THE LAMP OF THE ESKIMO. 



1035 



1 to 2 iiicbes liigli, very clear and steady. The oil and fat of the north- 

 ern animal furnish illuminauts of the best quality. In the snow bouses 

 of the east the white walls retlect the light, adding to its power. 



The administration of lighting for i)ublic use is very uncommon 

 among the Eskimo, as it was among civilized peoples until recently. 

 Occasionally there is a demand for an increase of light for the illumi- 

 nation of places of assembly where shamanistic or other practices are 

 being carried on. 



In an ivory model of skillful workmanship from Nusliagak, southern 

 Alaska, exhibited in the United States National Museum, representing 

 a wrestling match in a 

 summer tent, there is 

 a curious chandelier, 

 consisting of two dish 

 lamps placed on the 

 ends of a crossbar and 

 secured by strings to 

 another parallel bar 

 some distance above, 

 the whole being sus- 

 pended from the frame- 

 work of the tent by 

 cords. The lamps have 

 each a tube, which be- 

 ing painted red at the 

 end seem to represent 

 a single wick. This 

 chandelier is unique 



(fig. !)• 

 Another 



consisting 



lamp rest, 

 of a cross- 



Fig. 1. 



HANGING LAMP. 

 Niisliasak, Al.aska. 



piece resting on an up- 

 right post, having a 

 lamp fixed at either 



end is found in a drawing by a native named !N"amofif from Kadiak. 

 The lamp is represented as illuminating a shaman's lodge.^ 



Long years of misapprehension render it almost useless to combat 

 the popular idea that the Eskimo are by preference eaters of raw tlesh. 

 Mr. Murdoch^ has pointed out that the Eskimo sometimes eat flesh 

 raw, especially in a frozen state; in the region where fuel is very 

 scarce this habit appears to have become fixed. The Eskimo when 

 hunting or on a journey and the Eskimo at home are difterent persons 

 as to habits. In the hut the pot hanging over the lamp always con- 



1 G. Mallory, Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of l.thnology, p. 507, fig. 714. 



2 John Murtloch, Popular Errors in Regard to the Eskimo, American Naturalist, 

 January, 1887, p. 15. 



