Ulu

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This article is about a woman's all-purpose knife. For other uses, see ulu (disambiguation).

An ulu in the western Arctic style

West Greenlandic ulu

East Greenlandic ulu

An ulu from Alaska

An ulu (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐅᓗ, plural: uluit, English: "woman's knife"^[1]) is an all-purpose knife traditionally used by Yup'ik, Inuit, and Aleut women. It is utilized in applications as diverse as skinning and cleaning animals, cutting a child's hair, cutting food and, if necessary, trimming blocks of snow and ice used to build an igloo.

Name

In the Nunatsiavummiutut dialect, spoken in Nunatsiavut, the word is spelled uluk, and in East Greenlandic it is sakiaq or saakiq and in syllabics is ᓴᒃᑭᖅ.^[1]

language	singular	dual	plural
Yukon-Kuskokwim Yup'ik	uluaq	uluak	uluat
Chevak Cup’ik	kegginalek	kegginalgek	kegginalget
Nunivak Cup'ig	ulluar
Alaskan Iñupiaq	ulu ~ uluuraq
Western Canadian Inuit	ulu
Eastern Canadian Inuit	ulu ᐅᓗ		uluit
Nunatsiavut Inuit	uluk
Greenlandic Inuit	sakiaq ~ saakiq
Koyukon Athabascan	tlaabaas
Holikachuk Athabascan^[2]	tthamas

Materials

Traditionally the ulu was made with a caribou antler, muskox horn or walrus ivory^[3] handle and slate cutting surface, due to the lack of metal smelting technology in the Arctic.^[4] The handle could also be carved from bone, and wood was sometimes used when it was available. In certain areas, such as Ulukhaktok Northwest Territories, copper was used for the cutting surface.^[5]

Today the ulu is still often made with a caribou antler handle but the blade is usually made of steel. The steel is quite often obtained by purchasing a hand saw or wood saw and cutting the blade to the correct shape. A hardwood called sisattaq is also used for handles. These uluit are both kept for home use and sold to others. It is also possible to purchase commercially produced uluit, sometimes made with a plastic handle and complete with a cutting board.

Usage and styles

The size of the ulu typically reflects its usage. An ulu with a 5 cm (2 in) blade would be used as part of a sewing kit to cut sinew. Kimaqtuut is a small ulu used for cutting out patterns from animals skins (seal, caribou) which is the two-inch blade. An ulu with a 15 cm (6 in) blade would be used for general purposes. Occasionally, uluit can be found with blades as large as 30 cm (12 in).

The ulu comes in four distinct styles, the Inupiat (or Alaskan), Canadian, West Greenlandic and East Greenlandic. With the Inupiat style ulu the blade has a centre piece cut out and both ends of the blade fit into the handle.^[6] In Canada the blade more often is attached to the handle by a single stem in the centre. In the western areas of the Canadian Arctic 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 pointed.^[7]^[8]

The shape of the ulu ensures that the force is centred more over the middle of the blade than with an ordinary knife. This makes the ulu easier to use when cutting hard objects such as bone. Because the rocking motion used when cutting on a plate or board with an ulu pins down the food being cut, it is also easier to use an ulu one-handed (a typical steak knife, in contrast, requires a fork).

History

Uluit have been found that date back to as early as 2500 BCE. Traditionally, the ulu would be passed down from generation to generation. It was believed that an ancestor's knowledge was contained within the ulu and thus would also be passed on.

Legality

Some countries, including Canada, prohibit the possession or carrying of knives where the blade is perpendicular to the handle (intended to limit the use of so-called "push daggers"). However, the Criminal Code of Canada specifically exempts uluit from this prohibition.^[9]

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ulu". Asuilaak Living Dictionary. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
↑ Kari, James. 1978. Holikachuk Noun Dictionary (Preliminary). Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. ERIC ED172528
↑ Bering Sea Eskimo Walrus Ivory and Iron Semi-Lunar Knife 'Ulu' (Inuit 1800 to 1900)
↑ Canadian Museum of Civilization
↑ "Ulu with a musk ox horn handle." British Museum.
↑ External image on the Inuipat style ulu
↑ External image of the different types of uluit
↑ Various uluit
↑ Consolidated Regulations of Canada, S.O.R./98-462

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uluit.

Look up ulu#Inuktitut in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

v t e Knives and daggers

List of daggers List of blade materials

Types of knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boning Boot knife Bowie Bread knife Cane knife Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Dagger Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Electric knife Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Grapefruit knife Gravity knife Gunong Hunting dagger Hunting knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kīla Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Mezzaluna Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Nakiri bōchō Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pocket knife Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Rondel dagger Sabatier Sami knife Santoku SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Tomato knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Warrior knife X-Acto Yanagi ba Yatagan

Types of daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Baselard Bichawa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Hachiwara Hunting dagger Janbiya Kaiken Kalis Kard Katar Khanjar Kris Mark I trench knife Ocean Edge Knife Parrying dagger Poignard Push dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife Tantō Marine Raider stiletto V-42 stiletto Yarara Parachute Knife Yoroidōshi

Knife manufacturers	Aitor Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Bear MCG Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Caber Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Cutlery DOVO Solingen Dexter-Russell Eikhorn Ek Commando Knife Co. Emerson Knives Erizo F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Füritechnics Gerber Legendary Blades Global Golok Hanwei Imperial Schrade J. A. Henckels KA-BAR Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives MercWorx Microtech Knives Morseth Murphy Knives Ontario Knife Company Opinel Pro-Tech Knives Randall Made Knives Ranz Rigid Knives Rösle SOG Specialty Knives Sabatier Aîné & Perrier Spyderco Strider Knives Survival Aids TEKNA Thiers Issard Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Walther arms Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Windlass Steelcrafts Wüsthof Yarara Ltd

Knifemakers	A.G. Russell American Bladesmith Society Rex Applegate James Black Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Phill Hartsfield Bill Harsey, Jr. Gil Hibben Knifemakers' Guild Zanjan Knifemakers Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless Bob Lum William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Walter Doane "Bo" Randall, Jr. Chris Reeve Jody Samson William Scagel Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler

Book:Knives and daggers Category:Knives / Daggers

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