer antler, with a slight knob at the butt. Asquare piece of buckskin is doubled and inserted between the head and haft. The lashing is of fine sealskin twine, and the spiral wrapping is carried wholly round the head. This was the first stone maul collected, and was put together at the station, as mentioned above. It is rather smaller than usual. Fig. 24, No. 56637 [196], from UtkiavwiÑ, has the 95 head of grayish pectolite, rough and unusually large. The haft is of some soft coniferous wood soaked with grease. It is nearly round, instead of elliptical, with an irregular knob at the butt, and not curved, but fastened obliquely to the head. The loop of double thong attached to the haft is probably to go round the wrist.

Fig. 25, No. 56639 [161], from UtkiavwiÑ, is of pectolite, the upper and lower faces almost black and the sides light gray. The haft is of hard wood and unusually long (7.2 inches). It is noticeable for being attached at right angles to the head, by a very stout lashing of thong of the usual kind, and further tightened by a short flat stick wedged in below the head on one side. There appears to have been a similar “key” on the other side. This is an unusual form.

Fig. 26, No. 89654 [906], is from Nuwuk. The head is an oblong, nearly cylindrical, water-worn pebble of black quartzite, 7.1 inches long; the haft is of reindeer antler, and the lashing of seal thong.

Fig. 27, No. 89655 [1241], from UtkiavwiÑ. The head of this maul is a long pebble of rather coarse-grained gray syenite, and is peculiar in having a shallow groove roughly worked out round the middle to keep the lashing from slipping. It is 4.7 inches long and 3.1 in diameter. The haft is of reindeer antler 4.5 inches long, and the lashing of seal thong peculiar only in the large number of turns in the spiral wrappings.

96

Fig. 28, No. 89657 [877], from Nuwuk. This is peculiar in having the haft fitted into a deep angular groove on one side of the head, which is of pectolite and otherwise of the common pattern. The haft of reindeer antler and the lashing of broad thong are evidently newer than the head and are clumsily made and put on, the latter making several turns about one side of the haft as well as through it and round the head.

None of the unmounted heads, which are all of pectolite, are grooved in this way to receive the haft, but No. 56658 [205] has two shallow, incomplete grooves round the middle for lashings, and No. 56655 [218], which is nearly square in section, has shallow notches on the edges for the same purpose. One specimen of the series comes from Sidaru, but differs in no way from specimens from the northern villages.

Stone mauls of this type have previously been seldom found among the American Eskimo. The only specimens in the Museum from America are two small unhafted maul heads of pectolite, one from Hotham Inlet and the other from Cape Nome, and a roughly made maul from Norton Sound, all collected by Mr. Nelson. The last is an oblong piece of dark-colored jade rudely lashed to the end of a short thick stick, which has a lateral projection round which the lashing passes instead of through a hole in the haft. Among the “Chukches” at Pithkaj, however, NordenskiÖld found stone mauls of precisely the same model as ours and also used as bone crushers. He observed that the natives themselves ate the crushed bone after boiling it with blood and water.190 Lieut. Ray saw only dogs fed with it in the interior. NordenskiÖld does not mention 97 the kind of stone used for these tools, but the two in the National Museum, collected by Mr. Nelson at Cape Wankarem, are both of granite or syenite and have a groove for the lashing. (Compare No. 89655 [1241], fig.27.)

In addition to the above-described stone mauls, there are in the collection five nearly similar mauls of heavy bone, which have evidently served the same purpose. They were all brought over for sale from UtkiavwiÑ at about the same time, and from their exceedingly oily condition were evidently brought to light in rummaging round in the old “blubber-rooms,” where they have long lain forgotten. Four of these differ in no respect from the stone mauls except in having the heads made of whale’s rib; the fifth is all in one piece.

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Fig. 29.—Bone maul.

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Fig. 30.—Bone maul.

The following figures will illustrate the general form of these implements: Fig. 29, No. 89847 [1046]: The head is a section of a small rib, 4.8 inches long, and has a deep notch on each side to receive the lashing. The haft is probably of spruce (itis so impregnated with grease that it 98 is impossible to be sure aboutit), and is rough and somewhat knobby, with a rounded knob on the butt and two shallow finger notches on the under side of the grip. It is attached by a lashing of stout thong of the ordinary pattern. Fig. 30, No. 89849 [1047]: The head is a straight four-sided block of whale’s rib, 6inches long. The deep notches for the lashing, one on each side, are 1 inch behind the middle. The haft is a roughly whittled knotty piece of spruce, and instead of a knob has a thick flange on the lower side of the butt. The lashing is of fourteen or fifteen turns of seal twine, and keyed upon each side by a roughly split stick thrust in under the head. Fig. 31, No. 89846 [1048]: This is peculiar in having the haft not attached at or near the middle of the head, but at one end, which is shouldered to receive it. The haft is of the common pattern and attached as usual, the lashing being made of very stout sinew braid. The head is a section of a small rib 6 inches long. Fig. 32, No. 89845 [1049]: This is made in one piece, and roughly carved with broad cuts from a piece of whale’s jaw. The grooves and holes in the bone are the natural canals of blood vessels. All these mauls are battered on the striking face, showing that they have been used.

At the first glance it seems as if we had here a series illustrating the development of the stone hammer. Fig. 32 would be the first form, while 99 the next step would be to increase the weight of the head by lashing a large piece of bone to the end of the haft, instead of carving the whole laboriously out of a larger piece of bone. The substitution of the still heavier stone for the bone would obviously suggest itself next. The weak point in this argument, however, is that the advantage of the transition from the first to the next form is not sufficiently obvious. It seems to me more natural to suppose that the hafted stone hammer has been developed here, as is believed to have been the case elsewhere, by simply adding a handle to the pebble which had already been used as a hammer without one. These bone implements are then to be considered as makeshifts or substitutes for the stone hammer, when stones suitable for making the latter could not be procured. Now, such stones are rare at Point Barrow, and must be brought from a distance or purchased from other natives; hence the occasional use of such makeshifts as these. This view will account for the rarity of these bone hammers, as well as the rudeness of their construction. No. 89845 [1049] would thus be merely the result of individual fancy and not a link in the chain of development.

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Fig. 31.—Bone maul.

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Fig. 32.—Bone maul.

FOR SERVING AND EATING FOOD.

TRAYS.

Cooked food is generally served in large shallow trays more or less neatly carved from driftwood and nearly circular or oblong in shape. The collection contains two specimens of the circular form and three oblong ones. All but one of these have been long in use and are very greasy. No. 73576 [392] (Fig.33) has been selected as the type of the 100 circular dishes (i´libi?). This is very smoothly carved from a single piece of pine wood. The brim is rounded, with a large rounded gap in one side, where a piece has probably been broken out. The brim is slightly cracked and chipped. The vessel is very greasy and shows marks inside where meat has been cut up in it. No. 89867 [1323] is a very similar dish, and made of the same material, but elliptical instead of circular, and larger, being 22.5 inches long, 15.5 broad, and 2.1 deep. It has been split in two, and mended with whalebone stitches in the manner previously described.

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Fig. 33.—Meat dish.

No. 73575 [223] (Fig. 34) is a typical oblong dish. It is neatly hollowed out, having a broad margin painted with red ocher. It measures 24 inches in length, is made of pine, rather roughly carved on the outside, and is new and clean. This is a common form of dish. Fig. 35, No. 89868 [1377], is an old tray of an unusual form. It is rudely hewn out of a straight piece of plank, 34.8 inches long, showing inside and out the marks of a dull adz, called by the seller “kau´dlo tu´mai,” “the footprints of the stone (scil. adz).” The excavation is shallow and leaves a margin of 2 inches at one end, and the outside is roughly beveled off at the sides and ends. The holes near the ends were evidently for handles of thong. The material is spruce, discolored and somewhat greasy. Fig. 36, No. 89866 [1376], was said by the native who brought it over for sale to be especially intended for fish. It is much the shape of No. 73575 [223], but broader, slightly deeper, and more curved. The brim is narrow and rounded and the bottom smoothly rounded off. It measures 23.3 inches in length, and is made of pine. It has been deeply split in two places and stitched together with whalebone 101 in the usual way. Trays and dishes of this sort are in general use among all Eskimo,191 and are sometimes made of tanned sealskins.192

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Fig. 34.—Oblong meat dish.

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Fig. 35.—Oblong meat dish; very old.

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Fig. 36.—Fish dish.

DRINKING VESSELS.

Whalebone Cup (I´musyÛ).—

One of the commonest forms of drinking vessels is a little tub of whalebone of precisely the same shape as the large whalebone dish described above (p.88). Of these there are five specimens in the collection, all from UtkiavwiÑ. No. 89853 [1302] (Fig.37) will serve as the type. It is 4.6 inches long and made by binding a strip of black whalebone round a spruce bottom, and sewing together the ends, which overlap each other about 1½ inches, with coarse strips of whalebone.

There are two vertical seams three-fourths inch apart. The bottom is held in by fitting its slightly chamfered edge into a shallow croze cut in the whalebone. All these cups are made almost exactly alike, and nearly of the same size, varying only a fraction of an inch in height, and from 4.2 to 5.5 inches in length. The only variation is in the distance the ends overlap and the number of stitches in the seams. Such cups are to be found in nearly every house, and one is generally kept conveniently near the water bucket. Though the pattern is an ancient one, they are still manufactured. No. 56560 [654] was found among the dÉbris of one of the ruined houses at UtkiavwiÑ, and differs from the modern cups only in having the ends sewed together with one seam instead of two, while No. 89851 [1300], though it has been in actual use, was made after our arrival, as the bottom is made of a piece of one of our cigar boxes.

