Sewing Bag
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 Oct 1886
name: label: Collector
content: Sgt. Samuel Applegate
label: Collector
content: John W. Clark
label: Donor Name
content: Sgt. Samuel Applegate
notes: 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=221 , retrieved 10-24-2021; see web page for additional information: Sewing bag, Yup'ik. The traditional roll-up sewing bag, or kakivik - like this one with its walrus ivory [sic] fastener and trimmings of wolverine, caribou, mink, and squirrel fur - was an essential feminine possession. Girls made them to demonstrate that they had learned the skin-sewing skills that they would need as wives. In rituals, the bags signified womanhood and birth; thus when a girl experienced her first menstruation and "stood up" in the community as a marriageable woman, she unwrapped her dolls ("pretend children") from her kakivik and gave them away to younger companions. The traditional kakivik [sewing bag] was made of fish or animal skin, with a rounded flap at one end and a small pouch at the other to hold needles and small sewing implements such as thimbles and needle cases. Contemporary sewing kits are made of cloth. When not in use, the kakivik is rolled up, wrapped several times with the cord that attaches to the flap, and secured by sticking an ivory crosspiece or "bag fastener" into the wrapping. Older ones, like this example, were often embellished with fancy needlework and decorative furs. Sewing kits were symbolically connected with womanhood and birth. For example, a pregnant woman sat on her sewing kit while cutting meat if she wanted to give birth to a girl. When a girl experienced her first menstruation and "stood up" in the community as a marriageable woman, she unwrapped her dolls (symbolizing children) from her kakivik and gave them away to her younger companions. Young men made bag fasteners as courting gifts, and a sewing kit's rounded flap resembles the U-shaped bottom of a woman's parka.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 8 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kassianmute, Togiak River, 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: 018036
label: USNM Number
content: E127353-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bag
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 27.5 cm