The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, Part II

II.— SECOND REPORT ON THE ESKIMO OF BAFFIN LAND AND HUDSON BAY.

From Notes collected by Captain George Comer; Captain James S. Mutch, and Rev. E. J. Peck.

By Franz Boas.

Plates V-X and 98 Text Figures.

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introductory . 374

I. Tribal Divisions and Numbers . 377

II. Material Culture . . 379

Southampton Island . • • * 379

Comparison of Types . . 401

Conservation of Form . 402

Knives, Snow-knives, and Snow-beaters . 403

Mattocks . 413

Combs . 414

Hair-ornaments .............. 417

^ Quiver-handles . . . . 419

Toggles . 421

Cup-and-ball Games . 422

Small Carvings and Implements . 423

' Scrapers . . 429

Woman^s Knives . 429

Needle-cases . . 431

Lamps and Kettles . 434

Harpoon-points . . . 445

Various Implements . .455

Decorative Art . 456

Relations to Other Eskimo Tribes . 461

III. General Remarks . 465

. West Coast of Hudson Bay . . . 465

Southampton Island . .470

Hudson Strait . . 478

Ponds Bay . 480

IV. Customs and Religious Ideas . . 483

Cumberland Sound . . 483

Mythology . 483

Birth and Childhood . .484

1371J

Page.

Death . 485

Customs relating to Game . 489

The Angakok . 489

Fall Festival . 491

Charms . 492

Ponds Bay . 492

West Coast of Hudson Bay . 496

Religious Ideas . 496

Customs relating to Game and Miscellaneous Taboos . 499

Charms and Artificial Monsters . 505

The Angakok . 508

Customs regarding Birth, Childhood, and Death . 514

V. Traditions . 518

Tales from Cumberland Sound . 518

1. Qaudjaqdjuq . . 518

2. The Monster Bear . 519

3. The Giant . 520

4. Story of a Dwarf . 521

5. Stories of Adlet . 522

6. The Tornit . 524

7. The Fox and the Wolf . 525

8. The Bear Country . 525

9. The Country of the Bears and Wolves . . 526

10. Tales of Spirits . 528

11. Tales of Angakut . 529

12. The Woman who could not be satiated . . 530

13. Tale of an Agdlaq . 531

14. A Tale of Travellers . 532

15. Tales of Hunters . . 532

16. Tales of Quarrels . 533

17. The Lamps . 535

18. Additional Notes on the Story of Kanatchea . . 536

Tales from the West Coast of Hudson Bay . 536

1. Origin of the Caribou . 536

2. The Wind . 537

3. Inukepowuke . *537

4. Amautalik . 537

5. The Emigration of Women . 538

6. The Giant Gull . . 538

7. The Cannibal Fish . 539

8. The Giant . . 539

9. The Cannibal Woman . 539

10. Stories about Dwarfs . . 540

11. The Tornit . j . 541

Page.

12. The People without Eyelids . 543

13. The Shadow People . 543

14. The Musk-Ox . 543

15. The Country of the Wolves . 544

16. Bear Story . 545

17. The Bear Country . 546

18. The Ghosts . 547

19. Tales of Angakut . 548

20. Witchcraft . 550

21. Stories of Hunters . 551

22. Stories of Quarrels . 551

Tale from the Netchillik . 553

Notes on Legends . 554

VI. Texts . 558

Conclusion . 564

INTRODUCTORY.

The first part of this volume contains material collected during a long series of years by Captain George Comer of East Haddam, Conn.; Captain James S. Mutch of Peterhead, Scotland; and Rev. E. J. Peck, now of Winnipeg. These notes were collected at my instance during the years between 1885 and 1899. Since that time Captain Comer and Captain Mutch have revisited the Arctic twice, and have again added materially to our information in regard to the natives of that country. Captain Comer paid a visit to the northern part of Southampton Island and to Frozen Strait, where he obtained a large number of specimens which throw a flood of new light upon the ancient culture of the Eskimo of that area. Here he also came into contact with the natives of Fury and Hecla Strait, who have hardly ever been visited by a white man, and who obtain what little they possess of European and American manufactures partly through visits to Ponds Bay, which they reach travelling overland to Eclipse Sound, partly in trade with the natives of Hudson Bay, whom they reach on the lines of travel described by C. F. Hall. Captain Mutch spent two years at Ponds Bay, and he has furnished us with the first accurate observations on the natives of that area.

The following pages contain such new observations as I have been able to glean from the extensive notes of these two gentlemen and from a study of their collections. Rev. E. J. Peck has had the kindness to send me the translation of one more of the texts collected by me in Cumberland Sound in 1883-84.

The material here presented is of great importance, because it shows that in ancient times the industrial and artistic development of the Eskimo of Fox Channel and Southampton Island was not by any means as slight as most of the collections made in recent times seemed to indicate.

The practical extinction of whales in Hudson Bay and Fox Channel during the last century, and the consequent precariousness of life, have probably done* much towards degrading the older and higher culture of these natives. The better specimens, illustrations of which are contained in the following pages, show also an unexpectedly close relation between the culture of the eastern Eskimo tribes and that of the tribes of Alaska. While the material previously collected and published rather emphasized the far-reaching difference between Alaskan arts and the eastern arts, we find now that a great many of the types, and certain characteristic forms of ornamentation, which had been found heretofore only in Alaska, occur also in Hudson Bay. Other specimens show that a greater similarity has also existed in earlier times between the types of implements used by the Eskimo of Smith Sound and those of Hudson Bay. The bridging-over of the apparent break between the western and eastern divisions of this widespread people is strongly in favor of the theory that the typical Eskimo culture developed in the central part of Arctic America, and that the peculiar Alaskan forms are merely a specialized development, due partly to Indian influence, partly to Asiatic influences.

After the manuscript for the present paper was completed. Dr. Byron G. Gordon’s collection of cat’s-cradles from Alaska came to hand. These corroborate the evidence here presented, in so far as the forms and names of quite a number of Alaskan cat’s-cradles are identical with others collected at my suggestion by Captain Comer in Hudson Bay and by Captain Mutch in Cumberland Sound.

I regret that I could not make use of the interesting discussion of ancient Eskimo industries recently published by Mr. Solberg.

Another point which it is possible now to demonstrate fully by means of the exhaustive collections made in the region of Hudson Bay and Baffin Land, and which is of considerable interest, relates to the conservatism of form which characterizes each tribe. Language, as well as the traditions of the Eskimo, points out an exceptionally high degree of conservatism among this people. The tenacity with which small peculiarities in the type of implementsare retained by each tribe throws a new light upon this- conservatism, which, while characteristic of most primitive people, is in a few cases as well developed as among the Eskimo.

The illustrations for the present paper were drawn by Mr.. Rudolf Weber.

In the spelling of Eskimo words, Kleinschmidt's system has been adhered to, except that q is used for the velar k, and X for the velar spirans which occurs in the Central dia-^ lects. ' In all cases where the phonetic equivalent of the spelling of the collectors was doubtful, the original rendering of words has been retained. Such words are printed in Italics..

New York, Dec. 15, 1906.

1. TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND NUMBERS.

Captain Comer gives the following enumeration by families of the tribes on the west coast of Hudson Bay.^

Number of Netchillik, 1902.

Number of SiNAMiUT, 1902.

Number of Sauniktumiut, I

Men.

Women. Boys.

Girls.

Men.

Women. Boys. Girls.

Men.

Women. Boys.

Girls.

I

I I

I

I

j _ _

I

— 2

I

I

2 I

I

I 21

I

I I

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—

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1 See pp. 6 et seq. of this volume.

Number of Netchillik, 1902. (Continued.)

Number of Netchillik, 1902. (Concluded.)

Number of Sauniktumiut, 1902. (Concluded.)

Men.

Women. Boys.

Girls.

Men.

Women. Boys.

Girls.

Men.

Women. Boys. Girls.

I

I —

I

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123 I138

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I

II. MATERIAL CULTURE.

SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND.

The collections made by Captain Comer on Southampton Island and in the neighborhood of Lyons Inlet have added materially to the information that we possess in regard to the material culture of the Eskimo. Quite a number' of industrial processes which heretofore were either unknown or only imperfectly known receive new light from the specimens which he gathered. In many respects, as will be shown later on, the new information bridges the apparent gap between the Alaskan Eskimo and the eastern Eskimo.

I shall first describe the specimens illustrating these new points.

Fig. 173 represents a stone implement battered at either end, and evidently used as a stone hammer for breaking bones and for similar purposes.

The two ends are battered down evenly and have flat surfaces, which are so regular that probably they cannot be considered simply results of use, but g were most likely produced intention- island. Length, s cm.

ally. There is no indication that the implement was ever hafted, and it may have been held in the hand.

The methods of cutting bone have been described frequently; and it has been pointed out that on the whole the Eskimo preferred, particularly in cutting ivory and the heavy bone of the whale, to make a series of drill-holes close together, and then to break the bone. The implements for breaking the bone have never come to our notice.

Fig. 174 represents a series of wedges. Fig. 174, a, is a large wedge made of the penis-bone of a walrus. The point is bevelled from both sides, and the top is battered, showing clear evidence of use. Two notches just under the head suggest that the wedge may have been tied with a crown of thong to prevent its splitting. Fig. 174, 6 and c, shows quite small specimens: h is made of hard bone which is sawed out, the point is bevelled from both sides, and the butt-end is much battered; c is made of antler, the point is somewhat rounded, and the butt-end is also much battered.

Fig. 174. Wedges. Southampton Island, a (uMu;, Made of penis-bone of walrus, lengtn 30.5 cm.; b UIBt). Made of hard bone, length 10.5 cm.; c Ulgj), Made of antler, length 7 cm.

In Fig. 175, a-c, we have hafts of axes. Those marked a and b are two hafts for the insertion of stone blades. They are made of bone of whale. In Fig. 175, c', a specimen is illustrated the handle of which is preserved. A fourth piece for the insertion of the stone blade, similar in form to Fig. 175, c, has been collected by Captain Comer. Fig. 175, a, is remarkably similar to specimens of the same kind from Alaska.^ The bone hafts of the axes represent two distinct types, shown in Fig. 175, a and b. All of them were lashed to the end of a wooden or bone handle. The one type (Fig. 175, a) shows a deep notch on the lower side for the insertion of the handle, and a number of wide holes, apparently drilled from either side and meeting in the middle. Evidently a thong passed through these holes and through the handle, and held in place the bone in which the blade was inserted.

1 See E. W. Nelson, The Eskimo about Bering Strait, Plate XXXIX (Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Part I).

1907.] Boas, Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hibson Bay. 381

The specimen here illustrated has a wavy line, extending over the back, cut into the bone, which may have served as a decoration. The line is represented over the specimen. Another specimen, which is not figured here, is similar in shape to the one described, the only difference being that, at the place where the groove for the handle is cut in the lower side of the bone, the sides are also cut out, so that the whole implement at the point where it was tied to the handle is narrow. In this specimen the hole for the insertion of the stone blade shows clear ^evidence of having been made with a drill, a number of drill-holes showing plainly at the bottom. Fig. 175, h, illustrates a slightly different method of attachment. The lower side of the bone is hollowed out in the middle for the insertion of a handle, and large holes extend from the bottom of the implement to its upper side.

Each of these large holes has been made by drilling two holes close together through the Fig. 175, t, 1 • UfSr). Adze-haftr length 14 cm.; c (^flrX Adze, bone, and by breaking length of handle 16.5 cm., of haft 21 cm. a, 6, , , • Southampton Island; c, Vansittard Island.

out the intervening wall. Judging from the wear which shows on the upper surface of the implement, the thongs passed through the rear hole on each side to the front hole on the same side, and then down the shaft. There are no indications of wear across the back of the implement from one side to the other. The specimen Fig. 175, c, was found on Vansittard Island. The hole in the front part is so small that it might almost seem that the axe had a metal blade. The hafting is similar to the method described in Fig. 175, b. The rear part of the under side of the haft is cut out flat, and fits the flattened end of the bone handle. There are two perforations on each side of the handle; and a groove is sunk across the back, between each pair of holes; so that the thongs by means of which the haft was tied to the handle passed across its back, not along each side, as in the preceding specimen.

Fig. 176, a (5§i?r), h (b§§i). Snow-shovels. Southampton Island. Length, 24 cm., 27 cm.

The two snow-shovels made of pieces of shoulder-blades of the whale, represented in Fig. 176, a and 6, illustrate work done by means of drilling, wedging, and chopping. In the specimen illustrated in Fig. 176, a, the outer surface of the bone forms the lower side of the shovel. The cutting-edge has been cut off by hacking with a small cutting-implement, the blade of which was slightly curved and about i cm. in width. Probably this was done by means of an axe like those described on pp. 380-382. Marks of axe-cuts may clearly be seen on the lower side of the specimen. The cuts are about 6 mm. deep. On the upper surface of the specimen there are indications that another line of cuts was made from the under side to meet the line of cuts on the opposite side, and that when the lines of cuts were about 3 mm. apart, the bone was broken. The upper surface of the shovel has been sliced off either by means -of an axe or by a wedge. There is no evidence that drilling has been applied at all. The sides, which run parallel with the grain of the bone, show long, smooth, cut surfaces, which makes it probable that the bone had been wedged apart after the cut had been started with an axe. The shovel shown in Fig. 176, fe, is made in a different manner. One edge is formed by the edge of the shoulderblade. , The upper face is the natural surface of the bone, while the cutting-edge is produced by thinning the back of the implement. In this specimen there are clear indications that the slicing-off had been done with an axe, numerous cutting-marks being still visible in the spongy lower surface. The other long edge of the shovel has 'been cut off by the process of drilling. Fifty drill-holes may be counted along the edge, which is 285 mm. in length. It seems that most of the drill-holes went right through, and that then the shovel was easily broken off from the body of the bone by a single blow.

Fig. 177 (Klrff). Skin-scraper. Southampton Island. Length, 1 8 cm.

A new type of scraper, made of bone of whale, is figured in Fig. 177. While all the scrapers heretofore described are made of stone, the present specimen resembles the scrapers of the North American Indians, consisting of a flat blade with numerous notches in the cutting-edge.

Among the most interesting specimens of the series are the large knife shown in Fig. 178, a, and the point of a knife shown in Fig. 178, b. Ross and other authors have described cutting-implements which consist of a piece ^ of bone, the cutting-edge being f\ made of a series of small cutting- I blades made of meteoric iron or of

• flint. I have also been told that ^ Lieutenant Peary, on one of his expeditions to Smith Sound, found a knife of this kind made of fragments of meteoric iron inserted in the narrow edge of a long bone. The specimen found by Ross has frequently been described, and has been figured again by Bessels in his description of the “ Polaris” Expedition, and by Nourse in the description of Halfls journeys to Hudson Bay. In Fig. 90, p. 70 of this volume, the bone back of a knife is illustrated, in the edge of which a metal blade was inserted. Evidently the slit in the bone was intended for a piece of tin or sheet-iron. So far as I am aware, no specimen with inserted stone blades has found its way into any collection. A large specimen of this kind, found by Captain Comer in a grave on Southampton Island (Fig. 178, a), consists of a piece of bone of whale 68 cm. long and 3.5 cm. wide. For onehalf of its length the implement

Fig. 178. bone knives with stone is provided on each side with Blades. Southampton Island, a ^ ^

(irfS?). length 68 cm.; 6, c Seven deep and narrow grooves, length 21 cm.

apparently made by cutting with a rounded stone implement. Into these grooves were inserted flint blades, probably of oval form. The eight remaining blades are firmly embedded in the bone, so that the embedded part cannot be examined. The tip of the implement is halved in the same manner as the harpoon-points from Southampton Island, which are used with flint blades (Fig. 87, p. 67 of this volume), and a large point is .attached to the bone. The point was found loose, but Captain Comer had it retied by means of sinew. The lateral blades were evidently fastened by means of cement. According to the opinion of the Eskimo, this large sword-like knife was used for cutting the blubber of whales. The technique of the implement recalls the Central American •obsidian knives. Fig. 178, 6, represents another specimen of similar kind, which was provided with only three grooves for cutting-blades. These were inserted in a short piece of bone of whale 2 1 cm. long, 3 cm. wide, and 1 1 mm. thick, which is bevelled off at its lower end to be spliced to a long handle. The tip is cut out for the attachment of a large flint point, which was evidently secured by a sinew string in the same way as the point shown in Fig. 178, a. The sinew string passed through a perforation at the base of the bisected tip ■of the bone, and then, as shown in Fig. 178, c, through two grooves to the neck of the point, to which the flint point was tied. There is clear evidence that the splitting of the bone for the insertion of the flint point was done by means of a drill, a series of drill-holes being still visible along the lower •edge of the section. The bone was probably split with a wedge after the drill-holes had been placed crosswise.

Fig. 179, a, represents a small flint knife found by Captain Mutch at Ponds Bay. The blade is inserted in a wooden handle which is very much decayed. The method of insertion of the flint is the same as that found in the preceding specimens, but the part of the blade embedded in the groove of the handle is of irregular shape. The side inserted in the handle is chipped off almost straight. One face of the flint shows the natural surface of the pebble, while the opposite face has evidently been chipped off by a blow with a chippinghammer. Near the cutting-edge, small fragments have been broken off by pressure, particularly in its lower end. At the corresponding end of the lower face of the implement,, small fragments have been flaked off, producing a fairly sharp cutting-edge. At the side inserted in the handle, chips have been flaked off in such a way that the section forms a steep angle with the faces of the blade. Just below the blade there is a notch all around the handle, which was .evidently used for tying. At present there are a number of flne impressionson the handle up to the /H niiddle of the blade. These il Pm evidently made by a.

fe'- i -.' i A 11 strong cotton thread, with which Captain Mutch tied.

Ilf rlilB handle to-

^ place.

^ ^ V: J ylk An interesting blade of a.

' / ii is represented in Fig.

'Kii ^ /lift specimen wasliljlffl also found by Captain Mutch lilij mSI ™ Ponds Bay. It is made from a piece of polished

Fig. 179. stone Knives from Ponds Bay. stone, the faces being nearly a. o' (5IS3). stone knife in wooden handle, n 1 1 -i length 10.5 cm.; 6, 6', Polished stone knife, flat and parallel. While the length 4.5 cm. j j cutting-edges are ground on from both sides. The point is double-edged. It would seem that the part below the small hole was inserted in a handle. At this place an attempt was apparently made to drill through the whole implement, but the attempt was abandoned after the hole had reached the depth of about i mm. The thicknessof the point is 6 mm. As will be seen, particularly from the view Fig. 179, b, the blade is asymmetrical, and it does not seem improbable that the specimen was used as a carvingknife.

A cutting-implement of stone, of somewhat doubtful use, is represented in Fig. 180, a. The specimen is made of a soft slate 5 mm. thick, and bevelled off about evenly from both sides to a straight cutting-edge. The lower broken part shows two drill-holes by means of which the specimen was probably tied to a handle. It may have been used as a scraper, although the material does not seem very well adapted for this purpose. A longer stone implement of similar shape, from Iglulik, is shown in Fig. 180, 6. It is ground out of slate, and has the shape of an adze-blade; but it seems more probable that it was used as a scraper. The edges are bevelled

Length, 3.5 cm., lo.s cm.

Fig. 1 8 1. Polished Stone Implements. a Lance-head, length

8 cm. ; b Arrow-head, length

6 cm.; c Model of woman’s knife; d Arrow-head, length

S cm. b, c, d, from Iglulik.

off; and two deep grooves, the use of which is not clear, run along the middle of the implement, one on each side.

In Fig. 18 1 I have collected a number of slate points, of different sizes and from various regions, in order to illustrate the general characteristics of slate blades. Fig. 18 1, a, is a large lance-head, about 8 mm. thick, with edges ground down. Fig. 18 1, 6, is a narrow slate arrow-head with a notch at the base showing the place at which it was tied to the shaft. Fig. 18 1, c, represents a small slate knife in the shape of a woman’s knife. It has a perforation at the handle end, and was probably used as a model (see p. 503). Fig. 18 1, represents a leaf-shaped arrow-head of slate, with perforation, by means of which it was tied to the shaft.

In Fig. 182 a number of additional chipped implements from Southampton Island are illustrated. A variety of forms is shown in Figs. 84, 87, and 89 of this volume. Fig. 182, a, represents a remarkably symmetrical lance-head of considerable size. Fig. 182, 6 and c, shows two small heartshaped implements nicely chipped, the use of which is not clear. It is not probable that they were used as arrow-heads.

Fig. 182. Chipped Implements from Southampton Island, a (bISk), Lance-head» lengtn 9.5 cm.; h (Bfgg), Heart-shaped implement, width 3.8 cm.; c Heartshaped implement, width 2.5 cm.; d (^1^)1 Scraper, length. 4.1 cm.; d', Side view of d; e Scraper, total length io.8 cm.; f Scraper, length 8.4 cm.

but may rather have been used for cutting or scraping. In Fig. 182, d and /, the blades of flint skin-scrapers are shown; while Fig. 182, e, shows another specimen, with handle, which was found by Captain Comer in a grave on Southampton Island. The flint scrapers are flat on their lower sides, while the back is rounded and flaked in such a way that the scraping-edge forms a sharp angle with the lower surface.

1907-] Boas, Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hibson Bay, 389

Fig. 183, a (5§?g), h c Cross-pieces of Tent-poles. Length, 50 cm.,

S6 cm., 68 cm.

Three specimens (Fig. 183) have been collected by Captain Comer on Southampton Island which could not be explained by the Eskimo. They consist of heavy pieces of bone of whale hollowed out in the middle on one side. Two of them are provided with a number of perforations near the middle and at the ends, while the third one has no perforations, but is roughened by means of cuts at the ends and at two places halfway between the middle and the tips. I think there is very little doubt that these specimens must be the crosspieces to be placed on the upper ends of tent-poles. The tents of the Eskimo of the west coast of Hudson Bay are supported by a single central pole. A wooden cross-piece somewhat of the shape of a barrel-stave is sewed to the middle of the tent-cover, and rests on the tent-pole when the cover is spread out. The tent-pole is held in place by stout thongs passing from the top to one bowlder behind the tent, and to another one in front of the tent. The crosspiece in the cover thus forms the apex of the tent, while the taut thong forms the ridge. The specimens here figured are well adapted for being used in this way, the cuts and the perforation probably serving for connecting the cross-piece with the cover.

Fig. 184, a (bHu), h (sItt)- Bone Objects. Length, 29.5 cm., 21.7 cm.

Two pairs of bone implements of unknown use were found by Captain Comer. One specimen of each pair is represented in Fig. 184, a and b. The lower ends of one pair are bevelled off and roughened all round in the manner which is used in all implements from Southampton Island where bone is spliced to wood or to another piece of bone. To give a still firmer hold to the thong wrapping, a flange is left on the extreme end of the bevelled portion, which prevents the lashing from slipping off. The body of the bone of all the four specimens is slightly curved. At the upper end are two facets. The longer one is nearly parallel with the axis of the bone; while the other one, at right angles to it, forms the end of the specimen. In some of the specimens the facets are also roughened by cuts, showing that they were tied to some other object. The two perforations near these facets served evidently for passing through the tyingstrings. In a few of the specimens there is clear evidence of wear at the edges of these perforations, which show that the string passing through the lower perforation was used for tying an object to the longitudinal facet, while the upper hole was used for tying the object to the terminal facet. In the two specimens, one of which is shown in Fig. 184, a, the convex surface of the bone is slightly trimmed down, and the splice is not so much roughened. The pieces resemble somewhat the lateral prongs of salmon-spears.

Fig. 185. Bone Points, a From Repulse length 7.8 cm.; h (jigo),

Length 6.4 cm.; c (bHi), Length 6.8 cm.; d From Iglulik, length 6.3 cm.;

« From Vansittard Island, length 6.3 cm.

Fig. 185 shows four points of unknown use. They seem too large to be used for fish-hooks and too slender for blubberhooks such as are used by the Alaskan Eskimo. According to Captain Comer’s statement, the specimen shown in Fig. 185, d, which is from Iglulik, was used for holding the harpoon-line to the shaft. I am a little doubtful, however, in regard to this matter, because other implements used for this purpose are of quite different type (see Figs. 9 and 10, p. 17 of this volume). They may perhaps be the points belonging to objects like those figured in Fig. 184.

In Fig. 148 of this volume a number of specimens have been illustrated which were explained as marrow-extractors. Some additional specimens of a similar kind were found by Captain Comer. It seems likely that many of these were used principally as creasers or smoothers, employed in sewing for flattening out seams. The specimen illustrated in Fig.

Fig. 186. Creasers. a Length 8.3 cm.; b (sfgj), Length 13.7 cm.; c

From Lyons Inlet, length ii cm.

i86, a, is very nicely finished, and ornamented with a line which runs parallel to the edges of the handle (see also Fig. 258, p. 458). Fig. 186, 6, is of nicely polished ivory. The specimen shown in Fig. 186, c, is made of bone, and was found at Lyons Inlet. The portion near the point shows clear evidence of use.

A number of specimens illustrate the old type of harpoonshaft which was used before the introduction of metals. In Fig. 187, a-Cy a number of foreshafts of such harpoons are illustrated. These specimens are evidently the same in shape as Fig. 23 of this volume, and explain the peculiar form of that specimen, which heretofore has always been obscure. Fig 187 Cy represents one of a number of specimens of this kind, of round cross-section, with a splice at the butt-end, by means of which the foreshaft was attached to the wooden or bone shaft. The perforation near the splice is made by shaving off part of the surface of the bone, leaving a narrow ridge, which is then drilled through from either end. These perforations are characteristic of all these specimens. Generally there is a groove just under this ridge, which evidently served for tying the harpoon-line around the foreshaft. The wooden shaft illustrated in Fig. 187, a, shows marks which indicate the place at which the hand-support was tied to the harpoon-shkft (cf. Fig. 88, p. 68 of this volume). Presumably the small hole here described served the purpose of holding the detachable harpoon-point in place before the harpoon was thrown, as is done in the modern winter harpoon by means of a short piece of thong, which is pulled through an eye at the base of the foreshaft.^ Another device for attaining the same end in the modern specimens occurs in a winter harpoon of the Netchillik (4^). In this specimen the common Alaskan device of attaching a thong firmly

Fig. 187. Foreshafts of Harpoons, a From Iglulik, length 57 cm.;

& (^83 a), From Southampton Island, length of foreshaft 61 cm.; c From

Southampton Island, length 34 cm.

along one side of the shaft is applied. The thong passes here through a perforation in the bone foreshaft, under the sinew wrapping which holds the foreshaft to the shaft, the two being also riveted together. It is tied again to the shaft by means of a sinew wrapping near the middle, and finally passes through a perforation in the shaft near the butt-end, where it is tied. When the harpoon is thrown, the harpoonline is tucked under this thong to prevent its slipping off. The specimens figured in Fig. 187, a and h, differ from c in having square cross-sections. The splice shown in Fig. 187, h, is strengthened by a flange.

1 See figure in F. Boas, The Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 472).

Two peculiar foreshafts may be illustrated here. The one represented in Fig. i88, a, seems to have been used as a foreshaft of a lance. The shaft end is bevelled off and perforated. It was evidently spliced to the shaft, the splicing-line passing through the drill-hole. The point is slit, and provided with a notch. This is somewhat anomalous, because ordinarily flint heads were attached by cutting off one-half of the point and providing the opposite side with a groove, while slate heads were inserted in a slit and riveted in. The specimen illustrated in Fig. i8i, b, shows, however, that slate

Fig. 1 88, a (bISt), 6 (bS^s). Foreshafts of Lances from Southampton Island. Length, 27 cm.

heads were also sometimes tied to the shaft, as must have been the case in the present specimen. Fig. i88, 6, is the foreshaft of a harpoon. Its shaft end is round and roughened. A small perforation for attaching the harpoon-line, like those described in connection with Fig. 187, is found at the point where the foreshaft joined the shaft. At the tip there is a socket for the harpoon, which is 3.5 cm. deep. There is a lateral bulb at this end, which has a perforation, probably for tying the detachable harpoon-point to the foreshaft. No other lances of similar type from this region are known to me.

The composite bows of the west coast of Hudson Bay were described on pp. 81 et seq. of this volume. In Fig. 189 the method of joining the parts of the composite bow is illustrated. The middle part of the bow consists often of a piece of antler or bone, as shown in Fig. 189, a. This is cut off square at the ends, and lashed to the adjoining parts of the bow. The lashing is the same as that used in joining the blades of snowknives to their handles, as shown in Fig. 91, a, p. 70. The elasticity of this joint is obtained by placing a thin strip of antler under and over the joint, which is held in place by tight wrapping. More commonly the joint is made as illustrated in Fig. 189, h, which represents the wooden tip of a bow. In this case the tip-end has a V-shaped cut, into which the adjoining part fits. In this case also the joint is made elastic by overlaid strips of bone or antler. A still different method of joining is shown in c, which represents the horn of a bow made of bone. The joint is here ‘

made by sawing off one- :

half the thickness of the M Mv H-Vl bone and by the slanting I

under-cut at the end of ■;« .'I

this section. The adjoin- i YcM

ing part is thus supported Bp ^ , by the under-cut, and the ; S ^ 1

two portions are riveted together. This method ci r'M'p ' .v occurs only in specimens S W 1

cut with steel saws. In ^ ‘ j

Fig. 189, d, the inner and / J

outer view and the cross- V ^ a fi :-. H

section of a strip of antler 5^

supporting a joint are shown. The outer side is f-® '“v «

rminrlpH • winilp fV«p inripr and outer view and cross-section of rounaea, wniie tne inner strengthening-piece of bow-joint, length 12.2

side is flat, and is cut off carefully so as to lie close to the surface of the two adjoining pieces. In the specimen here illustrated the inner side is slightly concave, so as to fit the body of the complex bow. At each end is a small flange, which prevents the sinew with which the strengthening-piece is fastened to the bow from slipping. Generally the strengthening-pieces placed on the belly side of the bow are short and thick, while those on the back of the bow are long and thin. This is particularly true in those cases where the joints are cut off square. The long V-shaped joints in musk-ox horn bows, which are riveted together, and the long splices in the same kind of bows, often have no strengthening-pieces.

Fig. 190 a-e). Bones from Bird-bola. Southampton Island. Approximate size, 5 cm.

Fig. 191 Throwing - board. Netchilhk. Length, 46 cm.

In Fig. 190 a number of small bone implements are represented, which were found by Captain Comer on Southampton Island, and which were explained by the Eskimo as buttons for closing women's belts. This explanation, however, seems to me unlikely, principally for the reason that a great many of these specimens were found together, and because all the perforations are near the narrow end of the specimen, and do not allow of a stout thong, such as is used for holding up the hood, passing through. It seems to me much more likely that they are bird-bolas such as are known from Alaska. It is true that up to this time no specimen of this kind has come to our knowledge from the eastern Eskimo; but, as will be shown later on, the specimens collected by Captain Comer furnish good evidence that in former times the similarity between Alaskan culture and eastern Eskimo culture was much greater than has been suspected.

Fig. 19 1 represents a throwing-board of the Netchilhk, which differs from that of Baffin Bay in the form of the tip.

the Baffin Bay throwing-board having a square end (see Fig. 6, p. 16 oi this volume). The throwing-board from the west coast of Hudson Bay is also squared off (see Fig. no, p. 80 of this volume) .

In Fig. 4, e-g, p. 14 of this volume, a few very small bone points were described. Captain Mutch has informed me that these specimens were used to harpoon and kill salmon. A number of additional specimens of a similar kind, and probably used for similar purposes, are shown in Fig. 192.

Fig. 193, a, represents a bone salmon-spear of the Netchillik. It consists of two parts; the barbed tip being riveted to the butt-end, which is hollowed out, and has a socket which fits the tip of the foreshaft of the harpoon.

