572.05
FA
N.S.
no. 22-27
199^-96
Anthropology
" SERIES, NO. 22
The Noice Collection of Copper Inuit
Material Culture
James VV. VanStone
ibruary 28, 1994
iblication 1455
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Langdon, E. J. M. .1979. Yage among the Siona: Cultural patterns in visions, pp. 63-80. In Browmari.
Schwarz. eds., Spirits, Shamans, and Stars. Mouton Publishers, The Hague, Netherlands.
'46. ITie historic tribes of Ecuador, pp. 785-821. In Steward, J.- H., ed., Handbook of South American
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FIELDIANA
Anthropology
NEW SERIES, NO. 22
The Noice Collection of Copper Inuit
Material Culture
James W. VanStone
Curator Emeritus
Depart mer^t of Anthropology
Field Museum of Natural History
Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496
Accepted September 28, 1993
Published February 28, 1994
Publication 1455
PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
1994 Field Museum of Natural History /
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-70185
ISSN 0071-4739
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
/
/
Table of Contents
Abstract 1
I. Introduction 1
Copper Inuit Territory and Environ-
ment 1
Subsistence 1
Settlement Patterns 3
History of Contact 3
Previous Ethnographic Research 4
Harold Noice and the Canadian Arctic
Expedition 5
Harold Noice's Ethnographic Col-
lections 6
II. The Collection 7
Subsistence 8
Land Hunting 8
Sea Hunting 10
Fishing 11
Tools 12
Women's Tools 12
Men's Tools 14
Household Equipment 15
Clothing 16
Men's Clothing 17
Women's Clothing 19
Miscellaneous 20
Raw Materials 21
III. Conclusions 21
Acknowledgments 24
Literature Cited 24
Appendix 69
List of Illustrations
1 . Map of Copper Inuit territory 2
2. Bows and arrows 26
3. Arrowheads, sinew twisters, thumb guard,
marlin spike, bow case handle 27
4. Bow case 28
5. Handle for carrying blood bag, bolas, lance
blade, arrow shaft straightener, marlin
spikes, bone pins, drinking tube 29
6. Breathing hole scoops, seal hooks and bag,
harpoon heads 30
7. Bag with harpoon head 31
8. Leisters and side prong, dog swivel, fish-
hooks, ice pick 32
9. Fishing rod and lurehook, fishhooks, leis-
ter prongs, seal indicator 33
10. Woman's knife, skin scrapers, skin
stretcher 34
1 1 . Sewing outfits, marrow extractors, skin
scraper, needle case, grooving tools, thim-
ble 35
1 2. Crooked knife, saws, drill mouthpiece, file,
adze head and blade 36
1 3. Men's knives, grooving tools, drill shanks,
drill bow 37
14. Pick, adze, tool bags 38
15. Bags, lamp, dippers or drinking ladles,
snow knives 39
16. Bags, blubber pounder 40
1 7. Man's outer parka 41
18. Man's outer parka 42
1 9. Man's outer parka 43
20. Man's outer parka 44
2 1 . Man's outer parka 45
22. Man's outer parka 46
23. Man's outer (inner?) parka 47
24. Man's outer (inner?) parka 48
25. Man's overcoat 49
26. Man's outer trousers 50
27. Man's outer trousers 51
28. Man's outer stockings, sock 52
29. Man's dance stockings 53
30. Man's spring and fall boots 54
3 1 . Sealskin boots 55
32. Mittens 56
33. Mittens 57
34. Woman's outer (inner?) parka 58
35. Woman's outer (inner?) parka 59
36. Woman's outer parka 60
37. Woman's outer parka 61
38. Woman's outer parka 62
39. Woman's outer parka 63
40. Woman's outer parka 64
4 1 . Woman's outer parka 65
42. Woman's outer trousers 66
43. Woman's inner (?) stockings 67
44. Sled toggle and bag, comb, dolls, pendant,
game, musk ox horn 68
m
The Noice Collection of Copper Inuit
Material Culture
James W. VanStone
Abstract
The collections of the Field Museum of Natural History contain 234 ethnographic objects
collected among the Copper Inuit of the Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1919-1921 by Harold
Noice. The artifacts in this collection are described and illustrated. For comparative purposes,
information is included from previous studies of Copper Inuit material culture, notably those
of Stefansson (1914), Birket-Smith (1945), and Jenness (1946).
I. Introduction
Copper Inuit Territory and Environment
The CopF)er Inuit are the westernmost of the
Central Inuit, a grouping that also includes the
Netsilik and Iglulik.' The western boundary of the
aboriginal Copper Inuit territory on the mainland
of Canada was at Wise Point near the western
entrance to Dolphin and Union Strait (Stefansson,
1913, p. 167). To the northwest their territory in-
cluded the southeast coast of Banks Island and to
the south the eastern edge of Great Bear Lake as
well as Contwoyto Lake and Beechey Lake on the
Back River (Stefansson, 1914, p. 260; Rasmussen,
1932, p. 1 19). In the east Perry River in Queen
Maud Gulf was the boundary between the territory
of the CopF>er Inuit and the Netsilik. The Copper
Inuit hunted over much of Victoria Island but,
according to Damas (1984, p. 397), concentrated
their travel and occupation to the area south of
Walker Bay to the west and Denmark Bay to the
east (fig. 1).
Most of the area occupied by the Copper Inuit
is tundra, but it reached wooded areas along the
' The designation "Copper Inuit" is a historical term
assigned by outsiders because of the regional exploitation
of copper deposits. In most of the literature, the Copper
Inuit are referred to as "Eskimo." The term "Inuit," the
people's name for themselves, is used here to conform
with general usage in Canada at the present time.
western and southern margins and the Copper-
mine River. The area as a whole has an arctic
climate with mean temperatures in February rang-
ing from -20°F to -28°F. In July the mean ranges
in the high 40s over most of the area. Precipitation
is light with snow falling in spring and fall, winter
blizzards shifting the snow according to the direc-
tion of the wind. A continuous ice sheet covers
the straits and gulfs of the Copper Inuit region
from late October or November until July, and
lakes have an ice cover even longer. The sun dis-
appears for at least two months each winter, while
in summer it does not set for an equal period. As
might be expected, these yearly environmental
changes had an important effect on the aboriginal
Inuit subsistence cycle (Damas, 1984, p. 397).
Subsistence
The aboriginal Copper Inuit abandoned their
villages of snow houses on the ice in late May and
moved to land. Although caribou {Rangifer arc-
ticus) migrated on the ice of Dolphin and Union
Strait and Dease Strait, they were not hunted to
any great extent in spring (Jenness, 1922, p. 123).
Similarly, seals were seldom hunted, when they
basked on the ice in spring or in open water in
summer (Stefansson, 1 9 1 3, p. 205). From late May
until November the most important sources of
food were caribou, fish, waterfowl, and small game.
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, N.S., NO. 22, FEBRUARY 28, 1994, PP. 1-71
200 km
Fig. 1. Map of Copper Inuit territory. (Adapted from Damas, 1980, p. 398, fig. 1.)
Dependence on caribou or fish varied according
to the season as well as the locale. Fishing through
the ice in lakes was more important in spring and
early summer, and it was not until late August that
caribou hunting became the most important ac-
tivity since beginning at this time the skins were
most suitable for clothing. Fishing from weirs in
streams was also a late summer activity, particu-
larly important on southeastern Victoria Island,
while caribou hunting was emphasized on the
mainland from Bathurst Inlet to Perry River (Jen-
ness, 1922, pp. 122-124; Rasmussen, 1932, pp.
76-77).
The preferred method for taking caribou was to
drive them between rows of stones set in con-
verging lines to resemble men. Women and chil-
dren chased the caribou toward hunters, who killed
them with bows and arrows or lances. Caribou
were also hunted with lances from kayaks as they
swam in lakes at traditional crossing places (Jen-
ness, 1922, pp. 148-149).
Jigging through the ice for lake trout {Salvelinus
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
namaycush) and spearing salmon trout {Salvelinus
alpinus) in weirs in late summer were important
activities for men, women, and children. Also in
summer, ptarmigan (Lagopus sp.) and several SF>e-
cies of ducks and geese were taken with bow and
arrow as well as snares (Jenness, 1922, p. 152).
For two weeks or a month in November the
Copp)er Inuit were idle, living for the most part on
food previously stored in caches. There was some
jigging for fish in lakes, but the primary activity
was the sewing of winter garments by women.
Breathing hole hunting for seals was the most
important activity from December to May. Using
dogs to sniff out the breathing holes, each hunter
waited quietly at a hole for the seal to come up
for a breath. The common ringed seal (Phoca his-
pida) was the most frequently killed, but bearded
seals {Erignathus barbatus) were also taken oc-
casionally. Polar bears (Thalarctos maritimus) were
a significant prey for those Copper Inuit who win-
tered off the coast of Banks Island (Stefansson,
1 9 1 4, p. 30). Bears were held at bay with dogs and
killed with lances. Musk oxen (Ovibosa moscha-
tus) were the most numerous around Bathurst In-
let, but small herds were present throughout the
territory (Damas, 1984, p. 398).
A more stable form of aggregation occurred in
late fall for a period of two weeks to a month,
referred to as the sewing place gatherings when
women were sewing winter garments. Damas
( 1 984, p. 400) believes there were 1 6 to 18 of these
sewing groups, which averaged between 45 and 50
people.
The third type of population aggregation was
the winter seal hunting village on the ice. Larger
groups were necessary during the winter because
a large number of seal breathing holes in any given
area had to be covered by the hunters. Each winter
the total population was assembled in between
seven and nine aggregates ranging in size from 9 1
to 1 1 7 individuals.
Although it seems possible to identify these three
types of settlements, it is not possible to equate
the group names obtained by various investigators
with this classification. Damas (1984, p. 401) be-
lieves that the closest correspondence geographi-
cally is with the large summer hunting region, and
he lists in tabular form the group designations for
this period as determined by Stefansson (1914, pp.
26-32), Jenness (1922, pp. 33^1), and Rasmus-
sea (1932, pp. 7, 69-70, 76-77).
Settlement Patterns
History of Contact
Copper Inuit population estimates for the ab-
original or early contact period include a census
taken by Rasmussen (1932, p. 30) that produced
a total of 816 individuals. This number compares
favorably with Jenness's estimate of 700 or 800
(Jenness, 1922, p. 22) but is smaller than Stefans-
son's 1,100 (Stefansson, 1914, pp. 25^0). Since
neither Stefansson nor Jenness had contact with
the eastern group of Copper Inuit, Damas (1984,
p. 400) believes that Rasmussen's figures are the
most accurate for the entire area.
Damas (1969; 1972; 1984, pp. 398-400) has
demonstrated how the patterning of Copper Inuit
population aggregation was related to the seasonal
round of subsistence activities. He distinguished
three types of settlement for the aboriginal period.
From May to November the groups varied con-
siderably in size and composition. Sometimes the
nuclear family comprised the local group, partic-
ularly when resources were limited and people de-
pended on fishing and the hunting of small game.
Groups were larger when caribou were plentiful,
and the largest summer aggregations occurred at
the fishing weirs for salmon trout.
The first explorer to reach the country of the
Copper Inuit was Samuel Heame, who traveled
overland from Prince of Wales Fort on Hudson
Bay to the mouth of the Coppermine River in 1771
with a party of Chipewyan Indians. Just below
Bloody Falls near the mouth of the river, they
surprised a band of Copper Inuit who were camjjed
there and killed all of them (Heame, 1958, ch. VI).
In 1819 Captain (later Sir John) Franklin com-
manded an expedition dispatched to explore the
coast east of the Coppermine River. On June 14,
1821, he reached the lower Coppermine and, like
Heame, encountered Copper Inuit camped at
Bloody Falls. They told Franklin that they came
to the mouth of the river in June and July to fish
and then spent the winter in snow houses. Franklin
had hoped to obtain information from them con-
ceming the country to the east but was unsuc-
cessful (Franklin, 1824, vol. 2, pp. 169-183).
Franklin's party proceeded by boat along the coast,
charting and naming features in Coronation Gulf,
Bathurst Inlet, and Melville Sound as far as Tum-
again Point on the north shore of Kent Peninsula.
The party encountered a number of abandoned
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
Inuit camps but did not see any people (Franklin,
1824, vol. 2, pp. 201, 223-224, 229).
Captain George Back encountered a small party
of Copper Inuit fishing when he descended the
river that bears his name in 1833. Beads were
exchanged for items of native manufacture (Back,
1836, pp. 379-388). In the summers of 1838 and
1839 Peter Dease and Thomas Simpson explored
the coast from the mouth of the Coppermine River
to beyond Back River. Inuit were met near the
mouth of the Coppermine in 1838, but little in-
formation was obtained from them (Simpson,
1843, pp. 262-264, 345-351).
In 185 1, John Rae, as part of the search for Sir
John Franklin's third expedition, explored the coast
of the mainland from near Cape Krusenstern to
Cape Alexander on Kent Peninsula and the south
coast of Victoria Island from Cambridge Bay to
Pelly Point on the Collinson Peninsula. He en-
countered a number of Copper Inuit who main-
tained that they had never before been in com-
munication with Europeans (Rae, 1852a, p. 78;
1852b, p. 84).
Another Franklin search expedition involved
HMS Investigator under the command of Robert
M'Clure and HMS Enterprise commanded by
Richard Collinson, who conducted their search by
way of Bering Strait between 1850 and 1855. In
1851 one of M'Clure's sledge parties encountered
Inuit near Berkeley Point at the southern entrance
to Prince of Wales Strait between Victoria Island
and Banks Island (Osbom, 1865, pp. 145-147).
Meanwhile Collinson, in the winter of 1 85 1-1852,
observed more Copper Inuit than any previous
explorer. In Walker Bay some 50 Inuit constructed
their snow houses near the Enterprise. The follow-
ing winter he also met Inuit in Cambridge Bay at
the southeastern end of Victoria Island (Collinson,
1889, pp. 171-173, 248-251).
For the next 50 years, no explorers visited the
land of the Copper Inuit. In 1902 David T. Han-
bury, traveling from the mouth of the Back River
along the coast of the Coppermine River, encoun-
tered Copper Inuit. His account of his journey
(Hanbury, 1904, ch. XI) and the people he met
was considered by Stefansson (1913, pp. 249-250)
and Jenness ( 1 922, pp. 30-3 1 ) to be the most valu-
able description of the Copper Inuit and the coun-
try they inhabited up to that time.
A Danish trader. Captain Christian Klengen-
berg, traveling from the west in a small schooner,
spent the winter of 1905-1906 in the vicinity of
Cape Kendall on Victoria Island at the entrance
to Dolphin and Union Strait. In early spring he
met a party of Prince Albert Sound Inuit that
camped near his ship for three days. Klengenberg
was followed two years later by Captain Joseph
Bernard, who remained in the country of the Cop-
per Inuit for three years, wintering the first year a
few miles east of the Coppermine River, the sec-
ond in Bernard Harbor, and the third near Cape
Kendall on Victoria Island (Jenness, 1922, p. 31).
These pioneer traders were followed by an influx
of goods brought by trading ships from the west.
A Hudson's Bay Company post was established
at Bernard Harbor in 1916 and a number of ad-
ditional trading posts in the Coronation Gulf area
in the early 1920s (Usher, 1971, pp. 101-105; Da-
mas, 1984, p. 408). It was these trading ventures
that were primarily responsible for changes in
Copper Inuit material culture, economy, and so-
cial organization.
Missionary activity in Copper Inuit country was
limited after the first Roman Catholic priests were
killed by Inuit near Bloody Falls in 1913. The Rev.
