52 FEANZ BOAS ON THE 



ing where to go, the paddle of the youngest of the boys broke. He was tired, fell asleep, 

 and at last perished of cold and hnnger. After a short while, the paddle of the next broke 

 and he also perished. Then the two surviving brothers wrapped their blankets around 

 themselves, and after a while. the third one died also. Now only the eldest remained. He 

 fell asleep, but after a short while he felt that the canoe had struck the shore, etc. 



Evidently the masses of ice referred to here, and the boat of sea-lion skin, which the 

 boy later on receives as a present from the inhabitants of that land, refer to the Eskimo 

 country. In several other legends, which I collected in the northern part of Vancouver 

 Island, similar passages occur. In one of these, two brothers go adrift, and after a while 

 reach a land where skin boats are used, and where the 'nights are very long. 



Considering the great uniformity of Eskimo life all over Arctic America, I cannot but 

 conclude that in Alaska, the Northwest Americans exercised immediate influence upon 

 the Eskimo, and that west of the Mackenzie we do not find the latter in their primitive 

 state of culture. It is not impossible, that, in consequence of this influence, inventions 

 and customs which were originally Eskimo became more neglected than they were in 

 other regions where foreign influences are not so strong. 



But we haA^e to consider several other points. The use of masks representing mythi- 

 cal beings, which is peculiar to Northwest American tribes, is not entirely wanting among 

 the Eastern Eskimo. The giving away of property at certain festivals, and the use of the 

 singing-house, with a central fire and places for the people all around the wall, may be 

 traced as far as Davis Strait. It may even be that the plan of the snow or stone house of 

 the Eskimo, with elevated platforms on three sides of a central floor, must be traced back 

 to a square house similar to that of the western tribes. 



I shall not enter into a discussion of the similarity between Eskimo and Indian folk- 

 lore, as our knowledge of Alaska legends is too deficient. The few traces that are common 

 to both are so widespread that they cannot be coufeidered proof of an early connection 

 between these peoples. The story of the dog who was the ancestor of certain tribes, the 

 transformation of chips of wood into salmon, the idea that animals are men clothed in the 

 skins of animals, stories of children who were deserted by their relatives and became rich 

 and powerful by the help of spirits, and of a log that was the husband and provider of a 

 number of women, are common to the folklore of Northwest America and to that of the 

 Eskimo. 



So far we have referred only to the influence of the Northwest Americans upon the 

 Eskimo. Was there no influence in the opposite direction ? "We find this influence to 

 exist, first, in the traditions which were mentioned above, further, in the use of certain 

 implements. The peculiar Eskimo throwiug-board is used by the Tliugit of Sitka, although 

 fashioned according to their style of art. The Eskimo harpoon and the Northwest American 

 harpoon must undoubtedly be referred to the same origin. The peculiar style of carving 

 of the Northwest Americans has been developed by the Eskimo in such a manner, that 

 whole figures are attached to masks and implements, the figures themselves being not 

 conventional. Thus we may see a kayak on one wing of a mask, and seals that the 

 hunter in the kayak pursues on another. This style has influenced the carvings of the 

 Tlingit, and particularly those of the Yakutat. 



If we try to compare the ethnological phenomena of the other neighbors of the North- 

 west Americans with the customs and habits of the latter, we must unfortunately confess 



