Fish Skin Pouch
14.5 cm long x 5 cm wide x 11 cm high
Fish skin, bearded seal skin
Cape Darby, Alaska (Yup’ik), c. 1880
Collector: E. W. Nelson
Museum ID: NEL.C1.df.0135
This small pouch is made from fish skins (likely pike or salmon due to the size and shape of the scales) which are connected by strips of bearded seal skin. Bearded seal skin is a very tough material, so the person who made the bag probably had both decoration and durability in mind when incorporating it. Colored decorative elements on one side may indicate the front of the bag versus the back. The original Smithsonian tag describes that the bag was used to store spear points.