Unangan hunting headgear

Last updated
QayaatXuX, a closed-crown chief's hat from the Arvid Adolf Etholen Collection, National Museum of Finland, Helsinki. Hunting hat, Aleut - Etholen collection, Museum of Cultures (Helsinki) - DSC04917.JPG
QayaatX̂uX̂, a closed-crown chief's hat from the Arvid Adolf Etholén Collection, National Museum of Finland, Helsinki.

Unangan hunting headgear are wooden hats associated with the Unangan or Unangas, the Indigenous peoples of what are currently known as the Aleutian Islands.

Contents

Also known as bentwood hats, and hunting hats, the headgear take the form as either closed crown conical hats, with long frontal bills; open crown hats, with long bills; or visors with short bills. [1] Closed crown conical hats were historically worn by chiefs, whalers, and high-ranking sea hunters, while open crown hats and visors were worn by regular and lower-rank sea hunters.

These hats are recognized by their distinctive shape, elaborately painted designs and artistry, as well as their ornamentation with bone carvings and sea lion whiskers. Russian and European explorers collected many Unangan wooden hats in the late 18th and 19th century. These hats are now part of many museum collections around the world. [2]

Since the 1980s, contemporary Alaska Native artists have spawned a resurgence creating this customary headgear. [3] [4]

Types

The hats can be categorized into three types: [1]

  1. Qayaatx̂ux̂ (eastern Aleut dialect): meaning “chief’s hat, decorated, closed top, long wooden hat”. [5] This was a closed crown, conical hat with long-billed front; it has also been classified as “classic Aleut” by some ethnographers.
  2. Chagudax̂: (eastern Aleut dialect) meaning “wooden hat without a crown”. [6] This is an open crown (no closed top) hat, with long-billed front.
  3. Chagudax̂ (eastern Aleut dialect): meaning “wooden hat without a crown”. [6] Similar to type 2, this is an open crown visor, but with a short billed front instead of a long-billed front. These were more common and worn by all seahunters. [1]

Origins and history

Development in the Kodiak Island region

Lydia T. Black states that Unanagan wooden headgear trace their origins to the Kodiak Island region. [7] The headgear of this area, belonging to the Kodiak Alutiiq, developed through a combination of influences and adaptations from neighbouring Indigenous peoples including the Yup’ik (in the north-west of Alaska), the Tlingit and the Haida (in the north-west coast of Alaska and British Columbia). [8] [9]

The Kodiak Islanders adopted a similar hat shape to the Yup’ik, whose headgear were characterized by the closed crown hats. The style of peaked tops found in closed crown hats were influenced by the Tlingit, whose grass woven hats with split cylindrical tops indicated high-rank and privilege, and were reserved for chiefs. Stylized zoomorphic features on Kodiak hats were influenced by Haida headmasks, which featured carved animal heads. [10]

By the mid 18th century when explorers had arrived in the Kodiak region, they remarked on seeing wooden headgear worn by the Indigenous peoples. [11] They noted their use during festivals, times at sea, and also during trade with other peoples. [11]

Introduction into the Aleutian Islands

With close regional proximity to Kodiak Island, the spread of headgear made its way its way into the eastern and central Aleutian Islands. This introduction was a slow movement; while visors were reported by explorers in the Shumagin Islands in 1741, the closed crown hats in the Aluetians were rare. The price of one chief's hat was the equivalent to 1 to 3 slaves, which was more than a baidarka (kayak). [12] [13]

Further spread into the Aleutian region is likely due to the whaling hunt, which was a widespread practice among the Kodiak Alutiiq and Sugpiat. For the Kodiak Alutiiq and Sugpiat, whaling was a highly spiritual and ritualistic practice; whalers were both avoided and revered for going on such dangerous missions. From the time prior to the hunt to the time after the hunt and cleansing, whalers were eschewed; however outside of the hunt they were respected within the community for their ability to capture such a large sea mammal that contributed to survival of the community. [12]

