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Historical
Ulus: An extensive study of historical
and prehistorical ulus indicates they were made in a number
of shapes and regional styles (Rankin and Labreche 1991).
Most ulus consisted of three parts: a blade, a handle, and
a stem (or shaft), one end of which was attached to the blade
and other end embedded in the handle. Occasionally, an ulu
blade had no stem so it was embedded directly in the handle,
or a blade had no stem or handle and simply was held in the
hand. Slate was the material commonly used for ulu blades,
though other materials were sometimes utilized. Stems were
made of metal, wood or antler, while handles were made of
wood, bone or antler. Baffinland Inuit ulus had a slate blade,
a wooden stem, and a handle made of wood or ivory (Boas 1964).
Copper Inuit living on Victoria Island used natural copper
for their blades (Jenness 1946), which they attached with
copper or metal rivets to a stem whose other end was set into
the handle. When slate and copper were not available, Labrador
and Ungava Inuit turned to baleen or ivory for blades (Turner
1894). In the late nineteenth century, Inuit on Banks Island
used antler for stems and handles, cutting the stems from
antler tines which are naturally flat (Hahn 1977). Handles
were attached to ulu blades in a number of ways. One method
was to make a long slit along one side of the handle and force
the blade into this slit, gluing it in place with a mixture
of hair, blood, and fat. Another method was to drill holes
through both the handle and the blade, then pull a skin thong
through the holes to lash the two pieces together. This technique
was also used when there was a stem connecting the handle
to the blade (Rankin and Labreche 1991). A third way was to
cut a slit in the bone handle, heat it up, then insert the
blade into the slit; as the bone cooled, it contracted to
hold the blade in place (Boas 1964). To sharpen blades, Copper
Inuit used a metal file, a piece of copper, or a bear's canine
tooth (Jenness 1946).
Contemporary
Ulus:
Today, ulus are usually made by men for their wives and relatives,
and sometimes ulus are made by individuals for sale or trade
with community members or tourists.
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In Sanikiluaq, ulus can be purchased from students who make
them in their cultural program at the Nuiyak School, and Ungava
and Labrador Inuit sometimes buy ulus from Iqaluit. Mass-produced
ulus, which are popular as Christmas gifts, are sold at Northern
stores. Blades
Modern ulu blades are usually cut with a cold chisel and hammer
from saw blades (both crosscut and circular) or from sheets
of stainless steel. Inuit from Igloolik prefer old saw blades,
which keep a sharp edge longer than other metals.
Ulus
usually have a semicircular cutting edge, but the shape of
the upper noncutting edge of the blade varies regionally (Rankin
and Labreche 1991). For example, Caribou Inuit blades have
a straight horizontal noncutting edge, while Copper Inuit
blades are shaped like one-third of a pie, with a straight
diagonal noncutting edge. Baffinland, Iglulik, and some Ungava
and Labrador Inuit blades have scalloped, arched, or curved
noncutting edges.
The
size of ulu blades also varies, depending upon the work to
be done. When butchering game or fish, women use ulus with
large blades (approximately 15 to 25 cm wide), but they prefer
smaller ulus about 12 to 18 cm wide for removing blubber,
eating, and shaving skins. Very small blades about 10 cm wide
are used for cutting skins, cropping hair on leg skins, and
trimming small pieces. Tiny ulus about 4 to 5 cm wide are
handy while sewing, to cut threads and complete other finishing
touches. Some Iglulik and Baffinland Inuit have ulus with
a small triangular-shaped blade approximately 5 cm wide to
cut out intricate pieces for fancy inlay work on skin boots.
However, the size of ulu chosen for a specific also depends
on personal preference, as Leah Otak (1993) explains:
My mother always used her largest ulu for removing the
blubber and shaving off the hair of sealskin as it made the
work go faster. She used a general ulu for eating and cutting.
A special ulu was used for cutting patterns. This ulu has
a smaller blade than the one used for eating and it is always
kept clean.
Throughout
the eastern and central Arctic, only one side of the ulu blade
is beveled. The beveled side is placed against the skin when
removing fat, fascia (connective tissue), or hair, as it tends
to float along the surface of the skin rather than slashing
or cutting into it. Copper Inuit, however, bevel the blade
on both sides and sharpen it by holding a pair of scissors
in the left hand and drawing the ulu across the shears. All
sorts of objects can be used to sharpen a blade, such as the
barrel of a gun or the side of a skin boot, but most women
have sharpening steels and few prefer diamond-sharpening steels.
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Stems:
A piece of soft metal, preferably brass or aluminum, serves
as the ulu stem. One end of the stem is embedded in the handle,
and the other is riveted to the blade. Most Inuit use only
one stem to connect the ulu and the handle, but an ulu style
with two stems is popular all over Baffin Island (Audlikiak
1989), Greenland, and parts of Alaska. Due to the long-range
movements of people in the North today, it is not surprising
that some tool designs and clothing styles rapidly become
popular across the Arctic. For instance, Elisapee Muckpa (1987),
a Sanirarmuit originally from Pond Inlet but presently living
in Arivat, prefers to use the double stemmed ulu 1500 km away
from where this style is prevalent.
Handles:
Baffinland, Igluik, and Inuvialuit often carve handles for
their ulus from a piece of hardwood or antler; sometimes they
use other materials, such as a piece of ivory, plastic bread
board, a nylon sled runner, or scrap lumber. Copper Inuit
often use muskox horn or hardwood scraps for handles. Ungava
Inuit make handles from packing crates brought in on the sea
lift, leftover wood from construction sites, driftwood collected
along the shoreline, or antlers.
Scrapers: Different types of scrapers have different
functions in the skin preparation process. Dull curved scrapers
are used to soften dried skins, while sharp curved scrapers
(sometimes made by sharpening dull curved scrapers) are used
to remove fascia and a layer of dermis from dried skins. Dull
straight scrapers, which are used to remove epidermis from
skins and excess water or fat from seal hair, have broad flat
blades.
Historical Scrapers: Baffinland and Labrador
Inuit used the base of a caribou scapula or a stone bound
with whaleskin rope to a piece of driftwood as a dull straight
scraper (Speck 1937, Boas 1964). Slate, other types of stone,
and bone were used for curved scrapers by the Netsilik, Copper,
and Caribou Inuit (Stefansson 1919, Birket-Smith 1929. Jenness
1946, Webster 1949). After 1719, when iron became available
from Hudson's Bay Company trading posts, Caribou Inuit began
to make scrapers with metal blades (Burch 1986a), though Netsilik
and Copper Inuit rarely did so until the middle of this century,
as they had difficulty obtaining metal. Netsilik Inuit salvaged
metal from shipwrecks, while Copper Inuit acquired natural
copper through trade with Yellowknife Indians at Great Bear
and Great Slave Lakes, or with Paarllirmuit (Caribou Inuit)
via the Brochet trading post (Jenness 1923). By the twentieth
century, however, brass, iron, and steel were frequently used
for scraper blades (Stefansson 1945, Webster 1949).
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