Snow Goggles

Item number E2147-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1894; FIG. 21; P. 290. INVENTORIED 1975. LENT TO PRINCE OF WALES NORTHERN HERITAGE CENTER, 6-3-92. LOAN RETURNED: DEC 21 1992."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/239 , retrieved 12-30-2019: Snow goggles with wood eye shades attached to strips of hide. The eye shades are rectangular with rounded edges, and are convex on the outside and concave on the inside, where they have been blackened with soot or charcoal. Each eye shade has a narrow slit cut into it. The eye shades are stitched to separate pieces of hide on each side and in the centre with sinew. The side pieces in turn are stitched to narrower thong ties. One of these ties has a slit at the end for joining to the corresponding end of the tie on the opposite side. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/52: Snow goggles protect the eyes from bright sunlight reflected from snow and ice which can burn the retinas and result in snow blindness. Similar to squinting, the narrow horizontal slits in the snow goggles allow only a small amount of sunlight to reach the eyes but still allow the person wearing them to see.