Lydia T. Black notes that whaling was introduced to two islands, Four Mountain Island and Unalaska Island (via Krenitzen Island). [14] On Unalaska Island, the first record of a closed crown hat was noted by Carl Heinrich Merck in 1778 when Unangans were seen capturing a whale. [14] Black notes that a few years later headgear were seen at Atka Island, where some Kodiak Alutiiq had settled. [15] Similar to the Kodiak Alutiiq, whaling for the Unangan people was highly valued within the community, as the kill was shared amongst members. [16] Unangan hunters and whalers who participated in the practice were highly regarded; they often answered to the chiefs, as chiefs decided when whalers would go out on the waters. [15]

By the 19th century, further recordings of the headgear were noted by other explorers. During his voyage to Unalaska Island in 1805, German naturalist, explorer, and Russian diplomat, Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff described a qayaatX̂uX̂ chief's hat saying that "the most elegant and expensive headdress is a pointed wooden hat with an umbrella-like projection over the eyes and is rounded cap-like in the back”. [17]

Dating prior to contact, and with a long evolution that led to the development of stylized elements, Russian scholar S. A. Ivanov argues that Unangan headgear reached a pinnacle of design sophistication due to the relative isolation of the Aleutian Islands. [18]

Purpose

Drawing of an Unangan man wearing a ChagudaX visor. A portrait of a man and a woman from the Aleutian Islands, 1822. Ludovik Choris, Anchorage Museum, 81.68.4. Unangan visor gut parka earrings Choris 1825 AMHA 81.68.4.jpg
Drawing of an Unangan man wearing a ChagudaX̂ visor. A portrait of a man and a woman from the Aleutian Islands, 1822. Ludovik Choris, Anchorage Museum, 81.68.4.

Male Unangan sea hunters, whalers, and chiefs wore the long billed open crown hats classified as chagudaX̂. [19] Regular ranking hunters wore the more common open crown visors (also called chagudaX̂), which had a shorter bill. The visor served to shield the glare of sunlight on the sea, and spray of water. [10] Younger male hunters wore the short billed visors; and as a hunter matured in age, they would graduate to the longer-billed visor. [12] As Russian ethnographer Rosa G. Liapunova has indicated, visors decorated with sea lion whiskers indicated the hunting abilities of the wearer; the more whiskers, the better the hunter. [19]

Closed crown hats classified as qayaatX̂uX̂ were worn by exceptional hunters, whalers and chiefs. Denoted by the shape of their pointed tops, these hats marked the whaler's and chief's place in society as respected members; the hats differentiated them from regular members of the community. Similar to short- and long-billed visors, these hats blocked the glare of sunlight and water. When not as sea, chiefs wore the closed crown hats during festivals and during visits to other villages. [20]

Creation process

Unangan hat makers constructed headgear through a time- and labour-intensive process that began with finding and obtaining wood. [21] Since wood is scarce in the Arctic region, Unangans placed high value in its rarity. Finding a piece large enough was often acquired from a stump that had washed ashore, usually spruce, cedar or birch. [13] The makers carefully cut and scraped out the found wood into a plank board, so that it was thin and flexible enough to bend into shape; this process could take up to a week. [22] [21] From there the makers steamed and softened the planks by using hot stones and pouring water over the wooden piece. They would then shape the wood into an asymmetrical visor or conical hat, with the intention of the longer side projecting over the eyes of the wearer. [22] The Unangan makers would fasten the ends together at the back of the hat using sinew or baleen threads. [22] [21] They would further decorate the headgear with paint, as well as volutes, figurines, and sea lion whiskers, depending on the level of elaboration.

Painting of man dressed in ceremonial attire, wearing QayaatXu, closed crown chief's hat. Unangan parka hat bag basket KFGun 1862 LC MoF.jpg
Painting of man dressed in ceremonial attire, wearing QayaatX̂u, closed crown chief's hat.  

