NELSON] 



KAIAK AND UMIAK PADDLES 



225 



blade is surrounded by a broad, black band, with a red baud above and 

 another below it. 



Figure 8, plate LXXX, represents one of a pair of single-blade kaiak 

 paddles from Kushunuk. It has a long, narrow ^ 



blade, and the crossbar at the end of the handle 

 is cut from the same piece. The paddle is marked 

 with black lines and bars representing a female 

 phallic emblem, one-half of the figure being on 

 each of the two paddles forming the set. On 

 each side of the crossbar are incised lines repre 

 senting the mouth, nostrils, and eyes of a semi- 

 human face. On one side the mouth is curved 

 downward, and on the other it is upcurved. The 

 two paddles are exact duplicates as to their 

 markings. 



A single-blade paddle from Big lake (figure G, 

 plate LXXX) is somewhat similar in form to the 

 preceding. On the middle of the blade on each 

 side is painted a red disk, surrounded by a black 

 circle, from which a black band extends up the 

 median ridge of the blade to its upper edge, 

 where a black ring surrounds the handle; from 

 this point to the tip the edge of the blade is 

 painted black. 



In the vicinity of the lower Kuskokwim the 

 paddle blades are somewhat similar in shape, 

 but vary in the character of the figures painted 

 on them, which indicate the totems or the owner 

 ship marks of their makers. 



Figure 10, plate LXXX, illustrates a thin, sword- 

 shape implement of wood, which was obtained at 

 Cape Denbeigh. It is flat on one surface, down 

 the middle of which extends a small groove, while 

 the other surface is so ridged that the cross 

 section forms a flattened triangle. It is employed 

 by seal and walrus hunters for a double pur 

 pose as a paddle for propelling the kaiak 

 slowly and cautiously toward sleeping seals, and 

 for striking the water with the flat side to 

 frighten a wounded animal and cause it to dive 

 again before it can take breath, and thus become 

 exhausted more quickly. From the Chukchi of 

 the Asiatic coast, northwest of Bering strait, I ob 

 tained a similar implement made from a long_ , flat 

 piece of whalebone fitted to a wooden handle. 



FIG. 71 Kaiak paddles from 

 Point Barrow and King 

 island ( T B ). 



Strips of bone cut from the jaw or rib of a whale are sometimes 

 18 ETH 15 



