“Long knives with flaring, voluted handles were used for both hunting and fighting. They were originally made from copper obtained through the native trade system; later examples like this one collected in the 1860s were made of trade steel. Lashed to wooden poles, they were used by especially daring hunters to kill bears” [1].

The quotation above pertains to an Athapaskan steel dagger. However, the finely crafted dagger we have in our possession is made of copper, indicating that it was most likely created during the first half of the 19th century. The dagger's classic form features a fluted blade and ram's horn double volutes, demonstrating the expertise of its creator. The accompanying sheath is adorned with beautiful beadwork, although it shows signs of considerable aging and may have been produced slightly more recently. It is probable that such meticulously crafted daggers and sheaths held a prestige value beyond their utilitarian purpose among the Dene people. Additionally, some of these daggers were likely traded to neighbouring Inuvialuit, making it possible that a few examples may have been misattributed over time.

1. William Fitzhugh and Aron Crowell, Crossroads of Continents (Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1988), p. 229.

References: For a later example made from steel and identified as probably Kutchin, see William Fitzhugh and Aron Crowell, Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Siberia and Alaska (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1988), p. 229. For two more steel examples see Henry B. Collins et al, The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1973), cats. 200,201. See also Sotheby’s Auctions, NY, October 25-26, 1984, Lots 326, 327 (one copper, one steel); Sotheby’s, NY, December 3, 1986, Lot 212 (with sheath); and Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, November 2015, Lot 108 (copper with sheath). For three steel knives see Sotheby’s, NY, May 19, 1998, Lot 589.