Bow

Object Details

Donor Name

Lucien M. Turner

Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=59 , retrieved 12-29-2021; see web page for additional information: Bow, Inupiaq. One method of hunting caribou was to build man-shaped stone piles [innuksut] in long, V-shaped lines across the tundra. These threatening towers of stone frightened the caribou and funneled them into an area where hunters hid, armed with bows and arrows. Bows and arrows were used for both hunting and warfare. Men shot caribou and bear as well as small game such as ptarmigan, ducks, muskrats and fish. Less often, they used arrows to kill seals. Caribou hunters stalked the animals and cornered them in enclosed areas or corralled them using lines of man-sized cairns made of rock or sod. At Kotzebue Sound in 1827, Frederick Beechey's crew engaged in hostilities with Iñupiaq men who were armed with bows. Men's grave boxes at St. Michael were painted with bow figures, and the weapons were placed on their grave posts. Boys learned to shoot with small bows and arrows that are sometimes called "toys." Edward Nelson-who was in the Norton Sound area from 1877 to 1881-reported that boys had "toy hunting outfits" that included small bows and arrows for hunting birds. In his book People of Kauwerak, Iñupiaq Elder William Oquilluk (b. 1896) wrote that his grandfather used to hunt with a bow when he was a boy. In another Oquilluk story, a boy practices with a bow made for him by his father, then goes went hunting for ptarmigan and pintail ducks. After the introduction of firearms, bows and arrows became largely obsolete. William H. Dall reported that traders introduced guns into the Norton Sound area around 1855, replacing bows and arrows by 1870. A man's bow was as long as the distance between the fingertips of his outstretched arms. Some bows had sinew reinforcing cords, or "backing," which added power to the weapon. Bows without sinew, like this example, were common in Norton Sound. Bow backing was made from caribou or beluga sinew, and bow strings were made of sinew or untanned sealskin. Owner's marks-indicating individual, family or clan ownership-were painted on harpoons, darts, buoys, bows, arrows, throwing boards and other hunting gear. As described by Nelson, the Unalit (Iñupiaq) people of Norton Sound marked their bows and arrows with totemic signs. The mark for a gyrfalcon was made with red bars or red and black lines representing the bars on the bird's tail. A raven was indicated by a mark representing its foot and leg or just its foot and claws.

Record Last Modified

29 Dec 2021

Specimen Count

1

Culture

Eskimo, Inupiaq

Accession Date

30 Sep 1876

Accession Number

76A00160

USNM Number

E29869-0

Object Type

Bow

Place

St. Michael, Norton Sound, Alaska, United States, North America

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Ethnology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8386569

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/35d213ed9-9bc8-4ddb-b2d1-08d6350280df