Eskimo String Figures 



147 b 



The Indian point natives 

 puyix\uq ka-vanaqtuvuhoq 

 puyixKuq ko-tunaqtuvuhoq 

 puyixXuyum ndcqoa 



omCKymaqiaq 

 amimimimi 

 tax\iijLy\a-a 

 iawamiyXa-a 

 kiluyehe 



An Inland Eskimo from 

 figures : 



aya lyi lyi-pqaq quymun 

 aya t>/i lyipqaq unmun 

 aya lyi lydloa xdluiyavait 



chant this song with the figures : 



Pugixluq sleeps a great deal. 

 Pugixluq snores a lot. 

 Pugixluq's head is very flat-sided. 



Amimimimi (end of first figure) 

 His right arm is paralysed (second figure) 

 His left leg is paralysed (third figure). 

 His intestines protrude (last figure). 



the Endicott mountains said with the last three 



The groin (?) turned upward. 



The groin is inverted. 



He hangs his intestines up to dry. 



The Kobuk river and the Inland Eskimos all began with the same opening, 

 viz., with the string wound once only round the left index. The Macken- 

 zie natives when making the first figure begin in a slightly different manner from 

 the Indian point natives. Their method is as follows: 



Wind a short length of the string twice round the left thumb and index. 

 Pass the right index into the left index loops from the proximal side, holding 

 the pendent strings in the hands. 



Draw the hands apart. 



Pass the thumbs downward on the proximal side of all the strings, take up 

 with them from below the lower transverse string, and drop the hand loops. 



Circle the indices clockwise so that they pass through the thumb loops, 

 then drop the thumb lodps. 



Proceed in the same way as the Indian point natives, only leave the strings 

 slack after each movement. At the end you have "the noose," the long semir 

 circular string which stands up in front of all the strings. (If you draw the strings 

 tight the noose disappears and you have the first figure of the Indian point series.) 



72754—10* 



Fig. 194 



