Inuit Cribbage Board

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange 2020
• Subjects: History of Art; Architecture; and Archaeology; Bering Strait; inuit; Nome; Alaska; walrus*
• Online Access: https://digital.kenyon.edu/arthistorystudycollection/1313; https://digital.kenyon.edu/context/arthistorystudycollection/article/2312/type/native/viewcontent/2020.298__1_.JPG

This ivory cribbage board is most likely from the Bering Strait area of Alaska, originating from the Inuit culture. While ivory carving of walrus tusks or whale bones has been prevalent for hundreds of years, cribbage boards and other European subjects became popular during the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska in 1869–99 (Fay, 2019). Ivory artifacts in the Old Bering Strait area have spanned from 100–1500, carrying many different meanings, whether religious or depicting scenes of everyday life (Fitzhugh et al., 2009: 18). These include scenes of daily tasks, as well as icons of sacred connections such as human faces and animal spirits of the sky and sea (Fitzhugh et al., 2009: 18). However, as European whalers and traders came into contact with the local Inuit populations in the late 19th to early 20th century, the old craft of ivory carving took on new forms and meanings in order to cater to the tastes of Westerners (Fair et al., 2006: 35). Customers included whalers, prospectors, missionary teachers, and collectors (Fair et al., 2006: 35). “Market art†took the form of traditional Inuit ivory carving and engraving and translated it to European subjects such as pipes, model ships, engravings on whole tusks, cribbage boards and nonfunctional copies of European objects such as knives and razors (Fair et al., 2006: 35). Inuit culture has been based in a trade reliant economic system before the arrival of Europeans. These incoming merchants from Canada and the United States brought new goods and a cash-based market with them (Fair et al., 2006: 35). Missionaries in the area promoted stable, cash-flowing occupations to the indigenous community, which included ivory carving for tourists and travelers (Fair et al., 2006: 35). Many older implements of traditional Inuit ivory carving survived through family heirlooms, such as bow drills and toolboxes (Fair et al., 2006: 35). Nome, specifically, became a hub for “market artâ€, and in 1945 ivory carving was even considered a full-time job (Fair et al., 2006: 35). ...