Amulet Or Charm
date: label: Accession Date
content: 10 Feb 1894
name: label: Collector
content: William J. Fisher
label: Donor Name
content: William J. Fisher
notes: label: Notes
content: Sea otter amulet, about 10 cm long (larger than E168626-1). This amulet was loaned for the Inua exhibit in 1982, and is illustrated in fig. 282, pg. 235 of "Inua: Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo". Inua catalogue caption notes that it is carved to show a sea otter in characteristic feeding posture, on its back with hands raised to mouth. Caption also notes that this is similar to eastern Aleutian forms of this type of charm and may reflect contact with the Aleuts It was loaned for the Crossroads of Continents exhibit in 1988 and was illustrated on p. 301, fig. 426 of the Crossroads Catalog. Crossroads caption notes that this sea otter kayak charm is carved to show an X-ray view of the skeleton and lifeline. It was loaned for the Looking Both Ways exhibit in 2001. Illustrated in fig. 158, p. 163 (amulet on right) in the Looking Both Ways exhibition catalog. Locality identified there as Napartalek. Looking Both Ways catalogue caption identifies E168626-0 and -1: "Ivory sea otter amulets. According to traditional Alutiiq belief, sea otters (ahnat) were formerly human beings. These walrus ivory amulets - made to be fastened inside the cockpit of a kayak - may be of Yup'ik manufacture, but similar carvings were made in both the Unangan and Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) regions (Black 1982). An archaeological example was found at Seldovia in Cook Inlet (de Laguan 1975: Plate 52-9). The incised designs depict the animal's ribs and spine. The Chugach of Prince William Sound returned the bones of killed otters to the sea so that he animals would be reborn."
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 as number E168626A, http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=269, retrieved 9-3-2012: Charm, Sugpiaq (Alutiiq), probably Alaska Peninsula Koniag. samanaq "charm" - Language: Koniag Sugpiaq (Alaska Peninsula dialect) According to oral tradition, a man who was collecting shellfish was surprised by the in-rushing tide; to save himself he cried out, "I wish I might turn into a sea otter!" His wish was granted, which is why, it is said, the internal organs of a man and a sea otter look the same. This ivory hunting charm was fastened inside the cockpit of a kayak. The otter's ribs and spine are shown, perhaps because an otter's soul was believed to reside in its skeleton. Its bones were returned to the sea so a new otter could be born.
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. 1 of 2 on loan (E168626-1 not on loan).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 18 Aug 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Bristol Bay / Nabachtalik River (Napartalek), Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Koniag
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 027806
label: USNM Number
content: E168626-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Charm
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 10 cm