NELSON] 



LABRETS 



49 



The people of Kowak and Noatak rivers, like those of Point Hope 

 and the adjacent Arctic coast, wear large labrets, varying from half an 

 inch to nearly two inches in diameter. The materials from which these 

 are made varies greatly, among them being granite, syenite, jadite, 

 quartz, slate, glass, lignite, and wood, as well as walrus and fossil mam 

 moth ivory. The heads, as already described,, may be round, squarely 

 beveled, angular, knoblike, or of various other forms. The photographs 

 of men taken at Point Hope and Kotzebue sound show the appearance 

 .of these objects when in place (plate xxm and figure 10). 



FIG. 10 Eotzebue sound Halemut men and women. 



The specimen from Point Hope, figured in plate xxn, 24, is a knob- 

 head labret made of a dark green stone. Another from the same 

 locality (plate xxn, 13) has a hat-shape base of ivory with a large blue 

 bead on a wooden pin inserted in a hole made in the basal portion of 

 the labret. 



In wearing large stone labrets, the lip is dragged down by their 

 weight, so that the lower teeth and gums are exposed. It is the usual 

 custom to wear but one of the larger size at a time, one of smaller 

 dimensions being inserted on the opposite side of the mouth. While 

 traveling with these people in winter, I found that during cold days 

 18 ETH 4 



