Fig. 460. Pana or knife for dissecting game, a (From Parry II, p. 548.) b (American Museum of Natural History.)
The skin of the seal (Pagomys fœtidus) is dressed in different ways, according to the purpose for which it is intended. In skinning the animal a longitudinal cut is made across the belly with a common butcher’s knife (saving). Most natives have procured this useful instrument and even in olden times a considerable number had found their way from Hudson Bay territory to their countries. The large knives of their own manufacture (pilaut) are of similar form, a metal edge being inserted into an ivory blade. Figure 459 is a more modern knife, an iron blade being fastened to a bone handle.
The skin, with the blubber, is cut from the flesh with the same knife, or still more easily with the pana, the old device of which is represented in Fig. 460 a (Parry II, p. 550). This knife is about one foot and a half long (Parry II, p. 503). The use of the small prongs near the blade was not explained by Parry. In Fig. 460 b is presented a pana from the eastern coast of Hudson Bay, collected by Dr. R. Bell; the handle is made of bone, the blade of iron. The flippers are cut off at the joints, and thus the whole skin is drawn off in a single piece. In dressing the animal the natives open the belly and first scoop out the blood, then the entrails are taken out, the ribs are separated from the breast bone and from the vertebrae, the fore flippers (with the shoulders and the hind flippers) are taken out, the only part remaining being the head, the spinal column, and the rump bone. Generally these are not eaten, but are used for dogs’ food.
The knife (ulo) used by the women serves to clean and prepare the skins. This implement, with which almost all the cutting is done, is shaped like a crescent, the handle being attached to the center, and greatly resembles a mincing knife. Fig. 461 represents the form which is now in use. Fig. 462 is a very old ulo handle from a stone circle on Qeqertuqdjuaq (Cape Broughton). It is made of bone and has a slit for the slate blade. It is worth remarking that this blade had not been riveted to the handle, but fastened with a kind of glue (see [p. 526]). There are a few arrow and harpoon heads the blades of which are inserted in the same manner; the bone is heated and the blade is inserted while it is hot. As it is cooling the slit becomes narrower and the blade is firmly squeezed into the bone handle. Part of a slate blade, which had been riveted to the handle, is shown in Fig. 463. Fig. 464 represents a handle from a recent grave.
Fig. 461. Form of ulo now in use. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6733.) ⅔
