Sokka's necklace (and other Water Tribe Men's necklaces)
Katara's necklace is given plenty of narrative and thematic significance throughout the series. It's an heirloom that she wears to feel closer to her mother, taken away from them too soon. It's used to track down the group and near the end of season one, it's revealed to be a betrothal custom from the Northern Water Tribe, making it a symbol of cultural tradition. It's a nifty little way the writers combined worldbuilding with theme and characterization to make something memorable.
Less talked about is Sokka's necklace, which he wears as often as Katara wears hers and is also undoubtably Water Tribe. Exactly how thick it is seems inconsistant between episodes and even from scene to scene in some cases. But I think it's shown to have enough depth to rule out the idea that it's some kind of notched ribbon or strip of skin
Now as a Real Life Eskimo™ (King Island Inupiaq, born and raised in Alaska) I've been to cultural fairs where traditional crafts have been displayed and sold, and what Sokka's necklace reminds me of most is walrus ivory jewlry, specifically that made of slices of ivory, like these bracelets
(Made by Albert Olanna in Shishmaref, Alaska, featured here: http://www.maruskiyas.com/store/products/walrus-ivory-bracelets-albert-olanna )
Hakoda seems to be wearing one as well in Sokka's flashback of him leaving for the war (though his seems to also have dentalium shells, which I will talk about more later).
Yue's betrothed, Hahn, also appears to be wearing an ivory necklace, though one with more variation in the beads and a piece in the center that seems to be of a different material (I'm tempted to say baleen, but baleen is much darker, maybe blue jade?).
Of course, there is one man who doesn't wear a necklace of ivory:
Yue's father, Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe, is also wearing a necklace, but this one seems to be made of dentalium shells, which were traded a lot between Indigenous groups but don't prominently feature in Inupiaq or Inuit jewelry. You'll find some nice little earrings made of dentalium, but not much more than that.
Athabaskan jewelry, on the other hand, did feature dentalium shell quite a bit, especially for Chiefs' status symbol necklaces.
(Unknown artist from Minto, Alaska, featured on a very interesting blog post about trade amongst Alaska Native groups here: https://akethnogirl.wordpress.com/2018/08/ )
But as you can probably tell, the Athabaskan Necklace pictured here is much longer than the one Arnook is wearing. Indeed, Arnook's necklace seems to be based more on Great Plains Native dentalium jewelry
(19th century bracelet and choker from the Nez Perce Historical National Park)
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