Story Knife Item Number: 3584/3 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Partial story knife with identical circular and geometric designs incised along length, on front and back (top half of blade has broken off). Handle is triangular with a rounded tip, that curves to underside of knife. From curve to end of handle, there are five circular protrusions decorated with incised semi-circles and dots; plain line divides handle from blade portion of knife. Knife blade flares outward and has lines trimming the outer edges; five horizontal lines join the borders together, forming decorated bands. Patterns are (from top to bottom): five concentric circle designs connected with an "X", diagonal lines, diagonal lines, diagonal lines, and an inverted "Y". Additional concentric circle designs, zigzags, and small grid are carved along left side, towards top of blade.

Narrative

Acquired by the donor's father when he lived in Nyac, Alaska, on the Kuskokwim River, from the 1920s to 1960s.