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
Fig. 251_a_ represents one of these boxes (No. 56505 [138]) intended
for spare blades for the whale harpoon. This is rather neatly carved
from a single block of soft wood, apparently spruce, though it is very
old and much weathered, in the shape of a “bowhead” whale, 9½ inches
long. The ends of the flukes are broken short off, and show traces of
having been mended with wooden pegs or dowels. The right eye is
indicated by a simple incision, but a tiny bit of crystal is inlaid
for the left. Two little bits of crystal are also inlaid in the middle
of the back. The belly is flat and excavated into a deep triangular
cavity, with its base just forward of the angle of the mouth and the
apex at the “small.” It is beveled round the edge, with a shoulder at
the base and apex, and is covered with a flat triangular piece of wood
beveled on the under face to fit the edge of the cavity. About half of
one side of the cover has been split off and mended on with two
“stitches” of whalebone fiber. The cover is held on by three strings
of seal thong passing through holes in each corner of the cover and
secured by a knot in the end of each string. They then pass through
three corresponding holes in the bottom of the cavity, leaving outside
of the back two ends 7 inches and one 15 long, which are tied
together. The cover can be lifted wholly off and then drawn back into
its place by pulling the string.
[Illustration: FIG. 251.--Boxes for harpoon heads. 1/3]
We collected seven such whale-harpoon boxes, usually about 9 to 9¾
inches long. Nearly all have bits of crystal, amber, or pyrite, inlaid
for the eyes and in the middle of the back, and the cover is generally
rigged in the way described. No. 56502 [198], from Utkiavwĭñ, is a
large whale, a foot long, and has the tail bent up, while the animal
is usually represented as if lying still. It has good-sized sky-blue
beads inlaid for the eyes.
Fig. 251_b_ (No. 89733 [1161], from Nuwŭk) represents a small box 4⅓
inches long, probably older than the others, and the only one not
carved into the shape of a whale. It is roughly egg-shaped and has no
wooden cover to the cavity, which is covered with a piece of deerskin,
held on by a string of seal thong wrapped three times around the body
in a rough, deep groove, with the end tucked under. In this box are
five slate blades for the whale harpoon.
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