Part 17

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, however, that in ancient times a single labret only was worn, for which the lip was pierced directly in the middle. Certain old and large-sized labrets in the collection are said to have been thus worn. The incisions for the labrets appear to be made about the age of puberty, though I knew one young man who had been married for some months before he had the operation performed. From the young man’s character, I fancy shyness or timidity, as suggested by Dr. Simpson,[N258] had something to do with the delay. Contrary to Dr. Simpson’s experience, I did not see a single man above the age of 18 or 19 who did not wear the labrets. It seems hardly probable that ability to take a seal entitles a boy to wear labrets, as he suggests. We knew a number of boys who were excellent seal hunters and even able to manage a kaiak, but none had their lips pierced under the age of 14 or 15, when they may be supposed to have reached manhood. The incisions are at first only large enough to admit a flat-headed pin of walrus ivory, about the diameter of a crow quill, worn with the head resting against the gum. These are soon replaced by a slightly stouter pair, and these again by stouter ones, until the holes are stretched to a diameter of about one-half inch, when they are ready for the labrets.

[Footnote N258: Op. cit., p. 241.]

We heard of no special ceremonies or festivals connected with the making of these incisions, such as Dall observed at Norton Sound,[N259] but in the one case where the operation was performed at the village of Utkiavwĭñ during our stay, we learned that it was done by a man outside of the family of the youth operated upon. We were also informed that the incisions must be made with a little lancet of slate. The employment of an implement of ancient form and obsolete material for this purpose indicates, as Dall says in the passage referred to above, “some greater significance than mere ornamentation.”

[Footnote N259: Alaska p. 141.]

The collection contains two specimens of such lancets. No. 89721 [1153] (figured in Rept. Point Barrow Expedition, Ethnology, Pl. V, Fig. 4) is the type. A little blade of soft gray slate is carefully inclosed in a neat case of cottonwood. The blade is lanceolate, 1.3 inches long, 0.6 broad, and 0.1 thick, with a short, broad tang. The faces are somewhat rough, and ground with a broad bevel to very sharp cutting edges. The case is made of two similar pieces of wood, flat on one side and rounded on the other, so that when put together they make a rounded body 3 inches long, slightly flattened, and tapering toward the rounded ends, of which one is somewhat larger than the other. Round each end is a narrow, deep, transverse groove for a string to hold the two parts together. A shallow median groove connects these cross grooves on one piece, which is hollowed out on the flat face into a rough cavity of a shape and size suitable to receive the blade, which is produced into a narrow, deep groove at the point, probably to keep the point of the blade from being dulled by touching the wood. The other piece, which serves as a cover, has merely a rough, shallow, oval depression near the middle. The whole is evidently very old, and the case is browned with age and dirt.

No. 89579 [1200] is a similar blade of reddish purple slate, mounted in a rough haft of bone. Fig. 91, No. 89715 [1211], is one of a pair of bone models, made for sale, of the ivory plugs used for enlarging the holes for the labrets, corresponding in size to about the second pair used. It is roughly whittled out of a coarse-grained compact bone, and closely resembles the plugs figured by Dall from Norton Sound,[N260] but lacks the hole in the tip for the transverse wooden peg, which is not used at Point Barrow. One youth was wearing the final size of plugs when we landed at the station. These were brought to a point like the tip of a walrus tusk, and had exactly the appearance of the tusks of a young walrus when they first protrude beyond the lip. The labrets worn at Point Barrow at the present day are usually of two patterns. One is a large, flat, circular disk about 1½ inches in diameter, with a flat stud on the back something like that of a sleevebutton, and the other a thick cylindrical plug about 1 inch long, and one-half inch in diameter, with the protruded end rounded and the other expanded into an oblong flange, presenting a slightly curved surface to the gum. These plug labrets are the common fashion for everyday wear, and at the present day, as in Dr. Simpson’s time, are almost without exception made of stone, Granite or syenite, porphyry, white marble, and sometimes coal (rarely jade) are used for this purpose.

