NELSON'J 



DOLLS 



343 



Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and on Nunivak island, dolls were found 



in common use. They are usually small images of wood, ivory, or bone; 



indeed, the only instance that I saw of the use of clay among the Eskimo 



for making images of any kind was a pair of rudely 



modeled dolls representing" the head and body, 



wliich were obtained at Razbinsky, on the lower 



Yukon. One of these dolls is shown in figure 126. 



The inartistic character of these clay figures is in 



striking contrast to the carvings produced by the 



same people. 

 The dolls usually represent the anatomic details 



of both sexes, and are from an inch to a foot or more 



in length. Many of them are carved to represent 



grotesque human figures, but the majority are sim- 

 ply upright ivory images with the arms by the sides 



(as represented in figure 2, plate xciii) or held in 



various positions across the body, sometimes one 



hand being placed in front and the other behind 



the back. Many of the natives use hard material 



merely for the upper half of the body, the legs being made of skin, 



stuffed with hair or skin to give them a semblance to the natural 



form. 



An ivory figure from Cape Prince 

 of Wales (figure 4, plate xciii) repre- 

 sents an old man with his hands 

 clasped behind the back. The arms 

 and legs are carved free from the body 

 and the work gives evidence of con- 

 siderable skill and ingenuity. 



Only from Big lake, between the 

 lower Yukon and the mouth of the 

 Kuskokwim, were dolls obtained with 

 heads hollowed out, so that the eyes 

 and tlie mouth were pierced into the 

 cavity. The back of the heads of 

 these dolls, after the interior had 

 been excavated, were replaced by a 

 thin wooden cover neatly fitted in 

 the opening. Figure 127 represents 

 a hollow-head, wooden doll from Big 

 lake. Figure 5, plate xciii, from the 

 same locality, is made of bone, with 

 the head fitted on a wooden pin pro- 

 jecting from the body, so that it turns as on a swivel. 



Another doll from Big lake (figure 128) is similar to the preceding and 



is clothed in reindeer skin. The head is made of bone, and the beads 



Fig. 128— Doll (nearly J). 



