TOTEM MARKS 



325 



bone or ivory bearing the raven mark, and the same mark was seen 

 tattooed on the forehead of a boy at Plover bay (figure 115). 



These marks are frequently seen on carvings, weapons, and imple 

 ments of almost every description. On clothing- or 

 wooden utensils it may be marked with paint. On the 

 gut-skin smoke-hole cover of the kashim at Kigiktauik 

 two raven signs were drawn close together, with a red 

 spot in front of them, as shown in figure 116. 



On inquiry I was told that the man who presented 

 the kashim with this cover had marked upon it his to 

 tem sign, and that the red spot in front was intended 

 to represent the bloody mark in the snow where the 

 raven had eaten meat. My informant added that FlG - 115 - R * ven tot em 



* tattooing on a Plover 



sometimes a ring was drawn before the raven tracks i, ay boy. 



on the cover to represent a seal hole in the ice. 



If a man who presented a cover to the kashim belonged to another 



gens, or if his ancestors excelled in hunting a special kind of large game, 



the figure of that animal was drawn 

 on the cover. One man, whose ances 

 tors were noted for being successful 

 hunters of sea animals, drew three 

 &amp;lt;-shape marks on tlie cover which he 

 presented to the kashim, as follows 

 &amp;lt; &amp;lt; &amp;lt; . These marks were said to 

 represent the rippling wake of an ani 

 mal swimming in the water. 



It is customary for hunters to carry 



about with them an object representing their totem. A man belong 

 ing to the raven gens carries in his quiver a pair of raven feet and 



a quill feather from the same bird. 



The gerfalcon man carries in his 



quiver a quill feather of that totem 



bird. 



There are other marks which are 



somewhat different in significance 



from the totem mark, but which may 



be adopted for various reasons. At 



St Michael a man told me of three 



hunters who went out one winter 



during a famine, and after hunting 



for a long time could find no game. 



Finally one of them went back to 



their sledge and took from it the 



ham of a dog which he had brought with him. After eating some of 



this he started off again, carrying the bone with him. He had gone 



only a short distance when he encountered a seal and killed it. This, 



FIG. 116 Raven totems oil smoke-hole cover. 



FIG. 117 Wolf totem signs ou 

 door. 



storehouse 



