Snow knife: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Inuit tool}} |
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[[File:Inuit snow knife (forground) and woman's knife (background) - Arctic Museum.jpg|thumb|A bone snow knife with an [[ulu]] in the background]] |
[[File:Inuit snow knife (forground) and woman's knife (background) - Arctic Museum.jpg|thumb|A bone snow knife with an [[ulu]] in the background]] |
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[[File:Snow knife, Nunatsiarmiut-Nunavimiut, S. Baffin Island, eastern Hudson Bay, 1910-1914 - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC00286.JPG|thumb|A metal |
[[File:Snow knife, Nunatsiarmiut-Nunavimiut, S. Baffin Island, eastern Hudson Bay, 1910-1914 - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC00286.JPG|thumb|A metal-bladed snow knife]] |
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A '''snow knife''' or '''snow saw''' ([[Inuktitut]]: ''pana''<ref>[ |
A '''snow knife''' or '''snow saw''' ([[Inuktitut]]: ''pana''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=eD5M1_kk_I0C&dq=pana+snow+knife&pg=PA92 An Inuktitut-English Dictionary of Northern Quebec, Labrador, and Eastern Arctic Dialects (with an English-Inuktitut Index)] Lucien Schneider. 238 239. pamiulik panirsimajuq ... 6 adg (not 5e) pana <o. snow knife - ''pana <o. snow knife''</ref>) is a tool used in the construction of ''[[Igloo|igluit]]'' (snow houses) or as a weapon by [[Inuit]] of the [[Arctic]]. The snow knife was originally made from available materials such as bone or horn but the Inuit adapted to using metal after the arrival of Europeans.<ref name=aaas/> It may also be used for digging for berries or as a prop in storytelling.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=A History of the World - Object : Inuit Snow Knife or Pana |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/xU4iO_CpQWWp37P33LrcXA |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=BBC}}</ref> |
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==Historical descriptions== |
==Historical descriptions== |
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The [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] noted in 1883: |
The [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] noted in 1883: |
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{{ |
{{blockquote|The only instrument used in the construction of the igloo is the snow-knife. Where the Inuits{{sic}} have intercourse with white men, they barter for cheese-knives or long-bladed butcher-knives, remove the double-handle from the [[Tang (tools)|tang]], and put on a single one about three times as long, which can be readily grasped by both hands. The old knives were made of reindeer-horn or from the shin-bone of the [[reindeer]]. |
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Among the [[Eskimo|Esquimaux]] in and around [[King William Island|King William's Land]] I found snow-knives made of copper stripped from Sir [[John Franklin]]'s ships, the imprints of the queen's [[broad arrow]] still showing on many, the blades double-edged or dagger-shape, and the handles of [[Muskox|musk-ox]] and reindeer horn rudely attached by sinew lashings. |
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The snow-knife of iron, while more convenient in many ways, is far more liable to break in the intense cold of the winter weather, such accidents with them being very common. I have seen igloos built when the thermometer registered −70°F. At such temperatures the snow becomes almost stone-like in its compactness. The snow-knife is often used as a substitute for the snow-tester whenever that instrument is broken or left behind, for the Esquimaux are a very careless and absentminded people.<ref name=aaas>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mgj3y5qnHaQC&dq=%22snow+knife%22&pg=PA259 Science, Volume 2 By American Association for the Advancement of Science, HighWire Press, JSTOR (Organization)]</ref>}} |
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==See also== |
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* [[Tomahawk]] |
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* [[Ulu]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:Knives]] |
[[Category:Knives]] |
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[[Category:Construction]] |
[[Category:Construction equipment]] |
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[[Category:Inuit tools]] |
[[Category:Inuit tools]] |
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[[Category:Inuit weapons]] |
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{{knife-stub}} |
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Latest revision as of 17:08, 15 November 2024
_and_woman%27s_knife_(background)_-_Arctic_Museum.jpg)
A snow knife or snow saw (Inuktitut: pana[1]) is a tool used in the construction of igluit (snow houses) or as a weapon by Inuit of the Arctic. The snow knife was originally made from available materials such as bone or horn but the Inuit adapted to using metal after the arrival of Europeans.[2] It may also be used for digging for berries or as a prop in storytelling.[3]
Historical descriptions
[edit]The American Association for the Advancement of Science noted in 1883:
The only instrument used in the construction of the igloo is the snow-knife. Where the Inuits [sic] have intercourse with white men, they barter for cheese-knives or long-bladed butcher-knives, remove the double-handle from the tang, and put on a single one about three times as long, which can be readily grasped by both hands. The old knives were made of reindeer-horn or from the shin-bone of the reindeer.
Among the Esquimaux in and around King William's Land I found snow-knives made of copper stripped from Sir John Franklin's ships, the imprints of the queen's broad arrow still showing on many, the blades double-edged or dagger-shape, and the handles of musk-ox and reindeer horn rudely attached by sinew lashings.
The snow-knife of iron, while more convenient in many ways, is far more liable to break in the intense cold of the winter weather, such accidents with them being very common. I have seen igloos built when the thermometer registered −70°F. At such temperatures the snow becomes almost stone-like in its compactness. The snow-knife is often used as a substitute for the snow-tester whenever that instrument is broken or left behind, for the Esquimaux are a very careless and absentminded people.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ An Inuktitut-English Dictionary of Northern Quebec, Labrador, and Eastern Arctic Dialects (with an English-Inuktitut Index) Lucien Schneider. 238 239. pamiulik panirsimajuq ... 6 adg (not 5e) pana <o. snow knife - pana <o. snow knife
- ^ a b Science, Volume 2 By American Association for the Advancement of Science, HighWire Press, JSTOR (Organization)
- ^ "A History of the World - Object : Inuit Snow Knife or Pana". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
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