In Fig. 193, 6, the bone point of an arrow is represented. It is of some interest in regard to of the principle of the screw

Fig. 193. Harpoon and Arrow Points. ® (sISk). Point of salmon-harpoon from ’ Netc''^”'*’- ^ V

the Netchillik, len^h 27 cm.; nFroi

Arrow-point froml^rozen Strait, lenrtli 14.S cm.; c Bone harpoon-point

Nettilin ’

from Lake NettUing, length 17 cm.

the question of the occurrence among the Eskimo. It has been pointed out ^ that the characteristic way of attaching the bone point of an arrow to the shaft, among the Central Eskimo, is by splicing the bevelled and roughened butt-end of the foreshaft to the bevelled shaft, while farther west the bone point is sharpened, and inserted in a hole drilled in the shaft. I also pointed out on p. 68 of this volume (see also Fig. 85, {:), that a single specimen from Southampton Island has the tip inserted in the shaft, like the Western types. The present specimen is made in the same manner, and shows at its lower end two small knobs, — one placed slightly under the other, and both in a slightly slanting position, so that in inserting the head into the arrow-shaft the two knobs act like threads of a screw. Points of this kind are found frequently on Alaskan specimens, either arranged as in the present specimen or on the same level, when they simply give a firmer hold to the point in the shaft. I think there can be little doubt that the use of these two knobs in slanting position is an old Eskimo device, and was applied before the advent of the whites. The present specimen, which was found by Captain Comer on Frozen Strait, is perhaps the best proof of the antiquity of the device.^

Fig. 193, c, represents a fragment of a somewhat peculiar ivory point obtained by Captain Mutch from Lake Nettiling. The Eskimo claim that the specimen was used for hunting fish, and that it was attached to the harpoon-shaft, which was used with a small float, and propelled with a throwing-board. The butt-end of the specimen is bevelled off. The pegs used for closing

Fig. 194. Needles for sewing up Wounds the WOUnds of Seals were deof Seals, a (^§85). From Igliilik, length 9 .11

cm.; 6 From Lyons Inlet, length 9.3 SCribed On p. 19 (see Fig. 13)

of this volume. Specimens similar to those described at that place were collected from the west coast of Hudson Bay and from Iglulik; but a new

1 F. Boas, The Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. P. SOS).

2 See Globus, Vol. 79, p. 8.

type is represented in Fig. 194. It consists of a needle with wedge-shaped point, which is used for sewing up the wounds of the seal. Fig. 194, a, was obtained from Iglulik, while b was found at Lyons Inlet. The thickness of the needles is about 3 mm.

Simple needles for stringing fish or for similar purposes are illustrated in Fig. 195, a and b. A peculiar needle of this kind is illustrated in Fig. 195, c. It resembles in shape, somewhat, the harpoon-point from Southampton Island shown in Fig. 87, p. 67 of this volume. It seems that the small hole corresponding to the harpoon-socket serves to push the needle through by means of a long piece of bone or wood. According to Captain

Fig. 19s. Needles for stringing Fish, a (stir). Length 8 cm.; b Length

9 cm.; c From Iglulik, length $.8

cm.

Fig. 196 USfs). Sheath for Harpoon-point. Iglulik. Length, 11.3 cm.

Comer’s statement, this specimen was also» used for pushing the drag-line through the body of a seal.

A sheath for harpoon-points (Fig. 196) such as are mentioned in my description of the Central Eskimo,^ was collected by Captain Comer at Iglulik. The specimen is made of wood, and cut out somewhat irregularly.

Fig. 197, a, represents an ivory hook which is said to be used in walrus-hunting. It is from Iglulik.

The game of nuglutang was described by me in my report on the Central Eskimo

A better specimen than the one there illustrated was obtained by Captain Comer on Sodthampton Island (Fig. 197, b). It

1 F. Boas, The Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 489).

2 Ibid., p. 568.

400 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, consists of a heavy piece of ivory with a small hole at the upper end and a corresponding hole at

(length, 7 cm.); h Game nuglutang, Southampton Island (length, 9 cm.).

the lower end. The body of the implement is perforated by two large holes which cross at right angles. The object is suspended from the roof of the house by means of a thong, and is weighted at its lower end by means of a stone (Plate V, Fig. i). The object of the game is to hit through the middle holes with * a small dart, as described in the passage before mentioned.

The permanent houses of the natives of Southampton Island are built of stone and bones of whales. The ground plan (Fig. 198) is nearly circular, and differs considerably from the houses of the neighboring regions. According to Captain Comer’s description, they are

Fig. 2. Kayak Supports. Southampton Island all dug out below the level of the ground, and are from five to seven metres in diameter. In the centre there is a stone platform, which is about 60 cm. above the level of the floor (see Fig. 198, c 7). From the centre of this stone table a pillar built up of stone slabs rises to the roof, which is formed of jaw-bones and crown-bones of whales, which extend from the outer wall to the central support. The outer wall is made of scalp-bones. In one house there were seven of these. Flat stones were laid over the bones forming the sides and the roof. The stones were covered with sod and earth. A long passageway was built of large flat stones. Some of these were not made tight with earth, but may have been covered in the winter with snow. Some of the houses have small store-rooms outside of the passageway (see b and c 6). The whole bed-platform {c 2) is raised to the same height as the central stone table, on which the lamps are placed. A peculiar feature of some of the houses are divisions built of stone and earth which project from the outer circumference far into the interior of the house (a and c 4), These serve for dividing the house into apartments inhabited by different families. Large houses are further subdivided by means of screens {c 6)- The general appearance of the house is shown in Plate VI. Kayaks, when not in use, are placed on stone supports (see Plate V, Fig. 2). Meat is preserved in stone vaults or on top of stone piles. (See p. 475 and Plate VIII, Fig. i.)

COMPARISON OF TYPES.

The rest of the specimens are particularly interesting from three points of view. They illustrate the extreme conservatism of the Eskimo in the form of all implements, even the simplest ones. Further, they show that the decorative art of the Eskimo of the Hudson Bay region has very much degenerated during the last century. While at the present time the forms of most implements are exceedingly rough, in olden times the form was more carefully finished, and attempts at decoration were not by any means rare. Finally, the specimens prove close relationship between different areas of Eskimo culture. Therefore the material in the following pages will be presented from a comparative point of view.

Conservatism of Form. — In Parry’s account of his expedition to Fury and Hecla Strait in 1822, he illustrates a blubber-pounder made of musk-ox horn. The illustration is not very clear; but the specimens given in Fig. 199 show that the form of the pounder used at present is identical with the old form. The handle has a number of grooves fitting the fingers, and is bent almost at right angles to the end used for pounding.

In Plate VII a pouch made of five feet of water- fowl is shown. This also is identical with a similar pouch illustrated by Parry. The upper part is made of the skin from the upper side of the feet, while the lower part of the pouch is made from the skin of the soles of the feet. The bottom is formed of a round piece of sealskin.

Fig. 200 represents a meat-fork of the same type as the

Bulletin A. M. N. H.

VoL. XV, Plate VII.

Pouch made of the Skin of Birds^ Feet. Iglulik.

one illustrated in Fig. 100, p. 74 of this volume. The two specimens are identical in type, with the only difference that

Fig. 2 00 (bSbs). Meat-fork. Length, 33 cm.

the knob at the lower end of the specimen Fig. loo is perforated, while in the present specimen it is solid.

A great many wick-trimmers collected by •Captain Comer from the region between Repulse Bay and Fury and Hecla Strait are also remarkably uniform in type (Fig. 201).

They have a straight handle and curved points. Most of these specimens are made of soapstone, while in the region farther :south, on the west coast of Hudson Bay, small petrifacts (largely of fish) of similar form are used. In Cumberland Sound and the adjoining country, ribs are generally used for this purpose. The two specimens here illustrated (Fig. 201) differ from the rest in the occurrence of decoration on the handle end, but many have a square buttend.

Knives, Snow-knives, and Snow-beaters. — Local differentiation of types is brought out clearly in the handles of knives, f^fo^)°"'w?ck-tnmsnow-beaters, and snow-knives. The double- i^iufik!^Leng^S' edged knife, which has often been described, has a straight handle, with a symmetrical knob at the handle end. Generally it consists of a wooden piece and a bone piece, which are spliced together. The characteristic form is illustrated in Fig. 202. The specimens shown in d, e, and /, are from the southern part of the west coast of Hudson Bay, d .and e having been collected among the Kinepetu, while f was ural History. [Vol. XV,

1907.] BoaSj Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, 405

obtained from Sauniktu. These three specimens have blades of Sheffield steel, and all three are characterized by two deep notches near the handle end, and a fairly straight lower edge of the blade. In the specimen shown in Fig. 202, /, the steel blade is riveted to the handle, which is spliced together of wood and bone by means of two strips of iron, and the splice is secured by a thong wrapping. In e and f the blade is sunk in the fore part of the handle, which in e is made of antler, while in d it is made of bone. While in e the fore part of the handle is spliced to the wooden portion, in d it is joined to it by inserting the wooden part, which is bevelled off on both sides, into the bone part which has a corresponding slit. In Fig. 202, g, a beautiful specimen of similar type is represented, which was obtained from the tribes west of Great Fish River. The handle is made of a single piece of antler, while the blade is made of native copper. The blade is riveted with iron nails. This was probably done by the natives of the west coast of Hudson Bay, who traded knives with their neighbors. The grip at the lower end is strengthened by a wrapping of flat thong, the upper end of which passes through a perforation in the handle, while the lower end is tucked under the wrapping. In Fig. 202, a-c, are shown fragments of knife-handles of the same type. The first two were probably found on Southampton Island, while the last one is said to come from the Netchillik. It seems probable that all of these specimens were handles of double-bladed knives.

The three knives shown in Fig. 203 differ from the preceding in the form of the handle. Instead of the symmetrical knob at the handle end, they have a one-sided knob, as is found in most of the snow-knives of this region. All these specimens were obtained from the Netchillik. The handle of Fig. 203, a, is made of bone, while the blade is of iron; the handle of h is made of wood, while the blade is cut out of ship’s copper; c has a blade made out of a table knife, which is riveted with brass nails between two strips of bone, the back being formed by one side of the knifehandle, while the front is formed by a thin strip of antler, which is laid on.

A similar type of handle is found in the snow-beaters of this region. The specimens represented in Fig. 204, b and c, were collected from the Netchillik, and are made of bone, while a is a large whalebone specimen from Southampton

Fig. 203, a h c Double-edged Knives. Netchillik. Length,

42 cm., 40 cm., 34 cm.

Island. The blade, handle, and knob of this specimen are cut out of a single piece of whalebone, to which a wooden handle is lashed. The lower surface of the whole specimen is formed by the surface of the whalebone.

These specimens must be compared with the small snowbeaters made of bone of whale, and represented in Fig. 205. All of these specimens are from Southampton Island and neighboring region. They consist of a single piece of bone of whale, are much thicker than s n o w - knives, and their edges are round.

Here also belong the wooden snow - beaters from the west coast of Hudson Bay (Fig. 206). It will be noticed, particularly in Fig. 206, b and c, that the unilateral knob in b is produced by an attempt to make the handle narrower, so as to give a firm grasp to the hand, while in a this origin of the handle end is not so apparent.

The same origin of the form of the handle end may be observed in the snow-knives illustrated in Fig. 207. All of these are small, and consist of a single piece. The specimen represented in d was found in Gore Bay; ac are from Southampton Island; and ^ and/ are from Ponds Bay,

Fig. 204. Snow-beaters, a Southampton

Island, length 57 cm.; h c (ifgj), NetchiUik, length 20.5 cm., 41 cm.

where they were collected by Captain Mutch. These specimens are all quite alike. They differ from the specimens illustrated in Fig. 205 in being curved and having sharp edges. All except c have a unilateral knob, which in this case is produced by cutting out the handle so as to fit the hand, while the opposite side of the handle is narrowed down. All these specimens have a perforation in the knob of the handle for the attachment of the thong by which they are suspended.

28.5 cm., 29. s cm., 16.5 cm.

, if Snow-beaters, a (,S8j), b

Uao?). Aivilik, length 50.5 cm., 42.5 cm.; 0 (bSS^), Netchillik, length 39 cm.

It is worth remarking that only one of the snow-knives which consist of two parts (see Figs. 208, 210, 211) has a similar perforation. All the larger snow-knives of this region are made of two pieces, the handle being generally made of bone, sometimes of ivory, while the blade is always made of ivory. The form of the handle of these snow-knives used in Ponds Bay, Iglulik, along Lyons Inlet, and in Aivilik, differs from those used on Southampton Island. All the specimens from Southampton Island (Fig. 211) have a handle with two notches, which give a firm hold to the hand, while the specimens from the other regions have only the one unilateral knob described before.

Fig 207, Snow-knives, a & (bISs). c (*18^), Southampton Island, length

30 cm., 25.5 cm., 33 cm.; d UI8s). Gore Bay, length, 10.5 cm.; e f

Ponds Bay, length 22 cm., 34.5 cm.

The method of attaching the blade to the handle is fairly uniform. In most cases, handle and blade are cut off square, and are joined as shown in Fig. 211, a and b. The sinew strings which are used for tying are sunk in grooves made by drilling. In some cases the handle is spliced to the blade. In these cases the handle and blade may be bevelled off, as shown in Figs. 208 a and 209 b-d, or the handle may be halved and the blade riveted on (Fig. 208, b). In Fig. 209, a, a specimen is represented in which a projection of the handle fitted into a notch of the blade. It was evidently riveted and tied in. Similar methods of attachment are illustrated in the specimens from Southampton Island (Fig. 211). In cases where the blade end of the handle is halved, the back of the halved portion is roughened by cuts in order to give a firm hold for the lashing (see Fig. 211, d,f), A few modern specimens and one older one from Lyons Inlet (Fig. 210, a) show a joint of blade and handle which is cut off slanting.

A small group of scrapers and beaters, represented in Fig. 212, illustrate handles with a number of grooves fitting the fingers.

The number of specimens illustrated here exhausts all the types that I have found in the collections from the region in question. It appears, therefore, that the double-bladed knife of Hudson Bay has a symmetrical knob. This agrees with the form of the knife illustrated by Parry in his Voyage to Fury and Hecla Strait.^ The double-bladed knives

Fig.''2io. Snow-knives, a Lyons Inlet, length 31 cm.; h (kS?b). Length

36.S cm.; c (bMt). Length 25 cm.

of the Netchillik, on the other hand, have a single knob. Smalljsnow-knives are made of a single piece, and have a perforated unilateral knob. Bone snow-beaters are straight.

1 Parry, Second Voyage, etc., p. 548.

and also have the unilateral knob. Compound snow-knives are of two types, — the Southampton Island type, having two notches in the handle; and those of the mainland and of Baffin Land, which have the same kind of unilateral knob that is found in other snow-knives. Scrapers and a few snow-beaters have handles with notches fitting the fingers.

Mattocks. — Mattocks show also a general uniformity of type. In Fig. 213 a number of mattock-handles are illustrated, which, it will be noticed, are in form similar to the handles of the snow-knives with unilateral knob. The end of the handle is generally cut off at an angle. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 213, a, is made of wood, while the others are of bone. In b and d the handle is roughened by cutting, to give a firmer ^ v\ grip to the hand. The speci-

1 1 ' / ,*\ men shown in c is cut off

1 1 almost at right angles to the ^ /I , A axis of the handle.

Vv /j ’pi Mattock-blades (shown in

' W / '’ll Fig. 214) are all made of

; I 1’ ! , heavy bone, and are provid-

, I >j| i ed with several notches more

\ or less deeply cut, by means V I ll’j of which the blade is tied to

\ /\ ' li the handle.

Y I Combs. — Remarkable in-

S! dividuality of type is also found in the combs of this district. A comparison of Figs. 215 and 216 will illustrate this point. Fig. 215, a-/, represents combs from the west coast of Hudson Bay and from the Netchillik. It will be noticed that they are all practically of the same shape, characterized particularly by a rectangular top, which is often provided am^pf<in'isiS''i'eStt?®4'4 decorative designs con-

Length 18 cm.; c Netchillik, length gigting of lines and dotS.

cm* ^

Fig. 215, g, h, and i, represents three small rude specimens from the Netchillik, which differ somewhat from the other specimens of this region, although they also have the large top. The specimens from Southampton Island, represented in Fig. 216, a-c, are quite distinct in type. In all these specimens the top is made of open-work. It is window-shaped, with two bars, — one medial bar dividing the field into symmetrical halves, and one crossbar quite near the teeth of the comb. The top is provided with an ornament, which unfortunately is broken in all our specimens. In the specimen represented in a there is clear evidence that the whole projection is broken off; in b it consisted of two symmetrical, inclined portions; while in c it formed a single ring. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 216, d, seems to have been of the same character, the open-work part of the comb being broken off. A comb from the Iglulik, illustrated in Fig. 216, e, is somewhat anomalous in form. It differs essentially from all other combs of this region, and looks as though it had been made from a small broken snowknife.

The Museum possesses two other small combs somewhat similar to those from Southampton Island, and probably derived from the east coast of Hudson Bay. These are represented in Fig. 216, / and g. They show the same window-like opening as the combs from Southampton Island, but they lack the cross-bar. The top decoration is also •somewhat different.

Hair-ornaments. — The hair-ornaments (Fig. 217) are also good examples illustrating the permanence of types. There is one specimen in the collection (Cat. No. c) which is so

Fig. 21$. Combs, a, Aivilik; rest, Netchillik.

Tg. 21$. Combs, a, Aivilik; rest, Netchillik. a (ufSjj), Length 8 cm.; 6, 6' Height 8.6 cm.; c Height 9.8 cm.; d Height, 12.7 cm.; e Height 6.6 cm.; f Height 7.6 cm.; (ifSu), Height 3.5 cm.; hU%h),

Height 7.6 cm.; i (jigg), Height 7.3 cm.

much like one figured in Fig. 102, b, p. 74 of this volume, that it might be considered its mate. As shown in Fig. 217, the principal features of the hair-ornament are as follows. It is a flat ivory tablet a little wider at the bottom than at the top. On the lower edge are three perforations, from which three ivory beads are suspended (p. 74). The upper edge is generally slightly concave, and there is one perforation at

Fig. 216. Combs, a (ifgi), 6 c (jfgg), d Southampton Island, length’

7.8 cm., 12.6 cm., 10.8 cm., 6 cm.; e (jf??), Iglulik, height 12.7 cm.; /, (Ig), Probably east coast of Hudson Bay, height s cm., 6.3 cm.

each corner, by which the ornament is suspended. Thedecoration consists throughout of dotted lines. There are two marginal lines along the slightly curved outer sides, and one central line. Besides these, there are commonly linesfollowing the upper margin, but tending to diverge from.

it in the middle line. Sometimes similar lines along the lower edge are added.

The most typical forms of the beads which are attached to hair-ornaments are shown in Fig. 218. Possibly some of these were used in fringes around the lower edges of jackets. According to Captain Comer’s notes, Fig. 218, b, is a bead from a fringe worn along the lower edge of an angakok’s coat. These specimens may be compared with the beads

, Fig 217, a c) 6 (yig,). c (xfgi), d Gfg^ b), from Southampton Island. Size, 6. 4- 7. 4 cm.

/» (5I3T a).

Hair-ornaments illustrated in Fig. 509 of my paper on the Central Eskimo. Many of the specimens from Southampton Island have a, short perforated stem (Fig. 218, d and e), which in some cases consists only of a diminutive eye.

Quiver-handles. — Other specimens illustrating the permanence of type in matters of detail are shown in Fig. 219. These represent a series of quiver-handles. While a and h are not particularly characteristic in form, c, which was collected by Captain Mutch at Ponds Bay, is very much like the specimen illustrated by me in my report on the Central

Eskimo (Fig. 451, a, p. 508). The specimen is carved to represent a rude animal form. The specimen represented in a evidently belongs to the symmetrical type represented in Fig. 451, hy in the book just quoted. The upper edge of this specimen is furnished with a considerable number of cuts, which seem to have been sawed in, evidently intended to give a firmer grip to the hand. Fig. 219, 6, is of

Southampton Island.

. c Uih), d air-ornaments and

Fig. 219. Quiver-handles, a Length 16.7 cm.; h Aivilik, length

24.S cm.; c GfSe), Ponds Bay, length 15.6 cm.; d (A%), e G|§b), Vansittard Island, length 12.4 cm., 16.8 cm.

wood, and was made by the Aivilik. It is interesting to notice that one side of this specimen has been used as the hearth of a fire-drill, a rectangular groove being cut out, one end of which has been used for twirling the fire-drill. In form this specimen resembles the one represented in Fig. 25 of this volume, although the latter has the ends modelled somewhat in the style of the head-end of the handle shown in Fig. 219, c. The two specimens shown in Fig. 2ig, d and e, are characterized by a number of regular depressions or grooves on the lower side, which fit the fingers. Both were found on Vansittard Island. Fig. 219, d, shows a specimen made of ivory. The perforations at the ends for suspending the quiver are larger than in the preceding specimens, and pass down through the handle, not crosswise as in all the other cases. Possibly the specimen was used for carrying some other object.

Toggles. — The toggle-shaped buttons for closing sledge-^ lines, described in my report on the Central Eskimo, do not seem to occur in the northern part of Baffin Land. I have described a peculiar button used for this purpose, in the shapeof an animaFs head.^ Two specimens of the same type,.

Fig. 220 (5§5g). Button for Sledge-line. Iglulik. Length, 9 cm.

although much cruder, were obtained by Captain Comer from Iglulik. One of these (Fig. 220) is decorated with dots, which surround the sides and the lower surface in irregular lines, while on the top of the implement they are arranged in the shape of a human being. These two specimens prove that the button of this type is characteristic of the northern part of Baffin Land. The decoration of the second specimen, which is not illustrated here, consists of two parallel blackened lines near the butt-end.

1 F. Boas, Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,, p. 531).

Cup-and-Ball Games. — These games present a number of distinct local types. Some of these have been described before. I have shown that in Labrador the fox-head and rabbit-head types prevail.^ On the southern part of Baffin Land the typical form is that of the bear, while two forms from the west coast of Hudson Bay are shown in

Fig. 221. Cup-and-Ball Games, a h Gfg,), c (,|§,), Iglulik, length 11.2

cm., ‘p. 3 cm ,10.9 Southampton Island, length 10.3 cm.; e (/' ‘

V£lIlSltt3;rQ lSi£tn(l| aft\ i -r%

Length 8.3 cm.

length 1 1.6 cm.; f Ponds Bay, length 10.3 cm.; g (4:

Fig. 163 (p. Ill), Fig. 164 (p. 112), of this volume. The common form from Iglulik seems to be that of the fish (Fig. 221, a-c). One of these specimens (Fig. 221, b) is decorated with small notches near the mouth end. Fig. 221, d, is presumably a broken specimen of a similar kind.

1 F. Boas, Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. P. 565).

It was found probably near Frozen Strait. It differs from the preceding in not having a hole in the mouth part. Another specimen, quite similar in shape to that seen in Fig. 221, d, was picked up by Captain Comer. It has no perforations, however, and was probably never completed. The type represented in Fig. 221, e, is of special interest. As may be seen from the illustration, it represents a bear. Its form is intermediate between the cup-and-ball game from Smith Sound described by A. L. Kroeber,^ and the bear forms from Cumberland Sound alluded to before. The piece of ivory from which the specimen has been cut has one hole at the tip and one at the rear end, corresponding to the holes in the Smith Sound specimen. The whole body, however, is clearly carved in imitation of a polar bear, the ears being distinctly visible, and the outline of the neck being well marked. This specimen may be considered either as a modification of the Smith Sound form influenced by Baffin Land forms, or possibly it may represent the form from which the bear forms have developed. The specimen was found on Vansittard Island. We may compare with this the specimen shown in Fig. 221, /, an ivory implement collected by Captain Mutch in Ponds Bay, which is quite similar in form, but lacks the perforations in the back by which the '‘ball” is attached to the "pin.” Fig. 221, g, is figured in connection with these specimens, although I do not know what purpose it served. Possibly it may have been a cup-and-ball game, the string having been tied around the groove near the neck; and the perforation at the curved end and the two perforations at the opposite end may have served for catching-holes.

Small Carvings and Implements. — A number of additional type forms are shown in the following figures. Among the specimens collected by Captain Mutch at Ponds Bay, the types of ivory carvings shown in Fig. ii, a and /, p. 17 of this volume, occur repeatedly. In Fig. 222, a, a characteristic piece belonging to the group of types shown in Fig. II, h-j, is represented. It is characterized by the two

' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XII, Fig. 50, p. 300. See also Fig. 164, p. 112 of this volume.

bulbs at its end. A type almost identical with this one has been figured by Bessels.^ It is not quite certain, however, that this specimen was found at Smith Sound. The two line attachments represented in b and c are illustrated here on account of the similarity of their types. Their use is not quite clear, but it seems probable that they were attached to a wooden or bone shaft, the line passing through the semicircular notch on one side of the specimen. Fig. 222, d and e, represents two small toggles, probably used at the ends of seal dragging-lines. The type is the same as that of some of the specimens shown in Fig. 16, p. 20 of this volume. It will be noticed that the hole drilled through the centre of the implement is always much wider at one end than at the other. This serves for the insertion of the Turk’s-head knot at the end of the line, as indicated in Fig. 16, k. The two bear’s-heads shown in Fig. 222, f and g, have the same kind of a double perforation, and evidently served to hold together two parts of a loop.

In Fig. 223 are shown two clasps for seal thongs from Ponds Bay, identical in shape with those shown in Fig. 12, p. 18 of this volume, from Cumberland Sound. The decoration of these two specimens here selected is somewhat elaborate; Fig. 223, a, being decorated with a number of black notches along the lower rim, while Fig. 223, b, has a sharp-edged

Fig. 222. Ivory Implements, a (sfgj d), Hand-support for harpoon, Ponds Bay, length 6 cm.; b Line-attachment, length 3.5

cm.; c (ilgi), Line-attachment, Iglulik, length 3.5 cm.; d Toggle for drag-line, Iglulik, length 4.5 cm.; e (5^81). Toggle for drag-line, length 4.2 cm.; f Toggle in form of bear's head, Netchillik, iength 4.2 cm.; g Glgiy), Toggle in form of bear's head, Aivilik, length 4.8 cm.

1 Die amerikanische Nord-Pol Expedition, Fig. 8, p. 363.

Fig. 223, a c), & (4§1 d). Clasps for Sealing - line. Ponds Bay. Length, 3^cm.

decorative rim along both the lower surface and the curved edge. A specimen practically identical with the one shown in Fig. 12, a, was obtained by Captain Comer from Iglulik. Another one of the type shown in Fig. 12, b, was obtained by Captain Mutch in Ponds Bay. It is therefore evident that this clasp is characteristic of the whole area from Melville Peninsula to the southern part of Baffin Land.

Three attachments for the manhole of the kayak, shown in Fig. 224, may be compared to the specimen Fig. 3,

р. 12 of this volume. It will at once be seen that they are of the same general type. Fig. 224,

с, is made of ivory, and was collected on Southampton Island; b is made of musk-ox horn, and was obtained from the Aivilik; while a is also from Southampton Island. It is made of bone, and resembles in shape the one just described.

A very elaborate spe-

Kayak Attachments, a South- cimen serving the same ampton Island, length 1 0.5 cm.: 6 Aivilik, Tiiir-nncip anH nhfpinpfl length 9.5 cm.; c Southampton Island, length purpose, ana ODtainea from the Netchillik, is shown in Fig. 225. The sides of this implement are hollowed out to a thickness of about 5 mm. I do not know the exact use of this attachment; but it is interesting to note that, in Nourse’s description of Halhs Arctic expeditions,^ an object of

1 Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition made by Charles F.^Hall.

Fig. 22$ (kSBb)* Ka-yak Attachment. Netchillik. Height, 9.S cm.

exactly the same form and with exactly the same decoration, is figured, exhibiting the remarkable stability of this type.

The swivels represented in Fig. 226, a-c, and the eyes shown in Fig. 226, dj e, do not require any particular discussion. The first two specimens, which were collected in Ponds Bay, are of the same form as Fig- 45, i, p. 36 of this volume; and the large swivel, Fig. 226, c, belongs to the type represented in d and g of the same figure. The two small eyes shown in d and e, for suspending the needle-case, are also characteristic. That marked e may be compared with Fig. 14, k, on p. 19 of this volume. It is from Ponds Bay; while d, a specimen from Southampton Island, in the rudeness of its form and in the irregularity of the black dot ornament, shows the characteristic modern type of the implements from that district.

The series of eyes for dogs’ traces, illustrated in Fig. 227, all from Southampton Island, are also of some interest in illustrating types. The eye shown at a is made of a fiat piece of bone. It is

Fig. 226. Swivels and Eyes, o, h a b), Swivels from Ponds Bay, height about 2.5 cm.; c (b§Sb). Swivel, length 4 cm.; d Eyes for needle-cases, Southampton Island, length 4.2 cm.; c Eye for needle-case, Ponds Bay, cut irregularly, the lower length 5.4 cm.

edge being almost straight. The hole is drilled out, and the intervening sections of the bone are then broken out. The perforation for attaching the dog-line passes in the same direction as the larger hole through the fiat bone. That represented in h is made of ivory. It is much thicker than the preceding specimen, its outlines are rough, and the perforation for attaching the line of the dog passes at right angles to the large perforation. These two specimens are typical for the eyes made of thin flat bones and for those made of ivory from Southampton Island. Still another type is represented in Fig. 227, c and d. Both are made of sections of long bones, the marrow-canal serving for the large perforation through which the sledge-line passes. In c the hole for the dog-line is cut in the same manner as in a, while in d it passes at right angles to the marrow-canal. Obviously in these

Fig. 227. Eyes for Dog-lines. Southampton Island, a (5§§j)> I-^ength, 8.2 cm.; h Gigs). Length, 8.3 cm.; c Length, 5.3 cm.; d Length, 4.2 cm.; e

Length, 7.3 cm.

four specimens the hole for the dog-line is determined by the solidity and thickness of the bone; but the style, once adopted, is rigidly adhered to in all specimens of the same sort. Another type of eye is represented in Fig. 227, e. The perforation for the dog-line enters at the tip of the bone eye, and comes out at one side of the face of the specimen, where the opening is considerably widened. It is held in place here by a Turk's-head knot in the end of the dog-line, which rests in the widened end of the perforation. The characteristic trait of a number of specimens of this type is the triangular knob at the tip of the eye. A comparison of these specimens with those from Cumberland Sound, figured in my “Central Eskimo,"'^ shows that the types of Southampton Island differ considerably from those of southern Baffin Land. Unfortunately, the localities of the specimens are not quite

I F. Boas, Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, P. 532).

definitely known, and the relation to the two types shown in Fig. 96, p. 72 of this volume, is not quite certain. Possibly they do not so much represent local varieties as rather definite types selected in accordance with the thickness and solidity of the bone.

Definite local types seem to be presented in the series of blow-pieces of seal-floats shown in Fig. 228. The specimen represented at a is from Iglulik. It is characterized principally by the middle ring, which serves for giving a firm hold to the seal-skin which is tied around the blow-piece. The next two specimens (b and c) are from Cumberland Sound. So far as I am aware, no pieces with middle ring are found,

Fig. 228. Blow-pieces of Seal-floats, a Iglulik, height 5 cm.; b (bIStt), c

(sSos). Cumberland Sound, height 4 cm., 4.4 cm.; d Aivilik, height 3 cm.

except in the Iglulik region; while the prevalent type of Cumberland Sound has a low body and a short stem, as shown in the specimens here represented (see also Fig. 21, p. 23 of this volume). The most frequent form found on the west coast of Hudson Bay is shown in Fig. 228, d, — a form which also occurs in Cumberland Sound and other parts of Baffin Land.

The supports for sealing-harpoons represented in Fig. 20, p. 22 of this volume, prove to be quite typical. A number of these, made of bone of whale, of exactly the same form as the specimens there figured, were obtained by Captain Comer from Iglulik. The notch near the top of the support serves for tying a bit of seal-skin or reindeer-skin over the notch. The skin serves to prevent any noise when the harpoon is lifted off from the supports.

1907.] Boas, Eskimo of ' Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 429

A new set of twister and marline-spike from the west coast of Hudson Bay is identical in form with the one illustrated in

Fig. 1 1 5, p. 83 of this volume, while another set differs from it slightly (Fig. 229). The twister, instead of being cut off square at the end, tapers, and the marlinespike is decorated at the handle , Fig. 229. a Gigj), Mariine-spike,

^ ^ ^ . length 8.8 cm.; b Smewend With a number of rings. twister, length 7.7 cm.

