THE LAMP OF THE ESKIMO. 1031 



The Eskimo stone pots for cooking are called oot koo se('A;8. They are made iu simi- 

 lar proportion, thoiigh of various sizes, corresponding with the dimensions of the 

 lami> that burns under it. Suspended by a line of sinew at each end to the frame- 

 work over the fire, smoke and oil blackens the stone. Cracked and mended with 

 sinew or rivets of copjier, iron, or lead make it quite water-tight.' 



There is, however, auother side to this picture. Lieuteuant Schwatka 

 relates that "the Kennepetoo luuuits (around Chesterfield Inlet, espe- 

 cially north of it) use few or no lainj>s to warm their snow huts, and 

 despite the high beds and low roofs, they are cold, cheerless, and 

 uncomfortable beyond measure. Tliese Innuits are essentially reindeer 

 killers and eaters and lay in an insignificant stock of seal oil to burn 

 in their lamps. Walrus killing is unknown to them. For light they 

 use a piece of reindeer suet laid beside a piece of lighted moss, all 

 being on a large flat stone. The light of the stone lami) in all igloos 

 where it is used is sufficient for all purposes of sewing and repairing. 

 It is certainly ecjual to the light from three or four kerosene lamps, 

 and with the white snow walls gives ample illumination."^ The same 

 authority writes that the U-quei-sik Salik Innuit around the mouth of 

 Blacks Eiver, who are salmon eaters, are another tribe that dispense 

 with warming their snow houses for want of oil, but they use lamps 

 for light. ^ 



The Eskimo lamp has always been regarded a fixture of the house, 

 subject only to the removals of the family. There are, however, small 

 lanii)s which are carried by travelers or hunters on journeys whose use 

 is primarily for light, but not less important as a means for lighting 

 the indispensable pipe. This is probably the intent of all the small 

 lamps in collections, except the quite small models, which are children's 

 toys or those buried with the dead. 



The Eskimo lamp is usually a shallow, elliptical vessel of stone, and 

 infrequently of earthenware, clay, bone, or wood. This is perhaps 

 determined by the prevalence of the proper material, and it will be 

 seen later that pottery or clay lamps are found only on the low tundra 

 of the Yukon Delta or St. Lawrence Island. Whenever soapstone can 

 be had the lami) is invariably of that material, according to an old cus- 

 tom. Soapstone is easily carved, free from flaws, absorbs and retains 

 heat, giving it up to melt the fat, to keep the oil fluid, and to supply 

 the wi(;k. Extraordinarily long journeys are made to secure soap- 

 stone. Dr. Boas^ records that the Central Eskimo made journeys 

 sometime lasting several years in quest of soapstone, which is found in 

 a few places, and rarely in pieces large enough for the manufacture of 

 lamps or j)ots. The same is true of localities in Alaska. Soapstone 

 was thus one of (he most prominent features of the trade and inter- 



' W. E. Parry, Second Voyage, London, 1822, pp. 501, 502. 

 *F. Schwatka, The Igloo of the Innuit, Science, No. 31, p. 305. 

 ^ Idem, -p. 30i. 



••Dr. Franz Boas, The Central Eskimo, Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology, 18«l-85, p. 469. 



