File:Descriptive booklet on the Alaska historical museum (1922) (14595270467).jpg

Identifier: descriptivebookl00alas (find matches)
Title: Descriptive booklet on the Alaska historical museum
Year: 1922 (1920s)
Authors: Alaska Historical Library and Museum Kashevaroff, Andrew P., b. 1863 Alaska Historical Association
Subjects:
Publisher: Juneau, Alaska
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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Text Appearing Before Image:
ee-hatch. All that is m*^n-tioned above is in refer^nce to the jne-hatch bidarka. The three-hatch bidarkacame iiito use with the advent of theRussians. The principal part of the bidarka isnot the keel, but the strips or the upperframe with some of the cross pieces orbeams. The widest portion of the bestbidarka is not in the center, as somewriters assert, but closer to the bow.Ihe keel is added and is always madeof three pieces, for the reason thatwhen in motion the bidarka may haveflexibility on the waves. After the keelis placed ribs are added running cross-ways from three to seven inches apart.Strips running lengthwise are then tiedto the ribs with sealskin straps or splitwhalebone. The cover is made from sea-lion orsealskins, which is cut out on theframe and is then sewn together withexception of the upper seam runningfrom the man-hole to the stem, thislast seam is sewn up after the skin isslipped over the frame. The finishedliidarka is well oiled before it can beused in the water.
Text Appearing After Image:
ALASKA HISTORICAL MUSKUM 55 Masks The museum has a large and variedcollection of masks Irom the northernportion ol Alaska, used by the Eskimopeople. The collection was made byDr. Neuman and many specimens init were acquired by the Territory prev-iously. These represent masks used inceremonial and festival occasions, thoseused by shamans in their ritualisticpractices and those of totemic originused on the graves and burial places.When masks are worn in any cere-monial, either totemic or as represent-ing the shade Yu-a or Tunghak, thewearer is believed to become myster-iously and unconsciously imbued withthe spirit of the being which his maskrepresents, just as the namesakes areentered into and possessed by theshades at certain parts of the festivalfor the dead. Shamans make masksrepresenting grotesque faces of super-natural beings which they claim tohave seen. These may be Yu-a, whichare the spirits of the elements, ofplaces, and of inanimate things in gen-eral; the Tunghak, or the wan

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