A most peculiar thimble, the only one of the kind seen, is shown in Fig. 326a (No. 89392 [1195] from Utkiavwĭñ, belonging with the large bone needle of the same number already described and figured). This is made of a single piece of walrus ivory, browned with age, and the round shallow socket is for the butt of the needle. The ends of the half ring are slightly expanded and notched on the outside to receive a string to complete the ring so that it can be fitted round the finger, with the flange in the same position as the pad of a leather thimble.
Fig. 327.—Needle cases with belt hooks.
Needles are kept in a case (ujyami), consisting of a tube of bone or ivory about 5 or 6 inches long, through which is drawn a broad strap of leather furnished with a knot at one end to keep it from slipping wholly through. Into one side of this strap the needles are thrust obliquely, so that when the strap is pulled in they are covered by the tube. To the other end of the strap is usually attached an ivory snap hook for fastening the needle case to the girdle of the pantaloons. These needle cases are made of two slightly different patterns, of which the first is represented by No. 89365 [1277], Fig. 327a. It is of white walrus ivory, 4½ inches long, and the strap is of seal thong about 11 inches long and 0.3 inch wide. At one end of this is a pear-shaped knob of walrus ivory, which is shouldered off at the small end and worked into a short flattened shank perforated with a large eye, through which the end of the strap, which is cut narrow, is thrust. It is fastened by doubling it back and sewing it to the standing part. A sky-blue transparent glass bead is inlaid in the large end of the knob. The other end of the strap is fastened in the same way into a tranverse slot in the end of the belt hook (tĭ´tkĭbwĭñ) of ivory, 4.7 inches long.
This pattern appears to be usually made of walrus ivory. Only one of the six brought home is of bone, and this is an unusually small one, only 3.6 inches long, made for sale. The usual length is 4½ to 5 inches. No. 89363 [1105], Fig. 327b, from Utkiavwĭñ, is a tube very much like the one described, but is ornamented with an incised pattern colored with red ocher, and has a differently shaped belt hook. When the latter is hooked over the girdle the ring is pushed up the shank over the point of the hook till it fits tight, and thus keeps the hook from slipping off the belt.
Fig. 328a (No. 89364 [1243] from Utkiavwĭñ) is another ivory needle case, 4.7 inches long. The tube was once ornamented with incised patterns, but these are almost wholly worn off by constant handling. The knob is carved into an ornamental shape, having a circle of six round knobs round the middle. It has been suggested that this is meant to represent a cloud-berry (Rubus chamæmorus), a fruit known to the “Nunatañmiun” though not at Point Barrow. The hook is a snap hook very much like those described in connection with the netting weights, but larger (3 inches long) and very broad at the upper end, which is made into a broad ring. The point of a steel needle still sticking in the flesh side of the strap shows how the needles are carried with the points toward the knob.