Dippers of horn are in very general use for drinking water. These are all of essentially the same shape, and are made of the light yellow translucent horn of the mountain sheep. There are three specimens in our collection, of which No. 56534 [28] (Fig.38) has been selected as the type. This is made of a single piece of pale yellow translucent horn, 102 apparently softened and molded into shape, cut only on the edges and the handle. Astout peg of antler is driven through the handle, 1inch from the tip, and projects behind, serving as a hook by which to hang the dipper on the edge of a bucket. The other two are similar in shape and size, but No. 89831 [1293] has no peg, and has one side of the handle cut into a series of slight notches to keep the hand from slipping, while No. 89832 [1577] is rather straighter and has a smaller, shallower bowl, and the grip of the handle roughened with transverse grooves. Fig. 39, No. 89739 [774", is a horn dipper, but one that is very old and of a pattern no longer in use. The bowl, which is much broken and gapped, is oval and deep, with a thick handle at one end, running out in the line of the axis of the bowl. This handle, which is the thick part of the horn, near the tip, is flat above, rounded below, and has its tip slightly rounded, apparently by a stone tool. Just where the bowl and handle meet there is a deep transverse saw-cut, made to facilitate bending the handle into its place. The material is horn, apparently of the mountain sheep, turned brown by age and exposure. The specimen had been long lying neglected round the village of UtkiavwiÑ.

Horn dippers of the same general pattern as these are common throughout Alaska. The Museum collection contains a large series of such utensils, collected by Mr. Nelson and others. The cups and dippers of musk-ox horn found by Parry at Iglulik are somewhat different in shape.193 Those made of the enlarged base of horn194 have a short handle and a nearly square bowl, while the hollow top of the horn is used for a cup without alteration beyond sometimes bending up the end, which serves as a handle.195 Curiously enough, cups of this last pattern appear not to be found anywhere else except at Plover Bay, eastern Siberia, where very similar vessels (asshown by the Museum collections) are made from the horn of the Siberian mountain sheep. An unusual form of dipper is beautifully made of fossil ivory. Such cups are rare and highly prized. We saw only three, one from each village, Nuwuk, UtkiavwiÑ, and Sidaru, and all were obtained for the collection. They show signs of age and long use. They differ somewhat in shape and size, but each is carved from a single piece of ivory and has a large bowl and a straight handle. No. 56535 [371] (Fig.40), which will serve as the type of the ivory dipper (i´musyÛ, kiligwÛ´garo), is neatly carved from a single piece of fine-grained fossil ivory, yellowed by age. The handle, polished by long use, terminates in a blunt, recurved, tapering hook, which serves the purpose of the peg in the 103 horn dipper. The rounded gap in the brim opposite the handle is an accidental break. Another, No. 89830 [1259], from Sidaru, is a long trough-like cup, with rounded ends and a short flat handle at one end, made of a short transverse section of a rather small tusk, keeping the natural roundness of the tusk, but cut off flat on top and excavated. Awooden peg, like those in the horn dippers, is inserted in the end of the handle. This cup is especially interesting from its resemblance to the one obtained by Beechey (Voyage, Pl. I, Fig.4) at Eschscholtz Bay, from which it differs only in being about 2 inches shorter and deeper in proportion. Thomas Simpson speaks of obtaining an ivory cup from some Point Barrow natives at Dease Inlet exactly like the one figured by Beechey, but with the handle broken off.196 Fig. 41, No. 89833 [933], from Nuwuk, has a large bowl, nearly circular, with a broad, straight handle and a broad hook. The part of the bowl to which the handle is attached, asemicircular piece 3 inches long and 1¾ wide, has been split out with the grain of the tusk, and mended with three stitches, in this case of sinew, in the usual manner. There was an old gap in the brim opposite to the handle, and the edges of it have been freshly and roughly whittled down. The ornamentation of the outside and handle, consisting of narrow incised lines and small circles, each with a dot in the center, is well shown in the figure. These engravings were originally colored with red ocher, but are now filled with dirt and are nearly effaced by wear on the handle. This dipper is not of such fine quality of ivory as the other two. It is not unlikely that all these vessels were made by the natives around Kotzebue Sound, where ivory is plenty, and where Beechey, as quoted above, found one so like one of ours. We were informed by the owner that No. 56535 [371] was obtained from the NunataÑmiun.

104

Spoons and ladles.—

Each family has several spoons of various sizes, and narrow shallow ladles of horn, bone, etc. The large spoon is for stirring and ladling soup, etc. There is only one specimen in the collection, No. 89739 [1352] (Fig.42). This is a new one, made by a native of UtkiavwiÑ, whom I asked to make himself a new spoon and bring me his old one. He, however, misunderstood me and brought over the new one, which Lieut. Ray purchased, not knowing that I had especially asked for the old one. These spoons seem to be in such constant use that the natives did not offer them for sale. This specimen is smoothly carved from a single piece of pine, and painted all over, except the inside of the bowl, with red ocher. Across of red ocher is marked in the middle of the bowl, and there is a shallow groove, colored with blacklead, along the middle of the handle on top. The length is 13.2 inches. Asmall spoon of light-colored horn, No. 89416 [1379], has a bowl of the common spoon shape with a short, flat handle. Spoons of this sort were not seen in use, and as this is new and evidently made for sale it may be meant for a copy of one of our spoons. The narrow ladles of horn or bone may formerly have been used for eating before it was so easy to get tin pots, but at present are chiefly used for dipping oil, especially for filling the lamp. The collection contains one of horn and four of bone.

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Fig. 44.—Bone ladle.

No. 89415 [1070], Fig. 43, is made of a single piece of mountain-sheep horn, dark brown from age and use, softened and molded into shape. It is impregnated with oil, showing that it has been long in use. This utensil closely resembles a great number of specimens in the Museum from the more southern parts of Alaska. No. 89411 [1294] (Fig.44) is 105 a typical bone ladle. The material is rather coarse-grained, compact bone from a whale’s rib or jawbone. No. 89414 [1013] closely resembles this but is a trifle larger. The other two specimens are interesting as showing an attempt at ornamentation. No. 89412 [1102] (Fig. 45, from Nuwuk) is carved smoothly into a rude, flattened figure of a whale (Balaena mysticetus). The flukes form the handle and the belly is hollowed out into the bowl of the ladle. No. 89413 [934] (Fig. 46, from UtkiavwiÑ) has the handle carved into a rude bear’s head, which has the eyes, nostrils, and outline of the mouth incised and filled in with dark oil dregs. All these ladles have the curved side of the bowl on the left, showing that they were meant to be used with the right hand. The name, kiliu´t?, obtained for these ladles is given in the vocabulary collected by Dr. Oldmixon as “scraper,” which seems to be the etymological meaning of the word. These implements may be used for scraping blubber from skins, or the name may correspond in meaning to the cognate Greenlandic kiliortÛt, “ascraper; especially a mussel shell (anatural scraper).” The resemblance of these ladles to a mussel shell is sufficiently apparent for the name to be applied to them. Indeed, they may have been made in imitation of mussel shells, which the Eskimo, in all probability, like so many other savages, used for ladles as well as scrapers.

MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS.

Lamps (kÓdlÖ).—

Mention has already been made of the stone lamps or oil-burners used for lighting and warming the houses, which, in Dr. Simpson’s time, were obtained by trading from the “KÛÑmÛ´dliÑ,” who in turn procured them from other Eskimo far to the east. These are flat, shallow dishes, usually like a gibbous moon in outline, and are of two sizes: the larger house lamp, 18 inches to 3 feet in length, and the small traveling lamp, 6or 8 inches long. The latter is used in the temporary snow huts when a halt is made at night. In each house are usually two lamps, one standing at each side, with the curved side against the wall, and raised by blocks a few inches from the floor. In one large house, that of old YÛksi´Ña, the so-called “chief,” at Nuwuk, 106 there were three lamps, the third standing in the right-hand front corner of the house. The dish is filled with oil, which is burned by means of a wick of moss fibers arranged along the outer edge. Large lamps are usually divided into three compartments, of which the middle is the largest, by wooden partitions called sÄ´potin (corresponding to the Greenlandic saputit, “(1)adam across a stream for catching fish, (2)adam or dike in general”), along which wicks can also be arranged. The women tend the lamps with great care, trimming and arranging the wick with little sticks. The lamp burns with scarcely any smoke and a bright flame, the size of which is regulated by kindling more or less of the wick, and is usually kept filled by the drip from a lump of blubber stuck on a sharp stick (ajÛ´ksÛxbwiÑ) projecting from the wall about a foot above the middle of the lamp.197

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Fig. 47.—Stone house lamp.

In most houses there is a long slender stick (kukun, “a lighter”), which the man of the house uses to light his pipe with when sitting on the banquette, without the trouble of getting down, by dipping the end in the oil of the lamp and lighting this at the flame. The sticks used for trimming the wick also serve as pipe-lighters and for carrying fire across the room in the same way.198 No food, except an occasional 107 luncheon of porridge or something of the sort, is now cooked over these lamps. Two such lamps burning at the ordinary rate give light enough to enable one to read and write with ease when sitting on the banquette, and easily keep the temperature between 50° and 60° F.in the coldest weather. In the collection are three house lamps, two complete and one merely a fragment, and three traveling lamps.

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Fig. 48.—Sandstone lamp.

Fig. 47 (No. 89879) [872] is a typical house lamp, though rather a small specimen. It is carved out of soft gray soapstone and is 17 inches long. The back is nearly vertical, while the front flares strongly outward. The back wall is cut down vertically inside with a narrow rounded brim and the front curves gradually in from the very edge to the bottom of the cavity, which is 1½ inches deep in the middle. The posterior third of the cavity is occupied by a flat, straight shelf with a sloping edge about 0.7 inch high. About a third of one end of the lamp has been broken off obliquely and mended, as usual, with stitches. There are two of these neatly countersunk in channels. The specimen has been long in use and is thoroughly incrusted with oil and soot. No. 89880 [1731] (Fig.48) is peculiar, from the material of which it is made. This is a coarse, gritty stone, rather soft, but much more difficult to work than the soapstone. It is rudely worked into something the same shape as the type, but has the cavity but slightly hollowed out, without a shelf, and only a little steeper behind than in front. The idea at once suggests itself that this lamp, which is very old and sooty, was made at Point Barrow and was an attempt to imitate the imported lamps with stone obtained from the beds reported by Lieut. Ray in Kulugrua. There is, of course, no means of proving this supposition. There is no mention of any material except soapstone being made into lamps by the Greenlanders or other eastern Eskimo, but the lamps from Kadiak and Bristol Bay in the National Museum are made of some hard gray stone.

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Fig. 49.—Traveling lamp.