Design and ornamentation

Painting

Unangan hat makers painted the headgear with an undercoat base of white paint, and then added to it with a second coat of colour; the inside was painted in red. [23] Paints were mostly made with mineral pigments and on rare occasions with plant-based pigments; they were mixed and with bodily fluids such as blood plasma or nasal mucus as a binding agent. In his journal recordings from a Russian scientific expedition, German naturalist Carl Heinrich Merck stated that colours such as black were obtained from mainland Alaska; while white was found near volcanic vents or through trade; green, red, and yellow were produced with the ochre clay found in pond water. Blue was created by mixing together green and black. [24] [25]

Painted designs included horizontal bands of colour, dots, closed and open curves, spirals, and on occasion representational drawings. [26]

Volutes

For more elaborate designs on conical hats, Unangan headgear makers would add carved bone plates, also called volutes, to the backs and sides. These plates covered the back seam where the wooden piece was bound, adding sturdiness to the hat. It was also the location where sea lion whiskers or beads would be inserted. [26] On the sides, makers would add a carved plate near the wearer's temple; it had a long trianglual shape with a rounded circle at the end. S. V. Ivanov hypothesizes that this shape is a stylized bird head. [27] Whiskers were also inserted on the side to the bone plates.

Figurines

Unangan headgear makers also added small bone carved figurines to the tops of hats; these could be in the shape of birds or of other sea mammals like otters. [19] The figurines could also resemble human beings. [25] Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff's recorded observations note these figurines as being made of walrus tusk. [28]

Sea lion whiskers

To indicate the abilities of a hunter, Unangan hat makers added sea lion whiskers to hats and visors; the more decorated a hat, the more skilled the hunter. The location of whiskers was placed on the opposite side as the hunter's throwing arm, as to not get in the way of any hunting tools, such as a harpoon, when throwing. [22] A right-handed whaler would have the whiskers placed on the left side; a left-handed hunter would have the whiskers attached on the right side. [29]

Contemporary revival

In the 1980s, the art of making bentwood hats was revived by Andrew Gronholdt, a retired boat builder, who researched the construction methods and techniques to produce the headgear. [3] [30] More recently, Unangan artist Okalena Patricia Lekanoff Gregory, who studied under Gronholdt, has demonstrated making hats at universities and the Smithsonian. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleut</span> Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands

The Aleuts are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai. This group is also known as the Unangax̂ (Oo-NUNG-ukh) in Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eskimo</span> Exonym used to describe Indigenous people from the circumpolar region

Eskimo is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit and the Yupik of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related third group, the Aleut, which inhabit the Aleutian Islands, are generally excluded from the definition of Eskimo. The three groups share a relatively recent common ancestor, and speak related languages belonging to the Eskaleut language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian colonization of North America</span> Settling on northern Pacific Coast from 1732 to 1867

The Russian colonization of North America covers the period from 1732 to 1867, when the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russian America. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but also included the outpost of Fort Ross in California, and three forts in Hawaii, including Russian Fort Elizabeth. Russian Creole settlements were concentrated in Alaska, including the capital, New Archangel (Novo-Arkhangelsk), which is now Sitka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akutan, Alaska</span> City in Alaska, United States

Akutan is a city on Akutan Island in the Aleutians East Borough of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, United States. The population was 1,589 at the 2020 census, up from 1,027 in 2010, making it the 4th fastest-growing city of the decade in Alaska. Akutan Harbor is adjacent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodiak, Alaska</span> City in Alaska, United States

The City of Kodiak is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside world goes through this city via ferryboat or airline. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 5,581, down from 6,130 in 2010. It is the tenth-largest city in Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska Natives</span> Indigenous peoples of Alaska, United States

Alaska Natives are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alutiiq</span> Alaska Native ethnic group

The Alutiiq people, also called by their ancestral name Sugpiaq, as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are one of eight groups of Alaska Natives that inhabit the southern-central coast of the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodiak Island</span> Island off the coast of Alaska, United States

Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an area of 3,595.09 sq mi (9,311.2 km2), slightly larger than Cyprus. It is 160 km long and in width ranges from 16 to 97 kilometers. Kodiak Island is the namesake for Kodiak Seamount, which lies off the coast at the Aleutian Trench. The largest community on the island is the city of Kodiak, Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentwood</span> Wood shaped into curves while wet

