Old Bering Sea peoples; Alaska
Ivory (walrus); H. 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1981 (1981.358.1)
Walrus ivory was made into objects of utilitarian function and/or personal finery by the peoples living in the arctic cold of the Bering Strait. Few of these well-conceived, intimately scaled objects were as utilitarian in purpose as the harpoon heads that were the foremost element of toggling harpoons. An Alaskan favorite, such harpoons were used to hunt sea mammals, which not only constituted the basis of local subsistence but provided the very material from which the harpoon parts were fabricated. Harpoons had to be beautifully made in order to attract the spirits of their preynecessary for a successful huntand they were best ornamented with images that enhanced the hunter's power. Depictions of long-beaked, elegantly rendered predatory birds often appear on the harpoon heads. These images were part of an overall philosophy that mandated respect for the hunted by the refinement and elaboration of both the equipment and clothing used for the hunt. The ivory acquired its deep rich browns and tans through burial in the permafrost.