_Gambling._--These people have only one game which appears to be of
the nature of gambling. It is played with the twisters and marline
spikes used for backing the bow, and already described, though Lieut.
Ray says he has seen it played with any bits of stick or bone. I never
had an opportunity of watching a game of this sort played, as it is
not often played at the village. It is a very popular amusement at the
deer-hunting camps, where Lieut. Ray often saw it played. According to
him the players are divided into sides, who sit on the ground about 3
yards apart, each side sticking up one of the marline spikes for a
mark to throw the twisters at. Six of the latter, he believes, make a
full set. One side tosses the whole set one at a time at the opposite
stake, and the points which they make are counted up by their
opponents from the position of the twisters as they fall. He did not
learn how the points were reckoned, except that twisters with a mark
on them counted differently from the plain ones, or how long the game
lasted, each side taking its turn of casting at the opposite stake.
He, however, got the impression that the winning side kept the
twisters belonging to their opponents. Mr. Nelson informs me in a
letter that a similar game is played with the same implements at
Norton Sound.
No. 56532 [9], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a bag full of these tools as used
for playing this game. It contains 18 twisters, of different patterns,
and 7 marline spikes. The bag is of membrane, perhaps a bladder. It is
ovoid in shape, all in one piece, with a long opening in one side,
which is closed by a piece of sinew braid about 40 inches long. This
is knotted by one end round a fold of membrane at one end of the
mouth, and when the bag is shut up is wrapped round the middle of it.
Some of these people have learned what cards are from the Nunatañmiun,
though they do not know how to use them. They described how they were
used by the “Nunatañmiun,” however, going through the motions of
dealing cards. They told us that the latter played a great deal, and
“gave much.” This “giving much” evidently referred to gambling, for
they told Capt. Herendeen how two of the “Nunatañmiun” would sit down
to play, one with a big pile of furs and one without any, and when
they got up the furs would all belong to the other man.
Fig. 364 (No. 56531 [21]) represents some of a bunch of 25 little
ivory images which were strung on a bit of seal thong. One is a neatly
carved fox, 2.7 inches long, and the rest are ducks or geese, rather
roughly carved, with flat bellies. The largest of these is 1.3 inches
long and the smallest 0.8 inch. These were purchased at Plover Bay,
eastern Siberia, during our brief visit in August, 1881, and were
supposed to be merely works of art. I was, however, very much
interested on my return to Washington to find that Dr. Franz Boas had
brought from Cumberland Gulf a number of precisely similar images,
which are there used for playing a game of the nature of “jackstones.”
The player tosses up a handful of these images, and scores points for
the number that sit upright when they fall.[N484] It is therefore
quite likely that they are used for a similar purpose at Plover Bay.
If this be so, it is a remarkable point of similarity between these
widely separated Eskimo, for I can learn nothing of a similar custom
at any intermediate point.
[Footnote N484: This game is briefly referred to by Hall, Arctic
Researches, p. 570.]
[Illustration: FIG. 364.--Game of fox and geese, from Plover Bay.]
[Illustration: FIG. 365.--Dancing cap. 1/4]
_Festivals._--The most important festivals are apparently
semireligious in character and partake strongly of the nature of
dramatic representations. At these festivals they make use of many
articles of dress and adornment, not worn on other occasions, and even
some “properties” and mechanical contrivances to add to the dramatic
effect. All festivals are accompanied by singing, drumming, and
dancing.
At the formal festivals, in the early winter, the performers are
dressed in new deerskin clothing, with the snow-white flesh side
outward, and in certain parts of the performance wear on their heads
tall conical caps covered with rows of mountain sheep teeth which
rattle as the wearer dances.
We brought home one of these dancing caps (kă´brû, käluka´) (No. 89820
[863] Fig. 365), made of deerskin with the hair inward and clipped
close. The outside is painted all over with red ocher. The front is
nearly all in one piece, but the back is irregularly pieced and gored.
