14 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES 
Among some of the other tribes there is little wool weaving, the 
clothing consisting of shredded and softened inner tree bark braided 
and matted together. The Indians of this region are preeminently 
a woodworking people, as is manifest in the exhibit. Religious ceremo- 
Religious nies and the wearing of masks generally supposed to aid 
Ceremonies the shaman or priest in curing disease were customary 
among most of the tribes. The masks represented guardian spirits 
and by wearing them the shaman impersonated these spirits and 
assumed their powers in healing the sick or obtaining game. 
ESKIMO HOME SCENE 
There are two instructive groups near'the entrance to the Auditorium. In one, a home 
seene within a snow house or “‘igloo,’’ an Eskimo woman is cooking blubber over the flame from 
a seal-oil lamp; the other represents an Eskimo woman fishing through the ice. The Museum is 
rich in Eskimo collections 