Bentwood objects are those made by wetting wood, then bending it and letting it harden into curved shapes and patterns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agattu</span> One of the Aleutian Islands

Agattu is an island in Alaska, part of the Near Islands in the western end of the Aleutian Islands. With a land area of 85.558 square miles (221.59 km2) Agattu is one of the largest uninhabited islands in the Aleutians. It is the second largest of the Near Islands, after Attu Island. It is volcanic and considerably mountainous. The treeless island has a tundra-like terrain which reaches a peak of 2,073 feet (632 m) above sea level. Its length is 19 miles (30 km) and width is 12.2 miles (19.7 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Alaska</span>

Southwest Alaska is a region of the U.S. state of Alaska. The area is not exactly defined by any governmental administrative region(s); nor does it always have a clear geographic boundary.

The Alutiiq language is a close relative to the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska, but is considered a distinct language. It has two major dialects:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleutian kayak</span>

The baidarka or Aleutian kayak is a watercraft consisting of soft skin over a rigid space frame. Its initial design was created by the native Aleut people of the Aleutian Islands. The Aleut people were surrounded by treacherous waters and required water transportation and a hunting vessel. Due to the geography and climate of the Aleutian Islands, trees and wood were in scarce supply and the people relied primarily on driftwood to create the framework of the kayak, which was covered with the skins of sea mammals. Two types of boats were created, one with a covered deck that was used as a hunting kayak, and another that was open and capable of carrying goods and people from one island to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promyshlenniki</span> Type of worker in historical Siberia and Russian America

The promyshlenniki were Russian and Indigenous Siberian artel members, or self-employed workers drawn largely from the state serf and townsman class who engaged in the Siberian, maritime, and later Russian-American fur trades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unalaska Island</span> Volcanic island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States

Unalaska is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at 53°38′N167°00′W. The island has a land area of 1,051 square miles (2,720 km2). It measures 79.4 mi (127.8 km) long and 34.7 mi (55.8 km) wide. The city of Unalaska, Alaska, covers part of the island and all of neighboring Amaknak Island where the Port of Dutch Harbor is located. The population of the island excluding Amaknak as of the 2000 census was 1,759 residents.

The Shelikhov-Golikov Company (SGC) was a Russian fur trading venture, founded by Irkutsk entrepreneurs Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov in 1783. Formed in Eastern Siberia during the 1780s along with several competing companies, the SGC had operations in Kurile Islands and areas that later became Russian America. Russian ventures had been focused on maritime operations under promyshlenniki, though costs had continued to rise as more distant sea otter populations had to be exploited. Centered on the Kodiak and several Aleutian Islands, the majority of the company's indentured laborer was recruited among the Aleut and Alutiiq nations. A common practice amongst Russian companies was to take hostages from various villages, to force maritime hunters to gather otter furs. Shelikhov led aggressions on Kodiak Island against the indigenous Alutiiqs in 1784, known as the Awa'uq Massacre, where Russian employees killed over 2,000 people according to some estimates. In consequence of the massacre, the Island became fully controlled by the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Gronholdt</span> American sculptor

Andrew Gronholdt was a famous Aleut from Sand Point, Alaska, in the Shumagin Islands south of the lower Alaska Peninsula and became famous for rejuvenating the ancient Unangan art of carving hunting hats called chagudax. In January 2012, a book was published posthumously by Gronholdt titled "Chagudax: A Small Window into the Life of An Aleut Bentwood Hat Carver" Gronholdt's woodworking techniques, wood steaming and bending methods, and instructional design methodologies were legendary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awa'uq Massacre</span> 1784 massacre in Alaska

The Awa'uq Massacre or Refuge Rock Massacre, or, more recently, as the Wounded Knee of Alaska, was an attack and massacre of Koniag Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) people in April 1784 at Refuge Rock near Kodiak Island by Russian fur trader Grigory Shelekhov and 130 armed Russian men and cannoneers of his Shelikhov-Golikov Company.