Scrapers. — I have pointed out the conservatism of form found in the skin-scrapers of the Kinipetu (see p. 92 of this

Fig. 230

Ski n-s cr a p e r of Stone. Savage Islands. Length, 12 cm.

volume). Specimens made entirely of stone are cut out so as to resemble in their whole shape the specimens with handle of antler, and stone blade. The same imitation of the form of a scraper with wooden handle and stone blade is illustrated in Fig. 230, which represents a specimen from the Savage Islands, Hudson Strait. It will readily be seen that the general shape of this specimen resembles Fig. 41, d and /, on p. 33 of this volume. The widened end of the handle and the curved grip, which are plainly visible in Fig. 41, /, re-appear in the present specimen. The scraper represented in Fig. 41, a, is probably made in the same manner; but the imitation of the compound implement escaped my notice.

because the handle part of the specimen there described is much ruder.

Woman’s Knives. — The series of woman’s knives shown in Fig. 231 are of interest. Not only do they represent an entirely new type, but their workmanship is also so excellent that by it they present a strong contrast to the more modern specimens from Southampton Island. The four specimens were obtained by Captain Comer near Frozen Strait. The handle part is made of bone, while the blade consists of red slate. Each handle is provided with a deep groove, into which the blade fits. The groove is cut in a manner similar to those of the large flint knives described before.^ The blade shows drill-holes, by means of which it was fastened to the handle. Evidently thongs passed through the sets of holes in the handle and through the corresponding holes in the blade, holding the two firmly together. In Fig. 231, c, the drill-holes in the handle pass through the groove for the blade. Presumably in

Fig. 231. Woman’s Knives. Southampton Island, a a, b), Width of blade 9.9 cm ; 6 a, b), Width of blade 12.1 cm.; c Utgi), Width of handle 9.6 cm.; d Width of blade 10.2 cm.

this case the blade was riveted to the handle in the same way as is done with the slate blades of harpoons and of arrows. The large perforations under the handle crest in Fig. 231,6 and c, evidently serve to pass the first and second fingers through, and the wear and form of the handle suggest that the knife was used pulling towards the worker, the thick crest of the handle

See p. 384.

1907.] Boas^ Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 431

giving a firm grip to the hand. The handle of Fig. 231, a, shows evidence that its upper part has been broken off. Probably it had a crest like the others. This type of woman’s, knife is entirely new for the eastern Eskimo, its affiliations being rather with Alaskan types than with those of the East.

In Fig. 232 is represented part of a caribou-antler cut off square at the ends and having a deep cut on its concave side..

Presumably this specimen was also the handle of a woman’s knife, a slate blade being inserted in the deep groove. If this is the correct interpretation of the specimen, it would also belong

Fig. 232 (sSSs). Handle of Woman^s^ nife. Length, 10.6 cm.

rather to Alaskan than to Eastern types, where woman’s knives of this form have not been described before.

The common modern types are represented in Fig. 233, all of which are from Southampton Island and the immediate neighborhood. In Fig. 233, a and 6, handles made of a single piece of bone are shown. Both were evidently cut with metal, and intended for metal blades. The handle of the specimen represented in c consists of two parts; the upper part being made of ivory, while the portion in which the metal blade was inserted is made of bone. The specimen shown in d consists of three parts; the curved handle being made of bone, in which the short stem, which is made of ivory, is inserted. The portion to which the metal blade is attached is also made of bone. In e and f an ivory handle and ivory stem are represented, which, although they do not belong together, illustrate the method of mortising the stem in the handle. The form of the handle represented in e recalls the handles shown in Fig. 231, b and c. Possibly the notches with which the ends are decorated are a development of the older type shown in the preceding figure.

Needle-cases. — Perhaps the most interesting specimens are the needle-cases shown in Fig. 234. The first two specimens (a and h) are elaborately decorated. The characteristic feature of the whole series is the peculiar lateral ornaments, which.

are rather small in a, h, and c, while in d and e they are very large. The whole specimen consists of a tube, through which evidently a leather string was passed, as is done with all modern Eskimo needle-cases. The specimen shown in c was collected by Captain Mutch in Ponds Bay. In d and e the tubular body is much more clearly marked, and the lateral ornaments appear like large wings. A comparison of these specimens with a needle-case from Smith Sound published by A. L. Kroeber^ shows that they are of the same type; and obviously the curious Smith Sound form, which in all the spe-

1 Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XII, Fig. 30, p. 287.

cimens in the American Museum of Natural History appears to be very carelessly executed, is identical in type with the beautiful specimens from Southampton Island collected by Captain Comer. With this series is figured a modern needlecase from Aivilik (Fig. 234, f), because its outline is similar to

Fig. 234. Needle-cases. Frozen Strait, except c, /, andgr. a (sfgu), b (Ah), Length 12 cm., 6.8 cm.; c Ponds Bay, length 4.2 cm.; d e Ufgr). Length

II cm., 9.S cm.; f (kISs) Aivilik, length 7.3 cm.; g, Alaska (U. S. National Museum, Cat. No. 33700).

that of the specimens here represented. On one side the lobe appears roughly outlined by scratched lines, while on the opposite side two crosses are found at the corresponding places.

In Alaska a type of needle-case is found (Fig. 234, g) which I am inclined to consider related to the type just described. The two diminutive knobs — one on each side — below the

434 American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, flanges at the upper part of the needle-case are characteristic of this type. The first specimen of this kind that I saw had rather large peg-like protuberances at these points, so that the whole specimen resembled a ship^s gun. An examination of an extended series of about seventy specimens of this type — found in the United States National Museum, in the American Museum of Natural History, and in the Peabody Museum — shows that the characteristic traits of this type are the form as indicated in our figure, and the lines of decoration near* the upper and lower end, which, as will readily be seen, resemble the corresponding lines of decoration on the specimens from Hudson Bay. The lateral protuberances are sometimes so small that they cannot be seen, but they can be felt by running the fingers along the sides of the specimens. In other cases they are elaborated as heads of animals. Sometimes the flanges near the mouth of the needle-case are also elaborated in the forms of animals, and similar small designs are also added at the lower opening of the needle-case. The whole series presents a most interesting group of variations based on the same fundamental type. The most plausible explanation of the upper flanges and of the lateral knobs of this type seems to me to be had by a comparison with the Eastern type, particularly with the specimens shown in Fig. 234, d and e.

The two needle-cases shown in Fig. 235 were collected from the Eskimo of Southampton Island. They are quite different in type. They are rectangular in cross-section, and remarkably short. The relationship of

Nee^e -^cases. ^^^Wouthamplon this form is not quite dear, particisiand. Length, 5.6 cm., 6.4 cm. since the method of attachment is quite different from that of the angular needle-cases of the west coast of Hudson Bay (Fig. 136, p. 94 of this volume), which, instead of a tube, consist of a small box.

Lamps and Kettles. — Local types are also found in the Eskimo lamps. The distribution of types of lamps has been

1907.] Boas^ Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 435

discussed somewhat fully by Dr. Walter Hough/ who has de- •scribed particularly lamps from Alaska, and who pointed out that in the extreme southwest of the region inhabited by the Eskimo, the lamps are small, while in the Arctic region, where no wood at all is available, the size of the wick-edge is very :great. I think, however, that Dr. Hough’s inference that the size of the lamp agrees with the latitude, or at least with the isothermal lines, can hardly be maintained. In discussing Eskimo lamps, two types must be clearly distinguished, — the cooking-lamp, the size of which depends upon the size of the kettle, and therefore also on the size of the family; and the heating-lamp, which is placed in the corners of the house and on the floor near the entrance. The latter is always rounded and small, while the cooking-lamp is large, and has a long wick-edge. In the region here under discussion, five different types of lamp may be distinguished. The largest lamps -are those from the region west of King William Land (Fig. 236, •a) . They are not deep, and have a strong curvature at each end, while the posterior edge is almost straight. The bottom of the lamp is perfectly flat, the posterior edge rises quite abruptly, and so does the front edge, while the inner bottom •of the lamp shows a somewhat gradual slope upward towards the wick-edge. In the region of Hudson Bay as far west as Boothia Felix, the cross-section of the lamp-bottom differs slightly from the one just described. In this region we find lamps with flat bottom and steep rear and front edge on the outside, while the inner bottom shows a more or less gradual rise towards the wick-edge. The lamps from the west coast of Hudson Bay are, however, more rounded and shorter than those from the region farther to the west. A series of the lamps from the west coast of Hudson Bay are shown in Fig. 236, h-e, and in Fig. 237. The similarity of form of crosssection and outline will be at once apparent. A different type of lamp with flat bottom is shown in Fig. 238. While all the preceding specimens are of such form that, when used, the bottom requires only a very slight slope towards the

Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1896, pp. 1025 et seq.

front, the specimen here illustrated must be raised considerably at the posterior edge. It shows a long and rather steep slant upward in the inner side of the bottom. The outer side

Fig. 237 Lamp from West Coast of Hudson Bay. Length, 55 cm.

of the front of the lamp does not rise as steeply as in all the preceding specimens, but slants up very gradually. Unfortunately the place of origin of this lamp is not definitely known. It comes probably from the east coast of Hudson Bay.

Quite different in type is the set of lamps represented in Fig. 239. These are from Smith Sound. They are, on the whole, much smaller than the specimens from Hudson Bay. The curvature of the lamp is much greater. The bottom is round, and shows a very gradual rise forward towards the wick-edge. In one specimen (Fig. 239, c) there is a peculiar ornamental thickening of the lamp ring at the apex of the posterior side.

The Cumberland Sound and Ponds Bay lamps (Fig. 240) are characterized by large size and great depth. In many cases there is a division at the rear end of the lamp for keeping blubber. The bottom is quite round, and requires support in order to steady the lamp. The specimen here shown in a is illustrated in rear view in Fig. 56, a, p. 43 of this volume.

Fig. 239, a b (?2T)t C (A%). Lamps from Smith Sound. Length, 51 cm.,

32 cm., 39. 5 cm.

At each end of the wick-edge, a little under the rim of the lamp, is a knob, which is probably used in supporting the lamp. The specimen shown in Fig. 240, b, had originally a long division along its rear part for keeping blubber. This division is not carved out of the steatite block of which the lamp is made, but consists of thin pieces of stone which are cemented in.

The lamps from Southampton Island are built up of slabs of limestone. The ground plan of the lamp is shown in Fig. 241, while a front view is illustrated in Fig. 99, p. 73 of this volume. The upright pieces of stone are fastened to the bottom by means of a thick cement, probably made of soot

Fig. 240, a (iifSa), b (ufgg). Lamps from Cumberland Sound. Length, S9 cm., 71 cm.

and blood. According to Captain Comer, hair of male dogs is also mixed in the soot; but no traces of hair have been found in the specimens examined.

In Figs. 242 and 243 a number of small lamps are illustrated. The stone lamps from Frozen Strait shown in Fig. 242 are quite rounded in form, and have near the wick-edge a small ridge such as is found frequently in small lamps from North Greenland.^ The small lamps from Cumberland Sound differ from those of Frozen Strait in being deep, like the large lamps, and some of them have a small division near the rear end. The small specimens shown in Fig. 243, a and

1 See Hough, 1. c. plate 7.

Another small lamp (Fig. 244) from Frozen Strait is quite flat and shallow.

The kettles show differences in form similar to those found in the lamps. In Fig. 245 the types of kettles from different

Fig. 242, a b (kISt)i c USS?). Lamps from Froz#n Strait. Length, 43 cm.,

24 cm., 21 cm.

regions have been brought together. That in a represents a kettle from Gore Bay; b is the characteristic Smith Sound type, with curved sides, and wider on top than below; c is the type characteristic of the Netchillik, with straight sides.

wider on top than below, and with flanges at the short ends; d represents the Cumberland Sound type, the principal characteristic of which is that it is narrower on top than below;

Fig. 243, a b i^h), c d e Lamps from Cumberland Sound. Length, 26 cm., 13 cm., 18.5 cm., 18 cm. 15.5 cm., 4.8 cm. (/ Model of Lamp.)

Fig. 244 (»!§»). Lamp from Frozen Strait. Length, 27.5 cm.

e represents one of the limestone kettles of Southampton Island, made of thin slabs sewed together.

The details of one of the slabs forming the short end of a limestone kettle are shown in Fig. 246, which represents a view from the inside of the kettle. The specimen is carefully ground down to a thickness of 1 1 mm. The sides have evidently been cut through with stone, probably with limestone, which may have been mixed with sand, perhaps also with flint of appropriate shape.

Along the lower edge a flange is left standing, which serves for the support of the bottom.

The perforations along the edges are made from both sides. On the outer side of the slab, deep grooves run from the perforation to the lateral edge.

The slabs are tied together with whalebone which runs along these grooves. On the inside

^ 245.^ Kettles, a Gore Bay (length the joints are caulked wi<Uh 30 cm., height, 14 cm.); h (^t),

. . . Smith Sound (length 25 cm., width 13 cm., height

With cement. A num- 7 cm.); c GIJb), Netclullik (length 21 cm., v . IS. 5 cm , height 10 cm.); d (45b), Cumbei ber of slabs formine the Sound (length of top 19.5 cm., of bottom 22 . width of top 1 1. 5 cm., of bottom 12 cm.; heig

!^etchillik (length 21 cm., width Cumberland 1 22 cm.;

. , . , - - - - - - - . height 8

narrow and lone: sides cm.); e(5|gB), Southampton Island (length 32 cm., ° width 21 cm., height 10 cm.).

of the kettles were measured. Their proportions are shoWn in the following table.

444 American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV,

Length of Upper Rim.

Length of Lower Rim.

Height.

Slabs forming narrow sides.

I (Fig. 246) .

186 mm.

168 mm.

1 18 mm.

2 .

3 .

4 . .

5 .

Slabs forming long sides of above 1 (Fig. 246) . . .

2 .

3 Long side missing.

4 . . . .

5 Long side missing.

It will be seen that in some of these specimens the sides are almost vertical, while in others they slant out upward*

Fig. 246 (sair)- Side Slab of Stone Kettle. Southampton Island. Length of upper rim, 18.6 cm.

Captain Comer also found a few round kettles, one of which, from Lyons Inlet, is represented in Fig. 247, a. It is a very rude specimen, with very thick sides. Another similar specimen is 20 cm. long and 10 cm. wide. A fragment of a better-finished, rounded kettle, is shown in Fig*

247, h. This kettle has a flat bottom. Its sides are low. The rim is slightly set off from the body of the walls, and is decorated by a single groove, — a method of kettle decoration which is found frequently in this region as well as in southern Baffin Land (see also Fig. 254, p. 457 of this volume) and in Labrador. This whole kettle was probably about 28 cm. long and 15 cm. wide. It is nearly 5 cm. high. One hole for suspension is found at the narrow end. A second hole has been started near it, but it has not been drilled

Fig. 247. Round Stone Kettles, a Uibb). Lyons Inlet (length 23 cm., width 13 cm.); b (Bfgg). Greatest width on top, approximately, 15 cm.

through. Captain Comer also collected a very small, flat, dish-shaped kettle of the same kind, which was evidently either used as a toy or deposited at a grave. It is 7 cm. long, 3.5 cm. wide, and quite shallow. It has a flat bottom, the rim being only i cm. high. It has no perforations.

Harpoon-points. — In Fig. 248 a series of typical harpoonpoints from Southampton Island and Frozen Strait are represented. The specimens may be described as follows. Fig. 248, a-d, represents the most common type, with two barbs, and blade parallel to the barbs. Those at a and h are made for flint blades ; c was evidently broken, and later on mended

7 Hapoon-points. k, m, Iglulik ; all the rest from Southampton Island, o (sfSs f). Length 8.1 cm.; 6 (5IS5 j), Length 8.7 cm.; c UISs d), Length 7.5 cm.;

Length 8.4 cm.; c Length 8.7 cm.; f Length 8.0 cm.; g

(?§§& a), Length 7 cm.; h b), Length 10 cm.; i (plgjy d), Length 10 .8 cm.; j Length 10.5 cm.; k a). Length 10 cm.; I b). Length 17.2 cm.; m Length 14.3 cm.; n (sS^g), Length 7.8 cm.; o b), Length 5.1 cm.; p a), Length 5.6 cm.

by riveting on a new point; while d is slit for a slate blade, which was tied in. This type of harpoon varies considerably in thickness. In all old specimens obtained by Captain Comer on his last voyage there are two holes at the base of the barbs. These evidently serve to pass sinew thread or thin thongs through, by means of which the socket is lengthened, and a better hold is given to the point of the harpoon-shaft.^ Bessels’ description of the thong at the side of the hole as mending, is evidently erroneous, since this method is adopted with all thin harpoon-points in which drilling of the socket was difficult or impossible (cf . Fig. 248, f-h and /-w) . In most specimens the perforations near the base of the barbs converge somewhat towards the back of the harpoon. In a few cases they almost meet in the medial line. In every single case the two holes are connected across the back of the harpoon by a groove, into which is sunk the sinew thread which passes through it. There are only a few exceptions to this rule, and it would seem that in one or two of these cases the harpoonhead was never finished. In modern harpoons these perforations are absent. The specimen represented in a has two pairs of holes, the upper one situated at the base of the thick part of the harpoon. The two holes converge towards the back of the harpoon, where they are connected by a groove. They are also connected by a gfoove across the front of the harpoon. These served for strengthening the harpoon-head, and for protecting it against the lateral pressure exerted when the harpoon-head comes off from the shaft, owing to the struggles of the animal.

The harpoon-heads with blade parallel to the line-perforation fall naturally into two groups, — one group with shallow notch between the barbs, represented by specimens a, d-m (see Fig. 248, a-d). This series is fairly uniform, except that a few specimens i and 1) are remarkably narrow. Most of these specimens appear to be old ; e, g, h, and k, seem to be more modern. Among the specimens of this

1 A. L. Kroeber, The Eskimo of Smith Sound (Bulletin of the American Mus^m of Natural History, Vol. XII, Fig. 13, a); and Bessels, l.c., Fig. 4, p. 362.

group, three had flint points attached on the back side of the harpoon, while five had flint points attached on the belly side. Only one of the specimens, here represented in Fig. 248, dy was used with a slate point. The dimensions of eleven specimens of these harpoons are as follows, all the dimensions being taken with the stone point excluded. The measurements of broken specimens are enclosed in parentheses.

h .

j (Fig. 248, b)

g e .

f (Fig. 248, a), k . .

d (Fig. 248, c). m (Fig. 248, d)

a .

i .

1 .

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

21 mm.

28 mm.

84 mm

It will be seen that the dimensions of these specimens are fairly uniform.

The second group is characterized by a longer barbed portion, which has two perforations instead of one, evidently intended to give the point of the foreshaft a better hold. In one specimen both pairs of perforations converge, each pair to a single hole on the medial line on the back of the harpoon. Three specimens of this type are made for the attachment of flint points; one is broken, and was probably used with a metal point; while eight have metal points. Most of them are quite modern. The specimen figured in Fig. 87, c, p. 67 of this volume, belongs to this class. This specimen is incomplete. It has no socket for the foreshaft of the harpoon. Another specimen (|f^) of this class has also no socket. All the specimens for flint points have two perforations in the barbed ends, while four specimens with metal blades have no such perforations, and one of this series has only one perforation. The dimensions of thirteen specimens of the second group are as follows: —

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

27 mm.

29 mm.

Length.

1 1 5 mm .

Most of the backs of this type are rounded ; while those of the first type, with the exception of one, are rather flat. Among the specimens here described, 4^, and b have a slightly keeled back. No. is a specimen with a perfectly flat back, 15 mm. thick, 24 mm. wide, and 76 mm. long. In there are also two perforations at the base of the barbs, connected on the back of the harpoon up and down each side. The back, is rounded. Two specimens of this series are remarkable on account of their flatness on the back as well as on the front.

n and . The latter specimen is quite old, and was used with a flint point. The more modern specimens of this type from Southampton Island, all with metal points, are not so well made, and differ slightly in dimensions. Most of them lack the gradual thickening near the harpoon-socket. A few of them are still provided with perforations for strengthenings and extending the socket, as described before.

The collection contains also one specimen collected among the Netchillik (j^), which has similar dimensions and forms.-

450 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV,

Its greatest thickness is 23 mm.; width, 24 mm.; length, 93 mm. It is longer than the specimens from Southampton Island. It is provided with the two perforations at the base of the barbs, the perforations converging towards the medial line of the back. The back of the harpoon is not keeled.

Four modern specimens of ivory from Southampton Island for metal blades have the following dimensions: —

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

22 mm.

32 mm.

(80) mm. (about)

n

5209 . ••••

.

5210 .

n .

These specimens are much wider in proportion to their length than the specimens used with stone points. It will be noticed that the forms of these harpoons are fairly uniform. In specimen No. n, which has a very slight thickness, a considerable portion has been broken off, which accounts for its position in the series.

The modern harpoons from Aivilik, Iglulik, Ponds Bay, and Cumberland Sound (see Fig. 4, a, p. 14), are even larger than the modern harpoons from Southampton Island.

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

(Aivilik) .

98 (without

97 blade)

(Ponds Bay) .

One very small specimen from Iglulik, similar in type to the modern harpoons, measures 15 mm. greatest thickness, 21 mm. in width, and 66 mm. in length. While the backs of the old specimens are rounded or flat, those of the other specimens are slightly keeled. Only one specimen (No. o), in its general form, resembles more the older type. It is considerably decayed, and it probably antedates the .other modern specimens.

In Fig. 248, /, quite an old harpoon-point from Frozen Strait is shown, which differs from the preceding specimens in having broad barbs provided with notches. In this respect it resembles the specimens figured in Fig. 108, p. 79 of this volume, but even more the harpoon-heads from Smith Sound. ^ It seems that this specimen was not completed: at least, the notch in the point is so shallow that no blade can very well have, been inserted. The perforation for riveting the metal or slate blade in the harpoon-head is also missing. Its length is 80 mm.; width, 39 mm.; thickness, 20 mm. In dimensions this harpoon-head, therefore, resembles the modern specimens. Its back, however, is rounded. A specimen quite similar to this one, although slightly narrower and with rounded barbs, was collected from the Netchillik (mz) • thickness is 23 mm. ; width, 29 mm. ; length, 84 mm. In general shape this specimen is therefore intermediate between the modern harpoons and the older harpoons from Southampton Island. The portion of the back of the harpoon near the barbs is keeled. Fig. 248, /, may represent the old prototype of the specimens shown in Fig. 108, a-b, p. 79 of this volume. The position of the blade in the present specimen is parallel to the perforation for the harpoon-line, as in Fig. 108. The perforations at the sides of the socket of the harpoon were used for enclosing the socket, and are connected on the back of the harpoon by grooves.

A number of specimens of the type shown in Fig. 87, b, p. 67 of this volume, were collected by Captain Comer. All of these have two sharp barbs, and the blade of the harpoon is at right angles to the perforation for the harpoon-line. All these specimens were used with flint points. Their dimensions are as follows : —

1 A. L. Kroeber, l.c., Fig. 14, p. 279.

O' -

tItt e .

52T7 C .

^1x7 d b

6 0

T73X

xfxTT

¥7X7

7¥¥T

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

31 mm.

22 mm.

107 mm.

(?)

(?)

t6

Nos. J?, c, and jffj, have a pair of holes at the base of the barbs similar to the holes found in the flatter type of harpoons described before. The specimen b has two pairs of such holes, while the others have none. All the specimens have a very sharp ridge along the side of the harpoon, to which the barbs are attached. In some cases the ridge is flattened towards the barbed end. In ten specimens the flint head is on the right side, and in three specimens on the left side, of the harpoon, when seen from the belly side.

The series of harpoons shown in Fig. 248, g-^, differ from the preceding set in having barbs near the point. The general character of the harpoon-heads is similar to those previously described. That marked g corresponds in type to the four specimens shown in a-J, while i corresponds to the type shown in e. Here, also, the type with the shallower groove between the barbs seems to be older than the more elongated type with deep notch between the barbs. The specimen shown in Fig. 248, h, differs from the others in being very flat, and in having, instead of the ordinary large linehole, two perforations connected by a groove on the back of the harpoon. Following are the dimensions of these types: —

First Type.

^ 248, .

■5^ 2 2 u ^ . .

Second Type.

■sit® d (Fig. 248, i) .

iIItt i whole harpoon head of ivory) . . . zilis f .

Third Type.

zih ^ (Fig. 248, h)

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

(18) mm.

26 mm.

(70) mm.

23 (excl. barbs)

88 (metal blade)

88 (metal blade)

The remaining points in Fig. 248 are made each of a single piece of bone. Those marked k and I are used in killing salmon. The specimen figured in k was collected in Iglulik, while the one figured in I is from Southampton Island. All these specimens are very thin, and for this reason have the •socket for the harpoon-foreshaft entirely open. The method of attaching the harpoon-line to the shaft differs also from that of the seal and walrus harpoons for the same reason. All these specimens have only a single perforation for the harpoon-line. The specimens shown in Fig. 248, j and m, differ from those just described in being barbed. The second specimen is decorated on one side with incised lines. The specimen shown in j is quite flat on its lower side. The point is very thin and slightly hollowed out, and it was presumably used with a thin flint point. Fig. 248, n, is a bone point, probably part of a harpoon-point like the one repre- •sented in Fig. 248, m; while o and p are small harpoon-points for killing salmon.

In Fig. 87, e, p. 67 of this volume, a curious asymmetrical lance-head has been illustrated; two additional specimens of this kind have been collected by Captain Comer; and one old specimen with flint blade has been in the Museum for a number of years. It was described by me in “Central Eskimo/^ p. 491, Fig. 423. The sizes of these points are as follows : —

Greatest

Thickness.

Width.

Length.

It . .

mm.

21 mm.

81 mm.

76 (head of wood)

.

. . ; . .

Specimen without number .

Evidently these specimens represent the prototype of the lance-head from Iglulik shown in Fig. 249, a, the dimensions of which are somewhat similar to the preceding, — 32 mm. thick, 23 mm. wide, and 68- mm. long.

A second specimen of the same kind was collected by Captain Comer from the Netchillik. It differs from the specimen from Iglulik in having a keeled back on the barbed side, which is set off at an angle from the fiat sides

Fig. 249. a (jMb). Lance-head from Iglulik, nfthpnnint TliptliirV- lengtn II cm.; 6 (ifSx). Head for winter harpoon, Oixne point. inetniCK

Netchillik, length 7.4 cm.; c Old point of ripcc of thp bnnp winter harpoon, Aivilik, length 9.3 cm. nebb 01 tne Done part of the specimen is 21

cm.; its width, 31 cm.; its length, 76 mm.

In Fig. 249, 6, is represented a small head of a winter

Lance-head. Lengtn, 6 cm.

harpoon from the Netchillik, which is interesting on account of the decoration on its barbed side. An older type of the Aivilik winter sealing-harpoon is illustrated in c. This specimen was also used with a metal blade. The socket for the foreshaft of the harpoon is made in the same way as in the specimens previously described.

The perforations for enclosing the socket are connected on the back by grooves, in which the sinew was sunk.

The lance-head illustrated in Fig. 250 is clearly the old prototype of the modern lance-head illustrated in Fig. 7, p. 16 of this volume. The method of attachment of the old specimen here represented was slightly different from that used in the modern specimen. Instead of two perforations at the bottom, we have one single perforation at the base of the tang. Downward from this perforation runs a groove along the back and front of the harpoon. Evidently the line connecting the point with the harpoonshaft ran through this perforation and down in front and back of the harpoon, being held in place by the sinew strings which enclosed the socket for the foreshaft of the harpoon. The use of the upper hole is not quite clear. It may be that the specimen was used at one time with a slate head with two perforations, which was tied to the point.

Various Implements. —The local development of different types is also well illustrated by the small toggles or buttons for closing seal-lines and for keeping thimbles, represented

Fig. 251. Small Toggles. Natural ^ze. a (3773), b (4775), c (4774), From Southampton Island; d (4Mj), Netchillik; e (4|gT). f Iglulik.

in Fig. 251, and also in Fig. 14, p. 19, and in Fig. loi, p. 74, of this volume. iThe buttons from Cumberland Sound are

Doll from Vansittard Island. Length, 18.5 cm.

all straight, and very often notched at either end. The buttons for keeping thimbles, from Southampton Island, are shown in Fig. loi. They are characterized by a small central stem, and ends bent at an angle. Another type from Southampton Island, probably used for closing seal-lines, is illustrated in Fig. 251, a-c, while the analogous types from Netchillik and Iglulik are shown in d,e, and /.

It may be proper to mention here also a doll from Vansittard Island (Fig. 252), the style of which is very much like that of the doll from Cumberland Sound represented in Fig. 82, e, p. 55, and the ivory bow- drill from the Kinipetu (Fig. 253), which may be compared to Fig. 36, c, p. 30 of this volume.

DECORATIVE ART.

It was stated before that the collection illustrates a higher development of industrial and decorative art among the tribes of this area than is shown by the more modern specimens. In the description of the Southampton Island specimens given in the first part of this volume, attention was called to the rude character of all the objects. On the other hand, many of the

Fig. 253 (gSgff). Bow of Bow-drill. Length, 37.5 cm.

old specimens now collected possess very symmetrical forms. This is true not only of the stone implements, but also of many of the other objects of every-day use. The stone knives described in Fig. 178, the snow-knives (Fig. 211), the combs

(Fig. 216), the old cup-and-ball game shown in Fig. 221, are all of very good workmanship; and the old woman's knives illustrated in Fig. 231, and the needle-cases in Fig. 234, are of excellent form and make. The same is true of the small stone lamps represented in Fig. 242. The forms of all these objects are much superior to anything made by the present Eskimo of this area. These old specimens also exhibit definite styles of decoration. Thus we find that almost all the old steatite kettles are

Fig. 254 (gfos). Fragment of Decorated Kettle. Cumberland Sound.

decorated by a single groove on the rim, and sometimes also by a second groove outside, just under the rim (Figs. 254 and 247 b).

Simple etched designs may also be seen on the adze-haft

Fig. 175 a, on the creaser

Fig. 186 a, on the handles of the lamp-trimmers Fig.

Fig. 2SS Glaff). Decorated Harpoon-head 201, on the claspS Fig. from Southampton Island. Length. 12.3 cm. the needle-cases

Fig. 234, and on the harpoon Fig. 248 m. Almost all of these designs consist of simple incised lines following the outlines of the decorated object. Frequently we find short cross-lines

Fig. 256 (bI^b). Fork (?) from Vansittard Island. Length, 26.5 cm.

added to these lines. A good example of this kind is illustrated in Fig. 255, which may be compared with the clasp Fig. 223 a, and the needle-cases Fig. 234 a and h. The

458 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, occurrence of similar designs among neighboring tribes is illustrated by the combs shown in Fig. 215. A very characteristic duplication of this design, with alternating cross-lines, is illustrated in the implement shown in Fig. 256, which may have been a meat-fork. The same characteristic alternation is shown on the needle-cases mentioned before, and also on the small clasps shown in Fig. 257. Another typical design combined with the

_ straight line is a Y-shaped decoration.

Fig. 257. a b;. 5 . . t . . • -nv- ^ j

UUz a). Ivory Attach- which IS shown in Fig. 2k6, and more ments to Lines. Noloca- ,

Length, 5.8 cm. distinctly on the creaser from Iglulik shown in Fig. 258. This pattern also occurs frequently in tattooings, as shown in Fig. 158, p. 108, and Fig. 268, p. 473, of this volume. It may also be recognized in the slits and decorations of the snow-goggles Fig.

tion.

each.

