Fire-making Apparatus in the U. S. National MuseumHough, Walter
History
Fire-making Apparatus in the U. S. National Museum
Hough, Walter
Firemaking; Indians of North America -- Implements
He gives also a most interesting observation on the use of a weighted
pump drill among the Chukchis. The Chukchis also use flint and
steel.[39]
The drilling set from Point Barrow (pl. LXXVI, fig. 32), will show the
appearance of the parts of the fire-drill if we substitute the round
stick for the flint drill. Some of the old drill stocks are pointed with
finely chipped flint heads. The length of these points varies from 2 to
4 inches; the transverse section of one would be a parabola. They are in
general more finely wrought than any of the prehistoric drills found in
various localities all over the world. Prehistoric man was an adept in
the art of drilling stone, bone, and shell; the stone tubes, some of
them 18 inches long, bored very truly, are triumphs of the American
Indians. Without doubt the prehistoric drill points were mounted like
the Eskimo specimen, and were, perhaps, twirled between the hands, the
almost universal method of using the fire-drill. Japanese carpenters
drill holes in this way.
The winged mouth-piece is also a good example of workmanship. It is set
with a mottled, homogeneous stone that is tolerably soft, which gives a
minimum friction. This stone is much affected by the tribes over quite
an extent of coast for labrets, etc. It is probably an article of trade
as are flints. The bow is of walrus tusk, accurately made, but poorly
engraved in comparison with the life-like art work of the southern
Eskimo.
Another drilling set is from Sledge Island (pl. LXXVII, fig. 33). The
Museum has no fire-making specimen from this locality. The drill stock
is set with a point of jadeite lashed in with sinew cord. The bow is of
walrus ivory; it is rounded on the belly and flat on the back. All
Eskimo bows of ivory have a like curve, no doubt determined by the shape
of the walrus tusk. In another, the most common form of the bow, its
section is nearly an isosceles triangle, one angle coming in the center
of the belly of the bow. The head is intended to be held in one or both
hands; it agrees in form with the rude St. Lawrence Island heads.
Mr. E. W. Nelson collected at Unalakleet, in Norton Sound, a fire-drill,
and the native names of the parts. The name of the set is
_ŏŏ-jŏŏ-gŭ-tat_; the mouth-piece, _nă-ghŏŏ-tuk_; the drill,
_ŏŏ-jŏŏ-ga-tuk_; the hearth of tinder-wood, _athl-uk_; the bow,
_arshu-lŏw-shuk-pish-ik-sin-uk_.
Plate LXXVI.
[Illustration: Fig. 32. Boring-set.
Cat. Nos. 89400, 89424, and 89630, U. S. N. M. Point Barrow, Alaska.
Collected by Lieut. P. H. Ray, U. S. A.]
Plate LXXVII.
[Illustration: Fig. 33. Drilling-set.
Cat. Nos. 25021, 44978, and 45108, U. S. N. M. Sledge Island,
Alaska. Collected by E. W. Nelson.]
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