Tautiruut

The tautiruut or agiarut is a kind of bow lyre of the Inuit (“Eskimos”). It has similarities with instruments from northern Europe, such as the fida of Iceland or the extinct gue of the Shetland Islands; in fact, it is believed that it was introduced to the Inuit by fishermen from the Shetland Islands who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company, between the 17th and 18th centuries.

It is a hollowed-out wooden box, with a lid, up to three sinew strings (usually just one), a bridge, and a short bow that had no hair but a whale’s “tooth”.

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