Fig. 49, No. 56673 [133], is a traveling lamp, and is a miniature of the large lamp, No. 89879 [872], 8.7 inches long, 4.2 wide, and 1 inch high, also of soapstone and without a shelf. The front also is straighter, and the whole more roughly made. No. 89882 [1298] is another traveling lamp, also of soapstone, and made of about half of a large lamp. It has been 108 used little if at all since it was made over, as the inside is almost new while the outside is coated with soot and grease. It is 6.3 inches long. No. 89881 [1209] is a miniature of No. 89880, 8.1 inches long, and is made of the same gritty stone.

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Fig. 351.—Knot in snowshoe.

The right shoe has fourteen longitudinal strands in each set and thirteen transverse; the left, one less in each set. On the left shoe the end is carried up from the last knot to the lacing at the point, and then comes back to the bar, fastening the other part to the netting with six equidistant half-hitches. The heel netting proper is put on in a slightly 347 different fashion, as the space to be filled is no longer triangular. It starts as before in the right hand lower corner, where it is knotted into the becket, running across from the rim to the heel-bar; goes up to the middle of the extra bar, round which it is hitched as already described, then down to the left hand lower corner; up to the first becket on the left rim, across to the corresponding one on the right, and down to the first becket on the heel bar. This completes the first round (see diagram, Fig. 353a). The second round goes up to the hind bar at the left of the first, comes down only to the transverse strand of the first round on the left, goes up to the becket on the rim above the first, crosses to the right, and comes back to the transverse turn of the first rounds. All these strands except the transverse one are on the left of the first round. The third round follows the first, which brings all its strands except the transverse one to the right of the first round (see diagram, Fig. 353b). The successive odd rounds follow the first and the even rounds the second, bringing the longitudinal strands alternately to the right and left of the first round, until the ends of the hind bar are reached—that is to say, till the space outside of the first round is filled—each transverse strand coming above the preceding. This is done regularly on the left shoe, the tenth round coming to the left end of the bar, and the eleventh to the right. The twelfth round comes to the becket in the left hand upper corner, and crosses to the corresponding becket on the other side. It then follows the odd rounds, thus making six strands, four longitudinal and two transverse, as in the point nettings. All the remaining rounds follow this till the whole space is filled in, which brings the end of the last round to the middle of the heel bar, where it is knotted to the becket.

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Fig. 352.—Point netting of snowshoe heel: (a)first round; (b)first and second rounds.

On the right shoe the maker seems to have made a mistake at the eighth round, which obliged him to alter the order of the other strands 348 and finish with half a round. Instead of taking the end of the eighth round down to the preceding transverse strand only, he has brought it down to the heel bar, which brings the ninth round to the left, following the even rounds, and coming to the end of the hind bar, the tenth to the right end of the bar, so that it is the eleventh which makes the first transverse turn at the top. The pattern is the same as in the point nettings. The right shoe has 25, 24, and 19 strands in the three sets respectively, and the left, 25, 25, and 19. The toe nettings are put on in the same way, the first round going to the middle becket at the toe, and crossing to the first becket on the right hand, the second going to the first becket on the left hand and crossing on the right to the first round, and the third going to the first round at the toe and crossing on the right to the becket.

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Fig. 353.—Heel netting of snow shoe; (a)first round; (b)first, second, and third rounds.

All the even rounds go to the becket at the toe and cross to the preceding even round, and all the odd rounds go to the preceding odd round at the toe and cross to the becket, until the space outside of the first round is filled with longitudinal strands, when they begin to make descending transverse turns across the toe, going from the becket on the left to the corresponding one on the right and thus following the odd rounds. The fourteenth round on the right shoe begins this, the twelfth on the left. This brings the end of the last round to the middle of the toe bar. It is then carried up to the becket at the toe, brought down and up again, and the end is used to fasten these three parts to the netting with equidistant half hitches—fourteen on the right shoe and thirteen on the left. The pattern, of course, is the same as before, with 33, 33, and 26 strands on the right shoe, and 31, 31, and 25 on the left, in each set respectively.

349

The foot-netting is of a very different pattern, and consists of seven transverse and thirteen longitudinal strands, of which six, in the middle, do not reach the toe bar, leaving an oblong transverse hole, through which the toe presses against the snow at the beginning of the step. The cross strands are a piece of stout thong (the skin of the walrus or bearded seal), to the end of which is spliced with double slits a long piece of thinner seal thong, which makes the longitudinal ones. The seven transverse strands pass in and out through holes in the rim, while the longitudinal strands pass over the bars, except the middle three pairs, which pass round the horizontal strand behind the toe hole, drawing it down to the next strand. The end of the thirteenth strand wattles these two firmly together, as it does also the two pairs of longitudinal strands on each side of the toe hole, and finishes off the netting by whipping the two sets of strands together with a “birdcage stitch.”

The object of the complicated wattling round the toe hole is, first, to strengthen the hind border against which the toe presses in walking, and second to give a firm attachment for the straps, which are fastened at the junction of the doubled and twisted longitudinal strands with the first and second transverse ones. Each strap is a single piece of stout seal thong fastened to the shoe with two loops as follows: At the inner side of the shoe the end is passed into the toe hole and makes a round turn about the doubled longitudinal strands, and then goes under the two cross strands, coming out behind them and between the twelfth and thirteenth longitudinal strands. It is then spliced into the standing part with two slits, making a becket about 3 inches in diameter. The other end, leaving a loop large enough to go round the wearer’s heel, is passed through the becket just made, wound in the same way as before round the strands at the other corner of the toe hole, and made into a similar becket by knotting the end to the standing part with a marlinghitch with the bight left in. On the right shoe this hitch is made in a slit in the standing part. The end is probably left long for the purpose of adjusting the length of the strap to the wearer’s foot.

In putting on the shoe, the toe is thrust sideways through the loop till the bight comes well up over the heel, and then turned round and stuck under the two beckets, which together form a strap to fasten the toe down to the shoe, leaving the latter free to swing when the heel is raised. By reversing the process the shoe is easily kicked off. These straps must be fitted very nicely or else the shoe is apt to come off. This is a very neatly made pair of shoes, and the woodwork is all painted red above.

No. 89913 [1737] is a pair of similar shoes also from UtkiavwiÑ. The frame is made in the same way and is wholly of willow except the extra hind bar, which is of walrus ivory. These shoes are shorter and somewhat broader than the preceding and not so well made. They are 48.5 350 inches long and 11 broad. The two shoes are not perceptibly different in shape. The lacing, which is of sinew braid, is put on in the same way as on the preceding pair, except that it is fastened directly into the holes on the toe bars. The whole of the heel netting is in one piece, and made precisely in the same way as the point nettings of the first pair, the end being carried up the middle to the point of the heel and brought down again to the bar as on the toe nettings, but fastened with marling hitches. The number of strands is the same in each shoe, twenty-three in each set. The toe nettings follow quite regularly the pattern of the preceding pair.

The shoes are not quite the same size, as the right has 35, 35, and 28 strands, and the left 33, 33, and 25, in each set respectively. There is no regular rule about the number of strands in any part of the netting, the object being simply to make the meshes always about the same size. The foot netting is made of stout and very white thong from the bearded seal. These shoes have no strings.

No. 89914 [1738] is a pair of rather small shoes from UtkiavwiÑ, one of which is shown in Fig. 354. They are rights and lefts, and are 42 inches long by 10 broad. The frame is wholly of oak, and differs from the type only in having no extra hind bar, and having the heel and toe bars about equal in length. The points are fastened together with a treenail, as well as with a whalebone stitch. The heel-nettings are put on with perfect regularity, as on the pair last described, but the toe-nettings, though they start in the usual way, do not follow any regular rule of sucession, the rounds being put on sometimes inside and sometimes outside of the preceding, till the whole space is filled. The foot-nettings are somewhat clumsily made, especially on the right shoe, which appears to have been broken in several places, and “cobbled” by an unskillful workman. There are only five transverse strands which are double on the left shoe, and the longitudinal strands are not whipped to these, but interwoven, and each pair twisted together between the transverse strands. There is no wattling back of the toe hole, and one pair of longitudinal strands at the side of the latter is not doubled on the left shoe. The strings are put on as on the type except that the ends are knotted instead of being spliced. This pair of shoes was 351 used by the writer on many short excursions around the station during the winters of 1881-’82 and 1882-’83. They were old when purchased.

I had but one opportunity of seeing the process of making the frames of the snowshoes. IlÛbw’ga, the “inland” native frequently mentioned, aparticularly skillful workman, undertook to make a pair of snowshoes for Lieut. Ray at our quarters, but did not succeed in finishing them, as the ash lumber which we brought from San Francisco proved too brittle for the purpose. Having a long piece of wood, he “got out” the whole rim in one piece. Ordinarily the splice at the toe must be made, at least temporarily, before the frame can be bent into shape. He softened up the wood by wrapping it in rags wet with hot water. Some of the other natives, however, recommended that the wood should be immersed in the salt water for a day or two, from which I infer that this is a common practice. After slowly bending the toe, with great care, nearly into shape, he inserted into the bend a flat block of wood of the proper shape for the toe and lashed the frame to this. Apointed block was also used to give the proper shape to the heel; the bars being inserted in the mortises before the ends were brought together. The temporary lashings are kept on till the wood dries into shape. The toes are turned up by tying the shoes together, sole to sole, and inserting a transverse stick between the tips of the toes.

The use of finely finished snowshoes of this pattern is of comparatively recent date at Point Barrow. Dr. Simpson459 is explicit concerning the use of snowshoes in his time (1853-’55). He says: “Snowshoes are so seldom used in the north where the drifted snow presents a hard frozen surface to walk upon, that certainly not half a dozen pairs were in existence at Point Barrow at the time of our arrival, and those were of an inferior sort.” Ihave already mentioned the universal employment of these snowshoes at the present day, so that the custom must have arisen in the last thirty years. The pattern of shoe now used is identical with those of the TinnÉ or Athabascan Indians (asis plainly shown by the National Museum collections), and I am inclined to believe that the Point Barrow natives have learned to use them from the “NunataÑmiun,” from whom, indeed, they purchase ready-made snowshoes at the present day, as we ourselves observed. The “NunataÑmiun,” or the closely related people of the KuwÛk River, are known to have intimate trading relations with the Indians, and even in Simpson’s time460 used the Indian shoe, sometimes at least. The fact that in recent times families of the “NunataÑmiun” have established the habit of spending the winter with the people of Point Barrow and associating with them in the winter deer-hunt, would explain how the latter came to recognize the superior excellence of the Indian shoe.

