call.) MASKS FROM NORTON SOUND. 133 



inches long by 5 inches wide, the fingers red, the palms of the hands 

 white, with a black line across each. In the lower hand is represented 

 the figure of a seal in wood, pegged ou ; this is whitened with an ash- 

 colored back. Both hands are represented as nearly wide open. 



No. 38857. — Dancing mask from the Yukon River; collected by E. 

 W. Nelson; collector's number, 1620; obtained from the Innuit of Ras- 

 boinikskoi village; height of disk about G inches, somewhat oval, face 

 carved in relief. Above the mouth and below the eyebrows it is whit- 

 ened ; the remainder is of a greenish color. The margin is marked with 

 a red line inside and outside; between the Hues it is of the natural 

 color of the wood. Mouth large, arched downward, semi-lunar, eyes 

 and mouth perforated, fringe composed of feathers pegged into the outer 

 margin. 



24334 (Plate XXVI, fig. 68).— Shamanic mask from Saint Michael's, 

 Norton Sound, Alaska, collected for the National Museum by L. M. Tur- 

 ner. This broad shield-shaped mask or rather maskette is said to have 

 been the property of a shaman and to symbolize a lynx or wildcat. It is 

 17 by 13£ inches. The upper and lateral margins are ornamented by stiff 

 feathers inserted into holes and secured by pegs; they are still further 

 stiffened by a cord which passes from quill to quill fastened strongly to 

 each and drawn taut between the feathers. To the middle of the upper 

 margin part of the skin of a ptarmigan {Lagopus albits) is attached by 

 a cord. It is in the brown summer plumage. Two little rude heads, 

 intended for mink, are placed in the upper part of the mask, one at each 

 corner. The face in the center is provided with pointed projecting ears, 

 separately carved. One of the mink heads and one of the ears are 

 represented on a larger scale in the figure as well as a sectiou of the 

 mask showing its relief. The face is whitened with some red stripes on 

 it ; the general field of the disk is greenish. The mouth is furnished 

 with real teeth, perhaps of seals, set in, and a rudely carved paw is at- 

 tached on each side of the face. The whiskers are represented by some 

 small narrow feathers set in over the upper lip. 



There are quite a number of such masks in the collection, that is of 

 the same general character, and they are alleged to represent some 

 mythical animal spirit which has appeared to the shaman during his 

 solitary meditations. 



It is to be hoped that when Mr. Nelson has recovered his health he 

 will unravel for ethnologists the mysterious web of fact and fancy which 

 veils to us the relations and uses of the Innuit masks. No one is per- 

 haps so well qualified to do it, and it is certain that there is no existing 

 collection which approaches in number or variety the assortment of 

 these objects which the National Museum owes to his energy and 

 sagacity. 



24328 (Plate XXV, fig. 65). — Maskette resembling a seal's head, ob- 

 tained from the Unaligmut Innuit at the village uear Saint Michael's, 

 Norton Sound, Alaska, by L. M. Turner. Dimensions, lOf by 1\ inches. 



