Carved Ivory Birds
“Meteghlluwaaghet” - “bird carvings for game”
10 birds ranging in size from 3.7 cm x 1.2 cm to 5 cm x 2.2 cm
Carved ivory
St Lawrence, Alaska (Yup’ik), c. 1882
Collector: E. W. Nelson
Museum ID number: NEL.C5.r.4606a and b
These carved birds (likely waterbirds) could have been used as game pieces and sometimes for gambling. The player would drop the birds like dice, and the way the birds landed held significance for the game – depending upon the rules, the number of the birds that landed upright, on their sides, or with their heads in a certain orientation determined the winner. The smallest bird in this assemblage may hold different significance among the other birds because of its decoration. The birds also could have potentially held a shamanistic purpose to help with a successful hunt.