Inuit Ulu – The unique woman’s knife of the Arctic
Cold forged from stolen meteorites …500 words…2 minute read…
I have always been intrigued by the “ulu” – a semi-circular bladed knife traditionally used by the woman in many circumpolar cultures.
photo caption: from the author's personal collection
Dating back to as early as 2500 BCE., the ulu was passed down from generation to generation. It was believed that an ancestor’s knowledge was contained within the ulu and would be passed on.
Early ulu blades were made primarily from slate or sometimes copper, which was available in some areas of the central arctic. For centuries, the Inuit from the eastern arctic would make a pilgrimage to the Cape York area of Greenland to harvest metal from meteorites, the only source of iron for tools and harpoons. The Inuit would work the metal, using cold forging—that is, by hammering the metal with stones.
photo caption: from the author's personal collection
In-keeping with the unique cultural ways of the Inuit, they would only harvest as much metal as required for their immediate needs… even though many had to travel incredible distances and endure untold hardships in the process. Being a spiritual people, the Inuit would honor the meteorite with a prayer of gratitude before removing the metal.
The main source was a meteorite known to the Inuit as “Saviksoah”, which translates into “Great Iron”. This 31 metric ton mass was later renamed “Ahnighito” by famed arctic explorer Robert Peary who, in 1894, with the help of a local Inuit guide, located the meteorite on Saviksoah Island – just off northern Greenland’s Cape York. Peary then took the Ahnighito meteorite and sold it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it is on display to this day. The unfortunate result is that Peary removed the primary source of metal from a race of people with very few resources to start with… all for personal profit and self-aggrandizement.
photo caption: Peary with the Ahnighito fragment
Ranging from 5 cm (2inch) to 30 cm (12 inch) blades, the smaller uluit (plural of ulu) are primarily used for cutting sinew and pattern cutting in hides, with the mid size, 15 cm (6 inch) blade used for general purposes; while the larger blades are utilized for food processing, such as flensing whale blubber and butchering large mammals.
photo caption: from the author's personal collection
Today the traditional ulu made by the Inuit still has a caribou antler, bone or wood handle, but the blade is now usually made of steel harvested from used circular saw blades.
photo caption: from the author's personal collection
In the Canadian Arctic, I noticed some regional differences in design. In the western areas, the blade of the ulu tended to be of a triangular shape, while in the eastern Arctic the ends of the blade tend to be more semi-circular. The best thing about ulu’s is that although they are now commercially made (mostly for tourists), the real ones are still traditionally crafted by the Inuit.