159, p. 109. A somewhat complicated pattern developed from etched lines following the outlines of the decorated object is shown in Fig. 259, a, which represents a design developed from a needle-case of semicircular cross-section. The lower, flat side of the specimen is not decorated, and the medial bifurcated line occupies the highest part of the curved side. The needle-case on which this design is found is made

Fig. 258 (slgs). Greaser. Iglulik. Length, 12.3 cm.

of the fore leg of an animal. . Professor Allen, to whom I submitted the specimen, thinks it cannot be a bone of either a caribou or musk-ox. The cross-section of the bone is shown at the side of Fig. 259, a. A very remarkable specimen of similar kind is in the United States National Museum at Washington. It is shown in Fig. 259, 6, where also the crosssections of the specimen at both ends are given. The developed design is represented in our illustration. This specimen is made of ivory, but the similarity of form to that of the bone specimen is evident. The natural groove on the lower side of the bone is imitated, and the change in cross-section from the right end to the left end also corresponds strictly to the canal of the bone. There cannot therefore be the slightest

Fig. 259. a Needle-case and Design from Needle-case, Netchillik, length of needle-case 9.6 cm.; 6, Needle-case and Design from Needle-case from King William Land, length 7 cm. (U.S. National Museum, Cat. No. 10405).

doubt that the specimen in the museum in Washington was made in imitation of the bone specimen. The design shown in b is also remarkable. It belongs to the series of designs consisting of parallel lines with alternating spurs, which will be discussed later; the only difference being that here the meandric space set off by the alternating spurs is filled in by zigzag lines.

Here may also be mentioned the rude design on a spearpoint shown in Fig. 260, the decorative value of which is doubtful.

Of almost equal importance is the dot design which occurs frequently on the combs (see Fig. 215) and on the front of the hair-ornaments from Southampton Island (Fig. 217). It is also found on some of the fringe buttons (Fig. 218) and on the eyes represented in Fig. 226. More recently this design has been developed into the circle-and-dot design illustrated in the toggle Fig. 261. A somewhat peculiar dot-and-triangle design is shown in Fig. 262. The bow-drill on which it occurs was collected among the Kinipetu, and it does not seem improbable that this design may be due to Indian influence. The designs that have been here described resemble the designs illustrated in Parry’s work on his visit to Iglulik.

Realistic carvings from Southampton Island are not numerous. The seals shown in Fig. 222 were made here, while the very complex double head represented in Fig. 263 is from Iglulik.

In the description of the material I have tried to show that the forms found in each particular region are very stable, and that the artistic value of the old work made before white contact is considerably greater than that of the recent work of the natives of this region. The decay of the art of the Southampton Island Indians, however, cannot be ascribed to the influence of European manufactures, because the natives of that island

A

I

Fig. 260 (jSgs). Head of Duckspear. West coast of Hudson Bay Length, 23 cm.

Fig. 261 (sf S3). Small Buckle. South- Island. Le ampton Island

Length, 5.5 cm.

have not been in communication with the outside world for a considerable length of time. It seems likely, however, judging from the extent of the ruins existing in the northern part of the island, that the population, before its complete extinction a few years ago, had become very much reduced, and that, owing to the scarcity of whales, their whole life had become exceedingly precarious, while it would seem that formerly the northern part of the island was well peopled, and that the inhabitants lived in comparative affluence.

RELATIONS TO OTHER ESKIMO TRIBES.

A comparison of the types of the decorative art of specimens found in the old villages throws an entirely new light upon the relation of the culture of this area to that of the Eskimo of Alaska and of the extreme north. The occurrence of the peculiar decorative element consisting of two parallel lines with alternating cross-lines, described before (see Figs. 256 and 257), and that of the Y-shaped decoration shown in Fig. 258, seem to me of particular importance. So far as I am aware, this ornament is confined to the ^ ^63 „ivor7

Eskimo of Alaska; and it also occurs, Animal Heads, although comparatively rarely, among the Chukchee and Koryak of the extreme northeastern part of Siberia. Notwithstanding its apparent simplicity, I have not found it in any region that could possibly be historically connected with the Eskimo area. It seems evident to me, therefore, that the occurrence of this decorative element in the Hudson Bay region and in Alaska proves that the older decorative art of the two districts was closely related, and that these decorative elements occurred in Alaska even before the decorative art in that district developed the exuberant forms that we find at the present time. This similarity of form between the Alaskan area and the Hudson Bay area is also brought out in the occurrence of the adze-hafts illustrated in Fig. 175, which are practically identical in form with those from Alaska. Here also may be mentioned the arrow-point shown in Fig. 193, 6, which shows the same kind of attachment that is common in Alaskan points. The affiliations of the handles of the womaffis knife Fig. 231 are also decidedly with Alaskan types, not with eastern types. Finally,

Fig. 264 Whaling-harpoon. Probably from Southampton Island. Length,

8t.5 cm.

we may mention here a rather modern large harpoon-head, illustrated in Fig. 264, which to all intents and purposes is identical with the large harpoon-heads from Alaska.

While thus, on the one hand, the old specimens prove beyond cavil an early connection between the east and the west, a few of them indicate not less clearly a greater similarity between the old cultures of Smith Sound and Hudson Bay. Most important among these are the needle-cases shown in Fig. 234, which have already been discussed. We also find the same type of back-scratcher that occurs in Smith Sound.^ The cup-and-ball game illustrated in Fig. 221, e, is decidedly intermediate between the Smith Sound type and the modern form of the Hudson Bay region.

It must be remembered that probably during the whole of the nineteenth century and up to recent times there was practically no intercourse between the Mackenzie River region and Hudson Bay, so that the similarity of old implements cannot be due to, comparatively speaking, recent trade. During the last ten years, since the Netchillik have moved towards Hudson Bay in order to enjoy proximity to the whalers, intercourse with the far west has been decidedly on the increase. Not only have numerous specimens from d Kroeber, The Eskimo of Smith Sound (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XII, p. 289).

1907.] BoaSj Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 463

King William Land found their way to Hudson Bay, but objects from farther west have also been passed on from tribe to tribe. In Fig. 155, p. 106 of this volume, I described a shoe from Victoria Land, or the mainland opposite, which was obtained by Captain Comer on the west shore of Hudson Bay. In his new collection is contained a small fragment of a nephrite knife which must have come from Alaska, the blade being of the same variety of material as that from which the numerous Alaskan specimens are made. There is also a strong wooden bow of the type characteristic of the region west of Mackenzie River.

Fig. 26s (51^7). Seat of a Sealing-stool. Grinnell Land. Width, 40 cm.

The close relationship of the region between Hudson Bay and Smith Sound to Alaska, which seems to be well established by the characterization of the types given in the preceding pages, brings up also the question of a relationship between the Eskimo remains of Grinnell Land and Alaska. The specimens collected by the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition in 1883-84 which have been figured ^ are so little characteristic, and the illustrations are so indistinct, that no conclusions can be drawn from them. An additional number of specimens

1 A. W. Greely, Report on the Proceedings of the U.S. Expedition to the Lady Franklin Bay, Vol. I, Plates I-V.

were collected by Lieutenant Peary in 1899. These specimens are in the American Museum of Natural History, but only one of them is sufficiently definite in form to be used for comparative purposes. It is the wooden top of a seat of a sealer, worked in remarkably even curves and with cleanout drill-holes, resembling in its style the seats used by the western Eskimo (Fig. 265), not by any means those of the Smith Sound tribe.

Although nothing definite can be said in regard to the ■significance of this specimen, it seems likely that a direct northeasterly connection, extending from the Mackenzie River region over Victoria Land, the Parry Archipelago and the islands discovered by Sverdrup, and Grinnell Land, and on towards the north coast of Greenland, may have existed. This becomes the more plausible, since, as will be stated later on,^ the Eskimo of the most northerly settlements of this region — namely, those of Lancaster Sound — have visited in quite recent times the islands of North Devon and those farther to the west. There is therefore no reason to suppose that the western Eskimo should not have pushed from time to time in the same way northward and eastward.

1 See p. 480.

III. GENERAL REMARKS.

WEST COAST OF HUDSON BAY.

In the following lines I will give some general observations made by Captain Comer on the tribes on the west coast of Hudson Bay and on Southampton Island.

Captain Comer is under the impression that the most southern Eskimo tribe on the west coast of Hudson Bay, the Sauniktumiut, who live south and west of Chesterfield Inlet, differ in type from the more northern tribes, owing to intermixture with Indians. He describes their faces as sharper, their statures as taller, and their voices as deeper, than those of the more northern tribes. This tribe depend almost wholly on the caribou for food and clothing, while sea-mammals are hardly used at all. They also hunt musk-oxen and foxes, the furs of which are traded to small coasting-vessels of the Hudson Bay Company, which sail from Fort Churchill annually to trade with the coast tribes. The furs are exchanged for ammunition and knives, for needles, thimbles, and beads. The Sauniktumiut have only few dogs; and in driving, a woman generally has to walk ahead of the sledge, leading the way. The sledges are made from trees growing in their country. The runners are usually very long, each being spliced together in two pieces. The sledge is about 12 cm. high and 35 cm. wide. The cross-pieces are about 40 cm. apart. The runners are shod with moss, as described on p. 90 of this volume. When travelling, a pole is often lashed across the top of the loaded sledge, so that a person may push the sledge on each side, and also prevent it from upsetting. They have no calls to direct the dogs to right or left. Children are often rolled up in furs, and lashed on top of the loaded sledge. In summer the people live in conical tents made of caribou-skin, built on the plan of the Indian tent. They allow the dogs to live in their huts, while all the tribes living farther north will not allow the dogs to enter the tents and winter huts.

The Kinipetu live in the region of Chesterfield Inlet. They also use sea-mammals little, but subsist principally on caribou and musk-oxen. They trade with the same Hudson Bay Company’s vessel which visits the Sauniktumiut. In exchange for their skins, they receive guns, ammunition, knives, needles, thimbles, calico, which is often used as a veil for protection against mosquitoes, and deep bread-pans with covers, which are used as kettles. Porcelain beads are traded extensively.

The Kinipetu clip the hair on the crown of the head short, leaving the rest long.

Both polygamy and polyandry occur among them. Polygamy is common. When it happens that several men want to marry the same woman, all the older people meet in a large hut. The woman is made to stand in the centre, the several men take hold of her, and the strongest is allowed to marry her. This custom is known also among the neighboring Athapascan tribes.^ It is told that in one of these cases two men struggled for a woman, and that, when they were well tired out, a third man rushed into the circle and carried her off.

The Kinipetu do not burn oil, but use almost exclusively a kind of moss which is dug up with spades,^ and which in winter is found under the snow. The burning moss emits a strong smoke, which gives a brown stain to the nails of the women who tend the fire.

When a member of a visiting party happens to have the same name as one of the natives, they have a ceremonial in the evening. A present is given by the native to his namesake; and while the other remains on the visit, the native gives up his name (see p. 117 of this volume).

The following notes relate to the Aivilik: —

Before vessels visited Hudson Bay, the Eskimo obtained driftwood from the shores of Boothia.

1 A. G. Morice, in Annual Archaeological Report, 1905, Toronto, p. 196.

2 See Fig. 149, p. 102 of this volume.

They know the following directions: northwest (avagnaq), southwest (piningnaq), southeast (nivuk), northeast (qaningnaq).

In the fall, before the snowdrifts are deep enough for house-building, walls are built up of large cakes of ice, which are covered with a flat roof made of the summer tent.

In summer all the tribes of the west coast of Hudson Bay use dogs for carrying loads.

When the ice is forming on ponds, salmon may be seen through it. Then the natives will try to find a female salmon guarding spawn. A hole is cut near by, and the males approaching the spawn are speared.

When a party of men are out hunting musk-oxen, and one of them descries a herd, he signals to his companions, “Muskox in sight, by assuming the position shown in Fig. 266. The body is bent slightly forward, and the hunter moves alternately from one foot to the other, extending his limbs in the opposite direction, as indicated in the figure. This is of particular interest as the only example of gesture language that has come to our notice from the. eastern Eskimo, except the raising of eyebrows, which is used for “yes,” and the turning-up of the nose (as in disgust), which expresses “no.’’

The men wear their hair long, but loose. It is cut in front even with the eyebrows.

When travelling, they carry bags, made of seal-flippers, under their clothing. These are filled with snow, which is melted by the heat of the body. The water thus formed is used for drinking and for icing the sledge-runners.

People accused of witchcraft, or in other ways obnoxious, may be put out of the way by common consent. A boy who in a disease had lost his mind was believed to be bewitched by a man whose feet had been frozen and who had lost his toes. It was agreed that the supposed sorcerer had not only caused the boy to lose his mind, but had also brought on a severe sickness which was ravaging the village at that time, and one man was appointed to despatch him. He went out with the offender, and when crossing the lake they cut a hole through the ice to get a drink. While the man bent over, his executioner stabbed him through the body.

The regular formula of salutation is the same as in Cumberland Sound, — “ Assoyutidle!” Two persons meeting in the evening will address each other, “Taimo!”

Rubbing of noses is customary, particularly between parents and children, and among children.

Women are valued in accordance with their skill in making

Fig. 266. Signal, “Musk-Ox in sight.”

clothing, their strength, and their ability to bear and rear children.

Children must not call older people by their names, but use terms of relationship in addressing them.

It is said that a long time ago there was only one woman who could sing, but gradually others learned, and now nearly all sing. Many natives have their own songs.

A woman was always maltreated by her husband, who would strike her whenever she did anything that did not suit him. One day she happened to break something while her husband was away, and, knowing that he would beat her again, she went to an abandoned hut and hung herself.

Before the natives had guns, they were very expert in crawling up to seals that were basking at their holes. They would get quite close, jump up, and kill the seal as it tried to get into its hole. Other seals would try to get away over the ice, when the hunter would go after them and despatch them. When a number of seals were lying near a crack,, they would crawl near the one at the end and harpoon it. It would then jump into the water. The hunter would keep quiet, hold the line tight, and haul the seal up to the edge of the crack, where he would kill it by forcing the point of the harpoon-handle into the seal's eye. The seal would then be hauled out, and placed in a natural position; and the hunter, still imitating the appearance of a seal, would get ready to advance to the next one. In this way he would, often kill them all.

When lead is scarce, or there is none at all, the men sometimes make bullets out of soapstone.

When no wood is available, the Eskimo will cut a strip of walrus-hide of the right length, allow it to freeze, and use it as a harpoon-shaft. It has to be carried by a small strap, in order not to thaw it by the warmth of the hand.

In ancient times, needles were made of bone, generally taken from the foreleg of a fox. Later they were made by cutting off a very narrow piece from a saw-blade. Very few remember the bone needle, but many remember making needles of pieces of saw-blades.

It requires seven seal-skins to cover a kayak. When the skins are taken off, the seals are cut up the side, — part of them up the left side, and part up the right side.

The gristle of the musk-ox ear is considered choice eating. It is eaten raw by both Aivilik and Kinipetu.

During the winter of 1890-91, in the neighborhood of Wager River, no less than thirty-seven natives died through starvation, eighteen being women and girls, and nineteen men and boys. There were thirty-six others who barely survived. Among those who perished, one man (Toolooar) killed twelve people, and ate their bodies.

On Victoria Land live the Kidlingmiut. The Aivilik say that their women are expert archers and kayakers.

At one time in the winter of 1893-94, a party of them came over to Qeqertaq (King William Land) and had a friendly visit, during which time one of their old men died. When they returned, they took his body back with them on a sled. They reported that there were many musk-oxen in their country.

Another tribe, called the Sinimiut (evidently not the same as the Sinimiut of Committee Bay), are said to live west of the Netchillik. Copper occurs plentifully in their country.

SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND.

So little is known about the natives of Southampton Island that it may seem desirable to give a full account of Captain Comer’s meeting with the people. He describes his visit as follows : —

When I first landed and met the Eskimo on Southampton Island, some ten miles south of the Bay of God’s Mercy, I had with me two boats’ crews of Eskimo who were from the mainland. There were eighteen in the party of Southampton Island natives. When these people first met, it was with some difficulty that they understood each other ; and when I was trying to talk to them, and had my natives interpret for me, I was surprised to see how much quicker the women could comprehend what my men were trying to express than the men could.

“These people have had no communication with the other tribes; still they knew that there were other people in the world. I heard that about 1830 a party of them visited the west coast of Hudson Bay, crossing the Strait, which was

1907.] BoaSj Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 471

frozen over entirely. They have seen whaling-ships near their island. They must have been very expert in taking whales, for, no matter where we landed on the island, we always found the bones of whales. In one place I counted forty heads that they had made use of in constructing their houses, all within a stone’s throw. There is evidence that at one time they must have been quite numerous; but in 1898 there were only fifty-eight people, in all, on the island.

“When I first saw them, they signalled for me to come by bending their bodies at a right angle. This was meant for me not to be afraid. As I advanced alone, — my own natives would not go until they had first gone back to the boats to get their guns, — they all came towards me, men and women, and children and dogs, the men keeping up a continual shouting of ‘Whar whee, whar wheel’ accompanied by a series of short jumps, which seems to be their expression when well pleased with anything. When we met, they gathered around me, and kept up a steady stream of talk among themselves and directed to me, while I tried to tell them that there were other natives coming. As soon as these arrived, they made themselves partly understood. We started for their tents, each of them taking one of my natives by the hand, while two took me by the hands, — one on each side. When they could think of nothing else, they would say ‘ Whar wheel’ At this season they were living in seal-skin tents supported by whale-ribs. Their winter houses, some of which were near by, looked like mounds of earth. These were unoccupied. In one dwelling into which we looked were the bones of several people. It would be difficult to say whether they had died of sickness, or whether they had been killed, or had died of hunger. I was calmly told that if I had come a month or two sooner, one of their number would have killed me, as one of his brothers had died over a year ago, some one having cast an evil spell over him, but that now the time was past for taking revenge, the duty of taking revenge lapsing after the close of a year.

“The moons are named according to the principal seasonal events, such as birds laying eggs, seals or caribou having young, or the sun being lowest.

“These people are probably the least advanced of all the Eskimo tribes, because they have been unable to associate with other tribes, even if they knew of their existence, and because whaling-vessels have had no time or cause to stop there to trade.

“ Like all other Eskimo, the women tattoo their faces, arms, and lower limbs (Figs. 267, 268). This is done by them by passing under the skin a needle and sinew-thread soaked in oil and soot. This is done when the girls are about twelve years old.

“They are very filthy, — in fact, all Eskimo are, — but where they have come in contact with the white race they have improved. As these had not, we found them with about all the dirt that would cling to them. But before condemning these people, one should stop and consider what they have to contend with. Water is not to be had for about nine months of the year, except by melting snow, which is done in a stone kettle with a fire made from seal-oil or whale-oil. A common way to get drinking-water is to fill a skin bag with snow, and hang it down the back, next to the body. This is done not only in travelling, but also in the house.

“The game on this island are the polar bear, which is quite plentiful; the caribou, which is much larger here than on the mainland. The hares also were much larger than any I have seen elsewhere. Wolves are quite numerous. The natives are very much in fear of the polar bears. I was told how, only a very short time ago, a bear broke into a snow house and killed a man and one of his wives, the other one making her escape. White foxes are common ; but the wolverene, musk-ox, and ground-squirrel do not occur. Whales used to be quite common, but have been rare of recent years. The last whale was taken by these people in the spring of 1895. I traded with them for the whalebone so far as it had not been torn up into strips. The whalebone is used for making cups and pails, and also in making kayakframes and toboggans. Seals and walrus are abundant, and, when the ice is strong enough to walk on, they are the principal food of the natives.

Fig. 2. Natives of Southampton Island.

Bulletin A. M. N. H.

VoL. XV, Plate VIII

’ >:J >' v''--

Fig. I. Stone Pile for preserving Meat. Southampton Island r %c,

“ Salmon- trout are also abundant in the lakes, and are caught with both hook and spear. I have seen one that weighed twenty-eight pounds. The fish go down to the salt water during the spring freshets, returning to the lakes in the latter part of August. At this time the streams are low, and the natives build dams across them, so that the fish are prevented from going up. Another dam is built across the stream a little below the first dam. The lower dam has an opening in the centre, so that a pool is formed between the two dams. After the fish have accumulated in the pool, the opening in the centre of the lower dam is closed, and the fish are speared in the pool. After the fish have been caught, they are strung on a thong by means of a bone needle. When all the fish have been caught, the lower dam is opened again, so that more can enter. The fish that are not used at once are cleaned and covered up with stones for winter use.

‘‘When fowl — such as swans, loons, brant-ducks, eiderducks, and king eider-ducks — are caught in snares made out of fine strips of whalebone, the birds are skinned, and then hung up in dome-like structures made of limestone slabs. Access to these structures is had from the top, the structure being covered by two or three large flat slabs, which may be removed. These structures vary from three to six feet in diameter. Caribou-antlers project from the sides inward, and the birds are suspended from these, thus being protected against mice and weasels. They also use high stone supports on which to keep meat for winter use (Plate VIII, Fig. i). Bird-skins are used to wipe the hands and face after eating. I saw one man who had on a shirt of dog-skin which was patched with pieces of duck-skin, the feathers next to the body.

“The men wear their hair done up in a top-knot over the forehead. It is probably never disturbed, and is matted with grease and filth. Wound-pegs^ are carried in the topknot. The women have the hair hanging down loose, except a small braid over each temple. Most of them wear ornaments attached to the braids,^ which are folded up.

• See p. 19 of this volume.

2 See p. 74 of this volume.

476 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XY, dress (Fig. 269; Plate VIII, Fig. 2) these people are more like the Hudson Strait Eskimo. Their leggings, instead of being made of young-seal skins, are made of bear-skins, the hair being outside, which gives them the appearance of being of enormous size.

Fig. 269. Drawing made by Aivilik Eskimo, representing the Style of Dress of the Southampton Island Tribe, a, 6, Women; c, Man.

“Flint is easily found, and is readily worked into tools. All that is required is two pieces of leather to protect the hands, and part of a walrus-rib to flake off the edges. I got one of the older men to make an arrow, so that I could see how it was done. He did so willingly; but he was .so much accustomed to working flint, that he did not seem to take much interest in it. When he had finished the arrow-head, he picked up a piece of dried skin, scraped the hair off, cut it into a round shape, so that it was about four inches across, and then, passing a small sharpened stick through the centre, made a top of it. This he proceeded to spin with two hands. This seemed to him to be something great, and he seemed to wonder why I did not enthuse more with him.

'‘I did not see any old people, though one man might have been fifty. He remained sitting down, and whatever was given to any one was first handed to him. He would look it over, make some remark, and then hand it back. Whatever was given to them was always received with an exclamation of ‘ Whar wheel’ with a rising accent of joy.

“Their hunting-implements were clumsy and rude. Their bows were made out of wood which had come from wrecks, though some, I was told, were made of the antlers of the caribou, three pieces being lashed together to give the right length. All the bows were backed with sinew.

“They make small sleds, for transporting a single person, of walrus-tusks. Holes are drilled in the ends of each tusk, and one through the middle. Then three pieces of antlers are lashed on. A skin is folded up and placed on the crosspieces.

“Generally all meat is buried where it is taken, in stone caches, and gathered in winter when needed.

“Beaten paths lead from village to village. These are caused by the natives always walking in single file. When sledges cannot be used, dogs are loaded with a pack on each side, so heavy that, if one should lie down to rest, he would have to be assisted to rise. One party we met were all carrying loads, but the man of the house carried only his bow and quiver. He had two wives. When given a piece of hard bread, he tasted it, and then spit it out. At another time, meeting with this same party again, I induced the man to sing one of his songs. He had a pleasant and musical voice, and the air was superior to any I heard among the neighboring tribes.

“These natives, like all the others, believe in witchcraft. One day a large whale to which we were fast went under a body of ice; and after it had taken five hundred fathoms of line, we had to let go, and lost the whale. That night, after we had gone ashore, my natives wanted to go' to the tent of a woman who was reputed to be a great angakok. The woman, in her trance, said that I had offended the goddess in the sea by cutting up caribou-meat on the sea-ice, and by breaking the bones there. She also said that her guardian spirit would hold the whale by a turn of the line around his wrist. Two days later the whale was found. In hauling in the line, it was seen that it had a turn around a rock in the bottom, and required the united efforts of two boats’ crews to haul it clear.

“A woman during her monthly periods must not pass in and out at the doorway, but must lift up the bottom of the tent and crawl in and out underneath.

^^When asked how they first came to the island, they said that a long time ago a man, while out hunting on the ice with his dog, was carried away, and finally landed on Southampton Island. He married the dog, who first gave birth to a litter of pups, later on to a girl. The man brought her up and finally married her. The people are the descendants of this couple.”

HUDSON STRAIT.

Captain Mutch gives the following information on the natives of the north shore of Hudson Strait.

Between Kangertuqdjuaq and Itsaw is a place called Quaiirnang. The people who lived at this place used to go deer and caribou hunting in the early autumn ; and the women made the winter clothing as quickly as possible, because all their blubber had to be obtained from walrus, and as soon as they went walrus-hunting, work on caribou-skin had to cease. As soon as the ice along the shore is solid, the men go to the floeedge to hunt walrus that come up through the young ice to breathe. Generally two men go hunting together. One man throws the harpoon, while another one holds the line, which he wears coiled around his neck. The coils are held together by means of fine strips of whalebone. As soon as the harpooneer hits a walrus, the second man throws off the line and pays it out. The harpooneer puts the sharp butt-end into the ice, and the walrus-line is wound around it to give a better hold. When the walrus comes up again, it is killed with the kayak-lance. As soon as the hunters see that a walrus has been caught, they all assemble to pull it out. Sometimes they also use the drag and float at the floe-edge. When, at this season, the women are not quite through with their work on caribou-skins, the men do not return at night, in order to let the women know that a walrus has been caught, and that the work on caribou-skins must cease. There are very few seals at this place, and in winter the people rely almost entirely on walrus. When there are continued north winds, the ice sets off from the coast, and the walrus retreat with it. Then they change their clothing and go caribou-hunting. The clothing has to be changed on account of the taboo of bringing walrus and caribou into contact. In the spring, walrus are hunted on floating ice, and the hunters use their kayaks in their pursuit.

There is a large lake one day’s journey from Qamauang. On the south shore of this lake there are large houses, built of bones from a whale’s head. It is said that these jaw-bone houses are very warm. The bachelors used to sleep next to the windows.

According to Captain Comer, there are many ruins of old huts in the whole country west of Hudson Bay., The sides were built of the scalp-bones of whales or of stone, while the jaw-bones and crown-bones were used for the top of the hut. The entire structure was covered with earth and flat stones. At present these buildings are not in use.

At Nurata (King’s Cape) the country is perfectly flat. Caribou are very plentiful. There are so many geese-nests, that the down about them looks like small mounds.

It is said that near King’s Cape the water is so shallow that a boat’s crew went aground far from the shore, and were unable to get out again, and were all starved.

PONDS BAY.

At Ponds Bay, Captain Mutch collected some interesting information on the movements of tribes. The Ponds Bay natives travel to a considerable extent along the east coast of Baffin Land, and are in constant communication with the people of Iglulik on Fury and Hecla Strait.

An Eskimo woman from Ponds Bay, named Akawaping, and her husband Amawali, had both travelled over North Somerset, Prince of Wales Land, Cornwallis, North Devon, ai^d back to Fox Channel. This shows that the numerous Eskimo ruins on the Parry Islands may be the remains of recent visits of Eskimo to that area. The Ponds Bay people have also had intercourse with the Smith Sound people. They claim, that, while all over Baffin Land it is customary for males and females to have the same names, different names are used among the Cape York Eskimo.

The Iglulik Eskimo remember their former closer intercourse, along the east coast of Fox Channel, with the natives of Cumberland Sound. It would seem that the interruption of this intercourse was due to the fact that one man took away the wife of an angakok, and, for fear of revenge, retreated to Cumberland Sound, and that ever since that time, meetings have been avoided by the Cumberland Sound natives.

Their knowledge of the tribes of Boothia Felix and farther to the west is very imperfect, and evidently based on exaggerated reports secured from natives of the west coast of Hudson Bay. They claim that the natives west of the Netchillik are dangerous, and have most cruel customs. They claim that the Ugdjulirmiut of Back River, who are called by the Ponds Bay people Kournoomiut, kill every stranger who passes through their country, and that only when one of their own number happens to have received hospitality from the visitors is there any hope of escape. In this case the visitors may be received in a hut, and kept there until the rest of the tribe are tired out watching for an opportunity to kill them. Then the host might help them to escape. It is also claimed that should a person happen to cut himself while carving a seal or ground-seal, he would be killed at once ; that his body would be cut up and divided, and mixed with the seal’s body, and taken home together with the game. They claim also that if, among these tribes, a married woman should smile while passing a married man, the latter would at once demand from her husband an exchange of wives. The Ponds Bay people are called by these western tribes “ Adlin.”

During periods of starvation, the western people strangle each other, or kill each other by fighting, thinking that, after having practised cannibalism, this is the only way of reaching the happy land of souls.

In discussing these customs, the Ponds Bay Eskimo habitually make the remark that it is no wonder that these people are bad, because they do not believe in Sedna. They also claim that the Netchillik do not believe in Sedna, and that they also strangle and kill each other after having practised cannibalism. It is also said that they will strangle old people and those who are sick and ailing.

The women of these western tribes are said to hunt in kayaks and to do excellent bead-work. It is said that these people have no bone on the top of the head, and that when they are playing football the throbbing of the brain shows. These semi-fabulous tribes are called Atywetus, or “inlanders.”

The Netchillik women are said to be taller than those of the Ponds Bay tribe. Their complexion is lighter.

The men in Ponds Bay wear their hair long. Some say that this is done to keep the wind from the neck, while others claim that the long hair frees them from sins (pitcheta).

Women are tattooed when they marry. The explanation given by the Ponds Bay Eskimo is, that, since both men and women wear long hair, the women have to be tattooed to distinguish them from the men. The old women insist on tattooing the young women when they marry, in order to make them look old.

The following game is played in winter in a large snowhouse; in summer, on the ice. One person is asked to shut his eyes, and the men stand about, not very far away from him, singly. Then the person who has his eyes shut must try to touch one of the other people. As soon as he succeeds in touching a man, the latter must stand still ready to receive a blow on the side of the head from the person who touched him. Then it is his turn to try to touch another man. This game is called tidluktoq.

Another game is as follows. Two men. strike each other on the shoulders, while their wives sit on the bed and sing until one of the men gives in. The one who is most enduring wins the game.

There are various reports of people finding footprints of enormous size, generally described as those of bare feet. Some are said to have been found on King William Land; the others, in the pass between Kignait and Padli.

IV. CUSTOMS AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS.

CUMBERLAND SOUND.

Mythology. — A few additional notes relating to the Sedna and Omerneeto myths have been obtained. It is believed that Sedna’ s father is sitting beside the door in her hut. His head is covered with a blanket, and his hand is ever ready to take hold of the soul that enters the house. His hand is always raised, and, as soon as he takes hold of a soul, he draws it under his blanket into his bed.

Ululiernang ^ is said to use the fore leg of a deer as a cane. She carries a woman’s knife, a tray, needle and thread.

Iqalukdjuaq, an angakok in Aggo, claims to have visited the moon several times, and describes Ululiernang’s appearance.

The following tradition accounts for the origin of birth. It is evidently part of the tale given on p. 178 of this volume.

Akkolookjo and his wife Omerneeto ^ established the laws which the Eskimo have to obey now. Omerneeto used to wear her husband’s boots. She did not fasten the upper strings properly, but allowed the boot-leg to sag down and the boot-strings to drag over the ground. One day the soul of an infant that was on the ground crept up the boot-string and up into her womb. Up to that time, children had been found in the snow. The child grew in the womb, and finally was born. It began to cry, and gradually became old enough to speak. One day it told its parents how it had crawled into Omerneeto’ s womb. It continued, “There I was as in a small house. Every night when you cohabited, a dog would come in and vomit food for me to make me grow. Finally I longed to get outside; and when I got out, I wanted to speak, but all I could do was to cry. When I wanted other food than milk, I could only say ^ papa f and when I wanted to say ‘I am thirsty,’ I could only say 'oo, ooT”

1 See p. 198 of this volume.

2 See p. 143 of this volume.

Birth and Childhood. — Women in child-birth will try to cause vomiting by tickling the throat with the finger. It is believed that this will facilitate the expulsion of the after-birth. The after-birth is placed deep in a crack between rocks, where the dogs cannot touch it.

The navel-string is tied with plaited wing-sinews of a seagull, and the down of grass-seeds is put underneath. Then the navel-string is put over the nail of the thumb and cut with a sharp-edged stone. Generally it falls off after five days.

