The Graphic Art of the Eskimos - Based Upon the Collections in the National Museum #268913

The Innuit or Eskimo Of Alaska utilize the tusks Of the walrus, and in occasional instances the horns of the reindeer. The tusks are cut longitudinally into rods, upon the faces of which delicate engravings or etchings are made, the depressions or incisions thus produced being filled with black or some other color so as to heighten the effect. The Eskimo Of Greenland, Labrador, and the remaining portions of the Arctic regions east of the delta of the Mackenzie River, use flat pieces Of wood upon which to exercise their more primitive skill at art ornamentation. Although ivory is abundant in some portions Of the Melville Peninsula, yet it appears generally absent in the collections from that region.