146 



remains of bows and arrows. "The bows were of whalebone 

 and the arrows of flint." 



Further information was obtained from another informant. 



Tunnit Houses. 



The houses had long stone passages. The two posts at 

 the entrance were of whale jaw-bones and shoulder blades on 

 top. The walls were of stone and turf. The roof was formed of 

 whale ribs on props, and covered with turf. The roofs of the 

 houses have now fallen in, but the walls are still intact. 



Tunnit Boots. 



The Tunnit did not know how to manufacture waterproof 

 boots. They took a long strip of sealskin with the hair on, and 

 wrapped it around the feet, starting at the toes. For a sole they 

 would take a flat, square piece of skin, cut holes around the edge, 

 "reave" it up with a drawstring, and tie it around the ankles. 



Interpretation of the Evidence. 



The old tradition of the Tunnit in Labrador, gathered from 

 the resident Moravian missionaries, appears in Rink 1 as follows: 



"Our ancestors and the tunneks or tunnit (in Greenlandish 

 tornit, plural of tunek), in days of yore lived together; but the 

 tunneks fled from fear of our people, who used to drill holes in 

 their foreheads while yet alive. With this view they moved 

 from here to the north, crossing over to Killinek (Cape Chidley). 



"While dwelling among us they had sealskins with the 

 blubber attached for bed robes. Their clothes were made in 

 the same way. Their weapons were formed of slate and horn- 

 stone, and their drills of crystal. They were strong and formi- 

 dable, especially one of them by the name of Jauranat, from which 

 is formed javianarpok (Greenlandish uavianarpok) . Huge 

 blocks of stone are still to be seen which they were able to move. 

 Some ruins of their houses are also found here and there in our 

 country, chiefly upon the islands, having been built of stones 



1 Rink, Tales and traditions of the Eskimo, p. 469. 