The new-born child is generally cleaned with bird- skins. The mother is allowed to take two meals a day, — in the morning and in the evening, — but she must never eat alone. She must cook her own food. She must not drink cold water. She must never lift a cup with one hand, but always with both hands. She uses a fork made of bone or wood, or the beak of a northern diver or some other bird with a long beak. Before she eats, she holds a small piece up to the infant’s mouth, and then puts it into a small bag. The food is allowed to dry there, and then it is sewed as a charm to the child’s hood.

A pregnant woman, or a woman who has a young child, must not eat any animal that has been shot through the intestines. She must not eat of a seal which has been harpooned, and dies without coming up to breathe.

The mother will take her infant boy on her knees, and let him throw the fork into the dish from which she is eating. Afterwards she will place him on the bed, and let him go through the movements of paddling and harpooning in the kayak, and of shooting with bow and arrows, in order to make him a successful hunter when he is grown up.

The mother cooks the sweet-breads of a seal, and places a small piece on the soles of the feet of her infant boy. This enables him to walk safely on thin ice. The boy must sprinkle some water in the direction of the new moon the first time he sees her. Then he will become a successful sealer.

Seals do not wish lazy boys to catch them. When a boy harpoons his first seal, the men run to his assistance. After the seal has, been caught, the boy must take off his jacket and shirt, and the men drag the seal over his back while he is stretched out on the snow. A seal may either be cut on the ice, or be taken home. The skin of the head is given to an old woman to make a bag out of. The bones of the head are kept for a year. Then they are put into the grave of a relative. The first joints of the flippers are kept, and disposed of in the same way.

If a young child’s head is washed, the bones become soft and the child will also become sick.

The mother of a young child has to observe taboos for a whole year. After three months, the mother changes her clothes and calls on her neighbors. All these customs are said to be kept because Omerneeto instituted them.

The charms mentioned before are considered as watchmen guarding the child’s soul. If a child should die, the mother must avoid work that would evilly affect her child’s soul. These taboos must be kept for twelve months. If the mother, for instance, should scrape skins, the child’s soul would become a tupilak. The only way the soul can then be freed is for an angakok to stab it and cut off the attachment.

The following tale is instructive. A woman, whose name was Aning, was eating meat. Suddenly a piece of meat that she was putting into her mouth was snatched away from her, although she did not see any one near by. When the people came into the house, she told them what had happened. Finally an angakok told her that Angeminwa, a being made up of bone and skin, had certainly come to take away her food; that she had been sent by Omerneeto, and had said that the woman had overstepped the orders given by the latter by eating and drinking alone, while the mothers of young children are required always to eat when somebody is near by.

Death. — A dying person is taken out of the tent in order to avoid having the death occur inside. After death, the body is taken back into the tent. It is believed that when the soul leaves the body at death, it will stay at the place where the body was at that moment. When the body is taken in, the soul stays outside of the hut, waiting for the body to be removed. For this reason, the hut will not be harmed when the body is taken in. Only when death occurs inside the hut must the hut and property be destroyed. Then the body is wrapped up, fastened with thongs, taken out, and dragged around the hut from left to right. Then it is taken to the place where it is to be buried, and the fastenings are all cut. The knife that is used for cutting the thongs with which the body is tied must be left with the body. It is said that the cutting of the thongs gives the soul freedom to go and come.

It is believed that it is desirable to have the flesh come off from the bones of the dead as quickly as possible, because it is thought that this leaves the soul free to go to the land of the dead.

Hunters may go in pursuit of game when a person stops breathing; but they must not bring their sledge ashore that night, unless the body has been taken away. During this time, pieces of bone, preferably whales’ jaw-bones, are used in place of sledges. Dogs are not fed until three days after the death have passed. Face and hands must not be washed. The hair must not be cut or combed, and the nails of the fingers must not be cut.

For three nights after death has occurred, if a person has to go out at night, he carries a knife to keep the soul away. When the people at a distant village learn that a death has occurred, they all fast for one day. For one night they are required to place a hard object under their pillows.

After the third night, the relatives visit the grave and take some food to the body. They say to the soul, “You were kind to the people when you had plenty of caribou-meat, plenty of seal, walrus, and salmon, and your soul shall send us plenty of game.” They address the soul, and speak about those things the dead one liked best, without, however, mentioning the names of animals. They also speak about the kind acts the deceased had done to others. After the fourth night, they discard all the clothes made of skins of animals caught by the deceased and those that have been touched by him, because they are affected by the dark c9lor of death. The tent in which a person breathes his last is said to be colored by his breath.

After the fourth night after death, the relatives of a deceased person may go sealing. If one of them succeeds in killing a seal, he must not cut it, but must take it home whole. There he must cut it without witnesses being present. The entrails must be thrown into the sea. The relatives of the deceased must not eat meat of the first sea-mammal killed after the death has occurred.

If a person is afraid of being harmed by the soul of a dead person, he keeps a knife under his pillow.

The souls of the dead do not wish to come back to the houses, but they are compelled to do so on account of the weight of the sins of their survivors, that press them down. They come to have the sins cut away, so that they may go to the land of the souls. When a soul has not been disturbed by the sins for a long time, it feels light and well. The souls are still like people, but they have no breath. They speak, but we cannot hear them, although they converse among themselves. They speak to the angakok, who knows why they come. The angakok can hear the souls of the living as well as those of the dead.

A short tale relating to mourning-customs may find a place here. Two young men in Tununirn went caribouhunting. One of them had only a father, while the other had both parents living. When they returned, they found that their relatives had left them. All winter the}^ were unable to find the other people. Once while out hunting, one of the young men found a red-furred young seal. At another time he found a caribou which had been killed by wolves. They travelled on, and finally reached a place where they saw a large village; but before they were able to reach it, one of the young men fell down dead among the blocks of ground-ice. The other one reached the shore and found his own people. There he told them that his friend had died when he had almost reached the village, and his parents cried for him. The mother, however, consoled herself by making a figure of a boy, which she put into her hood,, and which she kept for a long time, until one day one of the other women threw it out of the house while the woman was away. When she discovered her loss, she felt so badly that she tried to strangle herself by pressing her throat down upon the drying-frame by means of a thong.

The beliefs relating to the soul are further illustrated by the following tale.

Sonie people on the north shore of Labrador were moving to a better hunting-place. A woman named Kamowalu was among them. She followed the sledges, but did not keep up with the rest of the people; and in the evening, when they built a snow-house, she was not to be found. At daybreak the people went to look for her, and finally found her footprints. Then they came to a place where a pack of wolves had devoured something, and they believed that she had been attacked and eaten by the wolves. The people cried over the loss of Kamowalu.

They staid at this place for three nights. Once, when one of the people went outside of the hut, he saw the spirit of Kamowalu seated at no great distance. He went up to her and wished to see her head, which was covered by a hood. The man touched the tips of his fingers with his tongue, and then, after he had drawn back her hood, he touched her head. Then he again wetted his fingers and touched her navel. Then she sat up and was alive again.

The man shouted to the other people, telling them that Kamowalu had come back. The people came out and told her that they had thought the wolves had devoured her. She replied, “I suppose I was really devoured by the wolves. I saw them at a distance, and then I lost consciousness until I found my soul had left my body. After I had passed through the wolves, I gathered my body together again and made it whole. Then I came here.’’ She had really come to life again.

The person who relates this story remembers having seen Kamowalu when she was a young woman, and he said that she lived to be very old.

Customs relating to Game. — The first seal caught at a breathing-hole in the fall is divided among the hunters, except its skin.

The first seal caught by a boy at the breathing-hole is divided among the hunters, including the skin.

The soul of a seal does not like the head to be placed on the ground in the tent when it is being cut up. Therefore a tray, a piece of skin, feathers, or some other object, is placed under it. The head of the seal, however, may rest on the fioor of the snow-house.

Before the seal is cut up, a little water is poured on its body. It is thought that a few drops are a great quantity for the seal’s soul, which in winter cannot find any water, while in summer there is plenty of water everywhere.

To cook caribou-meat and seal-meat together in the same kettle creates friendship between the souls of the caribou and the seal.

The skin near to the eyes of a killed caribou is left on the skull.

A person who has eaten human flesh must not eat flesh of the bear and ground-seal, because the two are considered to be alike. He must not eat raw seal-meat.

The Angakok. — The angakok may have for his helpers walrus, bear, man, wolf, raven, owl, or any other animal, even inanimate things like a kayak, which, although not persons, are equal to them. These helping spirits may wander about; but as soon as the angakok needs them, they return to him. They are with him as soon as the wish has been formed.

When an angakok desires to visit Sedna, he will be assisted by others, who interpret what he says upon his return. Captain Mutch has recorded the following description of an anga-^ kok performance. The angakok takes a ground-seal spear and a line down to the ground-ice and sets it up, with the harpoonpoint upward. When the performance opens in the house, the angakok stands up, and near him are his assistant spirits. Then he goes down * to the ground-ice, and soon he sees a walrus-spirit, which enters him. As soon as this spirit enters his body, he loses all knowledge of himself. Then his spirit assistants discover him, and harpoon him in the same way as a hunter harpoons a walrus. The angakok believes he dives. As soon as he dives, he sees the snow-houses of the village, which his spirit assistants have so far not noticed. The walrus rises, and moves in the direction of the snow-houses. It enters one of them, and then goes from house to house, frightening all the people. They see the harpoon-heads of the spirit assistants protruding from its body, and blow on them. Finally the walrus goes back to the ground-ice where it was first seen. The people take a little water and pour it over their feet, which is symbolic of drinking water. This helps them to recover from their fright. When the angakok gets back to the water, it appears to the spirit assistants as though the walrus had just risen again, and they throw it with a lance. When the spirit assistants have killed the walrus, they drag it out to the ice and pull out the harpoon, — not, however, like human beings, who turn the harpoonpoint between the splices of the warp, but by pulling it out through the body with all their strength. Then the spirits cut up the body. As soon as they gather the meat, the walrus revives, and becomes a man again. The spirits are particularly careful to put those parts together properly where the harpoon-point has been pulled out. Then the angakok goes back to the house, and his spirit assistants stay outside, ready to do his bidding any time during the following year.

A performance called '' Elematato'' is described by Captain Mutch as follows. The angakok seats himself on a piece of skin, dressed in trousers and shirt. His assistants take a thong of white-whale or grou.nd-seal hide and fasten the angakok's hands behind his back. Then his neck is pulled down towards his legs with another piece of thong, until he is unable to move. Then his jacket is hung over his head. As soon as he is covered, his head begins to shake, and continues to do so all through the performance. He calls his assistant spirits. These are believed to be the souls of living persons whom he can command; and these souls undo the knots of the thongs. It is supposed that the angakok’s soul, while he was tied up, had been to the land of the souls above. As soon as his soul returns, the thongs are found to be unfastened. This performance is held only during the winter months, at full moon.

Fall Festival. — In the winter ceremonial at Akuliaq, on the north shore of Hudson Strait, the Ekko^ appears. He is a spirit made by the angakok. He foretells success in hunting, and good luck. His home is under the sea. When this spirit appears, the people assemble in the singing-house. After a while, the Ekko enters and steps into the middle of the singing-house. He does not speak, but indicates by moans that one of the people has violated a taboo. They ask each other who may have done it. Meanwhile the two Ekkos are walking backwards, and the people make room for them, trying to avoid them; but finally the Ekkos take hold of one person and lead him towards the door. As soon as they do so, this person confesses that he has transgressed a taboo; and when he has done so, they let him go. The people are not allowed to laugh while the Ekkos are there. If any one should laugh, he will die soon. The Ekkos continue to drag the people around inside of the house until all those who have trangressed any taboos have confessed.

The Ekkos are one male and one female. The man has his clothing turned inside out. He wears his hood over his head. It is tied up by thongs wrapped around it to form a horn. His eyes are covered with goggles made of seal-skin to prevent him from seeing from the sides. He also wears a conical mouthpiece. Straps pass from the shoulders down his sides and between his legs, and his long penis is tied up.

The female Ekko also has her clothing turned inside out, but no strappings are attached to it. It is supposed that the performers, while in this dress, are possessed by the spirit of the Ekko.

It is said that a man who was caribou-hunting near Sikusuilaq saw two Kailartetaq^ dancing together, but escaped

1 See p. 141 of this volume.

2 See p. 140 of this volume.

without being discovered by them. This indicates that the Kailartetaq are believed to live apart from the Eskimo, except for their visit during the fall ceremonial.

Charms. — The belief in whips of magical power occurs here also. The following tale illustrates this point. Ataina and his wife Koosiksayak lived at Tooloolelyaak. One day in winter they went out to bring home venison from a cache. While under way, Koosiksayak saw a fox coming towards her. Shortly after this, another fox appeared, and they constantly increased in numbers until the couple were all surrounded by foxes, so that the whole country smelled of foxes. Vain were their attempts to drive them away. Finally Ataina said to his wife, “When I was a little boy, my first whip was made of a bear’s penis-bone, and I still have it.” ^ He began to use it, and at once the foxes began to run away one after another. Then they continued on their journey. After a little while they saw something that looked like foxes ahead of them; but when they came nearer, they found that they were stones, which had not been there when they passed out. The foxes had all been transformed into stones. When they arrived at their village, the people who met them noticed the strong smell of foxes which was on their dogs and on their clothing. .

PONDS BAY.

The Ponds Bay Eskimo know the name Aivilayoq, by which the natives of Iglulik designate Sedna. They also use the name Anavigak. According to the legend, she was married to a red dog, who was the father of the white people (the Ijiqan), the dwarfs, and the Eskimo. Ordinarily, when speaking of her, she is called Kunna or Katuma. The names Uiniyumissuitoq and Unaviga are also used. The people are not allowed to smile when referring to her or singing about her; and, when mentioning the name of Sedna, they do so in a reverent manner. It is believed that she lived at a place called Sinaraun. At the place where her tent

See p. 508.

stood, no one is allowed to burn heather, and no caribou-skin must be worked on at this place during the winter: otherwise her husband, the dog, would be heard howling, and she would punish the offenders.

At Itidliq, a place about one mile from Sinaraun, the people are allowed to work on caribou-skins until a whale, a narwhal, a white whale, or a ground-seal has been killed. After one of these animals has been killed, they must stop work on caribou-skin for three nights.

Heather for covering the tents in winter must not be handled for three days after a narwhal has been caught.

Married women are not allowed to work for three days after a caribou has been killed. Girls, however, are allowed to sew and mend clothing during this time, except stockings. This is done out of fear of the woman who created the caribou.

When the families are out caribou-hunting, women must be particularly careful to observe all the taboos relating to the covering of the head, touching of heather, pointing at certain places with their fingers, looking about, etc. This is particularly necessary for women who have not been caribou-hunting before.

Particular care must be taken to avoid offending the whale, white whale, narwhal, and ground-seal, who are affected by every transgression of a taboo.

When a party of Eskimo travel from one place to another, the tents are erected with the doorway looking towards the place they have left and to which they intend to return.

A woman was offered a knife by a sailor; but she would not take it, because it was her taboo.

If a person should change his prescribed taboos when moving to a new country, he would die before a year elapsed.

Albino caribou and seals are believed to originate from white eggs as large as those of geese. They are found in the ground, generally partly protruding. The albino of other animals are also believed to originate from such eggs, which are called sila.

The property of the dead is deposited on the grave for his use after death. A woman whose husband had been dead for some time, and whose gun was deposited near his grave, was advised to take the gun away, because some whalers might find it. She said that she could not do so, because her husband was still using it, but that after some time she might take it for her young son, because then her husband would no longer need the gun.

Cannibalism, although resorted to in case of starvation, is abhorred. The following tale illustrates the point of view of the natives. A man and his family had lived alone during one winter, and, since they did not return, the people went in search of them. They found their snow-house, and some remains which indicated that the family had starved to death and that the man had killed and eaten his wife and children. The bodies, however, were not found. In spring two boat-crews were travelling in the locality where the family had perished, and one day one of the men went in search of game. When he was returning, he saw a man and a dog on the other side of the river, not far off. The man was singing. The hunter believed he recognized the lost man, and returned to the boat to call his friends. They, however, did not believe him, and said that he had seen one of the Igiqan, or that the lost man had transformed himself into one of the Igiqan because he was afraid of being punished by the souls of the large sea-mammals, on account of his having partaken of human flesh.

The following notes refer to the angakut of Ponds Bay. When treating a sick person, the angakok stands on the righthand side of his guardian spirit near the patient, to whom the spirit is invisible. By this performance the patient is “made new,’^ and is given a new name from the spirit. The angakok addresses the spirit, and questions him as to what name the patient is to receive. He mentions a number of names; and, if the spirit replies ''Tidjan/' it is assumed that this is the name selected by him. Then the angakok says, “Let us cut this child’s navel-string.” He licks his fingers, and then touches the patient’s navel. At this moment the guardian spirit, if the name mentioned suits him, shouts ^^Tidjan!”

Next the angakok questions the guardian spirit as to what taboo the man is to have in the future (teringatoq) . Then the spirit orders what the patient is to be forbidden to eat, or what he is to do or wear. The spirits are generally invisible to the angakok ; and the angakok does not desire to meet them, because they are terrible to behold.

The Tijiqan are said to be the spirits of the caribou and also to be guardians of the angakok.

The process of head-lifting {kellyew) is described in the following tale.

A sick woman called in a man in whose power of curing by head-lifting she had faith. The man used a wand to the end of which a thong was fastened, which he slipped under the head of the patient, so that the nape of the neck rested on it. The patient lay stretched out flat. Then the person began to question the patient. ''Are you this woman’s mother’s spirit?” When the answer was in the affirmative, the person felt a strain on the wand. (This is believed to be due to the fact that the spirit addressed is under the patient, and responds.) When a name of a spirit who was not present was mentioned, there was no response. After the performance, the head of the patient was pressed on both sides, as though it had to be pressed together.

The following tales illustrate further the beliefs regarding spirits and shamans.

A man who had gone out seal-hunting in his kayak was lost. Only his cap was found on the beach near his tent. About three months after this had happened, the relatives of the drowned man had a shamanistic performance in their snow-house. The angakok, while in a trance, went out of the house, and he saw the drowned man come up from the beach and take a position between the entrance of the snowhouse and the angakok. Suddenly the apparition found a large quantity of water, and then held conversation with the angakok. The relatives of the deceased man inside recognized his voice, but did not understand what was said. On peeping through a hole in the wall, they saw the drowned man stretching out his hands, which the angakok tied up with a thong; then the drowned man went towards the entrance as though he desired to enter. The people inside could see his feet. He desired to return to the house, because he was anxious to provide for his wife and his children. While the drowned person was still standing close to the entrance of the house, “ the great torngaq’’ was suddenly seen standing between the angakok and the house. The angakok nearly fainted, but succeeded in crawling into the house on his hands and knees. As soon as “the great torngaq’' appeared, the thongs fell off from the hands of the drowned man, and both he and “ the great torngaq disappeared.

It is said that “ the great torngaq ’’ has a skin like that of a white whale, and that it is covered with excrescences. He is all naked.

WEST COAST OF HUDSON BAY.

Religious Ideas. — On his last two journeys. Captain Comer collected a considerable amount of new information on the religious ideas and customs of the Eskimo. He makes the general remark that some new customs have been introduced lately, on account of the immigration of some people from Ponds Bay, who claimed that the customs of the Aivilik were wrong. He has recorded a brief abstract of the Sedna legend, which differs somewhat from other tales previously recorded, and is apparently affected by the tale of the three girls who married animals.^ His version is as follows : —

“ Long ago there lived three women, one of whom married a dog. She was the ancestress of all the people in the world. The second woman married a bird. After a while her father took her away from her husband. On being pursued by the bird, her father threw her overboard. When she clung to the gunwale, he cut off her fingers, and the joints were transformed into sea-mammals. She lives now beneath the waters, and rules over the sea-mammals, and with her live her father and the dog who was her husband. Her father sits on a bed with a bear- skin blanket. Nuliayoq has only one eye. Any

1 See p. 217 of this volume; compare also p. 145.

1907.] Boas, Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hibson Bay. 497

sins committed by the people give pain to her blind eye, and the angakok has to remove the cause of the pain, otherwise she would withhold the sea-mammals from the upper world.

“There is no particular report relating to the third of these women.”

At another place Captain Comer says that Nuliayoq is identified with the mother of the dogs and of the White Men, and that she lived near Iglulik.

In his previous reports, he gives the name Anautalik, which was first recorded by Lyon,^ as that of the father of Nuliayoq, the mistress of the sea-mammals; while in the following brief story Anautalik is described as a woman.

“At one time the people were assembled in a singing-house, while the children were in a house by themselves, playing games. One of the children, an orphan girl who was much abused by the people, was sent out by the other children. Soon she returned and told the children that Anautalik was coming, accompanied by a large ground-seal. The child was much afraid, and hid on the rack used for drying clothes. The other children did not believe what they were told ; but soon the ground-seal walked in, carrying a club in its flippers. Anautalik followed, and the seal began to kill the children with its stick. Only the orphan, who was in hiding, escaped. Then Anautalik and the seal left. When the people came home from the singing-house, they found all the children dead, and the orphan told them what had happened.

“The following night the people placed an oil-lamp in the doorway, and hung a kettle filled with water over it. After the water was hot, the lamp was removed and the orphan girl was sent outside. Soon she came back, and said that Anautalik with her seal were coming again. The child wanted to hide, but the people told her not to be afraid. Soon the ground-seal came in, carrying its club. As soon as it entered, the men harpooned it and killed it. When Anautalik entered the house, one of the men cut the strings on one side of the kettle, so that the boiling water ran down her back. She

See p. 146 of this volume.

was scalded so badly that she died. Her spirit became the friend of the people. She does not come to help them unless all the lamps are put out, and she is still afraid of hot water. Therefore, when the Eskimo have an angakok performance, all the lights must be put out.”

The sisters who make thunder-storms ^ live with Nuliayoq. According to Captain Comer’s latest notes, there are only two sisters, — Kadlu, who makes lightning by rubbing pieces, of dry seal-skin ; and Ignirtoq, who makes lightning by strik-^ ing two stones together, and rain by urinating. When Nuliayoq is offended by the transgression of a taboo, she sends the sisters to punish the people.^ The thunder also^ indicates that Kadlu is in need of skins. For this reason, women make offerings to her of pieces of white-tanned sealskin.

When Nuliayoq is offended, she sometimes pounds the ground underneath, causing earthquakes.^ Then the people at once leave that part of the country.

All dangerous places, like tide-rifts and stormy capes, arebelieved to be favorite haunts of Nuliayoq.^ For this reason, all taboos must be observed there with particular care.

The ideas of these tribes regarding the relation of the deceased to their survivors ® are illustrated by some additional material. At one time, before a certain child was born, it was decided that it should be named after an old man who had recently died. The child proved to be a girl,, and the mother did not wish to have it take the man’s name. Soon after the birth of the child, the mother became ill;, and the angakok, after a visit to the land of the souls, declared that the man whose name the child was to bear had been offended, and had caused the ^ mother to be sick. Then she consented to give to the child the name of the deceased person, and recovered.

The ideas of the Eskimo relating to these questions are also illustrated by the statement that the mild fall and winter of 1902 were caused by the soul of an old man who had died

1 See p. 146, second paragraph. 2 gee p 1^5^ end of first paragraph.

3 See p. 146, third paragraph. ^ See p. 145, last three lines, s See p. 146, last paragraph.

late in summer, and who had said before dying that he would procure milder winters for the people. In connection with this, it was stated that a similar occurrence had taken place at a previous time.

It is also told that a man had returned to life, and in the evening went back from the grave to his house. In the entrance-way the dogs barked at him, which made him turn back to his grave, because he was not properly welcomed on his return home.

In 1896 a man who was nearly helpless desired to die. His two sons took him off among the hills near Whale Point, and left him there. He cut himself with his knife, but after two days he was seen coming back. Then he told that he had been dead, but that he had been sent back by the spirits, who claimed that he had come too soon.

Customs relating to Game and Miscellaneous Taboos. — The most important addition to our knowledge of the hunting customs and taboos, resulting from Captain Comer's inquiries, is his description of the whaling-customs. When a whale was seen, it was customary to point at it with the third finger of the right hand. Then the hunters would go out in pursuit in their kayaks. The old people were allowed to watch the hunters, while the young women were required to lie down in their tents. They had to loosen their belts. The children had to tie their legs together in pairs, as though preparing for a three-legged race, and they would walk inland so as to be out of sight of the sea. No one was allowed to carry water until the whale had been captured. It was believed that the effect of all this would be to make the whale quiet, and that it would not strike the boats.

After the whale had been towed to the shore, the people were allowed to eat; but no cooking must be done until the back had been cut in two. When the kayak of the hunter who first struck the whale approached the shore, the boys rushed down with dippers filled with fresh water, and poured it over the bow of the kayak. This was believed to make them successful whalers. In cutting up the whale, the people did not avoid getting covered with grease and blood, in order to show to Nuliayoq that they were well pleased with the gift of the whale. For this reason the oldest clothing was worn during this time. When the whale-meat was cooked, the people sat down in a half-circle of stones, to which all the food was brought. There they had a feast, accompanied by games. It is said that the whale skin and meat were piled up in the centre, and that each angakok in turn would dance around this pile, while the people sat around the circle of stones. Women sang songs, accompanying the dance.

Evidently the half-circle of stones here mentioned is the same as the structure described by Parry. Captain Coiner states that he has seen several of these half-circles in various parts of the country.

After a successful whaling-season, all clothing is discarded near the shore, so that in the deer-hunting season the deer may not be offended.

All the tribes of the west coast of Hudson Bay are careful to treat game-animals respectfully. It is considered a great sin to find fault with the game obtained. Thus it is related that a fisherman who had caught only a few small salmon found fault with them, saying that even the whole of the salmon would not be enough for him, and offended Nuliayoq by doing so. After he had eaten the fish, he began to swell, until he burst and died.

A captured seal must be treated with great consideration. In addition to the customs described before,^ the harpoon must be taken into the hut and placed near the lamp. This is supposed to please the soul of the seal, which is believed to hover around the harpoon. If the harpoon should be left outside, the soul would become cold ; and, if it should report this to Nuliayoq, she would be displeased. It is said that long ago, when a harpoon had been left outside, the seal’s soul begged a woman to take it in. The woman did not comply with the request, and the seal’s soul entered her, and later on was born as her child.

Similar proscriptions prevail in relation to the polar bear.^

1 See p. 147. end.

See p. 124, second paragraph.

After a polar bear has been killed, it is cut up on the spot,, the intestines are thrown to the dogs, and the rest of the body is taken home. A piece of the tongue and other small parts are hung up in the hut; and knives, saws, drills, and other small objects, are attached to them as presents to the bear’s soul. It is believed that then the soul will go to the other bears and tell them how well it has been treated, so that the others may be willing to be caught. At the end of three days, the man who killed the bear takes down the objects, carries them out into the passage-way, and then throws them into the house, where the boys stand ready to get what they can. This symbolizes the bear spirit presenting these objects to the people. The boys niust return the objects to their owners. During these three days, the women are not allowed to coml> their hair.

If any water in which a salmon has been boiled should be spilled by a person, he must pretend to have vomited this water. This is intended to make the soul of the salmon’s mother believe that her child has made the person sick; thus the salmon’s soul will blame her own child, and not the Eskimo, for wasting the soup. A waste ofTood is believed to offend the spirits and to bring ill luck in hunting.

Walrus-skin must not be used for dog-food.

Albino caribou must not be killed, because this would bring death to the person who should slay it.

When a man gets caribou-blood on his clothing, he must not remove it.

The following belief proves also the constant endeavor to show respect to game-animals. A woman who had no caribou-sinew used the sinew of a seal instead. This made the seal’s soul feel ashamed, because seal-sinews are so much shorter than those of the caribou. Therefore the seal caused the woman to become sick and die.

If a man in pursuit of musk-oxen becomes tired, and cannot keep up with the game, it is believed that this is due to the displeasure of the spirits of musk-oxen that he has formerly killed, and which have not been treated properly.

It is said that once a party of hunters saw a large herd of musk-oxen in the evening, and decided to attack them early the following morning, but that on the next day the herd could not be found. The people believed that this was due to the fact that some offence had been committed by one of the hunters, and that, in consequence of this, Nuliayoq had transferred the herd to another part of the country.

The following additions to seasonal taboos have been recorded by Captain Comer : —

The first morning after the people have moved into a new snow-house, they must rise early in order to please Nuliayoq.

After the new caribou-skin clothing has been made for the winter, and when the men are ready to go sealing for the first time, the whole of their clothing and hunting-implements are hung over a smudge made of dry seaweed.^ The Netchillik use nests of small birds for making the smudge. It is supposed that the smoke takes away the smell of the caribou, which would offend the sea-mammals.

When the men go sealing for the first time, they take along a little moss, a small piece of caribou-skin, and sinewthread, which are left on the ice as an offering to Nuliayoq. It is believed this will induce her to send a plentiful supply of seal. The women, before cutting up the meat of the first seal for cooking, wash their hands with a piece of dry skin wetted by their sons. It is believed that this takes away the smell of caribou from their hands.

When the caribou-antlers are in the velvet, women should not work on new caribou-skins, but they may repair old ones. Disobedience of this command would displease Nuliayoq.

While the people live on the ice, no work on new skins or on horns or antlers must be done.^ Skins that have been worn may be repaired. If it is likely that any pieces of new skin have to be used, they are fastened to a garment so as to be out of sight, and this is considered the same as though they had been worn.

All the tribes of the west coast of Hudson Bay are allowed to do manual work in the beginning of the winter. When

1 See p. 148, end.

See p. 148, third paragraph.

the coldest part of winter sets in, they stop manual work until after the seal have their young.

In the fall of the year, nobody is allowed to sew after dark, because it is believed that drawing the needle towards the body would invite evil spirits to come. When the ice-floe extends to the outlying reefs and islands, they are allowed to sew after dark.

Children’s clothing should not be worked upon after dark, until the land-ice extends away out from the shore. After the ice is formed, evil spirits cannot come to the house so easily.

Some special beliefs may be added to those recorded on pp. 149 and 150.

It is believed that caribou are not as plentiful as formerly, because the Eskimo, during the caribou-hunting season work on wood brought into thp country by the whalers.

It is believed that albino ^ caribou originate from eggs which lie in the earth. Should a person kill an albino caribou, he must not work on iron, and must keep the hood of his coat over his head, and must wear a belt. This must be continued for one year. If he should disregard this custom, his body would be covered with boils, and he would die. If, on the other hand, he should do nothing to displease the caribou, he would become a great angakok.

Cannibalism ^ should not be spoken of in the hearing of women.

In working steatite ^ for lamps and kettles, the men make a small model of the object they desire to manufacture. After the model is completed, it is broken. This prevents the stone lamp or stone kettle from breaking, either in process of manufacture or later when in use.

When the people of Iglulik go sealing, they do not use a wick of moss in their stone lamps, but carry a walrus-tusk, from which they scrape off some dust to form the wick. If pulverized moss should be used, the walrus would be offended.

When a person dreams of an accident befalling some one,

1 See p. ISO, sixth paragraph. 2 gee p. 149, seventh paragraph.

3 See p. 149, ninth paragraph the friends of the person whose life is believed to be in danger on account of this dream give to the person who had the dream a small present. This present is intended for the guardian spirit of the dreamer, who is thus induced to protect the person in danger of misfortune.

To the beliefs regarding women the following may be added : —

If a woman should cut her hair in the presence of a man, even of her husband, or if she should make or repair stockings in his presence, she would bring ill luck to the man. This belief is shared by the Aivilik, Iglulik, and Ponds Bay tribes, while the Kinipetu do not believe this so firmly.

Menstruating women, and women after child-birth, are not allowed to look around when outside the house, because, if they should happen to see a wild animal, its soul would be offended, and Nuliayoq would cause the women to become blind. It is also believed that the animal would be trans-- formed into a smaller species.

Women must not eat the tongues of animals. An adolescent girl must not eat eggs.

A tale of punishment for the concealment of a miscarriage not only corroborates the data previously recorded,^ but brings out also peculiar views relating to the manner of punishment.

