Inua, Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo 9780874744293, 0874744296

Table of contents :
Frontmatter
Foreword (RICHARD S. FISKE, page 9)
Acknowledgments (page 10)
Introduction (page 13)
The Way They Lived Long Ago (TOM IMGALREA, page 16)
the land
The Man Who Buys Good-For-Nothing Things (HENRY B. COLLINS, page 29)
Raven's Works (THOMAS AGER, page 39)
among the animals
Hunting the Sea Mammals (page 60)
Food from the Waters (page 86)
Life on the Tundra (page 98)
around the lamp
Life in the Village (page 116)
with the spirits
Life in the Qasgiq (page 162)
distant lands, other times
Distant Lands (page 220)
Other Times (page 240)
art in transformation
Reflections in Ivory (DOROTHY JEAN RAY, page 255)
Roots in the Past (SARADELL ARD FREDERICK, page 269)
References (page 288)

Citation preview

YT a x |

| If Ty gh : It was the time when there were no people on the

ie yg / earth. For four days the first man lay coiled up in the if F oy pod of a beach pea. On the fifth, he burst forth, falling | —— to the ground, and stood up, a full-grown man. Feeling | Te unpleasant, he stooped and drank from a pool of

- water, then felt better. Looking up, he saw a dark

| object approaching with a waving motion until it

stopped just in front of him. It was a raven. Raven stared intently at man, raised one wing and pushed up its beak, like a mask, to the top of its head, and changed immediately into a man. Still staring and cocking its head from side to side for a better view, Raven said at last: “What are you! Whence did you come? I have never seen the likes of you.”” And Raven looked at Man, surprised to see that this stranger was so much like himself in shape. Then Raven told Man to walk a few steps, again marvelling: ‘Whence did you come?”’ To this the Man replied: “I came from the pea-pod,”’ pointing to the plant nearby. “Ah!” exclaimed Raven, “I made that vine, but did not know anything would come from it.”’ Then Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything, to which Man replied he had taken soft stuff into him at a pool. ‘“Well,”’ said Raven, “you drank some water. Now wait for me here.”

He drew down the mask over his face, changing .

again into a bird, and flew far up into the sky, where |

he disappeared. Again Man waited four days, when the Raven returned, bringing four berries in his claws. Pushing up his mask, Raven became a man again and

held out two salmonberries and two heathberries, SS saying, ‘‘Here is what I have made for you. Eat them.”’ , Then Raven led Man to a creek where he took clay : and formed two mountain sheep, which Man thought , were very pretty. Telling Man to close his eyes, Raven

drew down his mask and waved his wings four times , over the images, which became endowed with life and

bounded away. When Man saw the sheep moving

away, full of life, he cried out in pleasure. Next Raven formed two other animals of clay, but because they were not fully dry when they were given life, they remained brown and white. Thus originated the tame

reindeer. Raven told Man they would be very scarce. !

In the same way a pair of wild reindeer, or caribou, , were made, being permitted to dry and turn white

only on their bellies before being given life. These, , Raven said, would be more common, and people could kill many of them.

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_ Le, BE eneee egOE iar de ae :en. ———— eeoF> eee te tasgse

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“You will be very lonely by yourself,”’ said Raven. “I will make you a companion.” Going to a more distant spot and looking now and again at Man, he made an image very much like him, fastening a lot of fine water grass on the back of its head. After the clay dried, he waved his wings over it as before, and a

beautiful young woman arose and stood beside Man. , “There,” cried Raven, “is a companion for you.”’ In those days there were no mountains far or near,

Oo and the sun never ceased shining; neither did rain fall

or winds blow. Raven showed them how to make a warm bed of moss where they slept, while Raven lay nearby in the form of a bird. Waking before the others, Raven went to the creek and made pairs of sticklebacks, graylings, and blackfish. When Man arose and came to see them, Raven explained that the — graylings would be found in the mountain streams and sticklebacks along the coast, and both would be good to eat. Next the shrewmouse was made, Raven saying that it would not be good for food but would enliven the ground and prevent it from seeming barren and cheerless.

ee a yl", eee

. enter ce 8? ae 2 ee ieee ee a ee en ee

Re ee a ma ac

In this way, Raven continued for several days

making birds, fishes, and animals, showing them to . man and explaining their uses. After a while Woman gave birth to a child, and Raven showed Man how to feed and care for it. As soon as it was born, Raven and Man took it to a creek, rubbed it all over with clay,

man. , .

and then returned. Next morning the child was ,

running about, pulling up grass and plants Raven had.

made, and on the third day it became a full-grown

After this, Raven thought that if he did not create

something to make men afraid they would destroy , , everything he had made to inhabit the earth. So he

went to the creek, where he formed a bear and gave it

, life, jumping to one side quickly as the bear stood up

and looked about fiercely. He then told Man to avoid the bear or he would be torn to pieces. Raven then

made different kinds of seals and explained their

names and habits. He taught Man to make rawhide lines from sealskin, and snares for deer, but cautioned him to wait until the deer were abundant before snaring any of them.

Soon a girl was born to the Woman who was-told. -

she should marry her brother in order that the earth

would be peopled more rapidly. ... BA LSE EELS

(Adapted from Raven Myth, Nelson 1899] ,

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foreword Life abounds in the magnificent collection of objects acquired from Bering

Sea Eskimo communities more than a century ago for the Smithsonian Institution by Edward William Nelson. From 1877 to 1881, Nelson lived among the Eskimos in this remote region of Alaska, collecting every imaginable commonplace object, from intricately carved bag handles and earrings to elegantly fashioned wooden boxes, spears, and ceremonial masks. So persistent was Nelson in his quest for artifacts representative of the everyday life of these people that the Eskimos nicknamed him ‘‘the man who buys good-for-nothing things.” Indeed, many of the ten thousand objects collected by Nelson were of little intrinsic value at the time. But a look through the pages of this book will show how this has changed. The objects are, at the same time, both simple and elegant, and by studying them one can learn of the lifestyle, philosophy, humor, and spirituality of the nineteenth-century Bering Sea Eskimo peoples. The Nelson Collection breathes life into the past. The merits of the Nelson Collection can also be considered from a somewhat different point of view. The main business of natural history museums is to acquire, preserve, and study collections. This vast assemblage of objects, brought together through the vision and hard work of Edward W. Nelson, has a special integrity because of its completeness. The fact that the Nelson Collection was acquired and well cared for during the past hundred years has made possible this volume and the related exhibition, “Inua: Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo.’”’ The Smithsonian Institution

has a strong mandate to preserve the integrity of this and other such collections, so that future scholars may be able to gain their own insights from these materials, and, of course, the general public can look forward to the time when future publications and exhibitions will be prepared. Before turning to the magnificent substance of Inua, I am delighted to acknowledge the involvement of a large part of the Smithsonian family with this project. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Evans, longtime friends of the Smithsonian Institution, generously provided funding to create a new and special gallery for temporary and traveling exhibitions. The exhibition of the Nelson Collection materials will have its debut in this gallery before it travels to cities in Alaska, the original home of these objects, as well as to communities in the “lower forty eight.” The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) provided encouragement and funding

and developed the means for the exhibition to travel. The Contributing Membership, Smithsonian National Associates Program provided the major support necessary for production of this volume. To Chevron U.S.A. Inc., gratitude is extended for providing the funding that was necessary to add that extra measure of quality in design and photography that will make this publication a rich and lasting statement for years to come. RICHARD S. FISKE

Director

National Museum of Natural History 9

This book and exhibition program were inspired by the late Ann Stevens. In 1978 she visited the Smithsonian Institution and viewed its holdings of Alaska native artifacts. Upon doing so she inquired about the possibility of showing a portion of the collection in Alaska so that the beauty of the

artifacts could be shared by all Alaskans. oe

A year later, during an Arctic museum training workshop supported by the Smithsonian Institution’s Educational Outreach Program, Senator Ted

Stevens of Alaska was invited to examine these same collections at the ,

request of our Alaskan participant, Rachael Craig. Senator Stevens also urged us to prepare a traveling exhibition that would tour a number of the finer specimens to Alaska, where they had originated. We decided that the exhibition should concentrate on the collection of Edward Nelson, made one hundred years ago on the Bering Sea coast. While still in the planning stage the project benefited from the advice of Ronald Senungetuk, Alan Munro, Robert Shalkop, Martha Cappelletti, Ruth Selig, Ann Bay, Anna Riggs, and Charlene James. Dr. Richard Fiske, Director, National Museum of Natural History, decided that the first exhibition to be produced by the museum for installation in the new Thomas M. Evans Gallery should feature the Nelson Collection, one of the hidden treasures of the museum. Dr. Fiske’s enthusiasm for and support of the project has made the entire exhibition and book program possible. We would like to thank the many people in Alaska who extended assistance to us during two planning visits to the state. In Anchorage, Saradell Ard Frederick guided us through contemporary art collections, and Robert Shaw permitted us to use unpublished archeological specimens. For a pleasant and informative visit in Fairbanks we thank Wendy and Robert Arun-

dale, Jean Aigner, Steve Jacobson, the Photographic Archives of the Elmer |

E. Rasmusson Library, William Sheppard, Ken Pratt, and the University of Alaska Museum. In Juneau we were assisted by the Alaska State Museum and by Lynn Price Ager. Our two visits to Bethel provided an invaluable introduction to life along the Bering Sea coast. For this we are indebted to Phyllis Morrow and Chase Hensel and the Yupik Language Center of Kuskokwim Community College, who also aided us as interpreters and invaluable guides. Phyllis and

Chase escorted us into the ‘Big Lake” country where we learned more about ongoing traditional life from Mary and George Andrews and Andrew Chicoyak of Nunapichuk, and advised on the use of Yupik terminology. James H. Barker of Bethel made available photographic materials, while artists Edward Kiokan and Kay Hendrickson provided modern ethnographic information. In the Smithsonian’s Department of Anthropology we have appreciated

the strong support provided by Douglas Ubelaker, Chairman, and Clara

Ann Simmons, Elizabeth Beard, and Carolyn Lewis. Jane MacLaren Walsh | 10 and Nigel Elmore followed many leads in a frustrating and still unresolved

search for Nelson’s Alaskan diary. This important document was never submitted to the Smithsonian and its location is unknown. Jane Walsh has also assisted in extracting Yupik terms from Nelson’s dictionary manuscript. Jane Norman and Catharine Valentour supervised the conservation of objects. Aron Crowell prepared subsistence pattern data and Dosia Laeyendecker identified woods. Paula Fleming assisted in locating ethnographic photographs. People in other departments have assisted the project. George Watson, Richard Vari, and Charles Handley provided taxonomic information. Roxie Laybourne identified feathers. Jean Smith lent office space. Suzanne Morris, Barbara Bridges, Wendy Bruneau, and Meredith Weber gave much to the

, project as student interns. The Office of Photographic Services, Develop-

ment Office, and the Natural History Office of Exhibits provided excellent support. Other institutions that generously loaned us material or supplied us with photographs are Alaska State Council on the Arts, Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Atlantic Richfield Company, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, United States Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Indian Historian Press, Lowie Museum of Anthropology, Museum of the American Indian— Heye Foundation, National Museum of Denmark, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Alaska State Museum, Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, and University of Alaska Museum. We also extend thanks to individuals who have generously loaned materials from private collections. We thank the two illustrators who have cheerfully prepared a number of fine pieces of work: Jo Ann Moore for the drawings and Molly Ryan for the charts and maps. Jeanne Barry has had the monumental task of editing this book under unusual circumstances. We thank her and the Smithsonian Institution Press for their efforts. The contributors to the volume also assisted us in other ways. Henry B. Collins generously shared a lifetime of Alaskan experiences with the authors. Thomas Ager of the U.S. Geological Survey made available photographs and provided advice, as did Dorothy Jean Ray while studying the Nelson drill bows, and Saradell Ard Frederick who selected the contemporary art and initiated loan requests. Anthony Woodbury has contributed the opening section of the gasgig essay and has made available Yupik texts from Chevak, Alaska. Linda Lichliter Eisenhart analyzed Nelson’s grass baskets and contributed essay material on these objects. Throughout the many months of intensive work on this project we have neglected family, friends, and professors, cutting phone conversations short and discouraging visits. We thank those who have been so understanding, especially Lynne Fitzhugh who created many evenings of cheer when she was able to tear us loose from “‘the Nelson lab.” Special thanks go to the Alaska State Council on the Arts and its Chairman, Anna Riggs, and its Director, John Blaine, for planning assistance, coordination, and advice. Jessie A. Brinkley of the Smithsonian National Associates Program, and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. have made this publication possible. Alex Castro joined this project when it was in its formative stage. He participated in selection of materials to be illustrated, determined format, and designed an elegant book in keeping with the high quality of the Nelson artifacts. Joel Breger patiently, diligently, and with unending humor photographed the impossible. Were it not for their unstinting efforts this eth-

nography would be something less than visual. 11

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emtroduction |i6 In 1877, when Edward William Nelson arrived in St. Michael, in what is now Alaska, to begin ethnological and natural history studies for the Smithsonian Institution, the Bering Sea Eskimos occupying the lowland regions of western Alaska, between Bering Strait and the Aleutian Islands, were the least-known Eskimos in the world. Living along the shallow coast of the Bering Sea, and along the lower courses and in the deltas of the salmonand bird-rich Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, Bering Sea Eskimos were largely ignored by explorers bent on reaching firmer ground, and by vessels seeking

the summering grounds of the bowhead and other whales in the deeper waters of Bering Strait and beyond. The Bering Sea Eskimos’ geographic isolation from events shaping the rapidly changing course of Alaskan history ten years after the purchase of the territory from Russia obscured a startling fact. Amid the marshy delta and along the coastal lowlands within an area of only three thousand square miles lived twelve thousand Eskimos—two-thirds of the Eskimo population of the territory and nearly a quarter of the Eskimo population of the entire world (Petroff 1884). Bering Sea Eskimos are members of the larger family of Eskimo cultures extending from Prince William Sound on the Pacific Coast of Alaska to Bering Strait, and from there north and east along the Arctic coast into Canada, ultimately reaching as far as Greenland and Labrador. While oc-

cupying a larger region of the earth than any other ethnic group, they nevertheless share a common cultural and biological makeup, and speak a series of related languages, including Inupiak from Greenland to Norton Sound and Yupik from Norton Sound to the Pacific Coast. Culturally, they consist of regional groups known as Greenlanders, Canadian Inuit, North Alaskan Eskimos, Bering Sea Eskimos, and North Pacific Eskimos. The Aleuts, a related but distinct ethnic stock, do not speak Eskimo although in many respects their culture and way of life resembles that of Eskimos. Most of what was known about Eskimos in 1877 came from contact with groups occupying the top of the continent from Bering Strait to Canada and Greenland. For nine hundred years Europeans—tirst Norse and later

many others—had had sporadic contacts with eastern Arctic Inuit and

Inua Mask | | Greenlanders. Theirs was the ultimate case of the spartan life, living much spatie aa hick ha ne of of the year in an unforgiving icy wilderness where starvation or death was taking on a variety of physical forms. Usu- a constant threat, where winter darkness reigned for months, where life , ally, an inua will reveal itself toa personin was sustained by luck, ingenuity, and perseverance against inimical for-

back, breast, or in the eye of a creature. The tune. person will get just a fleeting glimpse of this Bering Sea Eskimos lived a very different life from that of their far-flung the form of a small, humanlike face on the

semihuman image. northern relatives. They occupied large, stable villages with substantial oe ee ee eee een coneeers log and sod houses and commodious summer plank houses. Those living of the Bering Sea Eskimos’ spiritual world. | along the rivers enjoyed a plentiful supply of storable fish, while those on Such masks are worn on ceremonial occa- — the coast had abundant supplies of driftwood, seals, walrus, fish, birds, and

one ie nehited taupe Shenae nconls other game. They were equipped with finely made weapons and tools of inuas, and supernatural beings. wood, bone, ivory, and other materials, some of which were obtained by South of Lower Yukon 33114, 48.5 cm trade with outside groups, and they were well adapted to life in their region. 13

Social and intellectual life was complex, and during the long winter months they held large celebrations and festivals which were enlivened by intricate

masks and theatrics. As Henry B. Collins has noted: “In the elaborate wooden dance masks of the Yukon—Kuskokwim region modern Eskimo art may be said to have reached its peak. No other Eskimo art products or handicrafts reveal so clearly the inner characteristics and the artistry of these gifted people. Here in a remarkable combination of abstract representation and grotesque fantasy we have evidence of the Eskimo sense of humor, both robust and subtle, of their sprightly imagination, and their technical virtuosity. Also, since the primary purpose of the dance festivals in which the masks were worn was to propitiate the spirits controlling the

universe and bring success in hunting, the masks provide insight into Eskimo religion and cosmology” (Collins 1962:21).

Spirit life is manifested in religion and mythology as well as in hunting ,

amulets, wooden serving bowls and ladles, clothing, and virtually everything made by man. Each of these artifacts, and all natural objects and living things, possessed a spirit, or inua (yua in the Yupik language}, which was capable of taking on different physical forms but usually was revealed in a humanlike countenance. The inua of a bird might appear as a small semihuman face hidden among the feathers on its back, while that of a bear might be concealed under the long fur covering its body. Spiritual transformation, symbolized by Man’s first encounter with his maker, Raven, was at the heart of Bering Sea Eskimo life and culture. When

an animal died its inua inhabited the form of an unborn animal of the same or similar species. Therefore, man needed to deal properly and respectfully with animals and objects so as not to displease the inuas, insuring that they would return to repopulate the earth with their kind. The Bering Sea Eskimo world was also inhabited by powerful spirits, including the tunghdt who controlled the availability of game on earth. Tunghdt as well as shamans—religious leaders—could take possession of inuas and use them for good or evil purposes. This world view, prominently displayed

in material culture, makes Bering Sea Eskimo works some of the most complex, revealing, and intellectually challenging in the New World. Surprising as it seems, the lifeways of Eskimos of this region of Alaska today continue to be poorly known to the public, whose attention remains largely fixed on the walrus and whale hunting Eskimos of North Alaska and their distinctive ivory carving, as well as on the Canadian Inuit who for many years have been featured in general educational programs and films and whose soapstone carvings and prints are widely distributed. The purpose of this book and the exhibition which it accompanies is to correct this imbalance by reconstructing traditional nineteenth-century Bering Sea Eskimo life, stories, religion, and art as represented in the comprehensive collections and information gathered by Edward Nelson during his four years in Alaska from 1877 to 1881. Coming on the heels of the hundredth anniversary of the close of Nelson’s field work, it is a fitting accolade to the memory of a remarkable scientist. Few, if any, other col-

lectors or field ethnologists during the history of the Smithsonian Insti- : tution have acquired materials of such richness and depth. In organizing Nelson’s collections we have chosen to take the vantage point of an observer among the Bering Sea Eskimo during the time when Nelson conducted his tield work. For this reason the form of the first person and present tense is generally used together with direct quotes from Nelson’s notes, articles, and monographs and sections of myths and stories he

14 collected. Where relevant the work of other ethnologists and students of

Bering Sea Eskimo culture is included, but no systematic attempt has been made to provide complete scholarly documentation or extensive Ci-

tation, or to include data collected or reinterpreted in the intervening period. Certain errors made by Nelson have been corrected, but it has not been possible, nor deemed appropriate for this task, to reanalyze Nelson’s research. In many areas, however, we have expanded upon his documentation, making interpretations and providing new insights where necessary to permit a fuller appreciation of the collections, especially in the areas of ceremonial life and art. In addition to presenting a visual ethnography of the Bering Sea Eskimo, this book places their life in a regional and chronological framework. Contacts and influences from the Bering Strait and from North Alaska and Siberia are discussed, as are those with Indians to the east and Aleuts to the south. Features of European contact are everywhere noted. The significance of these contacts—economic, artistic, religious, and otherwise— is seen also in the perspective of time by the use of archeological materials touching upon the prehistoric roots of Bering Sea Eskimo culture and postNelson artifacts, which show the changing role of the Eskimo artist and

the objects he has created. , WILLIAM W. FITZHUGH

, SUSAN A. KAPLAN

For caption material, unless otherwise indicated artifacts were collected by Edward William

Nelson and are housed in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Unless specific attributions are given, all ethnographic photographs are the property of the Smithsonian Institution and are housed in the Office of Photographic Services, Smithsonian Institution.

| When known, the Yupik Eskimo term for an entry is set in italic next to the caption title. When more than one object has the same provenience, the provenience is not repeated. Yupik terms with diacritical marks and syllabification are Nelson’s original terms; others are modern Yupik transcriptions.

15

The Way They Lived Long Ago

I will say a little gathered vole-food from under the ground, about the way people lived long ago, trying to get for food

about the life I was there to see, the things

the life I was lucky just to catch that voles will store there.

when I was a boy, When it got cold, around this time, down there in Qissunaq. the women got grasses they needed for the In the autumn around this time, winter,

the women a sturdy flat grass for sleeping mats,

with dipnets. partitions, Outside and regular grass for bedding and bootliners. used to fish for arctic tomcods a long rough grass for storage baskets and

when it got cold, they used to wade, even All of these were gathered.

when ice was forming, Their houses were made of sod then.

and they wore only seaigut rain parkas, I was lucky enough to have known

tied around the waist like so. my grandmothers, who now are dead,

Otherwise, the women and who lived the way people did long ago. wore nothing, Man ] y people here now

Oh, how they endured back then, were born after they picked things up from

those women! the white men They closed off their rain parkas after they began to get stoves for cooking,

by tying them around their waists, stoves made at first of two five-gallon

to keep their bodies cans, or of washtubs.

from getting cold.down 7 When boy on the sleds But from the waist wereI was madeaof thethe ribsrunners of bowhead whales, their bare skin was exposed, or else the runners

in the water. | . : Sometimes the sleds They fished, . were made entirely of wood,

since they did not have their pants on were made of ivory.

and the mud sometimes froze. with runners of hardwood underneath.

That is how it was In fact they even called those runners when they tried to catch fish for storage “hardwoods,” | in the autumn. They had no saws back then, By themselves and were just beginning to get axes,

the men, so instead of sawing wood, they chopped it. the husbands of these women, That is how it was done.

went off to fant earded seal down at the sea. Whenever I come inside now I think

did did mo.not 4 c11} ‘i them. cn, of When my lateitgrandmothers. they snoot was cold

Whenever the weather was calm down at the sea, they covered the smoke window with ice,

they went after these seals in parties. and cleaned it with icepicks,

And themselves, using the wood the by women of the handles.

16 fished for sticklebacks, and

When the cold let up, they put a cover of baby bearded seal gut on the smoke window, in place of the ice cover.

the cold, a. with another piece of ice. RY

After a while an ice cover cannot keep out ——.

they used to say, , ced so they replaced them every so often re.

with soot, i N

The ribs and beams supporting the roof q : \t

stood out, because they alone were blackened BO \"

There was grass ontop of the ribs, with an I 7 A outer layer of sod on top of that. a AY When the roof was covered on the inside F AN

with built-up frost, f mA they assembled wood A | |

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In winter the entranceway was Closed off on both sides with woven grass partitions. And they went outside only through the lower entrance, for the upper entrance had no door leading through its covering. Their plates were made of wood, a). their water buckets were also of wood, ~

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They had dippers ae ea a ON

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28 1. Map of Western Alaska and Siberia with Place Names

In the morning after my arrival at Sledge island a knife was stolen from my box of trading goods, and on making this known to the headman he sent out a small boy, who returned in a few moments with the knife, everyone apparently knowing who had committed the theft.

A little later one of the King island men, who was sitting close by me, and who had traveled down the coast with the trader and myself the previous day, tried to steal a small article from me but was detected in the act, and I at once ordered him to leave the house. To this he paid no attention. I then seized him by the right arm, and when he saw that I was in earnest his face grew dark with passion, but he did not hesitate to take up his mittens and leave the room. He did not return during the day, but that evening when the people had left the room and the trader and myself were preparing for bed, we noticed that the headman of the village was still seated by the entrance way... . About 3 oclock the next morning I was awakened by a slight noise, and, raising my head cautiously, heard someone creeping in through the passageway. A moment later the head of the thief whom I had sent out and shamed before his companions the day before was thrust into the room. In an instant the watchful headman had taken him by the shoulder and spoken rapidly to him in an undertone. In a few minutes the King islander drew back and went away. The headman remained in his place until we arose in the morning.... I have always considered that the watch kept by the headman during that night was all that prevented an attempt by the King islander to obtain revenge for my having offended him. (Nelson 1899:297)

HENRY B. COLLINS

The unfortunate incident involving the King Islander was one of the few unpleasant experiences Edward W. Nelson had with individuals during his four-year stay in western Alaska. Generally people treated him with kindness, and because of his desire to buy old objects, many of which they cast aside, they regarded Nelson with a good deal of amusement, asking, ‘‘Where is the buyer of good-for-nothing things?” (Nelson 1899:373; Hooper 1884:37).

In his early twenties and already an accomplished ornithologist, Edward W. Nelson arrived in Alaska in a roundabout way. He came to the attention of Spencer Fullerton Baird, assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and director of the United States National Museum, when Nelson applied for a job at the Smithsonian Institution. Through Baird’s efforts Nelson secured an appointment as a weather observer for the U.S. Signal Service at St. Michael on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. In addition to his

official meteorological tasks, Nelson was instructed by Baird to gather information and to make collections relating to the geography, zoology,

and ethnology of this little-known region of Alaska. 29

Realizing that the Bering Sea coastal area was one of the least-known sections of the Arctic, Nelson responded to its challenge. This was indeed

a naturalist’s paradise though the cold and stormy weather was anything | but heavenly. Myriads of waterfowl and other birds nested on the tundra and on the sea cliffs, and its water teemed with fish and sea mammals. Thousands of Eskimos, occupying small villages along meandering riverbanks and scattered along the coast and offshore islands, lived off these

rich resources. | 2. Tribal and Linguistic Boundaries The Eskimos Nelson met differed in many ways from the stereotyped During his travels throughout western Alaska

; ; ; that a number of different languages were

Eskimo who lived in snow houses on the frozen seas of the Canadian and eastern Siberia, Edward Nelson observed archipelago and subsisted on large sea mammals and caribou. Instead, here spoken. At St. Michael he lived among Yuwere Eskimos who lived in semisubterranean sod-covered houses made pik and Inupiak speakers, for Norton Sound

; ; ; ; ; these two Eskimo languages. During a sled

out of driftwood timbers. They hunted seals and occasionally walrus and —_was a dividing line between people who spoke

caribou, and relied heavily on fish, birds, and small mammals. Indeed, journey into the interior Nelson came in some of their beautiful clothes were made from the skins of ducks, geese, contact with Ingalik Indians who spoke an

ground squirrels, and even salmon. Athapaskan_ dialect. The Eskimos on St When Nelson arrived at St. Michael in 1877, Alaska had been an Amer- cast Coast of Siberia spoke Siben an Yupik ican possession for only ten years. St. Michael, originally called Michael- Altogether different languages were spoken ovski Redoubt or Fort St. Michael, was established in 1833 as a Russian _ by the Aleuts and the Siberian Chukchi reinoutpost to control the Yukon Eskimo and Indian fur trade. In the early shen possibl c, Nelson recorded the Yunineteenth century the Russians sent several exploring expeditions to the _ pik and Inupiak terms for many of the obBering Sea region and established a few trading posts and missions on the __ jects he bought during his stay in Alaska. Yukon, Kuskokwim, and N ushagak rivers. One of their explorers, Russian These Enelish-Eski oo hekimo beckon tke naval officer Lieutenant Lavrentii A. Zagoskin, wrote an excellent report tionary in which several dialects were reon the land and people he saw along the Yukon and Kuskokwim. However, corded, but which Nelson never published. his work was not widely distributed and remained little known (Zagoskin

1967). ——————____—_—__= Twenty years after Zagoskin’s travels St. Michael was headquarters for f-.... SO} MOOS EIA

the members of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition who were study- — f Shuketysea

ing the geography and ecology of the area, while searching for a route for fe a Ow

a trans-Siberian cable. Their reports on the natural history and resources +3 oN Aten cise. te RR oe \-f

of Russian America, transmitted to Congress by Spencer Baird, were partly : Pro nk Lee Vf

responsible for the purchase of Alaska. William H. Dall, who was part of . ALS iN f

the scientific wrote theinfirst description the Alaskan Indians to bestaff, published English (Dallof1870). ee ee Eskimos a eee feeand / aA As an observer of Eskimo culture Nelson was fortunate in beingassigned fo. Nowon sound V SF

to St. Michael, for in no other place could he have met with such cultural ee ee (i wo Os.gee Sl gill - Pe TE ee es oeneeene oes ee aaa aee ee Bee He eea nis. Coe eeBe PON te (a oa .— 4SS ay WE en temabe eS ee ees eeea ee oe Pe DN OS OE Oa ee otis anne J So meas ee LLU oo G rrr Ge Ga trae tsProtege ee wee ee ee Sr rs eeLo “tre oT+ ae. re Se ee ay eg, oyeee Pen PPE, ee ee 4enon Ll Ee OE Dee eeee ee PEO oe2 NOME ee EI Oe a ee eee it a ela Te Te . Co UM ee eee Ff Ss Sen Oa ee ee ee IES SITES aes eS we . to SONOS G SEN CRS, Fees pe aa ees ee a ee oe a ee ee CC a WEST Oe ts ¥ oe st~elt:. -‘ Iee CoASN SO,eeeey, ee oeGE) Pe Gas ee ose ee ep wli Oe oe IIS 4 le aePN Mee wee

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Maximum extent of land bridge :xd plied trom Frio %, . ' pee ; ele a : . me, ‘ ‘ 5 eck . il i; png gem ZU) te / ees rn . me € : syiew" / aryOryt io 100 PO wb ct Maxin last glacial period | 1980} Oe Ey MOO ms a ae ‘present sea level) i C1SON 176) |7 rs meee . (~ 90m below | eceeconasunecceceosmti “ . +‘otoy te te me_ee y mF ” . . rt ~ rc 2estt ‘és- iii Ni ra. * a or

Le OO , OL sin i| ;iis

“4 mae gp aSterm aS ka 4 over theee past“26, ation change western . ry indestruchistory of vegetation chang -ininute but nearly indestru he history of veg dy of the minute but nea a ihe fl 7ywn omprimarily the study mit ; ofof lakes fromof thethe « ie bottoms lakes

x E , . . a i i “4 oe in.

rears‘is: known ved ae in the as te a ae . oo

}shle . co "_thoO1len at Sac and Bri ge; ane thle ore =. Bering Land Br AINS OT 5 iat sllthe aie © DCTs 3 tible grains Ofare f re 1 preser ossils tell usat that -OVverec

«.. .-*deposits.’ y eG ] itogetner Gy ‘a a ne * CAJL. *Beringiz ¥ gee C3 ere Sposits.~ Lnese fOssl | beTING 1a! were aNis id in peat TIbe] : other called :id C~. ,ie“ 1Poll Ned ae 4a cal ° and 11 Alaska (tos T Ca. 5 ve wv cc ‘ fl vs igo : aduns nartsag ot laSkKe A & : oy or PY DS. m¢ mos Cnerbs, .~ =nt; .,ungiaciated parts or avariety .jacent ° yoymposed ‘cor bw 4dad ’ *.éadsisedges, avariety ps adjacent ur io and with tundra Je . of 1sses, regions. Ssmall grasses, sedges, ,iM ee are TT). Cys, ”alpine “ cs gi iy .i < TY amak whewoody eaz sw:4 ‘ plants 'ants . 4 * ap he Cc A ai a , i . . " ; ' a und ay 1n al haa cticSaeB 2sent, which shrubs present, .are om ws “s e n and elzthe“ grow cun \ .: s; ae os fo ;tod : “ryTrry e 1on only commor

such as willows we 7 othe tches of soil. |, healom ni4ies eo. aspers tTs * ae GCS OO. .44 ni Lane 74% OW spersec WH JC. he a bare ESS Ne necoe cover was 1n rinental. Code. “id =| aS whe Mond .with *: staa ce Wit fhe Bs

Cc 44larier 4lacia continental frost ” . *“4 ~~ | rywas &CillTmMate en Was { YOntTIN ce toc i ; cy ae 4 TO S was ; jas& lmmers Che ;in a yn av. Frermatirc . Ioler 1: than th & | , . summers th . adecane :fall, Poult ly the entire landscape. and cooler, lying nearly the entire lar : eer .more nderiying “gan to h xtensive, underlying I go, began— tc .sane “nh extensive, yVCars ago, VCE (lle ole aavout sinear. ‘1'vegetation 77s) )wWane au é ot t C ul

placiers to war u ia. TheThi alpine «C iT:began 2. ko i O19 Me Bhi i pm #tundra . . ne “ci‘gn eo;‘ .* 5 Fiacier + me a 4 ie 44" eh ~~ oe gnout beringla. | gg illows, dwar ; f: tls rougnout perin: . ich willows, |hance ignifican Lyq sae :iy ay whi Wil fawa thd. a , 9 ACD ; nge signirmca oy sy a mara in npn a xe ‘ . og oh lhe i. , ~ Ee wa E vl . | ee c Pm * ; yg As t * _ a ' ’ nee © aie i . i * wl ' “ eye a . ial period was replac red. This vegetation chang rlacia LAC £ inate 1s yi a : oh, Goths 4 eee, 1 ALL y . n . " poy oy e. |4 ee | T: es, ana mos oY, arlirg eased MOIStuUrL , i mosses preaqomina yisture associate DIrCN, SCAEes, al 2G INcre. ty1warmer ORR emperatures ¢ c. |si e to temperatures sin ‘iy “7 Ee nse to warn ably a respons

with deglaciation. Some of that moisture increase was probably in the form

of deeper winter snows.

