Gift of Mrs. Minor C. Keith in memory of her husband

Gift of Mrs. Minor C. Keith in memory of her husband

FROM CARD: "LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE FIG.,100, P. 90. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." Crossroads of Continents photo caption identifies this as a stool used while waiting for seals at their breathing holes. FROM SECOND CARD: "SEAL-HUNTER'S STOOL. WOOD, HEART-SHAPED; TRIANGULAR HOLE CUT NEAR THE CENTER, WITH CHAMFERED EDGE ON LOWER SIDES; THREE SMALL WOODEN PEGS INSERTED AS LEGS. SIZE, 12 3/4 BY 8 INCHES; HEIGHT, 5 3/8 INCHES. ANDERSON RIVER, ARCTIC COAST. 3978. R. MACFARLANE. A ROUGHLY CONSTRUCTED BUT DURABLE UTENSIL, USED BY ESKIMOS TO STAND UPON WHILE WATCHING FOR SEALS IN WINTER." Described p. 116 in Brown, James Temple. 1883. The whale fishery and its appliances. Washington: Govt. print. off.. Description is the same as that listed on second card.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/143 , retrieved 1-8-2020: Three-legged stool, made from wood. The top is somewhat triangular is shape, with rounded corners, two outward-curving sides and one side with a deep inward curve. A triangular hole has been cut into the top, both to allow the stool to be carried and to reduce overall weight. The edges of the stool top and of the triangular hole have been beveled on the underside surface. The legs are inserted through holes drilled into the top piece, and taper from top to bottom. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/54: Stools were used when hunting seals at breathing holes or when fishing through holes cut through ice. Hunters would either stand on the stool, with heels together over one leg and the other legs supporting the toes of each foot, or would sit on the stool.Listed on page 28 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Family Group of the Western Eskimo, Alaska".

Small rectangular-shaped shaman's bench with dark geometrical designs on seat surface. Carved from one piece of wood, four thick legs sit on two flat runners and the seat above is slightly concave with the long sides rounded.

Long stool, carved roughly into the shape of a jaguar from a single piece of honey coloured wood and covered with a design of light brown square shapes, was made for the tourist market. Back legs are thinner than front legs and there is a small carved tail protruding from the back end. Small holes have been burned into the wood for eyes, ears and nostrils, and a wedge shaped slit forms the mouth.

Stool or bench carved from one piece of dark wood in the shape of a turtle. Two wide flat legs flare out somewhat beneath a slightly concave oval seat, one with a darker design burned ? into the outside surface. At either end protrudes a pointed knob, one larger than the other, with darker impressions of turtle scales, eyes, and mouth.

Wooden stool made of three figures. The circular seat rests upon the tall hats of the figures, who sit upon a circular middle piece with their feet upon a ringed base. The three circular pieces are coloured dark brown, as are the hats and features of the figures.