Seal Harpoon Head
date: label: Accession Date
content: 21 Dec 1883
label: Collection Date
content: July 1883
name: label: Collector
content: James G. Swan
label: Donor Name
content: James G. Swan
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Illus. in Proceedings, USNM, vol. 60; Pl. 24, no. 11, p. 48."
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on harpoon head http://www.alaska.si.edu/media.asp?enlarge=758, retrieved 5-6-2012: Harpoon head, Haida. Before firearms Haida men hunted seals using harpoons and clubs. Their main weapon was a light cedar harpoon about ten feet long, tipped with a detachable barbed point made of bone or iron. A plaited seaweed cord linked the point to the shaft so that a harpooned seal had to pull it behind as it tried to escape. Hunters' songs honored the seals they had taken.
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Only Harpoon head included on loan. Sheath not included on loan.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 4 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) / Graham Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Haida
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 013804
label: USNM Number
content: E88927-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Harpoon / Sheath
physicalDescription: label: Length - Harpoon Head
content: 23 cm