During deglaciation from about 14,000 to 10,000 years ago, runoff from melting ice on the continents caused a rapid rise of sea level, inundating the exposed continental shelves. As central Beringia was drowned by rising sea levels the maritime climatic influence of the Bering Sea spread inland, bringing increased moisture to adjacent land areas. The first trees to appear in Alaska in postglacial times were hardy poplars about 11,500 years ago. They made their appearance in the Norton Sound region about 11,000 years ago, adding a new component to its shrub tundra vegetation. Another new

, element, alder shrubs, migrated into the area about 7,500 years ago, forming

thickets with willows along streambanks and in protected hollows. Spruce trees began to appear on the eastern fringes of the region about 5,500 years ago after migrating westward from northwestern Canada via interior Alaska. Today white spruce reaches as far west as Bethel on the / Kuskokwim River (fig. 8) and the Andreievsky River in the Nulato Hills. White spruce and black spruce also now grow in the vicinity of the Bering Sea coast in eastern Norton Sound. The reconstruction of past environments from pollen evidence and other data suggests that during the interval when Eskimo cultures probably developed in western Alaska (fig. 290] the vegetation and fauna were not dramatically different from that of the present day. Climatic oscillations have occurred since glaciers receded, but most were too small to change the regional vegetation dramatically. These climate changes may have had significant impact upon the human populations of the region, however, by changing the length of winters, influencing the duration and distribution of pack ice, and perhaps affecting the population size and timing of migrations of mammals, birds, and fish. Ice Age animals once roamed the tundra of western Alaska and Beringia, and some of their remains are scattered around western Alaska. Among the few fossils in the Yukon—Kuskokwim region are the tusks, teeth, and bones of woolly mammoths, found by Eskimos in riverbeds and eroding from thawing river banks and coastal bluffs. Nelson recorded Eskimo myths that explained the occurrence of these impressive fossils: The bones of the mammoth which are found on the coast country of Bering sea and in the adjacent interior are said to belong to an animal known as the ki-lag-t-witik (ko-gukh -piik of the Yukon). The creature is claimed to live under ground, where it burrows from place

to place, and when by accident one of them comes to the surface, so that even the tip of its nose appears above ground and breathes the air, it dies at once. This explains the fact that the bones of these animals are nearly always found partly buried in the earth. The Eskimo say that these animals belong to the under world and for that reason the air of the outer world is fatal to them. (Nelson 1899: 443]

Eskimos also told Nelson tales of these animals having been observed digging with their enormous tusks in the beds of rivers. The tales usually recount the experience of someone else, the man who actually saw the wonderful sights either having died or not being available for corroboration.

The remains of other Ice Age animals that once inhabited this region have been found in frozen ground and in cave deposits in other areas of unglaciated Alaska and parts of the Yukon Territory (Harington 1978}. These animals include horses, large-horned bison, caribou, giant ground sloths, camels, Saiga antelopes, yaks, short-faced bears, lions, and muskox 41

(Péwé 1975, Harington 1978). Most of these species became extinct in Beringia before or during the waning phases of glaciation. Many that survived these large-scale extinctions live in Alaska today—wolves, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, and wolverines (fig. 13). The cause of these mass extinctions is still debated. In Alaska and the Yukon many of the extinctions coincide with dramatic changes in climate and vegetation, and also with the appearance of Early Man at scattered locations in Alaska between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago. Probably both environmental changes and hunting pressure by man contributed to the demise of many of these species. Native tradition holds that great tusked animals came in old times from the east and were later destroyed by a shaman from the river Kroichback. Others claim that the herd was merely driven into the earth, and that it comes back to graze and feed on earth only for one night each year (Hooper 1884:82). Land and Sea The belt bordering the Alaskan coast of Bering sea belonging to this

district is mainly low, and much of it consists of broad, marshy tracts which are but little above sea level. This is particularly the case in the large, roughly triangular area lying between the lower Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers. To the northward of this the country is more broken or rolling in character, rising gradually in many places to low mountainous masses, several hundred feet in height and coming down to the coast at intervals as bald headlands. The islands of Bering straits are small and rocky and rise precipitously from the water, as does much of the adjacent Siberian shore. St. Lawrence island is large and has an undulating surface with rocky headlands at intervals along the coast. (Nelson 1899:23)

The present-day Yukon—Kuskokwim Delta is a vast coastal lowland with an area of about 75,000 square kilometers. Most of the Delta is composed of wetland tundra. Sedges, grasses, and a variety of herbs predominate. Willows are the most common woody plants in the wet tundra. On lowland

surfaces with slightly better drainage other low woody plants occur together with willows—such as blueberry, bog cranberry, cloudberry, Labrador tea, and dwarf birch. Also important are mosses, sedges, grasses, and lichens (fig. 16). Northern boreal forest occurs in the interior of the Delta as far west as Bethel on the Kuskokwim and St. Marys on the Yukon River (fig. 8). These forests are composed primarily of white spruce, but paper birch and poplar also occur. Forests extend into some valleys of the Nulato Hills and reach the vicinity of the Bering Sea coast in eastern Norton Sound. Poplar trees grow along the region’s major rivers far beyond the western limit of spruce. The Delta is laced by a myriad of rivers and streams meandering across

the wetlands to the sea. A complex network of river, marine, lake, delta, :

and wind-blown sediments, the Delta is the product of two great rivers,

the Yukon and the Kuskokwim. Of the two, the Yukon is by far the largest, contributing 88 million tons of eroded earth each year to the Bering Sea

from a drainage basin substantially larger than the state of Texas. The Delta is a highly changeable environment, with frequent shifts in river channels and swift alterations in the shape of coastlines. The most abrupt and dramatic changes occur during severe storms in the Bering Sea and during spring breakup when ice jams divert the major river courses. The AD lowlands between river channels are sprinkled with thousands of lakes,

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10. Fishskin Bag ponds, and bogs (fig. 8) which cover between one-quarter to one-half of the Bering Sea Eskimos have identified the im- entire surface area of the Delta. Permafrost underlies much of the region portant qualities of the resources available = a4q contributes to the poor drainage by keeping water levels near the area, also supply people with oil and strong, | SUtface. Travel across this landscape is impossible except by boat during durable, waterproof skins. In addition to the summer, when one must follow meandering channels and lakes; it is fashioning fish skins into garments, Bering — easier when the land and waterways are frozen and straight courses can boots, and elegant containers, such as this | SOMetimes be maintained. Nelson, who traversed this country on foot

to them. Fish, a major food resource of the , : Sea Eskimos have made them into mittens, ;

clothing bag. during his epic sledge expedition in 1878-79, remarked many times on the Nushagak 37401, 33.5 cm high unusual nature of this terrain and its Eskimo inhabitants: , In all the coasting from the mouth of the Yukon to that of the Kuskokwim, excepting merely the small part covered by mountains ... the country is so low that the tide flows up the river from 10 to 50 miles, and we were frequently unable to find a fresh-water stream or lake from which to obtain drinking water, even when 20 to 30 miles from the coast. Bushes are scarce, being found sparingly on

some of the streams. Wood is an article of great scarcity and is frequently brought many miles by boat (in oomiaks) in summer. (Nelson 1882:10)

Within this huge expanse of marshy lowlands, framed by the Nulato Hills on the north, and the Kilbuck Mountains rising south of the Kuskokwim, one finds scattered low hills and mountain ranges emerging dramatically from the great expanse of wet lowlands covered with tundra and scattered

| thickets of willows and alders. Hardy alpine tundra occurs on the highest

rocky ridges and steep slopes. Eskimos have used these uplands as sources of stone, copper pigment, clay, useful plants, and game, especially caribou.

Some of these uplands, including St. Michael and Stuart islands and the _ Ingakslugwat Hills, in the central part of the Delta, are low volcanoes and _ lava flows probably less than a million years old. The volcanic history of

this region contributed to its unusual character. Although most of this 43

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activity preceded the appearance of man, some of the lava flows on Stuart ‘11. Legendary Creatures Island and in the low hills southeast of St. Michael appear young enough _ Bering Sea Eskimo mythology includes deto have been possibly witnessed by humans when they formed. On St. S¢™Pt0nswith of ice a changing world and showered withonce ashes.covered In distant Michael Island there are several volcanic craters. Some are occupied by times strange creatures inhabited the crater lakes, while others were drained when coastal erosion breached the vol- _ lakes of the Bering Sea regions’ volcanoes. canic deposits separating the lakes from the sea. Both the breached and —_T°4ay, slimy and dangerous creatures are said unbreached craters are incorporated in the Eskimo legends of the d-mi- carvings of a large, fierce seal monster and

‘ a to frequent the Delta. Illustrated here are

kuk, a dangerous beast. tiny, harmless-looking worm monster. The oo . . first is aa socketpiece to a sealing dart, the The d-mi-kuk is said to be a large, slimy, leathery-skin sea animal second an amulet.

with four long arms; it is very fierce and seizes a hunter in his kaiak Kushunuk 36477, 19 cm; 36894, 3.8 cm at sea, dragging both under the water. When it pursues a man it is useless for him to try to escape, for if he gets upon the ice the beast will swim below and burst up under his feet; should he reach the shore the creature will swim through the earth in pursuit as easily as through the water. Near St. Michael the people believe that these creatures swim from the sea up through the land to some land-locked lakes in the craters of extinct volcanoes and to similar inland places. Several dry lake-beds were shown to me in that vicinity as having been drained by these animals when they swam out to the sea, leaving a channel made by their passage through the earth. It is said that if the d-miRkuk returns the water follows from the sea and again fills the lake. The idea of this creature may have had its origin in the octopus. (Nelson 1899:442)

Thunderbirds, featured in many Eskimo legends, created and nested in dry craters in the tops of volcanoes: Very long ago there were many giant eagles or thunderbirds living in the mountains, but they all disappeared except a single pair which made their home on the mountain top overlooking the Yukon River near Sabotnisky. The top of this mountain was round, and the eagles had hollowed out a great basin on the summit which they used for their nest, around the edges of which was a rocky rim from which they could look down upon the large village near the water’s edge. (Nelson 1899:486}

Nelson also recorded tales of apparent volcanic ash falls in the region

that almost certainly had a factual basis, for on rare occasions southerly winds carry ash clouds from erupting volcanoes in the Aleutians and per-

44 haps the Alaska Peninsula to the Yukon—Kuskokwim Delta.°

The Eskimo have various traditions of occurrences long past. One very old woman on the lower Yukon told me she had heard related by old people when she was a girl that showers of matter like ashes fell there very long ago. The first shower of ashes she heard of was quite deep, killing fish in the rivers and causing the death of many people by starvation. At St. Michael an old man related that before the Russians came to the country he knew of one fall of a strange substance like ashes which covered the ground like a slight fall of snow and adhered to

| whatever it fell upon so that when rubbed off from wood it left a

polished appearance. This man said that such showers were known to have taken place at widely distant intervals and that people were very much frightened by them. These accounts undoubtedly refer to falls of volcanic ashes from eruptions taking place in the Aleutian islands and other points in

this region, and are interesting as showing the manner in which occurrences of this kind are treasured in the memories of these people. (Nelson 1899: 449-50)

Human life in this region is also strongly affected by the Arctic climate and stormy weather, which often have severe consequences for people whose life is dependent on hunting and fishing. Violent storms sweep in across the Bering Sea from the southwest where they are spawned in the western Aleutian Islands. The most violent storms from this direction come between mid-August and the end of November. In winter, storms often strike from the north and northeast, and can bring frigid Arctic air with temperatures below — 40 degrees F. During a dogsled journey across the Delta in December and January, 1878, Nelson experienced severe winter storms, which he later described: The country in the region between the mouths of the Yukon and Kuskoquim is principally low and marshy, and during two weeks of the time spent in traversing it violent storms of snow, rain, and sleet accompanied by high winds prevailed. During this time my bedding became saturated with moisture, as did also my clothing, and day after day forced marches were made over a country covered with slush and water. At night a miserable shelter was improvised from our sledges or found in the underground huts of the natives. These storms finally culminated in a terrific gale as I approached the seacoast south of Cape Vancouver, and just at sunset, by great good | fortune, I reached a couple of huts built on a knoll about 5 miles from the coast. The best of them was flooded with water, leaving a space about 3 feet wide of bare ground around the sides, but in going

| out and in we were forced to wade through a foot of water all along the entrance passage. Here my interpreter and myself crouched against

: the wall in silent misery for two days, while one of the most violent tempests I ever witnessed swept over the desolate tundra. This wind was accompanied by a dense fog and, after two days, when we continued our journey to the coast, we found that the gale had caused an extraordinary high tide the previous day, and the rising sea, bearing a massive sheet of ice, had swept over all the low coast lands to

| the base of the small knolls where we had found shelter. Had we

been delayed half an hour in reaching these knolls on the night of our arrival we must inevitably have missed them and been lost in the overwhelming mass of ice that covered the low land of all this district.

| Such floods, covering the region along the Lower Kuskoquim at intervals of three or four years, usually raze some of the native villages, and in some cases people and all have been swept away. (Nelson 1887:14) 45

In late October ice begins to form in the northern Bering Sea and along the coast. Freeze-up usually occurs by mid-November, forming a broad shelf of shore-fast ice along the coast, beyond which pack ice drifts almost constantly in response to currents and winds. In late December at this latitude, the duration of sunlight plus twilight is about 7 hours per day. By comparison, at Point Barrow in northern Alaska

light is restricted to only about 3.5 hours of twilight per day. e Spring breakup of sea and river ice usually begins in mid-May, but some cor 3 g : 2 8 :

sea ice persists until mid-June in most years. Breakup of the river ice is ir a

accompanied by extensive flooding of lowlands, rapid erosion of river banks, of ol =

and occasional major shifts in the course of rivers. O57 me ne jay Summers in most coastal areas such as Nunivak and Nelson islands are : . “a Eee.

cool and windy, with frequent fog and light rains. Inland from the coast, “104 45 = _ - i Mean

in places like Bethel on the Kuskokwim, the climate becomes more con- |_| 4 a tinental, with less wind and fog, and warmer summer temperatures (fig. a Be january

mid-July at this latitude. s i

12). Sunlight plus twilight lasts twenty-four hours a day from late May to. | | Mean temperature

Another atmospheric feature noted by all who travel in the north is the - “

aurora borealis, or ‘Northern Lights.’’ While not affecting weather, it never-

theless has a strong psychological effect on people, and is acommon subject en] 1s a =

of mythology in the Bering Sea region as elsewhere in the circumpolar my Od Bae Arctic. There was a belief among people here that the shifting curtains of 200 _ S light of the aurora were caused by boys playing ball across the sky with a oo} 5 Bt et ee nee walrus skull, while the galaxy was the track made by Raven’s snowshoes oto - f. while walking across the sky. Nelson, revealing his Western background, Mean annual precipitation described the aurora with a different intent, but in an equally elegant 45. Temperature Variation in Western

manner in his meteorological observations for the Signal Corps: Alaska September 28 (8 to 11:30 p. m.)—An aurora of three arches arranged in the north. The middle arch gave out long pencils, streamers, and

curtains of light in wavy motion and at times extremely bright, |

traversed with waves of green violet, and rose-red, besides strawyellow and white. The display of colors was generally seen accompanying the waving, curtain-like masses of light which hung down-

ward from the middle arch. The lower arch wavered and threw out , streamers a few times, but held a very secondary place in the display,

while the outer arch appeared like a pale reflection of one of the others, and the only changes it gave were a waxing and waning of

the light as the lower arches brightened or faded. The bases of the |

two inferior arches were close together. Temperature fell the next day. (Nelson, in Hooper 1884:94)

Living Things | . ,

Edward Nelson’s energetic efforts as a collector were not restricted to , ethnographic subjects. During his four years in Alaska he made significant oo |

contributions to the region’s natural history (Nelson 1882, 1887), previ- |

ously studied by Lavrentii A. Zagoskin (in Michael 1967}, William H. Dall , , (1870), and Lucien M. Turner (1886}. His collections included nearly 2,000 bird skins and 1,500 eggs, 370 mammal pelts and skulls, 50 species of fish, and small collections of butterflies and vascular plants, the latter probably originating from John Muir’s work on the 1881 cruise of the Corwin (Muir 1917). In addition to describing these specimens, Nelson compiled information on species distribution, habitat, and behavior, with frequent ref-

erence to methods employed by the Eskimos in obtaining and utilizing

46 them.

14. Fish Utilized by the Eskimos of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta— Norton Sound Region

COMMON NAME GENUS AND SPECIES ESKIMO NAME

: Arctic lamprey Lampetra japonica (A) nemersag

Herring Clupea harengus [A] igalluarpak Sheefish (nelma} Stenodus leuichthys (A) Cil

Whitefish, cisco Coregonus spp. (A, F} gaurtug 13. Mammals Commonly Utilized by the Eskimos of the Dolly varden or salmon — Salvelinus malma |F) iqallugpik

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta—Norton Sound Region trout Pink salmon, humpback Oncorhynchus tikh-tik:

COMMON NAME GENUS AND SPECIES ESKIMO NAME gorbuscha (A)

LAND MAMMALS: King or chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tarsaqvak

Caribou Rangifer tarandus tuntu tshawytscha |A)

Black bear Ursus americanus tan’gerlig Coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch {A} chy-u-yak Grizzly or brown bear Ursus arctos taqukagq Chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta (A) nti-ka’ Polar bear Ursus maritimus nanuaq Sockeye or red salmon Oncorhynchus nerka (A) ugutrlig

Wolf Canis lupus kegluneq Grayling Thymallus arcticus (F] culugpauk

Red Fox Vulpes vulpes kariag nik

Arctic fox Alopex lagopus gaterliarag Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax (S) hl’-ko-6g°-0Least weasel Mustela nivalis teriag Alaska blacktish Dallia pectoralis {F) imangag

Mink Mustela vison imarmiutag Pickerel Esox lucius (F) manignag cuukvak Wolverine Gulo gulo gavcik Burbot or losh Lota lota (F) River otter Lutra canadensis cinkaq Bering wolf-tish Anahicus orientalis (S) gaculluk Snowshoe hare Lepus americanus magaruag Arctic cod Boreogadus saida (S] iqalluaq

Tundra hare Lepus timidus gayugegglig Tomcod or saffron cod — Eleginus gracilis (S} igalluaq

Arctic ground squirrel Spermophilus parryii cikik Ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius (S, F) = i-luk-chugtik Beaver Castor canadensis palugtag Sculpin Cottus sp., Muskrat Ontatra zibethicus iligvak Myoxocephalus sp. (S) ——Brown lemming Lemmus sibiricus gilagmiutag Arctic flounder Liopsetta glacialis |S) naternaqd

Porcupine Erethizon dorsatus il’anqucig KEY: (A) Anadromous

Shrew Sorex dorsatum uugnaragd (F) Freshwater

MARINE MAMMALS: (S) Saltwater

Bowhead whale Balena mysticetus arved Adapted from Turner 1886; Nelson 1887; Morrow 1974 Beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas __cetuag ee Ret whale seal Sees Orca ans aru * k 15. Birds Utilized by the Eskimos of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta—

Pacific walrus Odobenus rosmarus asveq Norton Sound Region

Harbor seal Phoca vitulina nayiq COMMON NAME GENUS AND SPECIES ESKIMO NAME

Spotted seal Phoca largha — Pelavic cormorant ~ Phal elavicus —_—— ——_ Ringed seal Phoca hispida issurig chagic cormorant "4 acrocorax pelagicus agasuug

.f: | Canada Branta canadensis Pacific bearded sealgoose Erignathus barbatus maklak B & Btuutangayak bernicl leal bay Sea otter Enhydris lutris one” Emperor goose Philacte canagica nacaullek Ribbon seal Phoca fasciata gasgulig Whistling swan Olor columbianus qugsuk

re Eumetopias stelleri wi-ntik Greater white-fronted Anser albifrons leqlegq Adapted from Nelson goose EEE Snow goose1887 Chen caerulescens kangug

Mallard duck Anas platyrhynchos ugsugerpak Common pintail Anas acuta uqsuqaq Old-squaw | Clangula hyemalis Gh-li-hla-gttk Common eider Somateria mollissima metrag King eider Somateria spectabilis gengallek Spectacled eider Somateria fischeri ang-ti’

hawk Buteo lagopus | pi-to-ghtiké | Bald eagle HaliaeetusRough-legged leucocemetervik

phalus | Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus ka-gokh -tuk | Willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus agesgig

Rock ptarmigan Lagopus muticus ung-d-wik?

Sandhill crane Grus canadensis lat-slhuk: Glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus kukisvak Herring gull Larus argentatus naruyagliq Crested auklet Aethia cristatella ——

Murre Uria spp. alpag

Horned puffin Fratercula corniculata qaterpak

Tufted puffin Lunda cirrhata qulangag Snowy owl Nyctea scandiaca ungpek Short-eared owl Asio flarnmeus menggucivak? Northern raven Corvus corax tulukaruk

Union Checklist 47

Adapted from Nelson 1887; Klein 1966; American Ornithological

16. Edible Plants Utilized by Eskimos of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta COMMON NAME GENUS AND SPECIES ESKIMO NAME ADDITIONAL USES

Rockweed (seaweed} Fucus sp. —— — Fern Dryopteris dilatata cetuguar ——

Diamond-leaf willow Salix planifolia —— sore treatment Felt-leaf willow Salix alaxensis uqvigpak chewing gum; added to tobacco

Willow Salix glauca enrilnguaq = many

Wild potato Claytonia tuberosa ulgig —— Mountain sorrel Oxyria digyna quunartiarraat—— Sourdock Rumex articus quagcig medicinal tea

Bistort Polygonum spp. soochluké — | Seabeach sandnat Honckenya peploides —— —— Marsh marigold Caltha palustris allngiguag =—— Pallas buttercup Ranunculus pallasii kapuukarag) = ——

Roseroot Sedum rosea cuglamcaraat sore treatment

Spiked saxifrage Saxifraga spicata muchuktulak: —— Cordate-leaved saxifrage Saxifraga punctata —— —— Northern red currant Ribes triste — —Northern black currant Ribes hudsonianum —— —Marsh firefinger Potentilla palustris pingayunelgen ——

Cloudberry, salmonberry Rubus chamaemorus atsalugpiaqg) © —— |

Nagoonberry Rubus arcticus puyuraar ——_~

Fireweed Epilobium angustifolium — ciilqaaq medicinal tea Dwart fireweed Dpilobium catifolium angukog? ——

Mare’s tail Hippuris spp. tayarut — Wild celery Angelica lucida ikiituk ritual; purification

Beach lovage Ligusticum scoticum mecugelugag ——

Hemlock parsley Conioselinum chinense —— — Bunchberry Cornus spp. — cinggullektag —— Crowberry Empetrum nigrum tan’gerpak = ——

Blueberry Vaccinium uliginosum curag +

Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea kitngig a Cranberry Oxycoccus microcarpus tumaglig —— Labrador tea Ledum palustre ayug burned as a cure or to

(decumbens) drive out ghosts; medicinal tea

Alpine bearberry Arctostaphylos alpina —— ——

Red-fruit bearberry Arctostaphylos rubra — —-

Wooly louswort Pedicularis kanei — — Beach sunflower Senecio pseudo-arnica —— —_— Cotton grass Eriophorum utag mats; socks;

48 | angustifolium medicine Horsetail Fguisetum spp. getek —— Legume Astragalus polaris —— —__— . Stinkweed Artenisia telesii qanganaruag wound dressing; medicinal tea Avens Dryas octopetala kiyuk? —— False-camomile Matricana suaveolens atsarudg medicinal tea matricarioides

Some Other Utilized Plants: .

Fungi Fomes pinicola igmik added to tobacco and snuff

Bluegrass Poa spp. evget boot lining; diapers Rye grass Elymus arenarius — baskets; mats Compositae Petasites spp. galtaruag added to tobacco and snuff

. tainers; canoes Larch Larix laricina elriguq bows; arrows; padMoss Sphagnum spp. urut lamp wicks; diapers

White spruce | Picea glauca mingquinguag many

Birch Betula papyrifera u’linguk snowshoes; condles

Adapted from Oswalt 1957; Lantis 1959; Fries 1977; Ager and Ager 1980; Hultén 1968; Heller 1966; Ager, unpublished data; Young and Hall 1969.

pe EES Nelson’s work shows the biological resources of the Bering Sea coastal ar") ae region to be abundant and diverse in comparison with Arctic regions farther

/ “ as @ ‘e north. However, most of this relatively rich resource base is available for ep ia only about five months of the year. The challenge is to survive during the eee long winter, when resources are very limited and the climate is severe.

A WA Mammals heavily utilized by the Eskimo include seals, walrus, and

pe Me , beluga. Other sea mammals occur in the region, but are less abundant and

tn. | ., Mn are used on an opportunistic basis (fig. 13). On shore, small mammals 1 —) —_— ee abundant in the wetlands include muskrats, hares, weasels, and mink.

ai ue ge ag Farther inland, particularly within the forested regions, black bears are ie ae common. Caribou, of primary importance to man for food and materials, ee at were once present throughout the upland country during much of the _ nineteenth century. By 1877, however, they had disappeared and during 17. Polar Bears Nelson’s four years of residency and travel in areas of their former abunPolar bears are often associated with Eskimo dance not a single animal was seen, although their earlier trails, deeply subsistence. However, this animal is rarely | worn into the landscape, were plainly evident. Only on Nunivak Island found south of Norton Sound, preferring to Wag a herd still extant. Nelson attributed this to the introduction of fireice edge. Periodically polar bears appear in afms and subsequent excessive and sometime wanton human exploitation,

stay north, where it hunts seals along the . ,

the south, having been carried down the coast —_ but natural cycles and disease may also have contributed (Nelson 1887:285,

the bears begin to travel north. -_ ; , , ’ on floating ice. However, upon reachingland — Bureh 1972], In addition to these large animals, many others such as fox A drag handle has been carved in the form Wolf, wolverine, beaver, porcupine, and ground squirrel have been imporof a polar bear with a seal, a favorite food, tant resources for the Eskimos.

een a charm which dangled from a woman’s

- its mouth, The tiny polar bear may have People living in the Yukon—Kuskokwim region depend to a great extent needlecase to protect her from possible at- | Upon its rich fish resources (fig. 14). Some salt, brackish, and freshwater tack by a bear that might mistake her fora species, especially tomcod and blacktfish, are available all winter long.

seal. | During the summer months great numbers of salmon enter the region’s Sledge Island 176217, 55 cm; 45184, 2 cm rivers and streams from the Bering Sea and along with herring, lampreys, burbot (losh], blackfish, whitefish, needlefish, and grayling provide a large

a 4 ee and relatively stable source of food and materials. | ,

vip ere eS, The vast wetlands of the Delta are a stopping-over point and nesting ph, Bets ae area for several million migratory birds (fig. 15}. Waterfowl and shorebirds | Apa ee Bea, are the most numerous of these, arriving in early May and remaining until Ty Wie ee ee early autumn. Eskimos eat the meat and in some cases the eggs of geese, Ae SESS ad ducks, swans, cranes, shorebirds, seabirds, and ptarmigan. In addition,

ad feathers, bones, and entire bird skins are often utilized for manufacturing ee a wide variety of utilitarian, ornamental, and ceremonial objects. Few bird

eee on” species remain through the long winter. Snowy owls, gyrfalcons, ravens, eo, meni ptarmigan, chickadees, and along the coast some sea ducks, such as eider

. *. “pee - and stay behind if patches of open water remain. See Of the 450old-squaw, known species of vascular plants available, at least 38 have Le been used by the Eskimo population for food (fig. 16). Many additional ee” species have been used for ritual and medicinal purposes, as raw materials

le for manufacturing utilitarian objects, tobacco additives, fuel for heating

eget al ae and for smoking fish, dyes for coloring hides or grass, and other purposes.

— . A... Of these, grass is by far the most important. The only plant material of

Sd a greater importance is driftwood. Driftwood logs of spruce and occasionally - . logs of paper birch and poplar float down the river channels and are carried 18. Forest-dwelling Animals out to sea to be deposited unevenly along the coast of the Bering Sea.

less coast.

The interior forest-covered regions of west- Driftwood is critical for the survival of Bering Sea Eskimo culture as known, ern Alaska support a variety of sraallmam- being a source of firewood, building material for dwellings and caches, fishmals, including porcupines, ermine, and — drying racks, kayaks, tools and weapons, bowls, ceremonial masks, and a marten, which are not present on the tree- host of other items

Koyuk 44070, 5 cm, Cape Vancouver 43578, Nonvascular plants such as lichens and mosses have been used for a 4 cm; Nubviukhchugaluk 44029, 2 cm variety of purposes, among them food, caulking, bandage pads, and diapers. 49

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iUo name CC “OREM; 0 Se Ss vo! VS. 2A TEE Goo . ONeee Pee Cf cf eat a-

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Waterfowl EF SS ——_—="™§™=Er—=€™—=é='-_ =F — Waterfowl and seabird eggs =. r—“‘iti—C—C—C HO VEGETABLE FOODS

Berries ee Oye

Greens, roots, seaweed eee ah

20. Seasonal Cycle of Food Resources from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to Kotzebue Sound About 1880

At least one type of marine algae (Fucus) is collected for food at low tide | in spring and early summer when it is covered with herring eggs. Many

| other types of marine life including crabs, clams, and mussels are also , utilized for food and decorations on clothing and ritual objects.

Bering Sea Eskimo Economy The visit of the Walruses to the beaches of Bristol Bay occurs in June, and they remain there only a few days and sometimes only a few hours. I know of one party of hunters who camped a month on one of these hauling grounds waiting for the Walruses. Finally, becoming tired of staying in camp, all hands went egging one day and returned to find, much to their disgust, that the Walruses had been there and vanished again. (Nelson 1887:268}

In order to take advantage of the seasonal changes in wildlife Bering Sea : Eskimos have developed a “seasonal round” that permits them to make Jot efficient use of game available at different places andtimes during the year “F*——

(figs. 19, 20). For the most part, these changes are broadly predictable from | |

one year to the next, and this fact is the major determinant in establishing q one’s village location. Winter freeze-up reduces animal lifetoaminimun a and makes any that remain difficult to catch; this creates the most serious :

challenge to survival for Eskimo people. With the coming of spring there { | is a huge influx of migratory animals that have taken refuge in southern ett bl. regions, whose phased reappearance in the north is a marvel of orchestra- —_ tion. For most Eskimo villages in this region late winter is a time of hardship a

occasioned by dwindling supplies of stored food, of oil for the lamps, and Ce of driftwood for heating and cooking. When weather permits, women and a

children fish through the sea ice for crab, tomcod, flounder, and sculpin, q

and snare ptarmigan, while people living in the Delta live off blackfish _ ttl. from their traps. The men set seal nets under the ice, but there is little gga ae

game stirring about. During the frequent spells of bad weather activity [| ae

centers in the house and gasgig where equipment and clothes are prepared | gg ~ for the coming spring hunts. a «a Finally, in early April, the signs of spring are at hand. Gulls appear, Oe ae

dipping and wheeling far out over the ice as cracks and leads begin to open . eg toward the shore. Men load their kayaks on their sleds and travel out to Vee the ice edge where they find seals gathering, fresh from their dens with Se ey

pups, feeding on fish amidst the broken ice. Soon walrus and bearded seals ~~ ae a appear, the former heading north through the broken ice to their summer — Tg tee” ground north of Bering Strait, the latter working toward shore from their _

- wintering places in the open ocean leads. Ina successful year many animals 21. Rising Seal are killed and brought home to provide the season’s first fresh meat, and While a hunter waits for a seal at the breath-

. ; , ing hole, he remains quiet, listening for the

many hours will be spent processing food materials and blubber, making — ggund of air bubbles rising to the surface, for seal floats and air bladders for harpoons, cleaning intestines for gutskin _ they signal the seal’s approach. This wooden

clothing, and replacing worn harpoon parts with new ivory fittings. hair seal maskoid, worn in a festival, has a

,; ; shaft with five wooden disks attached to it

By early May the lakes and rivers begin to thaw and snow melts from representing air bubbles being exhaled as the the land, revealing patches of ground and wintered-over berries which seal rises. This imaginative piece, made of attract flocks of ptarmigan. The bays open and the sea is filled with drifting twisted sinew, wood, and blue, red, and black pack ice. At this time the first migratory birds arrive: loons, cranes, eiders, and the wide-ranging creative talent of Escormorants, and geese. Sealing slacks off with the disappearance of the kimo artists and craftsmen. pack ice, and murres, auklets, and other seafowl arrive to establish their | Lower Yukon 33115, 11 cm (head length)

. Co, ; ; . , ; pigments, typifies the perception of nature

rookeries. In the north, where caribou are still found, there is a spring hunt; , bears are taken after leaving their dens, and ground squirrels are trapped

52. for their fine fur, used in making summer parkas.

