344 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



Ji 





Fio. 129— Wooden doll (J). 



attached to a cord passed tlirougli holes at the corners of the mouth 

 represent labrets. The interior of the liead is excavated. 



The faces of dolls made in representation of females are etched to 

 show the eyebrows, and sometimes the tattooing; the faces of dolls 

 made to represent men have labrets of beads or pieces of ivory inserted 

 at the corners of the mouth. The method of dressing the hair of women 

 and their nose- and ear-rings are represented 

 by hair and beads hung in the proper places. 

 Some of the ivory dolls are provided with brace- 

 lets and bead necklaces as shown in figure 3, 

 plate xciii, from Hotham inlet. 



Large dolls of wood, from the country be- 

 tween Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, have the 

 eyes and the mouth repre- 

 sented by pieces of ivory 

 inlaid in the wood, as in fig- 

 ure 129, from Kaialigamut. 

 One of the most ingenious 

 of these toys was obtained 

 at Point Hope, on the Arctic 

 coast, and is represented in 

 figure 130. It is made of 

 wood, and the well-carved head has a short string 

 of beads attached to each side of the forehead for 

 earrings, while the labret holes at the corners of 

 the mouth show that it is intended to represent 

 a man. Each eye is indicated by a blue bead, 

 inserted so that the hole in the bead forms the 

 pupil. The neck is in the form of a smooth, round 

 pin, about half an inch in diameter, which sets 

 in a deep socket cut into the shoulders. About 

 the lower end of this pin are fastened two ends 

 of a cord which is passed around in opposite direc- 

 tions and out in front, through two small holes 

 in the body, and are tied together; thence they 

 pass downward through a larger hole to the back. 

 The lower part of the body is grasped from be- 

 hind by the thumb and last two fingers, leaving 

 the other two fingers* resting in the loop of the 

 cord. By slight pressure, either on one side or 

 the other of the loop, the head of the doll is made to turn to the right 

 or left at will. Another ivory doll (figure 6, plate xciii), from Una- 

 laklit, represents a woman holding a child in her arms. Similar dolls 

 are sometimes made to represent a small child in the hood of the fur 

 coat, after the fashion in which women are wont to carry their infants 

 throughout this region. 



Fig. 130— Mechaiiieal 

 doll (i). 



