We collected four of these drums, of which every household possesses at least one. They are all of essentially the same construction, but vary in size. No. 56741 [79], Fig. 383, has been selected as the type. The frame is a flat strip of willow 67 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 0.3 inch thick, bent till the two ends meet, thus making a hoop 22.2 inches long and 19 inches wide. The ends are fastened together by a strap of walrus ivory on the inside of the hoop, secured to the wood by neat stitches of black whalebone. The handle is of walrus ivory 5.2 inches long. The larger end is rather rudely carved into a human face. Back of this head and 1 inch from the large end of the handle is a square transverse notch, deep and sufficiently wide to fit over both rim and strap at the joint. It is held on by a lashing of sinew braid passing through holes in rim and strap, one on each side of the handle, and a large transverse hole in the latter, below and a little in front of the notch. The membrane, which appears to be a sheet of the peritoneum of a seal, is stretched over the other side of the hoop, which is beveled on the outside edge, and its edge is brought down to a deep groove 0.2 inch from the edge of the hoop and 0.3 inch wide, running round the hoop, where it is secured by three or four turns of sinew braid. The end of this string is crossed back and forth four or five times round the handle, where it is fitted to the hoop and then wrapped around it and finished off with a knot.
No. 56742 [514], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a similar drum, but somewhat larger, the hoop being 24.6 inches long and 22 inches wide. It is of the same materials, except that the strap at the joint is of reindeer antler. Opposite the joint the hoop appears to have shown signs of weakness, as it has been strengthened with two straps of walrus ivory, one on the inside and one on the outside of the hoop, fastened together by stitches of sinew which pass through the wood and through both straps. The inside strap is 4.7 inches long, the outer 3.5 inches long, and only half the width of the rim, and is let into the latter. This strap appears to have been put on first, as at each end there is a stitch which only runs through the wood. The handle is fastened on as before, but has two transverse holes instead of one, and has four deep rounded notches for the fingers. (See Fig. 384.) The joint is tightened by driving a thin sliver of wood in at the bottom of the notch.
Fig. 384.—Handle of drum secured to rim.
No. 56743 [31], from Utkiavwĭñ, closely resembles the type, but has a notch for the thumb as well as for the forefinger on the handle. The hoop is 23.5 inches long and 21 wide. No. 56740 [80] from the same village is rather smaller than the ordinary drums, having a hoop 16.2 inches long and 14.7 wide. The handle is of antler, but has the usual face on the large end.
We also brought home eight handles for these drums, which exhibit but slight variations. The commonest material for the handle is walrus ivory. Only two out of the twelve are of antler. They are usually about 5 inches long (the longest is 5.4 inches and the shortest 4.6). Handles with grooves for the fingers and sometimes for the thumb seem to be quite as common as the plain handles. Fig. 385a represents an ivory handle from Nuwŭk (No. 89267 [898]), which has a groove for each finger and a shallow one on the right side for the thumb. It is 5 inches long.
With one exception all these handles have the large end more or less neatly carved into a human face, with the mouth open as if singing, probably from an idea similar to that which makes the decorative artists of civilized countries ornament the pipes of a great organ with singing faces. This face is usually in the position shown in the specimens figured, but No. 89266 [784] (Fig. 385b), a handle of antler from Utkiavwĭñ, has the axis of the face parallel to that of the handle. Nos. 89269 [975] and 56515 [76], both from Utkiavwĭñ, are peculiar in their ornamentation. They are both of walrus ivory. The former has a well-carved face at the large end with small blue beads inlaid for eyes. In addition to this the small end has been rather freshly carved into a rather rude seal’s head, and an ornamental pattern has been incised round the middle. This specimen exhibits the grooves for the fingers very well. The latter is a plain handle, but has a little sharp tusk inserted at each corner of the mouth. The only handle without a human face on the large end (No. 56514 [65] Fig. 385c, from Utkiavwĭñ) is peculiar in many respects. It is the butt end of a small walrus tusk, with a large pulp cavity, the edges of which are much notched and irregularly broken. The notch for fitting it to the handle is at the smaller end, which is neatly carved into a very good figure of a walrus head, with the tusks bent back to the under side of the handle. The head has oval bits of wood inlaid for eyes. None of the drums or handles in the collection are newly made.
Fig. 385.—Drum handles.