H. Girley of the Church of England entered the
area in 1915 and established good relations with
the Inuit of both Dolphin and Union Strait and
Coronation Gulf (Jenness, 1 922, p. 3 1 ). The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police established a post at
Tree River in the early 1920s (Rasmussen, 1932,
p. 61-65).
Previous Ethnographic Research
The noted explorer and ethnographer Vilhjal-
mur Stefansson first went north in 1906-1907 for
the purpose of studying the so-called "blond es-
kimos" of Victoria Island. As it turned out, he
spent most of a year along the arctic coast from
Flaxman Island to the mouth of Mackenzie River,
where he had extensive interaction with the Mac-
kenzie Inuit (Stefansson, 1922).
While engaged in his first arctic experience, Ste-
fansson was already planning a second expedition.
The information that quickened his interest in fur-
ther exploration was obtained from the Mackenzie
Inuit who told him that they were unaware of the
existence of any people east of Bathurst Inlet (Ste-
fansson, 1913, pp. 1-3). In 1910, traveling by sledge
along the coast, Stefansson visited the Inuit of Dol-
phin and Union Strait and west Coronation Gulf,
then continued up the Coppermine River to Great
Bear Lake. The following year he returned and
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
visited the natives of Prince Albert Sound. This
second Stefansson expedition resulted in consid-
erable new knowledge relating to traveling and
survival techniques, physical geography, and the
first detailed information on the culture of the
Copper Inuit (Stefansson, 1913; 1914).
Stefansson's first two trips to the Canadian arc-
tic were preliminary to a major expedition un-
dertaken between 1913 and 1918 sponsored by
the Canadian government. Its purpose was to carry
out a wide variety of geographical exploration and
scientific work in the western Canadian arctic. Ste-
fansson divided the Canadian Arctic Expedition
into two parties. The first, the Northern Division
under his command, had geographical discovery
as its main objective. The other part, the Southern
Division, led by Rudolph Martin Anderson and
accompanied by the anthropologist Diamond Jen-
ness, was to carry out scientific work in the vicinity
of Coronation Gulf
In 1914 the Southern Division established its
headquarters in Bernard Harbor on Dolphin and
Union Strait, and during the winter Jenness began
studies of the Inuit in the region. In April 1915
he set out for southwestern Victoria Island and
remained with the Copper Inuit there until No-
vember when he returned to Bernard Harbor. The
Southern Division completed its work in July 1916,
and the party reached Nome in mid-August (Cooke
and Holland, 1978, pp. 335-338).
Although, as previously noted, the Copper
Inuit had been contacted sporadically by explor-
ers and members of Franklin search expeditions
in the 1 8th and 1 9th centuries, the Canadian Arc-
tic Expedition was working in essentially unex-
plored country, making detailed geographic sur-
veys for the first time and studying Inuit whose
traditional cultures were virtually intact. The
Coronation Gulf region was perhaps the only area
of North America where trained ethnologists ac-
companied an expedition into virtually unex-
plored territory. A popular account of the work
of the Northern Division was published by Ste-
fansson (1921), while Jenness published a de-
tailed ethnography of the Copper Inuit (1922), a
study of their physical characteristics (1923), a
popular account of his work with the Southern
Division (1928), and a study of Copper Inuit ma-
terial culture (1946). The collection of 2,500 ob-
jects on which the latter study is based are in the
Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa (S.
E. Jenness, 1991, p. 697). Harold Noice, a mem-
ber of Stefansson's Northern Division party for
two years, assembled the collection that is de-
scribed in this study.
Harold Noice and the
Canadian Arctic Expedition
Harold Noice, a high school dropout from Se-
attle, went north in the summer of 1915 to meet
a friend in Nome, Alaska, where they intended to
make a motion picture; he was 19 years old. The
friend never appeared and, stranded in Nome,
Noice joined the crew of the Polar Bear, a whaling
and trading ship that made its way east to Herschel
Island where it was purchased, in the late summer
of 1915, by Stefansson for use by the Northern
Division of the Canadian Arctic Expedition. In
early September, at Cape Kellett on Banks Island,
Noice was hired by Stefansson as a sledge man for
winter travel, and he traveled with him on Banks
Island during the winter of 1915-1916. Later in
the winter and spring he took part in sledge travel
north of Melville Island, and on June 15, 1916,
he was the first to go ashore on the newly discov-
ered Meighen Island at latitude 80°N (Stefansson,
1921, pp. 395, 442fr, 494-495, 518-519; Noice,
1924).
At Cape Bathurst in the early fall of 1 9 1 7, Noice
asked to be discharged from the employ of the
Canadian Arctic Expedition and, with two others,
purchased a ship from the expedition. His partners
were interested in obtaining furs from the Copper
Inuit, but Noice wished to complete the mapping,
begun by Stefansson's party, of northeastern Vic-
toria Island. He was hoping to reach Coronation
Gulf by ship and then go northeastward across
Victoria Island by sledge (Stefansson, 1921, pp.
668-669; Noice, 1924).
In the first year Noice's ship was wrecked in
winter quarters on the mainland coast of Amund-
sen Gulf, and this unforeseen event appears to
have dissolved the partnership arrangement. Dur-
ing the winters of 1919-1920 and 1920-1921 he
lived and traveled with a group of Copper Inuit
he refered to as the "Kilinigmium" of southeastern
Victoria Island, possibly the group identified as
Kiglinirmiut by Jenness (1922, p. 39), who hunted
in the region opposite Bathurst Inlet (Stefansson,
1921, p. 669; Anonymous, 1922, p. 12; Noice,
1 922b, p. 229). It seems probable that it was among
these people that Noice made most of his ethno-
graphic collection since it was here that he traveled
exclusively by land.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
On his return from the arctic, Noice published
two articles relating to research carried out during
the previous two winters. In the first he noted that
the "Kilinigmium" traveled inland in summer to
hunt caribou and met the Inuit of Prince Albert
Sound and Minto Inlet for trading and dancing.
They in turn spent part of every year on the coast
with the "Kilinigmium" (Noice, 1922b, p. 229).
In the second article he described briefly his ar-
chaeological excavations on the mainland east of
the Coppermine River where he discovered pot-
tery fragments and the ruins of earth and wood
houses similar to those used in Alaska. In this
article he may have been the first to surmise that
changed local environmental conditions, resulting
in an altered subsistence emphasis, were relevant
to the indigenous transition from the prehistoric
Thule culture to modern Copper Inuit culture
(Noice, 1922a, pp. 61 1-612), a theory supported
by more recent archaeological research in the area
(McGhee, 1972; Taylor, 1972).
Harold Noice's Ethnographic Collections
According to Stefansson (1925, p. 359), Noice
came to New York in the spring of 1922 with a
large ethnographic and archaeological collection
that he hoped to sell for sufficient funds to allow
him to live in the city for a year or two while he
wrote a book about his travels. Stefansson told
him that he should have no difficulty disposing of
his collection to the American Museum of Natural
History or the Museum of the American Indian
and offered to assist him in his efforts. Much to
Stefansson's surprise, however, such a quick and
easy disposal of the collection, either in New York
or elsewhere, turned out to be impossible. Ste-
fansson noted that eventually limited selections
from the collection were sold, but the prices were
"inadequate."
On April 24, 1 922, as part of Stefansson's initial
efforts to assist Noice in disposing of his collection,
he wrote to C. T. Currelly, Director of the Royal
Ontario Museum in Toronto, enclosing an exten-
sive inventory of archaeological and ethnographic
items that Noice hoped to sell. This inventory
listed approximately 280 archaeological speci-
mens from Pearce Point on Amundsen Gulf and
Point Agiak east of the Coppermine River. About
535 ethnographic objects were also listed, a few
of which were obtained on Hepburn Island in Cor-
onation Gulf and on the Kent Peninsula. No pro-
venience was given for most of the ethnographic
material (Royal Ontario Museum [rom], archives,
Dept. of Ethnology).
Commenting on this collection, Stefansson wrote
as follows:
I have discussed with Mr. Noice how much he wants for
his collection. He says in efTect that had he used his trade
goods to buy fox skins, he would have secured fox skins
enough to give him $25,000 gross on arriving in Seattle
last fall. Of course he has the motive to try to make a
scientific man of himself, so he will not be disappointed
if he gets much less. . . . Things which he got for nothing
are now very costly in Coronation Gulf and in many
instances the articles contained in Mr. Noice's collection
can never be duplicated. Bows, arrows and stone cooking
pots will never again be made excepting for purposes of
sale. Mr. Noice secured the last that remained of those
actually made for use and actually used. In clothing and
various other items changes will now begin to take place
rapidly for there are many Western Eskimos among the
Copper Eskimos group who will introduce new fashions.
Stefansson went on to suggest that the Royal
Ontario Museum may wish to purchase "only a
few things," and he especially recommended five
bows made of musk ox horn. He suspected that
such bows may not have been present in the col-
lection of the Canadian Arctic Expedition in Ot-
tawa and slyly suggested that Currelly inquire of
Jenness if this is the case but without mentioning
Stefansson's name. If there were none in Ottawa,
then the five obtained by Noice would be es-
pecially valuable.
It appears that Currelly may not have answered
Stefansson's letter, and on September 28, 1922,
Noice wrote Currelly that he was willing to break
up his collection into small lots. He also men-
tioned items of special interest such as the "musk
ox horn bow and arrow outfits" and "basketry of
Bathurst Inlet." Currelly wrote to Noice on Oc-
tober 3 asking, "For how much could we have one
bow and bow-repairing outfit, and one adze with
musk ox horn handle?" He volunteered the in-
formation that "our finances are not in good con-
dition." Three days later Noice answered that "I
can let you have one complete musk ox horn bow
with seal skin case and seal skin quiver together
with 2 bone-tipped, 4 iron-tipped, bone shanked,
and 3 copper-tipped arrows, and a complete bow
repairing outfit, for $ 1 50.00." He did not mention
the adze with a musk ox horn handle. There is no
indication that the Royal Ontario Museum pur-
chased any of Noice's collection at this time.
Some time after this correspondence between
Currelly and Noice, the latter appears to have sold
the entire collection, or at least the ethnographic
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
objects, to John G. Worth, a Philadelphia dealer
with ties to several American museums. On March
I, 1925, Worth wrote to Clark Wissler at the
American Museum of Natural History indicating
that he had enough for three small collections and
inquiring of Wissler whether he knew of someone
who might want to purchase a segment of the col-
lection (American Museum of Natural History,
archives, Dept. of Anthropology). He apparently
received no reply. Worth's further efforts to dis-
pose of the Noice collection can be reconstructed
from his correspondence with the Royal Ontario
Museum and the Field Museum of Natural His-
tory.
Some time prior to May 1, 1925, Worth, pos-
sibly at the suggestion of Stefansson or Noice, wrote
Currelly, presumably to inquire whether the Royal
Ontario Museum might still be interested in ac-
quiring a Copper Inuit collection. Currelly replied
on May 1 expressing interest and Worth respond-
ed, noting that he had two collections, one for
which he was asking $500.00 and another, larger
collection for which he hoped to receive $ 1 ,000.00.
Currelly's response may have indicated that he
was dubious about spending that much money,
and Worth then offered a small collection for
$ 1 50.00 to $200.00. On May 3 1 Worth wrote Cur-
relly that the Milwaukee Public Museum had
agreed to take one collection for $500.00 and of-
fering a duplicate to the Royal Ontario Museum
for $450.00. He apparently did not receive a fa-
vorable reply, and in November, 1925, he sold to
the Field Museum of Natural History for $500.00
the collection that is the subject of this study (Field
Museum of Natural History, accession files, Dept.
of Anthropology).
Worth apparently wrote Currelly again in early
December. 1925, once more offering the Royal
Ontario Museum a small collection. On December
I I , T. F. Mcllwraith, Keeper of the Ethnological
Collections, responded that he would like to see
the collection on approval, and Worth replied that
he was sending his "best $200 lot." Almost im-
mediately, however, he informed Mcllwraith that
he did not have a small collection to send but,
instead, offered a larger one for $1,200.00. There
the matter stood until January 27, 1927, when
Worth wrote Currelly that a transaction he be-
lieved he had completed with another museum
had fallen through because that institution did not
have the money. This was probably the collection
that the Milwaukee Public Museum had agreed to
purchase and that was then sold to the Field Mu-
seum. He now offered what remained of the Noice
collection to Currelly for $1,000.00. On May 13,
1927, Mcllwraith agreed to purchase this collec-
tion for the asking price. On May 17 Worth ac-
knowledged the purchase and noted that arrange-
ments had been made for packing and shipping
(ROM, archives. Dept. of Ethnology). The collec-
tion presently in the Department of Ethnology of
the Royal Ontario Museum consists of at least 250
objects (catalog nos. 2585-2837).
It now appears that the Noice collections in the
Field Museum of Natural History and the Royal
Ontario Museum constitute the entire assemblage
of Copper Inuit ethnographic material formerly in
the possession of Harold Noice and later sold to
John G. Worth. The total number of the two col-
lections equals approximately the number of eth-
nographic objects listed in the inventory that Ste-
fansson sent Currelly in 1922. The archaeological
material listed in that inventory may or may not
have been purchased by Worth and its present
whereabouts is unknown.
II. The Collection
In the catalog of the Department of Anthro-
pology, Field Museum of Natural History, the
Noice collection of Copper Inuit material culture
(accession 1628) is assigned 125 catalog numbers
representing 244 objects. It was received by the
Field Museum on December 8, 1 925. Unlike most
other ethnographic collections in the museum, this
one was cataloged in such a manner that typolog-
ically similar artifacts, instead of receiving sepa-
rate catalog numbers, were frequently assigned al-
phabetical subdesignations of single numbers. This
accounts for the considerable difTerence between
the number of catalog numbers and the number
of objects in the collection. At the time this study
was begun, 1 0 objects represented by eight catalog
numbers could not be located in storage or on
exhibit; they have apparently been lost. Other than
the information referred to in the Introduction,
there is no documentation accompanying the Noice
collection.
Artifacts in the Noice collection are described
within the following six use categories: subsistence
(land hunting, sea hunting, fishing), tools (wom-
en's and men's), household equipment, clothing
(men's and women's), miscellaneous, and raw ma-
terial (see Appendix for catalog numbers). De-
scriptions of the artifacts that follow should be
read while examining the accompanying photo-
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
graphs and drawings. For comparisons I have re-
lied heavily on the publications of Stefansson and
Jenness, although other sources are, of course, cit-
ed when relevant.
Subsistence
Land Hunting— The Noice collection contains
three wooden composite hows contained in com-
bination bow cases and quivers with arrows. The
staves of two reflex bows with bent ends consist
of three pieces scarfed together and secured with
sinew lashing. The joints are reinforced with flat
plates of bone. On one bow a metal sleeve, barely
visible through the lashing, covers one scarfed joint.
The staves of both bows are rectangular in cross
section and of equal thickness their entire length.
A bow string of twisted sinew is laid over distinct
nocks.
Because the dried spruce driftwood from which
these Copper Inuit bows were made has little ten-
sility and breaks easily, back lashings of braided
sinew were essential to provide strength. On these
two bows approximately 20 strands of braided sin-
ew extend along the back of the stave, are passed
around the nocks, and loosely wrapped with raw-
hide to keep them from slipping over the edge. At
the ends the lashing is secured to the stave with a
series of half hitches like those illustrated by Mur-
doch (1884, p. 314, figs. 12-13) and with rawhide
wrapping at the grips. Copper Inuit composite bows
with similar lashings are described and illustrated
by Stefansson (1914, pp. 85-89, fig. 30), Birket-
Smith ( 1 945, p. 1 62, fig. 1 1 7d), and Jenness ( 1 946,
pp. 122-124, fig. 151). Two rectangular strips of
sealskin have been laid under the lashing to in-
crease tension since the lashing invariably loosens
with use and changing weather conditions (fig. 2b).
