Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/75

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the man can come up with his gun. Before guns were introduced the caribou spear was the usual weapon; indeed, many Eskimos went against the bear armed only with a flensing knife.[1] A bear belongs to the one who first wounds it.

Hunting and Trapping of other Land Mammals.

Wolves and foxes are caught in traps, nowadays mostly steel traps which are supplied by the trading stations. Only rarely do they come within shooting range. Formerly a number of traps of the Eskimos' own construction were used.

Foxes were trapped especially in box traps (umigeq): a rectangular stone erection, built of flat stones and no broader than that the fox could just enter it; it was open at one end, but could be closed by a flat stone, which was held in a raised position by a cord passed over two stones placed one on the top of the other on the top of the trap and thereafter fastened to the back of the trap where the bait lay; these two stones were so arranged that the slightest shake would cause the top one to slide down and thus allow the trap-door to fall. Similar traps. built of slabs of ice, have also been used; in their case the cord ran through a hole in the rear slab and was fastened to the bait. Lyon[2] describes the releasing mechanism in the following manner: "to the end of the line is fastened a small hoop of whalebone and to this any kind of flesh bait is attached. From the slab which terminates the trap, a projection of ice, or a peg of wood or bone, points inwards near the bottom, and under this the hoop is lightly hooked: the slightest pull at the bait, and the door falls in an instant".

The dead-fall (kauiaq) consists of a slab of ice 1 × 1½ m and 30–40 cm thick, held in an inclined position by a vertical stick, from which a line runs through a small eye in the ice to the bait: a jerk at this pulls the stick away and the slab falls on the fox.

The tower trap (uvdlasaut) is a stone erection in the form of a truncated cone, about two metres high and about two in diameter at the base; at the bottom is a door, which can be closed by a slab of stone. The roof consists of stone slabs which project over each other but leave an opening in the middle. In winter, when these traps are used, the door is closed and some meat is placed as bait inside the building; at the opening in the roof is placed a stone which slopes downwards into the hole and this is made slippery with ice. When the fox comes and jumps on top of the trap, attract-

  1. ↑ Parry 1824 p. 520.
  2. ↑ 1824 p. 339.
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