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ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 295 



a delicate mouthpiece of ivoiy, neatly set on to the side of the shaft 

 bv wrappings of sinew thread passed through two holes bored in its 

 upper portion. The other end of the bladder is bound to the rawhide 

 thong, which is secured by being pushed under the wrapping of sinew 

 thread between it and the birch-bark packing. The line is of rawhide 

 and is securely fastened to the '"detacher" at one end by a bend, which 

 is held in place by a figure-of-8 wrapping of sinew thread. The rest 

 of the line is wound about the shaft when the spear is ready for 

 action, the other end being attached to the shaft between the two ends 

 of the bladder. When the animal is struck, the head unships, the line 

 unrolls, the head of the shaft drops into the water and the whole acts 

 as a drag and a signal to show the position of the game. 



Examples Nos. 90417 to 90419 in the U. S. National Museum are 

 feathered sea-otter harpoon darts from Ugashik, north of the Alaskan 

 peninsula. The shaft is of light pine wood, very nearly cylindrical, 

 and tapering slightly toward the front. The foreshaft is of bone and 

 has a plug on the inner or butt end which tits into a socket on the end 

 of the shaft, and the joint is seized by a fine sinew or intestine braid, 

 the inner end of which is continued backward with half hitches for an 

 assembling line. Near the feather a band of this braid an inch in 

 width is formed, and 4 inches above the feather is another one around 

 the inner end to the feathers. There are three feathers, seized in front 

 by the assembling line, and at the nock by a separate wrapping of 

 braid. They are split and further held down by a light thread, which 

 binds the shaft of them to the shaft of the dart in five places by half 

 hitches. 



This method of attaching the feathers is found in Nos. 8004 to 8006 

 and seems to be typical of the region. 



The line or martingale is attached to the shaft 4 inches behind the 

 foreshaft and 4 inches in front of the feather. The point is small and 

 has three barbs on one side, and is attached to the line hj means of a 

 hole bored in the shank and fitted into the foreshaft by a tang w^hich 

 is nearly cylindrical. Length of shaft, 4 feet; of foreshaft, 5i inches; 

 of point. If inches. Collected by William J. Fisher. 



The darts are called Nagik kujat; the bone foreshaft, Mamkuk; the 

 line, Punak; the bone head, Kugichalugak; the feathers, Nakchute. 



A complete toggle harpoon (Cat. No. 160337, U.S.N. M.), with line 

 float and line board, from Kusilvak, at the mouth of the Yukon River, 

 in Alaska, is shown in Plates 14 to 15. The toggle head shown in Plate 

 15 is of ivory, a delicate object, perfect in all its details. In outline 

 it resembles the head of a duck. The blade is set into the saw-cut at 

 the point of the body, and in the plane of the line hole, which is bored 

 straight through from margin to margin. The barb is cut into three 

 points, which form a part of the ornamentation. Through the line 

 hole passes a long loop, which is neatly spliced at its ends and wrapped 

 NAT MUS 1900 21 