It is surmounted by a thick tuft of brown and white wolverine fur
about 5 inches long, sewed into the apex. To the middle of one side at
the edge is sewed a narrow strip of deerskin with the hair clipped
close, which is long enough to go under the wearer’s chin and be
knotted into a slit close to the edge of the other side of the cap. On
the front edge is sewed a row of thirty-five incisor teeth of the
mountain sheep by a thread running through a hole drilled through the
root of each.
The series is regularly graduated, having the largest teeth in the
middle and the smallest on the ends. Above this is a narrow strip of
brown deerskin running two-thirds round the cap and sewed on flesh
side out so that the hair projects as a fringe below. Above this are
three ornamental bands about 2 inches apart running two-thirds round
the cap, each fringed on the lower edge with sheep teeth strung as on
the edge of the cap. The lower row contains 54 teeth, the middle 29,
and the upper 31. The lowest band is made of 2 strips of mountain
sheepskin with a narrow strip of black sealskin between them, and a
narrow strip of brown deerskin with the hair out; the next is of
coarse gray deerskin with the hair out; and the uppermost of brown
deerskin with the flesh side out. The cap is old and dirty, and has
been long in use.
[Illustration: FIG. 366.--Wooden mask. 1/4]
The custom of wearing this style of cap appears to be peculiar to the
northwestern Eskimo, as I find no mention for it elsewhere. It is
perhaps derived indirectly from the northern Indians, some of whom are
represented as wearing a similar headdress.
In certain parts of the same ceremony as witnessed by Lieut. Ray the
dancers also wore rattle mittens, which were shaken in time to the
music. A pair of these were offered for sale once, but Lieut. Ray did
not consider them sufficiently of pure Eskimo manufacture to be worth
the price asked for them. They were made of sealskin and covered all
over the back with empty Winchester cartridge shells loosely attached
by a string through a hole in the bottom, so as to strike against each
other when the mitten was shaken. The five men who wore these mittens
wore on their heads the stuffed skins of various animals, the wolf,
bear, fox, lynx, and dog, which they were supposed to represent. These
articles were never offered for sale, as they were probably too highly
valued.
We collected twelve wooden masks, which we were told were worn in some
of these ceremonies, though none of our party ever witnessed any
performance in which they were used. Some of them are of undoubted
age. No. 56499 [6] (Fig. 366) has been selected as the type of these
masks (ki´nau, from ki´na, face). This is a rather good representation
of a male human face, 8.8 inches long and 5.8 wide. It is quite
smoothly carved out of cottonwood, and the back is neatly hollowed
out, being more deeply excavated round the eyes and mouth and inside
of the nose. The mouth is represented as wide open, showing the tip of
the tongue attached to the underlip, and has six small teeth which
look like dog’s incisors inserted in a row in the middle of the upper
lip. The eyebrows and moustache are marked out with blacklead, and
there are traces of red ocher on the cheeks. The holes for the strings
are in the edge about on a level with the eyes. One end of a string of
seal thong long enough to go around the wearer’s head is passed out
through the hole on the right side, slit close to the tip, and the
other end passed through this. The other end is passed out through the
hole on the left and made fast with two half hitches. A row of small
holes round the edge of the mask shows where a hood has been tacked
on. This mask is rather old and somewhat soiled.
[Illustration: FIG. 367.--Wooden mask and dancing gorget. 1/4]
A very old weathered mask (No. 56497 [235] from Utkiavwĭñ), 7.8 inches
long, and made of soft wood, apparently pine, is similar to the
preceding, but has no tongue, and the teeth in both jaws are
represented as a continuous ridge. It has an “imperial” as well as a
moustache, marked with blacklead like the eyebrows. The cheeks are
colored with red ocher. The edge is much gapped and broken, but shows
the remains of a deep narrow groove running round on the outside about
¼ inch from the edge, and pierced with small holes for fastening on a
hood.
