Harpoon Head, Brass Point With Cord
date: label: Accession Date
content: 23 Nov 1883
name: label: Collector
content: Lt P.H. Ray
label: Collector
content: John Murdoch
label: Collector
content: Middleton Smith
label: Donor Name
content: U.S. Signal Service
notes: label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=187 , retrieved 1-4-2022; see web page for additional information: Harpoon head, Inupiaq. This ivory harpoon head was for killing bearded seals and walrus. The head fit on the end of a hand-cast harpoon and the leather strap connected to a long retrieving line. The fine red lines drawn on the harpoon head are the owner's personal design. Harpoons were used for killing sea mammals such as large seals, walrus, and whales. Harpoons have spurred "toggling" points (heads) rather than the slender barbed points seen on seal darts. Toggling heads were made of bone, ivory, or antler, with a slot at the end to hold a thin stone or metal blade. On this example, the body is ivory .... The head connected to the harpoon line by means of a leather leader (seen here), which could be unhooked for quick replacement of the head if it broke. Hunters carried extra heads, which when not in use were placed inside protective sheaths and carried in skin bags. Harpoon heads were ornamented with colored lines that indicated individual, family, or clan ownership.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 4 Jan 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Point Barrow, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 013712
label: USNM Number
content: E89765-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Harpoon
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 46 cm