.•j44 Till: I'DINI' HARROW KSKIMO. 



TlicTc is very lilt I.' acrcssilil.' <li-t;iilcil iufoiiiition n'fi-ardiiiK the 

 iiMHiiUs iis.-a ill the ivsr ..r Al;isk;i. From Dall's fl-iiiv' and a few 

 iiiod.'ls in the Miisciini, ilii- Xoitoii .Sdiiiid umiak appears to have the 

 -uiiwah's united al l>oth stem and stiTn. Those tliat we saw at St. 

 MiehaeKs in iss:;. «,t<- so mncli moditied by Russian ideas as to be 

 wiiolly oui oft lie Mil,' of coinpaiison. Tlic same is true of the Aleutian 

 '•l)aiilai-a." if. ind.'i^d, the latter be an umiak at all. 



SiKiirxInirs {t:}iihi.\~>^u»\ys]u>c>i i>\' -A very I'tiieient pattern ami very 

 w.'il made aiv now nni\rrsally employed at IViint Harrow. .\lthou,i;-h 

 Ihrsnou n.-\rr lies \i'iy deep on tlie ,t;roniid, and is a|,l to pile u). in 



the .i;rass\- parts oftlie tundra, to make walkiiiji' without siiowshoes very 

 inconvenient and fati;;iiiug. I have ev<'ii seen them used on tlu^ sea iee 

 for (■rossill^ le\ el spaces wlieu a few iiudies of snow had fallen. Prac- 

 tically, every man in the two villages, and many of the women and 

 boys, have each their own pair of suowshoes, fitted to tiieir size. Kach 

 shoe consists ol a rim of light wood, bent into the shajjc of a pointed 

 oval, about tive times as long as the greatest breadth, and irnicli bent 

 up at tiie roll luled end, which is the toe. The sides are braced ajtart 

 In tw,, ^lollt crossbars (/orand linl har) a little farther apart than the 

 length ..f the WeariT's fo^.t. Tlie space between these two bars is uet- 



tel in laige meshes,/;,,,/,,,////,;/) with stout tl g fa- the foot to rest 



Upon, and the spaces at the, ends are closely netted with fine deerskin 

 "babiche"- (/,„■ and /„•,'/ iirttin;/). The sti'aps for the foot are fastened 

 to th.' f ,ot netting in such a way tliat while the strap is firmly fastened 

 round the aidvli' the snowshoe is sliiug to tiie toe. The wearer walks 

 with lon,^ swinging strides, lifting the toe oftlie shoe at each step, 

 while the tail or heel drags in the snow. The straps are so coiitriveil 

 that t he foot can be slipped ill and out of them witlnmt toindiing them 

 with the tingeis, a great advantage in cold weather. When deer hunt- 

 ing, according to Lieut. Kay. they take a long piece of thong and knot 

 each end of it to the t„r <,f one snowshoe. The bight is then looped 

 into tlie belt behind so that the suowshoes drag out of the way of the 



' l"^- ^^'hen they wish to |iut on the shoes they draw them up, insert 



their feet ill the straps, and fasten the slack of the lines into the belt 

 in front with ;i slip knot. When, however, they come to a piece of 

 ground where suowshoes are not needed, tlicv kick them off, slij) the 

 knots, and let them "drop astern." 



We l>rought home thice pairs of suowshoes, which represent very 

 well the form in general use. No. siMllii [1736], Fig. 350, has been 

 selected as the type. The rim is of willow, ."il inches long and lOi inches 



^ AlxsUa, „. 15. "" 



M w.st.-cl »""L-vv is soTu.-tiriu-s usinl. A pair .,1' Hi.cwsh.ies fi-um Point Barrow, owned by tlie writpr. 



