The Sheldon Jackson Museum June artifact of the month is a carved Yup’ik figure of a man (SJ-II-S-86). The object's origins are a bit of a mystery though it bears some resemblance to carvings in a qasgig or community house model in the museum’s collection and may have been in a model.
The seated figure is carved out of a single piece of light colored wood and, despite being unclothed, has considerable detail. The body is well proportioned, with bent arms extending outward and hands closed. The left leg is bent while the right leg is straight. The eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are carved. The hair, eyebrows, and pupils are drawn in pencil. The figure gazes forward with an alert countenance. In his right hand is a miniature broken gut skin drum. His left hand, where he would hold a drum stick, is empty. Across his chest in red ink is the word “Kuskokwim,” and on the underside of his proper left thigh is the inscription “Kuskokwim S.J.” in black ink.
This object's maker is unknown, but the carving style, facial features, and body form are all reminiscent of some of the carved figures in a qasgiq model in the museum’s collection (SJ-II-S-101), which is on exhibit in the Inupiaq & Yup’ik mask case. There is no record of the figure's collector, nor is there a record listed in Dr. James Condit’s 1931-33 inventory.
The drum in the figure’s right hand may or may not be original to the piece. There is a note on file from former museum curator Peter Corey explaining how the drum came to be paired with SJ-II-S-86. It reads: “Ever since I came here [to work at the museum] in 1977 there has been a miniature Eskimo drum in the spare parts drawer. I tried it in the right hand of this figure and it fits. I am making the determination that this is the drum for this figure and cataloguing it as SJ-II-S-86B. The drum stick for the left hand is missing still. P.L.C. 9/11/1995.”
It is not uncommon for older museums to have small pieces or parts that somehow become separated from their respective artifact over the years. A mask may become separated from an appendage or a feather, a carved figure holding a drum from its drum stick, or a bead from its strand. Museum professionals document objects and keep records of pieces in the event they become detached, label parts, and make notations of pairings, as Corey did, for future curators. Record keeping and careful storage is not enough, however. Although this match for the June artifact of the month appears to be right, sometimes parts are improperly paired with artifacts. Consultations with culture bearers, artists, and elders are invaluable in determining if a match was made in error.
The Sheldon Jackson Museum cares for five Yup’ik models depicting a qasgiq or a dance scene. The qasgiq was where masked dancing took place and the place were men slept, ate, worked, and bathed. It was a formal and an informal space, a place for carving, learning, dancing and singing, and ceremony. It was utilized by all members of the community. All Yup’ik winter villages had at least one qasgiq, though larger villages had up to three. It was only in the last half of the twentieth century that the qagiq was abandoned as missionaries encouraged Yupiit to build frame houses and live with their wives in a western way in a nuclear setting.
Visit the museum to see the June artifacts of the month and other examples of Yup’ik models. Summer hours are Monday–Friday, 9:30 am–4:30 pm, except holidays. Admission is $9, $8 for seniors, and free for ages 18 and under and active military and their families.
Fienup-Riordan. The Living Tradition of Yup’ik Masks: Agayuliyararput: Our Way of Making Prayer. University of Washington Press, Seattle. 1996.
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