St. Michael, Norton Sound, Alaska, United States, North America
Accession Date:
1 Nov 1878
Notes:
FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN BAE 18TH AR, PT. 1; PL. LXIV-15; P. 166. 1/83 SITES INUA LOAN. ILLUS.: INUA, PL. .238, P. 191. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG.200, P.164. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." Identified in Crossroads of Continents catalogue as: Hunting visor carved from a single piece of wood to represent a toothed, pike-faced spirit, with amber glass bead eyes. The surface is painted black on one side and unpainted on the other to indicate night and day.
This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
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=65 , retrieved 12-16-2021; see web page for additional information: Hunting visor, Inupiaq. Hunters wore visors to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun. This one was carved from a solid piece of wood and said by its maker to represent a pike, a predatory fish with a mouth full of sharp teeth. The creature's nostrils also give it a wolf-like appearance. The actual teeth are from caribou and the eyes are amber-colored beads. One side of the face is black and the other unpainted. Visors-also called eye shades-were worn by hunters at sea to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun. Most were constructed by steaming or soaking a thinly shaved piece of wood, then bending it into form. The ends of the wood were stitched together in back with sinew, baleen, spruce or willow root. This visor from St. Michael, however, was carved from a solid piece of wood without bending. It was collected in 1878 by Edward W. Nelson, who wrote: "The front is carried out to represent the head of a pike, with a mouth formed by a deeply incised groove, in which are set numerous small reindeer teeth; two deep holes represent the nostrils, and two amber-colored beads are inlaid for eyes. One side of the visor is black, the other side is not colored."