The stick employed for beating these drums is commonly a slender elastic wand about 2½ feet long, but they also sometimes use a short thick stick of ivory resembling that used by the eastern Eskimo.506 We brought home two of these sticks, both of which belong with the drum No. 56743 [31]. Fig. 386a (No. 56540 [31]) is a roughly cylindrical rod of ivory with a hole for a lanyard. The larger end is ornamented by rudely incised and darkened lines which represent the eyes and outline of the mouth of a “bow-head” whale. Fig. 386b (No. 56540 [31a]) is a plain round stick of ivory 9.4 inches long. It is rather roughly made and somewhat warped. The use of the long stick is perhaps derived from Siberia, where the short thick stick does not appear to be used.507
Holes in the membrane of the drum are sometimes mended with pieces of the crop of the ptarmigan. At any rate, this is what I was told by a native, who begged from me the crops of two of these birds that I was skinning, saying that he wanted them to mend his drum. These drums are always beaten as an accompaniment to invocations of spirits or incantations. This practice is so common that some authors are in the habit of always speaking of them as “shaman drums”. As I have already stated, their most common use is purely as a musical instrument, and they are used not only by the so-called “shamans” but by everybody.
Fig. 386.—Ivory drumsticks.
Their music consists of monotonous chants, usually with very little perceptible air, and pitched generally in a minor key. I could not perceive that they had any idea of “tune,” in the musical sense, but when several sang together each pitched the tune to suit himself. They, however, keep excellent time. The ordinary songs are in “common” or time.508 The words are often extemporaneous, and at tolerably regular intervals comes the refrain, “A yáña yáña, a yáña ya,” which takes the place of the “ámna aja” of the eastern Eskimo. Sometimes, when they are humming or singing to themselves, the words are nothing but this refrain. Their voices, as a general thing, are musical.
Like all Eskimo, they are very fond of music, and are constantly singing and humming to themselves, sometimes, according to Capt. Herendeen, waking up in the night to sing. Besides their regular festivals they often amuse themselves in their houses by singing to the drum. They are fond of civilized music, and, having usually very quick and rather acute ears, readily catch the tunes, which they sing with curiously mutilated words. We found “Shoo Fly” and “Little Brown Jug” great favorites at the time of our arrival, and one old woman from Nuwŭk, told us with great glee, how Magwa (Maguire) used to sing “Tolderolderol.” Our two violins, the doctor’s and the cook’s, were a constant source of delight to them.
Capt. Parry509 gives an excellent account of the music of the people of Fury and Hecla Straits.510
I regret extremely that I was not enough of a musician to write down on the spot the different tunes sung by these people. The ordinary monotonous chant is so devoid of air that I can not possibly recollect it, and the same is true of the chant which accompanies the game of pebble-tossing. I was able, however, to catch by ear the song sung by the children when they dance to the aurora. I never had the whole of this song, which we were told had a large number of stanzas. The first three are as follows:
1. Kióya ke, kióya ke,
A, yáñɐ, yañɐ, ya,
Hwi, hwi, hwi, hwi!
2. Túdlĭmaná, túdlĭmaná,
A yáñɐ, yañɐ, ya,
Hwi, hwi, hwi, hwi!
3. Kálutaná, kalutaná,
A yáñɐ, yáñɐ, ya,
Hwi, hwi, hwi, hwi!
We did not succeed in learning the meaning of these words, except, of course, that the first word, kióya, is aurora. When there is a bright aurora, the children often keep on dancing and singing this song till late into the night. A tune was introduced in the spring of 1883 by a party of men from Kĭlauwĭtáwĭñ, who came up to take part in the whale-fishing at Utkiavwĭñ. It became at once exceedingly popular, and everybody was singing or humming it. It is peculiar in being in waltz or time, and has considerably more air than the ordinary tunes. I heard no words sung to it except: “O hai hai yáña, O hai yáña, O haíja he, haíja he.” Mr. Dall informs me that he recognizes this tune as one sung by the Indians on the Yukon.
The artistic sense appears to be much more highly developed among the western Eskimo than among those of the east. Among the latter, decoration appears to be applied almost solely to the clothing, while tools and utensils are usually left plain, and if ornamented are only adorned with carving or incised lines.511 West of the Mackenzie River, and especially south of Bering Strait, Eskimo decorative art reaches its highest development, as shown by the collections in the National Museum. Not only is everything finished with the most extreme care, but all wooden objects are gaily painted with various pigments, and all articles of bone and ivory are covered with ornamental carvings and incised lines forming conventional patterns.
There are in the collections also many objects that appear to have been made simply for the pleasure of exercising the ingenuity in representing natural or fanciful objects, and are thus purely works of art. Want of space forbids any further discussion of these interesting objects. There is in the Museum sufficient material for a large monograph on Eskimo art. As would naturally be expected, art at Point Barrow occupies a somewhat intermediate position between the highly developed art of the southwest and the simple art of the east. I have given sufficient figures in my description of their clothing and various implements to illustrate the condition of purely decorative art. A few words may be added by way of résumé. It will be noticed that whenever the bone or ivory parts of weapons are decorated the ornamentation is usually in the form of incised lines colored with red ocher or soot. These lines rarely represent any natural objects, but generally form rather elegant conventional patterns, most commonly double or single borders, often joined by oblique cross lines or fringed with short, pointed parallel lines.
