Awls (USA), Created before 1914
This is a Awls.
Awls came in a variety of sizes, suitable to the different thicknesses of the materials to be sewn. These small, shapely ivory points would have been used to perforate thinner skins or gut. Women of the Iñupiaq indigenous community of Alaska had to learn to sew from a young age using strips of hide, sinew and fiber that were threaded or tied to the awl.
It is credited
National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, 3/6271.
Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
Its dimensions are
L x W (Longest): 7.3 x 0.5 cm (2 7/8 x 3/16 in.) L x W (Shortest): 5 x 0.6 cm (1 15/16 x 1/4 in.) L x W (Most decorative): 6.4 x 0.6 cm (2 1/2 x 1/4 in.)
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.