Eskimo String Figures 145 b 



SECTION 2. MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES 



The Eskimos of Indian point have a cycle of four figures illustrating the 

 fate that overtook a man who was always sleeping. In the first figure his head 

 is lop-sided, in the second his right arm is paralysed, in the third his left leg is 

 tingling, and in the fourth and last his intestines protrude. The only other 

 place where the first of these figures was seen was in the Mackenzie delta, where 

 a slight difference is made in the opening movements. There it is called i.yi'pqaq 

 niyahk. An old Eskimo from the Kobuk river knew the second figure by the 

 name of "the arm of a man standing upright," the third as "the leg of a man 

 standing on his head," and the fourth as "the man's intestines hung up to dry." 

 Two Eskimos from the Colville river, who had more connection with the Barrow 

 Eskimos than with any other Eskimo tribe, called all the last three figures 

 lyipqaq, a word whose meaning they did not know, though another native con- 

 jectured that it meant "mirage." An Island Eskimo from the Endicott mount- 

 ains, farther to the east, called the second figure lyipqaq quymun, which he said 

 meant "the groin is upright," the third lyipqaq unmun, "the groin downward," 

 and the last lydloa o^dlu^yavait, "his intestines are hung up to dry." The word 

 niyahk in the Mackenzie Eskimo name means "carrying a snare." 



The movements whereby all four figures are produced are practically 

 identical. Taken together they form a remarkable combination as far as Eskimo _ 

 methods go. They have their parallel in but one other figure that I have recorded, 

 the Copper Eskimo figure of "the loon" (No. CXXVIII). None of the figures 

 of "the sleeper" are known to the Copper Eskimos, but the loon may be con- 

 nected genetically with it. It is worth noting that the second figure of the 

 series is the "one storm-cloud" of the Navaho Indians (Mrs. Jaynes, fig. 538). 



CXXVII. The Sleeper 



Wind the string twice round the left index, insert the right index into the two 

 loops from the proximal side and, holding the rest of the string in the palms, 

 separate the two hands. 



Circle the indices once counter-clockwise (i.e. upward, then inward, down- 

 ward and outward again) so that it takes up at the same time the ulnar ring 

 (or middle) finger string. 



Drop the hand loops. You are left with three loops on each index. 



With the backs of the thumbs hold up the proximal ulnar index string while 

 the little fingers from below hook down the proximal radial index string on one 

 side and the middle ulnar index string on the other {i.e. the upper of the two 

 crossing strings). 



Drop the thumb loops and with the thumbs from the proximal side take up 

 on one side the proximal radial index string, on the other the distal ulnar index 

 string (i.e. the strings running down from the indices to cross the lower trans- 

 verse string), above the transverse ulnar index string. 



Push out the proximal ulnar index string with the backs of the middle 

 fingers, then hook them over the two distal radial index strings. 



With the palm of each thumb draw through the ulnar index string that 

 runs over the back of the middle finger on each side, allowing the old thumb 

 loops to slip off. 



72754—10 



