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
A whetstone of similar material was brought by Lieut. Stoney from
Kotzebue Sound. The long lanyard is of sinew braid. Fig. 163_b_
(No. 89622 [951], also from Utkiavwĭñ) is a very small, slender
whetstone, 3.3 inches long, of dark olive green semitranslucent jade,
polished. The tip is not chamfered, but tapers to a blunt point. It
has the ornamental grooves at the eye. These are undoubtedly the
“stones for making . . . whetstones, or these ready-made” referred to
by Dr. Simpson (Op. cit., p. 266) as brought by the Nunatañmiun from
the people of the “Ko-wak River.” A few such whetstones have been
collected on other parts of the northwest coast as far south as the
northern shore of Norton Sound. The broken whetstone mentioned above
is of a beautiful bluish green translucent jade. Bits of stone are
also used for whetstones, such as No. 89786 [1004_f_], which belong in
Ilû´bw’ga’s tool bag. They are two rough, oblong bits of hard dark
gray slate, apparently split off a flat, weathered surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 164.--Wooden tool boxes. 1/6]
_Tool boxes and bags._--We collected six specimens of a peculiarly
shaped long, narrow box, carved from a single block of wood, which we
were informed were formerly used for holding tools. They have gone out
of fashion at the present day, and there are but few of them left. No.
89860 [1152], Fig. 164_a_, represents the typical shape of this box.
It is carved from a single block of pine. The cover is slightly
hollowed on the under side and is held on by two double rings of twine
(one of seal twine and the other of sinew braid), large enough to slip
over the end. Each ring is made by doubling a long piece of twine so
that the two parts are equal, passing one end through the bight and
knotting it to the other. The box and cover seem to have been painted
inside and out with red ocher. On the outside this is mostly faded and
worn off and covered with dirt, but inside it has turned a dark brown.
Fig. 164_b_ (No. 89858 [1319], from Utkiavwĭñ), is a similar box, 21.1
inches long. The cover is held on by a string passing over little
hooked ivory studs close to the edge of the box. There were originally
five of these studs, two at each end and one in the middle of one
side. The string started from one of these studs at the pointed end.
This stud is broken and the string fastened into a hole close to it.
To fasten on the cover the string was carried over and hooked under
the opposite stud, then crossed over the cover to the middle stud,
then across to the end stud on the other side, and the loop on the end
hooked onto the last stud.
[Illustration: FIG. 165.--Large wooden tool boxes. 1/8]
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