[Footnote N260: Alaska, p. 140.]

One of the Nunatañmiun wore a glass cruet-stopper for a labret, and many natives of Utkiavwĭñ took the glass stopples of Worcestershire sauce bottles, which were thrown away at the station, and inserted them in the labret holes for everyday wear, sometimes grinding the round top into an oblong stud. There is one specimen of the plug labret in the collection. Labrets of all kinds are very highly prized, and it was almost impossible to obtain them.[N261] Though we repeatedly asked for them and promised to pay a good price, genuine labrets that had been worn or that were intended for actual use were very rarely offered for sale, though at one time a large number of roughly made models or imitations were brought in. The single specimen of the plug labret (tu´tɐ) is No. 89700 [1163] (figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. V, Fig. 3). It is a cylindrical plug of hard, bright green stone (jade or hypochlorite), 1.1 inches long and 0.6 in diameter at the outer end, which is rounded off, tapering slightly inward and expanded at the base into an elliptical disk 1.2 inches long and 0.9 broad, slightly concave on the surface which rests against the teeth and gum. The specimen is old and of a material very unusual at Point Barrow. Fig. 92, No. 89719 [1166], from Nuwŭk, may also be called a plug labret, but is of a very unusual pattern, and said to be very old. It has an oblong stud of walrus ivory surmounted by a large, transparent, slightly greenish glass bead, on top of which is a small, translucent, sky-blue bead. The beads are held on by a short wooden peg, running through the perforations of the beads and a hole drilled through the ivory. There is a somewhat similar labret in the Museum collection (No. 48202) from Cape Prince of Wales, also very old. It is surmounted by a single oblong blue bead.

[Footnote N261: The men whom Thomas Simpson met at or near Barter Island sold their labrets, but demanded a hatchet or a dagger for a pair of them (Narrative, p. 119).]

I saw but one other labret made of whole beads, and this had three good sized oval blue beads, in a cluster, projecting from the hole. It was worn by a man from Nuwŭk. This may be compared with a specimen from the Mackenzie district, No. 7714, to which two similar beads are attached in the same way. The disk labret is the pattern worn on full-dress occasions, seldom when working or hunting. One disk and one plug labret are frequently worn. Disk labrets are made of stone, sometimes of syenite or porphyry, but the most fashionable kind is made of white marble, and has half of a large, blue glass bead cemented on the center of the disk. These are as highly prized as they were in Dr. Simpson’s time, and we consequently did not succeed in procuring a specimen.

I obtained one pair of syenite disk labrets, No. 56716 [197] (figured in Point Barrow Rept., Ethnology, Pl. V, Fig. 2). Each is a flat circular disk (1.7 and 1.6 inches in diameter, respectively) of rather coarse-grained black and white syenite, ground very smooth, but not polished. On the back of each is an elliptical stud, like that of a sleeve-button, 1.2 and 1.1 inches long and 0.8 and 0.6 broad, respectively.

Fig. 93, No. 2083, is one of the blue and white disks said to come from the Anderson River. This is introduced to represent those worn at Point Barrow, which are of precisely the same pattern. The disk is of white marble, 1½ inches in diameter, and in the center of it is cemented, apparently with oil dregs, half of a transparent blue glass bead, three-quarters of an inch in diameter, around the middle of which is cut a shallow groove. Similar marble disks without the bead are sometimes worn. These blue and white labrets appear to be worn from Cape Bathurst to the Kaniag peninsula, including the Diomede Islands (see figure on p. 140 of Dall’s Alaska). There are specimens in the Museum from the Anderson River and from the north shore of Norton Sound and we saw them worn by the Nunatañmiun, as well as the natives of Point Barrow and Wainwright Inlet. The beads, which are larger than those sold by the American traders, were undoubtedly obtained from Siberia, as Kotzebue, in 1816, found the people of the sound which bears his name wearing labrets “ornamented with blue glass beads.”[N262] The high value set on these blue-bead labrets has been mentioned by Franklin[N263] and T. Simpson,[N264] as well as by Dr. Simpson.[N265] The last named seems to be the first to recognize that the disks were made of marble. All previous writers speak of them as made of walrus ivory.