Figure 367 (No. 89817 [856] also from Utkiavwĭñ) is a mask much like
the preceding, 7.5 inches long, and made of spruce. It is peculiar in
having the outer corners of the eyes rather depressed, and in addition
to the moustache and imperial has a broad “whaleman’s mark” drawn with
black lead across the eyes. It is grooved round the edge for fastening
on a hood. The lower part of the face has been split off at the
corners of the mouth and mended on with two stitches of whalebone, and
a piece which was broken out at the left-hand corner of the mouth is
secured by a wooden peg at the inner edge and a stitch of whalebone on
the lower side. This mask has been for a long time fastened to an
ornamented wooden gorget, and appeared to have been exposed to the
weather, perhaps at the cemetery. The string is made of unusually
stout sinew braid.
[Illustration: FIG. 368.--Old grotesque mask. 1/4]
The remaining four ancient human masks are all masculine, and only one
has any indication of labrets. On this mask, No. 89812 [1063], there
are two small holes in the position of the labrets. It is probable
that the wearers of these masks are supposed to represent the ancient
Eskimo, who wore no labrets. A mask which was carelessly made for sale
(No. 89814 [1056] from Utkiavwĭñ), however, has large plug-labrets
carved out. Though roughly carved this mask is a very characteristic
Eskimo face, and would almost pass as the portrait of a man of our
acquaintance in Utkiavwĭñ. The two little roughly carved human faces
on the top of this mask are probably merely for ornament. No such
things are to be seen on any of the old masks which have been actually
used. This mask seems to have been whittled out of the bottom of an
old meat tray, and has a string of whalebone. Most of the genuine
masks are of excellent workmanship, but two are quite roughly carved.
One of these especially is such a bungling piece of work that it would
be set down as commercial were it not weathered and evidently old. The
painting never goes farther than marking out the beard and eyebrows
with soot or black lead, and sometimes reddening the cheeks with
ocher. Fig. 368 (No. 89816 [1583] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a very old mask
of cottonwood, blackened with age and so rudely carved that the work
was probably done with a stone tool. It is grooved around the edge for
fastening on a hood and is 6.8 inches long.
The only female human masks seen are new and made for sale. One of
these (No. 89819 [1057], Fig. 369, from Utkiavwĭñ) is roughly whittled
from the bottom of an old meat tray, and has the hair, eyebrows, and a
single line of tattooing on the chin painted with soot. It is 8.7
inches long and has strings of whalebone.
Another (No. 56498 [73] from Utkiavwĭñ) is about the size of the
common masks and tolerably well made. It has the hair and eyebrows
marked with black lead. The last is a foot long, and like the one
figured is roughly whittled out of the bottom of an old meat tray. It
has the hair, eyebrows, and a single stripe of tattooing on the chin
marked with black lead. This came from Utkiavwĭñ (No. 89811 [1037]).
[Illustration: FIG. 369.--Rude mask of wood. 1/4]
Another “commercial” mask (No. 89813 [1074] from Utkiavwĭñ) is very
elaborate, but roughly and carelessly made. It is almost flat, with
the features hardly raised in relief. In each corner of the mouth is
inserted a slender ivory tusk about 1 inch long, and besides the
eyebrows, moustache, and imperial, there is a broad “whaleman’s mark”
running obliquely across the right cheek from the bridge of the nose.
Six long feathers are stuck in the edge of the forehead. Curiously
enough these are the feathers of the South American ostrich, and came
from the feather duster in use at our station.
Fig. 370 (No. 56496 [258] from Utkiavwĭñ) represents, rather rudely,
a wolf’s face and ears, and is the only animal mask we obtained or
saw. It is of cottonwood, old and weathered, and is 4.7 inches long
and 6.5 wide. It is painted on the edge with red ocher and has a
streak of the same color down the ridge of the nose. The string is of
whalebone and unbraided sinew pieced together.
[Illustration: FIG. 370.--Wolf mask of wood. 1/4]
[Illustration: FIG. 371.--Very ancient small mask. 1/4]
Fig. 371 (No. 89815 [1050] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a mask that seems almost
too small to have been worn, being only 6.1 inches long and 4.7 wide.
