96 BULLETIN 139, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The cord and the bow drill are used extensively by the whole 

 Eskimo race. The cord is prevalent in the area opposite the contact 

 points with Asia, and gradually diminishes above and below this 

 focus. The cord drill requires the services of two men, and the bow 

 drill is easily handled by an individual. Owing to the limited selec- 

 tion of good material for the drill, it would seem that a mechanical 

 method giving more power indicates a necessity for the Eskimo 

 appliance, but the distribution of the cord and bow drill over the 

 north of Asia in regions where excellent wood is abundant weakens 

 this suggestion. It is nevertheless true that the mechanical drill is 

 most useful in the environment of the Eskimo. Some of the Yukon 

 tribes and also the Chukchis know the use of the pump drill for 

 making fire. Environmental conditions of ice and snow are reflected 

 in the form of the hearth of the fire drill, which is formed so that 

 the drill works on a central groove which takes the place of the slot 

 or it has a step on which the dust falls. The surprising facility with 

 which the native makes use of his surroundings has been remarked 

 by many observers. For example: "He cut a stout stick from a 

 neighboring larch, and taking out the leather thong with which his 

 moccasins were tied, make a short bow and strung it. He then 

 searched for a piece of dry wood, and having found it, cut it into 

 shape, sharpened both ends, and twisted it once round the bow- 

 string; he then took a bit of fungus from his pocket and put it 

 into a little hole which he made in another piece of dry wood with 

 the point of the knife. A third piece of dry wood was fashioned into 

 a handle for his drill. "«" 



On many parts of the Alaskan coast matches superseded the fire 

 drill, and in some cases the art was lost. At Koniganok, Chagoin 

 Bay, Cape Newenham, in 1918 and 1919, matches having given out, 

 the Eskimo were forced to revive the fire drill, "two-man outfit" (pi. 

 29, fig. 1). They assembled the following parts: The fire drill, of 

 Populus halsamifera, "oo shec ka tuk"; the hearth, of drift spruce, 

 "ka nin"; a bearded seal thong, "a ghol Ian tuk"; handles of bird 

 bone, "end dwellers," "vi kog meautat"; and with these and the 

 drill socket they got the desired fire. ®^ 



Nelson has worked out the drill carefully for the Norton Sound 

 Eskimo (Cat. Nos. 33, 166-178, U.S.N.M.). The name of the fire 

 drill is in Unaleet, oo joo gu tat; mouthpiece, Unaleet, na qhoo tuk, 

 Malemut, niikJi eruhn; of the drill, Unaleet, oo joo qa tuk; of the 

 tinder wood, Unaleet, athl uk; of the bow, Unaleet, ar rhu low sJiuk, 

 Malemut, pish ik sin rik. The drill for boring is in Unaleet e guhn; 

 the drill bow, in Malemut, pat uk. On one mouthpiece (903) two 



•»H. Y. Hind. Explorations in Labrador, vol.1, London, 1863, p. 149. 

 "Information by D. E. Stubbs, Amak, Alaska. 



