Eskimo String Figures 137 b 



The Inland Eskimos say: 



kiciqcjaq kiciqcyaq aklam dmaqciyatm amaqhyianiluya oqCKyavuya dmaq- 

 toxKuyo aulautiya 



"Poke, poke, the brown bear is carrying you off ... . Putting it on its 

 back it carried it away." 



The Mackenzie natives say: 



amaUyyuk ildUnyoq aquvdX'aktut dmaij-un qimayXuyo wpdkd 

 "Pack-bearer, your relatives, it is said, are hunting whales. Leave your 

 pack and follow them." 



At the word qimay\uyo pass the right index into the figure from the distal 

 side underneath "the bear's pack" and draw out with its palm the upper trans- 

 verse string. Drop the right thumb loop. 



You have "the brown bear" going off without its "pack." 



CXVIII. Dbipping Water 



The Inland Eskimos called this figure kuceyiniyaqtoaq, meaning "it dripped." 

 The Mackenzie natives called it mikiydtciaq, which seems to be a name only. 

 In Coronation gulf it is called nivirjaqtuaqtoyyuk, "something suspended." 



Proceed up to the intermediate stage represented in fig. 178. Pass the left 

 thumb into the figure from the proximal side under the string which runs from 

 the lower transverse string to the left palmar string, take up this string with its 

 back, then in the same manner the string which runs parallel to it from the 

 right palmar string up to a looping string just below the upper transverse string. 



Insert the right thumb into the left thumb loops from the proximal side, 

 then with each thumb from the proximal side take up the radial index string of 

 its hand. Navaho the thumbs and drop the index loops. 



You have the place from which the water drips, the triangle in the left hand 

 top corner. 



At this point the Inland natives say: 



kuceyiniyaqtoaq tdyeomun kuceymiyaqtoaq kuciaXaqtuyo 



"It drips down, to the sea it drips down. Drip fast." 



At the last word drop the left index loop. "The drop" falls. 



The Mackenzie natives say: 



mikiydtciaq qavik ukiyna dmayoq ukiyna qaiyoq oyaqan iyuqayun. 



"Mikigatciaq, a wolverine down there, a wolf down there is coming. Drop 

 some stones." At the last word again drop the left index loop. "The stone" 

 falls. 



The Copper Eskimos merely drop the index loop without any remark. 



Fig. 180 



