Upon the space nearest the mouth is the drawing of a fire, the flames passing upward from the horizontal surface beneath them. The blue cross-bands are raised portions of the wood (ash) of which the pipe-stem is made; these show peculiarly shaped openings which pass entirely through the stem, though not interfering with the tube necessary for the passage of the smoke. This indicates considerable mechanical skill.
Upon each side of the stem are spaces corresponding in length and position to those upon the opposite side. In the lower space of the stem is a drawing of a bear, indicating that the two persons in the corresponding space on the opposite side belong to the Bear gens. The next upper figure is that of a beaver, showing the three human figures to belong to the Beaver gens, while the next to this, the eagle, indicates the opposite persons to be members of the Eagle gens. The upper figure is that of a lodge, the lodge containing a council fire, shown on the opposite side.
The signification of the whole is that two members of the Bear gens, three members of the Beaver gens, and three members of the Eagle gens have united and constitute a society living in one lodge, around one fire, and smoke through the same pipe.
DAILY LIFE AND HABITS.
Examples of daily life and habits are given in Figures 121 and 122:
Fig. 121.—Walrus hunter. Alaska.
Figure 121 represents an Alaskan native in the water killing a walrus. The illustration was obtained from a slab of walrus ivory in the museum of the Alaska Commercial Company, of San Francisco, California, and interpreted by a native.