Inuit Ulu Presentation Piece (Musk Ox Horn)

David · 4th March 2020, 09:20 PM

I just acquired this piece yesterday and while it is certainly outside my general area of collection i find it quite fascinating and could not resist it.
This is a ulu that seems to have been a presentation piece. An ulu, for those who don't know, is a traditional inuit multi-purpose tool mostly used for skinning and cleaning hides. Though it can be used as a weapon sometimes it seemed best placed in this Miscellaneous Forum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulu
This is a rather large example that seems to be made from a circular saw blade. It uses a beautiful musk ox horn carved in the shape of a bird with inset eyes of an unknown material. Also unknown, unfortunately, is the name of the Inuit carver as i have been unable to locate any signature on the horn.
My assumption is that this was presented to a school teacher who spent 3 years in the far north wilderness of Gjoa Haven. I have assumed this because there are over 40 names individually scratched into the blade that all have the look of kid's handwriting. I would image this may have been the entire population of that school since at this time there were barely 1000 people living in Gjoa Haven, a very remote outpost on King William Island in Nunavut, Canada that was founded by the great explorer Roald Amundsen in 1903 when he first transversed the Northwest Passage. After he left the area the Inuit who where drawn to his camp to trade with him made it a permanent settlement.
I can't image the person who was presented with this ulu did not treasure it, so my thought is that they may have passed away and their heirs did not appreciate its value either historically or intrinsically. I got it from a fellow who purchased it in a shop some years ago. Strangely, while signed by all these students, the name of who it was presented to does not seem to be inscribed on the blade.
Anyway, i thought it might be of interest to some.
I included a screen shoot of google maps so that you can see exactly where this piece comes from.

4th March 2020, 09:20 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,027	Inuit Ulu Presentation Piece (Musk Ox Horn) I just acquired this piece yesterday and while it is certainly outside my general area of collection i find it quite fascinating and could not resist it. This is a ulu that seems to have been a presentation piece. An ulu, for those who don't know, is a traditional inuit multi-purpose tool mostly used for skinning and cleaning hides. Though it can be used as a weapon sometimes it seemed best placed in this Miscellaneous Forum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulu This is a rather large example that seems to be made from a circular saw blade. It uses a beautiful musk ox horn carved in the shape of a bird with inset eyes of an unknown material. Also unknown, unfortunately, is the name of the Inuit carver as i have been unable to locate any signature on the horn. My assumption is that this was presented to a school teacher who spent 3 years in the far north wilderness of Gjoa Haven. I have assumed this because there are over 40 names individually scratched into the blade that all have the look of kid's handwriting. I would image this may have been the entire population of that school since at this time there were barely 1000 people living in Gjoa Haven, a very remote outpost on King William Island in Nunavut, Canada that was founded by the great explorer Roald Amundsen in 1903 when he first transversed the Northwest Passage. After he left the area the Inuit who where drawn to his camp to trade with him made it a permanent settlement. I can't image the person who was presented with this ulu did not treasure it, so my thought is that they may have passed away and their heirs did not appreciate its value either historically or intrinsically. I got it from a fellow who purchased it in a shop some years ago. Strangely, while signed by all these students, the name of who it was presented to does not seem to be inscribed on the blade. Anyway, i thought it might be of interest to some. I included a screen shoot of google maps so that you can see exactly where this piece comes from. Attached Images