This is more likely than that they learned to use them from the eastern natives, whom they only meet for a short time in summer, though 352 the latter used the Indian style of snowshoes at least as early as 1826. Franklin461 speaks of seeing, at Demarcation Point, apair of snowshoes netted with cords of deerskin and shaped like those of the Indians of the Mackenzie.

Most of the other Eskimo of Alaska, who need to use snowshoes at all, use a style of shoe very much less efficient and more roughly made, the rim being of heavy, rather crooked pieces of willow or alder. Simpson’s description will apply very well to this form, which is used even as far north as Icy Cape, whence Mr. Nelson brought home a pair. It also appears to be the prevailing, if not the only, form on the Siberian coast and St. Lawrence Island, judging from NordinskiÖld’s figure462 and Mr. Nelson’s collections.

Simpson says:463 “The most common one is two pieces of alder, about two feet and a half long, curved towards each other at the ends, where they are bound together, and kept apart in the middle by two crosspieces, each end of which is held in a mortise. Between the crosspieces is stretched a stout thong, lengthwise and across, for the foot to rest upon, with another which first forms a loop to allow the toes to pass beneath; this is carried round the back of the ankle to the opposite side of the foot, so as to sling the snowshoe under the joint of the great toe.”

When there are toe and heel nettings, they are of seal thong with a large open mesh. The snowshoe from Norton Sound, figured by Dall,464 is a rather neatly made variety of this form. South of the Yukon, the use of the snowshoe appears to be confined to the Indians. As shown by the Museum collections, the strings are always of the pattern described throughout the whole northwestern region.465

Snowshoes appear to be rarely used among the eastern Eskimo. The only writer who mentions them is Kumlien.466 He says: “When traveling over the frozen wastes in winter, they [i.e., the natives of Cumberland Gulf] use snowshoes. These are half-moon shaped, of whalebone, with sealskin thongs tightly drawn across. They are about 16 inches long. Another pattern is merely a frame of wood, about the same length and 8 or 10 inches wide, with sealskin thongs for the foot to rest on.”

The latter is apparently quite like the western snowshoes described by Simpson.

Staff.—

The only staff used by the young and vigorous is the shaft of the spear, when one is carried. The aged and feeble, however, support their steps with one or two staffs about 5 feet long, often shod with bone or ivory. (The old man whom Franklin met on the Coppermine River walked with the help of two sticks.467) Fig. 355 from a photograph represents old YÛksiÑa from Nuwuk, with his two staffs, without which he was hardly able to walk.

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Fig. 355.—Old “Chief” with staffs.

353

LAND CONVEYANCES.

Sledges.—

The only land conveyance employed at Point Barrow is the universal sledge of the Eskimo, of which there are two forms in general use, one, ka´moti, with a high rail on each side, and especially intended for carrying loads of the smaller articles, clothing, camp equipage, etc., and the other (unia) low and flat, without rail or “upstander,” for carrying bulky objects, like whole carcasses of deer, frozen seals, rough dried deerskins, etc., and especially used for carrying the umiak across the land or solid ice. Both kinds are made without nails, but are fastened together by mortises and lashings and stitches of thong and whalebone. Ihave, however, seen one unia, which was made in 1883, fastened together with nails, arather inferior substitute for the lashings, as they not only would not hold so firmly, but would also be liable to break in cold weather.

Both kinds of sledge are made of driftwood and shod with strips of whale’s jaw, about three-fourths of an inch thick, fastened on with bone treenails. These bone runners, which are about 2 inches wide, run sufficiently well over ice, hard snow, the frozen gravel of the beach or even on the bare tundra, but for carrying a heavy load over the softer snow of the interior they are shod with ice in a manner peculiar to this region.

It is well known that not only the Eskimo generally, but other hyperborean people coat the runners of their sleds with ice to make them run more smoothly, but this is usually only a comparatively thin crust, produced by pouring water on the runners or applying a mixture of snow or mud and water.468 Mr. Turner informs me that at Ungava they are particular to use fine black vegetable mold for this purpose.

The method at Point Barrow is quite different from this. To each 354 runner is fitted a heavy shoe of clear ice, as long as the runner, and fully 1 foot high by 6 inches thick. The sledge with these ice runners is estimated to weigh, even when unloaded, upwards of 200 or 300 pounds, but it appears that the smoothness of running more than counterbalances the extra weight. At any rate these shoes are almost universally employed on the sleds which make the long journey from the rivers in the spring with heavy loads of meat, fish, and skins. One native, in 1883, shod his sledges with salt-water ice in this way before starting for the hunting grounds. As these ice shoes are usually put on at the rivers, Ihad no opportunity of seeing the process, though I have seen the sledges thus shod after their return to the village. Lieut. Ray, who saw the process, describes it as follows:

“From the ice on a pond that is free from fracture they cut the pieces the length of a sled runner, 8inches thick and 10 inches wide; into these they cut a groove deep enough to receive the sled runner up to the beam; the sled is carefully fitted into the groove, and secured by pouring in water, alittle at a time and allowing it to freeze. Great care is taken in this part of the operation, for should the workman apply more than a few drops at a time, the slab of ice would be split and the work all to do over again; after the ice is firmly secured the sled is turned bottom up and the ice-shoe is carefully rounded with a knife, and then smoothed by wetting the naked hand and passing it over the surface until it becomes perfectly glazed.”469

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Fig. 356.—Railed sledge, diagrammatic (from photograph).

In traveling they take great care of these runners, keeping them smooth and polished, and mending all cracks by pouring in fresh water. They are also careful to shade them from the noonday sun, which at this season of the year is warm enough to loosen the shoes, for this purpose hanging a cloth or skin over the sunny side of the sled.470

We were unfortunately not able to bring home specimens of either style of large sled. The rail sled (kamoti) is usually about 8 or 9 feet long, and 2½ to 3 feet wide, and the rail at the back not over 2½ feet high. The thick curved runners, about 5 or 6 inches wide (see diagram, Fig. 356, 355 made from a small photograph) meet the curved slender rails (which are usually round) in front, but are separated from them behind by four stout vertical posts on each side, increasing in length toward the other end and mortised into the runners and rails. An equal number of stout wooden arches half the height of the posts are mortised into the runners, each arch a little in front of each pair of posts. Alongitudinal strip runs along the middle of each side, and slats are laid across these, supported by the arches. The sledge is rather heavy and clumsy, but usually carefully made and often painted with red ocher.

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Fig. 357.—Flat sledge.

Of the unia or flat sledge we have, fortunately a good photograph, Fig. 357. To the thick straight wooden runners are fastened directly seven cross slats, which project about 2 inches at each end beyond the runner, to which they are fastened by two stitches of whalebone each. Alongitudinal strip runs along above the slats on each side. These sledges are generally made on the same pattern, varying somewhat in size. Acommon size is about 6 feet long, about 2½ feet wide, and 9 or 10 inches high. Very small sledges of this pattern are sometimes made, especially for the purpose, as we were told, of carrying provisions, perhaps when one or two persons desire to make a rapid journey of some length, or for carrying a small share of meat from camp to camp.471

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Fig. 358.—Small sledge with ivory runners.

One of these (Fig. 358, No. 89889 [1140], from UtkiavwiÑ), which shows signs of long use, was brought home. It is 20.7 inches long and 13 broad, and has ivory runners, with three wooden slats across them, held down 356 by a low wooden rail on each side. Each runner is a slice from a single large walrus tusk, with the butt at the back of the sled. The slats, which are pieces of a ship’s paneling, are lashed to the upper edge of the runners so as to project about one-half inch on each side. The rails flare slightly outward. The whole is fastened together by lashings of rather broad whalebone, passing through a hole near the upper edge of the runner, anotch in the end of the slat and a hole in the slat inside of the rail. There are two lashings at each end of each broad slat and one in the middle, at each end of the narrow one. The last and the ones at each end of the sled also secure the rail by passing through a hole near its edge, in which are cut square notches to make room for the other lashings. The trace is a strip of seal thong about 5 feet long and one-fourth inch wide, split at one end for about 1 foot into two parts. The other end is slit in two for about 3 inches. This is probably a broken loop, which served for fastening the trace to a dog’s harness.

I do not recollect ever seeing so small a sled in actual use, though Lieut. Ray says he has frequently seen them drawn by one dog. The people who came down from Nuwuk with a small load of things for trade sometimes used a small unÍa about 3 feet long, with one dog, and the same was often used by the girls for bringing in firewood from the beach.

A very peculiar sled was formerly used at Point Barrow, but we have no means of knowing how common it was. It was a sort of toboggan, made by lashing together lengthwise slabs of whalebone, but is now wholly obsolete, since whalebone has too high a market value to permit of its being used for any such purpose. We obtained one specimen about 10 feet long, but it was unfortunately in such a dilapidated condition that we were unable to bring it home. Ifind no previous mention of the use of such sleds by any Eskimo. It is not necessary to suppose that this sled is modeled after the toboggan of the Hudson Bay voyagers, of which these people might have obtained knowledge through the eastern natives, since the simple act of dragging home a “slab” of whalebone would naturally suggest this contrivance.

We did bring home one small sled of this kind (No. 89875 [772], Fig. 359, from UtkiavwiÑ), which from its size was probably a child’s toy, though from its greasy condition it seems to have been used for dragging pieces of blubber. It is made of the tips of 6 small “slabs” of black whalebone, each about 2 inches wide at the broad end, and put together side by side so as to form a triangle 19¼ inches long and 9¾ wide, the apex being the front of the sled, and the left-hand edge of each slab slightly overlapping the edge of the preceding. They are fastened together by three transverse bands, passing through loops in the upper surface of each slot, made by cutting two parallel longitudinal slits about one-half inch long and one-fourth inch apart part way through, and raising up the surface between them. The hindmost band is a strip of whalebone nearly one-half inch wide, passing through these 357 loops, and wound closely in a spiral around a straight rod of whalebone, 0.4 inch wide and 0.1 inch thick, as long as the band. The ends of the band are knotted into rings or beckets about 2¼ inches in diameter. The other two bands are simple, narrow strips of whalebone, running straight across through the loops and knotted at the ends into similar beckets. These beckets were obviously for tying on the load.

