ClIILD-LII'l-: AMOXC; Till-: SMITH SOUXD /'JSKHfOS 



371 



become a comparatively easy t;isk now. 

 since lie has l)een able to jiX't lioni-d^ ami 

 other wood from the while man am! no 

 lon^iitT is ol)liiieil to hish i)ieces of wliale- 

 boiie together for ninm>rs and to utilize 

 caribou antlers for ujistanders. The 

 thick, tough skill of tlie oog-jook. or 

 sqnaretlijipcr seal, is used for making 

 heavy line such as is needed for whijis. 

 dog traces, kah-iiioo-fiJi- lasliiug. har- 

 jioon and lloat lines, and the likt'. 

 Hence the lioy must learn t'ai-ly how to 

 use a knife skillfully in ordei' to slit 

 the oog-jook skin while soft into a long 

 even stri]i aliout a half inch wide. This 

 striji is then stretched and dried and i< 

 ready for use. For dog whijis, a strip 

 like this is trimmed down so that it 

 tapers gradually throughout its length. 

 and a thin snapper three or four feet 

 long of dried poo-ec-zhee skin is at- 

 tached to its outer end. 



The girls and women usually skin the 

 birds, hares, and foxes, but the boys 

 and men attend to the seals, walrus, 

 narwhals, white whales, caribou, musk- 

 oxen, and polar bears, although the w^al- 

 rus almost always is cut up with its 

 skin on, especially when it is to be used 

 as dog food. The children learn to do 

 these and other tasks by constantly 

 helping their elders. 



The boy must learn how- to carve 

 good ooJc-sooIs or rings from w^alrus or 

 narwhal ivory for dog harness ; harpoon 

 heads from ivory, using different sizes 

 for the seal and the walrus and nar- 

 whal, and pointing them now with 

 white man's iron : harpoon shanks frnm 

 wood, although formerly from narwhal 

 horn or walrus bone; floats and drags 

 from sealskin; kayaks or sealskin boats 

 for summer use; igloos or huts out of 

 flat stones and turf for the winter 

 home, and ig-loo-ee-ahs out of blocks of 

 wind-compacted snow for temporary 

 use when on the trail or a family jour- 

 ney. But the toopik or sealskin tent for 

 summer occupancy falls to the woman's 

 lot to make, on account of the sewing 

 involved. 



\\ hen a hoy is about fourteen years 

 old, he goes out on the seal hunt with 

 the men and thus hecomes an actively 

 supp(Uliiig iiu'inber of the family. 

 Shortly afterward he takes jiart in wal- 

 i'us hunting and the eliase n\' the polai' 

 heai' and the eai'ilion. At about I'igh- 

 teeii he wi>hes to beconn^ inde])endeni; 

 and the head of his own t'aiiulv. and ho 



Kah-ko-chee-ahq, an Eskimo boy. — He has 

 put, on the shirt of little auk skins inside out in 

 order to show its beauty in the photograpli. The 

 feathers are worn next the body. This is not 

 an outer garment, but is ■worn (or not worn ac- 

 cording to the weather) underneath the coat of 

 sealskin, fo.xskin, or caribou skin 



marries— if there is a girl available. 

 He is fortunate if he can have the girl 

 who was picked out for him by the par- 

 ents on both sides when the children 

 Avere babies, because just now there are 

 more boys than girls of mai'riageable 

 age among these people of the Far 

 Xorth. But children are children no 

 longer when they reach the age for set- 

 tini:- UD their own homes. 



