Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442Murdoch, John
History
Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442
Murdoch, John
Eskimos -- Alaska -- Barrow, Point, Region
The walrus harpoon varies in size, being adapted to the strength and
stature of the owner. Of the six in our collection, the longest, when
mounted for use, is 9 feet 6 inches long, and the shortest 5 feet 8
inches. The ordinary length appears to be about 7 feet. It has a long,
heavy shaft (ipua) of wood, usually between 5 and 6 feet long and
tapering from a diameter of 1½ inches at the head to about 1 inch at
the butt. The head is not usually fastened directly to the line, but
has a leader of double thong 1 to 2 feet long, with a becket at the
end into which the main line is looped or hitched. At the other end of
the line, which is about 30 feet long, is another becket to which is
fastened a float consisting of a whole sealskin inflated. When the
head is fitted on the tip of the loose shaft the line is brought down
to the middle of the shaft and hooked by means of a little becket to
an ivory peg (ki´lerbwĭñ) projecting from the side of the shaft. The
eastern Eskimo have, in place of the simple becket, a neat little
contrivance consisting of a plate of ivory lashed to the line with a
large slot in it which hooks over the catch, but nothing of the sort
was observed at Point Barrow.
The harpoon thus mounted is poised in the right hand with the
forefinger resting against a curved ivory projection (ti´ka) and
darted like a white man’s harpoon, the float and line being thrown
overboard at the same time. When a walrus is struck the head slips off
and toggles as already described; the line detaches itself from the
catch, leaving the shaft free to float and be picked up. The float is
now fastened to the walrus, and, like the shaft of the seal dart, both
shows his whereabouts and acts as a drag on his movements until he is
“played” enough for the hunters to come up and dispatch him. This
weapon is called u´nakpûk, “the great u´na or spear.” U´na (unâk,
u´nañ) appears to be a generic term in Eskimo for harpoon, but at
Point Barrow is now restricted to the harpoon used for stabbing seals
as they come up to their breathing holes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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