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Historic 1778- 1896

In 1778 Captain James Cook first made sustained contact and observations at sites in northwest Alaska. This date, therefore, has been selected as the beginning of the Historic Period for the objects presented here. Influences of the Western Thule art style are still prevalent in this period. Indeed, it is often difficult to determine wether certain objects belong to the pre- or post-contact era.

Female Figure
H. 4 in.

This piece expressively depicts a mature woman with strong features, including a round visage, puckered mouth , broad nose, and wide-open almond-shaped eyes. She stands with her legs slightly flexed and seperated, revealing her genitals. The frank depiction of sexual characteristics was not unusual in traditional Eskimo culture where many figures were carved with genitals. In other cases clothing or accessories provided gender specificity.

FigurePendant Female Figure
H. 2.25 in.H. 1.562 in.

The first object represents a male figure with prominent head, jutting chin, and conical armless torso. The facial features are precisley rendered, including incised eyebrows and deeply drilled apertures for eyes and labrets below the mouth, which at once contained inlay. The posture and dynamism of this object suggests the depiction of a shaman, possibly in trance or flight.

The second piece is a female effigy which has well -defined facial details and generally indicated pendant breasts. The head is perforated laterally and retains a double strand of sinew with two blue glass trade beads. In 1949, Hooper bay native informant Theodore Hunter Sr. recounted shamans' uses of ivory human figures. Hung behind a shaman's bed, such figures were harbingers of good and bad fortune. They also acted as spirit guides to supernatural worlds, sometimes carrying the shaman on their backs, especially across poisonous streams (Fienup-Rierdon, 1994: 314-5).

Women's Knife (Ulu)Arrow StraightenerDrill Cord Handles
L. 4.75 in.L. 5.25 in.L 4.25 in.

Pipe
L 15 in.

This piece is probably among the earliest of the engraved ivory pipes which have survived from the Post-contact Period. Wether or not it was smoked, it is constructed exactly like a functioning pipe complete with seperately made bowl, mouthpiece, and removable clean-out.

Pipe
L. 17 in.
Black and red pigment, baleen

This pipe culminates the development of the ivory pipe. Although the form is the traditional Siberian model, it is enlarged allowing for complex scenes and the interaction of several figures. The primary scene shows the legendary centipede moster, tirisuk, who has emerged from his cave and decapitated two walruses. He is being attacked by a man with a spear, who probably represents a folk hero (Ray, 1977:20-2). The lower register shows two voracious palraiyuk, alligator-like creatures with fin tails, and two other quadrupeds with bushy tails and similiarly gaping mouths, who may also represent fabulous monsters.