Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/55

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The Breathing-hole Searcher (sikuarsiuk), (Fig. 16, Ponds Inlet), consists of a rather curved iron rod, about 85 cm long, with a handle of antler. A specimen from Chesterfield Inlet is of antler, 70 cm long, with an oblong plate of antler as a handle. Another specimen from Qajûvfik is also of antler, 58 cm long, about 0.6 cm thick and, as a handle, has a short cross-stick thrust through one end. Hall[1] mentions breathing hole searchers of "whalebone".

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Fig. 13.Loose objects for ice hunting gear. 1 : 2.

The Seal Indicator (qaipqataq) (Fig. 15.2 Ponds Inlet), is a thin, straight rod of wire, 80 cm long; the lower end is pointed, the upper end has an eye in which is tied a sinew-thread cord, 57 cm long. A seal hook (niksik) (Fig. 15.1), consisting of a flat shaft of wood, 96 cm long, serves as a sheath for the seal indicator; at one end is a powerful iron hook, lashed on with sinew thread; at the middle is a handle of sealskin; a deep groove is cut in one edge, and closed by means of cross-bands, for the indicator; the line of the indicator is wound round a small reel of wood.

A seal indicator from a fairly recent grave at Simiutaq, Repulse Bay, is 72 cm long and at the upper end has a small, flat head of ivory, to which the line is fastened.

In former times the seal indicator was of bone.[2]

Seal-hunting itself proceeds in the following manner: A dog is taken along for the purpose of finding the breathing holes; it has harness on, and the rear end of the trace is often tied to the hunter's

  1. ↑ 1879 p. 152.
  2. ↑ Parry 1824, p. 550, fig. 20.
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