22. Birds By late May the coastal rookeries swarm with roosting birds. Eskimo The Yukon-Kuskokwim wetlands are vis- | adventurers, hanging over the cliffs with nets, take hundreds of birds and ited yearly by millions of migratory birds ag9g many of each are eaten while others are packed in sealskin pokes area. Nelson and others have described the and stored in the permafrost cache pits. The herring runs begin in early huge flocks that gather throughout western June, and by mid-June the first of the migratory fish strike the coast and Alaska, While most species leave the north — enter the rivers where they are caught in great numbers. The king salmon is never completely abandoned—some sea appears first, followed over the course of six to eight weeks by dog salmon, birds, snowy owls, ptarmigan, andravensare king, humpback, coho, red, and others. Although present longer in the among the birds that stay. Nelson’s experi: rivers the main runs clear the coast by mid-August, leaving people there activities, for he played a major role in es- | in a slack period when there are only a few seals and bottom fish. During

that arrive in early spring and breed in the ; ; . a

with the approach of winter, the landscape

ence in Alaska must have influenced his later / /

tablishing some of the first international this time fish are dried and stored, and vegetable foods like sour dock treaties which protect migratory birds. leaves and salmonberries (cloudberries) are harvested. A euphoric spirit

t ! ; ar

St. Michael 49189, 2.4 cm; Kotzebue Sound ervades. It is a time for wandering about the land, for hunting the occa37722, 3.5 cm; Golovnin Bay 43313,3.2cm PetVvaces. | 8 unting C sional caribou on Nunivak Island or the seal that chances by. Nets are

made and repaired, and driftwood is gathered. Pods of beluga are hunted

along the shallow shores and in the rivers they appear, and 23. ch Fish . capture brings great rejoicing. Long tripswhenever are also made by umiak to their visit Salt, brackish, and freshwater fish are the lati d to trade | l terial d f ded d mainstay of Bering Sea Eskimo economy, _ {€latives and to trade local materials and wares for needed goods.

During the summer rivers and streams team During the summer months the villages along the major river channels with salmon, as well as whitelish, Diac cfish, are fully occupied with the fish runs. People from the lake country partomcod and blackfish continue to inhabit “Cipate by moving temporarily to the rivers to fish and gather precious the inland waterways. The blackfish is par. driftwood which they transport back into the tundra villages. Other tundra ticularly notewortiy, for this tiny fish has villagers remain at home fishing for whitefish, pickerel, pike, and other © capabliity OF Surviving Deng tozen fish that have ascended the streams to spawn and feed on blackfish in the nuk 176226, 8 cm; St. Michael 33366, 6 cm, Shallow takes and streams. Mere too, arge num ers of waterfowl have

grayling, and herring. During the winter - os ; ;

Sfugunugumut 37179, 13 cm; Lower Kushu- hall lal d H | b f fowl h

Konigunugumut 37739, 12 cm gathered to nest, and are harvested with their eggs.

ee, bed ASR = _-..* ef Oe i a: ® MNES awe®cere

August is the time of the great bird drives on the lakes, with people from many villages teaming up to capture huge numbers of moulting ducks and geese with nets and spears. Along the coast and rivers silver salmon run and herring eggs are gathered. Throughout the land, in August and September, berries ripen and are gathered for mixing with meat and seal oil to make a delicacy known as agoutak. These and other vegetable foods are gathered and stored for winter use.

Despite increasingly stormy weather, coastal people continue to net seals

in September, but at this time of year attention everywhere is riveted on the assembling of large flocks of migratory ducks, geese, and cranes and the stopping over of thousands of other nonresidents heading south from northern summer grounds in Alaska and Siberia. The last of July, and during August, the cranes frequent the hillsides, and feast upon the berries growing there, and early in September the small flocks, which have been trooping about from one feed-

ing ground to another, join into larger companies, until toward the last of the month—from the 18th to the 30th—they pass to the south,

making the air resonant with their guttural notes as they file away toward the Yukon. The Eskimo say that once, very long ago, a pretty woman was out picking berries, when a great flock of cranes gathered

near, and circling about suddenly closed about the unfortunate girl, and taking her upon their broad backs, soared away toward the sky, where they vanished, drowning the girl’s cries meanwhile by their own hoarse chorus. Since taken the girl has never been seen by man, but the cranes to this day retain their habit of making a loud outcry, and soaring in flocks, in autumn, as a reminiscence of this abduction. (Nelson 1887:95]

At this time grass is cut and dried to be made into baskets, mats, and boot te

insoles, while driftwood collecting and fish drying continue. And in Oc- Aa i

tober, smelts and tomcod are caught, while the hunters make their last ee catch of beluga and attempt to intercept the southern walrus migration. D/L PAR NS \ With the first snow huge flocks of ptarmigan congregate and fly south Lh MLA ENN through the river valleys entering the eastern end of Norton Sound, where bd LEA AS | they are caught at twilight by hunters concealed on the tundra with long Ni a eae eal

nets. As winter descends and the lakes and small rivers freeze, large num- Na ji lS bers of whitefish are taken as they abandon the tundra ponds and lakes for ala HH the main river channels where they remain for the winter. Dried whitefish ' WN GR ee OR

and summer salmon constitute much of the diet of the tundra Eskimos SSN” | during the winter, when there is little fresh food other than the occasional 8S Cn BA AE 7

migan. 24. | Willow Root Basket | small mammal, the ever-present but life-sustaining blacktfish, and the ptar-

December is the time to prepare for the festival season which continues Linde of aeseulae dae carly forty different throughout early winter when subsistence activities are curtailed by lim- also used for medicinal and ceremonial purited hours of daylight, scarcity of animals, and stormy weather. Fur trap- _—-POSes and as fuel, and colors extracted from ping, important even before Europeans came, and long sled trips to visit i, woven into socks, containers, and mats, relatives and to trade with neighboring groups or, lately, at European posts and spruce and willow roots are used as lashare also undertaken. As winter draws on, however, much of the festival ing materials and are made into coiled basatmosphere is dissipated as villages run out of food and fuel and can no throughout western Alaska. Therefore, raw longer proudly host the elaborate festivals of early winter. Time passes materials and manufactured items, such as

. . Lo plants are used to dye skins. In addition, grass qe ; kets. All plants are not available uniformly

slowly, punctuated by periodic crises and hardship until the cycle is re- teh willow root basket, are traded

newed by the spring seal hunt. | og | | Cape Darby 48123, 8 cm (diameter|

Although many animals are present in the Bering Sea region and its adjoining lands, few of these species occur throughout its range. Large differences in the upland and lowland ecology of the Delta, its rivers, and 54 along the Bering Sea coast result in regional specialization on certain types

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When Nelson was in Alaska he studied the ™ prm ee ~~ F

habits of the emperor goose, the whichski breeds in ag. ad th Bering Sea Eski YY e area. Bering Sea Eskimos use the skins = of this bird to make parkas, such as this mag-

nificent piece from Cape Vancouver. Trans- | formations between men and animals figure prominently in Bering Sea Eskimo mythology. Moving along the tundra, the man wear-

ing this garment must have appeared to be part man, part bird. Cape Vancouver 48336, 148 cm

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of game, and the need for exchange among peoples of different regions who 26. Caribou Herds require materials for tools and other goods not available in their districts. Herds of caribou once roamed throughout Large whales migrate past St. Lawrence Island, through Bering Strait, and —-*h¢,_ upland regions of the Yukon Kuskokwim. However in 1877, when Nelson aralong the coast of northwestern Alaska in the spring and early summer. _tived at St. Michael, the Nunivak Island herd They do not enter the shallow waters of Norton Sound off the coast south was the only one in existence. The deeply to the Kuskokwim, although dead whales may wash up there and are used. = W0™, caribou trails that crisscrossed the Walrus have a similar migration pattern following the receding ice pack to suggest the animals’ former abundance.

a. . mainland landscape were all that remained

north, but can be caught in many places in spring and fall, while beluga The arrowshaft straightener is a vital immay be encountered along the shore and in river mouths throughout sum- _—P/ement in a hunter’s tool kit, and is used mer. Fish, birds, and other game have similar variations in regional abun- used to hunt caribou, birds, and fish. Ar-

, , to straighten the wooden shafts of arrows

dance. rowshaft straighteners are usually made out Regional patterns are reflected in subsistence hunting statistics com- _% toush fossil ivory which is found eroding

; ; out of thawing permafrost banks.

paring relative numbers of sea mammals, land mammals, fish, and birds 5, a tnlet 64159. 17.5 cm

utilized at four locations between Kotzebue and the Kuskokwim in the 1970s (fig. 19). Buckland, north of Bering Strait, derives nearly all its subsistence food from a combination of seals, walrus, white whales, and caribou and moose. The village of Wales, located at Bering Strait, specializes in hunting large sea mammals, often including large whales (although none were caught in 1972), with only meager contributions from other sources. Golovin, at the head of Norton Sound, depends on salmon and other fish combined with smaller amounts of birds, land game, and seals. Kwethluk, a village in the Kuskokwim Delta, takes seventy-six percent of its local food from fish and also has the highest vegetable values of the four.

During Nelson’s time some of these differences would have been more , accentuated since Wales would have been more involved in whaling and walrus hunting, while the dependency in Kwethluk on fishing would have been modified by increased takes of birds. The figures nevertheless provide

a key to former economic variations that were important factors in main- ,

taining regional cultural and linguistic diversity. Regional ecological variation also provided a buffer against the inevitable hunting failures that strike these localities at one time or another. Notes

1. Many aspects of the geological and bio- tol Bay (Ager 1982a), and the Pribilof Islands logical history of this land connection have —_ (Colinvaux 1981). been discussed in Hopkins (1967,1973,1979), 3. One such ash layer forms a useful marker

and Hopkins and others (1982). horizon in lakes in the region (Ager 1982a,

2. Important localities from which late Pleis- 1982b). Radiocarbon dates suggest that the tocene and Holocene pollen assemblages have ash fell about 5,000 years ago, somewhat ear-

been described in western Alaska include lier than the oldest known Eskimo cultures

several on Seward Peninsula (e.g. Colinvaux in the region (Giddings 1967}. Other less dra-

1964, Matthews 1974; Hopkins and others matic ash falls probably occurred since that 1982), St. Michael Island in Norton Sound time but have not yet been documented in

(Ager 1982a, 1982b], Yukon Delta, and Bris- the region. : 96

Blank Page

When Raven reached the pea vine he found three other men had just fallen from the pea-pod that gave the first one [first man]. These men, like the first, were

looking about them in wonder, and Raven led them away in an opposite direction from that in which he had taken the first man, afterward bringing them to firm land close to the sea. Here they stopped, and Raven remained with them a long time, teaching them

how to live. He taught them how to make a fire-drill , and bow from a piece of dry wood and a cord, taking the wood from the bushes and small trees he had

, caused to grow in hollow and sheltered places on the hillside. He made for each of the men a wife, and also made many plants and birds such as frequent the seacoast, but fewer kinds than he had made in the

land where the first man lived. He taught the men to oe make bows and arrows, spears, nets, and all the a implements of the chase and how to use them; also

, how to capture the seal which had now become , plentiful in the sea. After he had taught them how to make kayaks, he showed them how to build houses of : drift logs and bushes covered with earth. _

- Nelson 1899:455—56 Oo —_ ~ ,

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Se gee ee ee gee ee re eee ee ee So Sag eg ae eae 2 oe eee ee ee ep pte Be Se ene peter see ee 2 a EET = REESE Rees ee ene ee ee Rc eee re arom nte ge eer eee anes seme aes as 208 SSeS ee eee eae eee SE Ss ket ga NE a eee eee ee See eset aoe Cr Ea eee Se | gee ee eee Rae ts se eae

SP ae se ee oS RE eee EO Eee a eee ae 2 SEE UU Soon Eanes Br Sees RISE ee Sages engage Ge eS STS Lee MY Serta oa SE SRE Pe auger poe eee a Sen eg dea SS Gyielaa Soa sg Se SIM ee eee erie ne es {oe ee Be

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Q\ Q J ’ , 682 \Ss Ree (CAC tree. » .

Se Nee SS ®

Pie ee el i Cn KE EEE

Spring Hunt 41. Bladder Dart Socketpieces and Points In May, with the coming of open water, hunters drag their kayaks across Bladder dart socketpieces often display land the shore ice on small sleds to the open leads and moving pack ice beyond. or sea predators whose cunningness is en- — Here they find large numbers of seals basking on the ice and feeding on success. These harpoon parts portray a tomcod and other fish. Launching their kayaks they begin one of the most Kuskokwim wolf with green-pigmented eyes productive hunts of the year, for the seals are concentrated in a small area, and ferocious red teeth, and an abstract (bee and there are many young which have not yet learned to be wary of man. simple cylindrical northern form from Nor- The principal weapon used for the spring hunt and for capturing small

gaged spiritually to enhance the hunter’s .

luga?) form. They may be compared with the , : ’ ton Sound. Points are mounted in inset split seals in open water in summer and early fall is the bladder dart. This wooden plugs that help absorb the shock of — Harpoon, only slightly longer than a man’s arm, has an ivory or bone impact. The bases of southern harpoons are —_ pointed while northern forms are tongue | Socketpiece into which is inserted a detachable barbed point fastened to shaped. the dart shaft with a short length of thong. An inflated air bladder made

Lower Kuskokwim 38442, 22 cm; Konigun- —_— from a section of seal intestine keeps the dart from sinking should the

ugumut 37746, 9 cmlengths (point); h target ‘ss hiandd also alsoinsures j hatthat thethedead animal 36339, 27 cm (socketpiece only).Chalitmut unter miss his dead animal willwill float{1 an d Sledge Island 44701, 8.8 cm (point] be recovered. The bladder dart is thrown with the throwing board and may or may not have a feathered shaft. Norton Sound darts are featherless— those from Bering Strait and the Kuskokwim have only one feather, while Nunivak Island and Cape Vancouver darts have two. The bladder dart is found among the Pacific Eskimo and Aleut, and north as far as Bering Strait. Further north its function has been taken up by the light toggling

, harpoon.

| Hunting magic and animal symbolism are prominent features of bladder dart hunting. Feathers of sea-hunting birds like cormorants and certain hawks are used for fletching, and socketpieces are embellished with the carvings of otters, ermine, and mythical wolflike beasts whose toothed

- mouths embrace the harpoon points and their sockets. Such figures some42. Bladder Dart Hunting times represent the totem of the hunter or beasts intended to provide The bladderordart is thrown with either an ‘al to the power dart or tata 1 y to the Cart. overhand sidearm cast, depending onfatalitv the specia kind of game and the condition of the waves. In addition to hunting seals from kayaks people take advantage of ring

When struck, the animal’s escapeisimpeded —_ geals found basking in large congregations upon the ice floes. At such times

by the dart shaft, is rigged to drag hite shirt is ncamoubage to camouflage the hunt theSOj hAe Can crosswise, tiring the which seal so the hunter can a white shirt 1s wor the nunter againsnist € Ice, overtake it and dispatch it with a lance or | disembark from his kayak and rapidly approach the seals before they bebraining stone. A hunter may carry several § ¢gme alarmed. Ring seals are also hunted in the rivers as they commonly seal at atime. or he misses his first cast. or @8Cend the Yukon some 30-50 miles, well above the limits of tidal action,

darts in case he encounters more than one ; ae ; .

his quarry begins to sink. to feed on the salmon and other migratory fish. 69

ras = ae dn ee —__ = a a is eae ie we i — .-_ _ i a ee ee

Ag 43. Throwing Harpoon Technology akh -i- “Sa oS Me ZS IW A throwing harpoon but longer SSO than the bladder dart similar is used totocapture large

se A Gf Sa ligh-ut

=SES er SSS seals andsocketpiece beluga. It has a bladder float and yy heavier with a detachable har-a a ed SL Sa secured to theThese wooden shaft are by acast short Se poon ee length of thong. harpoons by AARC Sg handfiwithout the throwing board, aided by =JAW \RN QO ~®& . rests South of soutn Bering WWW As ivory AAT TA, an ivory finger or bering strait, SK QQ QS. finger are rest. often carved asStrait seals, to the north they are shaped as polar bears. Shafts are tapered from foreshaft to butt end to reduce unnecessary weight and, in Norton Sound, have broad longitudinal grooves on each side—a stylistic feature of the area that

| also lightens the weapon. These harpoons

are also used to attach a second float to an Beluga and Mukluk animal that is. .in danger of sinking. When the animal has been sufficiently weakened,

Another important quarry also known to ascend the large rivers is the _ itis killed with the lance and towed to shore. beluga, or white whale. This animal has a special significance to Bering _Pastolik 33933, 150 cm Sea people and is accorded the utmost respect. When a beluga is caught a

song is offered to its spirit, and it is customary in many regions never to hunt for these whales with iron-bladed harpoons nor to cut them with iron

knives. Beluga and bearded seals are hunted with large harpoons that are a similar to but heavier than bladder darts. These weapons are thrown by Vee hand, aided by intricately carved ivory finger rests, and their socketpieces a oN

are sometimes decorated with wolf effigies. ee

Beluga frequent the shores of Norton Sound and the mouths of the Yukon ———and Kuskokwim rivers from May until November, when they are forced a 4 q

south by the ice. They may be encountered in large numbers in the river ‘tg eee . wom mouths and sandy flats, at which time they are surrounded and driven into i ee re

the shallow water and killed. Beluga are also taken with nets in the fall ee awn when stormy conditions and cloudy water make it difficult for them to . . fT 2a

see the mesh. Nelson records an encounter with these animals: ~~ a og Along the low, flat coast from Saint Michaels to the Kuskokwim . ——EE River are many tide creeks running back into blackfish marshes. — From midsummer until these streams freeze over they abound in |

tom-cods. In pursuit of these the White Whales go up these streams 44. Finger Rests tegumiarun regularly every night after darkness has settled over the land an hour While simple finger rests take the form of or two, and while camping on the banks of these streams I have lugs and pegs, most are delicate carvings of

a ! row furrow and eyes and nostrils of po7 1887:289] Turner Collection] 129188, 2 cm animals, like this hissing polar bearor head heard dozens of them blowing with aLo. quick, forcible, 5 :with ; its sighing sound as they hunted up and down the creek. They hunt lished baleen from Cape Nome, or the seal about the Yukon mouths at night in the same way and are found with polished wood inlays from St. Michael.

just off shore among the flats and sand-bars during the day. (Nelson Cape Nome 44532, 2.5 cm; St. Michael (J.H.

45. Throwing Harpoon Socketpiece and Point ee a ee fy Co

To make long throws possible the throwing ee alae a a aed fo Ls ee harpoon must be light yet still have enough ah re Le guage i AG cite pre “

punch to force the point through a thick layer EE — oo oa of skin and blubber. This is accomplished by —— placing a heavy socketpiece at the forward end of the spear, into which the point is set in a cushioning plug of wood. This socketpiece from Shaktolik has been engraved into

a wolf’s head with pointed ears and eyebrows. The whiskers are shown, and the teeth

monly found on artifacts from the Norton . . . . . Sound region. The ivory point from Chalit- | Extending his observations to the use of this animal by the Eskimo, Nelson

reveal the stylized ‘‘tooth pattern’? com-

mut illustrates an application of the skele- continues: tal/lifeline motif often found on weapon tips

and other tools, and it may function both as The flesh of a young beluga is tender and not unpalatable, but is a spiritual aid and as the hunter’s identifying rather coarse and dry. The fat, or blubber, is clear and white, and is me like 38440. 13.5 Chal; 37974 considered to be much superior to seal-oil by the Eskimo and Indians.

; a : ) 29.9 Cm; Chalitmut The intestines are made into waterproof garments or floats, and the

sinews are very much prized. Their small ivory teeth are carved into

| toys or ornamental pendants. The skin is made into strong lines or very durable boot-soles. When well cooked the skin is considered choice eating and is really pleasantly flavored. This refers to the epidermis, which is nearly half an inch thick, soft, and has a flavor recalling that of chestnuts. (Nelson 1887:290]

Beluga and bearded seals are also captured with a large version of the toggling harpoon. This harpoon, which is not illustrated here, is similar to the light ice-hunting harpoon and may be used both from the kayak and from the edge of the fast ice in spring. The harpoon line is not attached to the harpoon shaft as in drag float hunting, but is joined to a long thong whose other end is fastened to a U-shaped apparatus known as the float board. This board, which is often decorated with crescentic male and female ‘‘mouth” motifs, detaches from the kayak and drags crosswise behind the fleeing whale or seal. If the animal is large, the hunter may attach another length of harpoon line and a large inflated sealskin float to the

float board to insure that the animal does not escape. ,

The bearded seal, known as mukluk to Eskimos, is the largest and most important seal frequenting these waters. Full-grown males may weigh between 600 and 800 pounds. Nelson found its flesh “excellent eating when freshly killed, and the blubber is tasteless and much like very fat pork. If kept a few days, however the flesh and blubber become rank and repulsive to any but an educated taste” (1887:260). Its importance to Eskimos, in addition to food, is for the many products it provides, including rawhide thong, boot sole leather, kayak and umiak covers, bladder floats, and gut-

skin for clothing. 71

46. Lances kapun Lances used to dispatch sea mammals include a simple northern variety found around Bering Strait, seen here with a finger rest and

\\ made from hemlock wood, a been Pacific Coast AS forest species that must have imported Nie into Norton Sound by Europeans. The more a fixed blade of chipped stone. The shaft is

Roya .eS complex a tapered shaft PRC ; with a southern finger restform and ahas heavy, ornamented aN TS

Killing Lance raj

When a hunter has captured a sea mammal with his harpoon and it is ST

weak enough to be approached without danger, he assembles his lance and 2 » ae ig prepares for the kill. The lance is slipped out from its restraining straps, ae UC and one of the detachable points is taken from its storage bag inside the f oy Ci re cockpit and fitted into the ivory socket at the end of the shaft. A lance tip | - ae

; c’ iXS ae ee

is made to fit snugly into the socket, but loosely enough so that when the | Pee f . lance is thrust into the thrashing animal the tip detaches and remains in x en Ve Meg the flesh, causing laceration and enlargement of the wound. Several lance | ae ~ y

stabs may be necessary to kill the animal, but should it escape for some es ed reason it carries the hunter’s marked lance and possibly his harpoon. Other a r hunters finding the animal dead or recapturing it can tell who struck the po. ee first blow and are obliged to present the animal to that hunter. In addition, i. oe should a number of hunters be involved in killing several beluga or seals, i ee

defined principles. oe the marked lances identify the owners of the dead animals. In all cases, a FO oe ,

hunter is obliged to share the meat and blubber according to carefully = oS ae Lances, being the immediate instrument of death, are given special treat- _ «

ment, and like a hunter’s harpoons, are made carefully and decorated with —

certain marks and symbols. Their wooden shafts are carved from spruce cath

in the Yukon—Kuskokwim region where shorter, more robust shafts are 47" Lesh Box u-li-t d th ‘a Nort . d d the § d Pen; la. Nunivak I land This wooden box takes the form of a fat losh, use an in Norton Sound an e Seward Peninsula. Nunivak Islan also known as a burbot, or ling codfish. The lances are the most elaborate. These pieces usually have ivory foreshafts —_losh has ivory eyes with wood inlays, an in-

fitted with slate or iron blades and small ivory spurs to keep the lances _-cised mouth, and gills. The tail is doubled from dislodging from the animals’ ds. S ti th 1 back beside its bulging body. A lid opens the dislodging from the animals’ wounds. Sometimes these lances are _petly revealing a stomach cavity used for decorated with palraiyuks or totemic animal symbols. Lances from the storing spear points. 72 Yukon—Kuskokwim are also marked with green- or red-painted bands and Cape Nome 44459, 19 cm

Cae OE I, ae, ee, a —_———

el FE eee

. ae Pe ee eo Sh le. —F". es ee pap yeas ; jo) Changing times and environmental condiee tions are evident in these lance points from gi eS Ce N orton Sound. Around Bering Strait contact —~— sania ici eedeee a Gt>Pe‘ 48. Lance Tips

with European whalers has resulted in iron and bottle glass replacing traditional stone

points, though themore points areshallow still bound with a baleen lashings. In the remote SS eee er eRe. —. regions where are stone no whales or whalto a all ers, slate and there chipped points continue to be used, but in the absence of baleen are lashed with sinew. All, however, have own-

ership marks to identify the hunter’s tools pe Sa eae ee

37389, 27 cm Be , — Cape Nome 45458, 39 cm; 44647, 36.5 cm; Unalakleet 38607, 42 cm; Cape Vancouver

ia XA rN ay a ‘ have a variety of incised markings representing totems such as raven’s feet, ou ae } kK wolves, and, not infrequently, sexual symbols similar to ones found on the

BOOP pa set of Kushunuk paddle blades (fig. 31). pms hie In western and northern Norton Sound people use long and thin lance es a points. Northern people mark their lances differently than do southerners, ae a preferring to use stylized wolf and raven totems, small notches, and ineee 3 scribed rings and spirals. Their use of materials is also different. Northern — bee | lance lashings are of baleen, willow, and birch rather than of sinew, and } . lance tip shafts are made out of hardwoods like birch and willow. In one ca case a lance from Kigiktauik (381855) has been fashioned from Douglas poe eo fir. The wood was probably imported into Norton Sound by European

2 a traders or whalers from the Northwest Coast.

Whereas southern peoples use slate for their points, northerners use chert

aay and slate and frequently will substitute these for chipped bottle glass, iron, and copper. In both areas the use of iron and copper is increasing with the 49. Lance with Decorated Sheath relaxation of traditional taboos and the increasing abundance of metal. Wooden sheaths protect jane tips from be- Individual wooden lance sheaths protect the southern lance tips. These This fia ° spec eens tte fron a block of ©Xuisitely fashioned sheaths are made from blocks of wood that have been wood that has been split, hollowed out, and split, hollowed out, and rejoined with lashings and skin coverings somethen rejoined, nas the jikeness of a whis- — times made from the penis sheaths of certain animals. These lance sheaths ects wteb, 4 eed inl cath er pouches filled with show considerable variation, probably expressing regional as well as perstraw rather than in individual sheaths. Nu. Sonal styles. Northern lances are stored collectively in bags holding a dozen nivak Island nance tips frequently spurs or sodispoints. No special protection is given these points except for the to prevent the weapon fromhave becoming Ln:

. the Yukon, lance tl . : : . .

lodged from the wounded animal. grass padding within the bag.

2.7 cm (lance), 20 cm (sheath) 73

Nunivak Island (W.H. Dall Collection} 16350,

Eggs and Sea Birds In the spring great flocks of waterfowl head north into the Bering Searegion 50. Bird Spears nuusaarpiit to establish breeding colonies among the craggy islands or to mate and _ Delicate light spears are cast by hand or with

.; , , . when they are moulting and are unable to

nest in the marshy tundra country of the Yukon—Kuskokwim Delta. the throwing board to capture waterfowl

The arrival of waterfowl is eagerly awaited for, in addition to being a fly. The special feature of these spears, two harbinger of spring, they provide meat and eggs, skins for winter parkas, _ varieties of which are found in Norton Sound, colorful feathers and down for masks, and parts to ornament baskets and _#8,the set of three or four divergent prongs ishing hooks. Also, bird hunting is always a favorite activity among the slanting barbs. The multiple points not only Eskimo of this region, who have devised a number of ingenious ways to _ provide a wider striking circle than a single

fishing hool | bird h ; sal f . _ whose inner surfaces have rows of back-

capture them point but also gather up wing tips, feet, and necks, wedging them among the prongs. With

Along the northern coast of Norton sound the people gather the eggs such spears several birds may be caught in of sea fowl from the cliffs by means of seal nets, which they roll a single throw. Both specimens have at butt

into a cable and lash in that shape with cords; the nets are then dear they we ane ntr el _ sending up

lowered over the cliffs and the upper ends firmly fastened to rocks small jets of spray from the wavetops as they or stakes. The egg gatherer fastens a sash about his waist, removes speed toward their target. Wary birds that

his boots, and goes down the net, hand over hand, to the ledges would otherwise dive seem to be confused below, the meshes of the net forming excellent holding places for by the skimming action of the spears and do the fingers and toes; the hunter then fills the inside of his frock not realize the danger until too late. above the sash with the eggs and clings to the top of the cliff. Yukon Delta 33854, 160 cm; Unalakleet In a camp at Cape Thompson, on the Arctic coast, I saw many 33844, 142 cm dead murres which had been caught by letting a man down by a long

line from the top of the cliff to the ledges where the birds were breeding; there he used a scoop net and caught as many birds as he wished by putting it over them while they sat stupidly on their eggs. ... (Nelson 1899:133]

ee OE ee

ore Oe. a |}. oe Ae _ Boos ek. ope = eS eeae Iwe CN i ie oe fUlta o§ + ft See ee. eee eee. )\ eee re E. ae es Pee! Coe

DT ee ee een [ee ‘ a ae,

“1 eee ee eee Ye rrr, OL ao

eee 2eyeaLe.ANN = / ae ees. 51. Chukchi Duck Hunters < eee PRE, WT icy, son photoztaphed this group of Chukchi

ace eae eee GeDae es Pe |,eeme menhunting at Capeeider Wankarem wherethe hebolas. observed | 0eeee ia extx >

length] 75 generally made ofwhich stone, ivory, or similar ASaaa Se I,ANi heavy materials give them greater range. This bolas was collected from St. Law- JSS = ee Rw\— a rence Island where it was used to hunt geese AN Co a an

from balls are of conifer wood SMG] ANN °° =Fed oO and boats. will Its float, themade cords are of braided sinew, SenlEN and the handle is a bundle of bird quills. as St. Lawrence Island 63258, ca. 6.5 cm (ball

Se

; if eee i Hi FF j / i | 53. Toggling Harpoon and Line 4-jd-kut

ff i) g og 2; A light form of toggling harpoon is used for _ |— fFpp’ Fe Pog , catching large seals and beluga from kayaks ai gg. in summer and at ice holes or at the nn a gf, edge in winter and spring. This harpoon floe has a-Fad—_— ff : yd grooved, robust shaft with antler antice ~~ 'i io ie =a iS pick, an ivory finger rest, and an a bulbous

\ ge ilii :i ifi ler socketpiece. Theisspurred antler toggling ima i harpoon head attached to the shaftend by a' Yeh 4 tigifa,aismeans of a rodlike foreshaft whose larger inserted in aThe shallow depression in the 7 | fs socketpiece. smaller end fits into the

£Harpoon £ a socketlines in theare base of the harpoon head. |‘ qLon i -baad 2} £p = é‘ made by cutting a of conFF, MO. £ St il tinuous spiral strip from the hide the q‘ |a~"i *fha Ce J #6 £ » a, bearded seal, whose skin is the proper thickS i=termines ness for the such line. The width of the cutharde7 re ee strength of the thong—seal Ni ER Ee _ poon line generally being about 4 millimeters

ee alll- several in diameter and having aThis tensile strength of ie hundred pounds. line, obtained inti a~ a_ posed iil at Nunivak, is 30 meters long and is comof three separate segments: a harpoon ies, | loop (with foreshaft attached}, a main thong, ns and a hand toggle grip. The grip indicates

| fasteners. Seal Hunt 175673, 30 m

this line was last used for ice hole or floe edge hunting without the float. Each seg-

ment is attached to the other with ivory line Kigiktauik 33888, 186 cm; Nunivak Island

Ice hunting for seals is only one of many activities that occupy Bering Sea Eskimos during the winter months. Unlike people of northern Alaska and

and oil. oe |

northern Canada, who have fewer resources and a longer period of darkness, =e Bering Sea people have a wide range of subsistence alternatives and usually ue

have stored supplies of fish or meat. For coastal groups, however, hunting a and netting seals on the ice provide an important source of winter food TT ‘a

Breathing hole sealing begins as soon as the ice is firm enough for travel. Wo ee a Equipped with a light toggling harpoon fitted with an ice pick, and wearing DALE. LTTE.

ice creepers to keep him from slipping on the smooth new ice, a hunter MLL @ NLL sets out to explore for seal breathing holes. These are often visible from a a distance by their domed appearance, the result of frozen spray and moisture oO SS

from the seal’s breath. Finding one, the hunter thrusts a long stalk of grass > down through the dome until it comes to rest floating in the middle of a the hole below. When the seal approaches, the hunter detects its presence : — by the sound of rising bubbles. He steadies himself, and when the straw 76 begins to rise he strikes downward through the snow dome into the seal’s

~ ‘ 3) oe : he

ee 54. Line Attachers 55. Harpoon Heads

| , | Two types of attachers fasten loops at the Toggling harpoon heads display an elegance | pe ee f oeholes endsand of lines. Barto attachers have two parallel that results combining art andshow techhay i. om are used secure the detachable nology. Thesefrom two antler specimens ore. ee Bel ss harpoon head to the float line. Block attach- the basic functional features of the tool, seen ry c Oy \ . ers have holes at right angles and employ a in front and side views. The heads are fitted

.¥&y

Ww ee” Wace” grooved lug as a fastening post to secure the with short thong loops to which the float

line to the float, or to the toggle handle for line is attached with a line fastener. Fore-

eee, te ice hunting. Animal effigies tend to be used shafts are also attached to the harpoon thong. py ON L@e® on the bar forms and are often positioned Until ready to be fitted on the harpoon shaft, Ry oleae 1 8 j closest to the harpoon and its quarry. Geo- the heads are stored neatly on slender wooden metric forms are more commonly found at mounts.

