520 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
Figs. 725 to 727 were procured from a native Alaskan by 
aoe Dr. Hoffman in 1882, and explained to him to be drawings 
made upon grave posts. 
Fig. 725 commemorates a hunter, as land animals are 
shown to be his chief pursuit. The following is the ex- 
pee ee of the characters : 
. The baidarka, or boat, holding two persons; the oceu- 
be are shown, as are Aree the paddles, which project 
ort below the horizontal body of the vessel. 
b. A rack for drying skins and fish. A pole is added 
above it, from which are seen floating streamers of calico or 
am cloth. 
ty AN LOK. 
. A land otter. 
Be: goat hunter’s summer habitation. These are tem- 
porary dwellings and usually constructed at a distance 
ts aie eee from home. This also indicates the profession of a skin- 
post. Alaska. hunter, aS the permanent lodges, indicated as winter 
houses, i. e., with round or dome-like roof, are located near the sea- 
shore, and summer houses are only needed when at some distance from 
home, where a considerable length of time is spent in hunting. 
The following is the explanation of Fig. 726. It is another design 
for a grave post, but is erected in memory of a fisherman: 
a. The double-seated baidarka, or skin canoe. 
1 b. The bow used in shooting seal and other marine animals. 
c. A seal. 
d. A whale. 
= The summer lodge is absent in this, as the fisherman did 
not leave the seashore in the pursuit of game on land. 
J Fig. 727 is a drawing of a village and neighboring burial- 
ground, prepared by an Alaskan native in imitation of orig- 
inals seen by him among the natives of the mainland of 
ill Alaska, especially the Aigalaqamut. Carvings are generally 
Fic. Ge — on walrus ivory; sometimes on wooden slats. In the figure, g 
Grave Pest: is a representation of a grave post in position, bearing an 
inscription similar in general character to those in the last two preced- 
ing figures. 
Fic. 727.—Village and burial grounds. Alaska. 
The details are explained as follows: 
a, b, c, d. Various styles of habitations, denoting a settlement. 
e. An elevated structure used for the storage of food. 
jf. A box with wrappings, containing the corpse of a child. The 
