396 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.axx. 18 



between Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers become so sopliisticated by con- 

 tact Avitli white men that mask festivals fall into disuse, it will be. but 

 a short time until all the wealth of mythological fancy connected with 

 them will become a sealed book. 



Among the very large number of these objects obtained some of the 

 more interesting have been chosen for description and illustration, giv- 

 ing with each, so far as possible, its significance. Their wonderful vari- 

 ety and comidexity of ornamentation, which is symbolical throughout, 

 evinces a lively fancy in the makers. 



/^i'igure 2, plate xcv, shows a long, flat, pear-shape mask from Sabot- 

 nisky on the lower Yukon, excavated behind and rather convex in front; 

 it measures 6 by 9 inches, and represents the features of a black bear. 

 On one side, covering the area of the right eye and cheek, is a round, 

 human face overhung by five tufts of human hair, which represents the 

 inua of the bear. The main surface of this mask is painted white, 

 bordered by red, the muzzle of the bear and border of the human face 

 being of the same color; the remainder of the face is black. From the 

 left corner of the mouth depends a small, red, wooden appendage repre- 

 senting the lower half of the tongue, which is attached to the interior 

 of the mouth by a small willow splint or peg so that it can move freely. 

 About the sides and upper border of the mask are nine holes where 

 large feathers were inserted upright. 



Another mask from the same locality, and very much like the pre- 

 ceding, represents a red bear and has a human face on the right side, 

 painted red ; the ears are indicated by small, paddle-shape, flattened 

 sticks lashed to split quills, which are fastened to the sides of the mask 

 by wooden plugs. It is 5^ inches broad by 8 inches long. 



The collection contains another mask of the same character repre- 

 senting a red bear, but it is a little larger than either of those described. 

 It is from Starikwikhpak, on the lower Yukon. 



The mask shown in figure 4, plate xcv, is from Cape Vancouver. It 

 is an oval representation of a semihuman face, a little over 8 inches 

 high by 5^ wide, rounded in front and slightly excavated behind. This 

 is a grotesque mask, portraying the features of a tunghdl\ The right eye 

 is prominent and rounded to the same size and shape as the mouth; the 

 left eye is a crescentic opening about two inches long with the corners 

 tamed down and near the upper border of an oval, flattened area on 

 the fiice. Just above the mouth on the inside is fastened, by means 

 of a peg, a tuft of Igng reindeer hair, which extends' down and out of 

 the mouth and hangs over the chin; there are no nostrils. A large 

 feather tipped with small, downy plumes extends out from each side 

 of the forehead, and another from the top. The border of this mask 

 has a narrow, red band around the top and sides, ending opposite the 

 mouth; the flattened space "extending from the crescent-shape eye 

 downward on the cheek is red, coarsely spotted with white ; the remain- 

 der of the face is white. 