. a the remote end of the line. Kigiktauik 38753, 8 cm; Chalitmut 37380, |La Cein(2.Agiukchugumut e* Block attachers: Nunivak Island 48317, 7 cm (points) 35999; Lower Kuskokwim 38563; Unalakleet 33445 Bar attachers: Cape

ee Pn, Vancouver 43625; Paimut 37036; Kushunuk

“es long)

oo rm ) 37109; Chalitmut 37219; 37112 (all 3-4 cm

56. Visual Pun: Polar Bear Meats Seal skull, trying to kill it instantly. If not, a struggle ensues in which the seal This attacher is a humorous rendition of a__ tries to escape by pulling the hunter through the small breathing hole. The close encounter between a seal anda polar —_Jattey has only to hold firm to the line until the seal expires by drowning. another bear, formed from parts of the first | He then enlarges the hole, hauls the seal up on the ice, and drags it home

bear. On the base, not seen, is the image of

two animals. All of these images are func- using a short towline with a drag handle formed in the shape of a seal,

of visual tricks challenges the ingenuity of , the artisan just as the tricks themselves sur- Polar bears are rarely encountered along the mainland south of Norton tional components of the attacher. Location wolf, or polar bear.

prise and delight the beholder. Sound, where seal hunters may travel on the ice without fear of attacks

Paimut 37218, 3.7 cm that commonly occur around Bering Strait. In these areas, and further

north, hunters never go onto the winter ice without their spears. Terrible

fei tales are told of the fate of those who chanced to meet these animals while

se a . .

- “Te ® «.. aSeals alsothe caught by setting nets under ice around ~~ eKare where currents run strongly. Holes the are made at rightpoints anglesoftoland the . — shore, and a long pole with a line fastened to one end is inserted through

ed the first hole and passed from hole to hole until the final one is reached.

————— Then the line is used to spread the net between the farthest holes under 77

the ice. Ivory or stone sinkers keep the bottom of the net down in the 57. Seal Scratcher cetugmiarun current. These nets are most efficient during the night when seals cannot _In late winter and spring seals come onto

see the_mesh ice to bask andcrawls so can forward, be hunted ; by the stalking. As and the sleep, hunter In the spring, when the days grow longer and warmer, the ice begins to the seal wakes periodically, sensing danger. break up and leads form along the shore, attracting seals and walrus. When he sees the seal's head rise, the hunter At this season, also, the people about St. Michael begin their usual skin or polar bearskin mittens, and rakes his spring hunting upon the ice. They leave the village, hauling their seal scratcher on the ice, imitating the sound kayaks, spears, guns, and other implements on small, light sledges of a seal working at its breathing hole. Thus made specially for the purpose. Whenever open water is to be crossed peassuree the seal ozs are and the punter the kayak is launched, the sled placed upon it, and the hunter paddles the harpoon... within Striking range wit to the opposite side, where he resumes his journey upon the ice. The This seal scratcher exudes “sealness” in method of obtaining seals at this time is by the hunter concealing more than audible dimensions. As with other himself on the ice close to the water, and from this point of vantage elements of hunting technology it reflects shooting or spearing them as they swim along the edge. (Nelson the strongly rooted belief among Bering Sea

. . . . pauses, hiding behind one of his large dog-

1899-128) thatcraftsmanship effectiveness requires a combi| nationpeople of fine and technology

; . terials and appropriate imagery. This implein the sun on top of the ice. The hunter wears a pair of knee protectors ment exemplifies that philosophy. In imiSpring is also the time of year when hunters stalk seals that are basking _ With the use of spiritually compatible ma-

made from polar bear or dog fur and a pair of large mittens of the same __ tation of a seal’s flipper, three bearded seal material. Armed with his harpoon, the hunter walks toward the seal as far _—_-©!@8 have been attached by intricate lashas is prudent, and then drops to his knees and proceeds to crawl, concealing The lug penetrates the shaft and emerges on himself behind his outstretched left mitten and dragging his harpoon be- __ top looking as if it were a seal rising through hind with his right. Periodically the seal will awake, sensing the approach- __‘*8 breathing hole. The seal’s eyes are inlaid ing form. To reassure it, the hunter scratches on the ice with animplement ears and nostrils with a sooty paste. A second made of seal claws mounted on a wooden handle, imitating the sound of __ seal head is carved with subtle elegance into

, ings to a beluga tooth on its bottom side.

; , with soot-blackened wooden plugs, and the a. Such a tool should indeed reassure seal

a seal working at his breathing hole. Usually the seal then falls asleep, ‘B® other end of the wooden handle. allowing the hunter to approach within throwing range. A hunter who spirits about man’s reverential approach. The owns a rifle uses a small sled with a white cloth or skin shield mounted seal scratcher must have been effective and on its front end. Pushing his sled in front of him, the hunter sights his &¢@sured in the tool kit of the Sledge Island rifle through a hole in the middle of the shield. However, many seals that gy ge Island 45060, 28 cm

, . ; hunter from whom Nelson obtained it.

are wounded by rifle shots reach their holes and escape or are lost when

they die and sink. Before a hunter sets out hunting on the sea ice, he makes sure that his equipment is in proper order. It is important not only that he be warmly clothed and that he have his ice pick, extra harpoons and lines, his knife, 78 and other tools, but that he also be prepared spiritually for encounters with

58. Braining Stone and Drag Handle kaug-

This braining stone is made from a heavy dark rock containing speckled rodlike white ce ae ee Le. tuutag

fossils. It has been polished to a A high sheen, aa Oe a ‘ety. ie partly through natural processes. stout ey Pgs ee 4 thong is passed through a tapered hole drilled from each side and is fastened in a chevronDs a eeAalieSaceatiae

pattern splice to the main line. There is a aa cad . ote 7“ 4 od wrist loop at the other end. Use of the stone a re ee , We te eg rather than holes a lance avoids making unnecEs ee 2 argee Ne pe a ee essary in the skin. ae In with winter, game isdrag brought home over thea “ae a> es 7a ice the aid of handles. In Norton i= ene Sound handle loops are fastened to the ani- i. . ee” mal with fancy attachers, such as this dou- “eo ge a

ble-headed bearded seal with eyes inlaid with Be ae blue beads and wooden plugs. The attacher | _ ae a is made from abeluga beluga or walrus a ON” e . llpanei ne ee has a semidetached carving on its bot-tooth Me weand on ; UCC vee ccna:

lovin 33663, 20 cm i

a poo j . eee . ;

— potentially unfriendly spirits. Therefore, the hunter carries protective fet-

iy ishes in pouches hung around his neck or sewn to his clothing. He may ye se also carry one or more hunting charms—perhaps a seal’s tooth or raven’s AO av beak—one to assist him finding game and another to guide his harpoon. Figae Symbolism extends also tointhe implements themselves. His harpoon may ee — Ae, be decorated with an engraving of a wolf and have an ivory finger rest

_ y N carved as a seal, walrus, or polar bear’s head. Line fasteners may carry

| \ representations of people or animals, or simply of geometric designs. His 7 4 drag handle may be shaped as a seal, polar bear, or a ferocious wolf spirit ee A with gleaming pyrite eyes. His antler harpoon heads have double- and

~—% i y _ triple-spurred bases resembling tucked bird plumage, and their elegant fine-

eel } line incision and inlaid plugs appear as stylized faces whose zoomorphic - roots have been long lost. A man’s seal scratcher may be made with the

a. - claws of the seal and may also have carvings of seals set into its ‘palm’ er or engraved on its handle. This repetitive use of imagery reinforces the

geil | “‘sealness” of the implement, making it more effective at fooling the sleepfe Qe ing animal, as well as being visually pleasing and expressing the creativity

ate rae of the craftsman.

ie. ke The Ringed Seal is an abundant winter resident in the northern tar 38 half of Bering Sea, its range reaching the mouth of the Kuskoquim

| River and extending thence in a westerly course across the sea in a ee coinciding with the southern edge of theisice-pack. When the the ee ae iceline leaves the shore in spring, and the pack-ice drifting along HOS coast in Maynumbers and theamong early part of June, these seals are gather found in in eh gh fconsiderable the ice well offshore. They

; ah large bunches on large ice-cakes and are hunted there by the Eskimo. gy The latter wear a shirt made of white sheeting and paddle cautiously

“ up to a piece of ice on which the seals are gathered, and disguised

in their white dress are able to land and get among the seals before

59. Drag Handle with Pyrite the latter are alarmed. A stout club is usually employed on such

Nelson collected this rakish beast from Pik- occasions, and sometimes a man will secure a number. This style miktalik, near St. Michael. Its eyes gleam of hunting is practiced off the Yukon mouth and thence northward,

we ee eidl as (oes an inay on its prow. at least to the northern shore of Norton Sound. Ue Possibly a wolt, has the sagittal In Norton Sound row depicted inifcarvings to lridentify polarthe. males become very rank after the last of

bears March, and the Eskimo say that only a part of them are able to eat

Pikmiktalik 33664, 9 cm its flesh at this season, as it makes some of them ill. (Nelson 1887:262) 79

a}.

eS a Ye. fi 4 ae ep Mig

a \\ Pa

ee a.” | A oa! (ae

> SS oe Ft ea ee Ce ) es a. i ee al Nae sere : ig

aeaee aeAe aex Bee | 7 Pee s — Ea =. aceoe ; an Boos se Slee an, mm ae. :. “—_ i. 2

a oe ge RF, a. ae a ney Soh ft—here made of imported hemet ee a. “aia “ete = G2lock—its 4 a we, (2heavy eee peter robustane 1 its eeeseee ae Soe weight, solong thatfore the te ae ee OE Sg i ee ee ge foo ee ae all of which nee ‘mal’sthic thick oe, ge8Se ee aeh rashaft, enetrate theareanimal’s

aa OEE Sat SySound, ; er. tt Cts sraePeaeg Oy oe Se ee erMM hide and blu is fitted |] ae a | Ad palraiyuk, and with paintedsignify bands, oe 7, er graved ivory drill bow illustrates the custom oe oa of portraying different kinds of pelts on men’s

% inMo A objects of this This shows thirty Pe oS foxes, one kind. otter, and tenside wolves or wolverq gy, iia fe - | ines. The reverse side has ten otters, ten St cu rey Probably An wolves, four Strait walrus. ge Sie northand of Bering T—16051, 40

“a a | 94. Bear Inua Mask taqukaruaq Re This mask, representing thefrom inuaStarikwikhof the largNe WA est land mammal, comes A Vaan PN pak, a salmon fishing village on the Lower ~A™ a Se Yukon below Rasboinsky. The mask is de-

RB Foe scribed by Nelson as a red (grizzly) bear. Its

, es | face is painted red except for the smiling

Re . 4 inua in the right eye, which is left in natural

ae a finish and resembles iconlike images prevSn alent in the region. Small pegs are set in a —— groove surrounding the edge of the mask to

secure a strip of fur or feathers, now missing,

but probably similar to that drawn by Nel-

| son (1899} on a black bear mask from Sa-

; botnisky (fig. 263). Three slits over the inua THE RED BEAR (TA-KU~-KA) face contain remnants of hair which would

have hung down concealing it from view ex-

On the tundra, south of the Yukon mouth, there once lived an orphan cept when revealed in dance. Above the left boy with his aunt. They were quite alone, and one summer day the eye is a large peg, probably for an ear atboy took his kaiak and traveled away to see where people lived on tachment. Smaller pegs are found at the corthe Yukon, of whom he had heard. When he came to the river, he ners of the mouth. The rear of the mask is traveled up its course until he reached a large village. There he landed slightly hollowed. Red paint, hidden from and the people ran down to the shore, seized him, broke his kaiak viewer and applied inside the animal's eye

Peop his clothing hi y db a? di and in the eyes and mouth of the inua, is a

to pieces, tore nis clothing trom him, and beat him badly. . common feature of religious symbolism in

The boy was kept there until the end of summer, the subject of Yukon—Kuskokwim masks. Both red and continual beating and ill treatment from the villagers. In the fall one black bears figure prominently in local myof the men took pity on him, made him a kaiak, and started him thology. This mask was probably used in homeward, where he arrived after a long absence. When he reached dramatic performances relating to Ta-ku-ka, home he saw that a large village had grown up by his aunt’s house a vengeful wife who tricks her rivals and he landed . § he P nd d use. thrusts their faces under boiling oil. Then, As soon as he landed, he went to this aunt’s house and entered, turning into a red bear, she kills her husband frightening her very much, for he had been starved and beaten so and eats his unfaithful heart.

102 long that he looked almost like a skeleton. Starikwikhpak 38865, 30 cm

95. Braining Trap naneryagq a! he

In northern Norton Sound and Bering Strait, ‘Que

and on St. Lawrence Island, foxes are caught ee, with spring traps using heavy spiked clubs. i ai ae These clubs are inserted through a sinew cord which passes down bone. the inside of aofhollow / ae aa eS log or piece of whale The ends the a ee cord are tied toin a crosspiece of bone which, gg 0Aee "aeae when twisted opposite directions, developsbraining great tension. When sufficiently tight, An apee > inf the lever is pulled back and secured . __ to a trigger peg in a second arm rigidly fixed O_o wa

to the base. A bait line is tied to the trigger Ss ggg ia Sa ne, il

and runs out through a hole in the cylinder’s i ———"

base. The line’s length is measured to insure > re wi

that the fox’s headThe willtrap be is precisely beneath OT gk _ the falling blow. buried in the eg ma | ground with all but the lever and bait con- : — wi a ie” | cealed. Larger versions are used to kill wolves “ ae them into eating an agoutak of caribou fat ce + & j os ” rat and berries, their sharp teeth fell out and ri —

the special attention in stories and ceremonies called for in the case of 4 a

land and sea mammals and birds. t,t -s Certainly the hunter recalled the many caribou that he and his father oa had killed in earlier years. Women still wear belts ornamented with hundreds ’ A,

of their teeth. In winter and summer men had set snares with strong loops i fe of rawhide attached to trees, brush, or stakes set into the ground. They Hf had also stalked caribou with bows and arrows, approaching them from ff ff downwind with their bodies close together, belly to back, imitating a four- — /A

legged caribou until they were within range. Hunters had participated in —T \ communal in valleys and atthe natural crossing places, usingpens fences wood, stone,drives and brush to channel animals’ movement toward , of / | and enclosures where they were killed. Pitfalls, sometimes combined with | } snares, were also dug into deep snowbanks in winter or into the permafrost -

in summer, and were covered with grass mats camouflaged with snow or a earth. Some say that this method was widely used in the past and that 1%: Marmot Snares qanganarcuun negaq many animals were taken this way. The depressions in the ground can aie ° far is priv ed for light colatfel cane still be seen in places where this type of hunting was practiced. This mer parkas, is caught with small noose snares. method could also be used to capture wolves, foxes, and other animals that —_ The loose end is tied to a bent sapling with

/y MY .—\fFf .)JE|

could be tempted to venture out to take the bait placed in the center of a rave ond held seen witheta nabita’ run

camouflaged grass mat covering. When the marmot touches the trigger stick

When he is able to get close enough to this group of caribou, he will _ the sapling lifts the animal off the ground. stalk them with his bow and arrow, circling around them to lie in wait ie prote ne ioe sirougn the fine b ecause it downwind in their direction of movement. His dogs will have to be con- Koyuk River, Norton Sound 44129, sheaths

cealed some distance away, and he will need a good hiding place. ca. 6 cm

Y \ / \ \ J \ NN “

‘ . Tee ee, . .

106. Horned Puffin Eating Walrus qgaterpak _. A horned puffin (Fratercula corn.), a small fa. : bird with a large appetite, is shown in this wae ; Magemut dance mask swimming on the sur- a aN Bus.

acewalrus’s of the water with a walrus initsits beak. es, FJ The body is held firmly while ra rN esata ag hes) head, attached with a cloth neck, flops life- Le a eee sey

oe ee he ai a ee A lessly when the mask-wearer dances. se, wake” f Wy The mask is surrounded by two hoops a” ¥ Se

which are mounted on pegs and held apart Sav” « ; aS feather plumes. Also missing isbody the caribou WX »~»§ ose. 2 oy fur ruff which encircled the of the bird. = . aa “ go we The bird’s feet and one of its three wooden i Bay” as Sy aoe tail feathers are also missing. Its wings ‘‘flap”’ a a or 7G S

by root fiber lashings. They once sported fancy ae. Me YS

near its head, attached with flexible sections Fs -es. es _ Ce.icag A of spruce or willow root. . —-. 3 : . Ve this mask is complexa0os. a a Bf fa na a. us asThe itssymbolism design andofexecution. It as embodies as ch CACO powerful inua spirit-hunter acting, the withperson his eTPo lUlUl(C Be) Ae4aa magical reddened parts, through ee ~ ge eon

of the horned puffin. The perforated hands BeeoTe signify the spirit’s compassion for the ani‘s Poa es aehi oS| Be is mals he hunts, allowing some to success- ee 2 ae ail a ke ae i fully sliphomes throughinhis andgeegemee return safely to their thepalms sea. er Te aaom A IPe eeeeoele e

South of Lower Yukon 33107, 28 cm (be- ee i pe BB GM eee aa &. tween fingertips| ee Pi ee a LS

_ eee eeegee COUSF eeea. Oeee ey iBeeR.

* a gt yo. ae a y Ae

107. Duck and Goose Snare a ee CO gi ee , yaqulegcurcuutet negat ass ia x 4 — Re Snares often are used to catch waterfowl that ee: ——— Jd are too wary to be stalked. This type of snare . “oy Je” mouths of small streams or between clumps cs He. ae es. a. *> is set just above the water’s surface near the ~~ — ae. é

of grass and weeds in areas frequented by Se Ok eee these birds. It consists of a 3.5-meter-long strip of baleen to which nearly thirty small — er slip nooses have been tied at 10-centimeter | intervals.

, . , ; \ oy Tl f . |

Koyuk River, Norton Sound 44063, 3.5 m long

\\ . 4i S,J‘ ~,é 7*e, \:,

\ Pa : Lo ~, fo ‘ fo f A d ‘\ / \_J :\ */ \ya rNAa A “ a _ ‘ < NN a

IZ | / inm_” 108. Gull Snares naruyarcurcuutet negat Es —_ Gulls are caught with bi-pointed antler gorges ia ~~ sf ae attached to a floating line. The gorges are “—— ae a slipped down the gullets of small bait fish. a When the bird takes the bait and tries to fly

g a away, the gorge toggles in its throat, capa turing the ‘‘captor.” a Northern Norton Sound 37651, ca. 8 cm

The only live animals along his route are ptarmigan, seen in flocks of ,

up to one hundred birds feeding among the willow thickets and low brush. | Several times he stops to shoot some with his blunt-tipped bird arrows. P poe |

He is always amazed at the way they remain motionless as he approaches, eS

apparently counting on their white winter plumage as a disguise. y ’ 2

In the northern portion of their range these Grouse (willow ptar- ak i i during September, they unite in great flocks and migrate south to ag a, the sheltered banks of the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers and their a3 | numerous tributaries. In early spring, as the warmth of the returning a aay sun begins to be felt, they troop back to their breeding grounds once i ran more. During a large portion of the year these birds form one of the a .s ” a most characteristic accompaniments of the scenery in the northern "e pe

migan) are summer residents; but in autumn, the last of August and “He a |

portion of Alaska. They change their summer dress for the white of =! vv at winter in autumn before they make their migration, and after they po rr arrive at their winter destination they keep in immense flocks about cs Ls

ious inland streams. ... ey ba the open glades and willow-grown country along the courses of var- od | Among the Alaskan natives, both Eskimo and Indian, especially a Va those in the northernsources two-thirds of the Territory, this birdthe is one of P| the most important of food supply, and through entire aea] a winter it is snared and shot in great abundance, and many times it " 4 is the only defense they possess against the ever-recurring periods of scarcity and famine. ... (Nelson 1887:132) 109. Bird Points

These birds provide a meal or two and are excellent roasted over the fire, body of thie ae ant hich ‘bale oed to but a steady diet of ptarmigan, like rabbits, is too low in fat to nourisha 4 Nunivak Island boy, so that it will lodge hunter for long in winter time. At other times of the year ptarmigan are 1, the bird s flesh feathers and pass through. Theand saddle-shaped pointnot is another netted in large numbers by hunters concealed along their customary flight common form, here decorated with tooth paths. Men lie on the tundra at dusk with a long fishnet stretched between _ pattern and raven’s foot engravings. It is fas-

poles. When they hear the sound of an approaching flock they raise the tensed’ fo the shaft with a V-scarf joint and net, flopping it back down again on top of the birds that strike it. After — \nivak Island 48259, 15.5 cm, Unalakleet dispatching them, the hunters prepare for another flock. At other times, 33824, 11 cm

/ \ NF

110. Bird Bolas Ba —Norton ne Liab eg ™“a a , fp i WA oe WhileIvory traveling in eastern Sound, Nelson collected this bird bolas made with Mo Ff a i, oa

walrus balls. balls have rounded oe 7 bottomsivory and taper to The a point in faceted cuts | ie oe 4 ‘\\ANS yA Oe

marked with red-pigmented engravings of “~ da \aS. “eek , oo | ravens’ feet. Thongs tied through small inset oe | holes join in a central knot together with a Ske “_ ee gull’s feather, which helps guide the imple- ie ee? ment in flight. Red pigment is not often found e * on engraved ivory objects, black being more | | Le e common. The significance of the color change | | Ogee is not known. Shaktolik 38444, cords ca. 1 m, balls, 6 cm 111. Ptarmigan Snare Stick and Net — gangqliircurcuutet

ee a In spring, stakes with noose snares ringed |

: . vl eee around a stuffed “challenger” decoy are placed

0 oe ona ptarmigan. hill within theThe territory of a concealed pugnacious || ii male hunter, A ee nearby, makes the answering call which al, ee results in the dashte ean most ing atinvariably the invading rival, anddefender dinner for the

oe Cl il Ptarmigan are also caught during their re_ye spring “rut with small nets of twisted siatpee aeson a birds searchtraveling for wintered-over berries.friend Nelae describes with an Eskimo ro — who set one of these nets around a ptarmigan

PN all eyaa_ grass eee | decoy made ofneck snow,to to simulate which he added brown | Pe ar NN ae about the emerging ee, spring plumage. Nearby males were then - . _-ee oea, oe called in. Failing to notice the mesh, became entangled and were captured. they This

ee ee net is made of extremely light filaments of Pe a two-ply caribou sinew tied in twelve-centi.. _head meter mesh. The mesh fastened tosecured heavier aaoe and footstakes lines, withis their ends Yo ’ ~~ to wooden tipped with antler a , a A third stake in the middle of the net points. forms

: cm tall

a ae the triangular enclosure around the decoy. : | St. Michael 33812, 33.5 cm; 33820, ca. 50 | 112. Bird Hunting Arrows

Bow hunting for birds is usually conducted Nulato arrow, attributed by Nelson to Eswith blunt-tipped arrows which stun or kill kimos although collected in Indian territory, the prey without damaging its plumage or is fletched with gyrfalcon feathers. This forskin. Arrow tips made from antler, ivory, or midable bird of prey hunts the same birds wood occur in crenelated, conical, saddle, man does, striking them out of the air with and dentate forms. Some have crossbars in- deadly accuracy and speed. Used here, its serted through their shafts. Nelson collected feathers lend potency and help guide the ara few quiver sets that contain different types row to its mark. of arrows for hunting different types of birds, In addition to blunt-tipped arrows, barbed, each arrow carrying the same owner’s mark. multipronged points are sometimes used for

In these quivers an arrow with a different waterfowl. mark occasionally is seen, probably a loan Nulato 33827, 71 cm; Yukon Delta 33857, from a friend or someone else’s lost stray. 286 cm

Materials for making bird arrows are se-

lected for practical and spiritual reasons. The |

cnstmnaiics. rl Bess Sgt ec ee cee SRE eee oeen fe ee ee 2 Oe ee eS es ee, ees Ce oo ae, ern eee Re ee slaee R Wi ee oe ee gt ah. ya eee Se eo Fog eee ean ee ee go]

ee ee eeoo eeaee eee ee eee ee eee af= eeeeeeCoe oC ee poe Ee ee ES ee ee UD gEET a poe eeTEE Se ee Ge, ee a eee ee ae eee ee a eee fee a ae ee ae eee ee PS pe fe ee ee ee : ba es GES cel ee go . ee ee Ns ee pee Ee a ee a ee ee ee | ee ee oe ee So hide bey oe eet ee eee ee ve as=: He Se OP eeYReg eea TR ee oe Coe See a Be oni eaeee ee oe ee(iaewPg gegen 2 eehgh LEGS eSae gg BoesSee ae, eae RES BESee 3 Ee Se eae See See ge Beee ee Saree aee EeSeuss [ee erSeea ee eR BRS Da OS Bild milky i eT Gas as aay geneos Rem tee megare Sg =se EFee . “ese as emer apretrey ome *heres : eaeSe Siege Re eee Sr eaeB PORES - ale eae ee OeOER See eeBe ae NS ogre a go ae as eo Se See ay otRee (SIEGE Ee or wn tone ce: LD Ue

eae inte oe esAety a7oe ee ee ee £7 Be SRR = Pe ae @ ‘Tigh. 5mB ae ere aor. MT pee| o ee aK ge es eA ibe iA #@2 i’, Be EY2 eee &, Res Me Figg ee7Biel ig Sie oere: 8eea.ona Toate? wT a 2,See agas Voges St SRS? ape ieee Seas a ee2] el Vio BLS ee2D eS pee ees 2 2: #2 Ey Jsee Sas i 24 Ze eeOS BoeRe fe ae aee eS. *Me ae) wee ee..ae soe sireaae oe (iCoeek *: ea SgSe, oFBs eS| UY 2en28a Fe ae sae |w 42sCe a¥ 2eeE| Ef Ya [2 2Pesce: ae eeFa gSURE ge eegegE. e-wigee 6 ES

Se mel EST Te ss ele A ON a ee ea a ee fe IS ee ee Pe ee

— a . PR! :: weet PpTeFeERS tae ee eaene ees eee aa Prgn at aeeee, oe et eae eT Meree ee,aye ee eee Ee a Oe i Tg, Cegaa eg a Cg gg SE gE SS BS ee eueaes ee nae & .: awoe ove Site eeeee ee FeptyREE aeage PERE ° aeES Po=]ER. ose Ee eege Pes Stee. ee ; Tote ag te : pe “ Bole Behe PSasBo Seeeae esgepeee geeeaeeee pase) Apt eRSES SIRS Lee Sa BS Cg wlaEBAR as Fen ee 5 -:FO awee hitsoch -2 geRe BLUMER? AEBESTS tiger Le gear eae ge Mgg Paces: NG OOM obug gESha Ge St i was SeaLe Fae.Soe ioFe coe : ae i rr ae FY oe OFpo Pe eo 3ae i = * PL TE Le ew SEE A Lge 50 SRRRR DLP, A a re oR ae ee “V¥y a ee ee “kT gine . 2 : i a ae ree oan gee Be eee te eR = Sly AEAA ;SBE ee ee eee aPega oy pg ogee te eg ee ee EME =~=:. i::a ae ba. ens SLI Sa eee &BUT) : ve --Rg fab Se:SET gael PES TEAL. See Ol aPE ee ee Page o>gia ee 5FPeegh ees AteFee _aAly ..*: Gee “ee gRR a ase = ge ieee=csee rrBeeen CR SE EACLE oDEN -eT nslpSag OSE Bae eee ME “RTE 3s oo 8 SARE ee peeee ee eeege Ootese ge geet eneee 28g - gee eS>he TE EBS :° Sa-ee POE 2a.Foo. :2:oS 7) Te MEER aPT: zooce Syn Se: : iSE geoy PD Ses poe bg BE aieLg ae ee RAG) Soe Tos Big pee ‘eee? ke ee ee :Ss aa UE Re eo oA UES eSg ES See Se ge So PES SEL RAMS ae EE gs ge te ae MPR FO age BRS BE LS EMBEDS fot SE : oe : TE Se ; 7 : PORE ogc 0 CARER US SRS SERED # ge ORE DS peg ee Pon ee ee eS ae ape Mere By eee a Ey ee eS

ae Boye ne .Pe woagSol yee“Eh Cb=eBagee a eee geew geARS ge eeSee es Pa: eee*eeage. eSct_ ga BBR Seg =ee: . « ;whe ne ae : So RE wee oS tsaSE "Se ee Tg eee BeseSag et ep Peseo Vsge = #2".

age BESon 7 OPN ga ae - £oo Pare. F dagLogie A dg“yg BeLe © aaees on ee Eegg oRSegeSR eeee2 gs RSeS a ee ee A ofag ae ae > SF en a eee oa OS: : we Eek Bg) w Oe SENS nea Saag eal “Seca pee ELAet:B® gy(ore Me Se —s pe gS OOes Byee ; ee goes : Rg Be seg Re ge AR Pts, 20S eee Soo) EP Eps we BS ee 0 Su RE OS eS we iy eee ri ee Gen er ee a ee ee ee a 2a See Bin a oy SP: : ee _ - a whe ; eo on. oe ES eee aS é PLS Ae EE LE ge SS Hep ic oe a ge = | . ‘gt . a : ge

=Fda mabeES =e : = - =£. : ot a aa - =ge - a Png eae “osee coeae . °F 5 “3 LDS GE eae AER ee MBSpee oN EEER SD PsRS a - eese ig ag ORR = eeoe oe je voPeet. BR(GEL a eoaR3, oeieee eeeeeearats eeSARA re Cee * ae2 ii=irg Seg aE FS esAAe Be;

