Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/215

bunch of stiff hairs on the end; it is pushed in under the clothing and pulled out with some of the lice sticking to the hairs; sometimes the other end is shaped so that they can use it as a scratcher too. Fig. 160 (Aivilingmiut, Southampton Island) consists of a stick of ivory 26 cm long, rather flat, slightly curved, with a bunch of bear hair at one end and a broad, sharp bend at the other. useful for scratching. Two louse catchers from Repulse Bay and Ponds Inlet are wooden sticks, 25 and 28 cm long respectively, with a bunch of bear hair fastened on one end with sinew-thread. Parry^[1] mentions a seal rib with a bunch of white caribou hair on the end.

The comb (igdlaiutik) is used for dressing the hair and also for combing out the lice. Fig. 161 shows four combs; 3 (Aivilingmiut, Southampton Island) is of ivory, rather wide, 7.4 × 4.6 cm, with the handle decorated with (symbol characters) ornaments, a design that is also on two other combs, although on these the circle is double (symbol characters). 4 (Iglulik) is of ivory, 5.9 × 4.6 cm; 1 (Aivilingmiut, Southampton Island), is a simple, roughly made comb, 6 2 × 4.4 cm; 2 (Aivilingmiut) is of antler, 6.0 3.2 cm. All these combs have a rather wide handle, like those figured by Boas^[2] from the Aivilingmiut; the same applies to that figured by Parry,^[3] which in shape and ornamentation greatly resembles the comb in the Anangiarssuk find.^[4]

Despite their lack of cleanliness, most Iglulik Eskimos do not look particularly dirty. This is especially true of the younger men, who are often out on laborious hunting trips when they frequently perspire. Older people, however, especially women, often have a complexion which very closely approaches black.