Carved Seal Bowl

Created by Jim Miller, this painted wooden bowl appears in the form of a seal and replicates the traditional round and animal-shaped bowls that men ate from. (Looking Both Ways, 162) There is also evidence that elaborately decorated bowls shaped like animals might have been used at ceremonies. A bird-shaped bowl housed at the National Museum of Natural History  has a similar shape to Chugachmiut's seal bowl and is identified as being used by guests at celebrations and feasts to hold fish, meat, lily roots, and berries mixed with seal and whale fat. (Looking Both Ways, 179) Harbor seals remain an important source of food and skins for people in the Chugach Region.

Crowell, Aron L, Amy F. Steffian, and Gordon L. Pullar. Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People. Fairbanks: Univ. of Alaska Press, 2001. Pg 162 &179