The design shown in Fig. 461 is in imitation of drawings made by natives of Southern Alaska to convey to the observer the information that the draftsman had gone away to another settlement, the inhabitants of which were in distress. The drawings were made on a strip of wood which was placed at the door of the house, where it might be seen by visitors or inquirers.
Fig. 461.—Notice of departure to relieve distress. Alaska.
Naumoff gave the following explanation: a, a native making the gesture of indicating self with the right hand and with the left indicating direction of going; b, the native’s habitation; c, scaffold used for drying fish; upon the top of a pole is placed a piece of wood tied so that the longest end points in the direction to be taken by the relief party; d, the baidarka conveying it; e, a native of the settlement to be visited; f, summer habitation; g, “shaman stick,” or grave stick, erected to the memory of a recently deceased person, the cause which has necessitated the journey; h, winter habitation. This, together with f, indicates a settlement.
Fig. 462, also drawn by Naumoff, means “ammunition wanted.”
Fig. 462.—Ammunition wanted. Alaska.
When a hunter is tracking game and exhausts his ammunition, he returns to the nearest and most conspicuous part of the trail and sticks his ihúnŭk in the ground, the top leaning in the direction taken. The ihúnŭk is the pair of sticks arranged like the letter A, used as a gun-rest. This method of transmitting the request to the first passer is resorted to by the coast people of Southern Alaska.
Fig. 463, also drawn by Naumoff, means “discovery of bear; assistance wanted.”