376 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



The festivals of the eastern Eskimo appear to be less formal and 

 elaborate than those in the west, consisting simply of singing and 

 dancing. 1 



TOYS AND SPORTS FOR CHILDREN AND OTHERS. 



Playthings. Though the children amuse themselves with a great 

 many sports and plays, we saw very few toys or playthings in use. We 

 brought home six objects which appear to have no use except as play 

 things. 



Fig. 374 (No. 89800 [1189] from Nuwiik) is a whirligig in principle 

 very like that made for civili/ed children. It is a block of spruce, fitted 

 with a shaft of narwhal ivory. This fits loosely in the straight tubular 

 handle, which is a section of the branch of an antler, with the soft inside 

 tissue cut out. A string of seal thong passes through a hole in the 

 middle of the handle and is fastened to the shaft. This string is about 

 8 feet long, and about half of it is tied up into the hank to make a 

 handle for .pulling it. It works very much like a civilized child s whirli 

 gig. The string is wound around the shaft and a smart pull on the 

 handle unwinds it, making the block spin round rapidly. The reaction, 

 spinning it in the opposite direction, winds up the string again. A 

 couple of loose hawk s feathers are stuck into the tip of the block, which 

 is painted with red ocher for about an inch. Four equidistant stripes 

 of the same color run down the sides to a border of the same width 

 round the base. This was made for sale and appears to be an unusual 

 toy. I do not recollect ever seeing the children play with such a toy. 

 It is called kai psa (Gr. kavsak, &quot;a whirligig or similar toy&quot;). 



Fig. 374/&amp;gt; is a similar whirligig from Utkiavwlfi (No. 89807 [1350]). 

 The block, which is 4-12 inches long, is made of the solid tip of a mountain 

 sheep s horn, and is elaborately ornamented with a conventional pat 

 tern of lines and &quot;circles and dots,&quot; incised and colored red with ocher. 

 The shaft is of hard bone, and the line has a little wooden handle at 

 the end. The block is so heavy that it will hardly spin. 



Fig. 375 (So. 50491 [40] from Utkiavwifi) is a teetotum (also called 

 kaipsa). The shaft is of pine and the disk of spruce and is ornamented 

 with black lead marks, forming a border about one quarter inch broad 



Description* of Eskimo festivals are to be found in Egede s Greenland, p. lf&amp;gt;2, and Crantz, History 

 of Greenland, vol. ], p. 17.&quot;), -where ho mentions the sun feast held at the winter solstice. This very 

 likely corresponds to the Decenibcr festival at Point Barrow. If the latter be really a rite instituted by 

 the ancestors of the present Eskimo when they lived in lower latitudes to celebrate the winter sol 

 stice, it is easy to understand why it should he held at about the same time by the people of Kotzebuo 

 Sound, as stated by Dr. Simpson, op. cit., p. 202, where, as be says, the reindeer might be successfully 

 pursued throughout tho winter. It is much more likely, considering the custom in Greenland, that 

 this is the reason for having the festival at this season than that the time should ho selected by tho 

 people at Point Barrow as a season when &quot;hunting or fishing can not well be attended to,&quot; as Simp 

 son t liinks. AVe should remember that this is the very time of the year that the seal netting is at its 

 height at Point Harrow. Sec also Parry, Second Voyage, p. 538; Kumlien, Contributions, p. 43: Gilder, 

 Schwatka s Search, p. 43; lieechey, Voyage, p. 288 (Kotzelme Sound); Dall, Alaska, p. 149 (very full 

 and detailed) ; Potroff, Report, etc., pp. 125, 126. 129, 131 (quoted from Zagoskin), 135, 137 (quoted from 

 Sliclikhof), and 144 (quoted from Davidof) ; Hooper. Tents, etc., pp. 85, 136; and Nordeuskiiild, Vega, 

 vol. 2, pp. 22, 131. 



