20<> INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 



inserted. In .shooting- with the how this folding shield could he opened 

 sufficiently for the purpose and quicklj'^ closed again. After shooting, 

 the persoti (quickly crouched so as to make as small a target for the 

 enemy as possible, and also to protect his legs better. The latter were 

 in many instances protected by boots lined with wood. A small ivory 

 or other bone protector was worn on the wrist of the hand holding the 

 bow, to protect it against the rel)ound of the string. Gloves were 

 worn on the hands usually, not mittens. The quiver containing the 

 arrows was hung on the back inside the helmet shield. Dodging was 

 resorted to whenever possible, as the sharp-pointed arrows sent from 

 a strong bow were not to be lightly regarded even by an armored man. 



Fox hunting. — In former times "circle" hunting was the chief 

 method in securing foxes. A large number of men "rounded up" or 

 inclosed foxes in a net, to which the entrance was suificiently wide 

 to attract them, and then the foxes were killed. 



Walrusei<. — These were taken by harpoon having a loose head which 

 remained in the body with a seal rope attached to it, while the shaft 

 was drawn back by the hunter by a line. 



xSettZs.— ^These were only rarely secured l^efore the introduction of 

 guns. They were always wild, and it Avas exceedingly difficult to 

 secure them. The natives regard it as a great boon to be a])le to get 

 a large numbei* of them in these days for food and oil. In the old- 

 fashioned house, the people had to depend largely on the light admit- 

 ted from without, having onh' a scant supply of seal oil. It would 

 be impossible for the people to live in the inner room of their present 

 houses without using lamps all of the time. 



RECEPTION CEREMONIES. 



Whenever the villagers from Southwest Cape visit '"en masse" the 

 people of Gam])ell. usually for the purpose of barter — as the former 

 natives rarely have an opportunity to trade with whaling captains and 

 never with the Siberians directly, and hence depend absolutely upon 

 the Seevookup people for trade — they are met on the outskirts of the 

 village and escorted to a place where reception ceremonies impress 

 them with their welcome. A representative of the Gambell people 

 and one of the guests — always males — dressed in rain coats which are 

 decorated with fur tassels, engage in a sham fight with long iron-tipped 

 spears, keeping them crossed and bounding forward and backward, 

 the one driving the other al)out 150 feet and then retreating before 

 the attack of the other. A piece of seal skin is placed on the ground 

 midway in the stretch occupied by the combatants, and they go back 

 and forth over this. Sometimes there may be three representatives 

 on a side, two pairs consisting of men and one pair of half-grown 

 boys. A chaplet is worn on the head by these persons, made of strands 

 of i)(>lar-l)ear fur. The guests are then assisted to unharness their 



