Boathook
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 Apr 1896
name: label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG.44, P. 46. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." Crossroads of Continents catalogue caption identifies this: "Retrieval Hook, Bering Sea Eskimo. Made to please the spirits of sea mammals, this ivory-pronged boat hook has a spiritual "lifeline" consisting if a broad groove extending down one side on the shaft and up the other. Encircling grooves of this type are common on Bering Sea Eskimo implements and ceremonial items."
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. 121. Negcik Gaff. Gaff referred to by Frank Andrew [from Kwigillingok] as a "life hook." John Phillip [from Kongiginak] said, "Down on the ocean, the negcik was our most important tool." L. 72 1/4 in., W. 8 1/4 in., Diameter 1 1/2 in. The gaff was used to test the strength and thickness of ice, to keep a hunter from falling through cracks, to steady the kayak when entering and exiting, and to pull a man to safety in an emergency.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jan 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Nunivak Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 96A00020
label: USNM Number
content: E175668-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Boat Hook
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 184.5 cm
label: Width
content: 18 cm
label: Diameter
content: 3.5 cm