Halibut Hook
date: label: Accession Date
content: 7 Nov 2019
name: label: Donor Name
content: Jonathan Malindine
notes: label: Notes
content: A contemporary Tlingit-style wooden halibut hook carved by Leslie Isaacs (Native name: Tsaandaay/Ts'aang Gaay), a Haida craftsman, in Craig, Prince of Wales Alaska in March 2013 and commissioned by Jonathan Malindine for educational purposes. It is an example of the kinds of hooks that were produced and used by both Tlingit and Haida peoples of Southeast Alaska. The name of the artifact in the local language is náxw (Lingít [Tlingit]), or ýagw táawaay (Xaad kil [Haida]). Such hooks were used by the people of the Northwest Coast to catch large halibut. Bait was tied at the intersection of the two wooden elements. Fished just off the ocean floor, a biting halibut will become hooked when the barb is embedded into its head. This hook has been carved from red cedar and yellow cedar and has a deer bone spike (Sitka black-tailed deer, Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis). Jonathan Malindine comments that hooks such as this one are now only rarely used for fishing. Their "function now is primarlly decorative, while production is an act of connection to cultural heritage." He notes that usually the upper element (i.e. non-barbed, wooden section) is carved with various motifs and figures. This object represents a standard, perhaps utilitarian, exammple of a traditional Northwest Coast halibut hook. The fish hook was sent to SI wrapped in a tan soft leather which is included in storage with the object, but may not have any cultural significance.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 11 Nov 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Craig, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Haida
label: Culture
content: Tlingit
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2084027
label: USNM Number
content: E436193-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Fishhook
physicalDescription: label: Length - Hook
content: 28.5 cm
label: Maximum Height - Hook
content: 11.5 cm
label: Thickness - Hook
content: 1.5 cm