402 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
Just below these the chin is cut away and the carved, wooden head is 
attached by sinew cords, so that it may be moved up and down, and~ 
is controlled by a sinew cord passing through a hole from the rear of 
the mask to its attachment on the throat. The flippers, both before 
and behind, are represented by small, paddle-shape wooden attach- 
ments fastened to the body with small strips of whalebone. Upon 
each side of the eyes and nostrils, which are pierced through the face 
of the mask, are fastened small, wing-like doors, as if to close and 
cover the face, but they are tied so as to remain permanently open. 
On each of these doors is painted in black the image of a white whale, 
and a black line is drawn through the eyes on the face. <A stout 
splint hoop is attached at the shoulders on either side by wooden 
splints, and surrounds the entire border of the mask, except in front. 
The face and the interior of the doors are white, with the exception 
of the black figures mentioned; also all of the seal’s head, except 
the crown and nape, which, with the back of the figure forming the 
front of the mask, are painted slate color with white spots. This figure 
is intended to represent a seal, the concealed face on its back being 
the inua. 
Figure 1, plate XcCvitl, is a long, slender mask representing the head, 
neck, and beak of a sand-hill crane (Grus canadensis). It is 30 inches 
long, with the head and beak about 24 inches in length, and is rudely 
carved, having the top of the bird’s head excavated for a small lamp, 
with a hole in front on each side, representing the eyes for the light 
to shine through. On the beak are a few wooden pegs to indicate 
teeth, and the slender neck extends down to the breast of the bird 
where the wood takes a roughly oval form on which is a rudely shaped 
human face, with the chin narrow and long drawn down. This face is 
about 54 inches broad and slightly and roughly excavated behind. ‘ The 
interior of the bird’s mouth and the area around the eyes and ears, the 
sides Of the neck, as well as the space about the eyes, nostrils, and interior 
of the mouth of the human face at the lower portion are painted red. 
This mask was said to represent the inwa of the crane. The maker was 
a shaman, who claimed that once, when he was alone upon the tundra, 
he saw a sand-hill crane standing at a distance looking at him; as he 
approached, the feathers on the bird’s breast parted, revealing the face 
of the bird’s inwa, as Shown in the carving. 
Figure 2, plate xcv1il, from the lower Kuskokwim, is a long, narrow, 
flattened mask, 114 by 44 inches, representing an extremely elongated 
human countenance with the face divided across the middle, just above 
the lower point of the nose, and hinged together with rawhide cord so 
as to move upon itself. The eyes and the mouth are crescentic with 
down-turned corners; the nose is long and slender with two rounded 
nostrils pierced through the wood and having a dumbbell-shape pend- 
ant on the nose ring. On the middle of the lower lip is a peculiarly 
shaped labret made of a carved wooden flap, indicating, from the style 
