Told of the Red Indian Whalers 25 



carefully scraped one end to a point, and then, 

 after cutting a slit in the point, he inserted a 

 triangle of chipped flint or of some other kind of 

 stone ground to a point and a cutting edge. Just 

 why a stone point was added to the ivory point 

 has never been explained. Then midway of its 

 length he bored a hole crosswise through the 

 tooth, and through this hole he secured what 

 the white men called the warp or harpoon line. 

 Above this hole another one was drilled length- 

 wise of the tooth, and this was shaped so that it 

 served as a socket for the insertion of the handle 

 of the harpoon. The part of the tooth above 

 this hole was then carved into the shape of a 

 barb, and some of the more artistic harpoon 

 makers shaped the barb so that it looked like the 

 upturned tail of a fish. To complete the weapon 

 an inflated sealskin float was attached to the 

 loose end of the harpoon line. 



When the Eskimo hunter arrived alongside a 

 whale, he jabbed his harpoon into the animal 

 until the walrus-tooth head was buried out of 

 sight in the blubber. Then he jerked away the 

 harpoon handle, leaving the head of the harpoon 



