Fish Spears
date: label: Accession Date
content: 4 Jan 1887
name: label: Collector
content: William J. Fisher
label: Donor Name
content: William J. Fisher
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CONDITION REPORT FOR HALL 9 TAKEDOWN (C. VALENTOUR 3/1998): "WOODEN SPEAR HANDLE HAS BEEN CUT ON A DIAGONAL. SPEAR POINT CONSISTS OF 5 BARBED IVORY PRONGS, SET IN SOCKETS IN WOOD HANDLE, LASHED W/ BRAIDED SINEWS. CARVED SOCKET ON SHAFT, DOESN'T GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH. 2 CUT GROOVES AT BASE OF SHAFT." Neg. #s 2004-62805 and 2005-35301 are photos of the shorter of the two fish spears.
label: Notes
content: Photo and description in Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 2007. Yuungnaqpiallerput, The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival. Seattle: University Of Washington Press, p. 276. Nuusaaq Pike Spear.
label: Notes
content: This information applies to the shorter of the two fish spears. 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=227 , retrieved 11-3-2021; see web page for additional information: Fish spear, Yup'ik. This instrument for spearing whitefish or pike originally had a long wooden handle. John Phillip, Sr. remembers using this kind to jab whitefish through a hole in the ice. Fishermen covered themselves with a skin or blanket made it easier to see into the dark water. William J. Fisher collected this five-pronged bone fish spear at the mixed Yup'ik and Sugpiaq village of Ugashik on south shore of Bristol Bay in 1885-86, and recorded that its was used for pike. Most of the wooden handle has been cut off, probably for easier shipment back to the Smithsonian. Fish spears of several different designs were used in the Yup'ik/Cup'ik region to take whitefish, pickerel, pike, and tomcod, in open water or through holes cut in sea or river ice. Most often these spears (also called leisters) had a single barbed point and two springy bone side prongs that helped to grip the fish's body. However, five-pronged spears like this one were used for flounder on Nunivak Island. Spearing through the ice required clear water so the fish could be easily seen. The fisher crouched over the hole, covered with a blanket to block out light and reflections. Bone lures were sometimes dangled on sinew strings to attract the fish.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Ugashik, Alaska Peninsula / Ugashik River, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Koniag
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 018490
label: USNM Number
content: E127769-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spear
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 54 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 14 cm
label: Length
content: 48 cm
label: Width
content: 9 cm
label: Diameter
content: 2.7 cm