Fig. 176.—So-called dagger of bone.
Dirks or daggers of bear’s bone, like those described, are really rather formidable weapons, as it is easy to give the splinter of bone a very keen point. The Museum contains a bone dagger curiously like these Eskimo weapons, but made of the bone of the grizzly bear, and used by the Indians of the McCloud River, northern California. They believe that the peculiar shape of the point, having a hollow (the medullary cavity) on one face, like the Eskimo daggers, causes the wound to bleed internally.
[PROJECTILE WEAPONS.]
[Firearms.]—
When Dease and Simpson first met these people, in 1837, they had no firearms, but the next party of whites who came in contact with them (Pullen and Hooper, in 1849) found the “chief” in possession of an old shaky musket of English make, with the name “Barnett” on the lock.[289] Hooper believed this to be the gun lost by Sir John Franklin’s party in 1826.[290] This gun was, however, often seen by the people of the Plover (in fact, Capt. Maguire kept it on board of the Plover for some time[291]), and was found to have on the lock, besides the name “Barnett,” also the date, “1843,” so that of course it was not lost in 1826. Armstrong[292] also mentions seeing this gun, which, the natives told him, they had procured “from the other tribes to the southward.” In the summer of 1853 they began to purchase guns and ammunition from the eastern natives. Yûksĭña and two other men each bought a gun this year.[293]
As the whalers began to go to Point Barrow in 1854, the opportunity for obtaining firearms has been afforded the natives every year since then, so that they are now well supplied with guns, chiefly of American manufacture. That all their firearms have not been obtained from this source is probable from the fact they have still in their possession a number of smoothbore percussion guns, double and single barreled, of Russian manufacture. They are all stamped in Russian with the name of Tula, a town on the Oopa, 105 miles south of Moscow, which has received the name of the “Sheffield and Birmingham of Russia,” from its vast manufactory of arms, established by Peter the Great. These guns must have come from the “Nunatañmiun,” who obtained them either from the Siberian traders or from the Russians at Norton Sound through the Malemiut. Both smoothbore and rifled guns are in general use. The smoothbores are of all sorts and descriptions, from an old flintlock musket to more or less valuable single and double percussion fowling-pieces. Three of the natives now (1883) have cheap double breechloaders and one a single breechloader (made by John P. Lovell, of Boston). Guns in general are called “cupûñ,” an onomatopœic word in general use in western America, but many of the different kinds have special names. For instance, a double gun is called madro´lĭñ (from madro, two). The rifles are also of many different patterns. The kind preferred by the natives is the ordinary Winchester brass-mounted 15-shot repeater, which the whalers and traders purchase cheaply at wholesale. This is called akĭmiɐlĭñ (“that which has fifteen,” sc., shots). The whalers are also in the habit of buying up all sorts of cheap or second-hand guns for the Arctic trade, so that many other kinds of guns are also common. Of breechloaders, we saw the Sharpe’s rifle, savĭgro´lĭñ (from a fancied resemblance between the crooked lever of this gun and the crooked knife, savigro´n); other patterns of Winchester; the Spencer repeater, kai´psualĭñ (from kaipsĭ, cartridge); the peculiar Sharps-Hankins, once used in the U.S. Navy, and which was the favorite weapon of the rebel Boers in South Africa; the Peabody-Martini, made in America for the Turkish Government, marked on the rear sight with Turkish figures, and, exposed with a corpse at the cemetery, one English Snider. The regulation Springfield rifles belonging to the post, which were often loaned to the natives for the purpose of hunting, were called mûkpara´lĭñ (from mûkpara´, book, referring to the breech action, which opens like a book).
They formerly had very few muzzle-loading rifles, but of late years, since the law against trading arms to the natives has been construed to refer solely to breech-loading rifles, the whalers have sold them yäger rifles, of the old U.S. Army pattern, Enfield rifles, ship’s muskets with the Tower mark on them, and a sort of bogus rifle made especially for trade, in imitation of the old-fashioned Kentucky rifle, but with grooves extending only a short distance from the muzzle. They of course depend on the ships for their supplies of ammunition, though the Nunatañmiun sometimes bring a few cartridges smuggled across from Siberia. They naturally are most desirous to procure cartridges for the rim-fire Winchester guns, as these are not intended to be used more than once. They have, however, invented a method of priming these rim-fire shells so that they can be reloaded. A common “G. D.” percussion cap is neatly fitted into the rim of the shell by cutting the sides into strips which are folded into slits in the shell, a little hole being drilled under the center of the cap to allow the flash to reach the powder. This is a very laborious process, but enables the natives to use a rifle which would otherwise be useless. Such cartridges reloaded with powder and home-made bullets—they have many bullet molds and know how to use them—are tolerably effective. Great care must be taken to insert the cartridge right side up, so that the cap shall be struck by the firing pin, which interferes with using the gun as a repeater.
They are very careless with their rifles, allowing them to get rusty, and otherwise misusing them, especially by firing small shot from them in the duck-shooting season. As a rule they are very fair shots with the rifle, but extremely lavish of ammunition when they have a supply. The only economy is shown in reloading cartridges and in loading their shotguns, into which they seldom put a sufficient charge. In spite of this some of them shoot very well with the shotgun, though many of them show great stupidity in judging distance, firing light charges of shot at short rifle range (100 to 200 yards). Though they mold their own bullets, I have never known any of them to attempt making shot or slugs. This, which they call kăkrúra (little bullets, from kă´kru, originally meaning arrow and now used for bullet as well) is always obtained from the whites. The gun is habitually carried in a case or holster long enough to cover the whole gun, made of sealskin, either black-tanned or with the hair on the outside. This, like the bow case, from which it is evidently copied, is slung across the back by a thong passing round the shoulders and across the chest. This is the method universally practiced for carrying burdens of all sorts. The butt of the gun is on the right side, so that it can be easily slipped out of the holster under the right arm without unslinging it. Revolvers are also carried slung in holsters on the back in the same way. Ammunition is carried in a pouch slung over the shoulder. They are careless in handling firearms and ammunition. We knew two men who shot off the tip of the forefinger while filing cartridges which had failed to explode in the gun.