# Eskimo Shit Knife--fact or fantasy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 7, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696 "2017-07-07T15:05:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/41 "2017-07-09T05:23:55Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> I did _bother_ to read the link. Did you bother to read the OP? At all? The subject of discussion is “Eskimo Shit Knife–fact or fantasy?” I mean, it’s only written right there in the _Subject_ line. Among the specific questions at hand–had you bother to actually read the OP–is “would [it] work”. The answer to that questions is “yes”. It has worked. There are first hand accounts of it actually working.
I think you are confused, perhaps re-reading the thread may help.🙂
---
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/42 "2017-07-09T05:33:19Z")
Can one thread shit a shit thread?
---
### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/43 "2017-07-09T06:13:53Z")
The way I figure it, there is no verifiable proof that the tale is in fact oral history, or if in fact it is a myth. (BTW, the significance of Freuchen that it establishes the Inuit shit knife as a being part of its material culture rather than just being a fellow making shit up to impress a white guy. When you have two ethnographers who are many decades apart coming across the same distinct thing in a culture, then you’re on to something).
Inuit qaujimajatuqangit is proving to be quite accurate when it is possible to verify it. For example, [it was through traditional knowledge/oral history that Franklin’s ships were located.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/franklin-find-proves-inuit-oral-history-is-strong-louie-kamookak-1.2761362) In lower 48 Euro-based American culture, everyone their grandmother and their dog has some vague second cousin once remove with Indian blood. Perhaps they do, but more likely, they don’t. In Canadian Inuit and First Nation cultures, when someone says they had a grandfather that did a certain thing, perhaps they did not, but much more likely, they did, for oral tradition – passing on actual facts – is a lot stronger in those cultures.
Knowledge of how to make a shit knife is Winter Survival 101: (1. shit; 2. craft the shit; 3. stab your intended dinner in the throat). Elders having refused to relocate to places that they were not familiar with is historical fact. Taking the keys to the car away from grand-dad is common today. Elders refusing to be constrained is common today – and bear in mind that elders in traditional Inuit and Canadian First Nations communities tend to be respected to a greater degree than general western culture in North America.
What it comes down to is that it is perfectly believable that an elder would refuse to be disrespected by his family and would set out for home with the expectation that the family would come to its senses and follow him back to the land they knew how to live on.
It is also perfectly believable that the story is not factual but instead is apocryphal, for it reinforces the importance of life skills, which in that family’s environment required being able to live on the frozen land and the frozen ocean, which it had been doing for about a thousand years, despite only having metal for the last couple of hundred, and never having had much wood.
---
### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/44 "2017-07-09T06:51:14Z")
> [@ZurBob](#):
>
> I think you are confused, perhaps re-reading the thread may help.🙂
Even the link in the OP goes to a search for “eskimo shit knife”, not “Wade Davis”.
---
### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/45 "2017-07-09T06:56:00Z")
And even the OP comes back to restate what the question is, in case people like you are confused:
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> But that is the question–_is_ it plausible that a handful of human feces can be hand-shaped into a knife sharp enough to butcher an animal?
**gogogophers** ,The question is about makig a knife out of shit. It isn’t limited to just Wade Davis. I don’t understand why you are being so hard headed.
---
### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/46 "2017-07-09T10:12:08Z")
> [@Muffin](#):
>
> Inuit qaujimajatuqangit is proving to be quite accurate when it is possible to verify it. For example, [it was through traditional knowledge/oral history that Franklin’s ships were located.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/franklin-find-proves-inuit-oral-history-is-strong-louie-kamookak-1.2761362) In lower 48 Euro-based American culture, everyone their grandmother and their dog has some vague second cousin once remove with Indian blood. Perhaps they do, but more likely, they don’t. In Canadian Inuit and First Nation cultures, when someone says they had a grandfather that did a certain thing, perhaps they did not, but much more likely, they did, for oral tradition – passing on actual facts – is a lot stronger in those cultures.
For another point highlighting the reliability of such oral traditions, a skull has been found that seems to confirm inuit tales of the ‘[king bear](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4326878/Alaska-polar-bear-skull-support-Inuit-accounts.html)’.
