Needle Case

Item number E2088-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "2 PIECES... WALRUS IVORY TUBE, THROUGH WHICH ARE RUN STRIPS OF FOLDED RAWHIDE IN WHICH NEEDLES ARE KEPT. THE TUBES ARE SET WITH BLUE BEADS."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/43 , retrieved 12-30-2019: 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. One end of a hide strap passes through the needle case and is attached to a cap that seals that end of the needle case when it is drawn tight. The cap has a split blue bead embedded in it. The strap that passes through the case is doubled back on itself and knotted to form a small loop at the midpoint, and the other end 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 is a flattened piece of ivory with a slit along the centreline extending half its length at the end opposite from where it is attached to the strap. Converging on this slit are two other, shorter, slits cut at slight angles to the central slit that terminate at holes drilled through the piece, probably to prevent them from splitting. Two other holes drilled closer to the end are probably decorative. 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 stra

Item History

What

Name
Needle Case
Identification Number
E2088-0
Type of Item
needle case

Where

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

Who

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

When

Acquisition Date
on December 21, 1866

Other

Accession Number
66A00090

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