A common ornament is the incised “circle and dot,” so often referred to in the foregoing descriptions. This is a circle about one-quarter inch in diameter, described as accurately as if done with compasses, with a deeply incised dot exactly in the center. This ornament is much more common south of Bering Strait, where, as Mr. L. M. Turner informs me, it is a conventionalized representation of a flower. Some of the older implements in our collection, ornamented with this figure, may have been obtained by trade from the southern natives, but the Point Barrow people certainly know how to make it, as there are a number of newly made articles in the collection thus ornamented. Unfortunately, we saw none of these objects in the process of manufacture, as they were made by the natives during odd moments of leisure, and at the time I did not realize the importance of finding out the process. No tool by which these figures could be made so accurately was ever offered for sale.
Neither Mr. Turner nor Mr. Dall, both of whom, as is well known, spent long periods among the natives of the Yukon region, ever observed the process of making this ornament. The latter, however, suggests that it is perhaps done with an improvised centerbit, made by sticking two iron points close together in the end of a handle. While weapons are decorated only with conventional patterns, other implements of bone or ivory, especially those pertaining to the chase, like the seal drags, etc., already mentioned, are frequently carved into the shape of animals, as well as being ornamented with conventional patterns. Carvings of animals’ heads usually have the mouth, nostrils, etc., indicated by blackened incisions, and often have small, colored beads, bits of wood, or ivory inlaid for the eyes. When beads are used, the perforation of the bead is generally made to represent the pupil of the eye. Beads were also used for ornamenting dishes and other wooden objects.
The harpoon blade boxes of wood carved into the shape of the animal to be pursued have been already described. Other wooden objects, like the shafts of lances, and arrows, paddles, boxes, dishes, the woodwork of snowshoes, sledges, umiaks, etc., are frequently painted either all over, or in stripes or bands. The pigment generally used is red ocher, sometimes set off with stripes of black lead. The only case in which a different pigment is used is that of some arrows from Sidaru, which, in addition to the usual black or red rings, have a rather dingy green ring round the shaft. This green looks as if it might have been derived from the “green fungus or peziza,” mentioned by Dall as in use among the ancient Aleuts.512 The red ocher is applied smoothly in a rather thin coat which looks as if it were always put on in the manner observed by Capt. Herendeen, who saw a man painting a new sled at Utkiavwĭñ. He licked the freshly scraped wood with his tongue, so as to moisten it with saliva and then rubbed it with a lump of red ocher. The custom of painting wooden objects with red ocher seemed to be rather more common among the “Nunatañmiun,” from whom perhaps the Point Barrow people borrowed the fashion, which is not mentioned among the eastern Eskimo. Nordenskiöld states that red is the favorite color among the natives of Pitlekaj.513
The painting of the arrow shafts in many cases curiously resembles the marks used by modern archers to distinguish the ownership of their shafts, and may have formerly served the same purpose. We made no inquiries about the matter on the spot, and there is no certain evidence in the series of arrows collected that these are or are not marks of ownership. Some arrows, apparently the property of the same man, have different marks, while arrows from different villages are similarly marked. On examining our series of fifty arrows from the three villages (fourteen from Nuwŭk, twenty from Utkiavwĭñ, and sixteen from Sidaru) it will be seen that the commonest style of painting is to have the shaft painted red from the beginning or middle of the feathering to about one-fifth of its length from the head. Twenty arrows are marked in this way—eleven from Nuwŭk, belonging to at least two distinct sets, and nine from Utkiavwĭñ, belonging to three sets. Nine have about 8 inches of the middle of the shaft painted red, with a black ring at the middle of the feathering. Seven of these are from Sidaru, one from Nuwŭk, and one from Utkiavwĭñ. Five from Sidaru have a red ring round the middle, and a green one about the middle of the feathering, and four of the same set have also a red ring in front of the green one. Three from Utkiavwĭñ, belonging to different sets, have the shaft painted red from the middle to the beginning of the feathering, and three red rings 2 inches from the nock. Seven belonging to these sets from the two northern villages are unpainted.
A set of two small arrows which belong with the boy’s bow No. 89904 [786] are peculiar in their marking. About 5½ inches of the middle of the shaft is painted red, there is a black ring round the middle, and a black spiral running the whole length of the feathering.
The only decorative work in metal is to be seen in the pipes and their accompanying picks and fire steel which have already been described.