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/47 "2017-07-09T10:34:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Some vegetarians fibrous shit at cold enough temps might be strong enough to stab someone with, possibly hold an edge briefly for some crude skinning.
Vegetarian Eskimos? I think it might be easier to try freezing rocking-horse shit
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/48 "2017-07-09T10:36:53Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> This sentence makes me miss dude\_robert.
Needs more M1 Abrams
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/49 "2017-07-09T12:17:27Z")
While Freuchen’s story is certainly relevant for the question of fecal tools in general, there’s a big difference between a chisel and a knife. I’m not surprised that frozen feces could make a serviceable chisel. I would be surprised if it could make a knife adequate to cut through animal hide.
---
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/50 "2017-07-09T12:34:24Z")
> [@ZurBob](#):
>
> One could fashion a bust of Trump’s head out of shit and allow it to freeze, and it would not replicate his stupidity. I wouldn’t insult a frozen turd that way.
>
> Likewise, just because you can fashion some art de feces and freeze it, doesn’t mean that it will somehow magically perform the function of the object it represents.
MODERATOR NOTE
**gogogophers**. This is General Questions and Trump has fuck-all to do with the subject here. Please don’t inject politics into General Questions.
No Warning issued.
**samclem** , moderator.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/51 "2017-07-09T12:49:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Vegetarian Eskimos? I think it might be easier to try freezing rocking-horse shit
True. But I could believe that frozen rocking-horse shit is sufficiently harder and stronger than frozen water to make a chisel or slaughter an animal.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/52 "2017-07-09T13:36:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Can one thread shit a shit thread?
I don’t think this is a shit thread. I think it is a wonderful and exciting topic … for me to POOP ON! 😃
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/53 "2017-07-10T07:19:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> True. But I could believe that frozen rocking-horse shit is sufficiently harder and stronger than frozen water to make a chisel or slaughter an animal.
Possibly - although I think it might in some cases be less strong - if there are undigested fats in it, for example, it could be quite crumbly when frozen.
---
### Author:  [@Rama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rama)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/54 "2017-07-10T09:47:12Z")
Anyone here want to test the feasibility of such a tool and share the results?
---
### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/55 "2017-07-10T14:23:53Z")
I’ve used frozen dog shit as a palm hammer.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/56 "2017-07-10T14:42:35Z")
> [@Rama](#):
>
> Anyone here want to test the feasibility of such a tool and share the results?
I don’t have time for shit like that.
---
### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/57 "2017-07-10T18:36:56Z")
> [@Bayard](#):
>
> The way I understand the story, there’s nothing about shit that makes it particularly good for making implements. But the elder has no tools of any kind, and he’s out in the elements, presumably surrounded by solid ice, which he has no means to chop or shape. He just needs a substance he can work into shape as it freezes, and shit is readily available to him.
It’s like ten thousand turds when all you need is a knife. Isn’t it ironic?
---
### Author:  [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/58 "2017-07-10T20:44:05Z")
> [@samclem](#):
>
> MODERATOR NOTE
>
> **gogogophers**. This is General Questions and Trump has fuck-all to do with the subject here. Please don’t inject politics into General Questions.
>
> No Warning issued.
>
> **samclem** , moderator.
I understand your point and stand corrected.
However, if you must use vulgarities in your capacity as a moderator, it would at least be more accurate to have said: Trump has fuck- **nothing** to do with the subject…😛
---
### Author:  [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/59 "2017-07-10T22:32:16Z")
> [@Muffin](#):
>
> I’ve used frozen dog shit as a palm hammer.
Electric, or pneumatic?
On a serious note, thanks for your post #43 on this subject.\* A **thinking** person speaks!\*
It’s nice to see your summation based upon a broad perspective, while considering Davis’s (sorry Bear Nenno) penchant for relaying his subject matter in parable.
Now that is off my chest…
Based upon the revelations and cites provided here concerning the centuries-old engineering wonders available via sub zero human shit fabrication, I’m off to develop a shit based replacement for the hulls of icebreakers in the Antarctic. :smack:
---
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696/60 "2017-12-26T23:25:13Z")
Not a shit knife, but [maybe the next best thing](https://sploid.gizmodo.com/nothing-to-see-here-just-a-functional-knife-made-of-fi-1821568429)?
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696.md?page=2)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696.md?page=4)