A woman who had not reported a case of miscarriage, and who had thus offended Nuliayoq, had brought starvation upon the people with whom she was living. After a prolonged period of ill success in hunting, they moved to a neighboring camp. When approaching the huts, a woman was seen to come up to them. They believed that she was one of their friends ; but, when they came near the woman, she swung her arm to the right side, which caused the offending woman, whose name was Oudkayuk, to fall to one side; when the woman moved her arm to the other side, Oudkayuk fell over to the other side. Her clothing fell off from her body, and she died. Then the woman, who was no other than Nuliayoq, disappeared.

^ See p. ISO, third paragraph.

1907.] BoaSf Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, 505

To the numerous stories relating to the punishments inflicted by Nuliayoq upon women who disobey taboos, the following peculiar tale may also be added.

A number of Eskimo were starving, and all their dogs died. The party started for another place, where they hoped to have better success in hunting, ^hen they were about to leave, one of the dead dogs began to sing, saying that one of the women of the party, named Aknakviaq, had disobeyed the taboos; that, after she was disposed of, the hunters would, have good luck; and asking that later on small pieces of the kidneys and intestines of the seals should be given to him. On the same day, Nuliayoq appeared and killed the woman. Then the hunters had success in hunting. They all gave pieces of the intestines to the frozen dog.

Charms and Artificial Monsters. — Captain Comer has collected a considerable amount of new information on amulets. Oil-drippings are considered efficient in many ways, in hunting game as well as for protection against supernatural beings. Oil-drippings from lamps are placed around the edges of walrus-holes.^ It is believed that this will cause the walrus to return to these holes.

As a cure for sickness, dried rabbit’s teats are placed on the parts affected.

The skin of a still-born seal is used as an amulet to drive away thunder. It is made into a jacket, which must be taken off when thunder is heard, and which is then struck against the ground.

A piece of flint sewed in the sleeve will make the arms and hands strong.

Bugs and bees sewed to the under-garment are believed to prolong life. It is said that once upon a time an old woman sewed a number of bugs and bees in her boy’s clothing in the belief that, if he should die, he would afterwards come to life, as these animals come to life in spring. The child grew up to be a man, died, and was buried, but in a few days came to life again.

' See p. 1 5 1, end.

Shirts are sometimes covered with charms. A boy’s shirt collected by Captain Comer has a string of charms around the neck. A number of bear’s teeth are supposed to make the wearer fearless of bears, and teeth of the seal are intended to bring success in sealing. A piece of skin from a whale is to prevent his kayak from upsetting. Rabbit’s ears attached to the shirt are supposed to make him able to approach caribou without being seen or heard. A wolf’s lip is to enable him to howl like a wolf, so that he may cause caribou to run into the ponds, where they are easily captured from the kayak. Attached to the hood is a small piece of lemming’s intestines, which is believed to be a help in catching ground-seals. A seal’s nose sewed on the front of the jacket causes the seal to come to him readily. A piece of skin sewed around the sleeves near the wrist is believed to bring success when hunting caribou with bow and arrows. A harpoonhead attached to the jacket is believed to bring success in sealing.

Unfortunately, no Eskimo incantations for success in hunting have been collected. That they exist, has been mentioned before.^ It is said that in olden times some of the people had the power of pulling in, by means of incantations, the ground over which they had travelled, so as to make the distance before them shorter, while in the same way they made the land behind recede. When pronouncing the spell, they were not allowed to look back.

When a person sneezes,^ he must say to his soul, “Come back!” otherwise he might become sick. If a child sneezes, the mother smacks her lips, which is supposed to be the appropriate response made by her for the child.

We have received also fuller notes relating to the tupilak, which show this belief to be identical with the Greenland belief,^ as was suggested before. One of the Aivilik Eskimo told Captain "Comer that one day when he was out hunting with a friend, they saw a walrus, which lured them far out to sea. Finally they discovered that the walrus had long hair,

1 See p. 153, end.

3 See p. 153, second paragraph.

2 See p. 153, fourth paragraph.

like a person, and suspected that it was a tupilak made by an enemy to destroy them. They returned at once, and while going home they saw a red spot on the ice, accompanying them. On his return, this man questioned an angakok, who told him that the red spot was the questioner’s guardian spirit, and who also discovered the person who had made the tupilak. This person belonged to another tribe, and the angakok called on him, and ordered him to desist.

Two other men one day fell in with a polar bear. One of them attacked the bear with his spear; but the bear turned, and struck his assailant, lacerating his head and face. Finally they succeeded in despatching the bear. When they came back to the spot where the hunter had been struck by the bear, they saw a bear’s paw lying on the ground, although the skin of the bear itself was complete. Thus they discovered that the bear was a tupilak made to destroy them.

A similar idea is held in regard to snow-men. This is illustrated by the following incident : —

Some Netchillik Eskimo, when leaving a village, made a couple of snow-men, which were cut to pieces by one of the natives, who was afraid of them. After returning home, this man became unwell ; and it was believed that, if the snowmen had been left, they would have caused trouble of some kind in the village. If an angakok had cut them down, he would not have felt any ill effects.

The dangerous power of the tupilak is also explained in the following story. One night the people were assembled for an angakok performance. One of them hid under the ceiling of the passage-way, so that every one who went in and out had to pass under him. He desired to see what the angakut were doing in preparing for their feats. While he was in hiding, a tupilak entered the hut, discovered the man, and said, “Stay there until I have killed those inside! When I come back, I shall kill you.” As soon as the tupilak had entered the hut, the man jumped down and ran to his own snow-house. He closed the door, filled his mouth with oil and lamp-black, which he sputtered over the snow-block closing the entrance. Soon the tupilak came to kill him.

but the oil and lamp-black caused it to disappear underground. As soon as it had disappeared, the man took some more oil and lamp-black, and entered the singing-house, where he found the people in a stupor. He blew the oil and lamp-black all over the house, and the people began to revive. Thus he saved them, although he himself was not an angakok.

An effective amulet to drive away the tupilak consists of a strip of skin from the belly of a male wolf, in the form of a whip, the handle of which is the penis-bone, while the lash is a strip of skin extending from the belly all along the middle line to the mouth, taking in the lips. By striking this whip against the tupilak, it will be driven away. A whip made of the penis-bone of the bear^ is supposed to drive away evil spirits, and is used particularly for the protection of children.

The following remarks on the tupilak are quite similar to those recorded by Captain Mutch in Cumberland Sound,^ and suggest that there may also exist a belief in an invisible tupilak different from the artificial monster.

When it is believed that a tupilak is causing sickness, it must be driven away. The older men and women are allowed to be present at the performance ; but the children are required to stay in the house, because it is believed that otherwise they would lose an eye or both eyes. When the tupilak appears, the angakok goes aut and has a battle with it, and finally succeeds in driving it away. As proof that the battle has occurred, he will show his hands, which are covered with blood. The following day is given up to festivals and games. On the day after the tupilak has been driven away, the people must not move from the village, because in that case the tupilak would come back.

The Angakok. — The beliefs regarding the acquisition of angakok power, described on p. 133, are shared by the tribes on the west coast of Hudson Bay. According to Captain Comer, the shaman’s story told on p. 134 is also known, although in a slightly different form from that current in Cumberland Sound. The following two stories of the acquisition of angakok power are worth recording.

^ See p. 492.

2 See p. 13 1, second paragraph.

Angakok’s Coat. Iglulik

A man who desired to become an angakok hung his coat down the face of a precipice, so that it was near a hawk’s nest. On the fifth day, when he went to look at it, the coat had come to life and was climbing up the face of the precipice. He became frightened, and killed it by throwing stones at it. If he had not done so, but had put on the jacket, he would have become a powerful angakok, able to walk up and down the faces of cliffs.

One of the angakut of the Iglulik told the following story about his initiation.

One day when he was caribou-hunting near the peninsula Amitoq, he killed three caribou. On the following day he saw four large bucks, one of which was very fat. He struck it with an arrow, and the caribou began to run to and fro. Its antlers and its skin dropped off, its head became smaller, and soon it assumed the form of a woman with finely made clothes. Soon she fell down, giving birth to a boy, and then she died. The other caribou had turned into men, who told him to cover the woman and the child with moss, so that nobody should find them. They told him to straighten out her body; but he was only able to move one arm, because she was exceedingly heavy. After he had covered up the bodies, the men told him to return to his people and to tell them what had happened, and to have his clothing made in the same way as that of the woman.

The garment represented in Plate IX is the coat worn by this angakok, who claims that it is identical with that worn by the caribou woman, with the exception of the representation of her child, which he added to it. The hands, represented in white skin, are intended to ward off evil spirits. The animal figures represented on the shoulders were explained to represent “children of the earth.”

While the angakok was telling this story to Captain Comer, the women who were near covered their heads with their hoods, for fear of the angakok’ s protecting spirit. The cap and mittens which belong to the suit are also said to be of the same pattern as those worn by the caribou woman.

In taking down this story. Captain Comer had his paper resting on a woman’s shoulders. The angakok objected to this, because, as he said, his protecting spirit would not like to have the paper on which so important a story was recorded touch a woman. Captain Comer also remarks that the other Eskimo were somewhat sceptical in regard to this story, but that they did not dare express their doubts.

In the winter of 1901-02 a young man was trying to become an angakok, but had not been able to secure a guardian spirit. One day Captain Comer happened to be in the young man’s house, and, slapping him on the back, asked him how he was getting on. Then the other angakut declared that by this slap whatever progress he had made had been driven out, and the young man would have to begin all over again. After a few days the men led the young novice to the vessel, walking Indian file, swinging their arms, and chanting a song. Captain Comer was requested to tie a piece of new cloth to a strap which the novice wore over one shoulder, to throw up his hands, and to say “Enough!” which would drive away the evil effects of having touched the novice. Then they went back Indian file, chanting.

A young angakok must not whip his dogs for a whole year, as the dogs’ spirits might bring injury to him. He must not drink out of a cup that any one else has used.

The angakut of the Kinipetu make their incantations hidden behind a curtain which screens off the rear portion of the hut.

Some peculiar feats of angakut may be described here.

A party of men and their wives lived by themselves. One day when the men had gone off, a pack of wolves came and tried to get into the hut. Then an old woman who was an angakok carried a lump of moss, soaked with oil and lighted, out of the house. She set the wolves to fighting among themselves; and, when some of them were killed, the others began to eat their carcasses. In this way she saved herself and her companions.

The husbands of three women had been out hunting for a long time. The women, who had no provisions, were starving. Then one of them, who was an angakok, took a large piece of moss, cut it up, and gave a piece to each of the others-

Fig. 2. Head— Lifting. Shamanistic Performances of the Aiviuk.

Bulletin A. M. N. H.

VoL. XV, Plate X.

When they ate, it turned into caribou-meat. Two of the women concerned in this story are said to be still alive.

In cases of sickness, the angakok may prescribe exchange of children.

The angakok of the Padlirmiut, north of Port Churchill, are said to cut open the bodies of sick persons, and to take out the diseased parts and replace them by sound parts. Some of the people who visited Captain Comer claimed to have been treated in this manner.

When game has been scarce for some time, an angakok will address a bowlder, as though speaking to Nuliayoq, asking why the game is scarce. Then the bowlder will reply, stating what taboo has been violated. Meanwhile the earth will tremble. There is only one old man now living who is claimed to have this power.

An angakok from Iglulik, and another from Aivilik, set out at the same time. They met halfway, and in memory of their meeting, they erected a large cairn on the hill where they met.

The angakok wears a strap to which are attached a number of strips of skin, which show the number of diseases which he has cured or warded off. Ultimately this strap is placed under a stone as an offering to the angakok’ s guardian spirit.

Captain Comer describes an interesting angakok performance which took place in the winter of 1893-94. The captain had fallen into the water and lost his rifle, and an angakok volunteered to secure it. After the usual preparations, the angakok called his guardian spirit, which was a walrus. The angakok told the guardian spirit to bring the rifle to a waterhole which was kept open near to the ship. Then a line was run out through the entrance of the hut and down the waterhole. Soon the angakok came back and began to pull at the line, as though fishing. Suddenly the line began to get taut, and he asked other men to assist him. Eventually, however, the line snapped; and the angakok claimed that, owing to interference, the rifle, which had been attached to the line, had been lost.

The preparation for a shaman’s flight, as described on p. 155 of this volume, is illustrated in Plate X, Fig. i.

Sometimes after the meetings of angakut, snow-men will be made. After they are finished, the men rush out and cut them to pieces, and then run back to the house in a great hurry, apparently in fear of the spirits of the snow-men.

Sometimes, in case of sickness in the village, people must confess what wrong they may have done. At this time each one mentions what kind of skin was used as his first clothing. Then the angakok takes a line, of which every one takes hold, and he thus leads the people around the village. It is believed that the tupilak cannot enter the place thus marked out. Presumably this custom is related to the similar custom practised in the fall ceremonial of Cumberland Sound. ^

The procedure of head-lifting ^ (Plate X, Fig. 2) is thus described by Captain Comer. One evening he entered a snowhouse where the performance was in process. The lights had not been turned out, but all the children had been sent away. The wife of the house-owner lay on her bed, covered with a blanket. A strap was tied around her head, which was held by her husband, who was sitting on the edge of the bed-platform. It was said that the spirit of the man's grandfather had entered the woman, and that he would answer any questions put to her. If the answer was in the affirmative, the head would prove to be heavy, but otherwise it would be easily lifted. The strap used to raise the head was one worn by an angakok. There were attached to it a number of pieces or strips of skin, which show the number of diseases which the angakok has cured. The questions put generally referred to the transgression of taboos. For instance. Captain Comer said that the spirit possessing the woman was displeased because Captain Comer had cut off some hair from a ground-seal's skin without asking the consent of the woman who was in a trance. He was required to confess that he had done so by saying the words, “It is enough," and that then the evil effects of the transgression would be overcome.

The occurrence of the belief in witchcraft, which seemed

See p. 140.

2 See p. 1S9, first paragraph.

doubtful according to Captain Comer's previous notes, is now corroborated.

A hunter who was very successful was bewitched by a jealous couple. He became crazy, and would not do anything but play with the bones of a seal's flipper. He would not even stop long enough to take his meals. When, at his play, he claimed to be successful at hunting, the hunters would also be successful. Finally he became so emaciated that he died.

A brief note collected by Captain Comer shows that the belief in children who become cannibals, which is so common in Greenland, occurs also on the west coast of Hudson Bay. It is said there that a child that had been ill fed by its parents turned upon them and devoured them.

The following tales may also be recorded here, because they are explanatory of beliefs.

It is said that once upon a time an Eskimo wished to destroy the spirit which caused the ice to crack. One day when he heard the noise of the cracking ice, he took up his harpoon, ran out of his hut, and hurled the harpoon into the newformed fissure, believing that by so doing he would kill the spirit. On the following day he went sealing. When returning at night, he reached a house in which he found a man cooking salmon. When the salmon was done, he was invited to eat some. After the meal he returned home. Soon he fell ill, a harpoon came out of his side, and he died. The spirit whom he had tried to kill had transformed the harpoon into a salmon, and had induced the man to eat it. This shows that man should not try to do harm to supernatural beings.

The following may be expressive rather of Eskimo character than of belief. It is told that an Iglulik Eskimo whom the whalers called Top-Knot, with some other Eskimo, were at one time nearly starving to death. He then thought that if he could only meet an animal he would not be afraid, no matter how powerful the animal might be. Some time afterwards he fell in with a polar bear, and, remembering what he had said, he threw aside his weapons, went up to the bear, and held it in his arms until his companions could kill it.

Customs regarding Birth, Childhood, and Death. — A woman who is with child should arise before the others,, and should be the first to run out of the house when a sledge arrives, or anything else happens. This will make the child quick. The clothes worn by a woman during confinement are given, after a period of two or three months {kinertun), to an old woman, who has to take them apart at the seams, and who makes them over so that the top of the garments becomes the lower part. They are worn by the old woman.

If the child of a pregnant woman should be sick, it is believed that the child’s soul is jealous of the child to be born.

The navel-string is always cut with a sharp white flint. For three months after the child is born, the mother wears the same suit of clothing, which at the end of this period is discarded. To protect the child against witchcraft, the mother, when cohabiting with her husband for the first time after the birth of the child, must draw a line diagonally across the child’s chest with some of the ejected semen; and later on, when first cohabiting with another man, she must draw another diagonal line with his semen, crossing the first line.

When the child is given food for the first time, the mother calls the name which she wishes it to bear. She calls the name, saying, “Come here, come here!”

A child that loses a tooth wraps it up in a piece of meat and gives it to a dog, asking it to take the tooth and to give it another one.

Captain Comer reports that in Ponds Bay, when a boy is one year old, a dog’s head is cooked for him, which he must eat. This will make his head strong, so that in later life, when he fights with another person, his head will be able to withstand the blows he will receive. He must also chew the skin from under a dog’s feet, which will make his feet strong.

A woman who has a son should always have water in her kettle, so that a visitor wishing a drink can have it at once. This will have the effect of making her son successful in finding plenty of game. She should also wear on her head a strip of seal-skin with pieces of quartz attached.

Skins of ravens are used for making garments for infant iDoys, because it is believed that this will give them the power to discover game easily.

A boy who goes sealing for the first time in the winter should not shake the snow out of his trousers before putting them on, because, if he does, any whale that he should pursue later on might strike his kayak.

When making a visit, he should never stay long in a tent, because this would have the effect of making any whale that he should hunt later on stay in the water a long time.

A boy must not eat of the first game ^ of any kind that he kills, but older people should be invited in to feast on it. This will make the boy a successful hunter.

To promote the growth of hair of a girl, her hair is washed with blood; or a bee is attached to her hood, but this is believed also to produce lice. The velvet taken from the antler of a caribou before it dies, and sewed on to the hood or placed in the hood of a child, will insure growth of long hair.

If a woman wishes her child to have white skin, she will sew a white stone to its clothing.

Boys called after deceased women must not have their hair cut until after having caught the first ground-seal.

If a man should go on a long journey in his kayak or in his boat, his wife must be strictly true to him; otherwise his boat would become leaky, and he would know at once what was taking place at home.

After the death of a person, all the clothing and bedding that he has used during his life, and the skins of the animals the meat of which he has eaten, must be carried off and buried under rocks.

After a man dies, no work must be done for three days by the people living in the vicinity. After the death of a woman, no work must be done for four days. No sledges are allowed to leave the place during the period of mourning.

When the body is taken out to be buried, it is wrapped in

1 See p. 16 X, fourth paragraph.

skins and dragged to the grave over the ice and snow. The person who wraps the body, fills his nostrils with caribouhair to prevent the smell of the dead being inhaled. The clothes that he wears while burying the body must be thrown away. In summer the body must be carried on the back of some person. .When husband or wife dies, the survivor is expected to take the body to the grave; or, if he or she isnot strong enough, the nearest strong relative is expected to do so. The body is dragged over the ground only when it is impossible to find some one who can carry it, because it is believed that the soul is hurt by dragging the body over the stones. When the place of burial is reached, the friends of the departed place stones over the body in such a way that the stones do not rest on it. Those who have assisted, in the burial must stay in the house for three days. Early in the morning of the fourth day an old woman goes around the inside of the tent with a piece of frozen dog-dung, and touches the various articles in the tent with it. Then the^ people who have assisted in the burial go to the grave. . There they leave offerings to the soul. They go around the grave from left to right, calling on the soul to watch over them in all their doings. Whenever widow or widower eats, he or she requests that the soul of the husband or the wife eat also. After a short time this invitation is discontinued, and instead a small piece of meat is put aside for the soul. This is continued for a whole year. During this time the widow must not mention the names of animals. She must not look around and out of doors, because if she should see an animal it would at once change its form. When game is taken into the house, she must cover her head with her hood, and not look at it until it is ready to be cut up. She must not eat raw meat. She may cook meat, but must not turn it over while it is cooking. She must not eat meat of game on the same day that it is killed.

At the end of the year the mourner again walks around the grave from left to right, and asks the soul to watch over him in the future. Widowers are allowed to hunt, but they must not mention the names of animals; and they must not whipdogs, because the whip might strike the wife’s soul and hurt it. The reason why the names of animals are not mentioned by mourners is, that, if called by another name, they will not know that they are spoken of.

A few customs and beliefs of the Netchillik may be added here.

It is said that the Netchillik do not visit the grave and talk to the departed.

When a child is very sick, one of the parents may commit suicide by hanging, because this is believed to save the child.

When a person has a grudge against another, he may make a bear of snow and insert bear’s teeth in its mouth. This figure becomes a tupilak, which causes sickness, accidents, or even death to befall the person against whom it is sent. Another method of making a tupilak is to put hair on the tracks of an enemy. These will come to life and attack as a tupilak the person in whose tracks they are placed.

When a hunter has offended Nuliayoq by transgressing a taboo, musk-oxen that he is pursuing may be turned by her into caribou.

According to statements heard by Captain Mutch among the Ponds Bay Eskimo, Netchillik women are not allowed to lift stones or to touch heather. During the deer-hunting season, names of certain animals, and other words, are changed. For instance, a white man is called Kidlauling; the raven, Kaving.

V. TRADITIONS.

TALES FROM CUMBERLAND SOUND.

I. Qaudjaqdjuq}

Qaudjaqdjuq is said to have dwelt at Qamauang, on Hudson Strait. He lived with his grandfather and his grandmother, but was not allowed to enter the hut, and had to stay in the passage-way where the dogs were fed with walrushide. All the food he got was such pieces of skin as he could snatch away from the dogs; and he had to tear the hide with his teeth, because he had no knife. The people were in the habit of using his hair for wiping their hands. Once upon a time Qaudjaqdjuq, after he had been given strength by the Man in the Moon, was with the people in the singinghouse. Three days had elapsed, when the bears which were sent by the Moon Man appeared. One of the men said, “Qaudjaqdjuq, here is meat for you.’ ^ Then Qaudjaqdjuq showed his strength. He ran down to the bears; and the people shouted, “See how quickly he has grown!” but his mother said sneeringly, “I don’t see that.” Then Qaudjaqdjuq took the bears one after another by the legs, and killed them by striking them against the ground. When the people saw that, they became afraid of him, and fled. He shouted after them, “Why do you run away from me?” He pursued them and killed them all except two women, whom he kept as his wives. He also killed his grandfather and his grandmother. One of the women had been in the habit of teasing him a good deal, and she had always cleaned her hands on his hair. When she had become his wife, he would strike her. One day he tore out her eye. The other woman he struck on the shoulder, so that it became dislocated.

1 See p. 186 of this volume.

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, 519

2. The Monster Bear,

One day when the men were out hunting, a monster bear with a long tail was seen to pursue the kayaks; but the men succeeded in getting on the ice before it could overtake them. Then the monster bear tried to get on the ice. When the animal had its fore paws on the ice, the men attacked it with their lances, and pierced its eyes; but nevertheless it succeeded in getting on. The men, however, continued to attack it with their lances, and finally killed it. Then they left without touching its meat, because they were afraid of it. For fear that the animal might revive, they returned and cut it to pieces. When they cut open its stomach, the heads of a number of men fell out.

Ettorew was hunting loons in his kayak. He pulled his kayak up on a piece of ice quite close to the loons. He built a shelter of snow, from which he was able to catch quite a number of birds. He had not been there long when he saw through his peep-hole a monster bear swimming along in the water. It approached the kayak, and was looking at it from the water. The man jumped up and ran ashore. The monster bear did not see him, and left the place. After it had gone, Ettorew went back to his kayak and paddled home.

Quairnang is a place near Kusswakjew. Once upon a time a monster bear came ashore, and the people hid in a fissure of the rocks. The bear, however, found them and tried to attack them. His breath was so hot, that the people had to retire to the remotest part of the fissure, where the bear was unable to reach them on account of its large size. It was so large that its whiskers pierced the people like lances, and killed them. The people tied their knives to the ends of sticks, and attacked the bear, which finally retired, losing much blood on the way down to the water. The blood may be seen there to this day.

A long time ago the people were living at Sauniktung in the fall. A ground-seal had been caught before all the work on caribou-skin had been completed, and the women continued to work on the skins, as they had to have their clothing finished for the winter. Not long after this, quite a number of the people became sick and died. Then a monster bear, Nanukluky came to the village. The people were afraid, and hid in the fissures of rocks. In some of these so many people hid, that they crushed each other to death. When the bear came to the land, up from the ice, one man attacked it and speared it. While the monster bear looked back to attack the man, the latter ran through between its legs, and the monster bear did not see him; but it scented those who had hidden in the fissures. It tried to force the rocks apart with its whiskers. Its head was so large that it could not get into the fissure. Finally it left again. The Eskimo were afraid that the monster bear might get back during the night, and they called upon their angakut to drive it away. During the incantation the angakok saw the ground-seal's spirit with a piece of caribou-skin tied to it, which it could not get rid of. It was angry at being tormented this way. Then it was decided that an angakok should visit Sedna to propitiate her. Sedna told the angakok that the cause of the disasters was the disobedience by the women of the proscriptions regarding the work on caribou-skin. Then the piece of caribou-skin fell off from the ground-seal's soul. The angakok returned, and told the people that Sedna had commanded them not to work on caribou-skin for three nights after a ground-seal had been caught ; that they must not empty out oil-drippings and pieces of blubber from the lamps during the same time ; that they must not dig in the soil, pick up stones, or move heather ; also that the women must not comb their hair.

3. The Giant.

At Qeqertaunang, near Kinertun in Aggo, there lived a man whose name was Alainang. He had a wife as large as himself. Her name was Eyeeyvolwalow . His bow was very large, and his arrows were so strong that they could be used

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. ^2\l to support the drying-frame for clothing. They were broad and as long as a person is tall. One winter he crossed from Davis Strait through Pangnirtung to Cumberland Sound, and travelled along the coast to Aukarneling. From there he started across land to the head of Frobisher Bay. He carried for travelling-provisions a bag made of the whole skin of a ground-seal, which was filled half with meat and half with blubber. Besides, he had on his sledges meat and blubber for his dogs and for his lamp. When he reached Frobisher Strai-f, he found the people starving, and he gave them to eat. His wife was so large that she required two whole caribou-skins for her boots. The giant staid there for some time, hunting caribou; and on one of his hunting-trips he remained away from the village for one whole month. The people said to his wife, “Your husband is staying away long. What may have become of him? ” She replied, “He has not lost his way; he is looking for food. He will return before the new moon. He always does so when he goes caribou-hunting.’’ At the end of the month he returned, and brought a little caribou-meat- Then he told the people that he had found a great many caribou, and that he had tried to drive them towards the village, but that he had been unable to do so. On the following day he asked a man to accompany him, and they went together to the place where the caribou were. A great many that had been killed by the giant were still there, while others were still feeding. They were so tame that they allowed the men to touch them with their lances, and would not move: so they had to kill them right there. Then the people went out with their sledges to bring in the caribou-skins and caribou-meat. The giant and his wife went back home, paddling along the coast.

4. Story of a Dwarf.

Ettourmalau lived at Nurata (King’s Cape). One day, while he was out hunting young seal, he saw a dwarf. When a short distance away, the dwarf sat down; and then all of a sudden he jumped on Ettourmalau' s chest and clasped his neck with his legs and arms. The man tried to push him away.

but was not able to do so. The dwarf pressed himself so tightly against the mouth of Ettourmalau, that he was almost smothered, and fell down. Then his dogs came to his assistance, and tore the dwarf to pieces.

5. Stories of Adlet.

At Aqbaktung,^ in Aggo, Akkolakdju and his wife Mammacheak were out sealing. At a considerable distance from their camping-place, they caught one seal and tied it to their sledge. They were driving home, when their dogs took the scent of something. They ran past all the seal-holes, up towards the head of the bay, and there they saw the dwellings of the Adlet. The Adlet came down to the sledge; but, before they got there, Mammacheak succeeded in hiding under the sledge, and Akkolakdju covered her up with snow. She was almost frightened to death. When she recovered, she peeped out from under her hood and saw that the ice was covered with blood. The seal was still on the sledge. Then she knew that her husband had been killed. He was a great angakok; and, while she thought that she was only frightened, really she and her husband had been cut to pieces by the Adlet, but Akkolakdju had gathered together the pieces of his own and of his wife’s body, and had restored himself and her to life. Then, when the principal man of the Adlet saw that they were whole, he asked them to come up to the tents ; but before inviting them in he asked them whether they had any ill-feeling towards him. Akkolakdju “Even if I

had, I have no weapons.’^ Then the man invited them to come up to his tent, and promised to protect them against his own men when they should come back from sealing. In the evening, when the men came home, they all howled like dogs ; and as soon as they learned that strangers had arrived, they went to the house of their chief and demanded their deliverance, but their chief sent them home. This was repeated day after day, and the chief kept guard over Akkolakdju and Mammacheak, The name of the chief was Pupeka;

1 This is another version of the tale recorded on p. 208 of this volume.

and that of his wife, Amah, When the Eskimo and his wife went home, Pupeka gave him one of his dogs, and asked him never to give it seals’ intestines, because, if he should, he would lose it; and Amah gave Mammacheak some of her clothes. It was late in the spring when the husband and his wife returned to their home ; and since the ice was thin, they travelled very slowly. After a while they looked back, and saw that the chief of the Adlet was burning all his people. After they reached home, they kept the dog in the tent every night, so as to make sure that he should not eat any intestines of seals ; but one day the dog went out without their knowing it. He ate some seal-intestines and then was lost.

The name of the great-grandfather of an old woman now living was Kooroksoo, His son was Kellookootaw, They lived in Iglulik, where they had a large cache of walrus meat and hide. The contents of the cache were stolen by Puneyadlow and Kulettee, Kooroksoo, who was an angakok, transformed himself into an Adla. While Puneyadlow was cutting up the meat that he had stolen, the Adla ran into his house and ate some of the meat. Puneyadlow finally caught him with his foot and killed him. He went on carving the meat; but soon the Adla appeared, and he killed him again.

The next summer Puneyadlow learned that Kooroksoo had transformed himself into an Adla, and he now conjured to kill Kooroksoo and his family. When Kooroksoo, with his four sons, went out walrus-hunting, his kayak was upset and he was drowned, and the same fate overtook all his sons, one after another.

The Iglumiut (Labrador) were camped at a village-site. Artichealow was head man among them. Their tents were pitched on a peninsula named Nedlung. One night, when all were in bed, an Adla came and lifted the stones which held the cover of Artichealow' s tent in place, but somebody awoke, and the Adlet were driven away. The people of that place were so much afraid of the Adlet that they kept watchmen at night, who with slings threw stones in all directions, making a noise that would keep the Adlet away. It is said that the Adlet are taller than the Eskimo and the white people.

In a village of the Iglumiut (Labrador) there was a woman named Kakootahjew. One day she asked her husband for a piece of skin to mend her boot-soles. He scolded her, and she went down to the beach crying. While she was there, two Adlet came and asked her why she was crying. She told them what had happened, and the men offered to take her along to their home. She agreed, and they helped her along. After they were some distance away from the village, the younger man lifted her up and ran along with her swiftly. When they reached the village, the old man asked the woman to become his son’s wife. She agreed, and continued to live mth the Adlet. They had a number of children.

Her former husband, however, had not forgotten her. After a number of years, when the son of the woman and of the Adla was old enough to marry, the man fell in with him while he was caribou-hunting. They began to converse with each other, and the man heard that his former wife had married the stranger. He desired to see her, but the Adla refused to take him along.

6. The Tornit.

. Issigoon and Kanginak travelled about, desirous of seeing the country. They came south along the coast in their kayaks. Finally they went up a fiord, where they found a number of Tornit camped. Since they themselves had no tents of their own, they camped with them. After a while they travelled on, and came to another Tornit camp on the other side of the same fiord. They moved again, and travelled a long distance; and finally they reached another camp, where they met a number of strangers, whose language they could not understand. Some of the people went to the beach and spoke to them, asking questions, but all they were able to understand was that they were asked their names.

1907.] BoaSj Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 525

Finally, one of the strangers suggested that a woman named Sirquah might have come from the same country where the strangers came from. They were able to converse with her. She told them that the Tornit whom they had passed used only seal-skin clothing, no caribou-skins. Then two of the people of this camp decided to accompany the two strangers northward. They returned to the Tomit, where one of the two men married a Tornit woman, whom he took home. After one season the man and his Tomit wife returned to the Tornit village.