In addition to these illustrations of decorative art, we brought home a series of seventy-nine objects which may be considered as purely works of art without reference to decoration. Some of the older objects in this series perhaps also served the purpose of amulets or charms,514 but a number of the new ones were made simply as works of fancy for sale to us. These objects are all carvings of various materials, sometimes very rude and sometimes very neatly finished, but in most cases even when rudely made highly characteristic of the object represented.515 Walrus ivory, usually from the tusks, but sometimes from the teeth, is the commonest material for these carvings. Thirty-six of the series are made of this material, which is very well suited for the purpose, being worked with tolerable ease, and capable of receiving a high finish. Soapstone, from the ease with which it can be cut, is also rather a favorite material. Seventeen of these carvings are made of soapstone, in many cases evidently pieces of an old lamp or kettle. Other mineral substances appear to be rarely used. Three images, all made for sale and by the same hand, are of soft white gypsum and one tiny image of a bear is rudely flaked out of gray flint. (There are in the collection a number of rude images of whales, made by flaking from flint, jasper, and glass, but as these were ascertained without doubt to be amulets, they will be described under that head.) Eleven are made of wood, nine of bone, one of antler, and one of the tooth of the polar bear. Twenty-three of these carvings represent human beings, sometimes intentionally grotesque and caricatured; twenty-one, bowhead whales; fourteen, polar bears; five, seals; three, walruses; one, a beluga; one, a fish; and seven, fanciful monsters. Four are ornamented objects made for sale; not, strictly speaking, images.
Six of the representations of the human face or figure are of wood, and with one exception were all freshly made for sale. Fig. 387 represents the only antique specimen of this kind (No. 56496 [655]). This was found among the débris in one of the old ruined houses in Utkiavwĭñ by Lieut. Ray, and is very old, blackened, and dirty. The carving was evidently done with a blunt instrument, probably a stone tool. This specimen, which was perhaps the head of a doll, is 7.1 inches in total length, with a head 3.4 inches long. We saw no similar object of modern construction.
Figs. 388a and 388b (Nos. 89726 [1192] and 89727 [1193], from Utkiavwĭñ) are a pair of rather roughly whittled human figures, a man and woman, respectively, both without clothes (except that the woman has a black-lead mark round the calf of each leg to indicate the tops of the boots). They were made for sale, and are perhaps unfinished dolls. The man (No. 89726 [1192]) is 11 inches long and tolerably well proportioned, except about the feet, which are very clumsily made. The eyes and mouth are incised and the hair colored with black-lead. The woman (No. 89727 [1193]) is a very similar figure, but only 9.2 inches long. She has prominent breasts, and her legs are shorter in proportion than the man’s.
No. 89725 [1185], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a clumsy image of a man, rudely whittled out of a flat, hardwood stick, 7¼ inches long. The body and legs are long, the latter somewhat straddling, with clumsy feet. The outstretched arms are very short and stumpy. It has been painted all over with a thin coat of red ocher, and the legs and feet have a coat of black lead over this. The hair also is marked out with black lead, and a small opaque white bead is fastened with a peg to the middle of the breast. This image was made for the market.
No. 56495a [203], from Utkiavwĭñ, is of a pair of very rude images, also made solely for the market. Each is 8 inches long, and is merely an oblong piece of board, flat and rough on the back, roughly beveled from the middle to each side in front. One end is surmounted by a rather rudely carved human head, with the features in relief and the eyes and mouth incised. The eyebrows are marked out with black lead, and there is a longitudinal line of black lead down the middle of the front.
Fig. 389 (No. 89724 [1123] from Nuwŭk) is the face of a male Eskimo, 3.2 inches long, carved out of a flat piece of some coniferous wood weathered to a dark, reddish brown. The labrets are represented by two small, red glass beads with white centers, fastened on in the proper position with wooden pegs. There is a deep groove around the edge of the face into which is fastened a strip of yellowish wolfskin with long fur to represent the trimming around the hood of the jacket. This specimen was made for sale, and the carving is well executed. It is a characteristic Eskimo face, and would pass for a portrait of Apaidyáo, a well known young Eskimo, who was employed by Lieut. Ray as a guide and hunter.
Fig. 389.—Carving, face of Eskimo man.
We collected only two soap-stone carvings representing men, both of which were newly made. One of these, Fig. 390 (No. 89569 [1095] from Nuwŭk), is a grotesque image 2.9 inches long, roughly carved from a flat piece of an old lamp or pot. This is almost exactly the form in which the Eskimo, especially the children, usually draw a man. The writer’s portrait has been drawn in very much the same shape. The features are very rudely indicated, and a long projecting tusk of bone is inserted at each corner of the mouth and glued in with refuse oil. This figure is probably meant to represent the “man with tusks,” before referred to, who figures in several of the legendary fragments which we obtained.