SU SS>og - me,: Pe ae ORS TT iPa oor.) es gee oo OP 2 Sag eee Pa =hig eeage Be.es# COE she gob BiAEN fey vee : -: Ges TE tePhe: ae OS Ee eS ee eee Boo aeae aeSe ESadhyPres. “yar.2bee BE

ee ee eeBs: Whoe > reer wee lo eeege CORES :DE ee aages oe eee eo ee a RE Seesee=.eae, EoEe Sart 2 . Iee2 oseeee SLE ey cu ee Ban seoe ac agee.ea Son at) -ee ms ot fot ge : ee ; wee i ek WBS. =fe. os ce eeees re oS “ee : ae sorege BayA pr ssce Re ee ge Pee *ee a az ssEk - ae 2+aao oe; ,ogaw ex a asee gowe, aee 2kad rire, ;: aee : 2ee: i a«aeaeaseae BOB ongee eeoS aPE ESE Seoeweg EY eeeee So; ega Dg “AP Sage on ee yee ES Re ce Sa ag RBS OS See doe pa se eg Pe eS a. ee eae Soe Eg atiger: eS a os - : aa — Bo -a -le-Page SEE a 2 aSET we - ws a 2 ge eae Water tS See $2 SEE, Say - =_ = ae s2 Lee 7 oy * 2 Le gee Se eg BUS ove- wo:)|6} P&S oaUUgS-_: wr soBES ee aApare: 2S: aaae eeePe 2 Mg, eeDsrs ga xa aerate 97121 aS EES ny INDEEDBBREB LEB Me

warp in half along her line of weaving, add- RPS Ea pa mm LS aeRO Ou MOBS a ing additional warp in the side gaps. The BUDS ged as ie sae Beet ess) AAR MN attractive rim was made by simply catching rs ai OS aa ii eae i Sra Oy iia vi yar ; and braiding groups of warp, and joining “A ineansg anges La eeu M UNE) Da een A Ng \

them in a horizontal braid at the top. Three TE aia (Sy ODER cre A OREEOOE OE SETEES DRE is: Ol 4

rows of twining were then worked into the TUG ae i BEsvanpr ne oay EN BIO SEE ual sae mia a resulting open spaces. a ea a a OU os dss Sisuspaidoana ee eae UO RAEI | Norton Sound 176077, 44 cm AN IRR ate peace cameracessmcs serie OSL nirRBrRTEES

ANC RTaaa eagee ee ataaksia alee oeeeeCe Viiae NU t Te ac OV GLY fae ok AG fea’.abeaest ARS Se aecae ea eet eee eTtae SE: a aEEY | Se WS CULUREN VT Crest ey Oa SeThLULT ET LTOO NM VERE ie Urea Eee PEEL EES aRESS ORE SF ecroaBEag

ak Sa here es DoT a Mate ait Tanashgial utibolet taatetanarrecenegeneryS a

Se yeTACT a caAeMUECANC Sees EEO LEL EG) HE oe pieaaduagau pe ae rtmma Cece EE dt ELT pose ASCENT Rael dee:cious UO" Gamage tnaWettr a ane Atvesee it ad Liao BO OES STG. eee AMES IA Le aR came ty pe ee ees (2 ye ceaeeth

Boas ORR EREaeee cagoeCAM TE pT a ee aoe eg EN SRR SEE CC TACO MESS FESUne CBE SLEMME ABER SGU LURE CEG d s Shwe ate ft ‘SGeaes Ne ey 2ORr ig To 5: Leal bl eA

NRE EE cctaun CEP gepaspntes 2eacri ooo 5 ae TEhTERT RS Sseyevrrrheyn ERRORbeet” COLLfecrap ead Teo (ald CEA

1 ‘ awii 1 .of. t Lan a sing

i) y)) ( A with and with warmth. addition,and its annual growth and death Mull Ny \' 14, ) cycle has alight, dramatic effect on the In landscape marks the passing of the

= C= seasons. The use of grass to deter the shades suggests an association with — > Mm | \ Nn addition to its many uses, grass even has a personality, as Nelson Las =< = = discovered in collecting tales from the people of this region:

Ts arfll —iy Saar a life. esl In addition to it h li Nel

SA NN S\N ESS SSS 1 | |

===> BSS fi{ h ]| _1THE DISCONTENTED GRASS PLANT 2 Se SS ae

~ SS ; .3 REE rs varying their treatment of a basic stitch. The Mees attteeteees RIN aeenetoy basket by ee combining open Or DReee ey ee SOeSCAAA LG ESofwas aethe aemade Sy ayaa soo twining . : a coe Witte eee AyGe ot ga MSSS ee | twining base with closed of TS Deeg SS PEPER VSS Ss ayy eens nes rates the sides. The basket’s pleasing texture was hehe ese Eesaeteseeeisce es FS RS Oe ee eee achieved by alternating three rows of twoBi eROREE PE SRIELTece seers Se eSese gee eee OA on strand twining with three rows of three-strand

TELL IE he he ee Tee eh obae Seb ae er ee ty YO rages twining, alternating the slant of the stitches SSA ESTES St BSscoccessets:: eS aalso ee ye ae Fee UTS SS ESSEeeSieh 3 See as well. The weaver began her ENE bag in, an

itt SAS SS Se ee Se Sn ae et os

. Wig yg Saad ae pees tty SS See RR ee “eee pete ingenious manner. She gathered her inOR on ereweesreseieesteeel: pele eee ooo ose io ee tended warp strands into three groups, braided Lene weebnEeee seers. aa nae ci : aoe es a oor them, and tied the braids together to form a

“SUEUR SsseSSS EN SSS eo base radiating warp strands. VON Tit SEP eS ats SSR A So eee ES Ane _ Theofbasketmaker who wove the larger UMM SS peters 3 Ae Neg er Se ee” container also chose to have an open-twined a WS ASS Tot ok Rb ae ett AD Gh RR Rk SB BR a ec gee a aay . .

DOOM TEROE TESS OSCE SS SeC CSN, On en SS eae base and closed-twined sides. To give the Me NEES SEES t Sot ESE CONSE III dll ce ig EN Suet piece some added strength she included a

WAS SS IN RNS One fSePS Re wage eter dded h she included fraseSSSUAS SeasA SS a Sens 2a ini

je TaN SOY Saks a = 33 SSS PR eRtha eeees ee ens SE single rowa of three-strand twining at the piles Cn Ps, neg!wasPeturned gee up aed : .point Warrsss: seis eee esa: pSeRS STS yee Sepe Se, gee ye: where the warp to form the

Bk SSeS ee ee eee aeeee The fo PT ee a 8 the eebasket :. Weta eeeOe STEeee Che ERM sidesSe of the basket. She decorated a SSS stained s ~ aon YA AS * Cee by weaving darkened strands of grass into

en the |piece. The lower continuous bands conSe sist of two dark strands twined together. The _ spotted effect of the upper band was achieved

by twisting one dark strand together with a light § strand.

Rye grass is gathered in the fall after the first frost and again in the spring Pukon 38204, 10 cm, Lower Yukon 38872, when the last year’s grass is collected. Women carry home great bundles ae

.. oo Yi fPeineenenes ‘ . .i] A: _ — ee — se, ae . AN Ail A HN NS re |

of grass which they hang on the sides and roofs of their houses and caches. rT : A i When the grass has dried, it is combed and hatcheled. Rye grass is used to i =| —==44

. e. fy . i. f. eiw : =; | e.«|y4

make mats and containers, as well as boot pads. A sedge is gathered in ANIL TA | =\ —< ——s July and early August when it is fresh. Its stem and roots are eaten and its — ANA I Me A\ s\ = IN leaves are dried and used along with rye grass to make socks. Sedge hasa "77 I" \ SA Aas is ie

; WEAN ENNKBF TH HENGE EZ: work (Lantis AK A ATTEN TIN AWE ANNN NANA :1946:180). , AYA A AA A A‘ \ nicer coloring than does rye grass and makes a more ornamental piece of i | MN iB lat i

Women use two weaving techniques that are common throughout the My Gh: | \/ | Hh world, twining and coiling. When twining a basket, a woman begins with i Ll

a foundation of grass strands that radiate out from the center of the basket’s AN ‘ PNW } nl ) FAL N/A intended bottom and travel vertically up to form the container’s sides. Nb iA END) NE EEN RAN NNT yi

JX ee. Fits tN eA FS Pi ER 1h Pape RRS OES

aa ae eter, Sets RMA Hea Pe ay

ie. ideal tt ig san Say ee ttle AMEN Se aa = |EAR on 135. Coiled Baskets minggaag Ghee He se a Ane a ee — “_ These twostrands baskets havearound been made by wrapBANGS Bas OR ape apenatasd eyes as = db cee ping of grass grass bundles eae oc SAAN wow pe EES, & ae o,f ; _—Re ch Carerae y(Chuehcrsa en a Zl moving the coils in a counter-clockwise di->) SORENSEN CERT CTA ee en or re open-mouth work basket is eG a SSCg, Wat egrection. a7with heThe egrease, SWORE tanGSR Be, §—_covered suggesting that it was TRACT eae Oc Horne | a geie II Se a a ay cc pean in useSe for OE quite aPees while before Nelson ‘ihe Mat ant enue Ltbolas Rerke an vil! Asbought ;o6

PA cane en re eee ete ee ene ay it. The lidded basket was once decorated with

Sy Maha aLagetints | Se One, teh : chitin, BrMar wntasieretufts of red wool it teks are ata htNEAL Tikes ae ;which ipa The symust aslightly ef fhave 1 hconvex ligiven h ] lid etic AA ts Gu MRM Mees.nae cageST Uganes ta ye; taba oe a HeWeeyies a festive eee appearance. li EA herpes at _- SNE IY “ nvaboutern einen ee is attached to the basket with hide hinges,

a SS ive oa tea A | and the bottom ofgatthe basket is made out of Bia OL athette PO ag eta . pete SG ManigAMeagan Meg Di Mpa ey seal skin. “SR al St. Michael 32977, 10 cm; Pastolik 38469,

136. Pastolik Bird Toe Basket

This basket is made worked ey eee -clockwise directiwith Tuftsbundle of geo aecoils E nka a ehe 6 140 7 Cte.

in a counter-clockwise direction. lutts ci o aSsuy purple and red wool have been tucked under as 7 eeNa, ee en

ties. | ’ aS RS

the grass strands and black wool ye(ee ee ierie PS ee Ee ee ne ee CSoe eoass] eo. have beencoils, coiled into of thered basket’s sides, and = ae

horned puffin toes, strung on sinew, have j ee IE nt ae ag Ee Se ra. | been dangled from the coils. The basket’s P i in, cage a oS >: hinged lid 7 is fr shutAwith cotton a ig § LOE | a Bal hybirdskin EN eeand eee ee gf I ae. EEOO é

Pastolik 37626, 23 cm (diameter) - s me : meet go ERE Sea

ae ty Sk a EAS SaaN ) a cee

S ih er 4 7 om es ‘> A Aa A pakke’ ae Ee oo a = Ee AS

SS WR eee eee ek ee a ae sae” ey ee Sa

* Ee ee ay a ae a se anny SBE Goat Sg Ag a, a

ee: baMeg ig aD ANA I OAR os “agen” 3) — eS he tgRARE ie “RINE bg? ARAL ARATE tg. io” we

ee ee a ee Te ae ee Pe a ek ha ee rr Tea ~ oe > ee eM le Ric ANTONE ge Ao SONS OT aad ay fy Se ig nar op ag NTT A WAiA db hie Aw es SER

a See. fae ef i fos oe id af ees wey oy ae ei ETE N CY eR eee ae as — pee Re fe |.

RA Ny i; 7 LA a Hes HHEGTRS Sa SY oatNG re Ceie ar isWye aFigg ARENT NIEHPEGRET ERS YY sn i ee UW ghee, deanna FAS SR oe oe Ree Ne ag Ss Me 4 "hy dj, eee Fei ANE Vn Ree ER a Len

MM ee a, Ne TNA Qe REN eR: ay Ne i ee ee ee ee a a ey = Te i eT ee Da eeeeeee eSeeee ee alo (a,Te Nogecowes OVSek' Me a ole s ce Fe i reBPO Oe eee LAEs aesTweltidh PULA \ilaeAa ee eA Be aog

ome. Ce ee ee er LS RM ce ee Eg OE ey DO OPN yD UN eee | Rye eAPM Ba oS GEES ONS re a ee Oe eee Pe A Sere |

A ee ee OT begs aS Mea Sg Pg ae ate GD eR TL PNR ge, ase 8 ew. . Uae Wade bare. f BS io , a’ cr vor “a [ee ac ae i. ee NS ie a Teh ae |

‘oe NA yaaeeneee SQ aoe eat Ae ee Feee ee Gytae. Re S| ee Bo BA eeeee ee le cS a8eee eeCee en Fee

oie oe eee ee ae ce eS, WB BRA POR SRS ok ye EE Ue ye 8 ONS eee Tae vee i } Tey peaeER SOP RCT ID‘olaon at oe ei “We . Soe ae OR Ags pee TSResage aa ee a SSBaemame oo eae il Jo aye Benke. a Rs yee JESSIE oe te? RRRae ceeida! tae

meas Pe wh AR oS eB eer eC Orne NET Fo CO Bete is Rie yee ee ee ee Pee rele ti Sak neg BS SE AER ap bone ON wpe oA 2 GG mem ee a) PR=ee neeee ROSE A 30 Aaea pea ONgree i tL akSEAM eS BR BEE Og Sandie’ iO eae s is ; Pe. , ee : < = 2 eS a qh. Fe SRE cs: = BEA eS Cee Bh PI5G. Se oy EF

be ee Pe aes ee ee, ae? aatke Pec ak fe = ee Phebe: ug Tey G t 2am renee ree Sane 8 oe Oe ten NS Pee 2 2 ee OP Oe ny a Re er ae SS St aNRT Wi SAS at ee Dee. ERS hs a BE PPa Ae OEBae CNO WONT AR FOREN BeteLMS oNSARE aS Ae Sih > alag ke TS NOTA Niles aca pNaoal WAN, PS OPO, AGN Le ea

Oe Se ee a Or eV RS HEN Ry ke Meigs A SR ae

Hoe a ig ans See Cd OTR NADU A a Rl ke a. & Se " a re te geen, < = j ase < Aaventoy Oo eh at a # i a eA i a eS

EEE SER EINES RHO OU ON Oe

et a ee re Ui dace Rd BEAVER Ce LG EON OD ee UN Rea ey TY en oe

OM Re ge tie 4 BPRS AES ee BT ere ee ELS Te SIL ae —_

CARI a, Mee Ot eS gd oe PT ee PN

nd Rae ae ier Sheen. oe es it me CC Toy ee Ma, RN WR CW a

BNSagar a ca rteneg Rigen ta | apa ng Nerd Wie Lea. 137. iRe Ll e ge ageae esoe pan) Bee woe Aewoman ac eSInnovative Ses £. beWeaving = afrare ee ;grass basket RS ye ig gt ‘& Bi Me avec SQN&t ey Lae The whoymade this

Reh ighader Satie uparete Oy ya A A may have seen coiled work but not known ae ‘ WS aoa Dae hs #8t ~*~ ry Aaney! LAA | : how to do it. She experimented and came up

< ey AD Br he heweet merge? her owncoils technique, which involved DANE ee ty eeree pee1| TI de AQD Gae | fan NESwith ing bundle witha “blanket stitch.” ee kore CO ee ST sales pens OR ne wrapping bundle coils with a “blanket stitch. * Ny ER ¢ ee pal nied glee BEN MS. Notte After she made her coils the weaver sewed b Nig Pak de dde aad igh 7 28 Rete Let Vie 4 them onto a sealskin base and stitched them TAN Yt ee oon |i~aeesiga,\¥.\, A oa4—s the different of skins pro—— a i -_s ‘ae or = \ ei 6h eee cesses them in certain ways depending upon

i>, =~ 5°" Ge 2 2 fe 4 || the type of garment she making. The Kusi /s re a eee ii kokwogmut couple inisthis photograph are

. * |ng Ws ei, ...* = small handsomely dressed clothing made from— meaeaab 6|sme ai. ee, a wee furbearers in interior a in style popular among py ne gehe 8 4 OES 4 o eoples living in the of the Yukon—

ae yi. ql a Kuskokwim region.

. . *“ - a os : f 4 | | ) - d , . : . hE ut ne Working with Skins One of a woman’s most important roles is that of seamstress. Well-made clothes keep her family warm and dry and are essential for survival in the harsh northern environment. These garments require specific knowledge concerning how to treat certain skins to give them desired properties, and well cut and sewn clothes are the work of patient and experienced women. It is not uncommon to give a little girl a miniature sewing kit so that she can play “house” and begin to acquire these important skills at an early age.

The garments made by a wife may be scrutinized by her husband’s family

and other women in the community who judge her worth on the basis of her handiness with semi-lunar knife, needle, and sinew thread. Women 141. Southern Skin Scrapers calugun living north and south of Norton Sound also jealously inspect one another’s — Women living between the Lower Yukon and work. Northerners use caribou, imported reindeer, seal, and polar bearskins northern Norton Sound generally use longto make their garments. Yukon—Kuskokwim people wear sealskin and andied stone-bladed scrapers when dresswooden handles shaped, grooved, and

| | ing and tanning skins. These two pieces have

“cate wrapped for maximum leverage and comPo ee fortable gripping. =e i Skins are scraped at variousWhen intervals in ee. x : = oa . the hide-working process. seal skins

fresh,hair, theythe areskins firstare flensed. Then, torolled re.-aa,ae.“iia . B =2 re ee are ee | move dippedin urine, Sg and put away. When thescraped hairs begin to — |ylBea Oe fall' oe out,up,the skins are unrolled, clean,

oe = |“an out toskins dry.for clothae we Se Inand orderstretched to process reindeer

a) | pT ee qi se ing hairwater intact, the fatand is the soaked Bene: “i i. with with hot or urine, hidesout are

| IXay a. £teie,Er > “ee ee| re = lll \ ae\ ’ai 145. Symbolic Bagfasteners ,

kakivik nagcessuuttii

The bagfastener is a simple device used to tattooed woman who is frowning. Both are Chalitmut 37319, 17 cm; Big Lake 38373, keep the housewife rolled up. .A small rod wearing fur-lined hoods and are flanked by 18.5 cm; Lower Yukon River 48860, 15 cm; | of bone would serve the purpose. Yet, collared seals tied to nets. The seals’ back Yukon 48966, 16 cm; Big Lake 38402, 14.5 throughout the Bering Sea area the bagtas- flippers take on the form of outstretched hu- cm; Paimut 37189, 14.5 cm; Yukon River tener is an elaborately carved object reveal- man hands with open palms. The portrayal 48861, 17.5 cm; Lower Kuskokwim 36664, ing the artistic skills and rich imagination of smiling men and frowning women can be 15.5 cm; Big Lake 38387, 16 cm; Yukon

of the Bering Sea people. followed through the collection, appearing 49001, 11 cm; Konigunugumut 36466, 11 cm;

This ivory bagfastener from Chalitmut de- on such diverse objects as kayak paddles, Sabotnisky 38017, 12 cm; Ukagamut 37457,

picts a smiling man wearing labrets and a finger masks, dolls, and line fasteners. 8 cm

|ARR{ey mnt eree aparece et: : | eneseEi gage SO a|>.ho sc RR apse na f[| oie Riga So Fescalee SS RR er thane crt eeEES|eee) aee re NN eee Wessamphd Mente toate oe te ae fe NN ee” Temas... 444. eee ri emne FN BAER cco dO tte i a eel

Pa = a ee ee — .«. . ae ,@r'%Qre Fes Se We e.2 recite ee Sef, fo 8g 2 el 22 = cll i ee Sa ee

~— 1@) Yat ~ o- S

fod er co a

legged bear, are also represented. : Nl Re eee — S| sitll Bg Ukagamut 37492, cm; Konigunugumut 37807, 14 cm; Lower12Yukon 38128, 13 cm; : | EEE

Cape Vancouver 36478, 10 cm | — a N .

Pligious ideas.

ia a “ ae , |

\S o e , Is in 2 \ 7 Bs Be hy .

. : f Lge F OFS *

150. Thimbles and Thimble Guards bd oO | } ie Traditionally, have used sealskin - "TPTRY PW a vrae AdMe wead: thimbles when women sewing and mending cloth- — ing. With the advent of European contact wei==aatéSy es 7Boa SPEayeaery they have begun to use European metal tin wee thimbles as well. Metal thimbles are not TET ope Ls Rae: a jee widely available, however. Therefore, enterOMEN . 4 pee gd prising avant-garde husbands haveincarved ae ee ¢4 their wives exact copies ivory. a _— —"_— —~

A woman keeps track ofonto herthimble sealskinaraGer Fa we eee thimbles by slipping them guards when they are not in use. Thimble | a guards take on various forms, from a slotted Pe fap _. —_—

bird legbone to an ornate beast carrying a & ite} cee A eee baby seal on itsstrap back. They are attached to a——— the needlecase or stored with the neeee dlecase in a housewife. Kushunuk 36452, 9 cm; Kotzebue Sound

Island 43698, 9 cm 135 48570, 6 cm; Kushunuk 36453, 6 cm; Cape Darby 176227, 4 cm; St. Michael 48496, 8 cm; Konigunugumut 37666, 2 cm; Nunivak

sak ae A ww 7 as po i . é. 4 q q ' 4 : - F: “sg eS i 4 ; i ‘ ‘ a oa | y 5 _ .

bie d I 4 P| gg rt 4 an 7 Pe We aid _ he Poe ie 2 Vl

iai\

He 1 } ai F : i i] ; i i ; : i a -_ E : ee t : q

ae sie a oR Fa 7. ‘ i. a

|. Pee . wa OY a.:;@ a a go e: = : =- 12 .ae23fe. ae EFe an 2 Boe ee oe eee .Rg FiDn LP ieeekg bee. aie‘a

151. Bootsole Creasers teguarcuun 152. Thread Spools nemrusvik 153. Awls kaputag Bootsole creasers are ivory rods with flat, Sinew from the legs or backs of caribou is a When bone needles are used to sew thick pointed ends. Every evening, after the family favorite thread. The sinew is dried, beaten, hide, the holes for the stitches are made with

has finished its day’s activities, clothing is and cleaned. With small combs, women di- bone, ivory, or metal awls. Using this proinspected and repaired. Boots, which may be vide the sinew into strips which are then cedure, a woman has complete control over quite wet after a day’s work, are dried and twisted or braided, depending upon their in- the placement of her stitches and avoids the resoftened. In order to get into the corners tended use. Prepared lengths of sinew are possibility of breaking her delicate needles. of the heel and toe of the boot and keep the wrapped around spools or reels such as these This simple and efficient tool can be traced tiny pleats in order, a woman uses the thin and are stored in housewives with other sew- back to Paleolithic times.

flat end of this implement as a small scraper. ing equipment. Awls, like bagfasteners and needlecases,

Bering Sea Eskimos are fond of designing The Cape Vancouver reel is in the form of are elaborately decorated by men and are

tools for multiple functions. The Cape Van- a seal. Its cuffed flippers follow a style found among the women’s treasured possessions. couver piece is a bagfastener with one end on many wood and ivory carvings. The bi- The bird bone awl is covered with a net mesh shaped to function as a bootsole creaser. A sected Nunivak Island thread reel has the design; the knobbed form has geometric mo-

Norton Sound piece is a bagfastener with head and arms of a lady and the flippers of tifs and beaded tassels. The shaft of the one end shaped as a bootsole creaser, the a walrus. Stories about mermaidlike crea- Kuskokwim awl gives way to chain links

other end designed as an awl. tures similar to this figurine were related to which terminate in a seal’s tail. It is a reCape Vancouver 43663, 12.5 cm long, Nor- Nelson during his stay in Alaska. markable piece, having been carved from a ton Sound 33243, 16 cm long; Sledge Island Cape Vancouver 176142, 9.3 cm; Nunivak single unbroken rod of ivory.

45140, 12 cm long Island 43740, 11 cm Askinuk 36630, 12 cm; Kuskokwim 36631, 22,cm; Cape Vancouver 37776, 12 cm

136

154. Men’s Fancy Boots kameksiik

Men’s boots usually come to just below the ee ew / knee and soles are made hard,oroil-tanned Fo ss: aoeeee So sealskin and with sealskin reindeerskin nee8 Pe

uppers. The solesatbend up and around the foot,a oo ead and areofcrimped theskin toe heel. Often 4 9oy eeiCe es aa. ajoinstrip tanned seal will be used to _——— the sole and the upper part of the boot. ss ye oe aa be

This beautiful pair of boots collected on King a _— ee io eo wl Island wasThe probably used on ceremonial oc- be Bicep: me TG eee a - 2 a

, rr re

id 7) an - : zee a wa — 157. Man’s Fur Frock atkuk During the milder months of the year Yukon and Kuskokwim men wear frocks made out of the skins of ground squirrels, mink, muskrats, and summer reindeer. Throughout the winter they wear two of these garments, or

a coat made out of the warm skins of reindeer killed in the fall. The lower cut of a ‘man’s outer garment is straight rather than

curved like a woman’s. Coastal Eskimos wear | coats with hoods, while interior peoples prefer

Alaska 176103, 130 cm 139 to wear fur caps.

\a

aN ce

er ii Oe| teSi eo) aeaenee ee ef ep gilen ge i eei

Fees a et ga WO aks. BE A at ge a ae a ee

ie ee ee ee ee ete —"

wae *.. ar an ion a > eek a fede - PS . IEE tahoe 3 Sai —

-— 7 rll re ee ae ge .ice oe if2 |:otae ee “ey % _tae . “ee Steg. ae - rn a . it”, i a i. — ee ee ee a | Ce ae. eee re wees oe HN eee ee eo eee = | ath: " “ie 4 a. oe ee en ee:

Re. we eae a es ener. a ae : ne = Be Ee ase. Wie, BP jet Se cd ogee Sek Si, ee Be re ae

2 a eeeFO ee eee Bad Cea ree ee gs 7 ew” Tghe Baws POR ees ar vs, ” = Tas

| 158. Fishskin Frock amirag | Fishskin frocks are unique to the Bering Sea region, where people also make and use fishskin boots and mittens. When processed and

. sewn correctly, fishskin garments are water-

| reference to this garment as a “poor-man’s”’ proof and durable. Nelson repeatedly makes

frock, but this is probably a bias he picked up from northern Eskimos who did not use fishskin clothing. The frock illustrated here is made out of salmon skins sewn together

| with sinew. Gores along the shoulders are made out of fish skins dyed brown with alder

bark. Thin strips of white seal throat lining and strips of dyed fish skins have been sewn along seamlines, giving the garment a sim-

. ple but elegant 140 Mission 38817, 104line. cm

aie ee A : -°“aa

eb — 2 ee a 2a Bes| ivr: 2 YT

(8 E JE 7

2 . ce

PS SS Oe ie AB ag bi : eS ee MS ae od ia

ee a Ge gag eh ee a a , = 6 Be gee wa

i ho en ee Ae ae oo ar ae Ge i! ll

2 Geo ' w—_* Me Ny, eeee Oe IRi ete ee Mt ee ry a vl neg Ufo ln ee ae Po Pe Lf poet?) i a et ee | Pa See ee ee ee Lo Vee Se ee ia oe, ie pe aa LS Or Bg LE Oe hae a I Le te ay. ee cat gl SL me See Del Om f I ie) 4 Pee ee tii er a 4

aTize. re aof39° aears SPre hehe PO fof aeaBO SE Se ee ae ie eee. OCR oelll |2Cfaie, Boeae alll, a. (26287 aaa eeoete) ee Ee —.

Roos ee “i by ee ee pews: ce oe ; : ail a jd, ee” Gr eS 2 eee See > Meer ade he Oa, AG : a Me DS AL Lie Pat AOR ets “4 Py Lg at A eens SCR Mr Gey Vee gee ee A

_— “ Cece "ae Mee Se get pe aes il BO a RY ttl ‘7

eM ce ee ee a ee AA ee ee a ee ee eas 8 ED | a hy i a oe Ne ee eo hae ; i Men Kee eta ge a Pe SES EO WALES, Bs anne "| , 4 iaRe eet) 4hRaeoeaeBe a abpeeer ee | a ee Ce AA Price NG a he) VeeOG ee, Bo ged PN Ses es a esee 4 ge EO, eee, | PL ICO Gat OTe

eed | AO eS ee a ea ee Le a a en ae 8oeeere

as Sa BgaOe = me | Pe So ie ee au?Be ae5 eeis oeead eeeets ee.Pay eSee, ees‘oe oeLoree ene me ce PF Pes oe Eg ee ie 8 eee a. EER ES eee eee ee See ee gee fa OO ge ee 2 eee Ce ee ea eg %& zEs :eeeet St&yewee Se ee ar, ee aeB08 aeype 7Dogs TS? aa ies.eg “sae egee ee 2 beg eeeee ee eee fete! BES ee oes - eG - gre Sees 2 Sey ce;or 1 EE: SE? eee 3. ds.TiSS =eee: Pi SS git geek ee Ff io BS Seeee ee ESe SS ae : . ;

"Bie alle aee ee Or ie iste Thee ee Sc Aacti Seeink, Ce SS oa ; a Ee ce ie ™2a eeLy a or=ay-waias es = he.743 MaePa 3d “al ‘. a ~4- are 4 (2e 0 ; a3iS - lied

159. Gutskin Frock imarnin

| Throughout the Arctic strong waterproof

garments are used by Eskimos and Aleuts, who make the frocks out of strips of seal |

_ intestines. Men in particular wear these garments when hunting in kayaks. This beautiful gutskin garment has been sewn with sinew and decorated with cormorant feathers, red wool, and seal fur sewn onto tanned and dyed sealskin strips. Dyed sinew has been threaded around the exposed sinew stitching for additional decoration. The strips of gut skin have been joined in folds,

and there are no stitches piercing through | the entire thickness of the garment. The

Golovnin Bay 43335, 84 cm 14] seams are thus reinforced, and the jacket retains the waterproof quality of the gut skin.

ee is

Ae aw She BT ge” aaa Bering Sea Eskimo implements are often incised with designs which 160. Mittens arilluuk have symbolic meaning. Animals may have defined skeletons and lifelines, | When hunting at sea, men wear mittens _ and mythological creatures may be collared and cuffed as well. Fish are — Which come up to the elbow and are secured symbolically caught in nets, and cormorants, fish-eating birds, wearfishnet _nittens are made out of salmon skin or seal

; ; ; ; with a drawstring or bracelet. Waterproof

collars and have sinkers shaped like fishtails. skin, with the hair left on.

One bagfastener collected by Nelson when he was at Chalitmut is par- White dogskin mittens are used by men

‘cularly rich ; boli I bei fi , when they are hunting on the ice. The hunter, ticularly rich in symbolism as well as being a magnificent piece of work- on his hands and knees, slowly creeps to-

manship. The bagfastener (fig. 145) portrays smiling male and frowning wards a seal. He knows that the seal will

, , 4. ous predators. As the seal raises its sleepy

female faces, images which may be guardian spirits and are often associated 100K up Periodically, surveying for dangerwith kayak equipment. The spurred lines encircling the faces, meant to _ head the hunter hides behind his large mitbe the halolike wolverine trimming of a hooded frock, bring to mind framed tens, which blend in with the ice and snow. inua images and the caribou fur fringes around many ceremonial masks. —_ The seal, perceiving nothing dangerous on the landscape, puts down its head and the The seals flanking the faces are collared and attached to seal nets. They _ hunter continues his silent approach.

are double images, for their tails become thumbless hands attached to Sledge Island 45404, 50 cm outstretched arms. Thumbless hands, like pierced hands, insure the continual presence of game on earth. All of these images find clear expression in ceremonies enacted by men in the gasgig, but as an integral part of the Bering Sea Eskimo world view, they are appropriately expressed on utilitarlan items.

i git, oe” 161. Embroidered Gloves alimatet g Regional styles of boots. dress extend tomaking gloves as 4y }OES 3 d pot Zl well as parkas and When a _ y _is ae Anogogmut seal hunter. i ao Anogogmut 37419, 16 cm

Children’s Lite af?

. 4 ee.

Child rearing is the fourth major type of activity that takes place in and ns =, around the house. During the birth process mother and child are assisted i

by an older woman or, if there are complications, by a shaman. The new- a

born infant is wrapped in a diaper of soft seal skin lined with dried sphag- |. ee num moss, and a tiny eiderskin parka is made for him (Lantis 1946:223). i i The infant will go everywhere his mother goes, riding on her back and * a4 i»

inside her frock, which has a large hood to accommodate him. i | aaa A childless couple may go to a shaman for help. The husband or the q — =. 4

shaman will carve a wooden or ivory doll, perhaps representing a woman fa § + : with her sexual features emphasized and her lifeline and womb defined. & . ka ft Or the doll may simply be a male or female figure which the couple cares r Ao

for in hopes that the doll will come to life in the wife’s womb. . | Male infants are favored over females because as adults men have the a

capability of supporting their old parents. An unwanted infant is left out- -=-_ doors to die in the snow, or may be adopted by another couple who will —-

raise the child as their own. 3 4

ue | i.

