Needle Case

Item number E7536-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/128 , retrieved 2-6-2020: Needle case, strap and belt hook. The needle case is a hollow ivory tube with eight shallow holes drilled around the circumference at both ends that at one time may have had split beads embedded in them. A larger, similar hole near one end probably served a similar purpose, and two incised lines encircle the case near its midpoint. One end of a hide strap that passes through the needle case has a large white bead attached that prevents the strap from pulling through the case. The other end of the strap is attached to one end of an ivory implement of a type that has variously been identified as a belt hook or a holder for skin thimbles. This object is a flattened piece of ivory with a hole at one end where it attaches to the strap. A slit runs from one side almost to the other end and terminates at a drilled hole, probably to prevent it from splitting. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/42: Sewing needles were kept in a tube-like case with a skin strap running through the centre. The needles were stuck into the strap, and then pulled into the case. Hooks for fastening the case to a belt, or holders for thimbles made from skin, were often attached to one end of the leather straps.

Item History

What

Name
Needle Case
Identification Number
E7536-0
Type of Item
needle case

Where

Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Made in
Fort Anderson, Northwest Territories, Canada
Collected in
Fort Anderson, Northwest Territories, Canada

Who

Culture
Eskimo, Inuit and Inuvialuk
Received from
Roderick R. MacFarlane

When

Acquisition Date
on January 7, 1869

Other

Accession Number
69A00012

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