No. 89568 [1108], from Utkiavwĭñ, probably represents the same being. It is a mask of soapstone, a piece of an old lamp, 2.8 inches long, with very characteristic features in low relief, and a pair of sharp, projecting, decurved tusks, about 1 inch long, which appear to be made of the vibrissæ of the walrus. The back of the mask is roughly hollowed out. No. 89575 [1014], from Nuwŭk, is a clumsy and carelessly made image of a man, 3.4 inches long, whittled out of a flat, rough piece of soft, white gypsum. The arms are short and clumsy and the legs straddling, and there is a large elliptical hole through the middle of the body. The features are indicated only by digging little cavities for the eyes, nostrils, and mouth. This and two other images of the same material, a bear equally rude, and a very well carved and characteristic beluga, were made by the ingenious young native, Yöksa, previously mentioned.
The best bone figure of a man is shown in Fig. 391 (No. 89353 [1025], from Nuwŭk), also newly made. This is an image, 5 inches long, of the giant “Kikámigo,” previously mentioned, and is a very excellent piece of workmanship. The material is rather vascular compact bone. On the head is a conical dancing cap, 1.4 inches high, made of deerskin, with the flesh side out, and colored with red ocher, with a tuft of wolf hairs, 3 inches long, protruding from the apex. Around the middle of the cap is a narrow strip of the same material fringed on the lower edge with fifteen flat, narrow pendants of ivory, made to represent mountain-sheep teeth. To the back of this strip is fastened a half-downy feather nearly 4 inches long. A slender wooden stick is stuck into the strip behind, so that the tip reaches just above the apex of the cap. To a notch in the end of this is tied a bit of dressed deerskin, 1¼ inches long, cut into three strips.
Fig. 392 (No. 89348 [1127], from Utkiavwĭñ) is an image neatly carved from whale’s bone, which may have been meant for an amulet, or possibly the handle of a drill cord, as it is not new, and has two oblique holes in the middle of the back, which meet so as to form a longitudinal channel for a string. The eyes, mouth, and labret holes are incised and filled with black dirt. The total length is 3.3 inches.
Fig. 393 (No. 89344 [1272], from Utkiavwĭñ) is a very grotesque image of a naked man, rudely carved from compact, rather porous bone, impregnated with oil, but scraped smooth. It is 5 inches long. The mouth and eyes are incised and blackened, and the nostrils simply bored out.
The ivory carvings representing human figures are all of rather rude workmanship. No. 89352 [1100], Fig. 394, from Nuwŭk, is a tolerably good figure, 3.3 inches long, of a sitting man holding up his hands before his face. This specimen is old and is made of walrus ivory yellow from age and oil. No. 89351 [1085] from Nuwŭk, is a similar image, 3.8 inches long, newly made, with the arms at the sides, roughly carved from coarse walrus ivory. The eyes and mouth are incised and filled with dark colored dirt. Fig. 395 (No. 89349 [980], from Nuwŭk) is an old image made of yellow walrus ivory and closely resembling the bone image (No. 89348 [1127]) already figured, but with the hands by the sides. It is 2.7 inches long and has a string 4 inches long tied into the channel in the back.
Nos. 89346 and 89347 [990], from Nuwŭk, are a pair of little men, standing erect, about 2 inches high, rather roughly carved, of slightly yellow walrus ivory. Both have large, clumsy feet and legs, and the eyes, nostrils, and mouth incised and filled in as usual with dark colored dirt. The arms are in high relief. No. 89346 [990b] has his hands clasped in front of him, while No. 89347 [990a] has them clasped behind his back. The legs of the latter are excavated on the inside as if to fit it upon the end of some object. It is more probable, however, that this image was carved from the foreshaft of a seal-dart, and that the excavation is merely the slot in the end of the latter. These two images are evidently modern, but do not appear freshly made. No. 89345 [1273] from Utkiavwĭñ is a very rude image, 2.6 inches long, having a very small head and no arms. It is somewhat discolored walrus ivory and quite dirty, and though evidently modern, from the appearance of the ivory, does not appear to be freshly made. This figure is even ruder in design than those from Siberia figured by Nordenskiöld.516
Fig. 396.—Ivory carving, three human heads.
The best of our human figures from Point Barrow show much greater art, both in workmanship and design, than those just mentioned, but can not compare with the elegant figures in the museum from the more southern parts of Alaska. The four remaining ivory carvings represent the human face alone. No. 89342 [989], Fig. 396, from Nuwŭk, is a thick piece of walrus ivory 3.3 inches long and 1.6 wide, carved into three human faces, a man in the middle and a woman on each side, joined together at the side of the head. Though the workmanship is rough, the faces are characteristic. The man has labrets and a curved line of tattooing at each corner of the mouth, indicating the successful whaleman, and the women, the usual tattooing on the chin. The eyes, nostrils, mouths, labrets, and tattooing are incised and blackened as usual. This specimen, though apparently modern, does not seem fresh enough to have been made for sale. The seller called it “a man and his two wives” without giving them any names. It may be intended as a portrait of some celebrated whaleman.
