352 THE POINT BAKROW ESKIMO. 



tlie latter used the Indian style of snowshoes at least as early as 1826. 

 Franklin 1 speaks of seeing , at Demarcation Point, a pair of suowshoes 

 netted with cords of deerskin and shaped like those of the Indians of 

 the Mackenzie. 



Most of the other Eskimo of Alaska, who need to use snowshoes at 

 all, use a style of shoe very much less efficient aud more roughly made, 

 the rim being of heavy, rather crooked pieces of willow or alder. Simp 

 son s description will apply very well to this form, which is used even 

 as far north as Icy Cape, whence Mr. Nelson brought home a pair. It 

 also appears to be the prevailing, if not the only, form on the Siberian 

 coast and St. Lawrence Island, judging from Nordinskiiild s figure 2 

 and Mr. Nelson s collections. 



Simpson says: 3 &quot;The most common one is two pieces of alder, about 

 two feet and a half long, curved towards each other at the ends, where 

 they are bound together, and kept apart in the middle by two cross- 

 pieces, each end of which is held in a mortise. Between the crosspieces 

 is stretched a stout thong, lengthwise and across, for the foot to rest 

 upon, with another which first forms a loop to allow the toes to pass 

 beneath; this is carried round the back of the ankle to the opposite 

 side of the foot, so as to sling the snowshoe under the joint of the great 

 toe. 



When there are toe and heel nettings, they are of seal thong with a 

 large open mesh. The snowshoe from Norton Sound, figured by Dull, 4 

 is a rather neatly made variety of this form. South of the Yukon, the 

 use of the suowshoe appears to be confined to the Indians. As shown 

 by the Museum collections, the strings are always of the pattern de 

 scribed throughout the whole northwestern region. 5 



Snowshoes appear to be rarely used among the eastern Eskimo. 

 The only writer who mentions them is Kumlieii. 6 He says: &quot;When 

 traveling over the frozen wastes in winter, they [i. e., the natives of 

 Cumberland Gulf] use snow-shoes. These are half-moon shaped, of 

 whalebone, with sealskin thongs tightly drawn across. They are 

 about 16 inches long. Another pattern is merely a frame of wood, 

 about the same length and 8 or 10 inches wide, with sealskin thongs for 

 the foot to rest on.&quot; 



The latter is apparently quite like the western snowshoes described 

 by Simpson. 



Staff. The only staff used by the young and vigorous is the shaft 

 of the spear, when one is carried. The aged and feeble, however, sup 

 port their steps with one or two staffs about 5 feet long, often shod 

 with bone or ivory. (The old man whom Franklin met on the Copper 

 mine River walked with the help of two sticks. 7 ) Fig. 355 from a photo 

 graph represents old Yuksina from Nuwuk, with his two staffs, without 

 which he was hardly able to walk. 



2d Exped., ]&amp;gt;. 142. Ala-ska. p. 190, Fig.A. Contrilmtions. p. 42. 



* Vi-jia, vol. - , p. 102 a. See, also, Ball, Alaska, p. 1st Exp., vol. 2, p. 180. 



Op. cit., p. 243. 190, and Fij;. A and C. 



