Woman's Needle Case

Item number E1647-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: " 1 CASE & 1 NEEDLE."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/230 , retrieved 12-17-2019: Needle case, strap and belt hook. The needle case is a hollow ivory tube with eight split beads embedded in shallow drilled holes and cemented in place. The beads are a small, opaque blue variety. One end of a hide strap with a hole at one end and split along most of its length passes through the needle case and terminates with a knot. A large bead or cap made from ivory may once have been attached to that end to prevent the strap from pulling through the tube. The other end of the strap is attached to an ivory hook. These hooks have variously been identified as belt hooks or holders for skin thimbles. 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.