XVI 



WOODEN FACES 



MANY families treasure old family portraits 

 paintings of ancestors who have rendered them 

 selves famous in one way or another. Such paint 

 ings have their unwritten stones, repeated by word 

 of mouth from one generation to another, thereby 

 preserving the family history which is looked back 

 upon with pride by the descendants. 



Among the inhabitants of the Arctic regions the 

 same sentiment long ago prevailed. They had no 

 pencils or paints, neither did they know anything 

 of the painter s art, so with their stone knives or 

 other rude tools they carved faces from driftwood, 

 which were hung up in their homes as mementos 

 of former great men and ancestors. With these 

 faces were always associated the unwritten stories of 

 the men they represented, descending by word of 

 mouth from one generation to another, thereby pre 

 serving the family history. Sometimes the accounts 

 of the deeds these men performed were carved on 

 ivory, thus aiding in the preservation of their stories. 

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