INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 213 



firmly, while the hunters pull him toward them. Everj- bo}^ i.s skill- 

 ful in the use of the sling. Whenever they see a bird approach they 

 sling a stone at it, and doubtless in rare instances maim and secure it. 

 Very small children sit on the g-round and make miniature houses, 

 using small bits of bone, pebbles, and sand or earth. Small pieces of 

 wood are planted in the ground to I'epresent people, while pieces of 

 bone or small stones represent whales, walruses, and seals. The chil- 

 dren use miniature popguns, shooting pebbles from them at the peb- 

 bles of others which have been thrown into the air, A sort of ' " bolos " 

 is used infrequently in the effort to entangle and cripple a duck in its 

 flight; it consists of three pieces of bone which are attached to the 

 loose ends of three pieces of seal or hemp rope, which are joined at the 

 other end. The "bolos" is used frequentl}^ in play. One of them is 

 thrown into the air, while another is sent after it to intercept it in its 

 downward course. 



There are house games, notably cards, in the use of which the men 

 often gamble. 



Small pieces of whalebone are cut so as to represent whales, and 

 the little children have a mimic whale hunt by means of them. I 

 have seen manj" miniature whales, seals, walruses, ducks, foxes, and 

 bears carved out of ivory, and possibly they are used in some of the 

 children's games. There are, moreover, miniature canoes, whaleboats, 

 and schooners, some of which are fairly complete in their equipment, 

 including effigies of sailors. 



SJcathig. — This is "par excellence" the popular exercise of the 

 men and boys. They make skates for themselves, sharpening the edge 

 of a piece of an iron barrel hoop and inserting the blunt edge into a 

 block of wood, which has been rudely shaped to accommodate it to the 

 boot, to which it is bound by sealskin straps. They do not pretend 

 to be graceful skaters; they prefer to play "shinny" rather than prac- 

 tice tricks. All enjo}' sliding on the ice and coasting on dog sleds 

 down the slopes of the beach and occasionally the mountain. 



The calendar. — The year is measured from winter to winter and is 

 made up of lunar months, which, in turn, are subdivided according to 

 the moon's phases. The day is not divided into a period theoretically 

 based on light and darkness, but upon the period of sleep, which is 

 relativel}^ constant in duration. The period of light during the da^^, 

 at least when the sun is visible, can be divided with reference to the 

 change from time to time of the solar orb. 



The daily routine. — After a sleep, presumably about eight hours in 

 length, which has been uninterrupted in the case of the men and the 

 boys, but occasionally interrupted in the case of the women when the 

 seal-oil lamps require attention, the household comes forth from 

 beneath their coverlets of deerskin and prepares for the activities of 

 the day. Very little time is required in preparing breakfast or the 



