Fur Parka
On mannequin
Trapper’s Hat
Marten, sateen, rayon
Yukon River area 1920s
Monte B. Cady Collection
UA76-005-0001
Muskrat Parka
Muskrat, wolf, wolverine, calfskin,
textile
Koyukon Athabascan
Maker: Altona Brown
Ruby ca. 1930
Elizabeth Woods Rose Collection
UA99-016-0001
All the furs for this parka were hunted or trapped by Mrs. Brown and her husband Alexander.
Mittens with Gauntlets
Raccoon, leather, corduroy, yarn
Fairbanks ca. 1940s
Edby Davis Collection
UA74-001-0006AB
Boots
Caribou, moose, beaver, yarn, textile, thread, dental floss
Koyukon Athabascan
Maker: Lydia Bergman
Allakaket 1967
Dinah Larsen Collection
UA98-009-0004
Foreground
Birchbark Moose Call and Moose Scapula
Loan courtesy of the Gelvin Collection
CGR08
Hunters use available materials to attract moose during hunting season. A moose scapula hit against shrubs or branches simulates the sound of a male in rut, rubbing his antlers against hard materials to signal his location. Bulls or cows can be called by amplifying a hunter’s voice through a roll of birchbark.
Dog Pack
Caribou leg skins, sinew
Gwich’in Athabascan
Chalkyitsik pre-1970
Collector: Henry Williams
MANMC Collection
UA70-054-0075
Wall, left to right
Bear Spear
Wood, steel, rawhide
Koyukon or Upper Kuskokwim Athabascan
McGrath pre-1969
Jack McGuire Collection
UA69-080-0040
Long spears were used by select Athabascan men to hunt bears in their dens. When the bear would stand to attack the hunter, the base of the upright spear was held tight to the ground and the bear would fall upon the point.
Marble’s Axe and Sheath
ca. 1915
Loan courtesy of the Gelvin Collection
CGR09
“The axe is a necessary tool on
a trapline, for limbs and small trees need to be cut around a set trap, and sometimes brush must be cut in a trail. In an emergency when one must have a fire or build a temporary shelter, the axe is indispensable. A trapper on the trail without an axe would be like a carpenter without a hammer.”
- - Sydney Huntington, 1993
Skin Stretcher
Wood, rawhide
Gwich’in Athabascan
Maker: Abraham Christian
Venetie 1965
UA70-054-0041
A skin stretcher of this size is used for mink and marten, and sometimes for small lynx. Stretchers of this type were brought into Alaska by white trappers.
Beaded Rifle Case
Smoked moosehide, leather, felt,
glass beads, cotton fabric
Gwich’in Athabascan
Maker: Lilly Herbert
Chalkyitsik
Mary Woodcock Collection
UA84-004-0004
Winchester Model 1894 Carbine
Trapper’s Model
.30 W.C.F.
New Haven, Connecticut 1895
Serial no. 35220
August Conradt Collection
0972-0005
