INUPIAQ ARROW STRAIGHTENER

Robert Hayden Museum, Sayre, Pennsylvania

George Terasaki, New York, acquired from the above in 1964

Steven C. Brown, Transfigurations: North Pacific Coast Art. George Terasaki, Collector, Seattle, 2006, n.p., pl. 65 (two views)

The arrow-shaft straightener was an important tool used to rectify the imperfections and small crooks of the shafts of wooden arrows made for hunting caribou, birds, or fish. Wood is scarce in the Arctic, and arrow shafts did not always come from perfect stock. The diamond-shaped hole that angles through the tool ensures that the shaft is centered in the opening. Pressure brought upon the wooden shaft as the tool is levered against the arrow straightens out small bends and curves. The arrow has very controlled, specific pressure applied to it with such a tool, enabling the hunter to keep his weapons in their best form in spite of changes in humidity and the pressures brought upon the arrows by successful use. Huge herds of caribou once migrated along time-worn paths throughout western Alaska, following changes of the seasons and the perennial growth of grazing lands. Though greatly reduced in number, caribou herds still roam through the Alaskan interior. Caribou-effigy shaft straighteners come largely from north of the Yukon River. This one features a sensitively modeled caribou head and neck fashioned from one of the antler's tines. Small beads were inlaid into the animal's eyes, adding to the liveliness of the image. The highly sensitive ears of the caribou are laid back on its head, and a fine groove issues from each ear and runs down the neck to become a borderline down the forward edge of the tool. A similar fine line borders the diamond-shaped orifice of the tool and extends along the midline to the bottom of the handle. Scenes of grazing and migrating caribou are engraved along these grooves, with the lines representing the surface of the earth. Hunters armed with bows and arrows in timeless pursuit of their quarry are etched into the antler's surface.

Steven C. Brown