Fig. 397 is one of a pair of very rude faces (No. 56523 [52] from Utkiavwĭñ), 1½ inches long, which were made for sale. It is simply a walrus-tooth cut off square on the ends and on one side rudely carved into a face, with the eyes and mouth incised and filled in with dark colored dirt. Fig. 398 (No. 89343 [1124] from Nuwŭk) is a flat piece of ivory (a bit of an old snow shovel edge), 4 inches long and 1.2 inches wide, roughly carved and covered with incised figures. The upper edge is carved into five heads: First, a rude bear’s head, with the eyes and nostrils incised and blackened as usual; then four human heads, with a face on each side. The front faces have the noses and brows in low relief and the eyes, nostrils, and mouths incised and blackened; the back ones are flat, with the last three features indicated as before. At the end is a rude figure of a bear, heading toward the right, with the ears in relief, the eyes and mouth roughly incised and blackened, and the legs indicated by roughly incised and blackened lines on the obverse face. Both faces are covered with rudely incised and blackened lines.
On the obverse there is a single vertical line between each pair of heads. Below the bear’s head is a bear heading toward the right; under the first human head, an umiak with four men; under the second, a “killer” (Orca) heading toward the right; under the third, two of the usual conventionalized whales’ tails suspended from a cross-line; and under the last, a “killer” with very large “flukes” heading toward the left.
Fig. 398.—Elaborate ivory carving.
On the reverse there are, below the bear, a bear heading toward the right, below each of the human heads a whale’s tail with the flukes up, and under the bear’s head a bear heading toward the right. This end is perforated with a large round hole, into which is knotted a bit of deer sinew about 3 inches long, the other end of which is tied round the junction of two little bowhead whales, each about 1 inch long and carved out of a single piece of ivory, head to head. They are rather rudely carved and have the spiracles incised and blackened. This object appears freshly made, but perhaps commemorates the exploits of some four hunters. It was purchased along with other objects and its history was not learned at the time.
Fig. 399.—Bear carved of soapstone.
Perhaps the best image of a polar bear is No. 89566 [1252], Fig. 399, from Utkiavwĭñ, which is quite characteristic. It represents the bear standing and was carved out of soft, gray soapstone with a knife, and finished off smoothly with a file. It is 4 inches long. No. 89571 [116b], from Nuwŭk, is a very rude flat soapstone bear, 1.9 inches long, in profile, showing only one fore and one hind leg. It was made for sale, but No. 89576 [966], from the same village, which is almost exactly like this, though smaller, is old. No. 89574 [1027], from Nuwŭk, is the gypsum carving of a bear, above referred to, which is very like the preceding two specimens. It is 2.5 inches long and has a large tail and large clumsy legs.
No. 89578 [1051], Fig. 400, from Utkiavwĭñ, is a thin profile figure of a polar bear, made by flaking from dark gray flint. It is 1.4 inches long, and the tail is disproportionately long. The specimen does not appear to be new, and was perhaps intended for an amulet, like the flint whales already mentioned.
The only bone figure of a bear in the collection, No. 89335 [1275], Fig. 401a, from Utkiavwĭñ, is very crude. It has a very long, slim body and neck, and short, slender legs. The mouth, eyes, and nostrils are incised and are blackened as usual. The carving is rudely done, but the specimen, which was made for sale, has been scraped smooth. It is 5.5 inches long, and made of whale’s bone, soaked in oil to make it appear old.
Fig. 401.—Bone figures: (a) bear; (b) bear’s head.
Fig. 401b (No. 89471 [997], from Utkiavwĭñ) is the end of some old implement, 6 inches long, one end of which is carved into a rather rude bear’s head, with the ears, nostrils, outline of the mouth, and the vibrissæ incised and blackened. Sky-blue glass beads are inlaid for the eyes and bits of tooth for the canine tusks. On the throat is a conventional figure with two “circles and dots,” all incised and blackened. The carving is freshly done, but soiled, to make it look old.
The three newly made ivory bears are all represented standing and are quite characteristic. All have the eyes, nostrils, and mouth incised and blackened. Fig. 402a (No. 89337 [1274], from Utkiavwĭñ) is the best in execution. It is made of white ivory and is 3.3 inches long. No. 56524, [92], from Nuwŭk, is a small bear, 1.7 inches long, not quite so well carved, and disproportionally long-legged. The left hind leg has been broken off close to the body and doweled on with a wooden peg. Another little bear from Nuwŭk (No. 89841 [992]) is still more rudely carved, but closely resembles the preceding.
