Man's Hunting Bag (Ak-Fju-Dat)

Object Details

Collector

William J. Fisher

Donor Name

William J. Fisher

IDENTIFIED BY FRAN REED AS MADE OF ESOPHAGUS WITH STOMACH (WALRUS?) EDGE, 2/1999. Illus. Fig. 166, p. 171 in Crowell, Aron, Amy F. Steffian, and Gordon L. Pullar. 2001. Looking both ways: heritage and identity of the Alutiiq people. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press.

Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=162 , retrieved 8-30-2012: Hunting bag, Sugpiaq (Alutiiq), Koniag. ekgwiutaq "hunting bag, sewing bag" - Language: Koniag Sugpiaq (Alaska Peninsula dialect) Men carried bags to hold ammunition, tobacco, arrowheads, and other necessities for hunting. This skin bag is embellished with colored thread, yarn, and caribou hair embroidery. Appliqué designs are made of thin, dyed skin, probably seal esophagus. The mouth of the bag is trimmed with seal fur and the strap is made of twisted sinew.

This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.

1989 analysis of fur by Bonnie Farmer, NMNH Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology: Phoca vitulina / Harbor (Common) Seal: Forms fringes of short, blackish and gold hairs encircling outer perimeter and/or along edges of leather. Rangifer tarandus / Caribou/Reindeer: Used to create white stitching and trim on leather and around edges. Unknowns/Tentative Identifications: Short, white stiff fibers sewn into seams over the Phoca appear to be Gulo luscus (Wolverine). Samples were examined by Bob Mann, NMNH Dept. of Anthropology, and determined not to be human hair.

Record Last Modified

13 Feb 2025

Specimen Count

1

Culture

Eskimo, Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Koniag

Accession Date

23 Dec 1882

Accession Number

012209

USNM Number

E72500-0

Object Type

Bag

Height - Object

21.5 cm

Place

Lesnoi Island (Woody Island), Kodiak Islands, Alaska, United States, North America

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Ethnology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8476354

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/308fb26b6-2eee-404f-9be6-f1bb6a61c50e