Dart Socket Piece
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1879
name: label: Collector
content: Edward W. Nelson
label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN BAE 18TH AR, PT. 1; FIG. 109; P. 323. 1/83 SITES INUA LOAN."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Photo and description in Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 2007. Yuungnaqpiallerput, The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival. Seattle: University Of Washington Press, p. 138
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=84 , retrieved 10-21-2021; see web page for additional information: Socketpiece, Yup'ik. This walrus ivory socket fits on the end of a dart for killing sea mammals, to hold the weapon's bone point. The carved image of a wolf or dog has many possible meanings - as a hunter's helping spirit, family crest, or depiction of a legendary being. Wolves were said to become killer whales when they walked into the sea. This is the socket piece of a Kuskokwim Bay sea mammal dart, carved in walrus ivory to represent a wolf, according to Smithsonian collector Edward Nelson. Small fragments of green glass or mineral represent the creature's eyes, and its teeth are tinted with red pigment. A socket piece like this was attached to the front end of a dart used to kill large seals, walrus, and beluga whales. Darts were thrown with the nuqaq [throwing board] and the weight of the socket helped the dart to fly far and hit hard. The base of the weapon's sharp barbed point fit inside the "mouth" of the wolf or dog, which is lined with wood to absorb the shock of impact. Nelson reported that socket pieces decorated with wolf images were common on Nunivak Island and along the adjacent mainland of southwestern Alaska, and that this design was a "totem" that represented a particular lineage or group of families. Other totems included the land otter, gerfalcon, and raven. Similarities between wolves and humans are emphasized in Yup'ik oral tradition. They were also believed to have an alternative identity as beluga whales, and to change from one form to the other. Traditional stories also tell of wolves changing into killer whales. The shared identities of wolves and toothed whales may explain imarpiim qimugtii, the "dog of the sea" discussed by Elders in relation to this object. Canine imagery on hunting equipment may also reflect a desire to share in the hunting skill of these predators.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 27 Jan 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kuskokwim Bay, Lower, 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: E38442-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Dart
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 22 cm
label: Diameter - Object
content: 3 cm