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400 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH.ANN. 18 



set along the bordering flat strip of wood parallel to the side of the 

 mask, thus representing a vertical mouth on each side of the face. The 

 images of the seals, reindeer, labrets, and arms, as well as the teeth and 

 eyebrows, are fastened to the main body of the mask by wooden pegs 

 inserted in holes. The inside of the mouths, on the sides of the head 

 as well as that in the usual place, are painted red, as are also the insides 

 of the hands; the chin is bluish; the labrets are white, with black 

 spots; the arms are blue below and white above, with a black line 

 drawn along the upper border of the mouth, joining the mustache line 

 of the upper lip on the body of the mask. Over each nostril is a curved 

 black line to represent a depression; there is also a broad black band 

 across the region of the eyes from side to side, and a border of red 

 extends along the brow above the pegs, indicating the eyebrows. This 

 image represents the tunghdlc or being that controls the supply of game. 

 It is usually represented as living in the moon. The shamans commonly 

 make a pretense of going to him with offerings in order to bring game 

 into their district when the hunters have been unsuccessful for some time. 



Masks of this character are too heavy to be worn upon the face with 

 out additional support, so they are ordinarily suspended from the roof 

 of the kashim by strong cords. The wearer stands behind with the 

 mask bound about his head, and wags it from side to side during the 

 dance so as to produce the ordinary motion. I was told that in all the 

 great mask festivals several of these huge objects were usually thus 

 suspended from the roof. 



From the lower Kuskokwim there is a circular mask, 15 inches in 

 diameter, in the form of a round board with a human face in relief on its 

 center in front, and excavated in the back. A hoop of splints surrounds 

 the border of this mask, joined to it below and held out from the sides 

 elsewhere to a distance of from one to two inches by lashings. All 

 around the sides and top of the border are set the white, secondary quill- 

 feathers of swans or gulls. Above the forehead on each side is a rudely 

 carved head of a fish, and below on each side of the cheeks is the head 

 of a seal, all of which are set into the mask by pegs in their bases and 

 project forward at right angles to the plane of face. Between these 

 heads and on the border of the board opposite the sides of the face are 

 attached by pegs curious flat representations of thumbless hands with 

 holes in the palms. The mouth is large, wide, rounded at the corners, 

 and set around with the teeth of some mammal. The nostrils are large 

 and rounded ; the eyes are oval and set in obliquely with their near cor 

 ners highest. The mouth, nostrils, and eyes are pierced through the 

 wood. The upper portion of this mask is made from a separate piece, 

 which is neatly fitted to the main part and held in place by rawhide 

 lashings. The main color of the front of the mask is white; a band of 

 black encircles the surface an inch or more outside the border of the 

 face. The borders of the face in relief are painted a dull green; the 

 inside of the mouth is red, and a heavy mustache and the depression 



