Brown Wooden Ladle
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1879
name: label: Collector
content: Edward W. Nelson
label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: Note re photos: Neg. #s BW 2003-23421 and CT 2003-23419 are a detail shot of bowl part of ladle showing painted decoration.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=87 , retrieved 11-21-2021; see web page for additional information: Ladle, Yup'ik. This painting on this ladle shows a red hand with a mouth hole in its palm, rimmed with sharp teeth. It may be a reminder that a thief's hands will eat stolen food before he can put it in his mouth. Or the design may represent itqiirpak, a legendary sea creature that grabbed noisy boys from the men's house. Wooden ladles and spoons were painted with inherited family designs similar to those seen on bentwood food dishes. The painting on this ladle probably depicts the itqiirpak, a legendary giant hand with mouths on each finger and a large hole in the center of its palm. This dreaded sea creature, featured in warnings by Yup'ik parents, was said to come into the qasgiq [men's community house] to eat noisy boys.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kuskokwim, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 008133
label: USNM Number
content: E38506-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spoon
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 33 cm