It is very old, made of blackened cottonwood, and is the rudest
representation of the human face which we saw. It is simply an oval
disk, concavo-convex, with holes cut for the eyes, nostrils, and
mouth. The rough cutting about the chin appears to have been done with
a stone tool, and the mouth seems to be smeared with blood. The string
passed through the holes in the forehead to hang it up by is much
newer than the mask, being braided from cotton twine and fastened to a
common galvanized boat nail.
The more southern Eskimo of Alaska are in the habit of using in their
dances very elaborate and highly ornamented and painted masks, of
which the National Museum possesses a very large collection. The
ancient Aleuts also used masks.[N485] On the other hand, no other
Eskimo, save those of Alaska, ever use masks in their performances, as
far as I can learn, with the solitary exception of the people of
Baffin Land, where a mask of the hide of the bearded seal is worn on
certain occasions.[N486] Nordenskiöld saw one wooden mask among the
people near the _Vega’s_ winter quarters, but learned that this had
been brought from Bering Strait, and probably from America.[N487]
[Footnote N485: See Dall, Alaska, p. 389, and contributions to
N. A. Ethn., vol. 1, p. 90.]
[Footnote N486: See Kumlien, Contributions, p. 43. Kumlien says
merely “a mask of skins.” Dr. Boas is my authority for the
statement that the skin of the bearded seal is used.]
[Footnote N487: Vega, vol. 2, p. 21.]
The masks appear to become more numerous and more elaborate the nearer
we get to the part of Alaska inhabited by the Indians of the T’linket
stock, who, as is well known employ, in their ceremonies remarkably
elaborate wooden masks and headdresses. It may be suggested that this
custom of using masks came from the influence of these Indians,
reaching in the simple form already described as far as Point Barrow,
but not beyond.[N488] With these masks was worn a gorget or
breast-plate, consisting of a half-moon shaped piece of board about 18
inches long, painted with rude figures of men and animals, and slung
about the neck. We brought home three of these gorgets, all old and
weathered.
[Footnote N488: See also Dall’s paper in the Third Annual Report
of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 67-203, where the subject of
mask-wearing is very thoroughly discussed in its most important
relations.]
No. 89818 [1132], Fig. 372_a_, has been selected as the type of the
gorget (sûkĭmûñ). It is made of spruce, is 18.5 inches long, and has
two beckets of stout sinew braid, one to go round the neck and the
other round the body under the wearer’s arms. The figures are all
painted on the front face. In the middle is a man painted with red
ocher; all the rest of the figures are black and probably painted with
soot. The man with his arms outstretched stands on a large whale,
represented as spouting. He holds a small whale in each hand. At his
right is a small cross-shaped object which perhaps represents a bird,
then a man facing toward the left and darting a harpoon with both
hands, and a bear facing to the left. On the left of the red man are
two umiaks with five men in each, a whale nearly effaced, and three of
the cross-shaped objects already mentioned. Below them, also, freshly
drawn with a hard, blunt lead pencil or the point of a bullet, are a
whale, an umiak, and a three-cornered object the nature of which I can
not make out.
Fig. 372_b_ (No. 56493 [266] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a similar gorget,
which has evidently been long exposed to the weather, perhaps at the
cemetery, as the figures are all effaced except in the middle, where
it was probably covered by a mask as in Fig. 367 (No. 89817 [855] from
the same village). There seems to have been a red border on the
serrated edge. In the middle is the same red man as before standing on
the black whale and holding a whale in each hand. At his right is a
black umiak with five men in it, and at his left a partially effaced
figure which is perhaps another boat. The strings are put on as
before, except that the two beckets are separate. The upper is made of
sinew braid, and the lower, which is now broken, of seal thong. This
gorget is 15.5 inches long and 4.7 wide. No. 89817 [855] (Fig. 367
already referred to) has a mask tied over the middle by means of the
beckets, so that the figures in the middle are much fresher than those
on the ends. The edges are painted red. In the middle is the same red
man or giant holding the whale. The other figures are painted with
soot.
