914 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



In plate 66, fig. 2, is the engraved figure of a seal, within which are 

 various objects, animate and inanimate, resembles that class of sacred 

 objects often carried by the Ojibwa jes sakid or juggler. 



Fig. 139 represents a series of characters only part of which are 

 intelligible. No. 1 is evidently from the curve of the horns a rein 

 deer, while No. 2 is explained to be a mythic animal a serpent, as 

 similarly elongated quadrupeds have been interpreted by some natives. 

 No. 3 appears to be the first of a series of seven figures (Nos. 3, 4, 5, 

 7, 8, 9, 10) which are apparently decorated with fringed coats, like the 

 neighboring Kolosh and Kenai Indians, and marks of bird or other 

 faces upon their heads. 



No. 6 is an aquatic bird in flight, which atonce shows the difference 

 in execution of ideas, the human figure being bifurcated as above indi 

 cated. No. 11 is a mammal, resembling the usual character denoting 

 tlie putoridce. 



CEREMONIALS. 



Mr. Murdoch remarks that at some of the ceremonial dances of the 

 Eskimo, at Point Barrow, the participants wear masks, some of which 

 are sometimes decorated with slight ornamentation. 



Fig. 139. 



MYTHIC CREATURES. 



Gorgets are also worn, and fig. 3 represents an excellent example 

 with ornamentations relating to fishing and hunting. The same author 

 remarks, also, that the more southern Eskimo of Alaska are in the 

 habit of using in their dances very elaborate and highly ornamented 

 and painted masks, of which the National Museum possesses a very 

 large collection. The ancient Aleuts also used masks. On the other 

 hand, no other Eskimo, save &quot; those of Alaska, ever use masks in their 

 performances, as far as I can learn, with the solitary exception of the 

 people of Baffin Land, where a mask of the hide of the bearded seal is 

 worn on certain occasions. Nordenskiold saw one wooden mask among 

 the people near the winter quarters of the Vega, but learned that this 

 had been brought from Bering Strait, and probably from America.&quot; 1 



The dancing mask previously referred to and shown in plate 16 is 

 from Kuskoquim, and was collected by Mr. E. W. Nelson. The speci 

 men is of interest from the fact that it constitutes perhaps the only 

 example of woodwork bearing pictographs in color. The specimen, 

 including the lower pendant, measures about 9 inches in length, the 

 width of the largest piece bearing the eyes, nose, and mouth being 

 almost 3 inches across. Upon the top and right side are a number of 

 punctures for the insertion of feathers, only three of the latter being 

 now present. The four slats of wood are attached to the main piece 



1 Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887- 88, 1892, p. 370. 



