THE LAMP OF THE ESKIMO. 1037 



The lamp and its iiccoinpaiiyiug pot usually agree as to size, the rule 

 being- that the length of the pot shall be equal to the length of the 

 wick edge. The drying" frame is larger, owing to the size of the 

 articles to be laid ui)on it, and also because the warm air above tlie 

 lamp spreads out. 



In the huts of hunting parties out on the tundra a skin is hung 

 jiround the lamp and frame, to better focus the heat for the very 

 necessary drying of the wet garments.' 



The rack or net hung over the lamp points out another very important 

 feature of the Eskimo domestic economy. Mittens, boots, and other 

 articles to be dried are put on the rack preparatory to their manipula- 

 tion and softening by the women. The rack is often made by lashing- 

 slats of wood together, or, where wood is scarce, a hoop of wood or 

 bone, crossed by netting, is found. The rack is supported from the 

 ceiling or from the side of the hut, and from it the pot is usually sus- 

 pended. The rack, however, is not found south of the Arctic circle 

 among the western Eskimo where sticks are driven into the walls, 

 taking the place of the rack. 



The value of the lamps in the arts is very great. First in import- 

 ance is the bending of the wood for snowshoes, boxes, etc., which is 

 accomplished by dipping the wood in water and steaming it over the 

 lamj). Superior work of this kind is done, as the snowshoes and wooden 

 vessels in the United States National Museum bear witness. Ivory, 

 antler, and bone are also bent over the lamp, after a preliminary soak- 

 ing in urine.- Skins are dried in tanning over the lamp by the Eskimo 

 of Cumberland Gulf. The hardening of the peculiar Eskimo cement 

 has been mentioned. There are doubtless many other applications by 

 which the lamp enters into the arts. 



It is not remarkable that the lamp enters also into the religion and 

 folklore of this simple jieople; there is, however, very little recorded on 

 the subject. Franz Boas has collected the most information on this 

 point, which is presented in his valuable work on the Central Eskimo.^ 

 In burial, the man's hunting implements are placed by his side; the 

 l)ots, lamias, knives, etc., by the side of the woman, and by the child, 

 its playthings.* Hall observed on a grave a small kettle hung over a 

 lamp. A model of a lamp from a grave in Cumberland Gulf is figured 

 by Dr. Boas and the United States ISTational Museum possesses several 

 from graves in Greenland. This custom has been observed in other 

 localities. The small oblong stones which were found by the late Baron 

 Nordenskjold in northwest Greenland graves and which were lamp 



' Poiut Barrow region. Supplied by Capt. E. P. Hercndecn. 



-This is the process iu soiitheru Alaslva, the writer is informed by Heury Elliott. 

 Mr. Nelson makes the same statement for the villages farther north. 



"Dr. Franz Boas, The Central Eskimo, Sixth Annual Eeport of tlie Bureau of 

 Ethnology, 1884-85. 



^The Eskimo bride always brings with her a knife, ooloo and a stone lamp. Rink, 

 Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, London, 1875. 



