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.