376 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
The festivals of the eastern Eskimo appear to be less formal and 
elaborate than those in the west, consisting simply of singing and 
dancing.! 
TOYS AND SPORTS FOR CHILDREN AND OTHERS. 
Playthings—Though the children amuse themselves with a great 
many sports and plays, we saw very few toys or playthings in use. We 
brought home six objects which appear to have no use except as play- 
things. 
Fig. 374a (No. 89806 [1189]*from Nuwik) is a whirligig in principle 
very like that made for civilized children. It is a block of spruce, fitted 
with a shaft of narwhalivory. This fits loosely in the straight tubular 
handle, which is a section of the branch of an antler, with the soft inside 
tissue cut out. A string of seal thong passes through a hole in the 
middle of the handle and is fastened to the shaft. This string is about 
8 feet long, and about half of it is tied up into the hank to make a 
handle for pulling it. It works very much like a civilized child’s whirli- 
gig. The string is wound around the shaft and a smart pull on the 
handle unwinds it, making the block spin round rapidly. The reaction, 
spinning it in the opposite direction, winds up the string again. A 
couple of loose hawk’s feathers are stuck into the tip of the block,which 
is painted with red ocher for about an inch. Four equidistant stripes 
of the same color run down the sides to a border of the same width 
round the base. This was made for sale and appears to be an unusual 
toy. I do not recollect ever seeing the children play with such a toy. 
It is called kai’psa (Gr. kavsak, “a whirligig or. similar toy”). 
Fig. 374) is a similar whirligig from Utkiavwin (No. 89807 [1356}). 
The block, which is 4-2 inches long, is made of the solid tip of a mountain 
sheep’s horn, and is elaborately ornamented with a conventional pat- 
tern of lines and “circles and dots,” incised and colored red with ocher. 
The shaft is of hard bone, and the line has a little wooden handle at 
the end. The block is so heavy that it will hardly spin. 
Fig. 375 (No. 56491 [46] from Utkiavwit) is a teetotum (also called 
kaipsa). The shaft is of pine and the disk of spruce and is ornamented 
with black lead marks, forming a border about one-quarter inch broad 
‘Descriptions of Eskimo festivals are to be found in Egede’s Greenland, p. 152, and Crantz, History 
of Greenland, vol. 1, p. 175, where he mentions the sun feast held at the winter solstice. This very 
likely corresponds to the December festival at Point Barrow. If the latter be really a rite instituted by 
the ancestors of the present Eskimo when they lived in lower latitudes to celebrate the winter sol- 
stice, it is easy to understand why it should be held at about the same time by the people of Kotzebue 
Sound, as stated by Dr. Simpson, op. cit., p. 262, where, as he says, the reindeer might be successfully 
pursued throughout the winter. It is much more likely, considering the custom in Greenland, that 
this is the reason for having the festival at this season than that the time should be selected by the 
people at Point Barrow as a season when ‘‘hunting or fishing can not well be attended to,” as Simp- 
son thinks. We should remember that this is the very time of the year that the seal netting is at its 
height at Point Barrow. See also Parry, Second Voyage, p. 538; Kumlien, Contributions, p.43; Gilder, 
Schwatka’s Search, p. 43; Beeehey, Voyage, p. 288 (Kotzebue Sound); Dall, Alaska, p. 149 (very full 
and detailed); Petroff, Report, ete., pp. 125, 126, 129, 131 (quoted from Zagoskin), 135, 137 (quoted from 
Shelikhof), and 144 (quoted from Davidof); Hooper, Tents, ete., pp, 85,136; and Nordenskiéld, Vega, 
vol. 2, pp. 22, 131. 
