THE MAN 8 KNIFE. 



735 



is like that of the farrier's knife. Tlie shank is let into a stub groove 

 on the side of the handle; a thin portion of the piece of wood taken out 

 is restored and a seizing of tawed buckskin is wrapped around. The 

 handle is rectangular and terminated with a curved portion to fit 

 the thumb. The noticeable feature of this knife is 

 that the shank of the blade is let into the handle in 

 such way that when cutting is being done the strain 

 conies against the solid wood and not against the 

 buckskin lashing, as in a great many examples studied. 

 Whittling does not involve hard pressure, so there is 

 no necessity for a strong joint, as in the knives for 

 carving hard substances. 



Example Cat. No. 153046, in the 

 U. S. National INIuseum, is a curved 

 knife from the Nascopi Indians of 

 Labrador (fig. 7), collected by Mr. 

 Charles McLaren. The blade is 

 inserted into a stub groove in the 

 top of the handle, and this is cov- 

 ered by a strip of wood, and all 

 lashed together with a rawhide 

 band, which is fastened off by tuck- 

 ing under at both ends. The han- 

 dle is of spruce wood, and the grip 

 is straight, but the thumb portion 

 is bent up and inward so as to fit 

 exactly the curvature of the hand. 

 A loop of string at the outer end of 

 the handle completes the device. 

 Esi^ecial attention is called to the 

 neat fastening of the rawhide con- 

 nective. Length, inches. 



In the annual report of the Bu- 

 reau of Ethnology, Dr. W. J. Hoff- 

 man figures a curved knife in general use among 

 the Menomini Indians in Wisconsin. These Indi- 

 ans are of the Algonquian stock, and one is not 

 surprised, therefore, to find a curved knife of the 

 same type as those of eastern Canada and the 

 United States. The handle has a long slope for the 

 thumb; the tang of the blade is let into a stub 

 groove on the side of the handle and at the tip end 

 carried quite through. The connective jmrtion of 

 the handle is also cut in a h)ng groove to secure the cord used in lash- 

 ing. The author says that "among the Menominis this knife is used 

 jn i)reparing the splints from elm logs, out of which baskets are made." 



Fig. 5. 



CURVED KNIFE FROM 



UNGAVA. 



Cat. No. 10657, U.S.N. M. 



Fig. 6. 



CURVED KNIFE FROM MON- 

 TAGNAIS INDIANS. 



Labrador. 



Cat. No. 15.i49S, U.S.N.M. 



