84 THE POINT BAKKOW ESKIMO. 



tanTiiiuH tn)d.'is. and tlif whalcinen, and aiv Joi 1 lat.'r in the season 



by the tiadin-- parties retuininy- fn>ni tlie east, all of wlioiii stop for a. 

 few days at Peruyfi. On retiirniug to the village also, iu September, 

 the tents are pitched in dry places among the houses aiid occupied till 

 the latter are dry enough to live in. Tents are used in the autumual 

 deer hunts, before snow enough falls to liuild snow houses. In the spring 

 of 1883, when the land floe was very lieavy and rough off Utldavwin, 

 all who were going whaling in the rtkiavwiu boats went into camp 

 with their families in tents i.ilehed on the crown of the beach at Iinek 

 pun, whence a path led off to tlie open water. 



The tents are nowadays always made of clot ii. either sailcloth obtained 

 from wrecks or drilling, wliieh is pnrchased from the ships. The latter 

 is preferred as it makes a lighter tent and liotii dark blue and white are 

 used. Iteindeer or seal skins were used for tents as lately as lsr,i. 

 Elson saw tents of sealskin lined with reindeer skin at Refuge Inlet,' 

 and Hooper mentions sealskin tents at Cape Smyth and Point Harrow.^ 

 Dr. Simpson gives a description of the skin tents at Point iJarrow.^ 

 Indeed, it is probable that canvas tents were not common until after the 

 great "wreck seasons" of 1871 and 1876, when so many whaleships 

 were lost. The Nunatafimiun at Pernyu had tents of deerskin, and I 

 remember also seeing one sealskin tent at the same place, which, it is 

 my imipression. lielonged to a man from Ttkia\ win. Deerskin tents are 

 used by the Anderson KiNcr natives,* while sealskins are still in use in 

 Greenland and the east generally.^ The natives south of Kotzebue 

 Sound do not use tents, but have summer houses erected above ground 

 and described as "generally log structures roofed with skins and open 

 in front."* That they have not always been ignorant of tents is shown 

 by the irse of the word "topek" for a dwelling at Norton Sound.' 



The tents at Point I'.arrow are still eonstrneted in a manner very sim- 

 ilartothat des( lilied by l»r. Siin]ison (see reference above). Fourortive 

 poles about IL' feet long aic fastened together at the top and s^jread out 

 so as to form a cone, with a base about 12 feet iu diameter. Inside of 

 these about (> feet from the ground is lashed a large hoop, ujion which 

 are laid shorter poles (sometimes spears, unnak oars, etc.). The canvas 

 cover, which is now made iu one piece, is wrapped spirally round this 



•Boecliey's Voyage, p. 315. 



2 Tents, etc., pp.216, 225. 



'Op. cit., p. 260. 



* MacFarlane MSS. and Petitot, Mnnop-apliie, etc., p.xx, "destentes coniques {(»i';;cpA-) en peaux de 



' See Eink, Tales, etc., p. 7 ("skins" in this passage undoubtedly means .sealskins, as they are more 

 plentiful than deerskins among the Greonlanders, and were used for this purpose in Egede's time — Green, 

 land, p. 117;an.lKniiili,n, n),., if., p.:;:;.). Iii.Mst r,i.-.iil:iiid. accrdiu-tunolTii, "OmS.muiierc-nho Angs- 



U,.,- ,l.,i , ,n. , I. I;, .i. 1 , n I., IinI.m M,,],:,, ';, -l,,n,|,,, I,,, . I , , , , , , - 1. , ,„ I , 1 'n, I „ , ,• , ( i ro.ffT. Tids., 



'Potrofif, op. cit., p. 128. 

 'Dall, Alaska, p. 13. 



