Fig. 150.—Bow drill and mouthpiece.
Fig. 151.—Bow drill.
No. 89497 [819] (Fig. 150) has a ferrule of coarse-grained bone neatly pegged on with two small pegs of the same material. This is unusual with steel drills. The shaft is of spruce and of the same shape as in the preceding specimen. No. 89595 [875] (Fig. 151) is figured to show the way in which the shaft has been mended. A wedge-shaped piece 3½ inches long and 0.3 to 0.4 inch wide has been split out of the large end and replaced by a fresh piece of wood neatly fitted in and secured by two tight whippings of sinew braid, each in a deep groove.
No. 89515 [861], figured in Point Barrow Report, Ethnology, Pl. II, Fig. 2, is a typical bow (pizĭksuá) for use with these drills. It is of walrus ivory, 16 inches long and oval in section. Through each end is drilled a transverse hole. A string of seal thong 21 inches long is looped into one of these holes by passing one end of the thong through the hole, cutting a slit in it, and passing the other end through this. The other end is passed through the other hole and knotted at the tip.
These bows vary slightly in dimensions, but are not less than a foot or more than 16 inches long, and are almost always of walrus ivory. No. 89508 [956] (Fig. 152), is an old and rudely made bow of whalebone, which is more strongly arched than usual, and has the string attached to notches at the ends instead of into holes. This was said to belong with an old bone drill, No. 89498 [956]. Both came from Nuwŭk. These bows are often highly ornamented both by carving and with incised patterns colored with red ocher or soot. The following figures are introduced to show some of the different styles of ornamentation.
Fig. 153a, No. 56506 [298] is unusually broad and flat and was probably made for a handle to a tool bag. Such handles, however, appear to be also used for drill bows. The tips of this bow represent seals heads, and have good sized sky-blue glass beads inserted for eyes. The rest of the ornamentation is incised and blackened. Fig. 153b, No. 89421 [1260], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a similar bow, which has incised on the back figures of men and animals, which, perhaps, tell of some real event. Mr. L. M. Turner informs me that the natives of Norton Sound keep a regular record of hunting and other events engraved in this way upon their drill bows, and that no one ever ventures to falsify these records. We did not learn definitely that such was the rule at Point Barrow, but we have one bag-handle marked with whales, which we were told indicated the number killed by the owner. Fig. 153c, No. 89425 [1732], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a similar bow, ornamented on the back with simply an incised border colored red. On the other side are the figures of ten bearded seals, cross-hatched and blackened. These are perhaps a “score.” Fig. 153d, No. 89509 [914], from Nuwŭk, is a bow of the common pattern, but ornamented by carving the back into a toothed keel.