3-,2 THK POINT IJAKKOW ESKIiMO. 



ilie liitiT used tlic IikUiiu style "f snowsboesat least as early as 1826. 

 rrniUliu' sikmUs of seeing, at Denial latinii Point, a pair of snowslioes 

 nelled with cords of deeislcin and slia|)ed like those of the Indians of 

 the Mackenzie. 



Most of the other Ivskiuio of Alaska, who need to use snowshoes at 

 all, use a style of shoe very mueli less eflieient and more roughly made, 

 the rim being of heavy, rather crooked pieces of willow or alder. Simp- 

 son's description will ajiply very widl to this form, whieh is used even 

 as I'ar north as ley Cape, whence Mr. Nelson brought home a pair. It 

 also aiiiiears to be the prevailing, if not the only, form on the Siberian 

 coast and St. Lawrence Island. Judging from Nordinskitild's figure' 

 and Mr. Nelson's collections. 



Simpson says:' "The most common one is two pieces of aldei', about 

 two feet and a half long, curved towards each other at the ends, where 

 they are bound together, and kept apart in the middle by two cross- 

 iiieces.eaeh end of which is held in a mortise. Between the crosspieces 

 is stretclied a stout thong, lengthwise and across, for the foot to rest 

 upon, with another which first forms a loop to allow the toes to pass 

 beneath; this is cariii-d round the back of the ankle to the opjiosite 

 ■side of the foot, so as to sling the snowshoe under the Joint of the great 

 toe." 



When there are toe and heel nettings, they are of seal thong with a 

 large open mesh. The snowshoe from Xortou Sound, figured by Dall,* 

 is a ratlier neatly made variety of this form. South of the Yukon, the 

 use of the snowshoe api)ears to be confined to the Indians. As shown 

 by tiie IMuseum collections, the strings are always of the pattern de- 

 scribed throughout the whole northwestern region.^ 



Snowshoes appear t<) be rarely used among the eastern Eskimo. 

 The only writer who mentions them is Kumlien.'^ He says: "When 

 traveling over the frozen wastes in winter, they [i. e., the natives of 

 C'liinbeilaud Gulf] use snowshoes. These are half moon shaped, of 

 whuleb(me, with sealskin thongs tightly drawn across. They are 

 about 10 inches long. Another pattern is merely a frame of wood, 

 about the same length and 8 or 10 inches wide, with .sealskin thongs for 



■{'lie latter is apparently (piite like the western snowshoes described 



.S7((//'.— The oiil\ staff used by the young and vigorous is the shaft 

 of the spear, when one is carried. The aged and feeble, however, sup- 

 port their steps wiili one or two staffs about 5 feet long, often shod 

 with bone or ivory. (The old man whom Franklin met on the Copper- 

 mine i;i\ci walked with the help of two sticks.") Fig. 355 from a photo- 

 graph rei>iesents old Vuksiiia from Nuwuk, with his two staffs, without 

 which he was hardly able to walk. 