[Footnote N262: Voyage, vol. 1, p. 210. Labrets of precisely the same pattern as the one described are figured in the frontispiece of this volume. (See also Choris, Voyage Pittoresque).]

[Footnote N263: 2d Exp., p. 118.]

[Footnote N264: Narrative, p. 119.]

[Footnote N265: Op. cit., p. 239.]

There are still at Point Barrow a few labrets of a very ancient pattern, such as are said to have been worn in the middle of the lip. These are very rarely put on, but are often carried by the owners on the belt as amulets. All that we saw were of light green translucent jade, highly polished. I obtained one specimen, No. 89705 [866] (figured in Point Barrow Rept., Ethnology, Pl. V, Fig. 1), a thin oblong disk of light green, translucent, polished jade, 2.6 inches long, 1.1 wide in the middle, and 0.8 wide at the ends, with the outer face slightly convex. On the back is an oblong stud with rounded ends, slightly curved to fit the gums.

Labrets of this material and pattern do not seem to be common anywhere. Beechey saw one in Kotzebue Sound 3 inches long and 1½ wide,[N266] and there is a large and handsome one in the Museum brought by Mr. Nelson from the lower Yukon. A similar one has recently been received from Kotzebue Sound.

[Footnote N266: Voyage, p. 249.]

Fig. 94, No. 89712 [1169], from Sidaru is a labret of similar shape, 3 inches long and 1½ broad, but made of compact bone, rather neatly carved and ground smooth. It shows some signs of having been worn. There are marks on the stud where it appears to have been rubbed against the teeth, and it is probably genuine. The purchase of this specimen apparently started the manufacture of bone labrets at Utkiavwĭñ, where no bone labrets, old or new, had previously been seen. For several days after we bought the specimen from Sidaru the natives continued to bring over bone labrets, but all so newly and clumsily made that we declined to purchase any more than four specimens. About the same time they began to make oblong labrets out of soapstone (a material which we never saw used for genuine labrets), like Fig. 95, No. 89707 [1215]. The purchase of three specimens of these started a wholesale manufacture of them, and we stopped purchasing.

The oblong labret appears to have been still in fashion as late as 1826, for Elson saw many of the men at Point Barrow wearing oblong labrets of bone (_cf._ No. 89712 [1169] and stone, 3 inches long and 1 broad.[N267] Unfortunately, he does not specify whether they were worn in pairs or singly, and if singly, as would be natural from their size and shape, whether in the middle of the lip or at one side.

[Footnote N267: Beechey’s Voy., p. 308.]

Nos. 89304 [1713], 89716 [1042], and 89717 [1031] (Fig. 96) are very old labrets, which are interesting from their resemblance to the ancient Aleutian single labrets found by Dall in the cave on Amaknak Island.[N268] No. 89304 [1713] is an elliptical plug of bituminous coal, with a projecting flange round the base, which is slightly concave to fit the curve of the jaw. This labret is very old and was said to have been found in one of the ruined houses in Utkiavwĭñ. The other two labrets are of walrus ivory and of similar shape, but have the flange only at the ends of the base. All of these three are large, the largest being 2.2 inches wide and 0.7 thick, and the smallest 1.3 by 0.5, so that they required a much larger incision in the lip than is at present made. In connection with what has been said of the ancient habit of wearing labrets in the middle of the lip, it is interesting to note that Nordenskiöld saw men at Port Clarence who had, besides the ordinary labret holes, “a similar hole forward in the lip.”[N269] The various portraits of natives previously inserted show the present manner of wearing the labrets at Point Barrow.

[Footnote N268: See Contrib., etc., vol. 1, p. 89, and the two copper figures on the plate opposite.]

[Footnote N269: Vega, vol. 2, p. 233.]

NECK ORNAMENTS.