The sled with side rails does not appear to be used east of the Mackenzie region, but is found only slightly modified at least as far south as Norton Sound.472 The sledge used on the Asiatic coast, however, as shown in NordenskiÖld’s figure,473 belongs to a totally different family, being undoubtedly borrowed from the reindeer Chukches.474 The sleds of the eastern Eskimo vary somewhat in pattern and material, but may be described in general terms as essentially the same as the unÍa, but usually provided with what is called an “upstander,” namely, two upright posts at each side of the back of the sled, often connected by a cross rail, which serve to guide the sled from behind. Many descriptions and figures of these sleds will be found in the various descriptions of the eastern Eskimo.

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Fig. 359.—Small toboggan of whalebone.

Dogs and harness.—

These sledges are drawn by dogs, which, as far as I am able to judge, are of the same breed as those used by the eastern Eskimo. They are, as a rule, rather large and stout. Anumber of the dogs at UtkiavwiÑ would compare favorably in size with the average Newfoundland dogs, and they appear to be capable of well sustained exertion. The commonest color is the regular “brindle” of the wolf, though white, brindle-and-white, and black-and-white dogs are not uncommon. There was, however, but one wholly black dog in the two villages. This was a very handsome animal known by the name of AllÚa (“coal”).

Every dog has his name and knows it. Their disposition is rather quarrelsome, especially among themselves, but they are not particularly ferocious, seldom doing more than howl and yelp at a stranger, and it is not difficult usually to make friends with them. There was 358 very little difficulty in petting the half dozen dogs which we had at the station, and they grew to be very much attached to the laborer who used to feed them. The natives treat their dogs well as a rule, seldom beating them wantonly or severely. Though they do not allow them to come into the houses, the dogs seem to have considerable attachment to their masters. Considerable care is bestowed on the puppies. Those born in winter are frequently reared in the iglu, and the women often carry a young puppy around in the jacket as they would a child.

We saw no traces of the disease resembling hydrophobia, which has wrought such havoc in Greenland and Baffin Land. Ionce, however, saw a puppy apparently suffering from fits of some kind, running wildly round and round, yelping furiously, and occasionally rolling over and kicking. The natives said, “MÛlukÛ´lirua, asi´rua”, (“He is howling[?];475 he is bad”), and some of the boys finally took it out on the tundra and knocked it on the head.

The dog harness, Ánun (Gr. anut), consists of a broad strip of stout rawhide (from the bearded seal or walrus), with three parallel loops at one end, frequently made by simply cutting long slits side by side in the thong and bending it into shape. The head is passed through the middle loop and a foreleg through each of the side-loops, bringing the main part of the thong over the back. This serves as a trace, and is furnished at the end with a toggle of bone or wood, by which it is fastened to beckets in a long line of thong, the end of which is usually made fast to the middle of the first slat of the sledge. The dogs are attached in a long line, alternately on opposite sides of this trace, just so far apart that one dog can not reach his leader when both are pulling.

The most spirited dog is usually put at the head of the line as leader, and the natives sometimes select a bitch in heat for this position, as the dogs are sure to follow her. The same custom has been observed by Kumlien at Cumberland Gulf.476 Ten dogs are considered a large team, and few of the natives can muster so many. When the sledge is heavily loaded men and women frequently help to drag it. The dogs are never driven, and except over a well known trail, like that between UtkiavwiÑ and the whaling camp in 1883, will not travel unless a woman trots along in front, encouraging them with cries of “AÑ! aÑ! tÛ´lla! tÛ´lla!” (Come! comeon!), while the man or woman who runs behind the sled to guide it and keep it from capsizing, urges them on with cries of “Ku! ku!” (Get on! geton!), occasionally reproving an individual dog by name. After they are well started, they go on without much urging if nothing distracts their attention. It is not easy to stop a dog team when the destination is reached. Commands and shouts of “Lie down!” are seldom sufficient, and the people generally have to pull 359 back on the sled and drag back on the harness till the team comes to a halt.

The leader, who is usually a woman or child sometimes guides the team by a line attached to the trace, and Lieut. Ray says he has seen them, when traveling in the interior, tie a piece of blubber or meat on the end of a string and drag it on the snow just ahead of the leader. The natives seldom ride on the sledge except with a light load on a smooth road. Afew old and decrepit people like YÛ´ksiÑa always traveled on sledges between the villages, and the people who came down with empty sledges for provisions from the whaling camp, always rode on the well beaten trail where the dogs would run without leading.477 The dog whip so universally employed by the eastern Eskimo, is not used at Point Barrow, but when Lieut. Ray made a whip for driving his team, the natives called it ipirau´ta, aname essentially identical with that used in the east. They especially distinguished ipirau´ta, awhip with a lash, from a cudgel, anau´ta. The latter word has also the same meaning in the eastern dialects.

We saw nothing of the custom of protecting the dogs’ feet with sealskin shoes, so prevalent on the Siberian coast.478 Curiously enough the only other localities in which the use of this contrivance is mentioned are in the extreme east.479 During the first warm weather in the spring, before the dogs have shed their heavy winter coats, they suffer a great deal from the heat and can go only a short distance without lying down to rest.

The method of harnessing and driving the dogs varies considerably in different localities. Among the eastern natives the dogs are usually harnessed abreast, each with a separate trace running to the sledge, and the driver generally rides, guiding the dogs with a whip. The leader usually has a longer trace than the rest. The harness used at Fury and Hecla Straits is precisely the same as that at Point Barrow, but in Greenland, according to Dr. Kane, it consists of a “simple breast-strap,” with a single trace. The illustration, however, in Rink’s Tales and Traditions, opposite p.232, which was drawn by a native Greenlander, shows a pattern of harness similar to that used in Siberia and described by NordenskiÖld480 as “made of inch-wide straps of skin, forming a neck or shoulder band, united on both sides by a strap to a girth, to one side of which the draft strap is fastened.” It is a curious fact that the two extremes of the Eskimo race (for even if the people of Pitlekaj be Chukchi in blood, they are Eskimo in culture) should use the same pattern of harness, while a different form prevails between them. The Siberians also habitually ride upon the sledges, and use a whip, and on some parts of the coast, at least, harness the dogs abreast. In 360 the region about Pitlekaj, however, the dogs are harnessed “tandem” in pairs, as is the case at Norton Sound, where a more efficient harness is also used, which is probably not Eskimo, but learned from the whites.481 NordenskiÖld482 expresses the opinion that the Eskimo method of harnessing the dogs abreast indicates that the Eskimos have lived longer than the Chukchis north of the limit of trees; in other words, that the method of harnessing the dogs tandem is the older one, and that the Eskimo have learned to harness them abreast since they left the woodland regions. Ican hardly agree with these conclusions, for it seems to me that the easiest and most natural method of attaching the dogs would be to fasten each directly to the sled by its own trace. Now, when many dogs are attached to the sled in this way, the outer dogs can not apply their strength in a direct line but must pull obliquely, and, moreover, as we know to be the case, so many long traces are constantly becoming entangled, and each individual dog has to be kept straight by the driver. If, however, the dogs be made fast to a long line, one behind the other, not only does each pull straight ahead, but if the leader be kept to the track he pulls the other dogs after him, relieving the driver of the greater part of the care of them.

It seems to me therefore, that the tandem method is an improvement in dog harnessing, which has been adopted only by the natives of northeastern Siberia, and northwestern America, and has no connection with the wooded or unwooded state of the country.483

HUNTING SCORES.

The only thing that we saw of the nature of numerical records were the series of animals engraved upon ivory, already alluded to. In most cases we were unable to learn whether the figures really represented an actual record or not, though the bag handle, No. 89424 [890] already figured, was said to contain the actual score of whales killed by old YÚ´ksiÑa. The custom does not appear to be so prevalent as at Norton Sound (see above, p.117). Many of these possible scores being engraved on ivory implements have already been described. With one exception they only record the capture of whales or reindeer. The exception (No.89425 [1732], Fig. 153b) presents a series of ten bearded seals. The reindeer are usually depicted in a natural attitude, and some of the circumstances of the hunt are usually represented. For instance, aman is figured aiming with a bow and arrow toward a line of reindeer, indicating that such a number were taken by shooting, while a string of deer, represented without legs as they would 361 appear swimming, followed by a rude figure of a man in a kaiak, means that so many were lanced in the water. Other incidents of the excursion are also sometimes represented. On these records the whale is always represented by a rude figure of the tail cut off at the “small,” and often represented as hanging from a horizontal line.

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Fig. 360.—Hunting score engraved on ivory.

We also brought home four engraved pieces of ivory, which are nothing else than records of real or imaginary scenes. Ihave figured all of these. Fig. 360 (No.89487 [1026] from Nuwuk) is a narrow flat tablet of ivory, 4.8 inches long and 1 inch wide, with a string at one end to hang it up by. On each face is an ornamental border inclosing a number of incised figures, which probably represent actual scenes, as the tablet is not new.

The figures on the obverse face are colored with red ocher. At the upper end, standing on a cross line, with his head toward the end, is a rudely drawn man, holding his right hand up and his left down, with the fingers outspread. At his left stands a boy with both hands down. These figures probably represent the hunter and his son. Just below the cross line is a man raising a spear to strike an animal which is perhaps meant for a reindeer without horns. Three deer, also without horns, stand with their feet on one border with their heads toward the upper end, and on the other border near the other end are two bucks with large antlers heading the other way, and behind them a man in a kaiak. Between him and the animal which the first man is spearing is an object which may represent the crescent moon. The story may perhaps be freely translated as follows: “When the moon was young the man and his son killed six reindeer, two of them bucks with large antlers. One they speared on land, the rest they chased with the kaiak.”

On the reverse the figures and border are colored black with soot. In the left-hand lower corner is a she bear and her cub heading to the left, followed by a man who is about to shoot an arrow at them. Then come two more bears heading toward the right, and in the right-hand 362 lower corner is a whale with two floats attached to him by a harpoon line. Above this is an umiak with four men in it approaching another whale which has already received one harpoon with its two floats. The harpoon which is to be thrust at him may be seen sticking out over the bow of the boat. Then come two whales in a line, one heading to the left and one to the right. In the left-hand upper corner is a figure which may represent a boat, bottom up, on the staging of four posts. We did not learn the actual history of this tablet, which was brought down for sale with a number of other things.

