270 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



neck, the skin careful!}- turned hair side out, a permanent lashing put 

 on the neck and stick, when the poke is blowii up again and is ready 

 for use. 



The harpoon line is made of walrus hide, very strong and often 

 double. Its end is made fast around the lashing between the stick and 

 the poke. Two pokes are used on the harpoon line, which terminates 

 in a bridle. Still another poke is used as a trailer, the harpoon line 

 being not more than 5 fathoms in length. The third poke or trailer 

 has a small line 15 or 20 fathoms long. This trailer keeps on the sur- 

 face and tells the hunters the position of the whale, thus making the 

 pursuit much easier. 



The hai'poons used are to be found in the U. S. National Museum 

 collection. The staff is about 10 feet long, tapering at each end. It is 

 never thrown, but thrust into the whale, and great force is needed to 

 drive this rather bulky instrument through the tough fibrous blubber 

 when the cutting portion is formed of stone, as was alwaj^s the case 

 before the advent of the white man. These people are so governed 

 by superstitions that they fear dire disaster would overtake them if 

 they did not use the stone cutting points of their fathers on the tirst 

 whale; after that the}^ can use what seems best for the occasion. 



The other implements to complete the outfit of an umiak are as fol- 

 lows: Three pokes well inflated and read}" for use, and from three to 

 five more all ready to be blown up; a paddle for each per.son, the one 

 used for steering being much larger than the others; an implement for 

 bailing the umiak, made of the reindeer antler, as it is very desirable 

 to remove the water as soon as possible after it leaks in; a long knife, 

 fixed on a pole 10 feet in length, for cutting blubber and lean meat 

 under water; three gaffs (hooks on poles) of different lengths, vary- 

 ing from 6 to 12 feet, the hooks of ivor}-; these are useful to hook on 

 to the portion of flesh to be cut off; a little bag with plugs whittled 

 out to put in the mouthpiece used to inflate the pokes; these plugs 

 are often broken, and an extra one must be kept on hand; a large 

 wooden scoop to bail when a quantity of water gets into the umiak; a 

 spare whale harpoon; a crutch to lash in the prow of the umiak to 

 rest the harpoon on; the two tips of this rest are carved in a rude 

 semblance to a whale's head; the skin of a crow, some eagle feathers, 

 and a little earth in a small bag from the grave of some noted whale 

 hunter, for good luck; some of these crow skins have been used many 

 years and are in a most dilapidated condition, but are highly esteemed, 

 for they have been present at the death of man}' a whale; great wis- 

 dom is accredited to the eagle and the crow, and it is considered quite 

 the proper thing to use this talisman in order to overcome the cun- 

 ning of the whale; a couple of toggles made of ivory, in the shape of 

 a whale; and straps to lash the pectoral fins of the whale when towing, 

 so the fins will not drag heavily through the water; a bag of provi- 