A newborn may be named after the last person to die before the birth |

or after a deceased relative. According to Nelson a child may also be named aw ae after the first thing that catches his mother’s eye following the birth. It named after a deceased individual, the child becomes the representative 179. Bracelets tallirat of that person. This relationship is most tully expressed during the Great Bracelets made out of copper, brass, and iron Feast to the Dead when the namesake and by implication the shade of the are popular among Eskimo women. They like

dead person is fed and dressed in new clothes. their shiny quality and the clinking sound

he fj ; babv’s life that ; zed by th ; of the bracelets as they knock against one

| The first major event in a baby’s lite that is recognized by the community another. This little ivory doll, collected by is when the baby is taken into the gasgig for the first time. On Nunivak = Nelson at Nubviukhchugaluk, represents a Island this usually occurs during the first Bladder Festival, a major hunting Wéalthy, well-dressed woman, if one considfter the babv’s birth. The baby’ rents vr ' ab f ers the many metal bracelets she wears on ceremony, after the baby’s birth. The baby’s parents present a number o her arms. She herself may be a fertility figgifts to the people assembled in the gasgig, and the presents are divided urine, for a thin incised “lifeline” runs down

amongst the older people (Lantis 1946:224). her chest defining her stomach and womb. On Nunivak Island and elsewhere in the Yukon—Kuskokwim region, the = Nubviukhchugaluk 43995, 6 cm

rst time a ttle girl picks berries and takes them jome and the first time 180. Bracelets Worn by Men tallirat she cuts grass for weaving are events recognized in the community. Ornamented sealskin bracelets, worn by men,

. . ee serve and practical func= — both a tions.decorative When they are at sea hunting in their

_——— i, a, Ne kayaks, the men secure the ends of the sleeves wil ~~ ”; °oe Bier. of their waterproof garments by folding the il ae: — a. as . i ON sleeves over and under the tight-fitting

4 ee a s a OS a. bracelets, thus preventing water from run-

——be* US a SS a ning up thebracelet sleeves. The of this eaae Poea.OM & ticular was notowner impressed withparthe ae = ~~ Fb, _ By | flowered European pottery available to him rd io oes 0 i ; and preferred to display its white undecorag a~~a aBega er us>ee| aYYy ateda surface, which heof passed off as a pogy. lished piece ivory. 150 “a oe , “a 2 os ay a” Nulukhtulogumut 38296, 7 cm across

181. Women’s Tool Boxes gungasviit small festival is held in the gasgig and men are presented with food. The Sewing implements, swatches of hide, and _ first time a little girl dances in the qasgiq is also recognized, and she is toys are among the items women store in very excited by this event. She is given a fancy headdress and her father their wooden work boxes. One of the finer of, , , examples of bent-wood technology is a cir- distributes gifts (Lantis 1946:22.4). cular box collected by Nelson when he was A little girl plays with miniature versions of the tools her mother uses visiting Sledge Island. The sides of the box including a tiny housewife with sewing equipment, a bent-wood box, a and stitched with spruce root. The wooden _ basket, and a root pick. By the age of thirteen or fourteen she should be bottom has been snapped into place, andthe — able to make clothing and weave mats and baskets, for she has helped her hinged lid has been fitted with leather fas- sy other around the house. She will soon be a wife herself, if she is not form of a red X has been painted on the bot. already married, and will be in a position of providing for rather than being

are a thinned spruce.slab that has been bent ;

tenings. A personal or totem mark in the , i 4. tom of the box. cared for. A close examination of the beautiful rec- The first time a girl menstruates she must observe a number of taboos tangular work box from Cape Nome reveals , a methods have found their way into local restrictions and physical separation from the community. During the iniblue bead, and dovetail joints. Despite the . ; . a are decorated in a similar and traditional to animals he later tries to hunt. manner. Grooves around their sides and on The first bird a little boy manages to kill is skinned by his mother and their lids are dyed black, and the box sur- ; ; faces are rubbed with red pigment. presented in the gasgig during the next Bladder Festival. The boy’s father that European materials and construction | Which range in duration from a few days to a year and which include eating

woodworking in the form of an oak panel, a tia] stage of her confinement an atmosphere is said to surround her, and very different shapes of these two boxes, they if a hunter comes too close to her, this atmosphere will make him visible

Sledge Island 45093, 25 cm (diameter}, Cape gives away many fine presents on this occasion. The little boy will continue

Nome 45385, 36 cm long to entertain himself around the village, setting traps for small animals and /

stalking song birds with a bow and arrow made for him by his father. Throughout his adolescence, every time a boy kills a new species of bird or mammal the captured animal is given special treatment. The killing of his first seal is an especially noteworthy occasion and is given recognition

by its meat being distributed outside the family. Other important events 151

a ee ll , :

a a > “gy eR: Seo te OO aa Veer as, ee ee ee

in a young boy’s life include the first time he beats a drum in the qasgiq 182. Steamer Trunk yaassigek qungasviik

and the first time he sings a song he has composed. Nelson describes this red Kusilvak box as a

, - it is, for it has four small compartments in

On Nunivak Island when a young man has killed every kind of seal and —-©t@iner for small articles—and an ideal one finally brings home an adult bearded seal he is consideredamanandeligible which to store small knickknacks and a larger to marry. Before he marries however he is subject to a number of taboos _ one for bigger objects. Each compartment is

similar to those a girl goes through when she reaches puberty (Lantis CV¢te¢ witha hinged wooden panel that can

be opened by pulling on a thong passed 1946:226-27). . ; through the lid. The box has been conOn Nunivak Island a man teaches his children family songs and as a __ structed out of many small pieces of wood,

a , with the box, and covered with red pigment.

family they observe certain taboos and share totemic emblems. The man’s _-P¢88ed together with wooden dowels cut flush daughters will learn this information but once they marry they will adopt = The hinges have been made by chain-stitchthe customs of their husbands’ families. A man will teach his sons to hunt _ ing seal skin to wood with spruce or willow skillfully, also teaching them hunting magic and songs. If a couple sepa- —_—-0°tS: The interiors of some of the compart:

, , Oe ment lids have red stripes painted on them

rates, the children are in a potentially difficult situation, because their — which resemble marks found on the bottoms fathers may not be around to train them. In the case of boys this is par- _ of bent-wood trays and bowls. The technolticularly true. The boys’ paternal uncles, their grandfathers, or stepfathers usedIndeed, to constructthe the box is traditional, , ut the form is8”not. piece resemmay take over this role (Lantis 1946). Boys in this situation sometimes bles a European steamer trunk. become shamans’ apprentices, seeking recognition and influence in social —_Kusilvak 49075, 38.5 cm

, | an 183. Salmon-shaped Box Raven :———__ et a According to Eskimo legend, after hh a ee a made Man he set to work making birds, fish,

aaa.i eee : a ens eeeCe ae.ormosquitos, and otheronanimals so day thatRaven Man Z | ; would not be lonely earth. One rr Ce ] ‘ flew to the sky and stayed away for four days.

pee ea apeme eewith When he returned tothem earth in herivers, carriedand salmon = et 8 PAR him, deposited prooa SO rs. ee eee | ceeded to explain to Man the many ways he Betti ee i ee could use this fish. Since then, Bering Sea ae —— ee ee | — Eskimo women dry and smoke salmon for | =anOeOp ee — fia food—and sew parkas, salmon skins into bags, watereeee/ ee proof and mittens.

152 ) ~ ul Sabotnisky 49015, 34.5 cm

C—O ee As

iee eS a- fae i (fo carved to stand in for people away from the ie 28——— a = | = 1q le village during certain isfestivals, and wooden - . .oe 4 image of a human the center ofaattention

= Ss _ oo . es | ee during the Doll Festival, concerned with . Po pee OF ne me | Va hunting and fishing conditions for the com-

-=2Bo foa..hlUe Le ae ceremonial , | ing year. objects, Whetherthe toys, fertility figures, or i a Se | a. Gs q ple are carefully carved, with great attention “| a Pooh paid to female the character face.their Both nnn Vv ee be ae ea .—2Ls | and figures of arethe made, sexmale de-

—=— if = a 2 eo of. : fined either by anatomical features or facial _

aye _ || ey a” ai Unalakleet 32931, 632916, cm; Rasboinsky 48712, ao q ae 17 cm; Kigiktauik 11 cm; Rasboinsky a ‘a ” pos: WR as =< 48711, 9 cm; Sabotnisky 48907, 13 cm; Ku-

156 shunuk 36225, 8.5 cm

191. Brothers Rasboinsky and Their ones = a. on | Cousins inuguat te The two clay dolls illustrated here may have i 7 —

been the beloved companions of a little Ras- ——— ° ae. passed value judgments, was moved toofcomr=J . a. ment on the awkward and crude nature _ , ee these two pieces. They are extremely rare as eel A a “ A boinsky girl, but even Nelson, who rarely 0 ee | feo

well, being the only clay figures Nelson saw wae 8 oe =. iy

during his four-year stay in Alaska. The Tok 7 e ..)0)0l cg

smaller figurefigure’s has punctated eyes andare mouth, aoe a oe ~ 7d aa q and the larger eyes and mouth _. ##«g be. made out of quartz pebbles into theoe owagfi ‘eels aa “a gravel-tempered clay. .stuck ——_— ——-

; me ea Ie | ee a a

More commonly, dolls are made out of SS tao. | ar . —_ a dolls are carved out of wood, making them oe ee a ee we, Se. oe ae wood and ivory. The upper torsos of large me ee Re | _—————. |

light and durable. Ivory and, more recently, “4 ee Sf ee i rn: glass beads are set into the wood to form .e & oR « tga i ae | a Pope

eyes, mouths, and labrets. The Kushunuk Se. Ue rc doll has a beaded nose ring as well, making ie lt a | -_ ee mn Fo / a

him an exceptionally well-dressed figure. CD ee Ee : oer) eee ce ne ¢ Rasboinsky 48735, 17.5 cm; 12 cm; oF ieee37365, ‘ge “ee NG ae oe Kaialigamut 37878, 2048734, cm; Kushunuk Lo ee a ee re

a|—

a| a La Pe ig . Te

The stories cover anumber of topics including myths, adventures, ghosts, and there is a class of stories that teach moral values. This last category is quite common, and usually features a child who disobeys her mother’s or grandmother’s instructions and brings misfortune to a relative. The strongest messages in these stories relate to how the disobedient child has risked her own life and has endangered the entire community because of her misdeeds. Little girls living in the Yukon—Kuskokwim continue to tell one another knifestories, but since Nelson’s time a little girl is lucky if her father makes her a storyknife. Today she uses a stick or a metal tableknife. Indeed, metal knives make very good storyknives, and mothers often complain that the silverware has disappeared and has been lost in the mud outdoors. One time there was a woman and her baby. She went to the tundra for berries. She left the baby on the ground to sleep. One time she looked up and saw the baby sitting up. She ran to him to hug him because he was so cute. The baby was so startled, and he flew up.

: The baby never came down. The mother tried to let the baby come down, but the baby didn’t. She took a bunch of berries to show him, but when she looked up, the baby had turned into an ugly bird. She let down her long hair over her head, and ever since those birds have

landed on those strange bumps on the tundra that look like a head of hair, and from then on those birds would have a place to land. (Lynn Ager 1980:99}

157

ak3 en ical -~ te j\ere _ : . iAc - i ° 2,sptr: ..Fee = = AA = 2 SEee J eee, yaa Re 5|

ee ee ee LAS AS TRC Sy, ‘Ene

: mm fe ar 2 OSDy te. Naga se Fg ..\ wei: 8 ee | an .0Ul( Nags and mothers. As a girl relates a story she oaae | lO — _ me ee illustrates the opening and succeeding scenes Oe , po er eas in a cleared area of mud or wet sand, using

Ee HF - 2 = ae a ct eres zc Seed / /

oe. — ~ ,9: RS Bere ee the tip ofknife her storyknife, a wood or,father. more ane aatsot often, ivory made for her by her an eee Ivory storyknives, used in the Yukon and |

rr i

a | is Oe Mane ote SES, BOSS Se Kuskokwim, are carved and incised in a vaereee as BLY Stee: riety withSee the same decoration pve ia OS _ .RN ¢geee Se Sgypgee Seo UEofeSstyles, SS eed ee .and . .ap:in: Bo ee Soy tegaeeSy asatpearing onSs either side of theee knife

oe i eS thea es knife Aasstoryknife often pe eee GBoof 4a oe gate as te iswell. carved a bird or fishhandle head, the shaft

by te ade OR OR a ee ee 8 eR = decoration being an abstracted lifeline and

ee ee ee er a A ee Pe ~ Lower Kuskokwim 36595, 28 cm; Paimut re a fs eeesaeeeees38359, cm; Konigunugumut 37283, 30 glags SFake Dae a Sea SS RR ee21.5 cm; Nulukhtulogumut 36591, 30cm; 38120, - 27.5 cm; Big Lake 37289, 23 cm; 38361, 28 cm

a ~~~. ga

ooo oe oe oe «ff «.« i .

wo — BYOB Ses ee ws a ig ; 2 ee ee ce 6 De amen IES PETS ee an PO ko L. 8a? BO - ae rs fd 2 qn as aia 158

193. Knifestory yaariluni qanemciq oy 748 a ~ Totherightisaknifestory told and illustrated te I/ rm . by a little girl. Such stories introduce chil- Uf ( HY b. \

dren to society’s social values and traditions. VE P

194. Story Symbols yaariyarag |

When telling a knifestory, a little girl will

X 8 2 FS ~~

draw symbols representing the buildings, | /

furniture, and people mentioned in the tale. ——T ! Each girl draws the symbols in a slightly \ 4 _

different way, but they are understood all y an the children clustered around thebyscene.

») ~- s— 4 : “

man woman baby —— ~

an \ TRADITIONAL KNIFESTORY

— eel .

— Ly There was an old lady in a house with only one son. She is a widow. Nw, She is very superstitious. There are trees outside. She told her son ~~“ not to chop trees because they had some kind of supernatural powers.

house qaseid One day the boy was curious. His mother was sleeping. He went out ro] UV VNRVAY and pulled up a tree, and afterwards he went in to see if anything happened. When he opened the door, there were trees crowding all hecpine acl over the house. He went over to his grandmother, and she was mak-

eat a ing a parka with her frill down over her face. When he called to her

she looked up, and she was a skeleton. He was afraid and ran away, but the grandmother followed, and fire was coming out of her eyes.

CEBR>, Ny A He ran out into space, and she followed. He became the sun, and she was the moon. (Lynn Ager 1980:226) trees ptarmigan snare

OOSSSETTTmS ASKA |

159

I visited the qasgimiut (“habitués of the qasgiq’’) a number of times in the fall of 1978. On first

descending through the front chamber and into the ,

main room, I was struck by the scene: ten or so men . sitting absolutely still on their haunches, almost birdlike, parkas pulled down over their knees so that only the tips of their sealskin boots protrude, arms . folded, and the hoods of their parkas placed far _ forward over their heads, so that only the long bills of

their caps stick out past the furry ruffs. From one , emanated a deep, measured voice, in the midst of an

account. After a time, he took a drum, and began singing while beating it; then he handed it to me, asking for a song, which I provided as well as I was

able, remembering that Nelson had observed that this was a customary obligation of a visitor—however, in his case his hosts granted him a reprieve!

Anthony C. Woodbury at Chevak, November 1978

#, ee See oe eee. eee es oe

ee on Te eT a ore

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Smoking economy of the region.

St. Michael 176286, 31 cm; Yukon Mouth

In the gasgig the men are frequently seen in their favorite resting position 176169, 20 cm squatting on their haunches against the wall calmly smoking their pipes. No other pastime gives a man more hours of pleasure. Cradling his pipe

in his hand with his arm resting on his knee and the pipestem in his mouth, he cogitates the events of the day, makes plans for the future, and engages in conversation with other men around him. Smoking, an expensive habit, is not only pleasurable personally, it marks a man’s success and gives him status in the community. Well-established men can afford the

cost of tobacco and the time taken out of subsistence efforts. Such men must have furs to trade and fish in their storehouses. They are also in a position to make small gifts of tobacco to other less provident persons who are poorer hunters and trappers. These gifts reflect favorably on the giver’s social and economic position in the community. Smoking is a relatively recent activity adopted by Bering Sea Eskimo men from their Siberian neighbors over the past few hundred years. Their long curved pipes with small out-flaring mms reflect the pipes’ Asian an-

cestry and were probably copied by the Alaskans shortly after tobacco smoking was introduced to the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos by traders from other Asian groups. Ultimately this chain stretches back through Europe to the Indians of Eastern North America. By the mid-1800s the Siberians were smoking with pipes that had bowls molded from lead. These pipes did not become common in Alaska until after 1880, when they were still considered very precious items, bringing a man who had obtained one considerable prestige. Once the technique of making the lead bowls with wooden molds was learned, they were more readily available; but many 164 men continued using bowls made from polished stone in a style imitating

ararvik Fe a ie, a

198. Fungus and Fungus Ash Box kumakat, a eee

Fungus ash is an important component of vcaihieiics: ae. See ee chewing tobacco. The fungus is obtained by Fo te eR RRR trade from the Yukon Indians, who collect Be Oe ON

it from dead birch trees. It is burned and Rag Ue a : ao a mixed with finely shredded tobaccotrade, leaves, formerly originating through Siberian cialfee an| .:| me pacheee ee

and then is kneaded and rolled into rounded eyae| |eal, vgn. ‘ge aega pellets or quids. At this point it is often given ma cee RR to atoman’s wife, who chews the with mixture a#iro eeREE es aR P\ bit better incorporate the ashes the . | tobacco. The processed quids are then packed ee. ae eee Ser - ai Fe \ in quid boxes ready for use. A man does not _ re ree ee \t

actually chew the but holds it roinnmi hisEe idaeee ®ree) Be aoe Oafe . mouth, swallowing the quid, juice. Nelson says if og oe he wants eat,a or drink, takes it it z=behind uuu EN —_— GR ee | ]eesy SeOBE oo g AY out, rollstoitrest, into ball, andheplaces aN his right ear where it remains until it is ee es a Ai ae ae? cn wees, Te

needed. | ys “OUTS oe . a oe . wt “oe ae b - i : ae Py) an antler strip in the same way one bends 4 PNeeS oo Ec pe A a8 : 7 Bag Po a oe the walls of in wooden containers. It was prob\ AON eeejb @ . fe el ably soaked urine and bent slowly, over iS ee ———_ a long period of time, then scarfed and pegged OQ. Ol =) Sy where the joint overlaps. The antler wall is ~ a e:. See S Ae decorated with the tooth or chain pattern Stag Lag ee 6: i

and concentric circles with darkened center See -

pegs. The top and bottom pieces are exca- a | ———

vated from blocks of wood. A broad groove | —— surrounds the conical-shaped bottom, while ee the top is decorated with polished sections >... of walrus teeth and tufts of seal hair. _— 3 St. Michael 43363, 15 cm; Yukon Mouth ee 38472, 9 cm (diameter})

the hard-to-get metal bowls. After the coming of Russian traders and, more recently, American whalers, new sources of tobacco and pipes developed,

oe and the influence of the Siberian tobacco monopoly began to diminish.

A blend of local and European ideas is seen ae f “. these tobacco boxes from the Kusko- and spend many hours making and ornamenting their pipes. To support kwim. While both show the skill andimag- their habit they must be successful trappers to supply themselves with the smoking, they reveal the introduction of new ; . materials, The small quid box, identified by Indians or Eskimo middlemen for tree fungus, whose ashes form an im199. Tobacco Boxes iqmiutaat | Nevertheless, men continue to make fine tobacco, snuff, and quid boxes

ination men display in making articles for = wherewithal for purchasing tobacco from the traders, and for trading with Nelson as a porcupine, has been sculptured = portant ingredient to a good smoke. from a solid wood block into an animal form

gills?}, and neck, to whichand polished ivoryeee ee ee | eyeballs, studs for nostrils, neck ornaee ments have reveals been added. A lid opening throughin . aa” Seeaa; Se the throat an excavated chamber . oS which tobacco are stored. “SsegOe A different design plugs incorporating both oldPre. i ae our Veka8 with large reddened eyes, mouth, ears (or

and new elements is seen in a bent-wood — oat - Far he container with red and black grooves around epi. ua Se as Pay) eS A Yu its sides. The base is cutcloth to fitcovering the insideto- keep = = wae ogOe: ae ot te Ey hoop and has an inner i we the tobacco dry and clean. Its bottom dis- — — rh, 2 Cn 2 oeea2 plays from cutting tobacco. a a of ne ‘a“Me, 5. Mo lid isstriations ornamented with theThe face lady (eeLer- te

wr modeled in ivory, frowning, tattooed, and iia oe an Di ee wearing labrets, surrounded by red and white Jae ~ ny An Sag Ee ES glass beads and two halves of a white glass ‘sa :Po wei |reeee ee button—the epitomy of decorative fashion! | ay A wafer-thin wood strip has been bent and = : - ™ a . ga yal glued around the edge of the rim, which is z= - i, Si Bite al

36250, 9 cm — 165 marked notches orientationwith for replacing theto lid.indicate Bee ill the proper a ae — _ Kulwoguwigumut 36282,9 cm; Ukagamut /——————_—_—_~~—

a ae — a: BR ee 7cite oe ee Lo DEAS caea -aeoO| a ‘en -e, eer a" an

; “a ~ —_—> a. ae "4 Sweat Bath It is the role of the eldest or most experienced man to preside over the 200. Snuff Boxes meluskarvik doings in the qasgiq, and he, along with his peers, is the one who tells = Women rarely smoke tobacco, but they chew

i. . shredding tobacco leaves and pounding them ; C, ; . containers are often elaborately designed, as

stories, composes songs, and determines the direction of events. The cen- _1t 4nd often take snuff, which is prepared by tral activity of the day may be a sweat bath. An enormous, fast-burning into powder in goblet-shaped mortars. The fire is built of brittle driftwood in the central fire pit, and both the flue _ powder is sifted through perforated gutskin and the ceiling window are opened, when the fire is lit, the room rapidly _‘S*tainers and stored in snuff boxes. These attains excruciating temperatures and fills with smoke. The men breathe shown by this seal effigy box from the Lower through smoke respirators they make of tightly bound wood shavings or Yukon. It is sculpted showing a ‘small seal tightly woven grass, and they roll on the floor, crying out from the intensity —_—“"°st!g on the breast of a larger one. Perhaps

£ th he fire b d d h ; they are mother and baby or, as suggested in meplaying plaving OCS begin.portions , Stylizedof flippers are shown, andhave excavated 8a the body surfaces been group becomes very relaxed, and storytelling, singing, woodworking, and _ pling position on the surface of the water.

painted red, as are their mouths and the skel-

ee a ee seal. Bird symbolism, suggested by the splitoe Sasa oer oem a | : ee Viigeccesd ll a feather quill collars, is also evident when the etal motif incised on the back of the larger

I | ) ligeHI| upper isbird. viewed separately floating leesUtes MN Sesgeseses i y | coz seal It) gees In another visual twistas theaback of the ESE x ee er oe ER———eeEeGOnO* upper seal can be seen as the head and beak

| of a large-eyed bird, possibly a raven.

Mission 48839, 10 cm; Anogogmut 37539,

ee ee ag te eee

ioe ae Oe I Se ee ee ee ian ees a . 201. Snutt Tubes mel usk darcuun Snuff tubes made from the hollow wing bones

of geese and other waterfowl are inserted in

OR Ae ee gg a nostril while the other end is held inside ih D225 KS ee, ae ia] the snuff box. Hefty snorts are taken with

|i [S28 ane ee.@ 49)i ee | each nostril. are rarely one oS ee Pose ee ae te eee seen northThese of thetubes, Yukon,which are decorated in Yukon—Kuskokwim style. Rasboinsky 49026, 10 cm; Sabotnisky 38042,

166 10 cm; Konigunugumut 37811, 8 cm

202. Powder Flasks and Cap Box Essentially the same scene was witnessed many times by Edward Nelson, During Nelson's stay he noted the growing |= who provides an elaboration of the aftermath of a typical sweat bath: numbers of firearms, which had been pres-

ent here since their introduction by Russian ... When the smoke has passed off and the wood is reduced to a bed fur traders in the 1820s. In remote regions of coals, a cover is put over the smoke hole in the roof and the men he found very early Russian rifle models used sit naked about the room until they are in profuse perspiration; they with the gun-crotch support, and collected then bathe in the urine, which combines with the oil on their bodies with Eskimo decoration. Nelson also col. and thus takes the place of soap, after which they go outside an lected other articles associated with fire- pour water over their bodies until they become cool. While bathing arms use, such as this imaginative powder they remain in the kashim with the temperature so high that their flask made from a block of wood that has skin becomes shining red and appears to be almost at the point of been split, hollowed out, rejoined, and carved blistering; then going outside they squat about in the snow perfectly into the head of a horned puffin. Another nude, and seem to enjoy the contrasting temperature. On several cal spiral fluting and design imitating Eu- occasions I saw them go from the sweat bath to holes in the ice on ropean metal flasks—rare prestige items. A neighboring streams and, squatting there, pour ice water over their masterwork, it is made from a single block backs and shoulders with a wooden dipper, apparently experiencing of birch that has been excavated through its the greatest pleasure from the operation. (Nelson 1899:287}

one of the latter implements, locally made, d th k he vl f f hich th d d

flask departs from local style, its symmetri- ; bottom and refitted with a pegged base. The small box, for storing gun caps, has a slotted

lid. With its curved handle, it resembles a floating duck or goose. A remnant feather

plume has been wedged in a small hole under = the handle. This box has a red-painted en- ype eters a eae be Bho wi -

wedges from Ikogmut. a 7

circling groove andtoaone short groove segmentEEE — ee; S ‘a on its base, similar found on wooden EEE OSS ce Typical of other items to be found in a el ee “modern” hunter’s kit is this ivory charging a ee ae ~ —

cup shaped into a cormorant head, usedBulto ‘ea se=-‘ed _ measure out a single charge of powder. a ee let-starters, used to force the bullet into the i ll _

barrel when loading, are needed because bul=~~ ; eS , let sizes cannot be accurately controlled. = . | @ Nelson noted the scarcity of European am- _aaeere_lS| ae munition and found that bullets were frequently made with homemade molds, like ee ies s —_

this affairchamber. lined witha aMasha roughly fit- q ae | | ting two-piece ground stone ——— Cape Vancouver 43490, 17 cm; Sledge Island Eo 44966, 15 cm; 44961, 9.5 cm; Stugunugumut

Chalitmut 36323, 10.5 cm 167

37234, 3.5 cm; Anogogmut 37433, 17 cm;

203. Stone Tools, Flint Flaker, and Other “Useless Things”

on ground

Among the items tools. traded to Nelsonaxes, were andolchipped stone Stone , ., points, and knives were still being used, not

only in remote areas where iron was scarce but also in Bering Strait where religious beliefs prohibited its use for killing and butch-

) ering certain sea mammals. The axe from | SledgeON Island is made of nephrite, a jadelike - | stone whose principal source is on the Ko—_ bukextent, River.chert In early dayswere nephrite and, toSia LOo lesser (flint] traded to A Ses ae zz ™ St. Michael 26 cm; 45488, cm; Ceoo:ee"sre Unalakleet 43859, 12.5 cm aé eeee 17]

‘,*a|4

Box Lid Art A man’s tool box is one of his treasured possessions and there is little 210. Men’s Tool Boxes gungacivik reason for someone other than himself to handle his box. Nelson bought Men make tool boxes for themselves and

Lo, lowing out, and mortising woodworking

a number of elegant tool boxes with hinged or detachable lids. The lids of — theit wives by using bending, pegging, hola number of these boxes have paintings of animals, people, and mytho- techniques. The smaller grooved Kigiktauik

logical beasts covering their inner surfaces. box, illustrated here, is carved from a single Compositionally the paintings suggest narratives, for characters and groups Diack of softwood, the bottom and sides being

of characters may appear on a single lid, and the figures are generally The sides of the taller Kigiktauik box conarranged in a linear fashion. The fluted box lid illustrated in figure 215 has __ sist of two thinned and grooved pieces of a central line down the center of its inner face. Comparison with the wood Dent (0 an oval shape and stitched to-

Nunivak Island wedge_bearing a skeletized33008, image of a18 mythological seal Kigiktauik cm; 33009, monster (fig. 219) and realistic seal-shaped boxes suggests that this line .

19.5 cm

may represent a lifeline, which is lacking on the exterior of this particular F a and in Trinket ; + sf: en’s boxes are often amade the none tormhe ot

box. Painted figures are oriented in relation to this lifeline. The black seal halistic ot stylized seals and may be carved box lid painting (fig. 214) is organized in a similar fashion but without the from a single block of wood. Painted lid inpainted lifeline. These boxes also resemble the Nunivak Island wedge in __ teriors contain mytho ogica and sexual that the seal monster’s body is filled with supernatural images as are the 4. Sfugunugumut box lid, and the male and

} : : : : scenes, sucn as the wniskered creature on

seals represented by the boxes. female genitals, the wolflike beast, and the hunter on the Kaialigamut box lid. Sfugunugumut 36242, 34 cm (two views]; Kaialigamut 176083 (was 37863), 33.5 cm

i I 211. Bent-Wood Technology

trenRe ; | mm | UY, crooked the craftsman thins YY LS |ZUsing A and his shapes a slabknife of wood and grooves the ie f groove S| ya edge intended to be the inner and lower seci ) = tion of the box or bowl. Over a number of

—y \ |oan) t—] days he steams and bends the slab into the TS | J wall F 4 desired shape, the thicker parts of the rim Re f | WZ — helping him control the bends. He has bev= f ’ | iy, cross section = [ eled the ends of the slab so that when they || KE=~ |H ye Coy) Samstymeet theyisare flush with one another and the join nearly invisible. He stitches the | La ZA “ Nitin & ase iy overlapping ends together with spruce or AN |iy) | into tiny slits in thesecuring wood. With a the great deal Vi mt willow root, ends of the root ((* \( thy . ity| Ye ff of force exterted by hand the or foot, bottom \ NNR — fpthe ofcircumference theincontainer, made slightly larger than the rim, is snapped into DgLp JY ml place the rim’sof prepared groove, creating

AN é \

172 Big Lake 38340, 30 cm

a tight-fitting container.