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Fig. 361.—Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse.

Fig. 361 (No. 89473 [1349] from UtkiavwiÑ) is a piece of an old snow-shovel edge with freshly incised figures on both faces, which the artist said represented his own record. The figures are all colored with red ocher. On the obverse the figures all stand on a roughly drawn ground line. At the left is a man pointing his rifle at a bear, which stands on its hind legs facing him. Then comes a she bear walking toward the left followed by a cub, then two large bears also walking to the left, and a she bear in the same attitude, followed by two cubs, one behind the other. This was explained by the artist as follows: “These are all the bears I have killed. This one alone (pointing to the ‘rampant’ one) was bad. All the others were good.” We heard at the time of his giving the death shot to the last bear as it was charging his comrade, who had wounded it with his muzzle-loader. On the reverse, the figures are in the same position. The same man points his rifle at a string of three wolves. His explanation was: “These are the wolves I have killed.”

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Fig. 362.—Hunting score engraved on ivory.

Fig. 362 (No. 89474 [1334] from UtkiavwiÑ) is newly made, but was said to be the record of a man of our acquaintance named MÛÑiÑolu. It is a flat piece of the outside of a walrus tusk 9.7 inches long and 1.8 wide at the broader end. The figures are incised on one face only, and 363 colored with red ocher. The face is divided lengthwise into two panels by a horizontal line. In the upper panel, at the left, is a man facing to the right and pointing a gun at a line of three standing deer, facing toward the left. Two are bucks and one a doe. Then come two bucks, represented without legs, as if swimming in the water, followed by a rude figure of a man in a kaiak. Below the line at the left is an umiak with five men, and then a row of twelve conventionalized whales’ tails, of which all but the first, second, and fifth are joined to the horizontal line by a short straight line. The record may be freely translated as follows: “Iwent out with my gun and killed three large reindeer, two bucks and a doe. Ialso speared two large bucks in the water. My whaling crew have taken twelve whales.” The number of whales is open to suspicion, as they just fill up the board.

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Fig. 363.—Hunting score engraved on ivory, obverse and reverse.

Fig. 363 (No. 56517 [121] from UtkiavwiÑ) is a piece of an old snow-shovel edge 4.2 inches long, with a loop of thong at the upper side to hang it up by. It is covered on both faces with freshly incised figures, colored with red ocher, representing some real or imaginary occurrence.

The obverse is bordered with a single narrow line. At the left is a man standing with arms outstretched supporting himself by two slender staffs as long as he is. In the middle are three rude figures of tents, very high and slender. At the right is a hornless reindeer heading to the left, with a man standing on its back with his legs straddled 364 apart and his arms uplifted. On the reverse, there is no border, but a single dog and a man who supports himself with a long staff are dragging an empty rail sledge toward the left.

I find no mention of the use of any such scores among the eastern Eskimo, but they are very common among those of the west, as shown by the Museum collections. They record in this way, not only hunting exploits but all sorts of trivial occurrences.

GAMES AND PASTIMES.

Gambling.—

These people have only one game which appears to be of the nature of gambling. It is played with the twisters and marline spikes used for backing the bow, and already described, though Lieut. Ray says he has seen it played with any bits of stick or bone. Inever had an opportunity of watching a game of this sort played, as it is not often played at the village. It is a very popular amusement at the deer-hunting camps, where Lieut. Ray often saw it played. According to him the players are divided into sides, who sit on the ground about 3 yards apart, each side sticking up one of the marline spikes for a mark to throw the twisters at. Six of the latter, he believes, make a full set. One side tosses the whole set one at a time at the opposite stake, and the points which they make are counted up by their opponents from the position of the twisters as they fall. He did not learn how the points were reckoned, except that twisters with a mark on them counted differently from the plain ones, or how long the game lasted, each side taking its turn of casting at the opposite stake. He, however, got the impression that the winning side kept the twisters belonging to their opponents. Mr. Nelson informs me in a letter that a similar game is played with the same implements at Norton Sound.

No. 56532 [9], from UtkiavwiÑ, is a bag full of these tools as used for playing this game. It contains 18 twisters, of different patterns, and 7 marline spikes. The bag is of membrane, perhaps a bladder. It is ovoid in shape, all in one piece, with a long opening in one side, which is closed by a piece of sinew braid about 40 inches long. This is knotted by one end round a fold of membrane at one end of the mouth, and when the bag is shut up is wrapped round the middle of it.

Some of these people have learned what cards are from the NunataÑmiun, though they do not know how to use them. They described how they were used by the “NunataÑmiun,” however, going through the motions of dealing cards. They told us that the latter played a great deal, and “gave much.” This “giving much” evidently referred to gambling, for they told Capt. Herendeen how two of the “NunataÑmiun” would sit down to play, one with a big pile of furs and one without any, and when they got up the furs would all belong to the other man.

Fig. 364 (No. 56531 [21]) represents some of a bunch of 25 little ivory images which were strung on a bit of seal thong. One is a neatly carved fox, 2.7 inches long, and the rest are ducks or geese, rather 365 roughly carved, with flat bellies. The largest of these is 1.3 inches long and the smallest 0.8 inch. These were purchased at Plover Bay, eastern Siberia, during our brief visit in August, 1881, and were supposed to be merely works of art. Iwas, however, very much interested on my return to Washington to find that Dr. Franz Boas had brought from Cumberland Gulf a number of precisely similar images, which are there used for playing a game of the nature of “jackstones.” The player tosses up a handful of these images, and scores points for the number that sit upright when they fall.484 It is therefore quite likely that they are used for a similar purpose at Plover Bay. If this be so, it is a remarkable point of similarity between these widely separated Eskimo, for I can learn nothing of a similar custom at any intermediate point.

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Fig. 364.—Game of fox and geese, from Plover Bay.

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Fig. 188.—KÛÑmÛdliÑ arrow pile.

The Eskimo told us that a deer wounded in this way would “sleep once and die,” meaning, apparently, that death would ensue in about twenty-four hours, probably from peritonitis. The bone pile is called nÛ´tkaÑ, whence comes the name of the arrow, nÛ´tko´dliÑ. We collected ten arrows and three piles of this pattern. No. 89460 [1263], Fig. 188, is a peculiar bone arrow pile, perhaps intended for a deer arrow. It is 7 inches long and made of one of the long bones of some large bird, split lengthwise so that it is rounded on one side and deeply concave on the other, with two thin rounded edges tapered to a sharp point. Each 206 edge has three little barbs about the middle of the pile. This was the only arrowhead of the kind seen at Point Barrow, and the native who sold it said it was a “KÛÑmÛd´liÑ” arrow. Iwas pleased to find the truth of this corroborated by the Museum collection. There are two arrows from the Mackenzie region (Nos. 1106 and 1906) with bone piles of almost the same form.

For shooting gulls, geese, and other large fowl they used an arrow with a straight polygonal pile of walrus ivory, 5or 6 inches long and about one-half inch in diameter, terminating in a somewhat obtuse polygonal point, and having one or more unilateral barbs. These piles are generally five-sided, though sometimes trihedral, and have a long, rounded tang inserted into the end of the shaft. Fig. 189a (No.89349 [119] from UtkiavwiÑ), represents one of these arrows with a five-sided pile 5.5 inches long, with four simple barbs. The rest of the arrow does not differ from the others described. No. 89238 [25], from Nuwuk, has a trihedral pile 6.6 inches long, with a single barb. Another from Nuwuk (No.89241 [25]) has a trihedral pile 5.3 inches long, with two barbs, and one from UtkiavwiÑ (No.89241 [119]) has a five-sided pile with three barbs. The remaining three, from Sidaru, all have five-sided piles with one barb.

Arrows of this pattern are called tuga´liÑ (from tu´ga, walrus ivory). There are also in the collection two small arrows of this pattern suited for a boy’s bow. They are only 25 inches long, and have roughly trihedral sharp-pointed ivory piles about 4 inches long, without barbs. (No.89904a [786] from UtkiavwiÑ). These arrows are new and rather carelessly made, and were intended for the lad’s bow (No.89904 [786]) already described. The three kinds of arrows which have been described all have the pile secured to the stele by a tang fitting into a cleft or hole in the end of the latter, which is kept from splitting by whipping it with sinew for about one-half inch.

The fourth kind, the blunt bird arrow (ki´xodwain), on the other hand, has the pile cleft to receive the wedge-shaped tip of the stele and secured by a whipping of sinew. The four arrows of this kind in the collection are almost exactly alike, except that three of them, belonging to the set from Sidaru, have three feathers. Fig. 189b, No. 72773 [234c] from Sidaru represents the form of arrow. The pile is of hard bone 2.3 inches long. Alittle rim at each side of the butt keeps the whipping of sinew from slipping off. The rest of the arrow differs from the others described only in having the end of the stele chamfered down to a wedge-shaped point to fit into the pile.

This is the kind of arrow mostly used by the boys, whose game is almost exclusively small birds or lemmings. Nowadays the bone pile 207 is often replaced by an empty cartridge shell, which makes a very good head. Ihave seen a phalarope transfixed at short range by one of these cartridge-headed arrows. An assortment of the different kind of arrows is usually carried in the quiver. The lot numbered 25, from Nuwuk, which I believe to be a fairly average set, contains two flint-headed bear arrows, one barbed bear arrow with a steel pile, six bear arrows with iron piles, one deer arrow, two fowl arrows, and one bird arrow.

As I have already said, all these arrows are flattened above and below at the nocks. This indicates that they were intended to be held to the string and let go after the manner of what is called the “Saxon release,” namely, by hooking the ends of the index and second fingers round the string and holding the arrow between them, the string being released by straightening the fingers. This is the “release” which we actually saw employed both by the boys and one or two men who showed us how to draw the bow. This method of release has been observed at Cumberland Gulf308 and at East Cape, Siberia, and is probably universal among the Eskimo, as all the Eskimo arrows in the National Museum are fitted for this release. There is ample material in the Museum collections for a comparative study of Eskimo arrows, which I hope some day to be able to undertake, when the material is in a more available condition. One or two references to other regions will not, however, be out of place. The arrow with a barbed bone after-pile seems a very general form, being represented in the Museum from most of the Alaskan regions, as well as from the Mackenzie. Scoresby mentions finding the head of one of these at the ancient settlements in east Greenland.309 The arrow, however, described by Capt. Parry310 has a real foreshaft of bone, not a barbed after pile. One of these arrows from the Mackenzie has the after pile barbed on both sides, the only instance, Ibelieve, in the Museum of a bilaterally-barbed Eskimo arrow where the pile is not wholly of metal.