Aleutic may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stepan Glotov</span>

Stephan Gavrilovich Glotov was a Russian navigator, explorer, and fur trader. He was the first Russian captain to enter the waters of the eastern Aleutian Islands, and was the European discoverer of Kodiak Island and several other Alaskan islands.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Ivanov, Aleut Hunting Headgear and Its Ornamentation, 269.
  2. ↑ Black, Glory Remembered, 153–170.
  3. 1 2 Fair, Susan W. (2006). Alaska Native Art: Tradition, Innovation, Continuity. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN   978-1889963822.
  4. ↑ "Unangax - Meet the People". Smithsonian Alaska Native Collection. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Hunting Hat". Smithsonian Alaska Native Studies. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Hunting Visor". Smithsonian Alaska Native Studies. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  7. ↑ Black, Glory Remembered, 18.
  8. ↑ Ivanov, Aleut Hunting Headgear and Its Ornamentation, 495.
  9. ↑ Black, Glory Remembered, 13.
  10. 1 2 Liapunova, Essays on the Ethnography of the Aleuts', 224.
  11. 1 2 Black, Glory Remembered, 21.
  12. 1 2 3 Black, Glory Remembered, 79.
  13. 1 2 Veniaminov, Ivan (1984). Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District. Kingston, ON: The Limestone Press. p. 269. ISBN   978-0919642034.
  14. 1 2 Black, Glory Remembered, 78.
  15. 1 2 Black, Glory Remembered, 80.
  16. ↑ Turner, Lucien M. (2008). Hudson, Raymond L. (ed.). An Aleutian Ethnography. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-60223-028-6.
  17. ↑ von Langsdorff, Georg Heinrich (1993). Pierce, Richard A. (ed.). Remarks and Observations on a Voyage Around the World 1803-1807. Vol. 2. Translated by Moessner, Victoria Joan. Kingston, ON: Limestone Press. p. 17. ISBN   9781895901009.
  18. ↑ Ivanov, Aleut Hunting Headgear and Its Ornamentation, 503.
  19. 1 2 3 Liapunova, Essays on the Ethnography of the Aleuts', 222.
  20. ↑ Lantis, Margaret (1966). Alaskan Eskimo Ceremonialism: Monographs of the American Ethnological Society. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. p. 77.
  21. 1 2 3 Liapunova, Essays on the Ethnography of the Aleuts', 219.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Laughlin, William S. (1980). Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge: Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology . New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp.  57. ISBN   0030812690.
  23. ↑ Black, Glory Remembered, 52.
  24. ↑ Liapunova, Essays on the Ethnography of the Aleuts, 220.
  25. 1 2 Merck, Carl Heinrich (1980). Pierce, Richard A. (ed.). Siberia and Northwestern America 1788-1792; The Journal of Carl Heinrich Merck, Naturalist with the Russian Scientific Expedition led by Captains Joseph Billings and Gavril Sarychev. Translated by Jaensch, Fritz. Kingston, ON: Limestone Press. p. 173. ISBN   9780919642935.
  26. 1 2 Liapunova, Essays on the Ethnography of the Aleuts', 221.
  27. ↑ Ivanov, Aleut Hunting Headgear and Its Ornamentation, 495.
  28. ↑ von Langsdorff, Georg Heinrich (1993). Pierce, Richard A. (ed.). Remarks and Observations on a Voyage Around the World 1803-1807. Vol. 2. Translated by Moessner, Victoria Joan. Kingston, ON: Limestone Press. p. 17. ISBN   9781895901009.
  29. ↑ Veniaminov, Ivan (1984). Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District. Kingston, ON: The Limestone Press. p. 270. ISBN   978-0919642034.
  30. ↑ Wallen, Lynn Ager (1990). Bending Tradition. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Museum and Institute of Alaska Native Arts. p. 37.
  31. ↑ "The Art of Aleutian Islands Bentwood Hats". Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.