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aiat\ Pa I 7 UN ah Ws bk we anes oe — Se OA RE ee eae EE P.O ee els eens OS a GOO ee Mythology Mythology plays an important role in people’s everyday lives and its cast 219. Nunivak Island Wedge gupun of characters forms the basis for stories and dramatic presentations in the This wedge is used for making wood splints

gasgig. When used as illustrations or carvings, images of mythological orale beeatontaining oe forse han been characters serve both as decorative emblems and as mnemonic devices— engraved on its face. The beast’s eye is conkeys to the characters and sequences of events that take place in a story _ nected to a skeletized lifeline which has or set of related stories—and give visual substance to oral traditions. The Alamo attethed sein ad organs, and tal illustration of mythological characters and events seen on the inside covers _Jimbs are cuffed. On the upper panel inside of men’s work boxes is more strongly and publicly affirmed through painted _its body two wolves or dogs attack caribou and incised drawings on ladles, wooden bowl bottoms, ivory wedges, boats, 842mg ona large plant. A man’s face appears masks, and other artifacts. These illustrations generally identify the central other js pierced by an arrow. Below the carcharacter of the story and show him engaged in some activity or in some __ ibou are a female sexual symbol, a rifle, and condition linking him to the myth or event: the worm-man as part man _— 4 headless man. To the right, associated with and part worm, the palraiyuk as a fierce multilegged and multistomached = juwer panel carries a beastly mouth and a creature; and the thunderbird in the process of carrying off people, kayaks, series of animals, female marks, fish-beast,

; , ; between the legs of one caribou while the

; . ; raven’s marks, are seals, fish, and birds. The

or whales and a second rifle. mouth, A fish-beast chases , pin below the seal’s while twoa sculflat-

Ti-sikh-ptik,. the Worm-Man look on.art, This piece, is somewhat pus, analogous tofish box-lid may which not illustrate

This creature, in the form of a huge worm or caterpillar, figures in nu- 4 single narrative, but it figures many charmerous tales. It lived in the days when animals had the power to change tholog y. linking the Nenivas bale orey.

their form at will into that of human beings, and in the tales may be tures with female sexuality, human

presented either as a man or a worm. Eskimos sometimes make carvings subsistence, and the real and ever-present of the ti-sikh-ptiik for use as amulets which also function as pendants or ut never carecy porrayed raven. belt buttons, and illustrate their ivory pipes with its image (figs. 220, 221). univak Island 43737, 19 cm The following tale from Kotzebue Sound recounts one of the many ti-sikh- 499 Ty-cikh- pak the Worm-Man

pak Stories: Numerous tales are told about ti-sikh-pik, the huge, fearful class of beings combining

In very ancient days there lived a large Worm who was married to human and worm or caterpillar features. One a woman, and they had a son who was also a Worm. When the son of these many-legged creatures has been dewas fully grown the father told him to go to the middle of the earth picted by a Norton Sound carver on an ivory

plain and there in a small house he would find a wife. The son then dh ae and The in poised over the dead used his magic powers and made himself small, so that he could ody of a seal. The image of a ti-sikh-pak is travel taster, and journeyed away. When he came near the small teners, and other items. The carvings are house of which his father had told him, he felt the earth shake and decorative and also insure that the wearer tremble under his feet, and he feared that he would be killed. This will not be harmed by one of these creatures. happened several times, until finally he reached the house. Here he Norton Sound (M. M. Hazen Collection} found that the cause of the shaking of the earth was the talk of an 154075, (detail]

; frequently carved on belt buckles, line fas-

old woman who lived in the house with her daughter. These people

received him hospitably, and finding that the girl was very beautiful, a _ he married her. After he had lived there four years he remembered )) 2 ee —_ mY \ his parents and started to go back to visit them, but on the road he EEE | = was killed by another Man-worm, who was a shaman. In a short og =o 258k a ow

time after this the father felt a strong desire to see his son, so he se me tae =e 180 started to go to him. On the way he found the body of his son, and OR

oN “ poo a ol gael ee ES oo, ON

.ree. Booeaea gE sg hn a ee i... oP. Poeay fy

“Se a, 2 f™% ; A a ff eae OC a. & oA circles the face, its tongues nearly touching Wa _——— oo a South of Yukon Mouth 33131, 18.5 cm

“ee eeOe a Ee tall aeMk J NOS = eee oe 7 of a :aF | a : oe 7 os oe Toe a. a a Sg £.. : Ee Se i Ais ae an Pt i i Sa ood_ vfF igi Pa eeelae Va. ae a ne: a 8 teFe, a ane (ot ‘a a wee

The palraiyuk is a mythical monster that lived in lakes, marshes, and gay ri wae i oe creeks in the region between the Yukon and the Kuskokwim rivers, where ) gm a a - Bes ghee 3 it killed men and animals for food. According to local tradition the climate Aga se aa) ia in ancient times when the palraiyuk existed was very much warmer than =Ha7) | 6 eres "2 at present and the winters were shorter. Waterfowl and other birds came #7" 0) Cae

back from the south in February, and the snow melted and ran into the ; 149

hhouses th through h the} | t this ti f ther th 223. Palraiyuk-Crocodile? their sunken passageways at this time of year, rather than 74. palraiyuk depicted ona large qantag, or

in April as it does today. In Raven’s creation story he tells the first man container, shows the animal’s long tail, spiked about this beast as they travel together in the sky land, cautioning him pack, three pairs of segs, and tree stomachs. not to drink from the lakes which they pass because in them are animals behavior, and habitat was considered re. he made that will destroy anyone who ventures near. These are the pal- — markable by Nelson, who noted these storaiyuk. The palraiyuk was known to lie in wait among the grass in the ries carefully. Partner, Eskimos believe the

: : : : ts resemblance to crocodiles In pnysicali form,

a bank, relicorOfto Warmer lakes and marshes, to lunge forward:toqairdal1yu seize a personwas on the 9 P4740" |

climates a when birds migrated north in February rather attack kayaks crossing its haunts. than in May, and that its numbers declined

: , : . : coun uro n tact 1n the ori1gin of thes Drawings of the palraiyuk are commonly seen on kayaks and umiaks — with today’s colder climate, Nelson iis

in the regions south of the Yukon and on Nunivak— Island, the insides [90'S prevalent “hicpeau Conti © ideas,onwhich are most in theoremore of wooden dishes, and on masks (figs. 2/7, 2.23, 22.2.) Similar creatures are remote regions. He is undoubtedly correct, found on ivory wedges and on Nunivak Island harpoon ice picks (figs. 224, for palraiyuk ake imagesitesare known two-thousanda-yearL from 60). They are usually shown as having many sets of legs, a toothy wolflike tWotousanc-year-old sites on on St.St. Lawrence

— Island (fig. 295). However, perhaps an Ori-

mouth, and segmented stomachs containing human or animal legs, arms, ental link is possible.

182 or other body parts that signify their antisocial behavior. Mission 45494, 14.5 cm (diameter|

224. Other Creatures

Other mythical beasts resembling the pal- | so cghceme-wigtvs ‘yecebareiettigemectiede come

raiyuk are known to Bering Sea hunters. An ne, mtr KES - as

Nunivak Island wedge,“X-ray” is shownform on anwith ivorymuli Oe eel bodkin in magical LI i

tiple-spurred circles and dots and with its So layer of blubber indicated. The hat ornament a

is decorated in a similar fashion resembling

the “wolves” on dart socketpieces and quiver Foes pps pry

stiffeners. It may wi-Iti-gho -ytik,clothing the sea oo rs OTS SE eeP= = =e.» shrew mouse whobe enters a hunter’s > annette Oh +...Oy 7 through a hole in his boot and devours him; —@ jg gga gn gre

or i-makh-pi-mi a-klan-kun, the =i reto a Ce »\\ \@ =tg6 2me seapossibly weasel who brings misfortune lonely, inattentive hunters and was thought by Nel- 0

Sa

son to have been based on stories about real

sea otters that disappeared from this area

> ancouver 43: 65cm; Sabotnisk ; . , ;

auring the past vae38. 19 « cm. Sabotnisl Nelson comments on the curious likeness of this animal’s form, behav-

49014. 19 cm Y ior, and habitat to that of the alligator. “Nearly all of the umiaks in the

country of the lower Yukon and to the southward have a picture of this animal drawn along the entire length on each side of the boat. . . . It appears

to be a local myth and can scarcely have been brought to these people since the advent of the whites. The country where this myth is most prevalent is one of the least visited of any along the coast of the Bering Sea” (Nelson 1899:445). Implicit in Nelson’s discussion is the idea that the palraiyuk might have had its origin from tales of an alligatorlike creature living in the Caribbean regions. A more likely possibility is that it may have come from tales of similar animals in southern Asia or from stories or images of dragons emanating from Chinese civilization over the

course of thousands of years. That this idea may have a long history in Bering Sea Eskimo culture is suggested by images of similar beasts on

, archeological specimens from this region (fig. 304). , Ko-gukh~-ptik, the Burrowing Mammoth

A tale commonly told throughout the region accounts for the existence of

, the bones of mammoths found eroding from stream beds and shorelines by Eskimos. These bones are said to belong to ko-gukh -ptik (ki-ltig-ti-witk,

north of Norton Sound], a huge animal living underground that burrows

, from place to place and emerges one night each year to roam the earth. At other times should it break through the surface and breathe air, it dies immediately. This accounts for the finds of its remains. The ko-gukh -ptik

225. Ladle Beasts is sometimes portrayed on artifacts such as in the interior of a fine serving

ladles made in the Yukon—Kuskokwim gion. The short-handled spoon is decorated a reae a_— ae Mythological creatures are often painted on bowl (fig. 125).

with the head of a beast encircled by black - i ' cw (li and red bands and toisritual covered Af6—Ee... i Tv | e. a treatment often given masks.with Sim- red if ==dots, 2. xy as” wae eS SB So ae

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aa 23 Phage: eee str. ay ee ey :=eae eee ae =- .- — i se Te ee io . Poe “2 ae gee ge RS a .. “= . “Sa os Nhe ’ r Ee Re.-PS - Saal “a, “ides fo Se EEE Pd >Le. j a° 5 a aege Rte Sy. oe o . “2 a a et a i aoaee: a atoe - Vatgene +Bg oeaB::a—= es 3 q: ; sald ie 7Boer aAait. =age. ae a 33 vs i = ies eee Ls a ee ON —_—o a=BS ==a image, said to represent a sea gull. Its body was covered with the skin and

feathers of a small Canada goose. Behind the bird and at the back of the 4

gasgig stood a ten-foot-long pole bound with a bundle of wild celery stalks. Oe

The pole was banded along its entire length with red and white paint. On od the left side of the room and hung horizontally was a large sheaf of seal A and walrus harpoons. Other harpoons and darts were arranged about the a

room. Attached to the harpoon sheath were several hundred seal and walrus , a bladders spotted and blotched with grayish-white paint. Hanging about the Ae room, singly and in bunches, were a number of caribou bladders, but none oN of these were hung with bladders of sea mammals. Under the wild celery ea

stalks and beneath the weapons and bladders was a pile of thirty or forty en wooden hunting hats and visors, some ornamented with carved ivory im- 1h he ages, others painted with female sexual symbols. face % This was the fourth day of the Bladder Festival. Bladders were supposed i, to contain the shades of inuas of animals slain by hunters. Throughout a 4 the year each man had preserved the bladders of his game and when the eo at time for the long approached he sang a song, bladder, and hung it in thefestival qasgiqg. The festival amused and inflated pleasedeach the shades ofTn | aeofoS | the animals, and the bladders were returned to the sea through a hole in | the ice. The shades of the animals swam far out to sea where they entered ‘i 4 the bodies of unborn animals of their kind. They thus became reincarnated, ae rendering game plentiful If the with the manner in which the theyfollowing had beenyear. treated by ashades hunter,were theypleased would .Ld o aq

not be afraid when they met him again, and they would permit him to a approach and kill them without any trouble. Bao OY The festival began after the men cleaned the gasgig and its fire pit. At \ ae night men, women, and children gathered on the roof of the gasgig where hae they sang songs to the wild celery (Angelica lucida) which grew throughout —

the area. The following day bundles of this plant were gathered and dried, and a giant sheath of wild celery now hung under the bladders. The celery 254, Inua of a Sandhill Crane gucillagaq would be used throughout the ceremony marking episodes and purifying The shaman who made this wooden mask

the gasgig before or after certain events took place. once saw a sandhill crane |Grus canadensis) The bladders of seals, beluga, and walrus were now marked with spots sanding on tae tundra. as ie breast soon of paint and with charcoal and smoke from the celery torches. The spots and revealed the humanlike face of the bird’s were similar to those ornamenting masks worn by the shaman. Young men __ ‘mua. This mask may have been worn or hung

participating in the Asking Festival covered their bodies with similar kinds th eet with a small samp d “head. os of spots, but few people understood their symbolic significance. light shining through the crane’s eyes. His Men marched around the hunting hats, a walrus skull, a folded grass beak, once complete, was pegged with mat, and two wooden tubs full of water which had been placed close to h ort featinee und ahe sides ane is anes the hole in the floor. People knew not to leave the gasgig at this time, for _ long neck were also painted this color. 2.06 the hole became a seal’s breathing hole which led to the sea under the ice. _—_Rasboinsky 49020, 75 cm

/ ee oe eee | —

os Mj i a_i a ee eeee ae ae ee ee | 6° eae eee ,. 255. Festival Accoutrements Men took up drums and began to beat loudly while a young man imitated Supporting props are used with festivalsand the notes of the eider duck. The headman chanted, the drums beat, and ceremonies. those the of ~~ men women, and boys took turns singing one of the refrains. A young which areAmong recorded arefunctions Asking Festival wands ——and Bladder Feast staffs. Little is known, | ™an began to imitate the motions of a loon, another those of a mutre. however, about the uses of flying bird effi | Suddenly the room, once full of seated people, was filled with birds which gies made to hang in the qasgiq. A Kusko- ~~ were diving, swimming under water, and pecking for food. Beavers too reddened human legs attached through a Were present cutting trees and building dams. bulbous collar to the head of a bird of prey The dancing ended and a man entered the qasgiq with a bent-wood tray shown with white eyes, hooked bill, and red fod held high over his head. He circled the gasgiq offering food to the missing. Another wooden bird described as Shades of the bladders and to the tunghdt, the keepers of the game. an idol has a toothy red beak and eyes fitted Late that night people were awakened by strange gutteral sounds uttered to the skin of an emperor goose. Perhaps the first from the smoke hole, then from the floor hole. Four men, wearing flight aided by a powerful bird spirit. Similar. unting hats and carrying painted paddles, entered the gasgig and, going ideas seem to be expressed by dancers who _ to the four corners of the room, touched the bladders and knocked the remove the heads and skins from certain birds harpoons and darts to the floor. People removed the points from the fallen ecting over and partially hiding their faces | Weapons and gathered the now harmless shafts in the back of the room. when they dance, recalling Raven's appear- ‘The four men removed their hunting hats and tied onto each a ring of grass

kwim carving of a mythical bird-man has dj

mouth. His wings and other appendages are .

bird effigies illustrate a story of a shaman’s ,

and wear them as fillets with the bills proj-

OKW mm; : : .

Cock ane coo br Kushumuk 6330) (tig. 29). Small downy gull feathers were attached to the rings, which re-

ejom ' — minded some people of the ring of grass representing seaweed on the floor.

Others thought of their starry universe. The next morning youngsters were cautioned not to stamp their feet in the qasgiq for the shades of the animals would be scared by loud noises. During the course of the day the celery stalks were burnt and waved toward the four cardinal points. The smoke hole opened and four hunting hats attached to a sealskin bag were lowered into the room and were hung on

a stake. Later the seal skin was inflated and the wing feathers of the glaucous gull were attached to its hind flippers. That evening the walrus 207

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skull and grass mat were again placed near the hole in the floor. Four dishes 256. Drums and Drumming cauyaq laden with food were brought into the qasgiq and were ceremonially offered People dance and sing in the gasgiq accomto the shades of the bladders. They responded with an approving shudder, — Panied by the resonant, repetitious beat of

; , drum arewith held the rods left held hand accepting theirmusic. food. andDrums are beaten thininwood in The four men who previously had entered the gasgiq with paddles now __ the right. They are played by men in measentered accompanied by a young girl. They performed a dance in which “"¢4 time with two strokes in rapid succesthey imitated seals and walrus. When they tired three other sets of four again. The rod strikes the rim at the same men and a girl replaced them in turn. The dance consisted of short hops __ time it hits the membrane, producing a sharp

, , sion followed by a pause and then two strokes ae of the skin. Drums vary in size and tonality,

sideways and long jumps forward and was performed in perfect step to the —_*4P that mingles with the more sonorous tone beating of the drums. The individual sets of dancers were related, and their some very large ones being used in the Yutotemic marks were displayed on the four paddles standing in the corners = kon—-Kuskokwim region, where this large

of the room handle ornamented with head of Sledge a horned , | oy puffin originates. Thethe drum from Is-

With the dances over, wisps of grass were distributed to the hunters, — Jand has a sea mammal bladder membrane who made funny speeches which amused everyone, including the shades. stretched across a grooved rim of bent spruce. Each wisp of grass was then broken and a wild celery torch with the lethal Music is also produced by striking resonant points of darts and harpoons attached was passed around each wisp. Then _|et from Port Clarence has a grass-cushioned each hunter loudly stated, ‘When they sit down they are sleepy and fall handle wound with braided sinew and shows down,” at which point he fell and rolled over onto the grass on the floor, | 2."ght whale spouting water symbolized by

f , logs or box drums with ivory mallets. A mal-

; bits of down pegged in its blowhole.

Symbolically the seals and walrus were thus caught by the weapons at- | Sledge Island 45401, 50 cm (diameter); Cape

2.08 tached to the torch. Vancouver 38840, 66 cm

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257. Dance Regalia At midnight the shaman extinguished all lamps, stood on the roof, and In addition to masks, carvings, and music, made a speech to the bladders. After the speech people heard walrus and qasgiq ceremonies are enriched by specially geal blowing above the qasgig, and a little later they heard a pup seal prepared personal regalia which have ritualistic connotations. Dancers wear orna- squeak. mental fillets of caribou, wolf, ermine, or Wild celery torches purified the room and offerings of food followed. bird skin, wristlets and armbands, caribou Then the shaman took a young boy and lay him over the entrance hole,

teeth or crab joint belts and bracelets, and ,

special pants. Nelson collected many of these | Making noises and gestures like a murre as he moved about. A man began items from people in northern Norton Sound. —_ to sing and all joined in. When the song ended the hunters rushed to their

Men from thiswear area, who dancemade with bladders, bare hands, largenever mittens of seal :each man taking down his set and attaching it to the harmless

skin. To these are attached, on short cords spearshafts. The shaman stood on the roof, and bladders, celery stalks, and the bills of horned puffins which rattle in shafts were passed up to him through the smoke hole. The hunters departed time with the dancers’ motions. Women do through the entrance passage, gathered up their bladders, and following with finger masks and, throughout the ree | the shaman, who held a huge torch of burning celery stalks, ran toward gion, on special occasions use wands made the water. of cagle quill feathers tipped with downy ea- The night was cold, calm, and very dark, so that the flame of the torch bird mythology and his star-filled dominion. | Tose ten or twelve feet, casting a red glare over the snow-covered plain and Cape Nome 45452 (pair), 66 cm long, 45446, _ lighting up the fur-covered figures streaming behind it. The crowd reached

not use large gloves. In the south they dance

gle plumes, a probable reference to thunder- ; ;

ca. 75 cm a hole the men had made in the ice. The hunters, each in turn, took a —-209

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harpoon head and ripped open their bladders. With bladders in one hand 258. Rasboinsky Face Masks and kayak paddles in the other, they marched around the hole, wetting = Nelson collected a number of masks from both paddles and bladders. Each bladder was then thrust below the water th village of Rasboinsky, which he visited

d. with their ris; bubbl Iki h h of the dj 1 during an observance of the Feast to the Dead.

ders, the shades began their journey out to the sea. intervals to honor the departed dead. Despite these masks originating from a single village

It was good for us to hear the admonitions of those in the gasgig and, possibly, from a single festival, they show who did the speaking there, though we did not always think so. Poor wide variation in stylistic treatment. One me! Sometimes I thought they could see right into me, into my life, red-faced mask, similar to the portrait style

h 11: ; of masks carved in Bering Strait and further

when they spoke. It was chilling, I tingled all over. How could they h is fitted with a shock of caribou hai kSnow 1]Me ThsO.Well. h df.£iey b wished tt f t for f Th . nortn, with ocsame Oranimal. Caribou a better luture foris us. fitted . . 1 neir and teethas of the Its eyes Nair and instructions on how to live have come up again and again. . .It is mouth are reddened on the inside, and its true, the gasgig is a place of instruction, the only place where the ears, brows, and nose are realistically modnecessary instructions can be given in full. (Joseph Friday of Chevak, eled. At the other end of the spectrum is an

: tric grooves around a central mouth and

1978, as told to Anthony C. Woodbury] abstract tunghak mask composed of concen-

2.10 from Sabotnisky)

slanting eyes. Rasboinsky 38856, 22 cm; 38862, 18.5 cm

high (incorrectly cited by Nelson as being

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259. Animal Spirit Masks : ee ge” ee a

These masks may represent the inuas of a : oe i ie : Yee as they Masks i gE: [gda a these areappeared importanttoinshamans. the enactment of jfsuch pl &as————

tions. , -

myths, stories, and in ceremonial presenta- ee og

Sabotnisky 48989, 14.5 cm; 48984, 11 cm q -y wide; Kuskokwim 64255, 12 cm wide i. - ——

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" ~ - Spee a , ) 260. Grizzly Bear Spirit’s World tagukaq

This mask represents the partially masked ings. The inner and outer hoops are red and face of a grizzly bear spirit confronting his have white feathers mounted in them. The principal food, a fish which hangs in front central hoop is painted black. Hoops used in of his mouth on a sinew cord. His nose has this context in the Doll Festival were repwhiskers made from stripped feather quills. resented to Nelson as being symbolic of the

: His nostrils and lower jaw are painted universe, with feathers and downy plumes

brownish-red, and the same color forms a being stars and snowflakes. It seems likely border around his white face. Three duck that this mask represents the bear spirit’s

| feathers tipped with downy plumes are set realm, the hoops and plumes marking the

into his brow. He is encircled with three boundaries of his existence. asymmetric, conjoined splints the position Rasboinsky 38734, 36 cm (lateral diameter

212 of which is maintained by split-root lash- of hoops}

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261. Rasboinsky Plaque Mask kegginaquq A mask possibly used in the Rasboinsky Feast of which it is a part. The insides of the four

to the Dead during Nelson’s visit displays holes in the plaque, as well as the eyes and the customary smiling charm or deity im- mouth, are painted red. Swan feathers inage. The forehead and nose are painted black serted through holes in the rim are bent over and have the remnants of four duck feathers and fastened with a rawhide thong. Similar

inserted in holes around the edge. The rest examples of this type of mask, sometimes of the face is white, with inset teeth and a used for song-dances are known from the reddened mouth. A shallow groove extends Lower Kuskokwim, Cape Vancouver, and

across the upper lip and face. The face is Anvik.

around the margin of the tan-colored plaque of plaque] 213

surrounded by a red-painted groove, seen also Rasboinsky 38812, 27.5 cm (maximum width

A shaman from a tundra village near Cape Romanzof may have been hunting one day at sea when he killed a horned puffin whose abnormal behavior

troubled him. He could not put the incident out of his mind. Later, in a dream, he imagined he had seen the creature’s inua through the puffin’s open beak in the instant before his spear struck. Over successive days, in preparation for the forthcoming festival, he labored with his crooked knife

to create this vision in physical form and planned his performance. He kept the work hidden from view until the last moment, and then, accompanied by drums, he slowly danced and sang the song of the animal whose spirit he had glimpsed. To the assembled villagers the altered voice and body motions imitating a horned puffin skittering along the surface and diving for food were not those of the shaman but of his puffin ally. His head was a huge representation of the bird, through whose opened mandibles and red mouth bordered with peg teeth was seen a large, beastly face with almond-shaped eyes, bristled, red-pigmented nostrils, and down-turned mouth. The light face of the inua was framed by the red mouth and dark blue, white-spotted face enclosed by a single hoop, a caribou fur ruff, and long feather plumes. The visual effect in the darkened gasgig was striking and, together with the music, song, and dance, had a powerful effect on the people, who were thankful to have such a powerful shaman in their village.

914 Cape Romanzof 33108, 56 cm high 262. Horned Puttin Inua

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293. Pictographic Prong ically different hypotheses. One holds that Eskimo culture developed from Nelson purchased this boat hook prong from a common Eskimo-Aleut base along the southern edge of the Bering Land an Eskimo at Cape Nome who told him the Bridge at the end of the last continental glaciation about ten thousand family for two generations after having been Years ago, with proto-Eskimo peoples moving north along the Bering Sea dug up at an old village site. Pictographs, coast as the land bridge became inundated under rising sea levels (Laughlin which are not common on late nineteenth- —_- 1963), Another theory proposes a movement of interior Alaskan people to

artifact had been kept as a curiosity in his , ; ; ; century prongs, are seen on two panels. One Oo, ;

shows umiak hunters attacking whales, a the coast where their distinctive adaptations were developed more than walrus, a man, and a cariboulike creature four thousand years ago {Anderson 1978). A third idea links Eskimo deseated on his rump. The second shows al’ = Velonments to an eastern migration or strong influences from Siberian

ternating of standing wolves a les (Irvj , spouting sea figures mammal monsters ridden by neolithicand peoples (Irving 1968).

humans with spiked hands and headdresses. The course of Eskimo developments in western Alaska becomes clearer This scene depicts the killer whale-wolf — since 4.500 B.p. Coastal sites are found which contain small, finely made teenth-century engraving, this specimen Chipped stone tools that are the hallmark of the Arctic Small Tool tradition. suggests that the technique must have pre-e These sites are distributed along the coast of the Bering Sea, in Norton ceded 1830 and therefore probably was not — and Kotzebue sounds, and across the north coast of Alaska into the Ca-

transformation myth. Similar to late nine- ; .

|aay

introduced by European explorers or whal- , ers. nadian Arctic and Greenland. These people are generally called PaleoCape Nome 44405, 37.5 cm Eskimos. They are known to have had a variety of different regional cultures, and hunted caribou, small sea mammals, birds, and fish, but they 294, Origins of Pictographic Art lacked the highly developed and specialized large sea mammal huntin Artifacts with pictographs similar to those — technology—such as efficient harpoons and float gear—necessary for in-

on Nelson’s drill bows were collected as early loitati f ; as Captain James Cook’s expedition of 1778. tensive exploitation OF marine resources. — .

|

Numerous theories have been advanced to Between 500 B.c. and A.D. 500 several distinct Paleo-Eskimo cultures explain the origin of this engraving style. — existed in the coastal regions of western Alaska, including Ipiutak in the Evidenceexists suggesting prehistoric de- orth ofofthe d Pen; | d OldanBeri na inthe velopment ina seriesaoflocal engraved pieces Y€8Lon north theSSeward Peninsula eringSSea theBer; Bering from Kurigitavik, an archeological site excavated by Henry B. Collins at Cape Prince

of Wales. These pieces show a stylistic de—_ona velopment from simple baseline and freestanding geometric motifs into organized were » Ae. = Co

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: ie: eee . .ge fia ee * Boo sy esa ee ee 3lee ees 1ne“aSee coace _ae eile tebeece ee! Pepe cerrMe eee its. tee nn i Mls aaa a: ee I we aee Re rere ae3AG / : -; Dg ee RN eee * er er x. Lot voPee eeate aag ciao o Pac oan tea wed i ieee TA ; Wee ee ee 28,-es Biss Wags :Ta ioc %. “es acos aSeer EO Eee oe } ail age a -Gal oeaPega 4. a) wots 8 tee 9 ‘* ee _ a ; = . Pog a iss, a aaa 2 © : 2 2+ * a : s ile pee Pin *afr: ; * except possibly on a few pieces of sculpture—arrowshaft straighteners or pnd G th, harpoon foreshafts—used directly in hunting. That is why the drill bow 7: Phy 1\ a style of engraving could be shifted with impunity, and intact—except for yn a a6 6A

size—onto the souvenir objects made only for sale by some of the drill |

ically, with the future. ,

bow artists themselves. The drill bow engravings, with faint roots in pre- ‘Ca. * > Ta w a history, thus forged a bold and positive link, both artistically and econom- tae ee ee 331. Ivory Earring This is an engraving on a tiny ivory earring engraved in Nome by Andrew Tingook of Shishmaref in 1955. Tingook was one of the few contemporary artists whose engravings

Notes i

: compared favorably with those of artists of the nineteenth century. Unlike them, however, he used a magnifying glass while incising.

Andrew Tingook (b. 1898, Shishmaref, Alaska) (Collection of D.J. Ray}, 1.8 cm

1. I inspected more than 170 engraved ob- 3. The Cook drill bow has been reproduced -” =

jects, all collected before 1890, at the Smith- in a more accessible publication by Jonathan Yr sl i ae Ge sonian Institution for this article. My con- King (1981:pl. 6}. James Cook, who seemed y ES oe , 4

clusions, however, are based not only on these to take little interest in the artifacts of | — 5s =a 4 objects but many others that I have seen in northern Alaska, did not mention engraved ae ~~ @ other museums, photographs, and drawings. art in his report, but the surgeon of the ex- r a | y 4

The Smithsonian Institution objects are as pedition, Thomas Samwell, said that on 10 g a. | follows: 71 drill bows with provenience col- August 1778, ‘‘We bought some curious Ar- oa = lected by E. W. Nelson between 1877 and ticles of [the inhabitants of Saint Lawrence . oo. | «= ee , 1881; 8 drill bows from St. Michael, and 14 Bay, Siberia, almost directly west of Cape ) @ » Bat >|

drill bows without provenience collected by Prince of Wales], among which were small aN ee | oY th A | Lucien M. Turner between 1873 and 1877, pieces of Ivory with Images of Dogs & rein * ae 6 — . f

22, bag handles and bodkins with proveni- Deer drawing Sledges & very‘ingeniously ex- \] 7 a YA 3 ence collected by Nelson; 40 miscellaneous ecuted” (Beaglehole 1967, 3:1133)}. The “small a oo a oe) objects, not including ivory pipes, all with pieces’”’ were probably imports from Alaska YY a Ae provenience, collected by Turner, Nelson, because Vladimir Bogoras, the foremost eth- Ds callin \ 4 John Murdoch, and Patrick H. Ray; and more nographer of the Chukchi, wrote in 1907 that oe \ 4 than 15 miscellaneous objects without prov- “etchings are scarce in Asia, and those that | a oe | yoo gd enience, collected by various persons. Not I had an opportunity to observe are compar- | je < | 4 included in this count are a number of drill atively poor specimens of art’’ (Bogoras a a og bows without ornamentation, or only with 1907:295}. Later, the Chukchi developed a 4 “Sock oF cog

geometric designs. The 71 drill bows may spectacular souvenir art of engraving on tusks ._ ——E =f 4

not be a firm number because several that under the auspices of the Soviet art councils. > oe ) j Pa 4 are called bows might have been used as bag 4. Engraved artifacts collected by Beechey Pos Si j Meg 4

handles, and some the bag handles could Edward Belcher are1977:79-87, illustrated and Po ai oo be drill bows. It isofsometimes difficult to and cussed in Bockstoce anddisthose es ,4 oe differentiate them, and even Nelson and W. collected by George Peard, also of the Beechey oc. ee ee

J. Hottman interchanged identification of expedition, are illustrated in Pearce 1975:36- rs -

Several of these objects in their respective 37, 43. The bow collected by Mr. Spark of 332. Portrait of William Henry Milleman

OOKS. | the Rattlesnake crew is illustrated in D. Ray By the early twentieth century Eskimo ar2. After 1890 the Eskimos engraved a few 1977:fig. 238. tisans were producing engraved ivories for

drill bows, and collectors found a tew of the 5. Nelson’s collection is illustrated and dis- Europeans. This portrait is part of an ivory older bows to buy here and there. One of the cussed in Hoffman 1897 and Nelson 1899. gavel made and engraved by Happy Jack, and most ambitious collectors of the 1890s, Miner Many items of Murdoch and Ray’s collec- given to William Henry Milleman whose W. Bruce obtained only 3 engraved objects tion are noted in Murdoch 1892, and all are portrait Happy Jack engraved on one face of among 866 artifacts from Kotzebue Sound _isted in P. H. Ray 1885. Jacobsen’s thirty- _ the piece. In 1903 Milleman was manager of and only 6 pneraved objects [9 of them Bee four engraved objects are illustrated, front the Standard Oil Company in Nome. venir pipes} among artifacts Irom Lort and back, with extensive captions, in plates ; Clarence, all of which are now in the Field VI-X in Amerika’s Nordwest-Kiiste. Ilus- Happy J ack (Diomede Island, Alaska) (Carrie Museum of Natural History, Chicago. There trations of other drill bows collected after Gm (height of face}

f 1 Hi hj h . M. McLain Memorial Museum, Nome}, 5.5

is not one drill bow with pictorial engraving _ the 1850s and before the 1890s are found in

1980). Fagg 1972, The Far North 1973; Mason 1927, 2.66(VanStone and1976; Ray 1969 and 1977.

r 6. Nelson’s provenience of “Cape Nome” is Beechey in the Blossom, as far north as Point ; : coe the village of Ayasayuk; ‘‘Golovnin Bay” Barrow, 1826 and 1827; Gleb S. Shishmarev Lp. could be either the village of Atnuk or Chi- and Mikhail N. Vasiliev in the Discovery nikvillage (now Golovin}; Darby probablyinand the and GoodasIntent, as far Icy Cape oe \eei r.the of Atnuk,Cape which is onisNorton 1821, far north asnorth CapeasMulgrave i\ A Sound, only a few miles from Golovnin Bay. in 1822; and Vasilii S. Khromchenko in the = f. ay 7. Jacobsen supplied explanations for several | Golovin to Golovnin Bay in 1821 and 1822.

ae oF Nordwest-Ktiste. 1905 ‘‘at the of a Captain Grayvessel was reported at Oe ( a Amerika’s scenes in the captions to the In illustrations in Incommand 1819 an unnamed trading under the iy FR mouth of the Yukon River,’ G. B. Gordon Bering Strait, and in 1820 the Pedler, a brig ie eee VG purchased a drill bow from a man who iden- owned by John Jacob Astor, traded at Kotz_. \, ae tified several mythological animals for him, ebue Sound. It is possible there were even Pr Voge \. although he said that it was eleven genera- | More trading vessels there before 1826 (Ray

we Ay tions old. The seller’s ancestor didnot make —-:1975).