Bow cases and quivers.—

The bow and arrows were carried in a bow case and quiver of black sealskin, tied together side by side and slung across the back in the same manner as the gun holster already described. We obtained one case and quiver which belong with the bow and arrows (No.25, from Nuwuk) and a single quiver with the bow and arrows (No.234, from Sidaru.) The case, No. 89245 [25], Fig. 190a (pizi´ksizax), is of such a shape that the bow can be carried in it strung and ready for use. It is made by folding lengthwise a piece of black sealskin with the flesh side in and sewing up one side “over and over” from the outside. The bag is wide enough—6 inches at the widest part—to allow the bow to slip in easily when strung, and the small end 208 is bent up into the shape of the end of the bow. Along the folded edge are three round holes about 10 inches apart, through which a round stick was formerly thrust, coming out from the inside through the first hole, in through the second and out through the third again. This served to hold the case in shape when the bow was withdrawn, and to its ends were fastened the thong for slinging it across the shoulders. It was gone from the specimen before we obtained it.

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Fig. 190.—Bow case and quivers.

The quiver (No. 89240-1 [25], Fig. 190b) is a long, straight bag of the same material, open at one end, with a seam down one side, and the edge of the mouth opposite to the seam forming a rounded flap 2 inches long. The other end is closed by an elliptical cap of white tanned seal skin, turned up about 2 inches all round, and crimped round the ends like a boot sole. Its extreme length is 30 inches, and its circumference 1 foot. Inside along the seam is a roughly rounded rod of wood about ½ inch in diameter, with one end, which is pointed, projecting about 1½ inches through a hole in the bottom, and the other projecting about 1 209 inch beyond the mouth, where it is secured by a bit of thong knotted through a couple of small holes in the bag close to the edge and passing round a notch on the stick. The stick serves to stiffen the quiver when there are no arrows in it. Abit of thong is knotted round the middle, one end being hitched into a loop on the other, for tightening up the quiver and confining the arrows.

The quiver from Sidaru (No. 72788 [234] Fig. 190c) is like the preceding, but larger at the bottom than at the mouth. The latter is 8½ inches in circumference and the former 12¾, and the seam is left open for about 7½ inches from the mouth to facilitate getting at the arrows. The stiffening rod is made of pine, and does not project through the bottom or reach the edge of the mouth. It is held in by two pieces of thong about 10 inches long, which also serve to fasten it to the bow case. This quiver is nearly new.

It is probable that the form of the bow case and quiver varied but little, among the American Eskimo at least. Those figured by Capt. Lyon311 are almost exactly like the ones we collected at Point Barrow, even to the crimped cap on the bottom of the quiver. Asimilar set belong with a lad’s bow in the Museum from Point Hope (No.63611). NordenskiÖld, however, figures a very elaborate flat quiver312, in use at Pitlekaj, which is evidently of genuine Asiatic origin.

see caption

Fig. 192.—Cap for quiver rod.

Some pains seem to have been bestowed on ornamenting the quiver in former times, when the bow was in more general use. Fig. 191, No. 56505 [231], from Nuwuk, represents what we understood had been a stiffening rod for a quiver or bow case. It is of reindeer antler, 17 inches long, and one end is very neatly carved into the head and shoulders of a reindeer, with small, blue glass beads inserted for the eyes. The lanceolate point at the tip was probably made with an idea of improving it for sale. The hole at the back of the neck is for a thong to fasten it on with. Asimilar reindeer head of antler, Fig. 192, No. 89449 [1066], also from Nuwuk, seems to have been a cap for a quiver stick. The back of the neck makes a half-ferrule, in which are three holes for rivets or treenails.

Bracers.—

In shooting the bow, the wrist of the bow hand was protected 210 from being chafed by the bowstring by a small shield or “bracer” of bone or horn, strapped on with a thong. We never saw these in use, as the bow is so seldom employed except by the children. Two of these, newly made, were offered for sale. Iwill describe one of these, No. 89410b [1233], Fig. 193.

It is of pale yellow mountain sheep horn, convex on the outer face and concave on the inner and considerably arched lengthwise. In the middle are two straight longitudinal narrow slots, which serve no apparent purpose except ornament. The short slot near the edge at the middle of each side, however, is for the thongs which strap the bracer to the wrist. One of these is short and made into a becket by fastening the ends together with double slits. One end of the other is passed through the slot, slit, and the other end passed through this and drawn taut. Aknot is tied on the free end. This thong is just long enough to fasten on the bracer by passing round the wrist and catching the knot in the loop opposite. The other, No. 89410a [1233], is like this, but 1 inch shorter and nearly flat. The arch of the specimen figured is probably unintentional and due to the natural shape of the material, as it does not fit well to the wrist. It is probable that these people used a flat bracer, as Fig. 194, No. 89350 [1382], from UtkiavwiÑ, is apparently such an implement. It is a thin elliptical plate of hard bone, 2½ inches long and 1½ wide, with two rows of holes crossing at right angles in the middle. The holes at the side were probably for the thong and the others for ornament, as some of them go only part way through. Four small pebbles are lodged in the four holes around the center in the form of a cross.

Mr. Nelson collected several specimens of bracers from Kotzebue Sound and St. Lawrence Island. These are all slightly larger than our specimens, and bent round to fit the wrist. They are of bone or copper. When Beechey visited Kotzebue Sound, in 1826, he found the bracer in general use.313 Ifind no other mention of this implement in the writers who have described the Eskimo.

Bird darts.—

For capturing large birds like ducks or geese, sitting on the water, especially when they have molted their wing feathers so as to be unable to escape by flight, they use the universal Eskimo weapon, found from Greenland to Siberia, namely, adart with one or more points at the tip, but carrying a second set of three ivory prongs 211 in a circle round the middle of the shaft. The object of these prongs is to increase the chance of hitting the bird if he is missed by the head of the dart. They always curve forward, so that the points stand out a few inches from the shaft, and are barbed on the inner edge in such a way that, though the neck of a fowl will easily pass in between the prong and the shaft, it is impossible to draw it back again. The weapon is in very general use at Point Barrow, and is always thrown from the boat with a handboard (tobe described below). It can be darted with considerable accuracy 20 or 30 yards. We seldom saw this spear used, as it is chiefly employed in catching molting fowl, in the summer season, away from the immediate neighborhood of the station. It is called nuia´kpai, which is a plural referring to the number of points, one of which is called nuia´kpÛk (“the great nuiak”).314

No. 89244 [1325], Fig. 195, from UtkiavwiÑ, has been selected as the type of this weapon. The shaft is of spruce, 61? inches long and 0.7 inch in diameter at the head. The end of the butt is hollowed out to fit the catch of the throwing board. The head, of white walrus ivory, is fitted into the cleft end of the shaft with a wedge-shaped tang as broad as the shaft. The head and shaft are held together by a spaced lashing of braided sinew. To the enlargement of the shaft, 22 inches from the butt, are fastened three curved prongs of walrus ivory at equal distances from each other round the shaft. The inner side of each prong is cut away obliquely for about 2 inches, so that when this edge is applied to the shaft, with the point of the prong forward, the latter is about 1 inch from the shaft. Each prong has two little ridges on the outside, one at the lower end and the other about 1 inch above this. They are secured to the shaft by three separate lashings of sinew braid, two narrow ones above the ridges just mentioned and one broad one just below the barb. In making this the line is knotted round one prong, then carried one-third of the distance round the shaft to the prong; half hitched round this, and carried round next the next prong; half hitched round this, and carried round to the starting point, and half hitched round 212 this. It goes around in this way seven times, and then is carried one prong farther, half hitched again, and the end taken down and made fast to the first narrow lashing. The shaft is painted with red ocher to within 13½ inches (the length of the throwing board) from the butt. This is an old shaft and head fitted with new prongs, and was made by Nikawa´alu, who was anxious to borrow it again when getting ready to start on his summer trip to the east, where he would find young ducks and molting fowl.

The form of head seen in this dart appears to be the commonest. It is called by the same name, nÛ´tkaÑ, as the bone head of the deer arrow. There is considerable variation in the number of barbs, which are always bilateral, except in one instance, No. 56590 [122], Fig. 196, from UtkiavwiÑ, which has four barbs on one side only. It is 7¼ inches long exclusive of the tang. Out of eight specimens of such heads one has one pair of barbs, one two pairs, two three pairs, one four unilateral barbs, one five pairs, one six pairs, and one seven pairs. The total length of these heads is from 9 inches to 1 foot, of which the tang makes about 2 inches, and they are generally made of walrus ivory, wherein they differ from the nugfit of the Greenlanders, which, since Crantz’s time315 has always had a head of iron. Iron is also used at Cumberland Gulf, as shown by the specimens in the National Museum. Fig. 197 represents a very ancient spearhead from UtkiavwiÑ, No. 89372 [760]. It is of compact whale’s bone, darkened with age and impregnated with oil. It is 8.7 inches long and the other end is beveled off into a wedge-shaped tang roughened with crosscuts on both faces, with a small hole for the end of a lashing as on the head of No. 89244 [1325]. This was called by the native who sold it the head of a seal spear, a´kqligÛk, and it does bear some slight resemblance to the head of weapon used in Greenland and called by a similar name316 (agdliga?). The roughened tang, however, indicates that it was intended to be fixed permanently in the shaft, and this, taken in connection with its strong resemblance to the one-barbed head of the Greenland nugfit317 as well as to the head of the Siberian bird dart figured by NordenskiÖld318, makes it probable that it is really the form of bird dart head anciently used at Point Barrow. It is possible 213 that this pattern has been so long out of use that the natives have forgotten what this old point was made for and supposed it to belong to a seal spear.