Most of the women and girls wear necklaces made of strings of beads, large or small, frequently strung together with much taste. The tobacco pouch is often attached to this necklace.

ORNAMENTS OF THE LIMBS.

_Bracelets._--The women all wear bracelets, which are sometimes strings of beads, but more commonly circles of iron, brass, or copper wire, of which several are often worn on the same wrist, after the fashion of bangles. The men also sometimes wear bracelets. These consist of circles of narrow thong, upon which are strung one or two large beads or a couple of Dentalium shells (pû´tû).[N270]

[Footnote N270: There is in the collection a bunch of five of these shells (No. 89530 [1357], which are scarce and highly valued as ornaments. Mr. R. E. C. Stearns, of the U. S. National Museum, has identified the species as Dentalium Indianorum Cpr. (probably = _D. pretiosum_, Sby.), called “alĭkotci´k” by the Indians of northwest California, and “hiqua” (J. K. Lord) or “hya-qua” (F. Whymper) by the Indians round Queen Charlotte Sound.]

We brought home one pair of men’s bracelets (newly made), one of which (89388 [1355]) is figured in Point Barrow Rept. Ethnology, Pl. I, Fig. 4. They are made of strips of seal thong 0.2 inch broad, bent into rings (9.4 and 8.6 inches in circumference, respectively), with the ends slightly overlapping and sewed together. On each is strung a cylindrical bead of soapstone about one-half inch long and of the same diameter. A single bracelet is generally worn.

_Finger-rings._--Both sexes now frequently wear brass finger-rings, called katû´kqlĕrûñ, from katû´kqlûñ, the middle finger, upon which the ring is always worn.

MISCELLANEOUS ORNAMENTS.

_Beads._--In addition to the ornaments already described, the women use short strings of beads, buttons, etc., to ornament various parts of the dress, especially the outer side of the inner frock (i´lupa), and strings of beads are often attached to various objects, such as pipes, tobacco pouches, etc. One or two women were also observed to wear large bunches of beads and buttons attached to the inner girdle in front so as to hang down between the legs inside of the pantaloons. A similar strange custom was observed by Beechey at Hotham Inlet, where a young woman wore a good-sized metal bell in the same uncomfortable manner.[N271] These people appear to have attempted the manufacture of beads in former times, when they were not so easily obtained as at present. There is in the collection a string of four small beads made from amber picked up on the beach (Fig. 97, No. 89700 [1716]). They are of dark honey-colored transparent amber, about one-third inch long and one-half inch diameter at the base. Such beads are very rare at the present day. The above specimens were the only ones seen.

[Footnote N271: Voyage, p. 295.]

TOILET ARTICLES.

The only object in use among these people that can be considered a toilet article is the small hair comb (ĭ^{d}lai´utĭn), usually made of walrus ivory.

The collection contains ten specimens, from which No. 56566_b_ [182] (Fig. 98_a_) has been selected as the type. It is made of walrus ivory (from near the root of the tusk). When in use, it is held with the tip of the forefinger in the ring, the thumb and middle finger resting on each side of the neck. This is perhaps the commonest form of the comb, though it is often made with two curved arms at the top instead of a ring, as in Fig. 98_b_, No. 56569 [194], or sometimes with a plain top, like No. 56572 [210] (Fig. 98_c_). Nine of the ten combs, all from Utkiavwĭñ, are of walrus ivory, but No. 89785 [1006], which was the property of Ilû´bwga, the Nunatañmiun, who spent the winter of 1882-’83 at Utkiavwĭñ, is made of reindeer antler. This was probably made in the interior, where antler is more plentiful than ivory. All these combs are made with great care and patience. The teeth are usually cut with a saw, but on one specimen the maker used the sharp edge of a piece of tin, as we had refused to loan him a fine saw. This kind of comb is very like that described by Parry from Iglulik.[N272]

[Footnote N272: 2nd Voyage, p. 194, Fig. 12, Pl. opp. p. 548.]

IMPLEMENTS FOR GENERAL USE.

TOOLS.

