Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442Murdoch, John
History
Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442
Murdoch, John
Eskimos -- Alaska -- Barrow, Point, Region
Fig. 129, No. 56638 [309], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a similar adz, but the
head has been narrowed by cutting off pieces from the sides (done by
filing part way through and breaking the piece off), and a deep
transverse groove has been cut on the front face near the butt. Part
of the lashing is held in this groove as well as by the eye, the lower
half of which is filled up with a wooden plug. The haft is peculiar in
being a piece of reindeer antler which has been reduced in thickness
by sawing out a slice for 8 inches from the butt and bringing the two
parts together with four stout wooden treenails about 1½ inches apart.
This is preferable to trimming it down to a proper thickness from the
surface, as the latter process would remove the compact tissue of the
outside and expose the soft inside tissue. The whipping of seal thong
just above the flange of the butt helps to give a better grip and, at
the same time, to hold the parts together. As before, there are two
large holes for the lashing. Adzes of this sort are used for all large
pieces of wood work, such as timbers for boats, planks, and beams for
houses, etc. After roughly dressing these out with the adz they are
neatly smoothed off with the crooked knife, or sometimes, of late
years, with the plane. The work of “getting out” the large pieces of
wood is almost always done where the drift log lies on the beach. When
a man wants a new stem or sternpost for his umiak, or a plank to
repair his house, he searches along the beach until he finds a
suitable piece of driftwood, which he claims by putting a mark on it,
and sometimes hauls up out of the way of the waves. Then, when he has
leisure to go at the work, he goes out with his adz and spends the day
getting it into shape and reducing it to a convenient size to carry
home, either slung on his back or, if too large, on a dog-sled. A man
seldom takes the trouble to carry home more of a piece of timber than
he actually needs for the purpose in hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 129.--Hatchet hafted as an adz. 1/3]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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