[Illustration: FIG. 372.--Dancing gorgets of wood. 1/4]
This man or giant, able to hold out a whale, appears to be a legendary
character, as we have his image carved in ivory. We unfortunately did
not succeed in learning anything more about him, except that his name
(apparently) was “kikámigo.” Hanging by the head to each elbow of this
figure is a seal, and opposite its thighs two of the usual
conventional whale’s tails, one on each side, with the flukes turned
from him. The one on his left is attached to his waist by a straight
line from its upper corner. At its right hand are a number of objects
irregularly grouped. At the top an umiak with five men towing at a
three-cornered object, which probably represents a dead whale; then a
smaller umiak containing five men and apparently “fast” to a whale,
which is spouting. A figure above this, almost obliterated, appears to
be a small whale. Below are a large seal, three of the cross-shaped
figures, four small whales, and one figure so much effaced that it can
not be made out. On the left hand of the figure are two umiaks, and a
whale with a line and float attached to him, then four crosses and a
large seal in the corner. Below are four whales of different sizes,
two bears, and a dog or wolf.
These gorgets appear to have gone out of fashion, as we saw none which
were not very old, or which appeared to have been used recently. From
the nature of the figures upon them, they were probably used in some
of the ceremonies connected with the whale fishing. Kika´mĭgo may be
the “divinity” who controls the whales and other sea animals.[N489]
[Footnote N489: Cf. Crantz, vol. 1, p. 206.]
_Mechanical contrivances._--In one of the performances which Capt.
Herendeen witnessed, there stood in the middle of the floor facing
each other, the stuffed skins of a fox and a raven. These were mounted
on whalebone springs and moved by strings, so that the fox sprang at
the raven and the raven pecked at the fox, while the singing and
dancing went on. These animals were never offered for sale, but they
brought over a stuffed fox very cleverly mounted so as to spring at a
lemming, which by means of strings was made to run in and out of two
holes in the board on which the fox was mounted. (No. 89893 [1378]
from Utkiavwĭñ.) We unfortunately did not learn the story or myth
connected with this representation.[N490] It was the skin of an Arctic
fox in the summer pelage, with the paws and all the bones removed, and
clumsily stuffed with rope yarn, not filling out the legs. A stick was
thrust into the tail to within about two inches of the tip, so that it
was curled up over the back. The skin was taken off whole by a single
opening near the vent, which was left open, and through which was
thrust into the body a strip of whalebone 2 inches wide and about ⅛
inch thick, which protruded about 4¼ inches and was fastened to the
front edge of the hole by tying the flap of skin to the whalebone with
three or four turns of sinew braid, kept from slipping by a notch in
each edge of the whalebone.
[Footnote N490: This very interesting specimen was unfortunately
destroyed by moths at the National Museum after the description
was written, but before it could be figured.]
The fox was attached to a piece of the paneling of a ship’s bulkhead,
29 inches long and 7.5 wide, by bending forward 2¾ inches of the end
of the whalebone, and lashing it down parallel to the length of the
board with four turns of stout thong, kept from slipping by a notch in
each edge of the whalebone and running through holes in the board. The
fox was thus held up by the spring parallel to the length of the board
with its head and forelegs raised. A string of sinew braid 10 feet
long was passed through a hole in the septum of the fox’s nose and
knotted once so as to leave two equal ends. These ends were carried
down through two holes, one in each edge of the board 9½ inches from
the forward end, and each was tied to a roughly-rounded bit of pine
stick round which it was reeled when not in use. By pulling these
strings together, the fox was made to dart down his head, which was
raised by the spring as soon as the string was slackened. By pulling
one or the other string the fox could be made to dart to one or the
other side of the board.
