Alaskan Native Walrus Ivory Carvings

Ivory - Alaska Native Art

Alaska Native artists are recognized for their distinctive artwork. Walrus, mammoth, and mastodon ivory are valued sculptural materials that for millennia have been carved into a variety of forms essential to Arctic life, from harpoon heads to needle cases, handles, ornaments, buckles and much more. Alaska Native carvings of animals, hunters, and ceremonial masks, as well as other contemporary and traditional artwork, incorporate Alaskan ivory to enhance the beauty and value of the work.

Walrus Ivory
Pacific walruses are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and may only be harvested by Alaska Natives. Alaska Natives living along the coast of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea rely heavily on subsistence hunting of walrus for food, clothing, and cultural traditions; the tusks and teeth are used for the creation and sale of artwork.

New ivory has three layers just like human teeth: an outer (enamel), middle (dentine), and inner core. A talented Native artist will use all three layers in a carving, making unusual patterns to create a unique one-of-a-kind piece. The thin black lines that sometimes occur are natural and are the result of abrupt changes in temperature when the walrus moves from warm rock haul-outs to cold ocean water.

Only Alaskan Natives may use walrus ivory harvested after 1972. Once carved and sold by an Alaskan Native, anyone may resell Alaska Native art crafted from new walrus ivory.

Fossil Walrus Ivory
The mineral content that the ivory or bone absorb over several hundred or even thousands of years while lying on the ground or beach or being buried in frozen ground influences the color of every piece of fossil walrus ivory. Because of this, no two carvings will have the same design or color. Fossilized ivory ranges in color from cream through buff and brown to dark green, blue, and even black.

Both Alaska Natives and non-Natives can work on these materials. Look for the silver hand sticker on Alaska Native products to assure the authenticity of true Alaska Native work.

Mammoth & Mastodon Ivory
Mastodon ivory is a fossilized ivory from the tusks of the extinct mastodon or wooly mammoth. In Alaska mammoth tusks and bones are unearthed in coal mines or other excavations with fair regularity. The estimated age of this material is 10 to 12 thousand years old.

Mammoth ivory is from tusks found in Alaska that are around 3,000 to about 5,000 years old. It has a crosshatch grain and color may range from creamy white to mottled dark brown, depending on the mineral content of the surrounding soil deposit.

Alaska Native ivory art is highly collectable but it is important to be an educated buyer. For more information refer to Alaska Native Ivory brochure from the U.S. Department of the Interior – Indian Arts and Crafts Board online: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/iacb_alaska_ivory_brochure_2018_web.pdf