Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442

The principal seal fishery, however, begins with the closing of the sea, usually about the middle of October. When the pack ice comes in there are usually many small open pools,...

The throwing harpoon for small seals is an exact copy in miniature of the walrus harpoon, with the addition of a long bayonet-shaped pick of ivory at the butt. The line, however...

Such nets are set under the ice in winter, or in shoal water along the shore by means of stakes in summer. In the ordinary method of setting the net under the ice two small hole...

We brought home one of these dancing caps (kă´brû, käluka´) (No. 89820 [863] Fig. 365), made of deerskin with the hair inward and clipped close. The outside is painted all over...

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. 89...

All the men do not appear able to do this fine work. For instance, our friend Mû´ñialu had the babiche for his new snowshoes made by his house-mate, the younger Tuñazu. When it...

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 alread...

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-workin...

Few plants that are of any service to man grow in this region. The willows, ŭ´kpĭk, of various species, which near the coast are nothing but creeping vines, are sometimes used a...

Before the introduction of iron it was discovered that if the blade were inserted at right angles to the plane of the body barb the harpoon would have a surer hold, since the st...

_Lances._--As I have said on a preceding page, some of the natives now use bomb-guns for dispatching the harpooned whale, and all the whaleboats are provided with steel whale la...

Our party, I regret to say, is responsible for the name “Ooglaamie” or “Uglaamie,” which has appeared on many maps since our return. Strictly speaking this name should be used o...

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] h...

The third class consists of large knives, with long, broad, lanceolate blades, and short straight hafts. There is only one complete specimen, No. 89592 [1002], Fig. 103. This ha...

The form of head seen in this dart appears to be the commonest. It is called by the same name, nû´tkăñ, as the bone head of the deer arrow. There is considerable variation in th...

We never heard of any such elaborate “donation parties” as are described at Norton Sound and the Yukon region, where a man “saves up his property for years” to distribute it amo...

When actually engaged in whaling the umialik exercises a very fair degree of discipline, but at other times he seems hardly able to keep his men from straggling off to go home o...

We did bring home one small sled of this kind (No. 89875 [772], Fig. 359, from Utkiavwĭñ), which from its size was probably a child’s toy, though from its greasy condition it se...

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, leavi...

The remaining whetstones are of very much the same pattern. I have figured five of them, to show the slight variations. Fig. 162_b_ (No. 56662 [393], from Utkiavwĭñ) is of light...

[Footnote N164: See Rink, Tales, etc., p. 7 (“skins” in this passage undoubtedly means sealskins, as they are more plentiful than deerskins among the Greenlanders, and were used...

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 w...

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 G...

_Netting._--Two implements are used as usual in netting, a needle or long flat shuttle for carrying the twine (Fig. 315, No. 56570 [101]), and a mesh stick for gauging the lengt...

Fig. 6_a_ (No. 56737 [10], from Utkiavwĭñ) 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...

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 ru...

_Nets (Kubra)._--The most important fishery at the rivers is carried on by means of gill-nets, set under the ice, and visited every few days. In these are taken large numbers of...

Fig. 411 (No. 56619 [66] from Utkiavwĭñ) represents a pair of little whales, each carved from a walrus tooth, which probably served for buttons or toggles of some sort, though I...

_Snow-goggles._--The wooden goggles worn to protect the eyes from snow-blindness may be considered as accessories to hunting, as they are worn chiefly by those engaged in huntin...

No. 89636 [1122], Fig. 123, approaches yet nearer the ancient shape, but still has one end slightly produced. The handle is also of reindeer antler, which seems to have been ver...

_Musical instruments._--The only musical instrument in use among these people is the universal drum[N505] or tambourine (kĕlyau), consisting of a membrane stretched over a hoop...

No. 56757 [11] is a very handsome garment (Fig. 58). The body and sleeves are of white and brown (winter and summer) ermine skins arranged in an elegant pattern, and the hood of...

_Whalebone shaves._--There is in use at Point Barrow, and apparently not elsewhere among the Eskimo, a special tool for shaving whalebone, a substance which is very much used in...

[Footnote N197: Compare the custom noticed by Parry, at Iglulik, of hanging a long thin strip of blubber near the flame of the lamp to feed it (2d Voyage, p. 502). According to...

Fig. 389 (No. 89724 [1123] from Nuwŭk) is the face of a male Eskimo, 3.2 inches long, carved out of a flat piece of some coniferous wood weathered to a dark, reddish brown. The...

On the other hand most of the wealthier people appear to take pride in being neatly clad, and, except when actually engaged in some dirty work, always have their faces and hands...

At Point Barrow at the present day the lip is always pierced for two labrets, one at each corner of the mouth, though one or both of them are frequently left out. They told us,...

_Pantaloons (kûmûñ)._--The women and children, and occasionally the men, wear pantaloons (strictly speaking), i.e., tight-fitting trousers continuous with the foot covering. Of...

The face is broad, flat, and round, with high cheek bones and rather low forehead, broad across the brow and narrowing above, while the head is somewhat pointed toward the crown...

The use of these tools, which was discovered by actual experiment after our return to this country[N410] is for twisting the strands of the sinew backing after it has been put o...

[Footnote N601: Compare Rink, Tales, etc., p. 29: “But if an animal of the largest size, more especially a whale, was captured, it was considered common property, and as indiscr...

No. 89544 [1419] (Fig. 83_a_) has been chosen as the type of a man’s belt. It is 35 inches long and 1 inch broad, and made of the shafts of feathers woven into an elegant patter...

With the people of the Nu´natăk (Inland) River, the Nunatañmiun, they are well acquainted, as they meet them every summer for purposes of trading, and a family or two of Nunatañ...

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...

One widow of my acquaintance, who appeared to have no relatives in the village, was reduced almost to beggary, though her husband had been quite well-to-do. All his property and...

The International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, was organized in 1881 by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, for the purpose of cooperating in the work of circumpo...

Fig. 423 (No. 89524 [1299] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a rude wooden image of the same animal, 3½ inches long, very broad and flat-bellied. It is smoothly carved and has a fragment of sk...

FIG. 1. Unalina, a man of Nuwŭk 34 2. Mûmûñina, a woman of Nuwŭk 35 3. Akabiana, a youth of Utkiavwiñ 36 4. Puka, a young man of Utkiavwiñ 37 5. Woman stretching skins 38 6. Pip...

Cache frames, for storage of property by Point Barrow Eskimo 75-76 ---- sleds used for 82 Calls, for decoying seal 253-254 Canteens of the Eskimo 86 Carvings of the Eskimo 393-4...

Labrets of the Eskimo, description of 143-148 ---- lancets for making incision for 144 ---- plug for enlarging hole for 144 ---- glass stopples used for 145 Ladles of Eskimo, of...

Tabu among the Eskimo, concerning a woman in childbirth 415 ---- on the occasion of a death 423-424 ---- of certain foods to certain persons 433-434 Taρéoρment, habitat of 46-47...

Footnotes have been renumbered continuously. They are marked with leading [N] to avoid confusion with other bracketed numerals. Many illustrations were labeled for scale as “1/4...