MAKAH INDIANS. 



WHALING IMPLEMENTS EMPLOYED BY THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLAT- 

 TEE Y, COLLECTED BY JAMES C. SWAN. 



[Compiled from explanatory notes accompanying the objects.] 



CAPTURING THE WHALE. 



Harpoons. 



heads and laniards. 



Harpoon head and laniard. 



Head, apparently a piece of an old saw blade, covered with a coat- 

 ing of spruce gum. Laniard, sinews of the whale served with 

 twine made from fibers of nettle to render it impermeable to 

 water. Barbs, elk bone ; sheath, bark. Length, 20 feet. Makah 

 Indians, Cape Flattery, 1883. 72635. James G. Swan. Used 

 by natives for fastening seal-skin buoys to whales. 



Harpoon head and laniard. 



Head made of piece of sheet-brass ; barbs, elk-bone, ornamented, 

 covered with a coating of spruce gum. Laniard, sinews of the 

 whale neatly laid up y and served with twine to keep out water, 

 which is injurious to the fibers. Sheath, bark. Makah Indians, 

 Cape Flattery, 1883. 72634. James G. Swan. The harpoons 

 formerly used by these Indians were made of mussel shells ; 

 at present of copper sheathing, brass, or old saw-blades. The 

 serving for the laniards was formerly made exclusively from 

 the fibers of the nettle, which are also used now by the old 

 men ; and though the young men, in some instances, use cotton 

 twine, yet they prefer the nettle. A harpoon that has been 

 successfully used acquires additional value. 



Harpoon and laniard. 



Harpoon and line attached to pole and seal-skin buoy, showing the 

 manner in which the apparatus is rigged when used. Head- 

 piece of sheet brass. Laniard, whale-sinew, served with twine 

 made from the fibers of the nettle. Makah Indians, Cape 

 Flattery. 72752. James G-. Swan. The harpoon is not per- 

 manently fastened to the staff ; it is, however, connected with 

 the buoy by means of a laniard. When the harpoon is thrust 

 into the whale, the staff is withdrawn and taken into the canoe, 

 and the animal is incumbered with the buoy. A harpoon with 

 one buoy attached is thrown into the head of the whale, but 

 the harpoon thrown into the body has as many buoys as can 



[101] 371 



