1 



GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 937 



in possession of the natives of Point Barrow innumerable specimens 

 of ivory upon whicli were engraved similar outlines of flukes and 

 whales, both of which had reference to whaling expeditions. Captain 

 Herendeen believes also that the Innuit practiced this method of 

 indicating a whale, by simply portraying its tail, prior to the voyages 

 to that part of tlie Arctic ocean of the whalers. This is a question 

 that can not now be satisfactorily determined when we come to remem- 

 ber the early arrival in that part of the Arctic regions of the Eussians 

 and people of other nationalties, all of whom came for purposes of 

 exploration aud i)robably trafQc. The practice of portraying but part 

 of an animal for the whole, known as synecdoche, is very common 

 among some of our native Indian tribes, and it seems to have resulted 

 chiefly, perhaps, as labor saving, and also perhaps because many of 

 the natives may have had occasion to portray certain animals by only 

 the most conspicuous parts to represent the whole, as the observer 

 would readily understand the intention of the artist. Such a process 

 of pictography is particularly prevalent among the Dakota and other 

 of the Plains Indians, especially in connec- 

 tion with the indication of proper names, in 

 which the human head is drawn with a 

 short line, issuing from the mouth and run- 

 ning ujiward from the head, connecting ig io4. 



., 1 ,, 1 . . • , , . , , WHALE FLUKES, CAPE NOME. 



thereby the object or animal which suggests 



the name of the person; and in which the line denotes speech, in imi- 

 tation of the common gesture sign made by passing the linger forward 

 from the month, denoting "That is it," instead of simply passing the 

 linger forward to denote speech generically; the latter would be indi- 

 cated in pictographs only by a short straight line, extending forward 

 and perhaps slightly curved, but not attached to any object. 



In comparison with the iJreceding remarks concerning the conventional 

 fluke, the accompanying designs on fig. 154 are reproduced from a 

 specimen from Cape Nome. The forms are diverse, yet both are accu- 

 rate in suggesting the original which furnished the concept. 



Such T-sliaped figures, denoting flukes, are tattooed upon the body 

 to signify that the person so decorated is a successful whaler, lieference 

 to several localities where the natives practice this method of personal 

 adornment, to indicate also individual achievement, will be found under 

 the caption of Tattooing, p. 781. 



Plate 14, fig. 3, represents a kantag or bucket handle from Norton 

 Sound. Upon this specimen is engraved a wolf, to the right of which 

 are two grazing reindeer, while the fourth and fifth characters repre- 

 sent hides or skins of bear iflaced in an upright position so as to 

 almost resemble the tree symbol. To the right of this is a habitation 

 with smoke rising from the smoke hole, and a native approaching the 

 entrance. Along the upper margin of this specimen are two seals at 

 the left, and a whale's fluke, indicating that a whale was seen by the 