A larger carving, rather roughly executed (No. 89338 [1098], from Nuwŭk), represents a standing bear 3.2 inches long, holding a whale crosswise in his mouth. The whale is a separate piece, held in by a wooden peg driven through the bear’s lower jaw. This specimen is newly made from rather coarse walrus ivory.
Fig. 402b (No. 89340 [953], from Utkiavwĭñ) is a very ancient ivory image of a bear, 3.4 inches long, which was evidently intended for an amulet, as there is a stout lug on the belly, into which are bored two oblique holes, so as to make a longitudinal channel for a string. Into this is knotted a stout cord of loosely twisted sinew. The execution of the image is particularly good, but the design is very rude. The specimen is so ancient that the ivory of which it is made has become almost black.
Fig. 402.—Ivory figures of bears.
No. 56528a [56a] from Utkiavwĭñ is a walrus tooth, 1.6 inches long, carved into the shape of a bear’s head. Both design and execution are very rude. Light blue glass beads are inlaid for the eyes, and the nostrils and outline of the mouth are incised and filled in with black dirt. It was made for sale. A still more rude carving, also made for sale, is No. 56528, from Utkiavwĭñ, which is an old and weathered canine tooth of the polar bear, with the point freshly whittled so as to look something like a bear’s head. Two sky-blue glass beads are inlaid to represent the eyes and one for the nose, and the mouth is incised and blackened.
The walrus does not appear to be a favorite subject for representation. The part of the collection already described shows that it occurs very seldom as a decoration, and we obtained only three images of this animal, one in soapstone and two in ivory, all small and very rude, both in design and execution. They are all newly made. The best image is shown in Fig. 403a (No. 89333 [1384] from Utkiavwĭñ). This is 2.3 inches long and made of coarse walrus ivory. The head is rather good, but the body simply tapers to a broken point. A bit of wood is inlaid for the left eye, but the right is merely represented by a hole.
Fig. 403.—Rude ivory figures of walrus.
Fig. 403b (No. 89334 [1067], from Utkiavwĭñ) is exceedingly rude. The eyes, nostrils, and mouth are incised and blackened as usual, and the vibrissæ (“whiskers”) are represented by rather large round pits on the snout, also filled in with black dirt. It is 2.9 inches long, and appears to have been dipped in the oil-bucket to make it look old. Both the images bear a strong resemblance to the rude carvings of walruses from Siberia figured by Nordenskiöld.517a No. 89570 [1271] from Nuwŭk is of soapstone, 2 inches long, with tusks rudely carved from walrus ivory. The head is but roughly indicated, while the body is shaped like a slug, and is bifid at the pointed end to represent the hind flippers. The eyes and nostrils are roughly incised.
Fig. 404.—Images of seal—wood and bone.
The seal, on the other hand, is a favorite object for artistic representation. It is seen often, as already described, as a decoration on various implements, especially the drag lines, generally in a very characteristic shape, and the five seal images in the collection are excellent in design and execution. Almost all are decidedly superior to those from Pitlekaj, figured by Nordenskiöld.517b All are newly made except No. 89737 [857a]. Fig. 404a, from Utkiavwĭñ, which is 4.2 inches long, and made of spruce, very old, weathered, and discolored with dirt and grease. It is nicely carved and scraped smooth, and is very good in its general proportions, though the details are not represented as in the other images.
The best figure (No. 89330 [999] figured in the Point Barrow Rept. Ethnol., Pl. V, Fig. 6, from Utkiavwĭñ) is carved from walrus ivory and is 4.3 inches long. It represents a male rough seal, and is exceedingly accurate and highly finished. The lower jaw is perforated and a bit of sinew thread tied in to represent the drag line. Small red glass beads with white centers are inlaid for the eyes. The other three are all of bone and represent dead male seals stretched on their backs with the drag line in their jaw as they are dragged home.
No. 56579 [75], Fig. 404b, from Utkiavwĭñ, is 5.7 inches long, and very smoothly carved from walrus jaw bone, with round bits of wood inlaid for the eyes. The proportions are excellent, but the details are not strongly brought out. This specimen is a little older than the rest, and may have been an amulet for good luck in seal catching. The other two are of compact white bone, perhaps that of the reindeer.
No. 89331 [1143], from Utkiavwĭñ, is 3.4 inches long, and has the breast and back flattened and the flippers in high relief. The anus, genital opening, and eyes are incised, the latter two filled in, as usual, with black dirt. The drag line is of sinew braid and has an ivory cylinder slipped over it.
