Little folks of many lands
IKWA
ERE is Ikwa . He is a little Eskimo boy. He lives in a cold land . It is far north of us . Let us visit him .
In summer the days are very long. In winter the nights are very long.
It is so cold here that trees cannot live . Only a kind of moss grows under the snow. It is brown and hard.
Eskimos burn the moss in oil to heat and light the huts . This is the only stove and lamp they have.
H IKWA
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LITTLE FOLKS OF MANY LANDS
People in this cold land do not grow very tall. years.
Ikwa is small for a boy of ten
His skin is yellow. He has bright black eyes. When he smiles he shows his white teeth.
Ikwa does not wash his face in water. He puts oil on it. This makes his face shine .
He must wear warm clothes ; so he puts on two suits of fur. The inner one has the fur next the body. He wears the other one with the fur outside .
Eskimos are very brave . Ikwa's father hunts the bear and the seal . He uses the flesh for food . Clothing is made out of the skins .
Ikwa's mother makes his clothes . His jacket has a hood . When he is cold he puts the hood over his head .
His stockings are made from the skins
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of birds , with the soft down inside . Over these stockings he has boots of sealskin .
Ikwa's mother has two hoods on on her jacket. Baby Mertuk is in one of them. She does not need warm clothes , for the hood is lined with soft down .
Ikwa's father is building a new house . He calls it an igloo . Let us watch him make it.
First he makes a ring in the snow. This is as large as he wishes the house .
On this ring he places blocks of snow. Then he lays more blocks on top of these. Each row leans a little more to the center than the row below. At last the house is built.
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26 LITTLE FOLKS OF MANY LANDS
Ikwa and his brothers help now. They cover the igloo with igloo with snow. The shovels they use are made of bone.
Sometimes they throw the snow over each other . Then how they laugh and run !
There is only one room in Ikwa's home . A small hallway keeps out the wind and cold .
The window is a small hole over the door. There is no glass in it. The Eskimos cover it with a thin skin .
Let us go into the igloo . The door is low.
