Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 0100-0005A,B | |
| Category | Tools & Implements | |
| Object Name | Snow shoes | |
| Culture | Dena’ina (Tanaina) | |
| Global Region | North America | |
| Country | USA | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | Alaska | |
| County | ||
| Other Geographic Data | Cook Inlet area | |
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ca. 1890 | |
| Collection Name | N/A | |
| Materials | Wood; Sinew, Marine mammal (seal?) skin; Commercial paint | |
| Description | Pair of adult-sized snowshoes whose wooden frames are made of two pieces that are painted red and steamed and bent to shape, overlapping on the distal end where they are overwrapped with sinew; Each shoe is fitted with three cross-braces and the central portion of each shoe is woven with very heavy laces of an unidentified sea mammal (most likely seal), both for the shoe itself and the foot lacings; The proximal and distal portions of each shoe are carefully woven with thin sinew strands in a small diamond pattern; A total of six small tufts of red wool and possibly wolf (?) hair are attached to each shoe (2 at distal end where the frames overlap and 2 each on the distal and proximal sections of sinew webbing); Woven sinew portions are also painted with red geometric pattern; The fact that the holes in the wooden frames through which the sinew and hide lacings pass are rather carelessly made and the use of red commercial paint instead of ochre suggests some commercial influence in the manufacture of these shoes, as opposed to those made exclusively for native use. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Height = 18.1, Width = 27.9, Thickness = 3.7, Length = 127.0 | |