7. The Fox and the Wolf.

A Fox and a Wolf were living at Sikosuilaq. The Wolfs children used to visit the Fox^s children; and whenever they did so, they were given caribou-fat to eat. At one time the Fox had nothing to eat for herself and her children. When the young Wolves called, the old Fox said to them, ''Come in and look at the fat that I am chewing!” The young Wolf said, "Let it fall down.” The Fox let it fall, and said, "It is just like a hammer.” Then she said, "It is like a white stone.” She asked the young Wolf to take it up and eat it. After a while the young Wolf went home, and told his mother what had happened. When the father Wolf heard what had happened, he shouted so that the Fox should hear it, "Your meat is all stone. Why did you fool my child?” The old Fox Woman replied, "I did not fool your child.” Then the Wolves began to cry, for they found out that all their own caribou-meat had become stone, therefore they all went away. Thus the Fox got all the cariboumeat of the Wolves.

8. The Bear Country.^

In Cumberland Sound the children, one evening, heard the sealers coming home. An orphan was among them. They said, "Your father is not among these sealers. He is still away off.” The children went to meet the sledges of the sealers. They said again to the orphan, "Your father

1 See p. 546.

526 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, is left behind/^ Then the orphan boy went on looking for his father. He finally came to a place where a bear had been carved. The boy was crying because he could not find his father. It was dark by this time. All the meat of the bear, and the skin, had been taken away: only the sweet-breads were left. The boy cooked them and ate them. He finally reached the end of the land-fioe, to which the tracks of the bear led. While there, he saw a kayak coming, although it was midwinter. He waited until it reached the floe-edge. The hunter asked the boy to accompany him to his village. The boy agreed, sat down on the top of the kayak, and they went away. After a while they reached the village, and the boy staid there for three years. He grew to be quite large, and learned to hunt seals. One day one of the men said to the boy, ‘‘You have a mother, and she needs you. You had better return home. Let her know that you are still alive. When you reach home, take off your jacket, because they may think you are a bear. You have been in the bears' country these three years. Be sure to empty the vessels every morning, then you will be successful." Then the boy started hpmeward, and met the sealers. When they saw him, they thought he was a bear, and went to attack him; but the boy took off his bear-skin jacket behind a hummock, and showed himself. Then they recognized him. They went home, and he went right to his mother’s hut. She said, “Who are you? It is terrible that a stranger should have arrived at my hut." Then he answered that he was her son.

9. The Country of the Bears and Wolves.

A boat’s crew went travelling along the north shore of Hudson Strait, and reached a place where some people were living. Two children were on the beach. Suddenly they noticed the boat. Then they ran back to the huts and told their parents that strangers were coming. The people went to meet them, and sang some songs. While they were singing, an old man noticed a young girl in the boat who had been looking at him all the time. Then he asked her parents to give her to him as his wife. The boat’s crew travelled on, leaving the girl behind. After the boat had left, the old man fastened a thong around the girl’s waist, so that, when she was out of his sight, he could still pull her and prevent her escape. They lived there for some time, and the couple had a child ; but the old man always kept the young woman tied to the thong. Since he was the head man among his people, they did not dare to interfere, although they had much sympathy for the young woman.

One day the people invited him to partake of a seal that had just been caught. While he was away, the young woman escaped, and followed in the way that her friends had travelled. When the man discovered that his wife was not there, he broke up his whole house looking for her. It was in winter, and she walked along on the ice. She went on for days, carrying her child on her back. Finally she saw a house, and she was asked to enter. There were only women inside, who said that their husbands were out hunting and would not be home until evening. She was given something to eat, and invited to lie down and sleep. She pretended to be asleep, and overheard the women talking among themselves. The one to whom the house belonged said to another one, “She is asleep now. Stab her.” As soon as she heard this, she pinched her child and pretended to be awakened by its cries. She continued to pinch the child, which cried all the time. Then she said to the women, that the child would not stop crying unless she went out of the house and walked up and down with it outside. She went out; and as soon as she was outside, she made her escape. What she believed to be people were really wolves.

She went on along the shore, and finally came to another house. She entered, and, although provisions and furnishings were in the house, there was no one to be seen. After a while she heard some one coming. She was afraid, and hid under the lining of the snow-house. For fear that her child would make a noise, she smothered it with her hand.^ When the people came in, she heard them say, “I smell something

III 45,

A person must be here/’ These people were bears. Earlynext morning they took their breakfast and went off sealing; and soon after they had gone, the woman went on, leaving the body of her child behind. She walked on for many days, and finally came to a place where people had camped the day before. The only thing that was left in the campingplace was the receptacle for the sealing-line on the kayak. After some time she saw two kayaks coming. The men had come back to get the line-holder, that they had forgotten. When they discovered the woman, they asked her where she had come from. When she told them who she was, she learned that her father and mother had just moved the day before to Resolution Island. She lay down on top of one of the kayaks, and was taken over to the island.

lo. Tales of Spirits.

At a place named Kutooka, in Qanna, there lived a number of people. One day a supernatural being came to the place. The angakut rushed out of the house, took their lances from the kayaks, and attacked the spirit, whose eyes gave light to the angakut. The lances cut open his belly, and his intestines fell out. They may be seen on the rocks up to this day. Among the men who attacked him was one who was not an angakok. He was killed as soon as he got near to the supernatural being.

There was a widow named Kunginak in Aggo. One day, while the men were out sealing, a boy named Pelicktwa told her that she would be burned. In the evening the men came back from sealing. The son of Pitchelak had caught a seal; and the boy, after the seal had been carved, said, “Let me take a piece of seal-meat to Kunginak Since the people thought that she might be asleep, they decided to send her the meat in the morning. Then Pitchelak took the piece of meat to her house. While in the entrance she heard something cracking like burning wood, and on entering she saw the dead body of Kunginak in the midst of a blue flame in the rear of her hut. She went home and told the people

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hibson Bay. 529

what had happened, and on looking at her hands discovered that they were quite blue. All the people went to the house; and, although there was no indication of fire on the outside, when they looked in they saw the fire burning, and everything that was near the house assumed a blue color. No matter how hard Pitchelak tried to wash off the blue color from her hands, she could not get it off.

II. Tales of Angakut.

There were two angakut. The name of one was Anauaping. His friend claimed to have greater powers, and challenged him to a contest. The second shaman began an incantation, but nothing happened. Next, Anauaping tried his powers. He struck a rock with his spear, and blood came out. Then he moved from side to side on the rock, which split at once. He disappeared into the chasm, which closed over him. After some time he re-appeared from under the ground at some distance.

At Kumakdjewkalu, in Padli, lived Keyak and his wife Titetwapiky and Nikeraping and his wife Woota. The two men were learning the art of the angakok. After they had practised for three days, it was admitted that they had completely acquired the art. Some time after this, Keyak claimed to be superior in art to Nikeraping, who replied that this might be so. The tale-bearers continued to report what Keyak and Nikeraping had said, until finally the latter challenged Keyak to a contest. He said to him, '‘Let us take off our clothes and run around this island. You go one way, I will go the other.’’ It was midwinter when this contest was tried. They took off their shoes and stockings and began to run around the island. When Keyak reached the house, he was so badly frozen that, in bending over to enter, his whole skin over his back cracked, while Nikeraping was not frozen at all. This proved him to have greater power. Keyak died before the spring set in.

One time, during the night, Nikeraping decided to show his power. He was sitting on the bed, while his wife was seated in front of her lamp. In the hut was a partridge-skin which was drying. He asked his wife to hand it down, as he wanted to soften it. He softened the skin, fastened a string around the neck, and hung it up. Then he blew on it, and the partridge came to life and flew about. He called it, and it staid on his hand. After he had shown it, he hung it up again to dry.

At Akweyatto, in Akudnik, a man named Kango, and his wife Nowyadlang, were starving. A little farther to the south a number of people were living who were very well off. In the autumn, when the ice was strong enough to travel on, a man named Koorksoo, the father of Qapessi, was on a visit to Akudnik. They were surprised to see no one moving, although they heard the voices of people in the hut. While they were still standing outside, Kango came out of the house. Their dogs attacked him, and ate off one of his feet before the visitors were able to drive them away. They carried the man into his house, regretting the act of their dogs. Kango’ s wife, however, told them not to mind. She made the dogs vomit the flesh they had eaten, replaced it, and thus healed her husband. The visitors had brought some oil, which they gave to the people, and hunted seals for them, since the men were too weak to go out themselves. In Kango’s house lived an old man whose name was Nipatche, When the visitors were ready to return home, this old man asked them to come back at a later time, and suggested that they should all go to a place where there were plenty of narwhal.

12. The Woman who could not be satiated}

In Akbakto lived a woman named Teneme, who had lost her husband. All the people were willing to give her food, but she pretended that she wished to starve. One day she visited Unaraw, a woman who was married to one of her relatives. Unaraw was feeding some dogs; and when she happened to leave the house, Teneme took some of the food

1 See p 260 of this volume.

1907.] BoaSj Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 531

out of the kettle and ate it. When she came in again, she asked, “Why do you eat my dogs’ food, even before it is cooked?” Teneme said, “Please give me some more, I am hungry.’ ’ But Unaraw did not give her any more.

Then Teneme went to visit other people, and begged for food; but, no matter how much she was given, she always asked for more. In the evening, when the seal-hunters returned, Unaraw told her husband what Teneme had been doing. The man said, “This is dreadful, dreadful! I never heard of any one desiring to eat dog’s food all the time.”

Another day, when the men were out again, Teneme visited Unaraw^ and was looking at her intently, until Unaraw became frightened, thinking that Teneme would eat her. She moved back on the bed, and Teneme asked, “Why do you move away from me? Come nearer.” But Unaraw said that she was afraid. Just at that moment a visitor came in, and Teneme withdrew. In the evening, when Unaraw told her husband, the men decided to desert her.

The people got ready; and before they left, they closed in the door of Teneme^ s house, shutting her in with her two children. After several months had passed, they thought again of T eneme^ and a sledge went back to look after her and her children. The man who went there saw that she had killed and eaten her children, and that she also was dead.

13. Tale of an Agdlaq.

Two men in Tununirn were out caribou-hunting. An agdlaq came up from behind and killed one of them. His companion returned to the village and told what had happened; but the people did not believe him, and thought that he himself might have killed his friend. Finally they all prepared to accompany the man to the spot where his friend had been killed. They prepared their lances and discovered the animal, which did not see them. Then one of the men made a noise like a ground-squirrel (siksik) ; but the agdlaq did not take any notice. They repeated the noise, and this time the agdlaq heard them. As soon as it turned upon them, they all lay down on their sides, resting on one elbow. As soon as it had reached the man who had lost his friend.

he arose and walked towards the animal, while the others remained on the ground, crying like ground-squirrels. The agdlaq attacked the man, who, however, jumped over the animal; and every time it turned on him, he jumped over it, at the same time stabbing it with his lance. Thus he killed it. When the agdlaq was dead, the other people came up. The man said to them, “You did not believe me, and you thought that I had killed my friend. Why don’t you kill me now?” Then the agdlaq was dragged back to the place where it had first been discovered. The people cut it up and left it there. They found the bones of caribou, ground-squirrels, and other animals, and also those of the man whom the agdlaq had killed. It used the man’s chest to store caribou-fat in. The meat that the agdlaq had kept was left there by the people.

14. A Tale of Travellers.

Kilookoota and his wife Puneyloo set out to induce some of their friends to settle at the same place where they were living. While on their way, they saw a snow-house; and on coming nearer, they discovered that it was a large trap built like a fox-trap, but much larger. Four wolves were caught in it. They moved on, and came to the village where Koomungapuk was living. The visitors, on arriving, were asked for a small piece of thong, but the request was only made in fun. When the visitors told Koomungapuk about the trap they had seen, they were told by Koomungapuk that it belonged to him, and that he was in the habit of catching wolves, because their skins were so much warmer. After some time, Kilookoota, on leaving, exchanged his caribou-skin jacket for a wolf-skin jacket, and found that it was really very warm.

15. Tales of Hunters.

Near Kivitung there were people living on an island called Qeqertaunang. One day Inark and his wife Unako were on the ground-ice gathering seaweed. There they saw a walrus on the ice and killed it. The man stabbed it with his knife.

while the woman hit its eye with an arrow. They took the meat home ; and one of their dogs ate of it, swallowing a bone along with the meat, which in passing through pulled out some of the intestines of the dog, but the dog was cured by an angakok.

A whaler named Uluriakdju lived at Okerling, in Nugumiut. One day his leg became entangled in the whaling-line, and was twisted off. When the whale came up again, it stood on the water, and allowed itself to be killed without resistance. When the whaler was taken ashore, he died from loss of blood.

In Iglulik the people once cut a whale which was as long as a large island and as high as a mountain. The people lived in it for a long time.

One winter a number of people were camped on the mainland opposite the point nearest to Resolution Island. The name of one of them was Tecktelektak. One day, while he was hunting dovekies, the ice broke and he went adrift. After a few days the people discovered him on the ice far off. Since he did not return, they gave him up for lost. In summer the people moved westward, along the north shore of Hudson Strait. They were very much surprised when one day Tecktelektak appeared among them. He told them that he had succeeded in reaching Resolution Island. When he went to sleep on shore, he dreamed that he had caught a seal. On the following day he saw a seal on the ice and caught it. In course of time he caught quite a number of seals. He made floats out of their skin, and thus made a raft, on which, with fair wind and with a stick for a paddle, he succeeded in regaining the mainland.

16. Tales of Quarrels.

At a place named Oudleshoun, in Nugumiut, Sherpaloo and his wife Ouleyen were walking behind a sledge, which was driven by Eperjennoucheelee. For some reason, Sherpaloo became angry with his wife and began to scold her. Finally

534 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History, [Vol. XV, he became so furious that he ordered her to return to him all the skins that he had caught, meaning that she should take off her clothing made from those skins. Thus he compelled her to walk barefoot and without a jacket by his side, although it was in the midst of winter. She walked this way quite a while, and soon she did not feel the cold of the snow. After some time the man relented, and returned the clothing to her, and he asked her not to tell the other men how she had been treated. It is marvellous that she was not frozen. She did not tell her friends how she had been treated by her husband.

After some time, Sherpaloo died, and his widow was in the boat with some people who were travelling westward. They were near a steep precipice when the pack-ice set in shore. They were unable to land, and they expected their boat to be crushed. Then Ooryah offered a lamp to Sedna, asking her to save the boat. They were afraid of being driven on Resolution Island. While she was still asking Sedna to help them, the ice set off, and they were able to proceed some distance. They landed at a place where they were able to ascend a hill. While there, they saw a light shining at a distance, and they knew that this was Sedna^s light.

One day two men attacked a village of the Iglumiut, and killed every one except two boys, whom they did not see. The boys made their escape to a neighboring camp and told what had happened. On the following day the men pursued the boys on their way to the same camp; but the people there had been warned, and killed the two murderers.

A very strong man lived in a village on a salmon river. When the people tried to catch salmon, he would try to throw stones at the fish, and thus drive them away. Finally he was killed by his younger brother, and his body was dragged away. In the autumn the people were playing ball, and one of the men accidentally struck in the face the young man who had killed his brother. The same thing happened the second time, and then the young man took the offender by the chest and the legs, saying that he must be a stranger, and he carried him towards a large rock, intending, to knock him against it, but his father ordered him to let go.^

About seventy years ago there lived a man Okey and a woman Piu'kia. Amaktung was Okey's grandchild. Okey stabbed. Piu'kia through the walls of the snow-house, his lance passing right through her stomach. Nevertheless she recovered. In the spring-time the men went out caribouhunting, among them Okey and Killaw, Kowko and Ekieraping. Piu'kia was the sister of Ekieraping. One morning while they were out hunting, Killaw, while Ekieraping was still asleep, took a bowlder and dropped it on Ekieraping's head, so that he died. They came back on three dog-teams, while four dog-teams had left. Nobody said how Ekieraping had met his death.

Piu'kia, who was an angakok, knew how her brother had been killed. One day Ekieraping^s dogs attacked Killaw^ and they were driven away only with difficulty. A man named Ateyootang, who had been one of the party, drove them away by his angakok power; nevertheless Killaw was badly mutilated. He was carried into the tent, and recovered only after he had confessed that he had killed Ekieraping.

17. The Lamps.

At Sikosuilaq two women lived in one house, each ou one side. One day they were standing outside the house, and, so far as they knew, no one was inside. All of a sudden they heard two voices. The one said to the other, “Housemate, are you not going to have a dance?’' The other voice replied, “I am not going to dance, I think that stuff is my breath.” (The voice referred to the oil-drippings which are gathered in a catch-all under the lamp. They are used for burning only when the people are short of oil, because the

1 See p. 284 of this volume.

^36 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, drippings make the flame flicker.) Thus the women discovered that the lamps in the house were holding conversation.

18. Additional Notes on the Story of Kanatchea}

Kanatchea lived on the east coast of Cumberland Sound. He lived with his two wives and his mother. When he came home, he would give his dogs a good whipping before he entered the house, because then he would not beat his wives. After his mother had asked for berries, she asked for salmon, although it was winter. Her reason for asking him to get food which she thought was impossible to obtain was to keep him away from the house, on account of his bad temper. But he always succeeded in getting quickly what he was sent for.

After his mother died, he took her body along in his boat, and at night he took the body inside of the tent and covered it up with her clothing. The people tried to induce him to leave the body behind; and finally he said to the people that, if they would leave their dogs, he would leave his mother’s body too. Then the people agreed; and as soon as they had left, he hid her body. He said that if this was done, his mother would be with him inside of the dogs. Whenever he fed his dogs, he would say, *‘Now my mother is eating meat.”

TALES FROM THE WEST COAST OF HUDSON BAY.

I, Origin of the Caribou?

In the beginning the people lived on small game. One man only would bring in a caribou every day. One of the natives followed him, and saw how this man lifted up a large flat stone, and how a caribou jumped out. The man killed it and put the stone back in place. After the stranger had left, the man who had followed him turned over the stone, and out came a caribou. While he was trying to catch it, more caribou kept coming out, until they had scattered all over the earth.

1 See p. 28s.

2 See p. 306 of this volume.

At that time the caribou would gore the hunters with their antlers. Then the man who had first obtained the caribou singly from the hole struck them on the forehead, and thus made a depression, which all the caribou have at the present day. When the caribou turned round, he kicked it from behind, and thus broke off its tail.

2. The Wind.

The Wind is a being in the form of a person. When he feels warm, he opens his coat and the wind escapes. The only way to make the wind stop is for an angakok to go to the Wind Spirit, fasten his coat and cross his arms, then the wind subsides. The Netchillik say that one of their angakut once went to see the Wind Spirit, and threatened to kill him with a knife. The Wind Spirit replied that then he would level everything on earth. The angakok did not believe him, and asked him to show his power by throwing over a certain mountain. The Wind Spirit at once pushed it over with his foot. Then the angakok believed him, and was satisfied with crossing the Wind's arms over his chest.

3. Inukepowuke.

There was a woman named Inukepowuke in Iglulik. For some reason she left her people and travelled overland until she came to the head of Lyons Inlet. She was tired out from walking, and she was almost starving. There she herself and her dog were transformed into stones, which may be seen up to this day, the woman sitting on her heels, while the dog sits on its haunches. The people, when passing by, always leave a needle or a piece of skin for the woman, in the belief that she will help them.

4. Amautalik.

A man sent one of his two wives to the snow-hut of another man, but when she went out she saw a being which frightened her. Her husband, however, insisted on sending her away. After a little while the man went out to look for his wife, but she had disappeared. It is believed that Amautalik had taken her away. Amautalik is believed to live underground. She approaches the person whom she wants to take, covers him with the back part of her coat, and then squats down, thus forcing him up into the hood, and carries him away.

5. The Emigration of Women.^

Once two parties went hunting together. For some reason one party killed the other, and went back to the wives of the men they had killed, and staid with them. In time the women found out that their husbands had been murdered, and they planned for revenge. There were two women living in one hut; and when one of the murderers was asleep by the side of one of these women, the other stabbed him with her knife.

Then the women made their escape to another part of the country. Here they lived. They had children by their former associates. Most of the children were boys. These they exchanged among themselves for future husbands.

One day two men came to the houses in which the women lived. They had been carried off on the ice when sealing, and had finally succeeded in reaching the shore. They went up to the houses. One of them entered a hut where there were only two women, while the other one happened to enter a hut in which there were many women. They were so glad to see a man again, that they all tried to get him, and in the struggle he was smothered to death. The other man fared better, but he had to be guarded by the two women to prevent the others from getting him.

6. The Giant Gull.

Some distance inland, not far from Chesterfield Inlet, a number of bones may be seen. The natives claim that these are the bones of a whale, which were carried there by a seagull that was so large, that, when it alighted on a hill, its feet completely covered it. It is said that these bones were vomited up by the gull.

1 Compare pp. 191 et seq.

7. The Cannibal Fish.

At the head of Chesterfield Inlet is a large lake. It is said that a cannibal fish lives in it. When the natives went caribou-hunting at this lake, the fish would devour the killed caribou. One day a man who was standing in the water of this pond was dragged under by the fish. His brother took his knife in hand, went into the water, and when the fish came to swallow him, he jumped right down its throat and cut it up, thus killing it. While he was in the stomach of the fish, the skin peeled off his face.

8. The Giant. ^

Inuipassaksaq and his wife were out hunting. Their infant child was left at home. Then the Erqilit and Tornit came and killed the boy. When the Eskimo saw this, they told the giant what had happened. He became very angry, and asked the Eskimo to keep at a distance. Then he scooped up the waters of the sea — with all the whales, seals, and walruses that he happened to take up — and poured them over the land, so that his enemies were destroyed. The bones of these animals may be seen at the present day about five days’ journey west from Repulse Bay.

Not far from Repulse Bay there is a depression in the ground large enough for two tents to stand in. This is said to be the footprint of the giant.

9. The Cannibal Woman.

Once upon a time a man and his wife who were travelling came to a place where there was a hut. The man began at once to build a snow-house for the night; and his wife, in the mean time, entered the other hut to get warm and to warm her child, which she carried on her back. In the hut was only one woman. She was made welcome. The woman asked for the name of the child. She was told that its name was Tuerclatark. This name seemed to please the woman, for she said, “ I used to have a brother by that name.” Then

See p. 196,

540 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV, she asked permission to take care of the child while the mother went out and helped her husband build their snow-house. After a while the man said to his wife, ‘‘You had better go in and see how the child is, for I thought I heard it cry.*' The mother went in, and found that the woman had put the child into the kettle, and had just finished cooking it. She was now waiting for her people to come home and eat it. The mother ran out and told her husband that the child had been cooked. They at once loaded their sledges, and left that part of the country.

lo. Stories about Dwarfs.

Kupaq had shot a caribou, but did not bring home the meat. On the next day, when he went back to get the meat, he saw that the head of the caribou had been cut off, and, looking around, he saw the bow of a dwarf lying on the ground. A short distance away, on the top of a hill, he saw a dwarf standing. He did not try to go near him, but returned with his caribou-meat. Then he told his friends that he had seen a dwarf.

It is said that whenever a dwarf is seen, a gale of wind may be expected: therefore he advised the people to secure the tent-covers with heavy stones. The people, however, did not believe him; and only he himself took pains to secure the tent-cover. On the following day a gale began to blow, and wrecked the whole village except the one tent that was secured.

A man who was out hunting on the ice saw the tracks of a dwarf who was dragging along a young seal. He followed the tracks until he came to the dwarfs house. When he approached, the dwarfs wife came out to see who was there. She had her hair done up on the back of her head. As soon as she saw the man, she went in and told her husband. The latter left the house, and at once began to grow in size until he was as large as the Eskimo, and they began to wrestle. The dwarf came very near throwing the Eskimo; but the dog of the latter came to the assistance of his master, and bit the dwarf in the heel. Then the Eskimo threw him, and killed him with his knife. He tried to enter the house ; but, whenever he would stoop down to enter, the entrance would close up. Then he went home and told his friends of his adventure. On the following day they all went to the house, and found that a sledge had left in the morning. When they went in, they found quantities of young seaweed in the storehouse. When they followed the sledge, a gale began to blow, so that they had to return. Every time they tried to approach the fleeing dwarfs, the wind would increase in strength.

When a dwarf is thrown by a person, he is unable to arise as long as the person who has thrown him remains in sight.

An old Aivilik woman claimed that one day, when she was following a sledge, she saw a dog about as long as her hand carrying a tent on its back, crossing her trail. She did not see any of the dwarfs themselves.

Dwarfs are said to have the power to assume any size they please.

II. The Tornit.

A long time ago the Tornit inhabited the whole country. Their stone houses may be seen even now. They must have been very strong, because the stones used in the houses are very large.

One day, when the Eskimo were away hunting walrus, a party of Tornit came to the village and murdered all the women except three. One of these was a young girl, who hid in a small hole in the passage-way that had been built for a dog that had pups. Another woman was living by herself, because she had a young child. After the Tornit had killed all the people, one of them put his arm into the hut in which this woman was. She seized his hand and bit off his thumb, and he died on the spot. As soon as the Tornit had left, the woman, in order to give a signal to the hunters, set her bedding on fire. The people saw the smoke, and returned to find their families murdered. Then they prepared to take revenge. On the following day they set out for the village of the Tornit. As soon as they were near, they called one of the men who had always been friendly to them. His name was Nauaqarnaq. When he came up to them, they seized him and cut off his arms, and then let him go. He walked a short distance and fell down dead. They went on, and found some Tornit building a snow-house. While the men were reaching upward to put in the last slab of snow, the Eskimo stabbed them with their knives. When the other Tornit saw this, they lay down and pretended to be dead; but the Eskimo stabbed them all with their knives. They killed all the men and women, and took the children along as captives. They did not allow the children to sit on the sledges; and, when they were unable to keep up, they killed them by taking their fire-drills and drilling a hole in their foreheads. Only two of the children, a boy and a girl, reached the Eskimo village in safety.

The Eskimo knew that the Tornit were very skilful with the spear. One day they asked the boy to show his skill by spearing an old dog. The boy was afraid to do so, because he did not wish to kill the dog; but, on being told not to mind, he sat down, as was the custom of the Tornit, resting his spear on the toe of his boot, and when the dog was quite a distance away, he threw the spear with such force that it passed right through its body. Then the boy ran to the dog, pulled out his spear, and made his escape. He was afraid the owner of the dog might be displeased, and kill him.^

Once when the men were out bear-hunting, one of the Tornit was seen, who caught the bear with his hands. While he was carrying the bear, its head swung about so much that it hindered him, and he cut it off.

' See pp. 207, 315.

12. The People without Eyelids.

The Ignuckuark are a fabulous tribe said to have no eyelids. Once a man happened to come to their village. When he was tired and was going to sleep, the Ignuckuark would shake him, thinking he was going to die, as they themselves had never seen a person asleep. Their whole body is covered with short hair. They keep no dogs. They are sometimes visited by angakut, whom they treat hospitably. It is said that they live near the shore.

Once a man and his wife went with their sledge to get some caribou-meat from a cache. At night they built a snow-house, and the woman tried to light her lamp, but she was unable to get her fire started. Then they heard some people in the passage-way offering her a light. They were afraid to take it, however. The people who offered the light were Ignuckuark.

13. The Shadow People.

The Shadow People lived with the Eskimo in the same country. They used to exchange wives with them. When a person looks square at one of these people, only a shadow can be seen; but if they are looked at from the corners of the eye, the body becomes visible. When one of them dies, his body will become visible.

Once upon a time an Eskimo stabbed one of the Shadow People and killed him. Then the Shadow People made war on the Eskimo, and, although their bows and arrows could be seen, the people remained invisible : therefore the Eskimo were unable to overcome them.

14. The Musk-Ox.

In olden times there were two musk-oxen who had taken off their skins. They were sitting there and rubbing their skins to soften them, and they were singing the praises of their country,* — how beautiful the land was, that they could always see the sun, and that the sea was a long ways off.

While they were thus singing, they heard a pack of dogs.

544 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History, [VoL XV,

At once they put on their skins, and went up a hill where they thought they could defend themselves; but soon after they reached there, the hunters came and killed both. The men had heard their song, which is sung at the present time.

15. The Country of the Wolves.

While two men were. out sealing, the ice broke up, and they drifted about for a number of days. Finally they succeeded in reaching the shore. They saw two snow-houses; and one man went into one of them, and the other into the other. One of these houses was large, and the man who had entered there was at once attacked by the inmates and devoured. Although the inmates looked like people, they were wolves. The other man found only a woman, whose name was Ouearnacsuneark. As he entered, she said, “I smell a man.’’ When she looked up and discovered her visitor, she became very angry; but he gave her a knife as a present, and asked her to befriend him and give the knife as a present to her husband when he came home. Then she hid him under the bedding, and put his boots over the lamp to dry.

Soon one of the young people from the other large house came in. When he entered, he said, smell a man!” But the woman replied, “You smell only some old meat.” After a little while the young man went out again, and told the people in his house that he thought another person must have arrived and must have entered the second house. His mother went over to the house of their neighbors, and on entering she said, “I smell a man!” The woman, however, said, “That smell certainly comes from your own house.” Then the old woman saw the boots drying over the lamp, and she asked, “Whose boots are those?” Ouearnacsuneark replied, “Those are my husband’s boots.” The other woman replied, “Those are not your husband’s boots. They are round. The soles of these boots are long.”

In the evening the husband of the woman who had hidden the visitor returned. As soon as he entered he said, “I smell a man,” and he became very angry ; but when Ouearnacsuneark gave him the knife, he calmed down. Then the

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 545

visitor came out from his hiding-place, and the man promised him his assistance. Soon a young man from the other house was heard coming. Then the visitor was given a large stone, and he was told to strike the young wolf on the head. The wolf came in, and as soon as he passed through the doorway, looking upward, the visitor hit him with the stoue on the head, and killed him. Immediately the body of the young man was hauled out of the hut by his own children, who cut his body in two. One of the children took some of the flesh, and, tasting it, said, always thought that father was quite lean, but he is quite fat.’’

The visitor rested in the house for a whole day. Then he desired to return home. His host gave him a short stick, and told him that whenever he lost his way, he only needed to place the stick in the ground, and that whichever way it fell was the way that he had to travel. When he came near his own house, he looked back and saw a cloud of fog rising behind him. Then he knew that the wolves were pursuing him, but, by running as fast as he could, he reached his home, and thus he was saved.

16 Bear Story ^

The wife of a man was maltreated by him. Therefore she ran away, and after travelling a long time, carrying her infant in the hood of her jacket, she arrived at a house. She entered and hid herself. In the evening the occupants of the house came back, and she discovered that they were polar bears. One of them said that he had seen the tracks of a man, and that the next day he would go and kill him, showing at the same time how he would squeeze him to death in his arms. The old bear warned him of the power of man, showing the scars of spear- wounds that he had received; but the young bear did not believe him. On the following day the bears went off again, and in the evening only two returned. Since the infant grew restless, the mother smothered it by pressing her hand over its mouth and nose.^ On the following morning the bears left again. In the evening,

1 See p. 527.

when they returned, the soul of the young bear appeared and told them how he had been killed by a man while the dogs were keeping him at bay. The next day the woman made her escape. She met some men, and told them of her adventures; but, when they went to the man's house, they found only the body of the child.

Once there was a she-bear which had two little cubs. One day they came to a snow-house. Only a woman was at home. Her husband was away hunting. The she-bear stepped to the door and asked the woman for a drink of water for herself and her cubs. The woman gave them a drink, and the bear requested her not to tell her husband that they had been there. She promised not to do so, and the bears left.

At night the husband came home. He saw the tracks, and asked his wife if there had been any bears about. She denied all knowledge, but nevertheless he made ready to pursue the bears. His wife tried hard not to have him go, as she knew that the bears would think that she had told her husband about their visit; but her husband would not desist. Off he went, and finally caught up with the bears, and killed the cubs. Then the old bear killed the man, and returned to the house to kill the woman for having told of their visit.

