Ethnological Sketch af the Angmagsalik Eskimo. 35 



Sinew thread is made from the sinew of tail, back, or flipper 

 and also of the necks of seals, or of narwhal sinews. It is plaited and 

 twisted into thread of all thicknesses, ranging from cord for sewing 

 umiaks to thread for embroidering. The single strands are ravelled 

 out with the fingers, after which they are rolled over the cheek, 

 and the ready-plaited sinew cords are then smoothed between the 

 teeth. Implements for the plaiting and twisting of sinew cords are 

 often beautifully carved (figs. 239 to 248). 



Other implements used for sewing are bodkins of narwhal tusk 

 (figs. 280, 236, 237); creasers for crimping skins (fig. 231), and sewing- 

 rings or thimbles, cut out of the skin of bearded seals (fig. 252). 



Sewing-needles are protected by sticking them in a needle-guard, 

 a three-corned beautifully embroidered skin (figs. 249, 250, 251). 

 From the lower edge of a skin of this kind there often depend 

 thimble holders, which are carved in bone in the form of an 

 elongated double hook (fig. 247) and sinew-thread holders, which 

 consist either of a large bone hook or of a bone stick with a carved 

 bird placed movably at the end (figs. 242 a, b, c). 



The most important women's implement for all kinds of work 

 is undoubtedly the curved knife (ulo). It is generally formed of a 

 piece of iron hoop, which is joined by two legs of bone to a wooden 

 handle (fig. 223). In one of the knives a coloured stone has been 

 inserted into the handle (fig. 223 d). From the West coast the natives 

 have obtained a women's knife of European make. The superfluous 

 iron on the upper side of this knife has been cut away to be used 

 for needles (fig. 223 g). A whetting iron inserted in a handle of wood 

 is used for grinding knives with (fig. 218 c). A few specimens of 

 women's knives of stone are still to be found (figs. 223 a, b). 



Dwellings. — In winter the natives of Angmagsalik live in 

 houses built of turf and stone. A house of this kind consists only 

 of one room, which is from 24 to 50 feet long, according to the 

 number of families who live together, and from 12 to 16 feet wide 

 (fig. 31). The houses are, as a general rule, built on sloping ground 

 close to the sea, and with the front side, in which the windows 

 and passage-way are placed, facing onto the sea. The direction of the 

 house is a matter of less consequence to them than a suitable site 

 and easy access to the sea (figs. 29, 30, 64, 65). 



The walls are built in part subterraneously, and the back wall, 

 the top of which is often flush with the surface of the ground, is 

 a little longer than the front wall. The ridge of the roof, which is of 

 stout drift-wood, extends along the whole length of the house and 

 rests on props. The maximum height of the house is 6^2 feet. 



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