The third bow in the collection, of the simple
reflex type, has a rectangular stave of three pieces,
the stave having been lengthened by the addition
of short tips scarfed to the ends of both limbs and
secured with nails and iron rivets. At the grip,
which is slightly thicker than the limbs, the stave
appears to have split and is reinforced with sinew
lashing. Under this lashing there is a strip of seal-
skin on the inner side and a plate of bone on the
outer. The back lashing is combined into two ca-
bles held in place in the same manner as charac-
terized in the two previously described bows (fig.
2a). A bow with a three-piece stave collected in
1853 by Collinson is mentioned by Boas (1888,
p. 50).
According to Stefansson (1914, p. 85) and Jen-
ness (1922, p. 145), bows were the principal hunt-
ing weapon of the Copper Inuit and were in use
at the time of their fieldwork. Stefansson (1914,
pp. 85, 88-89) noted that those Copper Inuit whose
bows were commonly made of driftwood obtained
it along the west coast of Banks Island. Bows were
also purchased ready-made, especially by the peo-
ple living on Victoria Island, although even these
eastern people sometimes camped at the head wa-
ters of the Dease River to obtain wood (Stefans-
son, 1921, p. 215). In trading among themselves,
a seven-inch butcher knife or "number one" steel
needle, usually obtained from the Hudson's Bay
Company, was equal in value to a bow with a bow
case, quiver, and 1 5 to 20 arrows in 1910. Families
of Copper Inuit who hunted toward Great Bear
Lake secured wood for themselves and for trade.
These bows were made of green spruce and were
roughed out during the summer, allowed to dry, ;
and then either finished with a crooked knife or
carried unfinished to the coast in the fall.
Regarding the efficiency of the bow, Stefansson
(1914, p. 96) noted.
Tolerable accuracy, such as is needed in shooting birds,
is not secured beyond a range of twenty-five or thirty
yards. Against caribou the effective range varies with
different archers, generally between seventy-five and
ninety yards, and is probably not over one hundred. At
thirty or forty yards members of our party have repeat-
edly seen an arrow pass through the thorax or abdomen
of an adult caribou and fly several yards beyond.
Interestingly enough, Stefansson believed that
the Copper Inuit lost fewer wounded caribou than
did the Alaskan Ifiupiat hunting with rifles. Jen-
ness (1922, p. 146), on the other hand, had a less
favorable opinion of bow accuracy. His inform-
ants admitted that the bow was of little use at
distances greater than about thirty yards. The Cop-
per Inuit used the Mediterranean release and held
the bow almost horizontal (Jenness, 1922, p. 45,
fig. 46, 1946, p. 126).
According to Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 88), a Copper
Inuit quiver usually contained between 1 5 and 20
arrows. The three quivers in the Noice collection
originally contained a total of 23 arrows, of which
five are now missing. The wood shafts of these
arrows are circular in cross section and range in
length from 56 cm to 69 cm, not including the
heads, which are missing from eight specimens.
Three shafts are of two pieces joined together with
a scarf and lashed with sinew (see Stefansson, 1914,
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
p. 93, fig. 37). On all the arrows the shafts are
widened and flattened slightly at the nocks, which
are wrapped with sinew. The nocks are cut parallel
to the flattened surface. The fletching is intact on
only one arrow, which has two trimmed tangential
feathers split in half, probably from a gyrfalcon
(Fallo rusticolus). The barbs have been removed
from each end of the vane. At the distal end the
spines at the ends of the exposed vanes are held
in place by the lashing around the nock (fig. It).
Of the ten arrows that have antler arrowheads
in place, one is unbarbed with an iron lancelate
blade held in place with a rivet of the same ma-
terial (fig. 2c). Six arrowheads have two or three
barbs along one side toward the proximal end with
riveted lancelate blades, one of copper and the rest
iron; one blade has a single spur (fig. 2f). On two
complete arrows the arrowheads have metal
shanks, one iron and the other copper, terminating
in riveted lancelate blades, one of which has dou-
ble spurs (fig. 2d,g). A single arrowhead lacks barbs
and is flattened and widened at the pointed distal
end. Because these arrowheads are hafted, it is not
possible to determine the exact shape of the tangs.
All of them, however, appear to have sharp shoul-
ders, and the tangs are inserted into the distal ends
of the shafts and lashed with sinew. Similar ar-
rowheads are illustrated by Stefansson (1914, pp.
88-89, 91, figs. 32-33, 35). Complete arrows like
those in the Noice collection are illustrated by
Cadzow (1920, pi. X) and Birket-Smith (1945, p.
164, fig. 118).
In addition to the complete arrows there are 1 4
arrow shaft fragments in the collection ranging from
15.5 cm to 19 cm. Three of these are parts of
scarfed shafts and four have feather fragments at-
tached. On one of these the fragments are probably
gyrfalcon feathers, but the others, badly deterio-
rated, cannot be identified. Six shaft fragments
include the nocks. Two are flattened at the prox-
imal end and all are wrapped with sinew.
There are 1 4 antler arrowheads in the collection
ranging in length from 22 cm to 33 cm and mostly
similar to those previously described on the com-
plete arrows. Twelve have one to six barbs along
one side and sharp shoulders with barbed conical
tangs (fig. 3a-c,f ). Two lack barbs and have sloping
shoulders with wedge-shaped tangs (fig. 3d-e). One
of these consists of two sections spliced and fas-
tened together with iron rivets (fig. 3d). Twelve
have lancelate blades of iron attached with iron
or copper rivets (fig. 3b,d-f ), one of which has a
single spur (fig. 3d). One arrowhead is pointed at
the distal end and lacks a blade (fig. 3c), while
another has a bone blade attached with a copper
rivet (fig. 3a).
The three bows and 1 8 complete or nearly com-
plete arrows in the collection were kept in bow
cases of dark, depilated sealskin shaped to the form
of the weapon. One end is closed and the other
left open for some distance down its curved edge
to receive the bow. A quiver is attached to each
bow case along its straight edge with strips of seal-
skin. On all three bow cases a tool bag is sewn to
the quiver with sinew in such a manner that when
the whole assemblage was worn on the back, the
quiver covered the tool bag, preventing its con-
tents from falling out (Jenness, 1922, p. 147, fig.
47). One case has a sealskin carrying strap attached
with a pair of toggles similar to those illustrated
by Jenness (1946, p. 129, fig. 160a). The carrying
strap on the second case is attached with round
antler buttons. The third case lacks a carrying strap.
On each case there is a curved antler handle with
rounded or pointed ends attached to the straight
edge of the bow case so that it could also be carried
in the hand. On the outside of two cases are at-
tached a pair of bone "wings" about 8 cm in length
for pinning through the wings of small birds, es-
pecially ptarmigan (Birket-Smith, 1945, p. 168,
fig. 122d; Jenness, 1946, p. 129, fig. 161). A pair
of small toggles and a handle for carrying bags of
blood are also attached to one bow case (Jenness,
1946, p. 130, fig. 162). The best preserved of the
three bow cases in the collection is illustrated (fig.
4). Similar bow cases, quivers, and tool bags are
described and/or illustrated by Stefansson (1914,
p. 87, fig. 31), Rasmussen (1932, p. 94), Birket-
Smith (1945, pp. 163-164, fig. 117), and Jenness
(1946, pp. 126-129, fig. 157).
The collection contains three bow case handles,
one of antler and two of ivory, similar to those on
the complete cases. They are curved and pointed
at each end with paired lashing slots for attach-
ment to the straight edge of the bow case (fig. 31).
An identical handle, ornamented with incised lines,
is illustrated by Jenness (1946, p. 128, fig. 158).
A thumb guard, used when shooting with the
bow, is an oblong, curved piece of bone with
rounded ends. On each side is a hole for the skin
thong, which fastens the guard to the thumb (fig.
3i). Similar Copper Inuit thumb guards are de-
scribed and/or illustrated by Stefansson (1914, p.
97, fig. 42) and Birket-Smith (1945, p. 168, fig.
121). According to Birket-Smith, thumb guards
were not used by the neighboring Netsilik.
The collection contains four sets of bow tools,
which include a pair of marlin spikes and a pair
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
of sinew twisters. The marlin spikes, which range
in length from 17.5 cm to 24 cm, are made of
bone, are wedge-shaped at the distal end, and have
handles that are either curved or grooved for the
fingers; there are small holes just below the handles
(figs. 3k, 5e,h). According to Jenness ( 1 946, p. 1 29),
the holes enabled the marlin spikes to be lashed
in pairs since two were necessary to unfasten and
tighten the sinew backing of the bow. The sinew
twisters are all the same size, made of bone, and
turned up at the ends in opposite directions. They
have holes in the center and are used in pairs to
tighten or loosen the sinew backing on bows (fig.
3g-h,j). Stefansson (1914, p. 94, fig. 39a) illus-
trated marlin spikes and sinew twisters lashed to-
gether like those in the Noice collection.
In addition to the sets of bow tools just de-
scribed, the collection contains two additional
marlin spikes that are similar to those in the sets.
Jenness (1946, p. 129) noted that some marlin
spikes closely resemble marrow extractors except
for their heavier construction and were sometimes
used for extracting marrow. In addition to the set
illustrated by Stefansson, Copper Inuit marlin
spikes and sinew twisters are also illustrated by
Birket-Smith (1945, p. 169, fig. 122e-0 and Jen-
ness (1946, pp. 129-130, figs. 163-164).
A large iron lance blade, leaf-shaped with a rect-
angular tang, was probably used with a caribou
lance (fig. 5c). Such a lance blade may have been
hafted directly to the wooden shaft or have had a
fixed foreshaft of antler like a lance illustrated by
Jenness (1946, p. 135, fig. 175). According to Jen-
ness (1946, p. 135) and Stefansson (1914, p. 84),
lances were used only for spearing caribou from a
kayak.
The collection contains two antler arrow shaft
straighteners. The hole through which the arrow
shaft is passed is beveled on both sides. One
straightener has a pair of parallel engraved lines
just below the hole (fig. 5d). Similar straighteners
are described and/or illustrated by Stefansson
(1914, p. 96, fig. 40) and Jenness (1946, p. 134,
fig. 172).
According to Jenness (1946, p. 132), hunters
collected the blood of caribou in the pouch-shaped
reticulum of the animal's stomach. Bone pins, car-
ried in the tool bag attached to the quiver, were
used to close this pouch. The collection contains
three pairs of bone pins, pointed at the end to
penetrate the reticulum without tearing a hole, and
with knobs at the other end, fastened together with
sinew below the knobs (fig. 50- Similar pins are
illustrated by Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 94, fig. 39d) and
Jenness (1946, p. 132, fig. 167).
Handles for carrying blood bags were grooved
to fit the fingers and fitted with a short strip of
plaited sinew. The collection contains three, one
with an ivory handle (fig. 5a), the second with an
antler handle, and the third with a handle of musk
ox horn. Jenness (1946, p. 129, fig. 162, p. 130)
noted that these handles were sometimes kept in
the tool bag, but more often were attached to the
outside of the quiver or bow case. It will be recalled
that a similar handle is attached to one of the bow
case/quivers in the collection. Handles for carrying
blood bags are illustrated by Birket-Smith (1945,
p. 171, fig. 126).
According to Jenness (1946, p. 135), the Copper
Inuit used neither the sling nor the bolas. Nev-
ertheless, the collection contains a bolas with six
bone balls attached to narrow strips of sealskin
wrapped at the proximal end with sinew (fig. 5b).
Jenness (1946, p. 132, fig. 171, p. 133) noted
that hunters often carried a drinking tube made
from the hollow leg bone of a bird, usually a swan
{Olor columbianus), in the tool bag. The collection
contains one such drinking tube that is unmodified
except for straight cuts at the ends (fig. 5g).
Sea Hunting— As among other Central Inuit,
the toggle harpoon was the principal seal hunting
weapon. Although hunters occasionally tried to
crawl near seals basking on the ice in spring and
fall, this type of hunting was rare until rifles were
obtained. Thus the most important seal hunting
was at the animals' breathing holes in winter (Jen-
ness, 1946, p. 115) and the small amount of seal
hunting equipment in the Noice collection is re-
lated entirely to that activity.
The collection contains a single antler harpoon
head with a short length of sealskin line attached.
It has a closed socket, a single spur, and the distal
end is worked to a point at right angles to the line
hole; there is no blade. The implement is grooved
between the line hole and the socket and sinew is
wrapped around the groove (fig. 6f). This harpoon
head does not resemble those illustrated by Birket-
Smith (1945, pp. 172-173, figs. 128-1 29) and Jen-
ness (1946, pp. 116-1 17, figs. 140-1 41), all of which
have metal blades. Harpoon heads without in-
serted blades are described by Taylor (1974, pp.
86-87) for the Netsilik.
A set of eight antler harpoon heads strung on a
length of sealskin line are described in the catalog
as "unfinished." It is difficult, however, to see how
they could be finished further since each is care-
10
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
fully worked to a flattened point at the distal end
at right angles to the line hole and has a closed
socket with a single spur (fig. 6e).
An unusual artifact is a bag with harpoon head.
The narrow bag, made of several small pieces of
depilated caribou hide sewn with sinew, is pointed
at one end and has a pair of loops at the other. A
third loop on one side has a length of braided sinew
extending from it. Attached to one of the end loops
with sinew is a small bone button and a plug-
shaped piece of wood. Accompanying the bag is
an antler harpoon head with a single spur, closed
socket, and iron blade held in place with a copper
rivet (fig. 7). The harpoon head was in the bag,
point down, with the wood plug in the socket. The
function of the bone button is unclear, but it may
have been used in combination with the wood plug
as a fastener to prevent the head getting lost in the
snow if it were to fall from the open top of the
bag.
A single antler ice pick, slightly curved and
pointed at the distal end with a long, narrow tang,
was lashed to the proximal end of the harpoon
shaft (fig. 80- It enabled the harpoon to be planted
upright in the snow and was used to enlarge a seal's
breathing hole after the animal was harpooned.
The collection contains two breathing hole scoops
used for clearing the snow from around the breath-
ing hole of a seal. Each has a slightly curved han-
dle, antler on one scoop and musk ox horn on the
other, and bowls of the latter material. The two
parts are spliced with a V-shaped notch and lashed
with sealskin from which, on one scoop, protrudes
a small skin strap for hanging the scoop on the
back of the hunter's coat (fig. 6b). On the other
the strap is fastened to the handle just above the
splice (fig. 6a). The handles on both scoops are
tapered to a rounded point with which, according
to Birket-Smith ( 1 945, p. 1 74) and Jenness ( 1 946,
p. 1 1 9), the hunter stabbed the eye of the seal when
it was brought to the surface. Similar scoops are
illustrated by Birket-Smith ( 1 945, p. 1 74, fig. 1 32),
Jenness ( 1 946, p. 1 1 9, fig. 1 44), and Cadzow ( 1 920,
pi. IXc). Breathing hole scoops of the same type
were also used by the Netsilik (Taylor, 1974, pp.
90-91).
Dogs were used to sniff out a seal's breathing
hole and the collection contains a swivel for leading
a dog to the sealing ground. It consists of a flat,
rectangular piece of antler with a hole in the center
for a knobbed swivel of bone. A broad sealskin
strap is attached at both ends of the flat antler
piece and a short strip of the same material runs
from the swivel with a small toggle at the end. The
strap fitted over the hunter's wrist and the toggle
was buttoned into a loop on the dog's harness (fig.
8c). A similar swivel is described and illustrated
by Jenness (1946, p. 122, fig. 149).
The collection contains five seal indicators of
ivory consisting of a long needle-like rod, at the
top of which is a drilled eyelet of musk ox horn.
