Unknown Maker, Native North American

Forms of objects that had been determined by their function also changed across time and with the influence of European culture. Everyday objects such as the knife and dipper in this case are forms that seem to be based on the most efficient shape for their use. The dipper, of bent wood, lashed together and with a shaped bottom added, is a form that is common all over the Northwest Territories and Alaska, and is sometimes made out of skin in the same shape. The knife dates to the contact period and shows European influence in the traded metal knife blade, which replaced the old-style blade made out of flint. Eskimo women used sharp-bladed knives like these to flense the fat from sealskin before making the skins into garments. The same knife with a blunt blade was used to stretch skins before sewing.

Also shown are a pair of Eskimo snow goggles, a form worn by hunters for at least 2000 years. Made by a variety of groups in a similar form usually of wood, with slits to protect the eyes from glare, this pair is unusual in that the Iglulik hunter has taken advantage of the natural curve of the caribou antler to fashion his eye shade decorated with incised geometric forms.