Inuit Tools

The Inuit used all different kinds of tools.  They used them for hunting, for transportation, for games, and for making other things they needed.

A bow drill was used for carving.   The men carved combs, beads, pendants, thimble holders, and bottle shaped needle cases.  Needles looked the same as our needles but they were carved of stone.

bow drill

The Inuit used 3 kinds of knives: wood, bone, and ivory. Fathers carved blunt "story knives" out of walrus bone for their daughters.  The girls then drew pictures in the snow with them and told stories about the pictures. 

The Inuit used a knife with a triangular stone blade and a wooden 'T' shaped handle called an ulu for skinning animals.  They also used a large bone needle shaped knife called umiuk for cleaning skins.

They used a stone tied onto a branch for a hammer. They made harpoons out of wood, with bone or stone blades. An ice-fishing harpoon was called an unaak.

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