116 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



Plate L, 13, from Chalitinut, is a deerhorn scraper with a well shaped 

 upcurved handle, a blade formed like an obliquely truncated half of a 

 spoon, and a sharpened edge. 



Plate L, 16, from Sledge island, and figure 17, of the same plate, from 

 the lower Yukon, are sections of deerhorn with one surface flattened 

 and cut to a sharp edge. 



Plate L, 14, obtained on St Lawrence island by Captain C. L. Hooper, 

 is a crescent- shape piece of reindeer horn with a sharp edge, flat upon 

 one side and beveled to three surfaces on the other, with a groove run 

 ning down the center of each. 



Plate L, 10, from St Lawrence island, is of ivory, dish-shaped, some 

 what oval in outline and nearly straight on the upper or thicker side ; the 

 other side is curved and thinned down to a sharp edge. It is used by 

 resting the thumb on the interior and grasping the back with the first 

 and second fingers. 



Plate XLIX, 1, obtained by Mr L. M. Turner at St Michael, is a rounded 



bowlder -like piece of 

 granite about 5 inches in 

 its longest diameter for 

 rubbing and softening 

 skins; the lower surface 

 is smoothed and polished 

 by use. 



SKIN DRESSING 



Among the Eskimo it 

 is customary for the men 

 to dress the skins of large 

 animals such as rein 

 deer, wolves, wolver 

 ines, bears, seals, and walrus, while the women prepare the skins 

 of smaller creatures such as fawns, hares, muskrats, marmots, and 

 waterfowl, and sometimes assist the men in the preparation of the 

 larger skins. 



In dressing sealskins and walrus hides they are first scraped to free 

 them from the adherent particles of flesh and fat, then rolled into a 

 bundle with the hair side inward and kept in the house or the kashim 

 until they become sour and the hair loosens; small sealskins are some 

 times dipped in hot water to hasten the loosening of the hair; the hair 

 is then scraped off and the skin is stretched on a wooden frame, made 

 from sticks of driftwood (figure 32), by stout cords passed through 

 slits around the edges and over the side bars of the frame, when they 

 are again scraped and placed outside the house to dry. When dry 

 they are removed from the frames and folded compactly into flat, oblong 

 packages (figure 33), for convenience in carrying or storing. If the 

 skin is to be tanned with the bair on, for use in making boots or 



FIG. 32 Stretched sealskin. 



