54 



Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



Fig. 8. A tj^pical Copper Eskimo lamp, carved out of soapstone 



husband one spring, spent the summer around^Tree (river, and returned to 

 her own land the following winter with a large lamp and a pot that they had 

 made. This was in fact the object of their journey, although neither of them 

 had ever seen a lamp or a pot manufactured before. The majority of the 

 natives of Coronation gulf do the same thing at some time or other in their 

 lives, for fresh soapstone (talc chlorite schist) such as is found at Tree river 

 requires no great skill in handling, and can be adzed quite easily even, with so 

 soft a metal as copper. It is only natural that the local natives should often 

 make extra pots and lamps for trading purposes, but they by no means specialize 

 in this industry, nor rank in any way as professional stone-cutters. 



Fig. 9. Mafia, a Tree river native, making a atone lamp (Photo by J. R. Cox) 



