944 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



introducing herewith as plate 82 l an illustration published by Mr. 

 Jackson in his work on &quot;The Great Frozen Land,&quot; which illustration 

 is a reproduction from a photograph. The middle, covered sledge, is 

 one used by women, the remaining one being for goods and men. 



No. 50 denotes a village, the tent poles protruding from the tops of 

 the ledges. Along the shore are more habitations, and two umiaks filled 

 with hunters are shown in the water. At No. 51 are two natives 

 making an attack upon a bear. One of the hunters has a spear, while 

 the other is armed with bow and arrow. A third hunter, a little to the 

 right, has Shot his arrow into the animal, and has extended his open 

 hand outward, to indicate to the others that he has &quot;cast a weapon,&quot; 

 in imitation of the custom of whalers when they elevate the paddle, 

 or spread hands, to inform their companions of their action and to 

 request concentration of boats to secure the game. 



At No. 52 is a group of six men. Two are going forward with a spear, 

 while the two in the middle are making gestures. The pair at the right 

 are in close embrace, apparently in combat. No. 53 illustrates the 

 method of spearing seal through the ice, very similar to that shown at 

 No. 31. The small ring, however, denotes the breathing hole made by 

 the seal, this being absent in the latter instance. Nos. 51, 55, and 56 

 are obscene figures, and not worthy of reproduction. 



Various illustrations of Olmckche art are given by Mr. Hans Hilde- 

 brand, 2 and in every instance the products resemble the figures on 

 plate 10, and appear as if they had been drawn with a pencil or 

 sharply-pointed brush. The general type of the portrayals are like those 

 of the Eskimo, clearly showing artistic relationship. In the same con 

 nection are shown, also, a series of line drawings, reproductions from 

 drill-bows from Port Clarence, some of them being so like those in the 

 collection of the National Museum as to lead me to bel eve that the 

 originals used by Mr. Hildebrand and by me were the same, or that 

 they were made from copies or duplicates by the same Alaskan artist. 



On plate 9 are represented six pieces of decorated bone slabs 

 obtained from the southeastern neighbors of the Eskimo the Thlinkit 

 Indians. The specimens are selected at random from a necklace bear 

 ing a total of fifteen. They were the property of a shaman and formed 

 part of his decorations, but whether they were believed to possess 

 mystic or other virtue is not known. 



The interest connected with this lot consists in the decorations upon 

 the pieces of smooth bone. The ornamentation is typical of the 

 Eskimo, as may be perceived by reference to numerous illustrations 

 submitted herewith, and was apparently adopted in imitation of sim 

 ilar designs observed in the possession of Eskimo shamans, or such as 

 may have been introduced through the medium of intertribal traffic. 

 The trade route along the northwest coast has before been referred to 

 as one of the most interesting culture routes of that part of the Ameri- 



1 London: [date ?] plate opp. p. 68. 



2 De Liigro Naturfolkcns Kon*. Stockholm, 1881. 



