Tip of a whale spear


Tip of a whale spear
Tip of a whale spear
Brandon Moonin (Contributor)
John F.C. Johnson (Contributor)
John Johnson:  Slate spear glued with spruce pitch.  Could also be used for whale or large Sea Lion. Whale slate tips are often heart shaped. They would put poison on the tips.

Brandon Moonin:  They would take fat or dry meat from mummies to make poisons for whales. At the mouth of the bay they would dump out poison to get the whales to die in the bay, so they would then just collect them in the bay. The hunter speaks with the Whale and says I am hunting you. And they speak to the whale and it would come up and then it would die and wash up on shore to sacrifice itself for feeding the family. The poison was fat soluble. Human oils were used from mummies.

John Johnson: Currents would be so strong that they had to go to Montague island and take a triangle route to avoid the currents. They would lash 30 boats together to make spaces to sleep in the evening. They would travel large distances floating like this. The large boats often meant war.
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1881 – 1883
Wood
IV A 6237
Present
Chenega/Ingam-atya (Related)