260 



THE HUDSON l!AY ESKIMO. 



The collection also contaiiis several small ivory carvings, which 

 possess considerable artistic merit. Among these, the small ob- 

 jects, (Fig. 8;3), collected from 

 the so-called Northerners, rep- 

 resent various waterfowl cut from 

 pieces of walrus ivory. The vari- 

 ous speijies thus carved are loons, 

 ducks, geese, sea pigeolis, and 

 murres. One represents a female 

 eider with two young mounted 

 upon her back. It is readily 

 discerned, in most instances, 

 what position and action of the 

 bird was intended to be repre- 

 sented. The last .shows in the 

 plainest possible juanner that 

 the loou is just starting to swim 

 from an object which has given 

 it alarm. 



These car\ings are fashioned 

 from the tusks of the walrus or 

 the teeth of various large mam- 

 mals, and are simply tests of the 

 skill of the worker, who i)repares 

 them as toys for the children. 

 Notwithstanding the assertions 

 of others, who claim to have 



Fig. 83— Birds carved in ivory. knowledge Of it, 1 mUSt StatC 



that on no occasion have I seen or heard, while among these people, of 



these objects being used in any game. 



In addition to these we have a very 

 artistic figure of a jwlar bear, and 

 two human figures, I'i inches long 

 (Fig. SJr), representing tattooed wo- 

 nu-n, and two carvings representing 

 bags of oil. 



STOKY-TELLING AND I'OLK LOUK. 



Like all other Eskimo, the Kok- 

 suagmyut'are exceedingly fond of 

 story-telling. Sitting in the hut, en- 

 gaged in their evening work, the old 

 men tell what they have seen and 

 Fi(i. 84.-Huni.in fiaure, carved in ivory, heard. The old womcu relate the his- 

 tory of the people of former days, depending entirely on memory, often 

 iutersiJersed with recitations api)arently foreign to the thread of the 