A short length of sinew leads from the eyelet to
paired holes in the center of a shorter rod. Origi-
nally a small bone disc would have been fitted to
the lower end of the long rod (fig. 9g). According
to Jenness (1922, p. 1 13), when the hunter, with
the aid of his dog, located a breathing hole, the
long rod was pushed down the hole and allowed
to rest against the snow at the side of the hole,
which kept it from falling. The shorter rod was
pegged into the snow. The slightest disturbance
below the hole caused the long rod to dip but the
short rod kept it from being lost in the hole. Seal
indicators of the needle type are described and/or
illustrated by Stefansson (1914, p. 49, fig. 2), Bir-
ket-Smith (1945, pp. 174-175, fig. 133), Jenness
(1946, p. 199, fig. 144), and Cadzow (1920, pp.
16-17, pi. IXa) and for the Netsilik by Taylor
(1974, pp. 91-92).
Seal hooks are represented in the collection by
the distal ends of three specimens contained to-
gether in a caribou skin bag. The shaft sections of
these hooks are of wood and slope at the proximal
end with a lashing knob for the splice. At the distal
end of two, heavy pieces of bone are spliced to the
shaft and lashed with sealskin. A heavy iron hook
protrudes from this bone piece (fig. 6c). On the
third specimen the iron hook is lashed directly to
the shaft section with sealskin (fig. 6d). The bag
containing these hooks is made from two irregu-
larly shaped pieces of caribou skin sewn with sinew
(fig. 6g). Seal hooks like these have not been de-
scribed for the Copper Inuit, but Mathiassen ( 1 928,
p. 42, fig. 15, p. 44) described and illustrated a
similar device from the Iglulik. When hafted to a
wood shaft, they may have been used to drag the
seal from its hole.
Fishing— Jenness (1922, p. 152) noted that the
fishing equipment of the Copper Inuit was very
simple. Until relatively recent times, they had no
nets. Lake trout, salmon trout, and tomcod {Mi-
crogadus proximus) were taken with hook and line
or speared with leisters.
There were two forms o^ leisters, both of which
are present in the Noice collection. The first, rep-
resented by two examples, resembles a trident;
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
11
they are complete except for most of the long wood
shaft. The side prongs are of antler, asymmetri-
cally barbed on both sides, cut for splicing at the
proximal end on the outer side, and with a lashing
knob. The center prong is symmetrically barbed
on both sides, probably spatulate-shaped at the
proximal end, and is fitted into a slot at the distal
end of the shaft. All three prongs are lashed to the
shaft with braided sinew (fig. 8a-b).
In addition to these nearly complete trident leis-
ters, the collection contains five leister side prongs
and a single center prong of antler. Two of the side
prongs have, in addition to the lashing knob,
notches at the proximal end to improve the haft
(fig. 9c,e). The center prong is spatulate-shaped at
the proximal end and scored as an aid to hafting
(fig. 9d). Similar trident leisters and prongs are
described and illustrated by Birket-Smith (1945,
pp. 178-179, fig. 138a) and Jenness (1946, pp.
111-112, fig. 134b). According to Birket-Smith
(1945, p. 178), this form of leister was also used
by the Netsilik.
The second leister form is represented in the
collection by two side prongs of musk ox horn,
curved and fitted on the inside at the distal end
with barbs of copper. At the proximal end they
are cut for splicing on the inner side with a lashing
knob on the outer side. Sealskin lashing is present
on one prong (fig. 8g). The center prong for this
form of leister was usually of antler and similar to
those on the trident leisters. Similar leisters of this
second form are described and/or illustrated by
Stefansson (1914, p. 83, fig. 27), Cadzow (1920,
pi. II) and Jenness (1946, pp. 178-179, figs. 137,
138b) and for the Netsilik by Taylor (1974, p. 83,
pi. 9). According to Jenness (1946, p. Ill), the
trident leister was preferred for migrating salmon
trout that entered weirs constructed across streams,
while the second leister form was used with a fish
decoy to spear lake trout and salmon trout in lakes.
Fishing with hook and line by the Copper Inuit
is described in detail by Jenness (1922, pp. 152-
1 55, fig. 50). The collection contains one complete
fishing rod and turehook. The rod is a straight stick
deeply notched at each end to receive the line of
plaited sinew. According to Jenness ( 1 946, p. 1 06),
caribou leg sinew was preferred for the line. Fas-
tened to the end of the line is a lurehook with a
semicircular antler shank and, at the distal end, a
barbless hook of copper. On the flat side of the
shank are fastened three vibrating triangular antler
plates and three small strips of fringed sealskin
that move in the water to attract the fish (fig. 9a).
Lurehooks with vibrating decoys were used to jig
for tomcod (Birket-Smith, 1945, p. 184). Fishing
rod and lurehook assemblages like the one in the
Noice collection are described and illustrated by
Birket-Smith (1945, p. 180, fig. 139) and Jenness
(1946, pp. 106-107, fig. 125).
In addition to the fishing rod and lurehook, the
collection contains four fish hooks. Three of these,
with short hooks and antler shanks, were intended
for hafting to an antler or bone extension of some
kind as all are cut for splicing at the proximal end.
One has a long lashing knob and a hook made
from a commercial nail (fig. 9b). The second, with
a short copper hook, was hafted with a bone peg,
which is still in place (fig. 8d). The third, with an
iron hook, has a hole for the hafting peg or rivet
(fig. 90- These hooks were probably used in fishing
for lake trout or salmon trout. The fourth fishhook
is completely different. The shank is a polar bear's
tooth with a commercial barbed iron hook. Strands
of cut sealskin are inserted into the tooth in four
places to serve as vibrating decoys (fig. 8e). This
hook may have been a tomcod jig.
Tools
Women's Tools— The collection contains a sin-
gle woman 's knife, which conforms to the general
structure of this type of knife among the Copper
Inuit. There is a blade of iron that is straight for
most of its width but curves slightly at the ends,
a handle of musk ox horn, and a tang-like con-
necting piece of antler attached to the blade with
copper rivets and to the handle by being driven
through a slot (fig. 10a). Stefansson (1914, p. 98)
believed that the woman's knife of the Copper
Inuit differed from those of tribes farther west in
having blades with straight rather than curved cut-
ting edges, but all the relevant sources describe
and illustrate both types (Stefansson, 1914, p. 98,
figs. 43-44; Cadzow, 1920, pi. VI; Birket-Smith,
1945, pp. 263-264, pp. 171-172; Jenness, 1946,
pp. 80-83, figs. 82, 85). According to Jenness (1946,
pp. 82-83), the woman's knife, like other Inuit
tools, was operated away from the body so that
the user could see what she was cutting. Smaller
knives, like the one in the Noice collection, were
for cutting and trimming skins while the larger
ones were employed for cutting meat.
Skin scrapers were used to remove the fat and
tissue from skins, and there are three types of
scrapers in the Noice collection. Type 1, of which
there are two, have handles of pronged antler and
iron blades concave on the inner surface with
12
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
curved working edges. On one the blade has an
iron tang that fits into a groove at the distal end
of the handle and is lashed with sinew (fig. 10c).
On the second scarper the handle is lengthened
slightly by an added piece of antler. The two pieces
are spliced together with copper rivets and rivets
of the same material fasten the blade to the handle.
The proximal end of the handle on this scraper is
notched on one side along the prong to fit the
fingers. On the inner side of the handle are two
circular depressions, which suggest that the im-
plement may have been used as a drill base (fig.
10b). According to Jenness (1946, p. 83), the han-
dles of this type of skin scraper were nearly always
forked, the branch prong preventing the hand from
sliding forward. Similar skin scrapers are de-
scribed and/or illustrated by Stefansson (1914, p.
1 20, fig. 73), Birket-Smith ( 1 945, pp. 209-2 1 0, fig.
180c), and Jenness (1946, pp. 83-84, figs. 87-88).
Type 2 skin scrapers, of which there are two in
the collection, have wood handles and concave
metal blades with curved working edges. The first
has a curved wood handle with a depression on
the front for the thumb, a groove on the back for
the first finger, and grooves on the side for two
fingers. The iron blade is fitted into a slot at the
distal end of the handle (fig. lie). The second
scraper has a straight wood handle wrapped with
a strip of sealskin. The curved blade is of sheet tin
that fits around the handle and is lashed with sinew
(fig. lOg).
The single type 3 skin scraper is a short section
of musk ox horn hollowed out with a curved work-
ing edge (fig. lOd).
The collection contains a cut section of antler
flat on one side and rounded on the other, which
flares at one end. Since it is presumed that a metal
blade would have been attached at the flaring end,
the object is identified as a possible scraper handle,
perhaps for a type 2 scraper (fig. lOe).
After scraping, skins were stretched with skin
stretchers, and there are two types of this imple-
ment form in the Noice collection. The first, of
which there are three examples, is made from the
scapula of a musk ox with the articular surface
modified to form a handle that extends out from
the left side; the process on the back side has been
removed (fig. lOi). Similar skin stretchers are de-
scribed and illustrated by Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 1 20,
fig. 74a), Birket-Smith (1945, pp. 209-210, fig.
180a), and Jenness (1946, pp. 84-85, fig. 89). Bir-
ket-Smith and Stefansson refer to these imple-
ments as scrapers.
Type 2 skin stretchers, of which there are two
in the collection, are much thinner. The first is
made from the femur of some small animal cut
short and split. The condyle has been modified to
form a handle (fig. lOh). The second appears to
have been made from the split half of the mandible
of a musk ox with the unmodified condyle forming
the handle (fig. lOf). Similarly shaped stretchers,
but made from split caribou femurs, are described
and/or illustrated by Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 1 20, fig.
74b), Birket-Smith (1945, pp. 209-210, fig. 180b),
and Jenness (1946, pp. 85-86, fig. 90).
A needle case, made from the metacarpal bone
of a caribou, is ornamented with incised lines that,
according to Jenness (1946, p. 91), are similar to
the tattooed lines on women's faces (fig. 1 1 0- Sim-
ilarly ornamented needle cases are illustrated by
Stefansson (1914, p. 123, fig. 78), Birket-Smith
(1945, p. 211, fig. 182b), and Jenness (1946, p.
195, fig. 149a).
The collection contains two sewing outfits, each
quite distinctive. The first consists of a marrow
extractor of musk ox horn to which is attached a
narrow strip of sealskin fastened to a bone thimble.
A copper needle is run through the sealskin strip
and the whole is lashed to the marrow extractor
with sinew for making thread (fig. 1 Ij). Copper
needles are illustrated by Jenness (1946, p. 93, fig.
99).
Also identified as a sewing outfit is a small, badly
deteriorated sealskin bag with loops of sealskin at
each end. Attached to one of these loops is a cres-
cent-shaped antler belt toggle with a loop of plaited
sealskin. A pair of threading needles, one of bone
and the other of musk ox horn, are inserted through
holes in the sealskin bag. Threading needles were
used for threading a cord through holes in skin,
especially for fastening together the front of a tent
above the door (fig. 11a). They are sometimes
identical to the pins used for closing a blood bag
(Jenness, 1946, p. 96, fig. 103). Jenness (1946, p.
50) noted that women's belt toggles were virtually
identical to the toggles used for hauling seals and
he believed that a toggle for hauling seals became
a belt toggle at the end of the seal hunting season.
Two thimbles are made from phalangeal bones
of caribou. The upper end is open because only
the side of the thimble and not the top was used
(fig. 1 1 h). According to Jenness ( 1 946, p. 93), when
steel needles were introduced they caused greater
wear on the thimbles than the soft copper needles,
and metal thimbles were then much in demand.
Bone thimbles are illustrated by Birket-Smith
(1945, p. 211, fig. 181).
Marrow extractors were employed to remove
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
13
the marrow from the long bones of caribou and
musk ox. According to Jenness ( 1 946, pp. 95, 1 29),
they were often attached to needle cases or carried
by hunters in the bags that were part of their bow
cases. They vary greatly in shape and some are
almost identical to marlin spikes except for being
of lighter construction and with the hole at the end
rather than below the handle. The Noice collection
contains three marrow extractors in addition to
the one that is part of the sewing outfit previously
described. Two are of bone and one of musk ox
horn. Two are rounded at the distal end with small
drilled holes at the proximal end for attachment
to the needle case (fig. 1 Ib-c). The third is spat-
ulate-shaped at the distal end and lacks a drilled
line hole (fig. 1 Id). The proximal ends of all three
are notched. An assortment of marrow extractors
are illustrated by Jenness (1946, p. 102, fig. 94).
Men's Tools— The typical Inuit crooked or
whittling knife is represented in the Noice collec-
tion by a single example. It has a long antler han-
dle, semicircular in cross section with a curved
iron blade that extends well beyond the distal end
of the handle and is attached with copper rivets.
There is a line hole at the proximal end of the
handle and another drilled hole on one side ap-
proximately half way along its length for the at-
tachment of a sharpener (fig. 1 2a). Crooked knives
with iron blades are described and illustrated by
Stefansson (1914, pp. 104-105, figs. 50-51), Bir-
ket-Smith (1945, pp. 204-205, fig. 173), and Jen-
ness (1946, pp. 98, 100, figs. 113-114). Jenness
(1946, p. 100) described the crooked knife as fol-
lows:
The Copper Eskimo held the knife low down with the
hand directed inward, and the handle resting along the
inner side of the forearm so that it fitted into the curve
of the elbow. With the instrument thus pivoted on the
elbow the forearm moved as one unit and the wrist re-
mained perfectly still. Smaller whittling knives, even
though their handles did not reach the elbow, were held
in the same manner.
A grooving tool was used for cutting grooves in
bone, antler, and horn. The collection contains
three such knives with short antler handles and
iron blades that are inserted into slots in the han-
dle. The blades are either notched at the end (fig.
1 Ig) or have a short, pointed projection (figs. 1 li,
1 3b). In addition to the complete grooving tools,
the collection contains a grooving tool handle with
the blade slit broken out, presumably indicating
that the tool was broken in use (fig. 1 3e). Grooving
tools are described and/or illustrated by Stefans-
son (1914, p. 107, fig. 54), Birket-Smith (1945, p.
205, fig. 174), and Jenness (1946, p. 101, fig. 115).
The collection contains two examples of the or-
dinary man's knife used for flensing and cutting
snow. The first knife is the most typical and has
a lancelate iron blade sharp along both edges. Be-
tween the blade and the handle is an iron tang
inserted into a slot in the distal end of the handle
where it is held in place with a copper rivet. The
handle shank is of bone and there is a flaring grip
of antler, possibly pegged to the shank, but the
haft is obscured by rawhide lashing, which begins
through a hole in the butt and is wrapped around
most of the shank to afford a better grip (fig. 1 3a).
Knives of this type, some with copper blades, are
described and/or illustrated by Stefansson (1914,
pp. 100-101, figs. 47-49), Cadzow (1920, pi. Vb-
c), Birket-Smith ( 1 945, pp. 202-203, fig. 1 70), and
Jenness (1946, p. 97, figs. 107, 1 10).
Early in the 20th century, steel knives of Euro-
American manufacture were available to the Cop-
per Inuit, most of which came from Great Bear
Lake and regions to the west. The Inuit removed
the handles from these knives and re-hafted them
according to their own needs, leaving the blade
intact (Jenness, 1946, p. 97). The second man's
knife in the Noice collection is of this type. The
blade has a single sharp edge and bears the maker's
name, PUTNAM CUTLERY CO./NEW BRIT-
AIN CONN. U.S.A. The blade is inserted into a
slot in a straight antler handle and held in place
with an iron rivet; the handle is wrapped in the
center with willow root (fig. 1 3c). Men's knives of
this type are described and illustrated by Stefans-
son (1914, p. 100, fig. 47), Birket-Smith (1945, p.
