Box For Whale Lance Blades
date: label: Accession Date
content: 2 Mar 1900
name: label: Collector
content: Lt. George T. Emmons
label: Donor Name
content: U. S. Department of the Navy
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "CARVED FROM DRIFT WOOD, CONTAINING EXTRA BLADES - [Box is in] SHAPE OF WHALE."
label: Notes
content: E204778 (wooden box and blades) and E204779 (stone box) are on exhibit in NMNH Sant Ocean Hall. 2014 exhibit caption identifies the boxes as Inupiaq whale harpoon boxes in the form of whales: "Honoring the spirit of the whale, these carved and decorated boxes stored harpoon blades during whale hunts. "Living" inside the box was meant to give the blade spiritual powers to carry a harpoon back to the blade's "home" in the whale."
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below on the box: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=287 , retrieved 11-25-2021; see web page for additional information: Box, Inupiaq. Whale-shaped boxes held extra stone blades for whaling harpoons. Whaling captains hid the boxes along with other charms and equipment in secret caches and caves, bringing them out each spring for the new whaling season. Stone blades for whaling harpoons broke easily, so northern Iñupiaq hunters carried extra ones on board the whale boat, or umiaq [open skin boat]. They stored them in wooden boxes like this one, which is carved in the shape of bowhead whale. A leather drawstring, tightened through an ivory bead, holds on the lid. Inside the box are three razor-sharp blades made of polished black slate. The carved bowhead's tail has cut-off tips, the artist's representation of a traditional whaling practice. Hunters removed the ends of a whale's tail or flippers when it was killed and sent a messenger with these pieces to the captain's wife, announcing their success. Boxes like these seem to have been made by every Iñupiaq whaling community during the era of traditional whaling (until about 1900). Examples from Barrow, Wales, Icy Cape, the Diomede Islands and other locations were described in historic sources or collected for museums. The boxes are usually shaped like whales, but some represent other animals such as polar bears or birds. Smaller boxes were made to hold the blades of walrus and seal harpoons, and these too were often carved to represent the animal that was to be hunted. Boxes for whaling blades were thought to hold spiritual power for hunting success, although exact Iñupiaq beliefs about the boxes were not recorded. Anthropologists have suggested that blades stored inside the image of an animal symbolically “learned” their targets. Whaling captains stored harpoon blade boxes and other hunting charms in secret caches or caves. These objects included animal skulls, stuffed birds, ceremonial headbands, stone and ivory whale figures, and decorated harpoon rests, each with its own meaning. At Wales, boat captains and their harpooners retrieved these sacred objects each spring. They passed the objects down to their sons, along with knowledge of how to use them. On Sledge Island in Norton Sound, a hidden assemblage of whaling objects-including harpoon blade boxes-was discovered in 1912. An Elder remembered that the items had belonged to a shaman, who inherited them many years earlier. Shamans-men or women who commanded the powers of spirits-played leading roles in many whaling ceremonies, and some whaling captains were also shamans.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 25 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 4
place: label: Place
content: Port Clarence, 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: 036189
label: USNM Number
content: E204778-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Box / Point
physicalDescription: label: Length - Box
content: 45 cm