No. 89328 [1167], from Utkiavwĭñ, is the poorest in design. It is 5.6 inches long and has the neck bent up as in dragging. The back of a freshly caught seal is always somewhat flattened by dragging it over the ice, and this flattening is very much exaggerated in this carving by the natural shape of the bone. The fore flippers are in high relief, with three toes to each flipper, colored round the edge with red ocher. The tips of the hind flippers are joined together, and each has only two toes. The eyes, genital opening, and the spots on the back and belly are indicated by shallow round pits colored with red ocher. The drag line is a double bit of sinew braid, which has on it two ivory cylinders, one ornamented with an incised pattern.
Fig. 405.—White whale carved from gypsum.
We found but a single figure of the beluga, which is such a favorite subject for Eskimo artists farther south. This is the gypsum carving already mentioned (No. 89573 [1015], Fig. 405, from Nuwŭk). It is 3.5 inches long and is very characteristic, though rather short in proportion to its girth. It was neatly carved with a knife.
The “bow-head” whale (Balæna mysticetus), is a very favorite subject, appearing often as a decoration and represented by 21 carvings. Three of these are of wood, very much resembling in design and execution the harpoon boxes already described. They are all very old, and perhaps were charms to be carried in the boat to secure good luck in whaling. No. 89736 [857b], Fig. 406, from Utkiavwĭñ, is perhaps the best proportioned of these figures, though the only details represented are the flukes (which are broken), and the incised spiracles. It is 5.4 inches long and made of spruce or hemlock, stained almost black by dirt, grease, and weathering. A long string of sinew braid is tied round the “small.”
Fig. 406.—Wooden carving—whale.
No. 89735 [1036] from Utkiavwĭñ, is also a rather well proportioned figure, rude in execution, with no details carved out except the flukes, one of which is broken. An angular bit of iron pyrites is inlaid to represent the left eye, and a similar piece appears to have been lost from the right eye. The anus is represented by a light blue glass bead inlaid in the belly. It is 8.8 inches long and made of soft wood, probably cottonwood, weathered and stained to a dark brown. It is very old and much chipped and cracked. Two small oblique holes in the middle of the back make a transverse channel for a string. This specimen was said by the man who sold it to have been dug up among the ruins of one of the old houses in the village.
No. 89734 [987] from Nuwŭk, is 12 inches long, very broad in proportion to its length, and rather rude in design, with a flat belly, though neatly carved and scraped smooth. The spiracles and the outline of the mouth are incised and little angular bits of brown quartz are inlaid for the eyes. Both flukes have been split off and part of the right fluke has been fastened on again with a single wooden treenail. It is of spruce or hemlock and has weathered to a brown color.
Fig. 407.—Whale carved from soapstone.
Fig. 407 (No. 89561 [1253] from Utkiavwĭñ) represents the best image of a whale in the collection. It is very well proportioned, though perhaps a little clumsy about the flukes, with the external details correctly represented. It is 4.5 inches long, neatly carved from soapstone, scraped smooth and oiled. It was made for sale. There are five other round soapstone carvings of whales in the collection, but none so good as this except a little one from Nuwŭk, (No. 89563 [986]) 2 inches long, which is almost an exact miniature of the preceding. This specimen is not new. Fig. 408 (No. 89557 [1267] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a rude flat representation of a whale seen from above. It is 5.2 inches long and roughly whittled out of the bottom of an old stone pot. The flippers are large and clumsy, and the spiracles slightly incised. The specimen appears to be old, as does a similar one from Nuwŭk (No. 89559 [1188a]).
Fig. 408.—Rude flat image of whale.
No. 89558 [1266] from Utkiavwĭñ, and No. 89572 from Nuwŭk, both flat images, are carelessly made for sale. The latter is simply a representation in soapstone of the conventional “whale’s tail” with the “small” cut off to an angular point. No. 89325 [1160] from Utkiavwĭñ is a clumsy, broad whale with a flat belly, 4.1 inches long, freshly carved from whale’s bone, and soaked in oil to make it look old. The eyes, spiracles, and outline of the mouth are incised and filled in with dark oil lees.
None of the ivory carvings of whales have any special artistic merit. Fig. 409 (No. 89323 [1024a] from Nuwŭk) is the best of these. It is a little better in design and execution than the preceding, which it resembles considerably. It is the female of a pair of little whales made of old brown walrus ivory, which is much cracked. The male differs from the female only in the shape of the external sexual organs, the male having a little round pit and the female a long sulcus. This, as well as the eyes, spiracles, and outline of the mouth, is incised and filled in with dark colored dirt. The female is 3.1 inches long, the male (No. 89324 [1024b]) 0.1 inch longer. These specimens appear to be quite ancient.