202, fig. 169b), and Jenness (1946, p. 97, fig.
110b,e).
The Copper Inuit used the typical three-piece
drilling set consisting of a bow, drill shank, and
mouthpiece. The collection does not contain a
complete set, but there are parts of several sets.
Two drill bows of caribou rib are drilled at each
end for the attachment of a strap of depilated seal-
skin (fig. 1 3g). There are three drill shanks of wood
rounded at the proximal end for insertion into the
mouthpiece. The bits for the three and their meth-
ods of hafting are different in each case. On the
first, the bit, a long nail, is inserted into a wedge-
shaped piece of musk ox horn spliced to the shank
and wrapped with sinew (fig. 1 30- The second is
hafted in a similar fashion, but the wedge-shaped
piece is of bone and the bit, a nail, is much shorter.
14
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
The third shank has a short bit inserted directly
into the shank, the distal end of which is covered
with a metal sleeve, probably part of a rifle car-
tridge (fig. 1 3d). A single drill mouthpiece is a car-
ibou astragalus. Since the rim is low on one side,
a bone peg has been inserted to raise the level of
the rim at this point, thus preventing the shank
from slipping out when it is rotated with the bow
(fig. 1 It). Complete drilling sets are described and
illustrated by Stefansson (1914, p. 106, fig. 52a-
c, p. 109, fig. 60), Birket-Smith (1945, pp. 206-
207, fig. 176). and Jenness (1946, pp. 101-102,
fig. 1 1 6). Jenness ( 1 946, p. 1 02, fig. 1 1 8) described
and illustrated a drill mouthpiece made from a
caribou astragalus.
Three handsaws with toothed steel blades made
from commercial saws have antler handles. The
first is a short handle to one side of which the
blade is attached with iron rivets. The blade is
bent over the back of the handle (fig. 12c). Birket-
Smith (1945, p. 207, fig. 177) described and illus-
trated a similar saw. The second has a somewhat
longer handle with a knob at the proximal end.
The blade is attached along the side with four iron
rivets (fig. 12d). Similar saws are illustrated by
Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 1 07, fig. 5 5). On the third saw
the blade is inserted in the end of a sharply curved
handle and held in place with a pair of iron rivets
(fig. 12b).
A file has been formed by inserting the rat tail
tang of the upper half of a commercial implement
into a narrow antler handle that flares at the distal
end. At the proximal end of the handle is a drilled
hole through which is inserted a short length of
twisted sinew (fig. 1 2f ).
The single complete adze in the collection has
an iron blade lashed directly to a wood handle
with lashing holes; the lashing is with rawhide
thongs. Covering the distal end of the blade is a
sealskin sheath lashed with rawhide thongs and
held in place by thongs that are inserted through
one of the lashing holes in the handle (fig. 14b).
Similar adzes are described and illustrated by Bir-
ket-Smith (1945, pp. 205-206, fig. 175b) and Jen-
ness (1946, pp. 102-103, fig. 119b,d).
A second typ)e of adze has a blade wedged into
a separate head of bone, antler, or musk ox horn.
This type is represented by a single adze head and
blade. The blade, crudely cut from a large iron
fragment, is inserted into the distal end of an antler
head with a broad, deep lashing groove (fig. 1 2g).
Complete adzes of this typ>e are described and il-
lustrated by Birket-Smith (1945, pp. 205-206, fig.
175a) and Jenness (1946, pp. 102-103, fig. 119a,c).
Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 1 08, fig. 56) illustrated a head
and blade closely resembling the one described
here.
Identified as a pick is a narrow, long, crudely
worked iron blade with a rounded tip lashed along
the flat face of a wood handle. The handle, which
is broken at the proximal end and sharply recessed
along more than half its length, has a lashing knob
and a single lashing hole. The blade is attached to
the handle with thick rawhide thongs, and a strip
of sealskin has been inserted around the blade
where it meets the face of the handle (fig. 14a).
The collection contains four bags that have been
identified as men's tool bags. Two were evidently
intended for a quiver and are made of depilated
sealskin stitched up one side with sinew and with
a separate piece attached on the side where the
opening occurs. The opening, extending somewhat
less than half the length of the bag, can be closed
with loops of plaited sinew (fig. 1 4d). Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 208-209) described a similar bag and
its contents. The third bag, in poor condition, is
made from a whole ground squirrel (Citellus sp.)
skin sewn up one side with sinew (fig. 14c). This
bag resembles in size and shape a tool bag of fish
skin from the Netsilik described and illustrated by
Birket-Smith (1945, pp. 109, fig. 75). About all
that can be said concerning the fourth bag, also in
poor condition, is that it appears to have been
made from a whole marten (Martes americana)
skin. The opening seems to have been between the
back legs of the animal. The identification of this
container as a tool bag is questionable. Marten
skins would have been obtained from wooded ar-
eas south and west of Coronation Gulf
Household Equipment
The tinder used in starting a flame on the moss
wick of an oil lamp was the wool of bog cotton
{Eriophorum angustofolium), which was kept in a
small bird's foot bag made from the split feet of
waterfowl. The collection contains one such bag,
probably made from a swan's foot. It is in poor
condition but appears to have been made without
a separate bottom (fig. 1 5a). Similar bags are de-
scribed and illustrated by Birket-Smith (1945, pp.
1 93-1 94, 20 1 , fig. 1 68) and Jenness ( 1 946, pp. 55,
64, fig. 49, p. 58).
Since Jenness (1946, p. 58) noted that most of
the cooking "was done on lamps not less than 24
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
15
inches [61 cm] long," the single soapstone lamp
in the Noice collection was presumably used for
heat and light, primarily the latter. This lamp is
semicircular in shape and the sides are nearly
straight. On the inside the front edge or lip has a
pronounced slope down into the well while at the
back the slope is considerably less; the well of the
lamp is flat. Unlike many Copper Inuit lamps, this
one has no partitions (fig. 1 5b). According to Jen-
ness (1946, p. 59), smaller lamps were made by
women and the large ones by men, who then turned
them over to the housewife to become her exclu-
sive property.
Blubber was stored in sealskin bags, and before
use in the oil lamp it was pounded with a blubber
pounder made of musk ox horn. The collection
contains a single pounder made from the distal
end of the horn. On the concave side at the prox-
imal end there are four half-round notches for the
fingers (fig. 16d). Identical blubber pounders are
described and illustrated by Stefansson (1914, p.
76, fig. 22), Birket-Smith (1945, p. 194, fig. 157),
and Jenness (1946, pp. 69-70, fig. 63).
According to Jenness (1946, p. 70), dippers or
drinking ladles were found in every household, but
hunters in the field never carried them. There are
three examples in the Noice collection that seem
to represent the range of sizes mentioned in the
literature. The largest is made from the proximal
end of a musk ox horn that flares at the distal end.
It is deep and has a small upturned handle. This
dipper has been repaired in three places with metal
and ivory plates attached with copper rivets (fig.
15d). The other two dippers are much smaller.
Both are very deep, but one is narrow and nearly
rectangular (fig. 1 5e), while the other flares some-
what at the distal end (fig. 15c); both have up-
turned handles. Horn dippers are described and/
or illustrated by Stefansson (1914, pp. 72-73, figs.
1 4, 1 7), Cadzow ( 1 920, pi. XI), Birket-Smith ( 1 945,
pp. 196-197, fig. 1 6 la-d), and Jenness (1946, pp.
70-71, figs. 64-66). Stefansson identified the
smaller examples as spoons, and Birket-Smith de-
scribed specimens of all sizes as soup ladles. The
large dippers illustrated by Stefansson and Cadzow
are repaired with plates and rivets in the same
manner as the one described here. Stefansson
( 1 9 1 4, p. 69) noted that blood soup, which formed
the last course of every cooked meal, was always
drunk from ox horn dippers.
Jenness (1946, p. 76, fig. 78) noted that snow
knives of antler or bone were used by women to
chop up blocks of snow in the cooking pot. The
collection contains two snow knives of split antler
tines that are curved and flattened at the distal end
(fig. 15f-g). Birket-Smith (1945, p. 190, fig. 152c)
described and illustrated a similar snow knife along
with a man's knife with a metal blade and seems
to suggest that both were used to cut blocks for
the snow house. Jenness made no mention of their
use for this purpose but noted that a woman some-
times used her antler snow knife to chop snow for
filling in the gaps between the snow blocks while
her husband finished building the dwelling.
A water bag is made of tanned sealskin and has
a handle of the same material. The bottom is a
separate piece, and there are separate pieces near
the opening; sewing is with sinew (fig. 16a). Jen-
ness (1946, p. 74, fig. 74) illustrated a similar bag
and noted that their usual capacity was slightly
more than one gallon. Ice that formed on the side
of the bag was broken loose by hammering on the
outside with a stick.
An oval clothing bag in poor condition is similar
to those described and illustrated by Jenness ( 1 946,
p. 78, fig. 8 1 b). It is made of caribou leg skins sewn
vertically with sinew and with the hair retained.
The bottom is of tanned sealskin. The opening is
in the center, and there are sealskin thongs laced
across the top. According to Jenness, ( 1 946, p. 79),
in summer these bags, intended for spare clothing,
were cached on high rocks where they could not
be disturbed by foxes (Alopex lagopus). In winter
they were stored under the bed or hung outside
the house.
In addition to the bags already described, the
Noice collection contains four small bags, the spe-
cific use of which is uncertain. The first is oval in
shape, made of intestine, and contains dried grass
or sedge (fig. 1 6b); it is probably a bag for tinder
like the previously described bird's foot bag. The
second bag is made of a single piece of depilated
sealskin sewn up both sides. There is a strip of
plaited sinew at the top to tie the opening (fig.
16c). A pouch-like bag of caribou hide with the
hair inside is made of one large piece and a smaller
patch. At the opening is a long strip of plaited
sinew that served as a tie (fig. 1 60- The fourth bag,
made of three pieces of depilated sealskin includ-
ing a separate bottom and sewn with sinew, ap-
pears to have been cut off'at the top and is probably
not complete. It is heavily encrusted and may have
contained oil or blubber (fig. 16a).
Clothing
For the Copper Inuit, caribou skins were the
preferred material for clothing. The superiority of
16
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
caribou skin derives primarily from its insulating
properties, which allow the body to maintain ther-
mal balance (Stenton, 1991, p. 4). The seasonal
variation in the utility of caribou skin for clothing
regulates the procurement strategies of Inuit hunt-
ers. The annual shedding of the outer and inner
layer hairs begins in early spring and continues
through the early summer. During this molting
period the skins are not suitable for clothing. The
skins are also not suitable because of infestation
of the parasitic warble fly (Oedemagena tarandi).
In early August exit holes made by the larvae have
healed. By late fall and throughout the winter the
hair is too thick for use in clothing except for over-
coats. Thus the period of peak clothing utility is
in September and October (Stenton, 1991, pp. 4-
6). In contrast to other Inuit in the Central Arctic,
the Copp>er Inuit preferred to harvest finely haired
caribou skins for their clothing (DriscoU, 1983, p.
81).
Jenness (1946, p. 1 1) summarized the clothing
needs of the Copfjer Inuit as follows:
Excluding the outer shoes, which were made of sealskin,
it required no less than seven caribou hides to furnish
the adult Copper Eskimo with one complete suit of cloth-
ing for winter travel; and every man really needed two
suits, besides a raincoat and special footgear for the spring
and summer months. In winter, his costume comprised
two frocks or coats . . . worn one inside the other, the
fur of the inner against his body; an overcoat . . . , when-
ever the weather demanded it; two pairs of breeks [trou-
sers] .... worn in the same way as the coats, two pairs
of stockings worn similarly, and reaching to just below
the knees . . . ; a pair of caribou fur slippers . . . between
the stockings; and low sealskin shoes ... as final covering
for the feet. A pair of mittens completed the outfit. The
overcoat, unlike the outer garments, which were fash-
ioned from summer skins, was made from the heavy
winter coat of the caribou, and generally required two
full skins for its manufacture. Of the two ordinary coats
. . . , the outer . . . also required the greater part of two
skins because of its ornamental pattern, but the inner
coat . . . could usually be made from one hide. Two more
hides, with the fragments left over from the coats, gen-
erally sufficed for the breeks, footgear, and mittens.
One of the particular advantages of caribou skin
for clothing is its light weight. A complete set of
clothing weighed between 3.0 and 4.5 kg. How-
ever, the long guard hairs break off easily and de-
crease the insulative efficiency of a garment (Sten-
ton, 1991, p. 9). According to Jenness (1928, p.
153), a winter outfit could last up to three years,
but others suggest that under normal circumstanc-
es winter garments were replaced every year, and
more frequently if skins were plentiful (Stenton,
1991, p. 9).
Men's Clothing— The Noice collection con-
tains three coats identified in the catalog as men's
outer parkas. Copper Inuit seamstresses did not
always use the same pattern in sewing parkas. The
seams varied according to the shapes and sizes of
skins available, a fact that is evident in the parkas
described in this study. Outer parkas were well
tailored, and on most garments narrow strips of
white caribou fur were used to articulate important
design features. The shoulders were always broad
to allow the arms to be easily withdrawn from the
sleeves. All the parkas in the Noice collection, both
men's and women's, are sewn with sinew. Another
regular feature is a narrow tape of depilated car-
ibou skin sewn along most borders, especially
around the tail, to prevent the borders from rolling
up.
The pattern of the first parka, because of dec-
orative insertions, is fairly complex. The back piece
extends from the tail up the middle back to the
area of the neck where it is joined to a piece with
a long extension that forms the back of the hood.
The front piece covers the chest and extends over
the shoulders and around the sides, where it is
joined to the back piece. The sides of the hood are
formed of a separate piece. Each sleeve is formed
essentially of a separate piece sewn up one side,
but they are extended by an additional piece around
the upper arm and gussets in the under arm areas
(fig. 17).
The decorative inserts on this parka are fairly
simple. A broad band of white fur extends around
the tail and continues around the front. A much
narrower band, sewn to an intervening narrow taF>e
of skin, is sewn along borders, and from it extends
pairs of long decorative strands of tanned skin.
These are cut in sets of three from a single piece
of skin. According to Driscoll ( 1 987, p. 1 78), these
strands were replaced every spring in anticipation
of the return of the caribou. There are strips of
white fur around the upper arm, around the hood
opening, and in the seam that separates the front
of the hood from the back (figs. 18-19).
The basic pattern of the second parka is essen-
tially the same as that of the garment just described
except that the hood, in addition to back and side
pieces, has small gussets near the neck on each
side; there is a strip of white fur around the open-
ing. Each sleeve consists of two large pieces with
a number of small additions and a pair of added
strips around the upF>er arms which include some
white fur. Between the shoulder blades is a short,
rectangular strip ending in a tuft of white fur, a
characteristic feature mentioned by Jenness ( 1 946,
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
17
p. 12) and believed by Driscoll (1987, p. 178) to
be a symbolic reference to the caribou tail. A strip
of white fur extends around the borders (fig. 20).
The decorative insertions of white fur on this
parka include a narrow strip that follows the con-
tour of the tail and two broad panels from the
underbelly of the caribou on the front (figs. 21-
22). Issenman (1985, p. 106) noted that this "ven-
tral mane, under which beats the great heart of the
caribou, covers the chest of the hunter . . ." and
is an example of animal-human bonding. The ears
of the caribou, often left on the hood (Jenness,
1 946, p. 1 2; Stefansson, 1914, fig. 66b), but absent
from the men's outer parkas in the collection, are
also a symbolic reference to the close relationship
between men and animals.
