5 La THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT (ETH. ANN. 18 
No implements of this kind were seen among the Eskimo elsewhere 
in the region visited, and it is quite possible that the St Lawrence 
islanders obtained the idea from some of the whaling ships which stop 
so frequently along their shore. 
ANNAN 
=A 
Fic. 31—Sinew spinner from St Lawrence island. 
SKIN-DRESSING TOOLS 
For dressing and tanning skins several different implements are 
used, the most important of which are scrapers for cleaning the fat and 
water from the surface, and polishers for the purpose of softening the 
hide. From the lower Kuskokwim to the northern part of Norton 
sound and the coast of Bering strait, stone-blade scrapers with long 
handles are the prevailing style, although on the coast and islands of 
Bering strait a short-handle scraper is frequently seen, while from 
Kotzebue sound northward they are all of the latter type, with the 
handle made to fit the hand and elaborately carved. 
Plate Xuix, 17, from Big lake, represents one of these scrapers of 
