Object description

• Inuit artist
• Bow drill, 19th century
• Ivory
• Northern Alaska, United States
• L: 13 in, W: 1/2 in (L: 33.0 cm, W: 1.3 cm)
• Gift of Mr. Alexander O. Vietor, 1980
• E67117

• Illustrations of dangerous activities of hunting and warfare
• Used for drilling hard materials and starting fires

Etched with scenes of daily life, bow drills were invaluable tools of survival in the Arctic. A leather cord attached to the bow would have been wrapped around a drill shaft, and the motion of moving the bow back and forth would have rotated the drill, creating the friction necessary to start fires and carve bone, ivory, or wood.