The third parka is undecorated, and the back
and most of the hood is a single piece of skin. Both
features, according to Jenness (1946, p. 11), are
characteristic of inner parkas. The rounded shoul-
ders and front are cut from a second piece that is
filled out along the lower end with a semicircular
inset. Additional pieces cover the neck and the
lower part of the front of the hood. Each sleeve
consists basically of a single piece sewn up one
side, but there are additional pieces in the area of
the underarms. A narrow strip of white fur is sewn
around the hood opening (figs. 23-24).
Outer parkas similar to those in the Noice col-
lection are described and illustrated by Stefansson
(1914, pp. 114-117, figs. 66-67), Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 142-144, figs. 100-101), Jenness(1917,
fig. 5; 1946, pp. 11-17, frontispiece, figs. 3-6),
Rasmussen ( 1 932, opp. p. 49), and Driscoll (1987,
p. 179, fig. 163, p. 186, fig. 171).
In addition to the style of outer and inner parkas
just described, the Copper Inuit also wore an over-
coat cut from heavy, long-haired caribou skins that
could be put on over the inner and/or outer parkas
when the wind was blowing, when traveling, or
when hunting seals at breathing holes. This heavy
coat was nearly as long in front as in back and was
usually undecorated (Stefansson, 1914, pp. 114,
117; Jenness, 1922, p. 204, fig. 58; 1946, p. 17;
Rasmussen, 1932, opp. p. 80). Overcoats were
necessary because of the fine-haired, thin skins the
Copper Inuit preferred for their parkas (Driscoll,
1983, p. 81).
The Noice collection contains one such overcoat
that consists of a back piece extending to form
most of the hood and a front piece that includes
the front of the shoulders. Separate pieces have
been added to the front of the hood to protect the
neck and chin. Each sleeve is a separate piece sewn
up the side, and there is a strip of white fur around
the hood opening (fig. 25).
In winter men wore two pairs of caribou skin
trousers. In summer only the inner trousers were
worn; they were usually made of heavier fur than
the outer garment (Jenness, 1946, p. 17). Accord-
ing to Stefansson (1914, pp. 117, 246), trousers
reached three inches below the knee and were worn
well up to the lower edge of the sternum.
The Noice collection contains two pairs of men's
outer trousers. Both consist basically of four pieces
sewn together at the sides and down the median
line with sinew. There are gussets at the crotch and
waist. One pair has a drawstring around the waist
that ties in front; the other lacks a drawstring. Both
trousers are ornamented with white fur on the legs.
On one pair there are two narrow bands above a
wide edging. Strands of depilated skin hang from
both bands (fig. 26). On the other there are narrow
bands of brown and white fur just above the white
edging and a single band of white almost at the
level of the crotch (fig. 27). Trousers similar to
these are described and illustrated by Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 146-147, fig. 103) and Jenness (1946,
pp. 17, 20, fig. 9).
As noted previously, in winter men wore two
pairs of stockings that reached just below the knees:
an inner pair with the fur next to the skin and an
outer pair with the fur outside. The collection con-
tains a single pair of outer stockings, the tops of
which are made from the light-colored area of car-
ibou leg skins sewn vertically with sinew. The feet
are made from the darker area of leg skins and are
sewn together from several small pieces. A casing
of dehaired caribou skin is sewn around the top
to hold the drawstring of plaited sinew (fig. 28a).
Similar outer stockings are described by Jenness
(1946, pp. 25-26).
The collection also contains a pair of badly worn
dance stockings, another form of outer stocking
that was usually not worn when hunting. All the
leg is encircled by narrow, parallel bands in three
colors— white, red, and black. The white bands
are of clipped caribou fur, the black of dehaired
sealskin, and the red of ocher-stained, dehaired
sealskin. Below these bands is an area of clipped
brown caribou fur with a narrow band from which
hang short strands of dehaired caribou skin. A
broad strip of white skin vertical to the parallel
bands is sewn into the outside of each leg. The feet
of these stockings are in especially poor condition
but appear to have been made of caribou skin with
the fur on the outside. They have a single median
and heel seam. There is a drawstring of plaited
18
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
sinew around the top (fig. 29). Similar dance stock-
ings are described and illustrated by Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 147-148, fig. 104) and Jenness (1946,
pp. 25-26, fig. 14).
Socks were worn by men and women between
the outer and inner stocking and, according to Jen-
ness (1946, p. 27), were usually made fi-om the
thick, winter coat of the caribou. The collection
contains one sock shaped from a single piece of
skin with a seam from toe to instep and up the
heel (fig. 28b).
Jenness (1946, p. 24) described "a hybrid type
of boot which had the sealskin foot of a waterboot
but a leg of caribou fur . . . ." Boots of this type
were worn in early spring and late fall, water boots
being worn from June to October. The collection
contains a single pair of spring and fall boots with
the legs made from caribou leg skin. The soles are
made of bleached and dehaired bearded sealskin,
and the instep is covered with two pieces of de-
haired sealskin with the seam running down the
center. The soles are reinforced with patches that,
according to Jenness (1946, p. 24), required re-
placement every two or three days when traveling
over stony ground. There is a casing for a draw-
string at the top of each boot (fig. 30).
Shoes of bleached sealskin were worn by both
men and women over the outer stockings and
around camp in summer; there were two types.
The type 1 sealskin shoes, of which there are two
pairs in the collection, are the simplest in con-
struction. The upper part covering the instep was
made of a single piece attached to the sole by a
seam running around the edge of the foot (fig. 3 1 b).
Type 2 shoes have the sole crimped over the toes
and the edges joined to an inverted V-shaped piece
of unbleached sealskin over the instep. There is
one pair of type 2 shoes in the collection (fig. 31a).
In both types of shoes the sole was turned up over
the heel, split, and one or more triangular sections
removed, then sewn together again and, on two
pairs, covered with a patch.
A casing of sealskin was sewn around the top of
the shoe to hold the drawstring of plaited sinew.
Two large patches of sealskin cover most of the
soles of all three pairs, giving added protection.
Jenness ( 1 946, p. 22) noted that these patches must
be sewn on with concealed stitches that catch only
on the underside so that they will not fray and
break. If the wearer expected to walk on glare ice
or firmly packed snow, a narrow curving patch
was added to allow for a more secure foothold.
These "creeper" patches occur on one pair of type
1 shoes (fig. 3 1 b). Sealskin shoes like those in the
Noice collection are described and illustrated by
Stefansson (1914, p. 119, fig. 69), Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 148-149, fig. 105b), and Jenness (1946,
pp. 21-22, fig. 10).
Copper Inuit mittens for both men and women,
made of summer caribou skins, were of two types.
Type 1 is very short and covers the hands, leaving
the wrists bare. Some mittens of this type had long-
haired fringes of white fur, which afforded some
protection for the wrists. In addition to these short,
everyday mittens, each man had a pair of longer
mittens (type 2) made from caribou leg skins that
reached to the middle of the forearm and had a
drawstring at the top. These mittens were worn
when building a snow house (Jenness, 1946, p.
3 1 ). Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 117) described this type
as reaching to the elbow.
The Noice collection contains three pairs of type
1 mittens and three single mittens. All but one
have been cut out in three pieces and sewn with
sinew. One piece includes the palm and half the
thumb, the second the front of the wrist and the
back of the thumb, and the third the entire back
of the mitten. With the exception of one pair, all
the type 1 mittens have fringes of white fur (fig.
32a-c). On one of the single mittens, the palm and
front of the thumb is constructed of several small
pieces of depilated caribou skin and sewn with
thread (fig. 33c). The two pairs of type 2 mittens,
constructed in the same manner as those of type
1 , lack the drawstring mentioned by Jenness and
Stefansson and do not have fringes (fig. 33a-b).
Women's Clothing— Men's and women's par-
kas were stylistically similar, but there were certain
features that distinguished the two. The shoulders
of women's parkas were greatly enlarged, and the
hood was enlarged to accommodate an infant, who
could be moved from the hood to the breast with-
out being removed from the warmth of the parka.
Most significant, perhaps, was the presence of a
triangular piece of fur, usually with white inser-
tions, in the center front of the woman's parka
(Jenness, 1946, pp. 34-35, fig. 27). This triangular
piece has been described by Driscoll ( 1 987, p. 1 82)
as a symbol of procreation and maternity.
The Noice collection contains three garments
that have been identified as outer parkas. The first
of these has a relatively simple pattern, and its
obvious seams and inferior fur suggest that it may
be an inner parka. The front and back are essen-
tially a single piece with an opening for attachment
of the hood. The tail is extended with a separate
piece. A separate triangular piece is inserted in the
back and the previously mentioned symbolic piece
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
19
of the same shape is attached to the front. Each
sleeve is two pieces sewn up the sides. The hood
has the most complex pattern, consisting of 13
separate pieces (fig. 34). This outer parka is un-
decorated except for strips of white fur around the
cuffs and hood opening (fig. 35).
The pattern of the second parka is quite differ-
ent. The tail is essentially a single piece, although
there is a seam up the center and a small triangular
insert. The front piece has two long extensions that
attach to the sides of the tail. The sleeves consist
of two pieces sewn up the sides and gussets in the
underarm area. The sides of the hood are two large
pieces, and the back consists of a number of small
pieces (fig. 36).
The decorative insertions on this parka include
a band of white fur around the rectangular back
tail from which extend narrow strips of white fur
cut in pairs. A similar band with fringes extends
across the front including the characteristic tri-
angular piece. Four paired, wider strips of white
fur extend from caribou ears that have been sewn
on just below the shoulders. There are three bands
of white fur on the sleeves just above the cuffs.
Paired strands of white fur extend from a seam at
the back of the hood (indicated by dots on the
pattern drawing), and there is a white fringe around
the hood opening (figs. 37-38).
The pattern of the third parka is somewhat sim-
ilar in that the back piece extends to the hood and
the front includes extensions that reach down both
sides. A number of small pieces fill out the basic
pattern. The sleeves are two pieces sewn up the
sides with gussets in the underarm area. The hood
has two large side pieces and a number of smaller
ones toward the back (fig. 39).
This outer parka is the most elaborately deco-
rated of the three. There is a broad band of white
fur around the outer edge of the tail and across
the front from which extend paired narrow strips
of white fur. A much narrower band of white fur
follows the contours of the outer tail panel. Paired
strips of white fur extend from caribou ears placed
over the shoulder blades as on the previously de-
scribed parka. There are two broad, white panels
on the chest and below them narrow inset strips
of white fur that extend down into the triangular
piece. Four white bands on the sleeves are placed
just above the cuffs. On the hood a band of white
fur extends around the opening and continues to
the top. Narrower bands also occur on the back
of the hood, and paired narrow bands of fur (in-
dicated by dots on the pattern drawing) extend
from a seam in this area (figs. 40-4 1 ).
Women's outer parkas similar to those in the
Noice collection are described and/or illustrated
by Jenness (1917, fig. 4; 1922, frontispiece, pis.
viii-ix; 1946, pp. 34-35, figs. 27-28), Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 152-153, fig. 110), Damas (1984, p.
411, fig. 16a), Rasmussen (1932, opp. p. 64), and
DriscoU (1987, p. 182, fig. 166).
Women's trousers were cut the same as those
of men, but since women's stockings covered more
of the leg, their trousers are shorter. The collection
contains a single pair of outer trousers that consist
of four pieces sewn together down the middle and
laterally. In the middle of the front is the char-
acteristic triangular gusset of white fur, and run-
ning down the outside of each leg are four longi-
tudinal strips of clipped white and brown fur. In
the center of each white strip is a narrow strip of
depilated, ocher-stained sealskin. There is no
drawstring, but at the back near the waist are two
holes, possibly for a sealskin thong with loop and
toggle (fig. 42). Women's outer trousers are de-
scribed and illustrated by Birket-Smith (1945, pp.
155-156, fig. lUa-b) and Jenness (1946, p. 37,
fig. 29).
The inner and outer stockings worn by Copper
Inuit women differed considerably from those worn
by men. They fit tightly around the ankle and then
flared rapidly upward toward the knee. The outer
side of the stocking then tapered to form a wide
strap that was looped over the belt holding up the
trousers. The Noice collection contains a single
pair of women's stockings that, although the fur is
on the outside, are identified in the catalog as inner
stockings. They are undecorated except for a white
strip around the opening (fig. 43). The pattern con-
sists of many irregularly shaped pieces, and Jen-
ness ( 1 946, p. 26) noted that since the inner stock-
ings for both men and women did not need to be
attractive, they were often pieced together from
sections of old coats or sleeping skins. The feet
were generally made of caribou leg skins, but this
does not appear to be the case with the stockings
described here. Women's inner and outer stock-
ings are described and/or illustrated by Stefansson
(1914, p. 116, fig. 68), Birket-Smith (1945, pp.
156-157, fig. 112a-b), and Jenness (1946, p. 37,
figs. 31-32).
Miscellaneous
The Noice collection contains two female dolls
without arms made of depilated caribou skin and
stuffed with small twigs and strips of skin; both
20
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
are in very poor condition. The first doll is wearing
trousers with the typical decorative strips down
the sides but is otherwise undressed. What appears
to be a pair of mittens are sewn to the doll just
above the trousers. Sewn to the head are a pair of
braids of human hair, and the face is made of white
depilated skin on which features and tattooing are
incised (fig. 44d). The tattooing resembles the fe-
male designs illustrated by Jenness (1946, p. 53,
fig. 44). Accompanying this doll is a single wom-
an's stocking (fig. 44h). The second doll is un-
dressed with a length of sinew wrapped around the
waist. It also has a face of depilated skin on which
features and tattooing are incised (fig. 44i). Similar
dolls are described and illustrated by Birket-Smith
(1945, pp. 213-214, fig. 186) and Jenness (1922,
p. 2 1 9; 1 946, p. 54, fig. 1 86), who noted that while
dolls were primarily playthings, the cutting and
sewing of doll clothing was considered an impor-
tant part of a girl's education.
The well-known and widely distributed Inuit
ring and pin game is represented in the collection
by a single example made from the humerus of a
bearded seal. A single hole is drilled in the center
of the smaller articular surface and multiple holes
occur in the larger surface as well as down one
side. A length of sinew is attached to the bone
toward the center with an ivory pin at the opposite
end (fig. 44g). The purpose of the game is to toss
the pin so that it lands upright in one of the holes.
Ring and pin games are described and/or illus-
trated by Stefansson ( 1 9 1 4, p. 1 24, fig. 82), Birket-
Smith (1945, p. 213, fig. 184), and Jenness (1922,
pp. 220-221; 1946, pp. 141-142, fig. 183).
The collection contains a single antler comb with
seven teeth and a small hole at the proximal end
for attachment to the needle case (fig. 44b). Both
Stefansson (1914, pp. 121, 126, fig. 83c-d) and
Jenness ( 1 946, pp. 50-5 1 , fig. 42a) noted that combs
were not widely used by Copp>er Inuit women,
who, when they arranged their hair at all, braided
it into two small braids. Both authors and Birket-
Smith (1945, p. 159, fig. 115) illustrated combs
similar to the one described here.
Attached to the front crossbar of a sled was the
sled toggle, which supported the stress of the trac-
es. The collection contains one such toggle of musk
ox horn to which a length of heavy rawhide with
a loop at each end is attached. This rawhide strap
is held in place in the toggle line hole by a pair of
wood plugs. When in use, each end of the strap
was passed through holes in the runner below the
front crossbar and then over the projecting ends
of this bar. Accompanying this sled toggle is a
caribou skin container with a series of holes at the
opening for a drawstring (fig. 44a,c). Jenness (1946,
p. 1 37, fig. 177) described and illustrated a similar
sled toggle and noted that the ones he observed
were invariably made of musk ox horn. Birket-
Smith (1945, p. 184, fig. 145a) also described and
illustrated a sled toggle but without the attached
rawhide strap.
