Headband, "Kauk'si-a"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 19 Apr 1901
label: Collection Date
content: 19 Apr 1901
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. H. R. Marsh
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. H. R. Marsh
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Band of sealskin with fringe of reindeer? Teeth and red beads. 'Worn by captain of a whaling boat [umiak/umiaq] while out whaling.'"
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
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=662 , retrieved 1-7-2022; see web page for additional information: Headdress, Inupiaq. Headbands decorated with Dall sheep teeth or caribou teeth were historically "the badge of a whaleman," worn by the umialiq (boat captain) and harpooner for spring preparatory rites and during the hunt itself. Tooth headbands are also associated with a traditional ceremony to mark the autumn equinox “when two stars appear” (aagruuk) - referred to as the Iñupiaq New Year - as well as the Messenger Feast. This headband is made of bleached skin, sheep teeth, red beads, and sinew thread.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 10 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Point Barrow, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 037830
label: USNM Number
content: E209841-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Headband
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 25 cm