ABORIGINAL AMKKICAN HARPOONS. li2U 



The Makahs. accordinu' to Swiui, aro not active in vocations or pur- 

 suits other than tishini^- and wlialin^, and obtain some of their supplies 

 by barter from neigh))orino- tribes and white men. Thev devote very 

 little time to agricultui'al pursuits or to the capture of land animals. 

 })ut excel in the management of canoes, makino- long voj^ages from 

 land for fish, and fearlessly attacking the whale. They manufacture 

 their own fishing apparatus, and take es})ecial pains with their har- 

 poons and lances, for which instruments they have the greatest regard. 

 The principal implements used by the Makah whalers are harpoons, 

 lances, ropes, and ])uoys. The harpoon heads were formerly made of 

 shell. V>ut at present are of sheet copper or steel, with ])arbs of 

 elk or deer horn, tighth' seized to the blades by cords or strips of 

 bark, the whole being covered with spruce gum. The lanyards attached 

 to the harpoon are made of the sinew of the whale twisted into a rope 

 and served with fibers of nettle. The lances are of metal, with sockets 

 for the ends of the poles. The poles for the harpoons and lances are 



Fig. 21. 

 SEALSKIN FLOAT. 



Makah Indians. Washington. 

 Collected by James G. Swan. 



heavy and unwieldy, but durable and strong. The l)uoys are of 

 sealskin with the hair inside, infiated when used, and attached to the 

 harpoon lanyards. These buoy's are used for the double purpose of 

 impeding the progress of the whale, so as to enal)le the Indians to kill 

 it. and to prevent the animal from sinking when dead. 



All whaling implements which have been used in the capture are 

 regarded with especial favor and handed down from generation to 

 generation, and it is deemed unlucky to part with them. These Indians 

 did not acquire the art of whaling from white men, and still employ 

 the apparatus and processes which have come to them through count- 

 less generations. One point deserves especial consideration. The 

 process of wrapping their harpoon lanyards, conmionly known as 

 "serving," has been in use by all seafaring men for a nimiber of 

 years. The Makah Indian has his ser\Ting stick and mallet, manu- 

 factures his twine from the fibers of the nettle, and '* serves" his lines 

 as neatly as do the fishermen of the Eastern coast, and it is said they 

 were familiar with the process before the advent of the whites.' 



James G. Swan, Indians of Cape Flattery. 



