Fig. 770.—Walrus hunting. Alaska.
Fig. 770 represents an Alaskan 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.
Fig. 771.—Records carved on ivory. Alaska.
The carving, Fig. 771, made of a piece of walrus tusk, was copied from the original in the same museum during the summer of 1882. Interpretations were verified by Naumoff, a Kadiak half-breed.
a is a native whose left hand is resting against the house, while the right hangs toward the ground. The character to his right represents a “Shaman stick” surmounted by the emblem of a bird, a “good spirit,” in memory of some departed friend. It was suggested that the grave stick had been erected to the memory of his wife.
b represents a reindeer, but the special import in this drawing is unknown.
c signifies that one man, the designer, shot and killed another with an arrow.
d denotes that the narrator has made trading expeditions with a dog sledge.