332 THE POINT HARROW ESKIMO. 



water. The whole is very neatly and smoothly made, and the blades 

 are painted with red ocher. This is a much more effective paddle than 

 those used by the Greenlanders and other eastern Eskimo, the blades 

 of which, probably from the scarcity. of wood 1 are very narrow, not 

 exceeding 4 inches in width. In Greenland and Labrador, also, the 

 blades are square at the ends like those of ordinary oars, and are usually 

 edged with bone to prevent them from splitting. The absence of this 

 bone edging on the paddles from Point Barrow perhaps indicates that 

 they are meant for summer use only and not for working among the 

 ice. In accordance with the general custom in northwestern America, 

 the double-bladed paddle (pautifi) is used only when great speed is 

 desired, as in chasing game. It is handled in the usual way, being 

 grasped with both hands near the middle, and dipped alternately on 

 opposite sides. For ordinary traveling they use a single-bladed paddle 

 (afiun), of the same shape as those used in the umiak but usually some 

 what smaller, of which we neglected to procure a specimen. With this 

 they make a few strokes on one side, till the boat begins to sheer, then 

 shift it over and make a few strokes on the other side. They do this 

 with very great skill, getting considerable speed, and making a remark 

 ably straight wake. The use of this single paddle appears to be uni 

 versal along the coast of Alaska, from Point Barrow southward, and it 

 is also used at the Mackenzie and Anderson rivers, as shown by the 

 models collected by MacFarlane in that region. It is, however, 

 unknown among the eastern Eskimo about whom we have any definite 

 information on the subject, namely, the Greeulanders, the* people of 

 Baffin Land, Hudson Strait, and Labrador. 2 



Curiously enough the Greenlanders had a superstition of a sort of 

 malevolent spirits called kajariak, who were &quot;kayakmen of an extraor 

 dinary size, who always seem to be met with at a distance from land 

 beyond the usual hunting grounds. They were skilled in the arts of 

 sorcery, particularly in the way of raising storms and bringing bad 

 weather. Like the umiarissat [other fabulous beings], they use one- 

 bltided paddles, like those of the Indians.&quot; 3 This tradition either refers 

 back to a time when the ancestors of the Greeulanders used the single 

 paddle or to occasional and perhaps hostile meetings between eastern 

 and western Eskimo. 



Though the kaiak is essentially the same wherever used, it differs 

 considerably in size and external appearance in different localties. The 

 kaiak of the Greenlanders is perhaps the best-known model, as it has 



1 It is a curious fact, however, that the narrowest kaiak paddles I have ever seen belonged to some 

 Eskimo that I saw in 1876, at Kignlcttc, Labrador, who lived in a region sufficiently well wooded to 

 furnish them with lumber for a small schooner, which they had built. 



Kor information concerning the last two regions I. am indebted to Mr. L. M. Turner; for the others 

 to the standard authorities. 



3 Kink, Tales and Traditions, p. 47. See also p. 374 for a story of the meeting of a Ureeulauder with 

 one of these beings. 