One man manipulated the fox, pulling a string with each hand. The
lemming’s holes were about 1¼ inches in diameter, one in each edge of
the board and at such a distance from the end that when the string,
which was 7 feet 4 inches long, was drawn through them, it crossed the
board just where the fox’s nose struck, when it was pulled down. The
ends of the string were reeled round bits of stick. The lemming was a
narrow strip of wolf’s fur, about 3 inches long, doubled in the
middle, with the middle of the string hitched into the bight. By
pulling the ends of the string alternately, the lemming was made to
jump out of the hole on one side, run across the board and into the
other, very much as a live lemming runs from one tunnel to another on
the tundra. It took two persons, one on each side, to handle the
lemming. The foxskin and spring appeared to be older than the rest of
the machine. The board was originally 10 inches or 1 foot longer at
each end, but had to be cut off to pack it.
Petroff mentions a similar custom among the “Nushegagmute” of Bristol
Bay, of introducing stuffed animals moved with hidden strings in their
performances;[N491] and Dall[N492] describes a festival at Norton
Sound, where a dead seal was brought in and moved about with strings.
[Footnote N491: Report, p. 135.]
[Footnote N492: Alaska, p. 156.]
_Description of festivals._--It is greatly to be regretted that we had
not established such intimate relations with the natives, as
afterwards was the case, in the winter of 1881-’82, since this was the
only one of the two seasons that the great winter festival was held at
Utkiavwĭñ. In the winter of 1882-’83 there had been so many deaths in
the village that the natives did not feel like celebrating any regular
festival, and only indulged in a few impromptu dances late in the
season. These were unfortunately held in the evening when the writer’s
tour of duty at the station prevented his witnessing them. Those of
the party who did go over brought back only fragmentary and rather
vague accounts of the performance. The confining nature of the work at
the station prevented our witnessing any of the celebrations at Nuwŭk
or at Pernyû, when the “Nunatañmiun” visitors were entertained.
The best accounts we have of any performance is given by Lieut. Ray.
He and Capt. Herendeen went over to Utkiavwĭñ by special invitation on
December 3, 1881, and witnessed one scene of the “wood,” or “tree
dance.” Many visitors were present from Nuwŭk on the occasion of this
dance, which lasted for two days and nights. On arriving at the
village they found a crowd of upwards of 200 people assembled round
the entrance of the kû´dyĭgĭ. In front of the entrance were drawn up
in line five men and two women dancing to the music of a drum and two
singers.
They were all dressed in new deerskin clothes, with the snow-white
flesh side turned out, and wore conical dance caps like that already
described. They kept time to the music with their feet, moving their
bodies to right and left with spasmodic jerks. To quote from Lieut.
Ray’s MS. notes:
Each dancer in turn sprang to the front and in extravagant gestures
went through the motions of killing seal, walrus, and deer, and the
pursuit of the whale. Each, as he finished, took his place in the
line, was cheered by the crowd, then added his voice to the
monotonous chant of the singers.
After all had finished as many as could get in entered the “dance
house.” At one end of this a small space was partitioned off with a
piece of an old sail, and from the roof in the middle hung an object
intended to represent a tree. This was made of two oblong boxes about
6 inches in diameter, open at both ends, the lower about 2½ feet long
and the upper about 1½, hinged together with seal thong. At one side
hung a wolf’s skull, and on the other a dried raven. Two performers
sat in the middle of the floor with their legs extended one between
the other’s legs, with his nose touching the tree. A row of old men
beat drums and sang, while the performers chanted a monotonous song,
in which could be heard the words “rum, tobacco, seal, deer, and
whale.”
Presently the bottom of the curtain was lifted and out crawled five
men on all fours, wearing on their heads the stuffed skins of the
heads of different animals--the wolf, bear, fox, lynx, and dog. They
swung their heads from side to side in unison, keeping time to the
music, uttering a low growl at each swing and shaking their rattle
mittens. This they kept up for fifteen or twenty minutes, while the
chant still went on, and the chief performer, with excited gestures,
embraced the tree and rubbed his nose against it from time to time. At
last all “sprang to their feet with a howl, and ended the dance with
wild gestures.” Similar scenes, with new performers, which our party
did not stay to witness, succeeded this, with feasting in the
different houses.
