inuit knives

[ausjulius]

some pictures of inuit knives most dating for the 19th centuary

[Jim McDougall]

Great!
Any comments? notes on where they are from ? observations?
Thank you for posting these.

[ausjulius]

they are from canada , the are all inuit.. the large knives in the single fotos are all of hardened steel, all but one of the knvies appears to be inuit forged.. or gorged in their style, the large single edged butchering knife appears to be forged in a western style, as the blade is to somth to be forged on a stone anvil

it is proably not forged by a european person though as the tang is quite odd.. and also it is single beveled , that is sharpe only on one side, it was however forged on a steel anvil,,

the 2 large knives,, one dagger/ short sword and the butchering knife, both have 2 peice tangs.. one tod connecting the blade to the handle then a twin pronged tang mad eof bronze comming from that to the pommel ,making two pins in the pommel, this odd tang system was popular with the inuit, maybe originaly because of a shortage of mateiral to make the item as long as it can be but later shurly just because of tradition

the other larger dagger, or more correctly short sword, as it is around 55cm long and 5cm wide.. and 6mm thick.... and more sword than dagger...
it is with a full tang with a ring at the end,,.

the grip is wrapped with some plant matieral..
the smaller dagger has two brass pins inlayed in the hilt for what reson it is not known..

the group of copper bladed knives go from big to small the biggest about 30cm in blade length,, these knives are more made for cutting up marine mamals..

the are soft copper..
items are all from 19th centuary, exctpy the largest knife proably 1900-1920s

[Tim Simmons]

Very very nice. The last picture is the one I like best. It is fascinating how objects like this travel the world.

[David]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

they are from canada , the are all inuit.

It should be noted that the Inuit people also inhabit parts of Alaska, Greenland and even parts of Russia as well as the Canadian arctic and sub-arctic.
Canada is a large place. Do you have any idea what part of Canada these come from or what specific Inuit tribe they might belong too?

[ausjulius]

hi , the people in russia speek another language than the inuit,, as do some ofo the alaskan peoples..

so technicaly they are not inuit,, ....
although culturaly they are very close..
and most colthing items and toodls are the smae,, ulus are common among northen costal peoples of russia as were specific forms of carving and styles ot tools, it is no doubt that the iunit came in the last 1500-2000 years from russia and moves along sticking to land they were used to ,,
there was a much better understanding of metals and thier use by the iuit than by any of the north american nomad folk.. aswell as the inuit tools and bows which were far superior.. ( the nomadic indians dows are... very weak and only wreald dseigned for short range 10 meters or so.. as the concept and technology was different, ) using composite bows of wood and bone or antler and wood ..as used in siberia.. and making knives and tools form copper in much larger amounts.. although copper was used by the plains indians and other nomads it was proably mostly traded with inuit or other peoples further south or on the east cost,,.as copper spears were common but tools not common atall.

an interesting note when early contact with the inuit occoured there was found to be in some specific isolated areas many groups with european features such as blonde hair and green or gray eyes..
i do recall that there was some opinin that these people were decent or norse people,, that is now proven to be incorrect..

as these features an be observed amoung natives of siberia and islans between russia and north america. and proably are the genetics that are the same as what gives european races these destincted looks.
and no doubt these genetics and also the interest in metal and understanding of its use didt come from recent outide influence but form the asian continent when these people migrated.

the knives are from the northen central part of canada , in the areas speeking the avilimmiutut dialect and the islands between there and greenland ...

the knives here i fotoed in canada they were not in russia :P


interesting i do recall some post along time back maybe on this forum where somebody asked didt the inuit use a large knife.. well mostly they prefered bi long knives.. as weapons and as tools, before the metal became more common and compper was only for the more affluent person large stone knives were also made............

about 30cm blades were normal,,.. and about 6cm wide ...
they were for stabbing and slicing,, and had a stone handle....

they were used as a weapon but mostlikely used for cutting up large mamals aswell if no copper blade could be had.


interestingly the siberiasn natives also like large knives,, both costal people and the inland folk as yakuts and such, they like a large machete like knife, 40-60 cm long, like a giant puukko... i belive in the 18th centuary russian pesants prefered to carry these in the central and eastern parts of russia also.. like amulti tool, weapon , forest tool and butchering large malals. and a ox or moose ...
the siberian natives inland also like pole arms.. like along glave ,, i belive called a palaym .. (could be wrong spelling i forget...) aswell as body armor
the costal peoples prefered more slings and spears and darts and body armor.
i belive the fighting techniques of these folk were quite organised..

having the group split into groups,, heaverly armored foot men with sheials and wooden , leather and bone armor with large back sheilds on,, armed with shears and dart throwers and clubs,, axes,, ect advance while behond them advances slingers with slings hurling rocks,, and throwing darts and shooting arrows,
on the side they snipe more accuratly,, the hand combatants,, wearing the high sheild behind the head to protect of rocks of their comrads as they near their opponants,

these people being only afew kilometers over the sea form alaska,, engaged in organised combat with quite a intent,,
as did the aleutian islanders no boubt the eskimo wer enot a race of pacifists and had before their migration engaguged in these types of combat also.. as these techniques were commom on the coast of alaska..

no doubt the big daggers and sword like items were used to dispatch opponents and not as decoration or for cutting up snow..

[Jim McDougall]

Very very nicely done Ausjulius!!! Thats what I'm talkin' about!!
Thank you very much for adding the detail on these most interesting items. This is a little collected and studied field of arms, and it is great to have this kind of information available.
All best regards,
Jim