NELSON] TOTEM MARKS—WARS 327 
near the end on each side is an incised crescentic mark with a pointed 
groove below, said to represent the mouth and barbelof aloach. At the 
base of each bear claw is inserted a tuft of white seal bristles, with an- 
other tuft on the edge close by and one on the tip of the barbel of the 
loach. About one-third of the distance from the front are crosslines rep- 
resenting a fish net stretched across the board. The edge of the board, 
including the broad groove, bear-claw incisions, and loach mouth, is 
painted red; the net is of dull bluish color. All of these marks have 
totemic meanings which I did not have an opportunity to determine. 
Figure 119 illustrates the figures painted on a grave box at Stari- 
kwikhpak, which indicates that the father of the deceased was a noted 
reindeer hunter. ; 
WARS 
Previous to the arrival of the Russians on the Alaskan shore of 
Bering sea the Eskimo waged an almost constant intertribal warfare; 
at the same time, along the line of contact with the Tinné tribes of the 
interior, a bitter feud was always in existence. The people of the coast 
from the Yukon mouth to Kotzebue sound have many tales of villages 
destroyed by war parties of ‘Tinné. Back from the head of Norton 
bay and Kotzebue sound, during the time of my residence in that 
region, several Tinné were killed by Malemut while hunting reindeer 
on the strip of uninhabited tundra lying between the districts occupied 
by the two peoples. During the summer of 1879 a party of three Male- 
mut from the head of Kotzebue sound ambushed and killed seven 
Tinné who were found hunting reindeer in the interior. 
As related by various Eskimo questioned by me, it appeared that a 
favorite mode of carrying on their ancient warfare was to lie in ambush 
near a village until night and then to creep up and close the passage- 
way to the kashim, thus confining the men within, and afterward 
shooting them with arrows through the smoke hole in the roof. Some- 
times the women were put to death, at other times they were taken , 
home by the victors; but the men and the boys were always killed. 
In those days villages were built on high points, where defense was 
more easily made against an attacking party and from which a lookout 
was kept almost constantly. When the warriors of one of the Unalit 
villages wished to make up a party to attack an enemy, a song of invi- 
tation was made and a messenger sent to sing it in the kashims at 
other friendly villages; meanwhile the men of the village originating 
the plot set to work in the kashim and made supplies of new bows and 
arrows and prepared other weapons while waiting for their friends. The 
people invited would join the men from the first village and all would 
set out stealthily to surprise the enemy during the night. If they failed 
in this an open battle ensued, unless the attacking party became dis- 
couraged and returned home. Near St Michael there were shown me 
some of the old lookout places where the watchmen were stationed to 