Capt. Herendeen also witnessed a small dance, lasting only one
evening, which bore a curious resemblance to some of the so-called
“favor figures” performed in the “German cotillon” of civilized
dancers. This kind of dance was performed purely for pleasure, and had
nothing religious or dramatic about it. The music was furnished by the
usual orchestra of old men, who beat drums and sang a monotonous song.
Each person who intended to take part in the dance came provided with
some small article to be given away as a “favor,” and rising in his
turn, danced a few minutes, and then called out the name of the
partner he wished to give it to. The latter then rose, and having
received the “favor,” danced a while with him, and then both resumed
their places among the spectators.
We never heard of any such elaborate “donation parties” as are
described at Norton Sound and the Yukon region, where a man “saves up
his property for years” to distribute it among his guests.[N493]
A festival, however, was held at Nuwŭk in June, 1883, which apparently
resembled the second kind described by Dall.[N494] Two men came down
from Nuwŭk to invite Lieut. Ray and Capt. Herendeen, telling them what
presents they were expected to bring. Unfortunately it was considered
that too much was asked and the invitation was declined. The
messengers carried “notched sticks.”[N495]
[Illustration: FIG. 373.--Youth dancing to the aurora.]
Dances in which the children only take part, entirely for amusement,
sometimes take place in the kû´dyĭgĭ, and people occasionally amuse
themselves by dancing in the iglu. I have often seen the natives,
especially the children and young people, dancing in the open air, and
the dancing was always of very much the same character. The feet were
but slightly moved, keeping time to the music, while the body swayed
gracefully and the arms were waved from side to side. All the dancing
which I saw was rather quiet and graceful, but they told us that when
they got warmed up at a great dance they went at it with tremendous
vigor, throwing off their garments to the waist. The dance which
accompanies the song sung by the children to the aurora, however, is
more violent. The dancer clenches his fists and, bending his elbows,
strikes them against the sides of his body, keeping time to the song
and stamping vigorously with the right foot, springing up and down
with the left knee (see Fig. 373, from a sketch by the writer).
We never heard of any of the licentious festivals or orgies described
by Egede[N496] and Kumlien.[N497]
[Footnote N493: See Dall, Alaska, p. 151.]
[Footnote N494: Ibid, p. 154.]
[Footnote N495: Compare the wand “curiously ornamented and carved”
carried by the messenger who was sent out to invite the guests to
the festival at Norton Sound, Alaska, p. 154.]
[Footnote N496: Greenland, p. 139.]
[Footnote N497: Contributions, p. 43.]
The festivals of the eastern Eskimo appear to be less formal and
elaborate than those in the west, consisting simply of singing and
dancing.[N498]
[Footnote N498: Descriptions of Eskimo festivals are to be found
in Egede’s Greenland, p. 152, and Crantz, History of Greenland,
vol. 1, p. 175, where he mentions the sun feast held at the winter
solstice. This very likely corresponds to the December festival at
Point Barrow. If the latter be really a rite instituted by the
ancestors of the present Eskimo when they lived in lower latitudes
to celebrate the winter solstice, it is easy to understand why it
should be held at about the same time by the people of Kotzebue
Sound, as stated by Dr. Simpson, op. cit., p. 262, where, as he
says, the reindeer might be successfully pursued throughout the
winter. It is much more likely, considering the custom in
Greenland, that this is the reason for having the festival at this
season than that the time should be selected by the people at
Point Barrow as a season when “hunting or fishing can not well be
attended to,” as Simpson thinks. We should remember that this is
the very time of the year that the seal netting is at its height
at Point Barrow. See also Parry, Second Voyage, p. 538; Kumlien,
Contributions, p. 43; Gilder, Schwatka’s Search, p. 43; Beechey,
Voyage, p. 288 (Kotzebue Sound); Dall, Alaska, p. 149 (very full
and detailed); Petroff, Report, etc., pp. 125, 126, 129, 131
(quoted from Zagoskin), 135, 137 (quoted from Shelikhof), and 144
(quoted from Davidof); Hooper, Tents, etc., pp. 85, 136; and
Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, pp. 22, 131.]