FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1894; FIG. 110; P. 700."
Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/86 , retrieved 12-31-2019: A large spindle for a bow drill. The cylindrical wooden shaft tapers towards the end that was held in a drill bearing. A small bone or antler peg has been inserted into that end, where it is held in place by a wrapping of sinew. This peg would have reduced wear on the spindle when it was rotated inside a bearing. The drill bit is an iron rod that has been beaten out into a diamond shaped point that has been filed sharp on the edges. In order to prevent the bit from splitting the spindle it is held in place by two pieces that were cut out of the spindle shaft and reinserted after the bit was put in place. A hide thong has been wrapped around this end of the spindle to keep these inset pieces and the tip securely in place. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/20: The bow drills in the MacFarlane Collection were used for boring holes into wood, antler, bone and ivory. The drill spindle (shaft) has a bit at one end, and the other end is shaped to fit into a bearing that is held between the teeth. The spindle is rotated by wrapping a slack thong attached at each end of a drill bow around it, and moving the bow back and forth. Ancestral Inuvialuit also used another type of bow drill for starting fires.