One of the eight heads of the ordinary pattern in the collection, No. 56592 [284], agenuine one, old and dirty, is made of coarse-grained whale’s bone, an unusual material. No. 89373 [948], from UtkiavwiÑ, an ivory head of a good typical shape, has been figured (Fig. 198) to show a common style of ornamenting these heads. Anarrow incised line, colored with red ocher, runs along the base of the barbs on each side for about three-fourths the length of the blade. These heads are sometimes secured by treenails as well as by a simple lashing, as is shown by the holes through the tang of this specimen.

An improvement on this style of dart, which appears to be less common, has two prongs at the tip instead of a sharp head, so that the bird may be caught if struck on the neck with the point of the spear. No. 89905 [1326], Fig. 199, from UtkiavwiÑ, is one of this pattern. The two prongs are fastened on with a lashing of fine sinew braid. The rest of the dart does not differ from the one described except in the method of attaching the three prongs at the middle (Fig. 199b). These are fitted into slight grooves in the wood and secured by two neat lashings of narrow strips of whalebone, one just above a little ridge at the lower end of each prong and one through little holes in each prong at the top of the oblique edge. Each lashing consists of several turns with the end closely wrapped around them. There is one specimen, No. 89242 [526], in the collection which not only has not the prongs at the middle, but lacks the enlargement of the shaft to receive them. The head is undoubtedly old and genuine, but the shaft and fittings, though dirty, look suspiciously fresh. Iam inclined to believe that this head was mounted for sale by a man who had no prongs ready made, and was in too much of a hurry to get his price to stop to make them. Imperfect or unfinished objects were frequently offered for sale.

The bird darts used at Point Barrow, and by the western Eskimo generally, are lighter and better finished than those used in the east. The latter have a heavy shaft, which is four-sided in Baffin Land, and the prongs are crooked and clumsy.319

214

Fig. 200, No. 89380 [793], is a fragment of a very ancient narwhal ivory spearhead, dark brown from age and shiny from much handling, which appears to have been worn as an amulet. It was said to have come from the east and to belong to a bird dart, though it does not resemble any in use at the present day in this region. It is a slender four-sided rod, having on one side three short oblique equidistant simple barbs. The resemblance of this specimen to the bone dart heads from Scania figured by Dr. Rau320 is very striking.

Seal darts.—

The Eskimo of nearly all localities use a dart or small harpoon to capture the smaller marine animals, with a loose, barbed head of bone fitted into a socket in the end of the shaft, to which it is attached by a line of greater or less length. It is always contrived so that when the head is struck into the quarry, the shaft is detached from the head and acts as a drag upon the animal. This is effected by attaching an inflated bladder to the shaft, or else by attaching the line with a martingale so that the shaft is dragged sideways through the water. Nearly all Eskimo except those of Point Barrow, as shown in the National Museum collections and the figures in Crantz321 and Rink322, use weapons of this kind of considerable size, adapted not only to the capture of the small seals (Phoca vitulina and P.foetida), but also to the pursuit of the larger seals, the narwhal and beluga. At Point Barrow, however, at the present day, they employ only a small form of this dart, not over 5 feet long, with a little head, adapted only for holding the smallest seals. That they formerly used the larger weapon is shown by our finding a single specimen of the head of such a spear, No. 89374 [1281] Fig. 201. It is of hard, compact bone, impregnated with oil, 8.1 inches long. The flat shank is evidently intended to fit into a socket. The two holes through the widest part of the shank are for attaching the line.

This is very like the head of the weapon called agligak (modern Greenlandic agdligak), figured by Crantz, and referred to above, except that the barbs are opposite each other. Mr. Lucien M.Turner tells me that it is precisely like the head of the dart used at Norton Sound for capturing the beluga. The native who sold this specimen called it “nuia´kpai nÛ´tkoa,” “the point of a bird dart,” to which it does bear some resemblance, though the shape of the butt and the line holes indicate plainly that it was a detachable dart head. Probably, as in the case of the ancient bird dart point, No. 89372 [760], referred to above, this weapon has been so long disused that the natives have forgotten what it was. The name a´kqligÛk, evidently the same as the 215 Greenlandic agdligak, is still in use, but was always applied to the old bone harpoon heads, which are, however, of the toggle-head pattern (described below). It seems as if the Point Barrow natives had forgotten all about the a´kqligÛk except that it was a harpoon with a bone head for taking seals. At the present time the small bladder float, permanently attached to the shaft of the harpoon, is never used at Point Barrow. That it was used in ancient times is shown by our finding in one of the ruined houses in UtkiavwiÑ a very old broken nozzle for inflating one of these floats. Fig. 202, No. 89720 [756], is this specimen, which was picked up by Capt. Herendeen. This is a rounded tube of fossil ivory, 1.3 inches long and about one-half inch in diameter, slightly contracted toward one end and then expanded into a stout collar. At the other is a stout longitudinal flange, three-fourths inch long, perforated with an oblong slot. Between the flange and the collar the surface is roughened with crosscuts, and the other end is still choked with the remains of a wooden plug. This nozzle was inserted into a hole in the bladder as far as the flange and secured by tying the bladder above the collar. The whole was then secured to the shaft by a lashing through the slot, and could be inflated at pleasure and corked up with the wooden plug.

see caption

Fig. 203.—Seal dart.

As I have already said, the only harpoon of this kind now used at Point Barrow is a small one intended only for the capture of small seals. It has no bladder, but the rather long line is attached to the shaft by a martingale which makes the shaft drag sideways through the water. Three of these little darts, which are thrown with a handboard like the bird dart, make a set. The resistance of the shafts 216 of these three spears darted into the seal in succession is said to be sufficient to fatigue the seal so that he can be easily approached and dispatched. We never saw these weapons used, though they are very common, as they are intended only for use from the kaiak, which these people seldom use in the neighborhood of the villages. When in the umiak, shooting with the rifle is a more expeditious means of taking seals. We collected three sets of these darts (kÚkigÛ).

No. 89249b [523], Fig. 203, has been selected for description. The shaft is of spruce, 54½ inches long, and 0.8 inch in diameter at the tip, tapering slightly almost to the butt, which is hollowed on the end to fit the catch of the throwing board. The foreshaft is of white walrus ivory 5 inches long, and is fitted into the tip of the shaft with a wedge-shaped tang. This foreshaft, which has a deep oblong slot to receive the head in the middle of its flat tip, serves the double purpose of making a strong solid socket for the head and giving sufficient weight to the end of the dart to make it fly straight. The head is a simple flat barbed arrowhead of hard bone 2.3 inches long and one-half inch broad across the barbs, with a flat tang, broadest in the middle, where there is a hole for attaching the line. This head simply serves to attach the drag of the shaft to the seal as it is too small to inflict a serious wound. It is fastened to the shaft by a martingale made as follows: One end of a stout line of sinew braid 5½ feet long is passed through the hole in the head and secured by tying a knot in the end. The other end of this line divides into two parts not quite so stout, one 3 feet long, the other 2 feet 8 inches. The latter is fastened to the shaft 18½ inches from the butt by a single marling hitch with the end wedged into a slit in the wood and seized down with fine sinew. The longer part serves to fasten the foreshaft to the shaft, and was probably put on separately and worked into the braiding of the rest of the line at the junction. The foreshaft is kept from slipping out by a little transverse ridge on each side of the tang. When the weapon is mounted for use the two parts of the bridle are brought together at the middle of the shaft and wrapped spirally around it till only enough line is left to permit the head to be inserted in the socket, and the bight of the line is secured by tucking it under the last turn. When a seal is struck with this dart his sudden plunge to escape unships the head. The catch of the martingale immediately slips; the latter unrolls and drags the shaft through the water at right angles to the line. The shaft, besides acting as a drag on the seal’s motions, also serves as a float to indicate his position to the hunter, as its buoyancy brings it to the surface before the seal when the latter rises for air.

The shaft is usually painted red except so much of the end as lies in the groove of the throwing-board, in the act of darting. These darts vary but little in size and material, and are all of essentially the same pattern. They are always about 5 feet in length when mounted for use. (The longest is 64? inches, and the shortest57.) The head, as 217 well as the foreshaft, is sometimes made of walrus ivory, and the latter sometimes of whale’s bone. The chief variation is in the length of the martingale, and the details of the method of attaching it. No two are precisely alike. The foreshaft is generally plain, but is occasionally highly ornamented, as is shown in Fig. 204, No. 56516 [105]. The figures are all incised and colored, some with ocher and some with soot.

Both of the kinds of darts above described are thrown by means of a hand board or throwing-board. This is a flat, narrow board, from 15 to 18 inches long, with a handle at one end and a groove along the upper surface in which the spear lies with the butt resting against a catch at the other end. The dart is propelled by a quick motion of the wrist, as in casting with a fly-rod, which swings up the tip of the board and launches the dart forward. This contrivance, which practically makes of the hand a lever 18 inches long, enables the thrower by a slight motion of the wrist to impart great velocity to the dart. The use of this implement is universal among the Eskimo, though not peculiar to them. The Greenlanders, however, not only use it for the two kinds of darts already mentioned, but have adapted it to the large harpoon.323 This is undoubtedly to adapt the large harpoon for use from the kaiak, which the Greenlanders use more habitually than most other Eskimo. On the other hand, the people of Baffin Land and the adjoining regions, as well as the inhabitants of northeastern Siberia, use it only with the bird dart.324 Throughout western North America the throwing-board is used essentially as at Point Barrow. Prof. O.T. Mason has given325 an interesting account of the different forms of throwing-board used by the Eskimo and Aleuts of North America.

218

We obtained five specimens of the form used at Point Barrow. No. 89233 [523], Fig. 205a, belonging to the set of seal darts bearing the same collector’s number, has been selected as the type. This is made of spruce, and the hole is for the forefinger. Alittle peg of walrus ivory, shaped like a flat-headed nail, is driven through the middle of the tip so that the edge of the head just projects into the groove. This fits into the hollow in the butt of the dart and serves to steady it. It is painted red on the back and sides. Fig. 205b, No. 89235 [60], differs from this in having a double curve instead of being flat. Aslight advantage is gained by this as in a crooked lever. The catch is a small iron nail. The others are essentially the same as the type. No. 89234 [528], has a small brass screw for the catch, and No. 89902 [1326], has an ivory peg of a slightly different shape, the head having only a projecting point on one side. They are generally painted with red ocher except on the inside of the groove. There appears to be no difference between throwing-boards meant for seal darts and those used with the bird dart.