180 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



islands. One is similar in form and ornamentation to the last pre 

 ceding specimen, but the lower portion is of yellowish bone and the 

 upper part of greenish- gray stone. The other is similar in shape, but 

 the upper half of the shank is of white ivory, with two encircling 

 grooves in which narrow strips of skin from the legs of an auklet are 

 bound, and the lower half of the shank is of dark-colored ivory. A 

 grayling hook from Unalaklit (figure 48) has a leader of whalebone. 

 The white ivory shank has a dull green spiral band, produced by stain 

 ing the ivory in some unknown manner. 



Figure 30, plate LXIX, represents a set of hooks from the lower Yukon, 

 which are intended for catching losh. They have tapering wooden 

 shanks, split at the lower end to receive the butts of long wooden or 

 deerhorn points, which are lashed in position with spruce 

 root. Most of these hooks are provided with rawhide 

 leaders, but one leader is made from a strip of whalebone. 

 They are held together by thrusting the points into a 

 rounded mass of fine shavings bound together with a 

 strip of spruce root. 



A hook from the Lower Yukon (figure 15, plate LXVIII) 

 has an obovate shank of deerhorn, with a spur-like barb of 

 iron thrust through the lower end. The upper end is taper 

 ing, flattened, and pierced with a hole for the reception of a 

 line. Hooks of this kind are used for small whitefish and 

 losh in the streams back from the coast. A losh hook from 

 the head of Norton bay (figure 17, plate LXIX) has an obo 

 vate shank of ivory, bored across through the shank and 

 filled with lead to give additional weight. The lower end 

 has a hole through which is thrust a small, double-point 

 rod of iron, bent upward at the ends to form two barbs. 

 A hook used for catching large whitefish or nelma (fig 

 ure 10, plate LXVIII) was obtained at Paimut. It has a 

 curved deerhorn shank, broadening toward the lower 

 end, in which are incisions representing the mouth and 

 eyes of a fish. Between the eyes is inserted a strong 

 iron barb, bent upward at the point. The upper end of the shank is 

 forked like the tail of a fish, and has a hole for the line. A hook for 

 catching pickerel and whitefish, illustrated in figure 19, plate LXVIII, 

 is from Uualaklit. The shank is broad and flattened toward the upper 

 end, where it has two holes for attachment of the line. The edges are 

 serrated. Hear the lower end it is slender and has an upcurled barb 

 of iron fastened with a lashing of sinew cord. Another hook, obtained 

 at Sledge island, is somewhat similar to the preceding, but the barb, 

 instead of being fastened by a lashing, is inserted through a hole in 

 the shank, the upper portion of which is broad and has only two 

 notches on the sides (figure 11, plate LXVIII). Two hooks, from St 

 Michael, used for catching wolf fish, illustrated in figures 9 and 11, 



FIG. 48 Grayling 

 book (i). 



