Ulu is a hand blade traditionally used by indigenous women of the subarctic. It consists of a handle and semicircular crescent blade. The multi-purpose knife is considered to be one of the most significant tools of the Inuit woman, and a symbol of her role in the culture of the circumpolar world. As a young girl, she would be given a small ulu, made by a male member of her family, with which to practice her skills as a seamstress. The ulu would be taken with her in marriage, and laid to rest with her in death. A woman often had more than one ulu, and chose the size suitable for the task at hand. Model ulus were also created to be used as toys, or offered as grave gifts to the departed spirit of the deceased. Ulus were used for cleaning, the preparation and cutting of skins, butchering meat, cleaning and slicing fish for drying. Inuit women also used the ulu when eating. It was used for chopping the blubber and transferring it to the oil lamp. It was employed in every kind of cutting job from butchering to fine sewing.