Snow Knife
Yaaruin - “story knife”
29 cm long x 3 cm wide x 0.5 cm tall
Walrus tusk
Chalitmuit, Alaska (Yup’ik), c. unknown
Collector: E. W. Nelson
Museum ID number: NEL.C1.r.0133
Story knives were typically made of carved and polished walrus tusk and were used by young girls to draw and tell stories in the snow. Knife stories were typically accompanied by songs, and sometimes they were used for games in which spectators tried to guess the artist’s subject. Girls still play these games today with metal butter knives replacing the traditional wood, bone, or ivory ones. A girl’s father or grandfather typically made her knife, and they were given as gifts during Elriq, the Great Feast of the Dead. Once a girl had experienced her first menstrual period, she would give away her story knife along with her dolls to younger girls in the community. This particular knife has a serrated edge to make it easier to break into the ice. As such, it could have also been used to cut ice in order to mark where to tie dogs or to build igloos. This knife shows skilled craftsmanship as it is made from the edge of the inner part of a walrus tusk – a difficult part to carve.