Speen & the bow, which is obviously a traded piece 10. When I first saw the bow in 1967, Ithought — a ae because it is in the style of northern Norton that it depicted the Omilak miners, a group LL. z™ %) Sound. The bow is now in the University of men who had begun a lead mining enteroe > .. Museum, Philadelphia (NA 461}, but is given prise in 1881 at Golovnin Bay, where this EN ye FN the provenience of Cape Prince of Wales in object supposedly was collected. The vessel i e) ; a >annee, article Eskimo art in(Gordon the —_ graph does not fit any of the Western TeleVT about museum by J. pictorial Alden Mason Expedition’s boats, yet theUnion little slab, oh \ wy ye 1917:232—33, 245-47, Mason 192.7:278, 281). with its identical style of engraving and sub> | |Zé ay Pa 8. WhaleThule huntingobjects is engraved on fourso of far, the —‘Ject matter, was collected the Omilak oo Te ‘age thirty-odd uncovered venture. The brimmed hatsbetore and stance do id ae ~ \ but these are from Canada, not Alaska. The not necessarily indicate military men, and a aed os caribou was an equal favorite of both the the first military district was not organized ee, 2 Alaskan and Canadian Thule artists, but there in this area until 1897 at St. Michael.

eS 2 * rs are no walrus or seals on Thule pieces. I wish to thank John Bockstoce, Ernest S.

et yo! € 4 9. These expeditions are those of James Cook Burch, Jr., and Melvin Olanna for their helpeebet P r 4 and Charles Clerke in the Discovery and the ful conversations concerning these pieces and \ de! 1 - Resolution, as far north as Icy Cape in 1778; other historical and ethnographical mysterOe) git, Joseph Billings in the Glory of Russia, which __ ies on the drill bows. I am grateful, also, to f | Breer npn | sailed to the Nome area from Siberia, 1791; Jonathan C. H. King and Yvonne Neverson \ ee iY. Otto von Kotzebue in the Rurik, as far north Of the British Museum for supplying copies

pe eo: . he as Kotzebue Sound, 1816; Frederick William of the Jacobsen illustrations.

en. oe. *

ee Beebe

a ee oe BB ecoe poe #98 RG e oS {tfSS getee

jC .” hh _ ia i@@es =

‘ F oe and r +

a Ned net a ie f 7 333. Nunivak Island Cribbage Board

= ® NO po - With increased frequency Alaskan Eskimos

aos en @came and American and European travelers and . traders into contact with one another |Boke . | incentury. the lateEskimo nineteenth and early twentieth carvers began to manufac-

a cr ture pieces for the outside market, and crib-

“Boee oratbage boards werefrom among the items the time. Made a single piecepopular of tusk, cribbage boards might have intricate scenes

etched onto them, or be interlaced with sculpted animals. Nunivak Island 396171, 49 cm 2.67

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SARADELL ARD FREDERICK

Today’s Eskimo is the product of many influences—the deeply rooted traditions of his own culture, the new techniques and aesthetic standards of Western civilization, and the pressures of the twentieth century to develop a highly personal form of self-expression. Eskimo art, therefore, ranges

from repetition of historic styles to highly creative work in new media. Some artists are old and self-taught; others are young and formally schooled.

Deeply Rooted Traditions ,

Living in one of the most difficult climates in the world, with limited raw materials available, the Eskimos have become famous for their ingenious use of materials and practical adaptations to the environment. A strong belief in animism with the attendant need to placate the spirits was the basis for festivals and ceremonies which required the production of elaborate masks and dance accessories (Nelson 1899:393-95; Ray 1967:9-10; Blodgett 1979:47—50). These beliefs even dictated decoration of hunting tools and weapons because it was thought animals preferred to be killed with a beautiful weapon. Therefore, Eskimos became skilled craftsmen capable of transforming bone, ivory, driftwood, and skins into richly ornamented utensils and ceremonial objects. Cunning amulets to ward off evil spirits and ritual objects for the shaman’s use (Blodgett 1979:203)

exhibit not only technical skill but a high level of creativity. While the incentive for prehistoric decoration seems to have had a spiritual connotation, in historic times the motivation quickly changed to an

334, Loon economic one as soon as there were possibilities for trade. The skills re-

Masks such as this have evolved from nine- — mained but the need for quantity often resulted in less quality. each appendage carried a symbolic meaning. The Eskimo culture, which has successfully adapted to change for thouThe food in the mouth of an animal may — sands of years, has been subjected to massive outside influences in the last have symbolized a wish for abundant game —s two centuries. Although there are remote villages still comparatively unimal’s inua by a hunter, the concentric hoops touched, Western civilization has influenced the lives of most Eskimos in and grooves may have represented the stars Alaska.

teenth-century prototypes. In earlier times ; .

or careful attention to and feeding of an an- er . ; , ; , and the heavens; and the smaller image of a

semihuman face or other animal may have Effects of Western Civilization —

i naan OR BT thesein. By 1914 every village of more than one hundred inhabitants had a school gredients in a mask never intended to be and a white schoolteacher (Hughes 1965:29). World War II brought inworn but rather to be hung on a wall. His ¢reased contact, military service, and a change from a fishing and hunting

choice of appendages reflects the swimming , 2°

and flying capabilities of the loon as well as | €COnomy to a cash economy (Hughes 1965:29). Explorers, missionaries,

its source of food. sailors, teachers, gold miners, and ubiquitous tourists have all influenced Edward Kiokan (Nunivak Island, Alaska). Eskimos and their art. The ivory carver has made what the visitors will

Notes Soke Mean aT er ee 79 buy. Thousands of small ivory figurines are still carved by the older men—

cm long and a few younger ones—for the tourist trade. Mass production of stereo- 269

CE Gee eee OER Ee ee eee 335. Dance oe ee ee" Kivetoruk Moses Alaska’s equivalent to a : pe eth TES a Grandma Mosesisfor he is a genuine primitive

ce te a i nn who takes great pains with minor details— ceVv TE .BN cape hairs inona real piecelife of fur. Most of his subjects : | | are based happenings that he rea \ Va n members. Here he records a special perform-

adsl as . coches, gemeat o e P ee “eee often microscopic ones such as single guard

rs i ra, (cc oar. or : a ance for the entertainment of white visitors ren \ § ee Vane Wee oe | . from the sailing vessel in the background. eeAN a Fa TeSS 1A The in drums, gloves, andtheir wolf mask feamdgsBO cwant a Frdy Ul‘wed i J tured his drawing have counterparts

* na t& Of we em — bette ue eh US Oe .; ; ; re

Re ve gy OR 8 io eS oy eens oe = in the Nelson Collection. The juxtaposition

Ss eee f eebows schooner—were subjects incised onto drill *Soa on ra Ae ot Le ot aeee, eeeWiese. th weeiam vou by late-nineteenth-century artists. mseR ie aeliter! a ee Me eR tethree-dimensional Moses works in a new medium and presents EE ee =aI full perspective.

eggs: ~ ge Moses (b.The 1901, Cape ee,es “ esreetn«iGrKivetoruk nn gpm = berg, Alaska). Wolfnear Dance, 1970.EspenDraw| ing, india ink, watercolor, and photographic pencils on poster board (Collection, United

f — on and Crafts Board, Washington, D.C.}, 25.4

typed seals, walrus, bears, and humans has provided a livelihood for the States Department of the Interior, Indian Arts

older generation. Several thriving firms produce commercial imitations of om x 406 cm “genuine Eskimo carvings” with an electrical planographic device that even inscribes an Eskimo signature. Some “Eskimo” items in curio shops even have a stamp on the bottom that says ‘Made in Japan.” In addition, nonnative sculptors fashion items similar enough to fool naive buyers. Such inartistic products do not deserve to be classified as art. Thus, critics have coined distinguishing phrases such as “airport art,’’ ‘market art,” or “souvenir art.”’ Efforts to offset this deplorable situation have included workshops, training courses, conferences, and competitions for Eskimo craftsmen. Good design, quality workmanship, and new techniques and materials have been emphasized. However, programs have been irregular; funds have been limited; results have been uneven. The projects sponsored by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, the University of Alaska Extension Center for Arts and Crafts, and the Visual Arts Center of Alaska have been more successful than others, but there has been no breakthrough comparable to the renaissance in Canadian Eskimo sculpture or in their flood of prints of the last

three decades. 336. Shaman and Devil

This shaman, whom Kivetoruk Moses tremembers from his youth, has been the:sub-

BELLL fh 4eeMD DALEisGA OTD VILE BAIL ; ; mr eeVHAIE LO MIL Bh EEE ffi shaman wearing labretsLF and a traditional HAOti ee A LAG Mbithi Cg) TY) aay=hairstyle. Great care has been taken to deoy eaBees Bea oneal RsFog eeemee LUMI Bi!) scribe theSaas shaman’s personal possessions ae Pie Ag BEES at 8 is ie a wae 4 bo Bo igh BE Soe pets Pees eee ee ee ..:A tee len AA RRM le Mee et | = which include a Devil mask, a bent-wood ya oe ee ee eeefull eee §=§=©=©=§ bOX with ivory and a and quiverof | ayaa A hee lh Pons. CR i| Gal ee |Ae A\iaf of arrows, a lance, a inlays, lamp,a bow a pipe, 4 BeZale pa dy ae ie Seri. ee |PATE) ee Py aoa.creatures ny | replaced Sea spirits and mythological ED 1eT asBering a personality with whom the

“NE ey enn iA Ae: leg a ea i tae Kivetoruk Moses (b. 1901, near Cape Espente fie ie Vee pu eh ageee, a eles |ee1963-65. Drawing, india ink, (Collection, colored pencil, OBE HER feeta fee Th ao NYPeand watercolor on paper B Pees. Pols Ee Ley ee PA WW pe oe pi io ae peep) 4 ReFine ae BA . :Museum, pap . ’Ana -*be ved f ie aeee " / SSE, ae! reilly WOR ve ri chorage Historical and Arts

ape ae Po | ee Collection), 19 cm x 270POwnuthoe flees OeMrs. eREdith TeR.oeBullock 40 cm

fe ee, SE Se ee ee eT } ee a a Ee ee nee i ae a a Tote eee . ois ; ang : 4 _§ an a ee BOE ot Thies a -

y : ere tee ANAK OU “a? SN €4y

a . WORE.

Bh gd af a ee .. P . Oe ay . oe if P s. j a a,

coe . . er a : » > wil 3 f _ a ” a wll - rs. a J ;mS ac’ ,ee. TO) vee ar.AEE a Oo re a bh 24 M4 #: TAS hy * \ wm2 va . _ , toghae Dy} we! Aon ays 4 a Ae ‘4 » os , a ¥6 P eo, ; f .y + y me N a Poy el - x cf

gt: ipa ee

oe a . _ Leta 3 ". ig f Prat 4 y v faun os g®, TONE gt On eS Aes DE Maye

: . at , 2. AGS oi ne \: ~~ mia eta a as “a iain oy .| :~~” fo iyDaw ' a ‘a Y LyAlb r\ i foO al +:CUL” : oy Gers sa

i ow, ie4.a 7,yfrains i: 3dé(pK UFbetas \erfon WeaSAN :1agaSs ..Eh Re — to. pes ; ;| ot ey , ‘ a toe , ? Py a: C boaioe A”\)24*>eae

"$f SLE Ma.

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ative DAY Lg tl“fy SO QOL eT Wait ae. .aii. : . ag os. i { ‘ j ~. ~ Fa * Ce we pets 8 gal N\A- .tw£ aia

.aa _ ¢ +iaea wo, Vat” . ae “4 4h ae , ML ym ' os : . hile, | AN bbe , ‘\;a:

337. Caribou BN y J a

ya:r gine 4 Looe “ ge AaeaeaeM os ‘ JeeVier? 7 ; _i -x. ao he ahs pt a ao ys ert wi aa3 .aaseea rts ws SS. SYyt “ ee ; Lp CRON BR’ we * = = 1 t : . e pe - LPP th ‘ ———. se

pe Y 7 aN yO aN i Cire —_ ’ A> :

gil, Om £E bo ONL a PAN aN : ISX A” eS — NN tom > SS z JY

Emergence of Individual Artists Fortunately, through efforts of the Alaska projects a small group of talented artists has emerged. Most of the younger ones, through scholarships and grants, have received professional training in art. Higher education and

travel have exposed these Eskimos to international art movements and styles of the twentieth century. Their creative work has been included in exhibitions nationwide; at least one artist, Ronald Senungetuk, has achieved international recognition. Several artists have expressed resentment at being categorized as “Eskimo” artists. Rather, they maintain they are artists who happen to be Eskimos and prefer to have their work judged by international standards of artistic worth.

Sculpture A few well-trained and talented artists are producing original sculpture ranging from minute, realistic ivory figures to sizable stone abstractions. They have experimented with a variety of imported materials—marble, alabaster, African wonderstone, hardwoods, metal, glass, and even “found 272 objects.’’ Forms may be deliberately rough and archaic or purposely stream-

De etare WeeAY. x =5nel = fl>cae / feoNeat emia vhs one of the few Sess | estprint art 4produced b examples of pro

oie me a, eee SsSenungetuk y an Eskimo artist. Se \Pom, rr weTAP BANSS35 ih, ak contrasts a ll jJoseph Jonep Bee eS "can ee 7, NVA SSSTIRE: S old way of life wi small image of the Ret!yp = SN \ene34ae it Oa SN UN | Ht NS PANGS ever y of life theshown currenttowering Image ofover the hy and present oil with derrick

Ress yy (i\Voes he NSog ndiypenetrating intoOSs the |land. Be lease FB aa TER

eoTas NS A ay SB Fai EA) Li, | 14 oy ieae | Joseph Senungetuk |b. 1940, Wales, Alaska] p ergence of Resource, 1969. Woodblock one a Am aa RS ake ds (Courtesy of Indian Histori een foe | me Franci , orian Press, San

eesaaaiee eaeaad Wiad Historical Bobspb 3)esah Bae and Fine Anchorage A pees sat ee ee‘ne ney aFine, easCollection, ine Arts Museu 2s 2S pS # AF wea SSeS Be 4 Jatt of fee WBE ES 5 Se see y A

| a [a re Bp She eo

Bear aera r | ae a’ | PR ONS EN Il :

Ape ee * foe wate ah vee ij ae RAMAN ALL.”

arosa = -jiehae aaedleshy 4| }ix! ; 7RO? |bs.a:|i aun oe be - aan oF f Boe ~~ oi wif J wy? i

y J} 7 4 iF ae ,

Dona - Hl : = ‘ ‘a \ NRA. 4 aL . Cait :aedHi & a,feea23 ; d i fle ae eecaeta=©~S WAN, ig UM Vee: anes Sans a s,

aOe oeae4 Bitee ae itt all a iia —— atte ist | Va P See eres a. wa

wea}NG os inaae“ ae PoSes: oe

ae aU ARES 6 peta Eo PERE SoS kas UENO aa nfSsesa8aeea

7 ore "eo ad ee 5aIsoe# Vr” | BE See SoS eosJsajis fees ,os

ae ee. NS = ae Ce goog oer” Gee aoe

. 2s Sista WEE : % ot neefem eset Aaa: Pe ilpau. “4 aA. oO eA ee ae | 27 : % Vc f Booey be yas. We YL Eee ies a Op@ Pr fae sy eeeYe, Leen(eng SweataNe Er . i.Sea oe PSs Paa Bia A ‘a _ieee nae eee 340. Inhabitants i GE Ve Ne ee Joseph Senu k’ The - a . Silent a ee “aes een teae oe2aaOo enungetuk’s SeaEE contains a a tO ie teenth-century Bering Sea Eskimo visual a rr een, ae ee CO BF ome anate - f “ORE os symbols thatskeletons inhabit defined the sea: are ae eeoYeea *eaSete shown withAnimals lifelines and bal .aoeone es, 0h OS — EE eee we, shee i ee

and the standing man has legs which ter- ~ ee ee ee oe) ee re SEBEL ALY SE

minate in seal flippers. Senungetuk’s choice — . oy ee cr er: 7 so ES oleae andaminati red colors maySS alsoaehave hae Vis gpa eae eae ee A Wedome yen aecmage ee intluen ; _— a oebeen 2. NOES MOWED

oat ced by an examination of nineteenth- Seay, Re a ee a oe Ao ee ee aye See ooo Joseph Senungetuk (b. 1940, oFSees a ES ae P Eo se P SeJS goa The Silent Sea, 1967. W / _Wales, ia see.Alaska} a ea Bieeos Bos idakyeraenegeet 8 ES i] ‘ oodbl k Sees “Agee me AQ SS hs ee SgGcGutee NSE, ge C ll oc (Private Ge Ales eeeES OoSBE: SER 2am, Oe Bae ge aeMel TS age” RO ates SSee witane

ee | eiSe Ss “Boa341. Old and New .a. peg ao Joseph Senungetuk has juxtaposed this _ rg ie AY : ee agen Te ee. ae aA a Ss. di 1scenes ] d in d lif h et ae Loe ee bs TS print traditional and moderni lire tnat

OE eles —" ~ ‘e. i. So .he. has experienced during his lifetime. A ae oe ore ; me i. Cees Be > ; : . ‘ * Pee f 7, |. ac er a shaman sits cross-legged playing a drum, with -— ae j ea oe Se ge “ deathlike images, possibly shades, behind Biwe \ 7fleeeeSAM him.side A seal shown A | i » chanical function, its seems that pr aTalia ee aaeee was a fetish, possibly a hunter to pe EE vr te ‘i _ insure success of thecarried walrusby hunt. As such

"ba = io = (ewe let 2, - Ro

ae LN KP wees @ Tl. (HEL corms it would have been a treasured personal pos-

ee ee en eee f {ae hlUE CY ~ No such reference to the personal or su- 2 Bi AR we fC wes —. Oe 9 aes. | pernatural appears in the much larger imnseeere mee NS NR oy a ages of walrus produced by artists working aie Fos dN sin. the twentieth century. Their work is pro-

poe Ee eee ee Ee . oe LA personal use, and they have all made the

ees 7 Be ee —eg form of or its habitat the subject neApeigSee ES¥/ifc 3EL yes ~ eeee =A fethele:animal 7 OS

ADS me er ee |

ee al. ON ee a 8 oe Cape Vancouver 43564, 4.51 cm long 7A é Gy ANY) Se O—*e ee ee ee ee A OC 357. Walrus Gathering

v 4 Roe = OS Of —siéBeetmard Katexac’s walrus are shown gath ay ws o£ 2 a ) é eee ) ered on the ice, resting one on top of the

EO Ce ak ae . fe . ee a r mphasizes

SSSata ee Walruses, 2 OO eae Bernard Katexac (b. 1922, (Collection, King Island, Alaska). pee aaeSe 1969. Woodblock An| eachorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, 70.152.6), 27.94 cm x 45.72 cm

2,82,

Peter Seeganna has studied an individual 7 —

walrushis and has turned carved to himone in aside. resting pose, oo ~~ -—i ,@ with head His animal as llr has elegant streamlined curves and is there- eet Eh TEL Ss fore quite unlike the bulky mammals illus: aS tsi trated by Florence Malewotkuk and Bernard ———: a Peter Seeganna (b. marble 1938, King Island, Alaska]. NE Walrus, 1960s. White (Collection, SEES i: oS a a8 Alaska State Museum, Juneau, VA.357}, 12.7 —— a lc kts OS

Katexac. Sc ett~‘“COtiCSOwsSsC‘

Finally, the sculptures John Penatac produced while in residence at the Visual Arts Center of Alaska exhibit a rare ability to capture the essence of sea mammal forms in large compositions. Except for Peter Seeganna,

no other native sculptor in Alaska has achieved the level of Penatac’s visually exciting conceptions of the animal world. These artists, like their forebears, possess the talents of keen observation and imaginative abstraction. As can be recognized, they depict not just what their eyes see but also what their minds know—mythical beings, skeletal views, ancient symbols. Some of their art would not immediately be identified as the achievement of an Eskimo, indeed, in the future their

359. Walrus Abstraction ae eeCf a John Penatac has made the most abstract statement concerning walrus ofwork any ofisthe a ree : fe Fl artists presented here. His a study of the animal’s huge folds of flesh and flip- - ffl co ae

pers. Penatac’s sculpture, along with worksGe he?hg——— of other twentieth-century artists, indicates il , me that although the nincteenth-century sub- ee ee materialschanges and techniques brought about a ee profound in the area ofhave Alaskan Es- COS lle ew CSes

kimo art. Artists, in addition to having new oe i i. a | 7 4 ao a by thefunction. culturalReflecting context inthe which an object a >. —.gf.ZeotUC _@| must changing ae ff a _. functions of the objects and the interna- = | ee 83! i a _ @ being the work of Eskimo artists. Rather, the Poe ee IB a by well-trained creative individuals who re i ee Cl CUS, CCC happen to be of Eskimo heritage. Pe fl lll Sl TT eet WalrusVisual iI, 1976. (Permanent lection, ArtsAlabaster Center of Alaska, An- = Col. ea ee (Qe ee Oe(9a 2. -

cm cnet, * Se if a 923 chorage, 77.9.1), 38.1 cm x 50.8cm x 15.24 . OE a ae a ee hes EF , ae OES ~ —

ee 2 & |e gel MON. ad a Pa we TER i Tia IG bib ng crane. oh” cea CO,pyti, Oar meee a OO caLeeeae

Gl MO cri. er eS Oe ‘. =

ABR A ss Ee a 2 ey

ab ge8 CAL 1332329 ee tee "Fam; - eee Wt ee ee eee , =ee - Geese ge = et” de : IafPR Gee,” emrermear agente 2aideanette eh Me (lrPe 8 SU ree npnmemernnennnen

Biteanes acini eae = geese mnae§h “tc 7SWe | PRCie ste epee =& MEER EE heLe nnlee er Bek

‘3igPT eeerasee Ee ee Se i gs geNa Ly mre PMA Geeee or i ae

A Ve a ee eee re HY dkGe Wanwe Meee 7 Be"Afyeeee, SG eener rk aegis rrr og Poe Ga as AO iy as GT be Bi Ne ee ore: atte of Kia

>. ra“Sota Ge A eecn1 aat Lic oa Be age EEO ee coon ee tH geese OO an ae AO»

= RE Ss Pie “Tiss c K$Q@uGeo telus a, . ~ Eig a Le Pee A Fg 3 5 oer

RegeeteneeR otcans aap Seann* eae er \ Boe oe beeen A aPe ZO ne” ene onli

a lk i ee Aor EGE etc eh

a ee (ie. aac, Ww Gong ESbaaan Vie By CTE hn aa iy a eee ae FR aaa coe itr ; eeeMe a BpNand a eb Bee’lait a oeee GE} MMe (i enn cal eA io bak . earn. ah

360. Covered Basket with dyed Birds’grass Feetparade "em Hite”. ae:eeian aS eee dae ] Figures defined by coiled ere. let can) around this twentieth-century piece. Lizzie eee es Gy pee WY eee ee Tirchick has elements. added beads and birds’ feet eereen Wie rs pre ae i iseed “The TP enti a oocoe i Bes ew aeeee as decorative dangling birds’ pee alta ee .

ket collected by Nelson (fig. 136). Mg SLI feet bring to mind a similarly decorated bas- aa Pein, cetawine wy CURR ee The nineteenth-century weaver, who was a

still experimenting with the coiling method, —————

could liven up her basket with European yarns and beads, as well as blackened sinew or grass.

Today, Eskimo baskets are extremely colorful, for women color strips of gut skin or grass with commercial dyes. They also soak or boil candy wrappers and other materials,

and use this361. infusionLidded to add color to their . work Basket . . ae

Lizzie Tirchick (Chefornak, Alaska). Cov- During the one Pf Neson's visit to Alaska,

ered Coiled Basket, ca. 1980. Beach grass, oimere withWb falge i d dsin : OF ‘ tring of nay seed beads, dyed grass, and birds’ feet (Priuners W SUIP vate Collection), 24.76 cm x 27.3 cm hide. Coiled baskets were minimally deco-

i" rated with tufts of wool, blackened grass or sinew, baleen, strips of dyed rawhide, and birds’ toes. By the early twentieth century, when this basket was collected, baskets were being made with tightly fitted knobbed lids,

| and strips of dyed gutskin were wrapped

2.84 cm high; } / }

around the coil bundle, creating geometric

_ designs. Kwinhgak (Collection, University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, UA 2.36—-4048AB), 14.6

eae. we Ee ie ; 362. Modern Work Basket ae'y SS SS ps ys . : ‘ en (ise Es oe, ~ ‘pee Pee ee , a. aa . ms 4 -oa ~she*~~ ssA Twined baskets are strong, flexible, and du- ee ao ew q th 2evevbes

rable containers. Throughout the nineteenth MV LEZ. at , ft , IYI X Ad A peeves A Oo. oe Le, century used to carry clothing i W- eet oe ee %yx AAAS AALS AI AMAA MWXVAXX YY)AAO oe ©» ve tenes to storethey fish.were Twined baskets are stilland used A/ AK STAY TARA \ AROOES yyy: bee AAPEMAYX AS pene Poy Ve voMa] tar. today for many of the same functions. The | Ps RO ONE. nd OF. AR o¢ 4 paeavesrs ‘ 00 Ap * PA baskets are still open twined and their rims sf ns a AMEN AAS (y, i YAXAS A! ap peste Oe an. wy

are finished with open-braided work. "Wigan Se eee er oi i eis: a Aes : yg oe” Bt hy Neva Rivers (Hooper Bay, Alaska}. Work G Sete ay, en ot at AGy Vor ‘ ? a. AAT at path

tion}, 26.03 cm x 39.37 cm te EG ee Bc ag gO bar RUIN h tsa “eal ay ee ees Rae ene nes Va +8, 199 yn fi, fe Peay gen! ne ve ie at see, oe oe ee oe a bdo ee 4 j pile ti Be EE ee eR ge 8 Ce St PM er

Oeasern Vicariate eA gaig%RR) WOR OO UR gdNena A pepeee ee (a bea”,

DA Sad Pie FE Ree)eeSEE aT eg Uegael gi PO #al#eePAR Ulead a otek ehaOS Debe AgFPSaPte afte gb Lady op fi

ae... ae. . ll "ee n — ae I PEO SPP SGP SED a i fhe OF BH

Be ae IR Tg ng ee oes! OP ae ee ran Bg 8 py Bo Dee OEE Bog 8 ot tall

Ss a ea eee ee < Oe | Cn

A, { ; p §

a Pyyy3s oy rr Me tee ee | ae oe eM Ce ot363. PghOpen-twined oatheWhee 2 Basket aAcentury Ve mA 1 i ae ee ane ‘ - So ‘- neae, Teet cee ey ; yea aay Throughout nineteenth EskiWe Peaae were to incorporate exotic ma-. aine ne Be: a ea ee enn, ts iWG 4mos omain terials into toolBW kits et if they 4 5 ea ;| Wary: _a. Ba 7 .oer . eo { .quick aa Jtheir wees gy .perceived Y Pp

Lie Geo een AD RE A Pansy ljfishing onJones Pnethas htasused dren. Seas Laren) Leee es a) ENi VAR ™ Oranants a, still rem wwe \. eyg A he ofinaoperation. Japanese the base

oe LE yy Co Poe Maa y 1 an a ‘ a ew yy advantages to the materials. This process is Abas W..eere Me , LO EMER RemeC Er iy + LiL!

ad ; , eu! ree ee eg A, ain | OW ata j aj for her open basket. She has handled the

M U Xe \ ares an) oe 4) an pale yy 7 ie GA ey polypropylene the same way women have AN. " wee x , 9 ‘ht. ne Cea 4 @: i 7; vi handled grasses when making fish bags, crebe RE i Jf iM i) ie ree ew) 4 Bye meen | WE nee 4 Mi f ating an open-twined basket with a braided

YORK Uz Cn OSESte EELDO nm,EE a eras |SE re ae7 ee

Ce ; bt ge wT aye FM ibd ate ow ial Alaska). Open Basket, 1969. Polypropylene,

A i VI ate . [ree ae AAI 10) 9 ° Pansy Jones (Mekoryuk, Nunivak Island,

LLL ee .blue-purple yarn (Collection, University of —_—— Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, UA 69—20-1), 27.94 cm x 35.56 cm mature styles, responding to diverse world influences, may so closely resemble those of other contemporary American artists that the “roots in the past” will disappear. Today those roots inspire some of the most highly creative work. Properly motivated, these artists are capable of producing a new twentieth-century ‘‘Eskimo” style which is the amalgam of their own creative urges, their Eskimo heritage, and the sum of their personal experiences and training. What type of art will emerge cannot be forecast.

Only one prediction seems valid. It will not fit the neat stereotypes of what is known as “Eskimo art” today.

: | 285

4 ibos \é 8S rr“ae oeoyAAaeeee ?a

oS Rk eee ee ee Se » gee See a Ry: re: cts Se po gl gsalee Ny, aTy Bed

ne i a | NEE, , a:Pe SS rr ne a: | Ol 5 rn rrr i ||) ne ar are ee See ee, St ee 2 ts co aaa 8, vy P uy

ee woo eR i re: a . rs kg 3 SRE ce ree te nr. in , tere “aa OER

|y, et ee ee. ns) 1 Sgr a 7-0 2

: oe ' ¥ “age whe, aes as oe Meet : — * “ha th a ‘e, a

: Nok tae ; Be oR . ae “ar? a

. y \ . He . oe - , ? BN 7 "3 4 fegzyg’ a.ame |original 364. Point Hope Mask . ,>.) The motivation behind carving ——- a bee of this nineteenth-centurythe mask is uneo a a known, as the piece was uncovered in an

neOS fe is ON 7=—a abandoned men’s house in may Pointrepresent Hope in iii. 1935. The chevron pattern ——— | rr tattooing or blackening of the face, or the

:| ra = ee a pattern may be an abstraction of whale flukes, 4 =. > oe which often appeared instead of a nose on

‘ | oa northern masks.

| ae a Point Hope (Collection, The National Mua seum of Denmark, Copenhagen, P 6386), 21.2

2 ) a The Point Hope man who carved the mask a 7: oS aE image. Sylvester Ayek,envisioned in a creative leap of > his own imagination, a mobile eeae } an based of on the this mask form. Ayek = section in thecarved shapethe of lowest an ulu — 365. Mobile

a ma blade.

= illustrated in figure 364 created a powerful

ae =peemameaemeellallll Sylvester Ayek (b. 1941, KingWood, Island, Alaska). a=ssee : Mobile Mask, 1974. sinew, andFine ivory — (Collection, Anchorage Historical and = eC nang — Arts Museum, 75.49.1), 86.99 cm x 57 cm 286

366. Mountain Spirits 7

The handsome late—nineteenth-century mask fl Bees

collected by Henry Neumann and made out Re. eee of wood, strips of dyed gut skin, gull feath: oa ers, and eagle down was the inspiration for | a ae Lawrence Ahvakana’s large wrought iron | |) ee mask created in this century. Eskimos of ; poe os

previous generations believed that both an-:‘4a~| ra | imate and inanimate objects possessed spirits. The portrayal of these spiritsmaker challenged ,re: . cA the imagination of the mask and |A \ | :y~, aa 4 sulted in an endless variety of artistic forms. i The earlier maskcollected was madethe to mask be worn, and Os ae | ‘4 7 \::éyLf. a ge~ : had it not been would have been discarded after its spiritual utility . ae NS % é S . ; had been exhausted. Ahvakana’s mask is de- ee ines *-:oo é ffa | a signed as a wall-hung piece of art and is made ~ a out of metal rather than organic materials. So ~ —_ oo wi a a St. Michael (Collection, Sheldon Jackson [3¥g@ 3me NeOy S aSd | 7ds a! : Museum, Sheldon Jackson College, Sitka, aaa # IL.G.7}, 70 cm high; Lawrence Ahvakana(b. os| ‘eA 1946, Fairbanks, Alaska). Mountain Spirit,\eaPd we i2gaea ~ON »a

1969. Wrought Anchorage f2agr a aa 7&— Historical and Fineiron Arts(Collection, Museum, 71.213.1), 9@ seer sO oe *

4 & 3a pages te ee An Lae” We eC oO| AaN eeieEP Af ~~ |) a er ee.

ff | o , Oe ae ee Taf Me Ee NR ol aa eh as ee om 4S

i.| /tes gre.2 A \ ere ee fy OX \\ en 39"ee eas

——- ff

ei | —. Ck

. 1 : y . (4 oa . 7 - teria

r CG wr aaan ~~ } . ” a: BN

287

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