446 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



Fig. 157— Ivory carving of a coinpo.site animal (J). 



The people of Bering strait said that it preys upon right whales. On 

 a spear-rest used in the bow of an umiak (plate cvi«) are etched 

 four of these birds, two upon each side. On one side the birds are 

 represented as having their claws in the backs of the whales, which 



they are carrying away; on 

 the other side the birds are 

 represented as not yet hav- 

 ing seized their prey. 



On the shore of !N^orton 

 sound the tin-mi-uli'-pnlc is 

 said to catch either whales or 

 reindeer, and along thelower 

 Yukon it was reported to 

 prey upon people and rein- 

 deer. Among the tales herein recorded is one from the lower Yukon 

 describing the last i)air of these birds which were believed to have lived 

 there. In that district the top of a mountain below Ikogmut was 

 pointed out as one on which these birds were said to have nested. 



Plate cvii h shows a handsomely etched ivory pipestem from Norton 

 sound. The side represented in the illustration has several groups of 

 human figures. There is also a kashim with men dancing inside to the 

 music of a drum; others are entering through the summer passage- 

 way above ground, and others on the roof. Next is a man with a bow 

 and arrow shooting another who holds a spear upraised. The next is 

 a representation of the Thuuderbird seizing a reindeer, followed by the 

 figure of the huge man-worm, or ti-sWi-piH; that figures in Eskimo 

 mythology. Other less important figures are also etched on this sur- 

 face, as is shown in the illustration. 



The small sculpin, wiiich is very common along the rocky shore of 

 Norton sound, is called the rainmaker, and the Eskimo say it will cause 

 heavy rain if a person takes one of them in his hand. 



Small fragments of quartz crj^stal are said to be the centers of masses 

 of ice that have frozen harder than usual, so that the cores have turned 

 to stone. These are prized as amulets. 



I was told by a fur trader Avho was fa- 

 miliar with the Nuniviik islanders that 

 the latter claim descent from a dog. 



Figure 157, from Cape Darby, on the 

 northern shore of Norton sound, is an 

 ivory carving 3i inches long, representing the head and shoulders of a 

 white bear and the bodj" of a seal. The bear has in its mouth an object 

 which projects upon either side and is grasped by the paws. This is a 

 well made carving, and is pierced longitudinally through the under 

 siirface for the passage of a cord. It was used as a handle for drag- 

 ging seals and other heavy bodies over the ice and represents one of 

 the mythic animals of the people on the shore of Bering strait. 



Fig. 158 — Ivory carving representing tlie 

 man-worm (full size). 



