Like all the Eskimo of North America from Cape Bathurst westward, the natives of Point Barrow use for fine whittling and carving on wood, ivory, bone, etc., “crooked knives,” consisting of a small blade, set on the under side of the end of a long curved haft, so that the edge, which is beveled only on the upper face, projects about as much as that of a spokeshave. The curve of blade and haft is such that when the under surface of the blade rests against the surface to be cut the end of the haft points up at an angle of about 45°. This knife differs essentially from the crooked carving knife so generally used by the Indians of North America. As a rule the latter has only the blade (which is often double edged) curved and stuck into the end of a straight haft. These knives are at the present time made of iron or steel and are of two sizes, a large knife, mĭ´dlĭñ, with a haft 10 to 20 inches long, intended for working on wood, and a small one, savigro´n (lit. “an instrument for shaving”), with a haft 6 or 7 inches long and intended specially for cutting bone and ivory. Both sizes are handled in the same way. The knife is held close to the blade between the index and second fingers of the right hand with the thumb over the edge, which is toward the workman. The workman draws the knife toward him, using his thumb as a check to gauge the depth of the cut. The natives use these knives with very great skill, taking off long and very even shavings and producing very neat workmanship.[N274] [Footnote N274: Compare this with what Capt. Parry says of the workmanship of the people of Iglulik (2d Voy., p. 336). The almost exclusive use of the double-edged pan´na is the reason their work is so “remarkably coarse and clumsy.”] There are in the collection four large knives and thirteen small ones. No. 89278 [787] (Fig. 113) will serve as the type of the large knives. The haft is a piece of reindeer antler, flat on one face and rounded on the other, and the curve is toward the rounded face. The flat face is hollowed out by cutting away the cancellated tissue from the bend to the tip, and the lower edge is sloped off so that the end of the haft is flat and narrow, with a slight twist. The blade is riveted to the flat face of the haft with three iron rivets, and is a piece of a saw countersunk flush with the surface of the haft, so that it follows its curvature. The cutting edge is beveled only on the upper face. The lower edge of the haft, from the blade to the place where it begins to narrow, is pierced with eleven equidistant holes, through which is laced a piece of sealskin thong, the two parts crossing like a shoe-lacing, to prevent the hand from slipping. The ornamental pattern on the upper face of the haft is incised and was originally colored with red ocher, but is now filled with dirt. [Illustration: FIG. 113.--Large crooked knife. 1/2] [Illustration: FIG. 114.--Large crooked knife, with sheath. 1/3]