Hybrid animal-human forms are commonly seen throughout paleo-Eskimo art, and this miniature pendant is a prime example.

With greatest economy of means, the carver has modeled a human head emerging from a fish’s body, equally weighted so that it is ambiguous whether one manifestation or the other is prominent.

Note how the markings around the face suggest a hooded parka, a feature seen on human doll figures. One form borrows from the other, just as the life cycle itself does: fish becomes man as man eats fish. A visitor to a native village once remarked, upon having his first taste of seal meat: “It tastes like a cross between venison and fish.”

His native host replied: “You are what you eat.”