The collection contains a loon 's head pendant,
including the bird's neck (Gavia arctica), from
which are suspended narrow strips of depilated
skin (fig. 441). According to Jenness (1946, p. 29,
fig. 22), a loon's head and neck, split so that the
bill projected upward, was sometimes attached to
a dancing cap. Birket-Smith (1945, p. 150, fig. 107)
and Driscoll (1987, figs. 176-177, p. 190) also il-
lustrated dancing caps with a loon's head pendant
attached.
Raw Materials
Two small and one large musk ox horns have
been cut off evenly at the wide end (fig. 44e), pos-
sibly for the eventual manufacture of drinking
horns like those illustrated by Jenness (1946, p.
71, fig. 67).
Although described in the catalog as "grass
bunches," two dense cushions of floral material
are, in fact, dried moss (Dicranum elongatum) used
for lamp wicks (Stefansson, 1914, p. 69, fig. 20, p.
75).
III. Conclusions
The student of Copper Inuit material culture is
fortunate to have, for comparative purposes, the
pioneering study made by Diamond Jenness
(1946). This study is based primarily on a collec-
tion of 2,500 objects obtained around the west end
of Coronation Gulf and on southwestern Victoria
Island when Jenness was a member of the Southern
Division of the Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-
1916). His collection comprises a significant por-
tion of the ethnographic collections of the Cana-
dian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa (S. E. Jen-
ness, 1991, p. 697). Presumably also included in
Jenness's study were the collections made by Ste-
fansson as leader of the Northern Division of the
Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-1918). These
collections are also in the museum in Ottawa. Al-
though in his monograph Jenness described in
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
21
considerable detail numerous artifact classes of
Copper Inuit material culture, he did not refer to
specific cataloged objects except in illustrations,
nor did he provide a complete inventory of the
collection on which his study is based. This would
be available from the museum's catalog inventory.
Jenness observed that in 1914, when the
Southern Division established its headquarters at
Bernard Harbor in Dolphin and Union Strait, "the
natives preserved their old culture virtually un-
impaired" (Jenness, 1946, p. 1). The only observ-
able change resulting from a few earlier contacts
with explorers was the availability of a large amount
of iron, which the Copper Inuit hammered cold
just as they had prepared the native copper avail-
able in their territory. Iron took the place of copper
in the manufacture of knives, adze blades, harpoon
blades, and needles. At the beginning of the ex-
pedition's work, only five men possessed rifles,
and they were unable to use them for lack of am-
munition. Most hunters observed by Jenness used
bows and arrows tipped with bone or antler, cop-
per, or iron. Some tools continued to have copper
blades, and all cooking of meat was accomplished
in soapstone vessels. Fur clothing was worn ex-
clusively by both men and women (Jenness, 1946,
p. 1).
The ten years following the departure of the Ca-
nadian Arctic Expedition was a period of profound
change for Copper Inuit material culture. Native
copper came to be used only for rivets, all hunters
were armed with high-powered, repeating rifles,
tools had steel or iron blades, and metal cooking
pots replaced soapstone vessels. Although some
cooking was done over primus stoves, and light
provided by kerosene lamps (Jenness, 1946, pp.
1-2), stone lamps were still in use around Bath-
hurst Inlet and Perry River in the early 1960s (D.
Damas, pers. comm.). As noted in the Introduc-
tion, Captain Klengenberg traded on Victoria Is-
land during the winter of 1 905- 1 906. His wife was
an liiupiat from Point Hope, Alaska, and she and
her daughter introduced western liiupiat clothing
styles, which rapidly replaced the traditional Cop-
per Inuit styles (Oakes, 1991, p. 24). Garments of
wool and cotton were also increasingly available.
Before these rapid changes had taken place, the
Canadian Arctic Expedition obtained the large col-
lection that Jenness published in 1946. It will be
recalled that Harold Noice was a member of the
Canadian Arctic Expedition, and although his col-
lection was made in 1921-1922, six years after the
one obtained by Jenness, it should be apparent
from the foregoing artifact descriptions that exotic
materials are absent from the collection except for
the use of metal for blades and points. Thus the
statements made by Jenness with reference to the
status of Copper Inuit material culture at the time
of the Canadian Arctic Expedition apply equally
well to the collection made by Noice in spite of
the fact that opportunities for acquiring trade goods
presumably increased considerably during those
intervening six years. Of course, it is possible, per-
haps even probable, that Noice avoided collecting
objects that showed European influence.
Like Robert Peary during his numerous trips to
the country of the Polar Inuit in northwest Green-
land over a period of 20 years beginning in 1891
(VanStone, 1972, pp. 39-40), members of the Ca-
nadian Arctic Expedition had a major impact on
the material culture of the Copper Inuit. Jenness
appears to have been well supplied with goods for
trading. An appendix to his recently published di-
ary (S. E. Jenness, 1 99 1 , pp. 673-696) gives a com-
plete list of trades he made from December 1914
to March 1915. Following are some typical trans-
actions:
30 .44 cartridges for one bow and equipment.
2 fathoms of calico for one snow knife.
1 metal thimble for three bone thimbles.
1 saw for a pair of women's water boots.
1 canister of gun powder for a man's parka.
1 box of .38-55 cartridges for a large ulu.
A total of 744 transactions are listed, and al-
though some are payments for food, dogs, inter-
views, and "services rendered," the majority are
for the purchase of ethnographic objects or the raw
materials for their manufacture. Also, the majority
of items traded are either finished manufactures
(saws, knives, cloth, cans, etc.) or items associated
with subsistence, especially ammunition and traps.
As previously noted, guns, presumably muzzle-
loaders, were rare objects before the Canadian
Arctic Expedition, and even when Copper Inuit
hunters succeeded in obtaining a few weapons,
they were never able to gain much advantage from
them since powder and shot could only occasion-
ally be obtained. From Jenness and other mem-
bers of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, the hunt-
ers received modem, breech-loading weapons and
a regular supply of cartridges. As Damas (1984, p.
409) noted, "Already during Jenness's stay, . . .,
the use of rifles had begun to alter the seasonal
economic cycle in the western part of the [Copper
Inuit] area with sealing grounds being abandoned
about a month earlier for caribou hunts on both
sides of Dolphin and Union Strait." Thus it is
22
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
probably no exaggeration to state that it was Jen-
ness and his fellow exjiedition members who gave
the Copper Inuit, for the first time, truly effective
equipment for harvesting the resources in their
environment.
Like Jenness, Harold Noice acquired his collec-
tion with trade goods that he obtained from the
Hudson's Bay Company post established at Ber-
nard Harbor in 1916 or other posts op>erating in
Coronation Gulf shortly thereafter (Usher, 1971,
pp. 103-104). As Stefansson noted in his letter of
April 24, 1922, to C. T. Currelly of the Royal
Ontario Museum, quoted in the Introduction,
Noice had to obtain fox skins, presumably trapped
by Inuit, in order to acquire trade goods from the
Hudson's Bay Company. Stefansson pointed out
that Noice had to pay an average of $ 1 5 in fox
skins to acquire sufficient trade goods to purchase
one bow in Coronation Gulf. In any event, it is
clear that Noice, Jenness, and Stefansson obtained
their collections in essentially the same manner.
The difference was that Jenness, and Stefansson
to a limited extent, were collecting within the con-
text of well-funded anthropological research, while
Noice was untrained as a social scientist and, of
necessity, was forced to exchange trade goods with
Inuit for furs to obtain more trade goods so that
he could sustain his collecting effort.
Of major importance with reference to both the
Jenness and Noice collections, of course, is that
both collectors acquired objects still in use at the
time the collections were made. This is in contrast
to many of the Native American and Canadian
collections in the Field Museum that, more often
than not, contain items that were either preserved
by families as heirlooms or were made sp)ecifically
at the request of the collector. As Stefansson noted
in his letter to Currelly, items collected by Noice,
even though obtained when traders were already
op>erating in Coronation Gulf, would never again
be made except for sale, esp)ecially clothing and
items associated with subsistence. Noice, he stated
emphatically, "secured the last that remained of
those [artifacts] actually made for use and actually
used." Jenness would certainly have agreed with
this statement. Seldom, it would seem, have se-
rious ethnographic collectors so closely preceded
the initial presence of significant agents of culture
change.
Compared to the collection made by Jenness,
the Noice assemblage is not large, even when that
part of it now in the Royal Ontario Museum is
included. Nevertheless, the collection purchased
by the Field Museum in 1920 is quite represen-
tative, a condition that may be due in part to de-
cisions made by Worth when the total collection
was split for sale. The material culture of the Cop-
per Inuit was not complex and the Field Museum's
Noice collection provides a reasonable indication
of its variety.
It may be useful to compare the Noice collection
with the collection studied by Jenness. The fol-
lowing classes of artifacts present, in the combined
Jenness/Stefansson assemblage, are absent from
the Noice collection:
Land Hunting
boards for freighting caribou
instruments for feathering arrows
Sea Hunting
probes for seal holes
wound plugs
hooks for withdrawing indicators from seal holes
Fishing
bone gorge
fish rake
Women's Tools
knife sharpener
wood hearth for fire drill
whetstone
mattock
Household Equipment
stone kettle
wood pail and bowls
frame for drying clothes
snow shovel
wood table and strut
drinking horn
meat fork
sewing basket
Men's Clothing
inner coat
sealskin coat
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
23
water boots
inner stockings
dancing cap
Women 's Clothing
inner coat
water boots
outer stockings
necklace
Miscellaneous
drum
bull roarer
collection in the Royal Ontario Museum. Barbara
M. Conklin provided copies of correspondence be-
tween John G. Worth and curators at the Amer-
ican Museum of Natural History. David E. Wil-
lard and William T. Stanley of the Field Museum's
Department of Zoology identified feathers and
mammal skins used in the manufacture of artifacts
in the Noice collection, and John J. Engel, De-
partment of Botany, assisted in the identification
of floral material. The drawings in this study were
made by Lori Grove, and the photographs are the
work of James L. Balodimas, a museum photog-
rapher. Loran H. Recchia and James D. Foerster
typed several drafts of the manuscript with ac-
curacy and dispatch.
It will be noted that artifacts in most of the
categories described by Jenness are represented in
the Noice collection. The most significant
omissions are in the categories of household equip-
ment and men's and women's clothing. The Noice
collection contains no children's clothing, and only
one artifact associated with transportation. The
only artifacts in the Noice collection that are ab-
sent from the Jenness/Stefansson assemblage are
a file, bolas, and seal hooks. With the exception
of rivets, there is an almost complete absence of
artifacts made from copper. Only two arrowhead
blades, two fishhooks, two leister prong barbs, and
one needle are made of copper, the material that
was once so characteristic of Copper Inuit man-
ufactures.
This study of the Field Museum's Noice collec-
tion demonstrates that, like the collections made
between 1 908 and 1915 by Jenness and Stefans-
son, it represents Copper Inuit material culture
just prior to the time of extensive changes intro-
duced by traders. Although containing few arti-
facts that add to our knowledge of the Copper Inuit
material culture inventory, it is an interesting and
useful extension of the Stefansson and Jenness col-
lections made at about the same time.
Acknowledgments
The author is grateful to Robert McGhee, J.
Garth Taylor, and William E. Taylor, Jr., for valu-
able assistance during the preparation of this study.
Kenneth R. Lister and Bemadette DriscoU pro-
vided useful information concerning the Noice
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Back, G. 1836. Narrative of the Arctic Land Expe-
dition to the Mouth of the Great Fish River, and along
the Shores of the Arctic Ocean in the Years 1833,
1834, and 1835. J. Murray, London.
Birket-Smith, K. 1945. Ethnological Collections from
the Northwest Passage. Report of the Fifth Thule Ex-
pedition, 1921-1924, 6(2). Copenhagen.
Boas, F. 1888. The Central Eskimo, pp. 399-669. In
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Eth-
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Cadzow, D. a. 1920. Native Copper Objects of the
Copper Eskimo. Indian Notes and Monographs, Mu-
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CoLLiNSON, R. 1889. Journal of H. M.S. Enterprise, on
the Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin's Ships
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CooKE, A., AND C. Holland. 1978. The Exploration
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Damas, D. 1969. Characteristics of Central Eskimo
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. 1 972. The Copper Eskimo, pp. 3-50. In M. G.
Bicchieri, ed.. Hunters and Gatherers Today. Holt,
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1 984. Copper Eskimo, pp. 397-4 1 4. In D. Da-
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5, Arctic. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Driscoll, B. 1983. The Inuit parka: A preliminary
study. M.A. thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa.
. 1987. The Inuit parka as an artistic tradition,
24
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
pp. 1 69-200. In The Spirit Sings: Artistic Traditions
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Field Museum of Natural History. MS. Accession
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Franklin, J. 1824. Narrative of a Journey to the Shores
of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819-20-21-22, 2 vols,
2nd ed. J. Murray, London.
Hanbury, D. T. 1 904. Sport and Travel in the North-
land of Canada. Edward Arnold, London.
Hearne, S. 1958. A Journey from Prince of Wales's
Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the
years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772. Richard Glover, ed.
The Macmillan Company, Toronto. (Reprint of the
first edition, 1795.)
Issenman, B. 1985. Inuit skin clothing: Construction
and motifs. Etudes/Inuit/Studies, 9(2): 101-119.
Jenness, D. 1917. The Copper Eskimos. Geographical
Review, 4(2): 81-91.
. 1 922. The Life of the Copi>er Eskimos. Report
of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 12(A). Ottawa.
1923. The Copper Eskimos: Physical Char-
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nadian Arctic Expedition, 12(B). Ottawa.
1928. The People of the Twilight. The Mac-
millan Company, New York.
1 946. Material Culture of the Copper Eskimos.
Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 16. Ottawa.
Jenness, S. E., ed. 1 99 1 . Arctic Odyssey: The Diary of
Diamond Jenness, Ethnologist with the Canadian Arc-
tic Expedition in North Alaska and Canada, 1913-
1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization. Ottawa.
Mathiassen, T. 1928. Material Culture of the Iglulik
Eskimos. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition, 1921-
1924, 6(1). Copenhagen.
McGhee, R. 1972. Copper Eskimo Prehistory. Na-
tional Museum of Man, Publications in Archaeology,
no. 2. Ottawa.
Murdoch, J. 1 884. A study of the Eskimo bows in the
U.S. National Museum, pp. 307-3 16. In Report of the
U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.
NoiCE, H. 1922a. The Copper Eskimos. Science,
55(1432): 611-612.
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kimo. American Anthropologist, n.s., 24(2): 228-231.
1924. With Stefansson in the Arctic. Dodd,
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from the Logs and Journals of Capt. Robert le M.
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. 1852b. Recent explorations along the south
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Rasmussen, K. 1932. Intellectual Culture of the Cop-
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1921-1924, 9. Copenhagen.
Royal Ontario Museum. MS. Archives, Department
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Simpson, T. 1843. Narrative of the Discoveries on the
North Coast of America; Effected by the Officers of
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39. R. Bentley, London.
Stefansson, V. 1913. My Life with the Eskimo. The
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Brace, and Company, New York.
1925. The Adventure of Wrangel Island. The
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Taylor, J. G. 1 974. Netsilik Eskimo Material Culture:
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Polar Eskimo Material Culture. Fieldiana: Anthro-
pology, 63(2).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
25
Fig. 2. a, bow ( 1 76040a); b, bow (176039b); c, arrow (176039c); d, arrow (1760380; e, arrow (176039e); f, arrow
(176039d); g, arrow (176038d). Neg. no. 1 12430.
