10/26/2020

For millennia, people in far northern coastal regions have depended on marine mammals for their survival. Marine mammals, including whales and seals, not only provide food and useful materials; they are also central to cultural and community identity. The objects for this class were selected to showcase the wide range of marine mammal parts used by coastal Indigenous peoples of Alaska and to demonstrate how the mammals are woven into every aspect of existence.

Photo credit to Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

Ivory Harpoon Point for Hunting Marine Mammals, 1930s

Siberian Yupik Clay Oil Lamp - From St. Lawrence Island, 1960s

Aleut Seal Intestine Parka, Made in the late 1800s

Whalebone Mask, From Bethel or Anchorage, Alaska, 1970s

Walrus Ivory Cribbage Board, Before 2007

Walrus Ivory Cribbage Board, Before 2007

Passage writen by Lauren Willis and Kristin Strommer