MURDOCH.] TATTOOING. 139 



many as seven vertical lines from the under lip to the tip of the chin, 

 slightly radiating when there are more than one. \Vhen there is a 

 single line, which is rather rare, it is generally broad, and the middle 

 line is sometimes broader than the others. The women as a rule are 

 not tattooed until they reach a marriageable age, though there were a 

 few little girls in the two villages who had a single line on the chin. 

 I remember seeing but one married woman in either village who was 

 not tattooed, and she had come from a distant settlement, from Point 

 Hope, as well as we could understand. 



Tattooing on a man is a mark of distinction. Those men who are, or 

 have been, captains of whaling umiaks that have taken whales have 

 marks to indicate this tattooed somewhere on their persons, sometimes 

 forming a definite tally. For instance, Afioru had a broad band across 

 each cheek from the corners of the month (Fig. S7, from a sketch by the 

 writer), made up of many indistinct lines, which was said to indicate 

 &quot;many whales.&quot; Amaiyuua had the flukes&quot; of seven whales in a line 

 across his chest, and MiYnialu had a couple of small marks on one fore 

 arm. Niaksara, the wife of Afioru, also had a little mark tattooed in 

 each corner of her mouth, which she said were 

 &quot;whale marks,&quot; indicating that she was the wife 

 of a successful whaleman. Such marks, accord 

 ing to Petitot (Monographic, etc., p. xv) are a part 

 of the usual pattern in the Mackenzie district 

 &quot;deux traits anx commissures de la bonche.&quot; One , 

 or two men at Xuwfik had each a narrow line Fl() . 87 ._ Mal , with ,,,, 

 across the face, over the bridge of the nose, which 



were probably also &quot; whale marks.&quot; though we never could get a definite 

 answer concerning them. 



The tattooing is done with a needle and thread, smeared with soot or 

 gunpowder, giving a peculiar pitted appearance to the lines. Ft is 

 rather a painful operation, producing considerable inflammation and 

 swelling, which lasts several days. The practice of tattooing the 

 women is almost universal among the Eskimo, from Greenland to 

 Kadiak, including the Eskimo of Siberia, the only exception being the 



Compare the custom observed by II. M. S. Investigator, at Cape liathurst, where, according to Me- 

 Clure (Discovery of the Northwest Passage, p. 93), a successful harpooner has a blue line drawn across 

 his face over the bridge of the nose; or, according to Armstrong (Personal Xarrative, p. ITfi). lie has a 

 line tattooed from the inner angle of the eye across the cheek, a now one being added for every whale 

 he strikes. Petitot, however (Monographic, etc., p. xxv), says that in this region whales are &quot;scored&quot; by 

 tattooing crosses on the shoulder, anil that a murderer is marked across the nose with a couple of hori 

 zontal lines. It is interesting to note in this connection that one of the &quot;striped&quot; men at Nuwuk told 

 us that he had killed a man. According to Holm, at Angmagsalik (east Greenland), &quot;Ma-ndeneere 

 kun undtagelsvis tatoverede og da kun lued enkelte mindre Streger paa Anne og Haandled, for at 

 kunne harpuuere godt (Geogr. Tids., vol. 8, p. 88). Compare also Hoo]M&amp;gt;r, Tents, etc.. p. 37, &quot;Men 

 only make a permanent mark on the face for an act of prowess, such as killing a bear, capturing a 

 whale, etc.;&quot; and Parry, 2d Voyage, p. 449. where some of the men at Tglulik are said to lie tattooed 

 on the back of the hand, as a souvenir of some distant or deceased person . 