26
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
10 cm
^'
I
t Kt
.■■-»
1*?-^^
A|:
t
Fig. 3. a, arrowhead (176043e); b, arrowhead (1760430; c, arrowhead (176043h); d, arrowhead (176044e); e,
arrowhead ( 1 76044c); f, arrowhead ( 1 760440; g, sinew twister ( 1 76053c); h, sinew twister ( 1 76052d); i, thumb guard
(178145); j, sinew twister (176053d); k, marlin spike (176052b); I, bow case handle (176063c). Neg. no. 1 12431.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
27
cr
28
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
k
Fig. 5. a, handle for carrying blood bag (176092a); b, bolas (176032); c, lance blade (176075); d, arrow shaft
straightener ( 1 76093); e, marlin spike ( 1 76054b); f, bone pins ( 1 76059a-b); g, drinking tube ( 1 76072); h, marlin spike
(176055b). Neg. no. 112427.
Fig. 4. Bow case ( 1 76038).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
29
Fig. 6. a, breathing hole scoop ( 1 76048b); b, breathing hole scoop ( 1 76048a); c, seal hook ( 1 76099b); d, seal hook
( 1 76099d); e, "unfinished" harpoon heads (1 76060); f, harpoon head ( 1 78 148); g, bag for seal hooks (1 76099a). Neg.
no. 112426.
30
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 7. Bag with harpoon head (176098a-b).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
31
Fig. 8. a, leister (176042); b, leister (176041); c, swivel for leading a dog (176037); d, fishhook (178134c); e,
fishhook (176100); f, ice pick (176097); g, leister side prong ( 1 76070a). Neg. no. 1 12429.
32
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 9. a, fishing rod and lurehook (176029); b, fishhook (178134a); c, leister side prong (176046a); d, leister
center prong (176049a); e, leister side prong (176049c); f, fishhook (178134b); g, seal indicator (176056a). Neg. no.
1 12428.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
33
i^
f
^V
f
'iA
Fig. 10. a, woman's knife (176082); b, skin scraper, type 1 (176033b); c, skin scraper, type 1 (176033c); d, skin
scraper, type 3 (176034); e, scraper handle (?) (176091); f, skin stretcher, type 2 (178142); g, skin scraper, type 2
(176081); h, skin stretcher, type 2 (176096); i, skin stretcher, type 1 (178141). Neg. no. 1 12425.
34
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
v^
h
Fig. 11. a, sewing outfit (176073); b, marrow extractor (176067b); c, marrow extractor (176067c); d, marrow
extractor (176067a); e, skin scraper, type 2 (176079); f, needle case (176071); g, grooving tool (176086); h, thimble
(178143b); i, grooving tool (176089); j, sewing outfit (176095). Neg. no. 1 12422.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
35
Fig. 12. a, crooked knife (176033a); b, saw (176088); c, saw (176084); d, saw (176078); e, drill mouthpiece
(176035); f, file (176090); g, adze head and blade (176080). Neg. no. 1 12423.
36
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
10 cm
Fig. 13. a, man's knife (176076); b, grooving tool (176087); c, man's knife (176077); d, drill shank (176047d); e,
grooving tool handle (178144); f, drill shank (176047d); g, drill bow (176047c). Neg. no. 1 12421.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
37
Fig. 14. a, pick (176050); b, adze (176051); c, man's tool bag (178151a); d, man's tool bag (178152). Neg. no.
112424.
S.-
38
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
5
o .
Fig. 15. a
ladle (176065a)
112419.
I, bird's foot bag (1 78 1 56); b, lamp (1 76069); c, dipper or drinking ladle (1 76065c); d, dipper or drinking
)a); e, dipper or drinking ladle (176065b); f, snow knife (176064b); g, snow knife (176064a). Neg. no.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
39
Fig. 16. a, water bag ( 1 76030); b, bag (178157); c,
f, bag (178155). Neg.no. 112420.
bag ( 1 78 1 46); d, blubber pounder ( 1 7606 1 ); e, bag ( 1 78 1 58);
40
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
HOOD TRIM
Fig. 17. Man's outer parka (176004).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
41
\5 ^i^^ism/f^' ;;«Wi> ;-^-.-
Fig. 18. Man's outer parka, front (176004). Nfeg. no. 1 12442.
42
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 19. Man's outer parka, back (176004). Neg. no. 1 12441.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
43
HOOD TRIM
^^ P^
Fig. 20. Man's outer parka ( 1 76003).
44
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 2 1 . Man's outer parka, front ( 1 76003). Neg. no. 1 1 2440.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
45
Fig. 22. Man's outer parka, back (1 76003). Neg. no. 1 1 2439.
46
HELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
HOOD TRIM
Fig. 23. Man's outer (inner?) parka (176007).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
47
Fig. 24. Man's outer (inner?) parka (176007). Neg. no. 1 12438.
48
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
%
Fig. 25. Man's overcoat (176006). Neg. no. 1 12437.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
49
Fig. 26. Man's outer trousers ( 1 76005). Neg. no. 1 1 24 1 3.
50
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 27. Man's outer trousers ( 1 78 1 50). Neg. no. 1 1 24 1 6.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
51
Fig. 28. a, man's outer stockings (176014a-b); b, sock (178154). Neg. no. 1 12415.
52
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 29. Man's dance stockings ( 1 760 1 6a-b). Neg. no. 1 1 24 1 2.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
53
Fig. 30. Man's spring and fall boots ( 1 760 1 5a-b). Neg. no. 1 1 24 1 1 .
54
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 31. a, sealskin shoes, type 2 (I76018a-b); b, sealskin shoes, type 1 (176019a-b). Neg. no. 1 12417.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
55
>
Fig. 32. a, mittens, type 1 (176021a-b); b, mittens, type 2 ( 1 76023a-b); c, mittens, type 1 (176024a-b). Neg. no.
112414.
56
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
a
Fig. 33. a, mittens, type 2 (176026a-b); b, mittens, type 2 (176022a-b); c, mitten, type 1 (176025a). Neg. no.
112410.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
57
Fig. 34. Woman's outer (inner?) parka (176001).
58
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 35. Woman's outer (inner?) parka (176001). Neg. no. 1 12436.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
59
HOOD / \ CENTERPIECE
HOOD TRIM
HOOD TRIM
60
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 37. Woman's outer parka, front (176002). Neg. no. 1 12435.
Fig. 36. Woman's outer parka (176002).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
61
Fig. 38. Woman's outer parka, back (176002). Neg. no. 1 12434.
62
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
HOOD / \ CENTERPIECE
HOOD TRIM
Fig. 39. Woman's outer parka (17601 0).
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
63
Fig. 40. Woman's outer parka, front (176010). Neg. no. 1 12433.
64
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 41. Woman's outer parka, back (176010). Neg. no. 1 12432.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
65
Fig. 42. Woman's outer trousers (178149). Neg. no. 11 24 18.
66
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 43. Woman's inner (?) stockings (17601 la-b). Neg. no. 1 12409.
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
67
Fig. 44. a, sled toggle (176028a); b, comb (178140); c, bag for sled toggle (176028b); d, doll (176031); e, musk
ox horn ( 1 76062); f, loon's head pendant ( 1 760 1 7); g, ring and pin game (1781 38); h, doll's stocking ( 1 78 1 3 1 ); i, doll
(178147). Neg. no. 112443.
68
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Appendix
The Noice Copper Inuit Collection
(Accession 1628)
Following is a list of the Noice Copper Inuit
collection described in this study. It is not a com-
plete list of the collection as it appears in the cat-
alog of the Department of Anthropology, Field
Museum of Natural History, since ten artifacts
represented by eight catalog numbers could not be
located. The Noice collection was originally cat-
aloged by someone with minimal knowledge of
Inuit material culture, possibly using identifica-
tions provided by John G. Worth, the dealer from
whom it was purchased. Therefore, the identifi-
cations given here differ considerably from those
in the catalog.
Subsistence
Land Hunting
176093 arrow shaft straightener (fig. 5d)
176094 arrow shaft straightener
176057a-b bone pins
176058a-b bone pins
1 76059a-b bone pins (fig. 5f )
1 76092a-c handles for carrying blood bags (fig.
5a)
1 76032 bolas (fig. 5b)
1 76072 drinking tube (fig. 5g)
Sea Hunting
178148 harpoon head (fig. 6f )
1 76060a-h "unfinished harpoon heads" (fig. 6e)
1 76098a-b bag with harpoon head (fig. 7)
176097 ice pick (fig. 8f)
1 76048a-b breathing hole scoops (fig. 6a-b)
176037 swivel for leading a dog (fig. 8c)
176056a-e seal indicators (fig. 9g)
1 76099a-d seal hooks and bag (fig. 6c-d,g)
176038i composite bow
176039b composite bow (fig. 2b)
1 76040a composite bow (fig. 2a)
1 76038b-h arrows (7) (fig. 2d,g)
176039c-e arrows (3) (fig. 2c,e,f)
1 76040b-g arrows (6)
no number arrows (2)
176045a-n arrow shaft fragments (14)
1 76043a-h arrowheads (8) (fig. 3a-c)
1 76044a-f arrowheads (6) (fig. 3d-f)
176038 bow case and quiver (fig. 4)
1 73039 bow case and quiver
176040 bow case and quiver
176063a-c bow case handles (fig. 31)
178145 thumb guard (fig. 3i)
176052a-b marlin spikes (fig. 3k)
176052c-d sinew twisters (fig. 3h)
176053a-b marlin spikes
176053c-d sinew twisters (fig. 3gJ)
176054a-b marlin spikes (fig. 5e)
1 76054c-d sinew twisters
176055a-b marlin spikes (fig. 5h)
176055c-d sinew twisters
176066a-b marlin spikes
176075 lance blade (fig. 5c)
Fishing
176041
trident leister (fig. 8b)
176042
trident leister (fig. 8a)
176046a-<
trident leister and side prongs (fig.
9c)
176049a-c
trident leister center and side prongs
(fig. 9d-e)
176070a-b
leister side prongs (fig. 8g)
176029
fishing rod and lurehook (fig. 9a)
178134a-c
fish hooks (figs. 8d, 9b,f)
176100
fish hook (fig. 8e)
TOOLS
Women's Tools
176082 woman's knife (fig. 10a)
176033b skin scraper, type 1 (fig. 10b)
176033c skin scraper, type 1 (fig. 10c)
176079 skin scraper, type 2 (fig. 1 le)
176081 skin scraper, type 2 (fig. lOg)
176034 skin scraper, type 3 (fig. lOd)
176091 skin scraper handle (fig. lOe)
1 76068a-b skin stretchers, type 1
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION
69
178141 skin stretcher, type 1 (fig. lOi)
176096 skin stretcher, type 2 (fig. lOh)
178142 skin stretcher, type 2 (fig. 100
1 7607 1 needle case (fig. 1 1 0
176095 sewing outfit with marrow extractor
(fig. I Ij)
176073 sewing outfit with belt toggle and
threading needles (fig. 1 la)
178143a-b
thimbles (fig. llh)
176067a-c
marrow extractors (fig. 1 1 b-d)
Men's Tools
176033a
crooked or whittling knife (fig. 12a)
176086
grooving tool (fig. 1 Ig)
176087
grooving tool (fig. 1 3b)
176089
grooving tool (fig. 1 1 i)
178144
grooving tool handle (fig. 13e)
176076
man's knife (fig. 1 3a)
176077
man's knife (fig. 1 3c)
176047a
drill bow
176047c
drill bow (fig. 1 3g)
176047b
drill shank (fig. 130
176047d
drill shank (fig. 13d)
176085
drill shank
176035
drill mouthpiece (fig. 1 2e)
176084
hand saw (fig. 1 2c)
176078
hand saw (fig. 1 2d)
176088
hand saw (fig. 1 2b)
176090
file (fig. 12f)
176051
adze (fig. 1 4b)
176080
adze head and blade (fig. 1 2g)
176050
pick (fig. 14a)
178152
tool bag (fig. 14d)
178153
tool bag
178151a
tool bag (fig. 1 4c)
178151b
tool bag (?)
176065c
176064a
176064b
176030
176036
178157
178146
178155
178158
Clothing
dipper or drinking ladle (fig. 1 5c)
snow knife (fig. 1 5g)
snow knife (fig. 1 5f )
water bag (fig. 1 6a)
clothing bag
tinder bag (?) (fig. 16b)
bag (fig. 16c)
bag (fig. 16f)
fragment of bag for oil or blubber (?)
(fig. 16e)
Men 's Clothing
1 76004 outer parka (figs. 17-19)
1 76003 outer parka (figs. 20-22)
1 76007 outer (inner?) parka (figs. 23-24)
176006 overcoat (fig. 25)
1 76005 outer trousers (fig. 26)
178150 outer trousers (fig. 27)
176014a-b outer stockings (fig. 28a)
176016a-b dance stockings (fig. 29)
178154 sock (fig. 28b)
176015a-b spring and fall boots (fig. 30)
176019a-b sealskin shoes, type 1 (fig. 31b)
1 76020a-b sealskin shoes, type 1
176018a-b sealskin shoes, type 2 (fig. 31a)
176021a-b mittens, type 1 (fig. 32a)
176023a-b mittens, type 1 (fig. 32b)
1 76024a-b mittens, type 1 (fig. 32c)
176025a mitten, type 1 (fig. 33c)
176025b mitten, type 1
176027 mittens, type 1
176022a-b mittens, type 2 (fig. 33b)
176026a-b mittens, type 2 (fig. 33a)
Household Equipment
Women's Clothing
178156 bird's foot bag (fig. 1 5a) 1 7600 1
176069 oil lamp (fig. 15b) 176002
1 7606 1 blubber pounder (fig. 1 6d) 1 760 1 0
1 76065a dipper or drinking ladle (fig. 1 5d) 1 78 1 49
176065b dipper or drinking ladle (fig. 1 5e) 17601 la-b
outer (inner?) parka (figs. 34-35)
outer parka (figs. 36-38)
outer parka (figs. 39-41)
outer trousers (fig. 42)
inner stockings (fig. 43)
70
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY
Miscellaneous Raw Mateiual
176031 female doll and doll's stocking (fig. 176062 musk ox horn (fig. 44e)
44d,h) 1 76074a-b musk ox horns
178147 female doll (fig. 44i) 1 78 1 36a-b dried moss
178138 ring and pin game (fig. 44g)
178140 comb (fig. 44b)
176028a-b sled toggle and container bag (fig.
44a,c)
176017 loon's head pendant (fig. 44f) c
VANSTONE: THE NOICE COLLECTION 71
A Selected Listing of Other Fieldiana: Anthropology titles A\.
\liana: Anthropoloy
1989. 40 pages, 32 illi
Puhliratjf;?; Hf J
PaJlioaticn 1404, Sil.(K)
Jllke Jind Killke-Related Pottery from Cuzco, Peru, in the Field Museum of Natural History. By Brian
s w.,.....- ,,..,-! r-u^^-'c': Stanish. Fieldiana: Arthrr'^H"-::-. n ■■. n- l'^, '^>"^. 17 pages, 17 illus.
Publication 1419, $9.00
panic Cer
i ( pper Moqucgu:!
S pages, 308 illus.
laterial Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southeri
no. 19, 1992. 80 pages, 53 illus.
Fieldiana: Anthn
Publication 1439, $19.00
., ... ■, - Central British r'<:)lumbia: Collections in the
Field Museum of Natural History. B> .lames W. VanStone. Fieldian
1993 29 nas^es 25 illus.
Publication 1446, $12.00
and Warfare Among the Kayenta Anasazi of the Thirteenth Century A.D. By Jonathan Haas and
.ifred Creamer. Fieldiana: Anthropology, n.s., no. 21, 1993. 211 pages, 74 illus.
Publication 14*^0 SIT' Of)
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