446 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
The people of Bering strait said that it preys upon right whales. On 
a spear-rest used in the bow of an umiak (plate Cyia) are etched 
four of these birds, two upon eack side. On one side the birds are 
represented as having their claws in the backs of the whales, which 
they are carrying away; on 
the other side the birds are 
represented as not yet hav- 
ing seized their prey. 
On the shore of Norton 
sound the tin-mi-tk'-pik is 
said to catch either whales or 
reindeer, and along the lower 
Yukon it was reported to 
prey upon people and rein- 
deer. Among the tales herein recorded is one from the lower Yukon 
describing the last pair of these birds which were believed to have lived 
there. In that district the top of a mountain below Ikogmut was 
pointed out as one on which these birds were said to have nested. 
Plate cyu ) shows a handsomely etched ivory pipestem from Norton 
sound. The side represented in the illustration bas several groups of 
human figures. There is also a kashim with men dancing inside to the 
music of a drum; others are entering through the summer passage- 
way above ground, and others on the roof. Next is a man with a bow 
and arrow shooting another who holds a spear upraised. The next is 
a representation of the Thunderbird seizing a reindeer, followed by the 
figure of the huge man-worm, or ti-s?kh-puik, that figures in Eskimo 
mythology. Other less important figures are also etched on this sur- 
face, as is Shown in the illustration. 
The small sculpin, which is very common along the rocky shore of 
Norton sound, is called the rainmaker, and the Eskimo say it will cause 
heavy rain if a person takes one of them in his hand. 
Small fragments of quartz crystal are said to be the centers of masses 
of ice that have frozen harder than usual, so that the cores have turned 
to stone. These are prized as amulets. 
Wiemann 
Iwas told by a fur trader who was fa- 
130 SDE nip na Ta 
Fic. 157—Ivory carving of a composite animal (§). 
mniliar with the Nunivak islanders that 
the latter claim descent from a dog. 
Figure 157, from Cape Darby, on the  Fie.158—Ivory carving representing the 
northern shore of Norton sound, is an mays one: (BI B12) 
ivory carving 34 inches long, representing the head and shoulders of a 
white bear and the body of a seal. The bear has in its mouth an object 
which projects upon either side and is grasped by the paws. This is a 
well-made carving, and is pierced longitudinally through the under 
surface for the passage of a cord. It was used as a handle for drag- 
ging seals and other heavy bodies over the ice and represents one of 
the mythic animals of the people on the shore of Bering strait. 
se) LLL 
