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 — John Shaqi
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
No. 89596 [1032] is the head and 5 inches of the shaft of a similar
lance. The head is of black flint, and the sinew-braid forms a simple
whipping. The remaining heads are all unmounted. I have figured
several of them to show the variations of this now obsolete weapon.
Fig. 239, No. 56677 [49], from Utkiavwĭñ, is of gray flint chipped in
large flakes. The total length is 6.9 inches. The small lugs on the
edges of the tang are to keep it from slipping out of the whipping.
No. 56679 [239], also from Utkiavwĭñ, is of black flint and broader
than the preceding. Its length is 6.3 inches. No. 56680 [394], from
the same village, is of light bluish gray flint and very broad. It is
5.4 inches long. No. 56681 [5], from Utkiavwĭñ, is another broad head
of black flint, 6 inches long. Fig. 240_a_, No. 89597 [1034], from
Nuwŭk, is of black flint, and unusually long in proportion, running
into the tang with less shoulder than usual. Much of the original
surface is left untouched on one face. This is probably very old. No.
89598 [1361] is a head of similar shape of dark gray flint from
Sidaru. It is 6 inches long. Fig. 240_b_, No. 89599 [1373], from the
same place and of similar material, is shaped very like the head of a
steel lance. It is 5 inches long. Fig. 240_c_, No. 89600 [1069], from
Utkiavwĭñ, is still broader in proportion and almost heart-shaped. It
is of bluish gray flint and 4.8 inches long. These heads probably
represent most of the different forms in use. Only two types are to be
recognized among them, the long-pointed oval with a short tang, and
the broad leaf-shaped head with a rather long tang, which appears to
be the commoner form.
We obtained one newly made lance of a pattern similar to the above,
but smaller, which was said to be a model of the weapon used in
attacking the polar bear before the introduction of firearms. The
name, pû´nnû, is curiously like the name panna given by Dr. Simpson
and Capt. Parry to the large double-edged knife. The specimen, No.
89895 [1230], Fig. 241, came from Utkiavwĭñ. It has a head of gray
flint 3½ inches long, exclusive of the tang, roughly convex on one
face, but flat and merely beveled at the edges on the other. The edges
are finely serrate. The shaft is of spruce, 6 feet 8 inches long,
rounded and somewhat flattened at the tip, which is 1 inch wide and
tapering to a diameter of 0.7 at the butt, and is painted red with
ocher. The tip has a slight shoulder to keep the whipping in place.
The tang is wedged in with bits of leather and secured by a close
whipping of sinew braid 1¼ inches deep. Fig. 242, No. 89611 [1034],
from Nuwŭk, was probably the head of such a lance, although it is
somewhat narrower and slightly shorter. Its total length is 3.4
inches. The other two large lance-heads, No. 56708_a_ [114_a_] and No.
56708_b_ [114_b_], are both new, but were probably meant for the bear
lance. They are of gray flint, 3½ inches long, and have the edges
regularly serrate.
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