Chagudax Bentwood Hunting Visor

by keithcatton

Hunters of the Aleutian Island chain shielded their eyes from sun and spray with elegant bentwood visors. Some had short bills and others were extended to conceal the face from strangers and adversaries. This visor is ornamented with bands and dots of paints that were probably made from volcanic minerals, fish bile, blood, and other traditional ingredients. Sea lion whiskers are attached on the left side, where they would not interfere with the use of a throwing board or harpoon by a right-handed hunter.

The bentwood visor with its extra long bill is a beautifully decorated example of a practical hat worn for centuries by kayak hunters in search of sea mammals, birds and beluga whales along Alaska’s western coast. The shape of the hat helps the hunter see and hear better by shading the hunter’s eyes and cupping and the hunter’s ears. The hat is made from a driftwood board that is carved very thin and bent while it is hot and soaking wet in a steam bath. Hats are decorated with purple, blue, green, gold, red, black and white paints, long sea lion whiskers, feathers, beads, and carved ivory.

The hat is both functional and spiritual. Among the functions of the hat, there is a ridge along the midline of the hat that is used to line up a spear. The visor is also used to shield the eyes from the sun and sea spray. The whiskers with the beads on the back of the visor clacked together when the wind became rough prompting the removal of the visor and the return home.