_Knives._--All the men are now supplied with excellent knives of civilized manufacture, mostly butcher knives or sheath knives of various patterns, which they employ for numerous purposes, such as skinning and butchering game, cutting up food, and rough whittling. Fine whittling and carving is usually done with the “crooked knife,” to be described further on. In whittling the knife is grasped so that the blade projects on the ulnar side of the hand and is drawn toward the workman. A pocketknife, of which they have many of various patterns, is used in the same way. I observed that the Asiatic Eskimo at Plover Bay held the knife in the same manner. Capt. Lyon, in describing a man whittling at Winter island, says: “As is customary with negroes, he cut toward the left hand and never used the thumb of the right, as we do, for a check to the knife.”[N273] This apparently refers to a similar manner of holding the knife. Before the introduction of iron, knives appear to have been always made of slate, worked by grinding. We obtained twenty-six more or less complete knives, most of which are genuine old implements, which have been preserved as heirlooms or amulets. These knives are either single or double edged, and the double-edged knives may be divided into four classes, according to their shape. The first class consists of rather small knives with the edges straight or only slightly curved, tapering to a sharp or truncated point, with the butt terminating in a short broad tang slightly narrower than the blade, which is inserted in the end of a straight wooden haft, at least as long as the blade. The commonest material is a hard, dark purple slate, though some are of black or dark gray slate. Of this class we have three complete knives and five blades without the haft.

[Footnote N273: Journal, p. 92.]

No. 89584 [1107] (figured in Point Barrow Rept., Ethnology, Pl. III, Fig. 3), will represent this class. It is a blade of dark purple slate, ground smooth, 3.5 inches long, tapering from a width of 1.3 inches at the butt, with curved edges to a sharp point, and beveled on both faces from the middle line to the edges, and the flat tang is inserted into a cleft in the end of a straight haft of spruce. The blade is secured by a whipping of about fifteen turns of sinew braid lodged in a broad shallow groove round the end of the haft. In a hole in the other end of the haft is looped a short lanyard of seal thong. Fig. 99_a_, No. 89581 [1011], is a knife of the same class and about the same size, having a haft 4 inches and a blade 3 inches long. The blade is secured by two lashings, of which the first is a narrow strip of whalebone, and the other of sinew braid. The materials of blade and haft are the same as before. No. 89585 [1710] (Fig. 99_b_), has a blade of dark gray slate, and the haft, which appears to be of cotton wood, is in two longitudinal sections. The lashing which holds these two sections together is of braided sinew. Of the blades, the only sharp-pointed one, No. 56684 [228] (Fig. 100), is like the blade of 89584 [1107], but rather larger. The others all have rounded or truncated points and are not over 3½ inches long, including the tang, but otherwise closely resemble the blades already described. They all show signs of considerable age and several of them are nicked and gapped on the edge from use. Knives of this class are not like any in use at the present day, and it was not possible to learn definitely whether this shape served any special purpose. We were, however, given to understand that the sharp-pointed ones were sometimes, at least, used for stabbing. Perhaps they were used specially for cutting up the smaller animals.

The second class, of which there are four specimens, is not unlike the first, but the blade is short and broad, with strongly curved edges, and always sharp pointed, while the haft is always much longer than the blade. Instead of being evenly beveled off on both faces from the middle line to the edges, they are either slightly convex, worked down gradually to the edge, or flat with narrowly beveled edges. They are all small knives, the longest being 8.3 inches long, with the blade projecting 3.1 inches from the haft, and the shortest 4.9 inches, with the blade projecting only 1.4 inches.

Fig. 101, No. 89583 [1305], is a knife of this class, with the blade a nearly equilateral triangle (1.4 inches long and 1.3 inches wide at the base), with a flat wooden haft as wide as the blade and 3½ inches long, cleft at the tip and lashed with thirteen or fourteen turns of sinew braid. The holes near the butt of the haft were probably to receive a lanyard. Fig. 102, No. 89591 [1016], is another form of the same class. The blade is secured by a single rivet of wood.