The woman, out of fear that the bear would return, had dug a hole under the bedding, in which she hid. When the bear came in, she looked around; but no woman was to be seen, though the bear lifted all the blankets. Then the bear went out, crushed the house, and went away. After a while she came back to see if the woman had appeared, but she could not find her. Then the bear went away, and after a while the woman came out and went to her friends.

17. The Bear Country.^

A man and his step-son used to go out hunting together; but the step-father did not pay any attention to the boy. He

1 See p. 525.

would go home so fast that the boy could not keep up with him. One evening when the boy was going home alone, snapping a small whip, he heard something breathing behind, and, on looking around, he saw a polar bear close by. The Bear invited him to get on his back. The boy obeyed. The Bear turned around, ^nd took the boy to the edge of the land-floe. Then he told him to close his eyes, and not to open them again until told. The Bear jumped into the water and swam a long distance, until he reached another landfloe. There he told the boy to open his eyes. He saw many lights shining through the windows, every one of a different color. They had now arrived at the country of the Bears. The Bear made a sealing-harpoon for the boy, and they went sealing together every day. The boy was told to cut every seal that he caught, and to leave it for the Bears to eat. Finally the Bear thought that the boy should return to see his mother. He returned the whip to him that he had carried when he arrived in the Bears’ country, and started to return the same way he had come. Again the boy had to close his eyes while the Bear was swimming through the water, but opened them again when he reached the shores of his own country. They arrived there early in the morning, and the Bear returned. Soon a man came out, and when he saw the boy, he thought he had discovered a bear. He called the other people; but when they looked closer they recognized the boy. The Bear had forbidden him to tell where he had been, and, upon being questioned, the boy said that he had been on the ice during all the time while he was absent. After that, whenever he went hunting, the bears would supply him with seals.

18. The Ghosts,

A party were travelling with their sledges, the women following afoot. A snowstorm set in, and one of the women lost her way. After walking for some time, she saw some snow-houses. In some of them lights were burning, but others were dark. She went into one of the huts and saw a number of people sitting on the edge of the bed-platform.

They invited her in, and she recognized her father and mother and some other people who had been dead many years. One person offered her a leg of venison which was covered with blood; but her father warned her not to eat it, but to leave as soon as possible. When she had entered the hut, she had taken off her outer garment. To her inner jacket a string of musk-ox teeth was attached. These were taken away from her. After she got out of the hut, she walked on, and soon heard her husband calling her name, and she found the party whom she had lost. A whole year later, when feeling for something in her pouch, she pulled out the string of musk-ox teeth that had been taken away from her.

19. Tales of Angakut,

A number of people were musk-ox hunting. They had left a woman named Avingaq in the hut. One day while she was sitting in front of her kettle, a tornaq came in. The woman had just time to pull on one stocking, and then ran away. She ran around a pile of musk-ox skins that lay on the floor, pursued by the tornaq. She succeeded in snatching up her second stocking, and then ran away. She found a man, who ran away with her. Among the people was an angakok whose name was Karversealik, whose guardian spirit was a fox. When he reached the house, he looked in and saw the female tornaq who had frightened away the woman sitting in the house. Then the angakok called his guardian spirit the fox, who at once rushed into the house, and, after a long fight, killed the tornaq. Then the fox came out, and told the angakok to go in and strike a light. The people all went in, and found a very strong smell in the house; and they saw that the whole inside of the house was covered with blood.

Two parties of people were at war with each other, and one man was killed, which event caused his friends to exert themselves to greater effort; and the others became afraid, and retreated to another part of the country. There was a large bowlder at this place. One of the men was an angakok.

He had a weasel-skin sewed to his under-garment, and a large loon-skin was attached to the top of his tent-pole. The loon had power to flap its wings and to cry, thus warning its owner of the approach of enemies. The angakok put a stone into the weasel-skin, and, to test its powers, threw it at the large bowlder, which opened wide enough for the people to go in and hide. They, however, believed themselves safe. After some time the enemy approached. The loon began to flap its wings, and cried. Then the angakok threw his weasel-skin at the bowlder, but it would not open now. The enemy shot at the loon, and one man hit it in the mouth with a dead man’s arrow. At once it became a dry skin. Thus the angakok lost his power, and he and his people were all killed.

Ittuckseeuke had no husband. She was a great angakok. She would throw a piece of iron into the rear part of the house, and soon it would become a needle. A married man used to go to see her; but his wife became so jealous of her, that Ittuckseeuke bewitched her, and thus caused her death. Out of pity for the dead woman’s son, she restored the mother to life again; but the man now resolved to kill Ittuckseeuke. He cut her to pieces, and then went to get some whale meat and blubber. Upon his return, he found Ittuckseeuke alive and well, and she asked him for some whale meat and blubber, which he gave her.^

There was a man who had two wives, — one an old woman, the other a young girl. One day they started on their sledge to go to another place. The old woman had to be lashed on the sledge, while the young wife ran on ahead of the team. This provoked the old woman; and she asked so long to be allowed to run also, that at last her husband stopped the team, cast off the lashings that held her, and let her off ; but, as she could hardly walk, she was soon left a long way behind. The team travelled on until night. Then the man

J See p. 2 45 of this volume.

built two snow-huts. After a while the old woman arrived. When she saw the two huts, she asked her husband why he had built two separate huts. He told her that one was for her, while the other was for himself and his young wife. She resented this, and through her angakok power she caused a number of young pups to crawl under her husband's blanket, and with their whining to worry him and his young wife to death.

South of Tununirn there were two houses. In one of these lived an old woman with her grand-daughter. They had nothing to eat, and the woman sent the girl to the other house to beg for meat. The people, however, scolded her, and sent her away. Then the old woman caused the people in the other house to go to sleep, and to sleep until they died. When travellers pass this region nowadays, they can hear the souls of these people driving their dogs, and the howling of the dogs may also be heard.

20. Witchcraft.

A part of the land on the north shore of Repulse Bay is known as the Bluelands," but is known to the natives as Ouwertockpechark. It takes its name from the following tradition.

Once there was a man by the name of Ouwertockpechark who had a grudge against another person. He prepared his arrows with great care, first placing under stones the caribou-antlers which were to form the foreshafts of the arrows. For five mornings he would go and give them a pull. The last morning, he pulled them out, took them home, and used them in making the shafts of the arrows. By this procedure he made it impossible to pull out the arrows after they had entered the flesh of an enemy. Now he set out to meet the man whom he wished to kill. Both were armed with their bows, and, when near enough, they began to shoot at each other. An arrow from his foe struck him in the toes, and caused him much pain. Then he hit his enemy in the leg. Then the fight stopped. Both went to their houses.

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, 551

Then Ouwertockpechark learned that his wife had once put his boots on, and that was the reason why he had been hit in the foot. But he recovered. When his enemy tried to pull out the arrow, it worked in deeper, and in a few days he died. The places where they stood can be seen to this day, as in jumping about they made small hollows in the ground.

21. Stories of Hunters,

A hunter, on seeing a bear, said it was not as large as his dog ; but, when he came nearer, the bear attacked him and killed him. It is believed that, by depreciating the strength of an animal, its size and strength are increased.

An old man, with his wife and daughter, were off hunting caribou at some lake. The old man would pursue the caribou in his kayak while they were crossing the water. The old man could not see very well; and early one morning, when looking towards the sun, he thought that he saw some lemmings. He wished to kill them, and, although he was a man who seldom smiled, he could not help laughing right out at the thought of the sport he was going to have. His wife and daughter heard him laugh, and went out to see what pleased the old man. As they approached, they saw that the old man was going right up to some musk-oxen, which at once charged on him. One tossed him up in the air; and before he could touch the ground, another caught him on its horns and tossed him up again. This they continued until the old man was dead^ and his body torn to pieces.

The old woman and her daughter started off to find other people. On their way they saw two caribou, — an old dam and its fawn. The old woman directed her daughter to head them off, and drive them into a pond. This was done ; but, when they began to swim, the old woman dropped dead.

The girl travelled on alone, and in time found people to whom she told the story of what had happened.

22. Stories of Quarrels,

There were two men, Tulucuttookjuark and Ebearkjoug, who had one wife between them. Tulucuttookjuark may have been jealous of Ebearkjoug: at least, he wished him out of the way.

One summer day the two men went off in their kayaks to an island 'Which was some distance from the land. They went ashore to look around, and separated. Then Tulucuttookjuark hurried down to where the kayaks were, put off in his own, and set the other adrift. Soon after Ebearkjoug was left on the island, a whale drifted ashore. He cut it up, and stored the meat for the winter, putting it in hollows, and covering it up with stones to protect it from the bears. He built a house, and managed to live through the winter. It is said that a white and a black bear would come to the island, where they used to fight. At last spring came, and then summer, and Tulucuttookjuark thought he would go to the island in his kayak to look at the dead body of Ebearkjoug. When he came near the island, Ebearkjoug saw him coming, and hid himself among the rocks. When Tulucuttookjuark arrived, he got out of his kayak and went up to look for the body. Then Ebearkjoug ran to the kayak, got in, and pushed off, shouting that now they would change places. Tulucuttookjuark begged to be taken away; but Ebearkjoug did not listen to his entreaties, and returned to the mainland and told what Tulucuttookjuark had done the year before. He went to the island the following summer, and found that Tulucuttookjuark had died of starvation. His skeleton was. found in a small stone house.

Memuckluarkjoug took a wife, and after a while Pupicluarkjoug took her away. Memuckluarkjoug married again,, and in time Pupicluarkjoug carried off the second wife too. Memuckluarkjoug married a third wife, and Pupicluarkjoug carried her away as well. Then Memuckluarkjoug did not marry again; but he determined to take revenge.

Pupicluarkjoug had a brother. The two were living in snow-houses having a common entrance. One day, having caught a seal, Pupicluarkjoug brought it home, cut it in two lengthwise, and ate one-half of it. He was so full that he

1907.] Boas, Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hibson Bay. 553

felt very uncomfortable. During the night one of the women went out. It was moonlight, and she saw two dogs in the rough ice of the shore. She told her husband, who asked her to go to sleep, and not to think about other men. Pupicluarkjoug's brother was asleep. He dreamed that, while he was hunting ground-seals, a seal had thrown him down. He woke up, and, full of fear, closed the door which led to the entrance- way, and put out the light. At this time, Memuckluarkjoug and his friends rushed into the house and killed Pupicluarkjoug. They took the three women and started back. It was now daylight; and, as they started, they looked back and saw Pupicluarkjoug^ s brother looking at them from the entrance-way. They fired their arrows at him, but did not hit him. Then they returned home.

There was a woman whose husband would always find fault with her because his food was not hot enough. She was advised by an old woman to put plenty of oil in the soup that she was boiling. She did so, and when her husband came home and saw that the kettle was not steaming, he began to scold, and drank the soup, which, however, proved to be so hot that he died.

Tale from the Netchillik.

A man would go hunting seals at their breathing-holes every day, but he was entirely unsuccessful. Therefore his wife would not give him any food or water. One day when he sat by a seal-hole, he saw a bear coming. It asked him for a piece of skin. First the man said that he had none, but then he happened to think of a mouse-skin which was sewed on to his shirt as a charm. This he gave to the bear, who took it, and, holding the skin in both paws, blew upon it and stretched it, until it was large enough to cover the whole body of the bear.

Then the bear asked the man whether he was a successful sealer, and, upon hearing of the bad luck of the man, he threw the man down and caused him to vomit some foul meat. Then he told the man that this had been the cause of his bad luck. Then he asked the man for a drink of water. The man replied that his wife would give him neither food nor water. The bear advised him to go home, and, if his wife should again refuse, to call the bear to come.

The man went home and asked his wife for a drink of water. When she refused, he called the bear in a low voice. It came at once and knocked out the side of the house. Then it took the drinking-cup, filled it, and gave it to the man. This scared the woman so much, that, whenever her husband was seen coming home, she would run to meet him with a drink of water. After this the man was always successful in hunting. The narrator thought that the bear was really the soul of the man’s father or grandfather come back to assist him.

NOTES ON LEGENDS.

Captain Comer has inquired regarding the occurrence of the tales from Cumberland Sound recorded in the first part of this volume, and he has given the following notes: —

Origin of the Walrus and of the Caribou (p. 167). The Aivilik have a similar story; but the story is divided into two parts, the transformation of the caribou and walrus forming a separate story. Ekko (p. 172). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Origin of Death (p. 173). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay, but told in Tununirn. The story is, however, not told as explaining the origin of death. When the island capsized, the people saved themselves in their boats. Midlikdjuaq is said to be near Tununirn.

The Orphan Boy and the Old Man (p. 174). The same story is known on the west coast of Hudson Bay. The boy says to the old man, “ Why did you put your two sons in the crack of the ice? ”

The Hunters transformed into a Constellation (p. 174). Known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Origin of Thunder and Lightning (p. 175). Told in much the same way on the west coast of Hudson Bay. The incident of the sisters stealing a boy (p. 176) is not known to the Aivilik.

Origin of Fog (p. 176). Known to the tribes on the west coast of Hudson Bay, who call the monster Nareyet.

How Children were formerly obtained (p. 178). This story is told somewhat differently by the Aivilik. The chrysalis is called Mitcooleyar.

Ititaujang (p. 179). According to the Aivilik, this is the continuation of the Kiviuq story (see p. 185). When Ititaujang searches for his wife, he first passes between the closing rocks, then he passes two rabbits, ^ — one on each side of his path, — then two large pots full of boiling human flesh (p. 180). When he meets the Salmon Man, he first goes up from the front, and is frightened because he can look through the man’s mouth and out at his back: therefore he returns, and approaches from the man’s side. The man makes salmon out of chips of red wood, which he polishes. When Ititaujang asks for his wife and child, the Salmon Man replies, “ Lie down and listen, and you will hear them.” When asked for his help in crossing the river, the Salmon Man tells Ititaujang to straddle a salmon near to its tail, and to hold on to the dorsal fin. When the man (who is named Kiviuq) does so, the Salmon Man launches the salmon, which, on reaching the opposite bank, turns sideways, and lets Kiviuq jump off. The songs belonging to this story are well known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Kiviuq (p. 182), According to the Aivilik, Kiviuq ’s wife dies after he returns home, and one day while caribou-hunting he hears the voices of a number of women who are bathing. Then follows the story of Ititaujang.

The Emigration to the Land beyond the Sea (p. 191). Not known to the Aivilik. See, however, p. 538.

Ijimagasukdjukdjuaq (p. 194). The Aivilik call his wife Puhleleark. Once the Cannibal was very hungry and cut a piece from his own leg; but it hurt him so, that he did not do it again.

The Monster Gull (p. 195). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay. See, however, p. 538.

Koodlowetto, the Giant (p. 195). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Giantess (p. 196). Called Inuitperjugpug by the Aivilik. Her tracks may be seen a little west of Repulse Bay.

The Man in the Moon (p. 198). Told much in the same way by the Aivilik.

Stories about Dwarfs: pp. 200, 201, not known to the Aivilik; p. 202^ told in the same way by the Aivilik, only the dwarfs have cariboumeat on their sledge, and leave a saddle of meat behind. .

Stories about Adlet: p. 203, unknown to the Aivilik; p. 204, told in much the same way by the Aivilik; p. 206, and first story p. 207, unknown to the Aivilik; the story of Eavarnan (pp. 207, 541) is known on the west coast of Hudson Bay, but is referred to the Tornit; the story on p. 208 is unknown on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Stories about Tornit: pp. 209, 210, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay; the story on p. 211 is told somewhat differently by the Aivilik.

Story about Adlet and Tornit (p. 212). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Takeychwen (p. 214). These people are called by the Aivilik Tuckeacchuing. They are invisible when looked at directly, but may be seen when looked at sideways. See p. 543.

The Foxes (p. 215). Told in nearly the same form by the Aivilik.

The Raven and the Gull (p. 216). Told in nearly the same form by the Aivilik.

The Girls who married Animals (p. 217). Told in a slightly different manner by the Aivilik.

Origin of the Red Phalarope (p. 218). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Owl and the Lemming (p. 219). Told in nearly the same form by the Aivilik, only the Lemming sings while the Owl dances.

The Bear and the Caribou (p. 220). Told in the same way by the Aivilik.

The Ptarmigan and the Snow Bunting (p. 220). Known to the Aivilik. The old woman puts her needles into her boot-leg, and they are turned into the thin bones of the ptarmigan’s leg.

The Foxes (p. 221). Not known to the Aivilik.

A She- Bear and her Cub (p. 222). Told in nearly the same way by the Aivilik.

The Insects (p. 226). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Boy who lived on Ravens (p. 227). This story has been heard by the Aivilik from other tribes.

The Visitor (p. 228). The Aivilik tell two stories, each of which resembles this one in part.

The Huts of the Skeleton People (p. 230). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Man who caught the Ground-Seal (p. 235). Known to the Aivilik, except the terminal incident relating to the sledge, which they consider, however, quite proper. The man is called Kushcharark. A new version of this story, collected by Captain Mutch in Cumberland Sound, states that the events happened in Tununirn. The man’s name is given as Koosherack. His companion’s name is Ooleaak. His father is called Enwalawjawak; his mother, Noonakon.

Tales of Spirits: p. 236, the Aivilik tell this story slightly differently; p. 239, not known to the Aivilik.

A Skull as a Good Omen (p. 239). Not known to the Aivilik. The skull is not looked upon as a good or evil omen.

Tales of Angakut : pp. 240-244, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay; p. 245, Eferseoot is known to the Aivilik as a great angakok, but this story is unknown (see p. 549); p. 247, unknown on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Man who transformed Himself into a Woman (p. 249). Known in the same form on the west coast of Hudson Bay, only the harpooneer has the child instead of abducting it.

The Woman who transformed Herself into a Bear (p. 251). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Woman who became a Bear and killed her Enemy (p. 252). The Aivilik have heard about this story from the people of Tununirn.

The Artificial Skull (p. 254). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Boy who harpooned the Whale (p. 255). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Bear that was transformed into Geese (p. 257). Known in much the same way to the Aivilik.

Karnapik the Cannibal (p. 258). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

The Women who lived by Themselves (p. 261). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Tale of an Agdlaq (p. 262). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Tales of Bear-Hunters; p. 263, first story, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay; p. 265, last story, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Tales of Caribou-Hunters; p. 267, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay; p. 271, not known to the Aivilik. They think the animal here mentioned may have been a musk-ox, because its meat has a disagreeable flavor to those not accustomed to it.

Tales of Whalers and Sealers (p. 271). The Aivilik have heard of the man who put his hand in the whale’s spout-hole, but nothing else.

Tale of a Fisherman (p. 275). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Tales of Accident and Starvation (p. 275). Not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Tales of Quarrels, Murder, and War; p. 280, not known on the west coast of Hudson Bay; p. 285, known to the Aivilik in nearly the same form (the man’s name is Mammomishic) \ p. 286, known in almost the same form to the Aivilik; p. 288, not known to the Aivilik; p. 290, known in nearly the same form to the Aivilik (the name of the one man is Pudlukshin, the name of the other man is not known); p. 292, known to the Aivilik (the hero has the same name); pp. 293-298, not known to the Aivilik; the last story on p. 299 is told somewhat differently by the Aivilik, but the incident of putting the blood on the chin is the same.

558 Bidletin American Museum of Natural History, [Vol. XV,

VI. TEXTS FROM CUMBERLAND SOUND.

I. lAVAANAT.

(Recorded by Rev. E. J. Peck.)

Translation.

By the side of a river an (Adla) was found by the people. When she was asked by a man where her relatives were, she would not tell about her relatives, and she was adopted by the men. When she was his adopted daughter, she was accustomed to sing, —

teleqangitoq she who had no arms

“My great friends, my great brothers, where may they be camped, — Eqe, Eqinget, Maju, Totuq, Itateq, Avalutoq, and Kaja?“

lavaanat asked her foster-father for reindeer-fat, speaking thus: “I wish to have often something nice to taste.” Her foster-father said to her, “You have many relatives, you have many brothers. Go get something to taste from your friends. ’ '

And so it happened. She went out. When her fosterfather sought for her among the people of the land, he could not find her. He had lost her. In the morning lavaanat entered, having on a deer-skin jacket and also eating something.

While their husbands were away, all the women were killed by the Adlet. Three remained: one of them had covered herself with a blubber-skin ; two had entered into a very small house. In the evening their husbands, who no longer had wives, arrived. Because they had wives no longer, they made many arrows. As they wished to kill lavaanat, three men followed her. It happened so. In a country inhabited by people they saw Adlet, and these three men saw lavaanat being nursed (by her mother), and her mother was singing thus: —

“This my daughter, who was adopted by an inhabitant of a river, who was adopted by an inhabitant of a peninsula towards Kivaleq, —

This is the one whom they intended to forsake in any place. This is the one whom they intended to forsake.”

When all the Adlet had entered their houses, these men went down and peeped through a hole into the extreme inner part (of the house). Those inside were eating, and they ran in and killed them all. They also peeped into another tent, and all of those were also killed, women and men. The children who had staid at home were the very last ones. lavaanat was led by two men, who sang thus: — -

“Will not you, lavaanat, have acquired arms of blood?

Will she not run, she whose (limbs) will be amputated?”

Then they cut off her arms with a knife, and she who had no arms ran away, her blood (flowing down) like arms.

This story was obtained by Rev. E. J. Peck through inquiries in regard to the song of an Adla, which was published by me in Vol. X of the '‘Journal of American Folk-Lore,” p. 109. The two forms of the song do not quite agree, although the beginning is the same. According to the tale as given by Mr. Peck, the daughter was not married to the men of the river, but adopted by them. The story of lavaanat is known both in Labrador and in Greenland.^

2. A MOTHER-BIRD TO HER YOUNG.

A man heard a mother-bird saying thus to her young one : —

3. AMAUTIALUK.

T ranslation.

It is said that Amautialuk (a fabulous bird) had a human being for his wife. They had a large stone for their house, and a stone for their door. When that Amautialuk had gone away hunting, his wife was in complete darkness. When he arrived, she used to have light, because his great eyes hung^ from their sockets (and gave light) . When he went off hunting, he generally brought pieces of human flesh. These he ordered his wife to eat; but she only pretended to eat them,, and let the pieces fall down inside her fur coat. As his wife could not eat human flesh, she went out of the house when he had recently gone off to hunt, and hid herself by his side. When her ugly husband arrived, he became full of wrath and hurled large stones, but they simply broke to pieces in hishands when he tried to hurl them.

CONCLUSION.

In the conclusion to the first part of this volume ^ I pointed out that the relations between the Eskimo of Hudson Bay and Baffin Land and those of Greenland and of Alaska are much closer than has been generally assumed. The material presented in the second part of this volume is entirely in accord with this view. The description of the material culture of the Eskimo of Hudson Bay, particularly of the old specimens found in the Southampton Island region, has shown clearly that many of the inplements which seem to be characteristic,, on the one hand of the Smith Sound region, and on the other hand of Alaska, have their counterparts in the centrally located regions; so that we And now a greater unity of Eskimo culture from Alaska to North Greenland in the detailed form of utensils as well as in customs, beliefs, and certain parts of mythology. In their main traits, the Alaskan inventions are similar to those of the Eastern Eskimo; and, on the whole, I am confirmed in my previous opinion that the exuberance of form which is so characteristic of objects of Eskimo manu-

» See pp. 355-370.

facture west of the Mackenzie River is due essentially to the stimulus received from foreign cultures, particularly from that of the Indians. The descriptions of the Chukchee and Koryak given by Messrs. Bogoras and Jochelson^ show that the material culture of these tribes has been deeply influenced by that of the Eskimo, and it is barely possible that the highly developed art of skin decoration of these Asiatic tribes may have influenced somewhat the methods of skin decoration practised by the Eskimo. On the other hand, pictographic etching still seems to me more closely related to the art of the Indians than to that of Asiatic tribes, where it is much more slightly developed, and where it finds its highest development among the neighbors of the Eskimo.

In one respect the results of our investigation seem to differ from those obtained by Dr. O. Solberg^ in his investigation of the archaeological remains of Greenland. He believes that the stone art of the Eskimo of Greenland has been considerably modified by the early introduction of iron, and that the characteristic woman’s knife was introduced into Greenland at a, comparatively speaking, late period. Since archaeological remains from Greenland cannot be dated by any succession of strata, these conclusions are largely based on indirect arguments. On the whole, Mr. Solberg has reached the conclusion that forms of implements in Greenland have not been stable, and have readily changed, while our whole discussion has led us to the opinion that forms of Eskimo implements have little tendency to develop variations. We find proof of this, for instance, in the stability of the type of scraper in which bone forms were imitated in stone,® and in the local differentiation of the forms of most implements.^

I think that some of the implements described by Mr. Solberg are quite in accord with the views here set forth. It seems to me very likely that the chipped implements shown on p. 44 may have been used like the stone knives illustrated

1 Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expeditions, Vols. VI and VII. Leyden.

2 Beitrage zur Vorgeschichte der Osteskimo. Videnskabs-Selskabets Skrifter, II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse. 1907. No. 2. Christiania.

3 See p. 92 of this volume.

See pp. 401 et seq.

on p. 384 of this volume, so that one side was set into a bone handle. The opinion that the woman’s knife is a new implement in Greenland would seem to me better substantiated if the material discussed had not been found almost exclusively in the region of Disko, where peculiar conditions may very well have brought it about that the woman’s knife is rare. We have similar conditions in the region of Southampton Island, from where, up to the present day, only a few woman’s knives of stone are known, all of which were found together. In workmanship these indicate great age, and in form they are closely related to the woman’s knives from West Greenland figured on pp. 52 and 55 of Mr. Solberg’s paper. On the whole, conservatism seems to be so highly characteristic of all manifestations of Eskimo life, that such a radical departure from the whole technique as is implied by the absence of the woman’s knife seems to me hardly plausible.

Neither can I quite agree with the opinion that simple harpoon-points made of a single piece of bone were older than those made of bone with a stone point. ^ Since I have not had the opportunity to examine extended series from Greenland, I may say at least, that this development does not seem plausible for the central regions or for Alaska. The thin slate and jade points of Alaska must presumably be considered in connection with similar thin points found in the archaeological remains of the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. I do not feel quite certain that the technique of drilling these points was introduced before the use of metals; but we must not forget that the use of hammered metal may be very old. It is not necessary to assume that the infiuence of the metal technique manifested itself only after the introduction of iron, since we know that implements made of native copper were used by all the Eskimo tribes west of the Great Fish River and east of the Mackenzie River. Although I do not know of any arrow and harpoon points made of native copper, we have ample evidence of the use of this material for knives and axes. The edging of knives with small pieces of iron, which is

1 See p. 67*

1907.] BoaSy Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. 567

inserted in a narrow slit,^ is also undoubtedly older than the introduction of European iron. This is shown by the fact that a similar implement was found among the Smith Sound Eskimo before the introduction of iron, and that the same technique is found on the west coast of Hudson Bay, where I •consider it as related to the knives of similar construction with inserted stone blades.

The close relation between the Eskimo of Hudson Bay and Baffin Land and those of North Greenland is also brought out •clearly in the interesting collection of data contained in the fascinating description of the Smith Sound tribe given by Knud Rasmussen.^ Following is a list of ideas common to the Smith Sound Eskimo and the Central Eskimo, collected from this volume.

The angakok is able to take off his skin, and whoever sees him must die (Rasmussen, pp. 19, 181; compare pp. 249 and 325 of this volume) .

In the beginning of the world, children found on the ground (Rasmussen p. 120; compare pp. 178 and 483 of this volume).

Death introduced by a deluge (Rasmussen, p. 12 1; compare p. 173 of this volume).

The woman who married the dog kills her father (Rasmussen, p. 125; compare p. 328 of this volume).

The protectress of game-animals marries a sea-bird who wears ivory goggles (Rasmussen, pp. 172, 182; compare p. 163 of this volume). Migrations of a soul (Rasmussen, pp. 127 et seq.; compare pp. 232 and 321 of this volume).

Woman visits house of bear, hides behind skin lining, and smothers her child (Rasmussen, p. 130; compare pp. 527 and 545 of this volume) .

Woman assumes form of bear and kills murderer of her son (Rasmussen, p. 252; compare p. 252 of this volume).

Sacrifices to bear (Rasmussen, p. 133; compare pp. 124 and 500 of this volume) .

Head-lifting (Rasmussen, p. 186; compare pp. 135 and 495 of this volume) .

The making of a tupilaq (Rasmussen, p. 187; compare p. 153 of this volume).

J See O. Solberg, p. 52, Figs. 43, 44. 2 Neue Menschen (Berne, 1907)*

Punishment for concealing abortion (Rasmussen, p. 36; compare pp. 125 et seq. of this volume).

Ititaujak, on his way to the land of the birds, passes a boiling kettle. (A. L. Kroeber, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, XII, p. 17 1; compare p. 180 of this volume).

Taking the evidence presented in this volume as a whole,, it seems safe to say that the Eskimo culture from Alaska to* Greenland formed originally a firm unit, and that local differentiations which have developed may, on the whole, be grouped in the following areas : —

I. I. East Greenland.

2 . W est Greenland .

II. 3. Smith Sound.

4. Ponds Bay, Fury and Hecla Strait, Western Hudson

Bay, and Boothia Felix.

5. Southampton Island.

III. 6. Labrador and southern Baffin Land

For the region still farther to the west we > are not in the position to make finer differentiations. The characteristic traits of the regions here outlined seem to be as follows: — “

1. The culture of the east coast of Greenland is closely related to that of the west coast. It differs, however, owing to the lack of late modifications due to European influences.

2. West coast of Greenland, characterized by a technicalperfection of implements and weapons, long ea;rth houses,, the use of dyed skins for decoration of garments.

3. Smith Sound. The culture of this area shows strong indications of relation to the west coast of Hudson Bay, and it seems plausible that the recent culture of the west coast of Hudson Bay must be interpreted as a later differentiation of this type. The similarity between Smith Sound and Southampton Island, both regions in which the Eskimo have remained for a long time in isolation, is particularly striking. Characteristic objects that are very much alike are needlecases and the general cut of garments. The similarity of southern Baffin Land, northward beyond Home Bay, to- Labrador, is also far-reaching. . Mpde of life, implements, and garments are nearly of the same style throughout this region. It does not seem impossible that the new developments on the west coast of Hudson Bay may be due to secondary modifications due to influences of the Indians west of Hudson Bay. The more careful technique, the occurrence of pictographic design, the use of pipes, and the occurrence of Indian elements in the mythology of the people, are all indications of this cultural influence.

The culture of the Alaskan Eskimo is much more highly modified ; but here the influences seem to have come particularly from the coast Indians and from the Indians of the Upper Yukon River. There may also have been influences of Asiatic tribes.

Detailed studies of the culture of the Koryak and Chukchee by Messrs. Jochelson and Bogoras support my view that the fundamental traits of the culture of these tribes are similar to those of the Indians of the North Pacific coast, and that the Eskimo in Alaska have broken the older continuity of culture along the coasts of Bering Sea, although later on they themselves adopted many of the traits of the Indian culture of this district.

There is one other point to which I should like to call attention. It seems that practically everywhere among the Eskimo a considerable number of taboos have the effect of preventing contact between land-animals and sea-animals. In all the customs recorded from Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, these taboos appear very strongly and markedly. While in other regions they are not so pronounced, it seems probable that they exist. A contradictory incident is told by Rasmussen, who, in describing his personal experiences, tells how, while hunting, the Eskimo treated one another with walrus and caribou meat (p. 90). If it is true that this custom is more fundamental west of Baffin Bay, in those regions in which the Eskimo spent a considerable part of their life inland, it seems to me likely that these taboos are an expression of the sharp di.stinction between inland life and maritime life. It may perhaps be venturesome to claim that' the marked development of these customs suggests a time when the Eskimo tribes were inland people who went down to the sea and gradually adopted maritime pursuits, which, however, were kept entirely apart from their inland life; although in a way this seems an attractive hypothesis. It appears, however, very plausible to assume that the feeling of distinction between maritime life and inland life, and the complete change in economic conditions as well as in the conduct of daily life, have developed in the Eskimo mind the strong impression of a contrast which has found its outward form in the development of these taboos.