Inuvialuit & the Cadzow Collection
This collection of approximately 100 artifacts/belongings was purchased from Inuvialuit trappers and traders in the inner Mackenzie Delta in 1917 at Fort McPherson and at Signic, a small settlement near present-day Aktlarvik. In this era, many coastal trappers, including Inuvialuit and Alaskan Iñupiat, migrated to the Delta to capitalize on the booming global trade in muskrat pelts. These traders acquired a variety of foreign trade goods and integrated the new materials and technologies when making their own tools. The collection, assembled by Donald Cadzow, an American fur trader commissioned by the Museum of the American Indian in New York, showcases belongings that integrate traditional and new elements. Since 1989, the ‘Cadzow Collection’ has been housed by the Smithsonian Institution in Maryland.
In 2019, a team of Inuvialuit knowledge holders spent a week working with the Cadzow Collection. Team members carefully examined belongings in this collection, and documented their knowledge to add to the Smithsonian’s records and share in the Inuvialuit community. High-quality images taken during this visit are presented here and on the Inuvialuit Living History archive site.
Left to right: Ethel-Jean Gruben, Gerry Inglangasuk, Beverly Amos at the National Museum of the American Indian, 2019. Photo credit: Charles Arnold.
Ethel-Jean Gruben (left) and Beverly Amos examine kamngit (boots). Cadzow Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, 2012. Photo credit: Charles Arnold.
Beverly Amos making a pattern from a kamak (boot). Cadzow Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, 2012. Photo credit: Charles Arnold.
Beverly Amos (left) and Ethel-Jean Gruben examine a caribou skin inner atigi (parka). Cadzow Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, 2012. Photo credit: Charles Arnold.
Gerry Inglangasuk researching a tool for loading shotgun shells. Cadzow Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, 2012. Photo credit: Charles Arnold.
Belongings
Kamngit (boots). These men's kamngit are made from caribou skin. Fabric cuffs sewn to the openings at the top are decorated with wool embroidery. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/071010.
Caribou skin atigi (parka). This woman's inner atigi is made from caribou skin with the hair on the inside. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/ 071004.
Caribou skin atigi (parka). This man's outer atigi is made from caribou skin with the hair on the outside. The edges of the hood, cuffs and bottom hem are trimmed with pieces of wolverine fur. Around the hem is a decorative band made from pieces of light and dark caribou skin with wool embroidery. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/059554.
Ammunition reloading tool. This home made tool made of ivory was used for pressing a primer into a shotgun shell. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/070956.
Game call. These game calls have a strip of baleen or bark held between two pieces of wood bound together at each end with sinew. The sound made by blowing between the two pieces of wood attracted muskrats and waterfowl. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/070918.
Tagluk. These long, teardrop-shaped snowshoes are rounded and slightly upturned at the front ('toe)' and pointed at the tail. The frame of each is made from two pieces of wood, probably willow, and hide thongs have been used for the netting. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/070985.
Tarraqtuun. This hand mirror has been made by embedding a fragment of a mirror glass in a frame made of wood. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/070949.
Wood plane. This home made hand plane is made of wood with a steel blade. Photo credit: National Museum of the American Indian/Cadzow Collection/070940.
