52 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. AXX. 18 



woman of this island, is from a sketch made and kindly presented to 

 me by Mr Henry W. Elliot. 



At Mechigme bay, Siberia, a man was seen who had a double circle 

 connected by radiating lines on each cheek (flgiire 15, a). At Plover 

 bay a boy had the raven totem over each eye, as shown in the illustra- 

 tions of totem markings. On St Lawrence island a man had circles, 

 representing labrets, near the lower corners of his mouth, and two 

 short, parallel lines on each temple (figure 15, h). 



BEADS AND EARRINOS 



The practice of piercing the septum of little girls is still common 

 among the Eskimo of the Alaskan mainland. While the children are 

 small they wear one or more beads about the size of buckshot pendent 

 from this hole so that they rest upon the upper lip. When the girl 

 reaches maturity, the nose beads are not worn, and I never observed 

 any use made by women of the hole in the septum except for carrying 



..-■ \ 



Fig. 15 — Circular fomis of tattooing («, ou a Mechigme bay man ; b, on a St Lawrence island young 



man). 



small objects like needles, which are frequently thrust through the 

 opening and held in place by the pressure of the wings of the nose on 

 either side. 



On the Asiatic coast large boys and young men were frequently seen 

 wearing two or three beads strung on their hair so as to hang down 

 over their foreheads. The hair and the clothing of little girls and young 

 women of the district south of the lower Yukon are highly ornamented- 

 with beads. These are hung in parallel strings, held in position as flat 

 bands by means of small, flat, ivory rods, or by strips of heavy skin 

 pierced with holes at short intervals, through which x)ass the cords on 

 which the beads are strung. Loops of these bands sometimes hang 

 from the earrings over the shoulders to the breast; others are attached 

 to the braids of hair above the ears. To these loops is frequently 

 attached a heavy copper ring. 



The practice among women of piercing the lobe or outer edge of the 

 ear is common in all the territory occupied by the Eskimo visited by 

 me. In some instances only the lobe is pierced, and in others holes 



