Ulu (knife)
The Ulu (plural: Uluit ), also Ulo , is a knife that is traditionally used by the women of the Eskimos . The basic shape is a thin blade with a semicircular cutting edge and a handle in the middle on the opposite side. It is used for skinning and dividing the hunt, filleting fish and for preparing and chopping food.
In the absence of other materials in the Arctic, the original blades were made of slate , quartzite , jade or other suitable stone with handles made of animal bone , ivory or horn . In western Canada, for example in Ulukhaktok in the Northwest Territories , blades were also made from solid copper . Steel became available to the Eskimos in the 19th century and almost completely supplanted the other materials. Regional variants developed in the process. Today Uluit are manufactured industrially from stainless steel .
See also
Web links
- The Ulu Knife. (PDF; 2.0 MB) In: Outdoors-Magazine.com. March 13, 2006, accessed August 21, 2011 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ulu with a musk ox horn handle ( memento from October 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the British Museum
- ^ Three ulus ( memento of October 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the British Museum website
- ↑ Ulu Knives ( Memento of March 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) - Official website of the Anchorage Convention & Visitor Bureau
- ^ The Ulu Factory. Retrieved August 21, 2011 .