Bone fish hook with baleen (?) leader. Bi-pointed with central groove. Alternate name for this item (possibly): gorge.
Donor:
Phoebe Apperson Hearst
Collection place:
Northwest Bering Sea, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Northwest Bering Sea
Culture or time period:
Alaskan Eskimo
Collector:
Charles L. Hall
Collection date:
ca. 1895
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Lures
Function:
1.1 Hunting and Fishing
Accession date:
August 12, 1902
Context of use:
Used to catch gulls (?). See Nelson, p. 133, 2nd paragraph and P1. LI:7. "Gulls are taken about the northern shore of Norton sound and the coast of Bering strait by means of bone or deerhorn barbs, point at both ends and have a sinew or rawhide cord tied
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 5.4 centimeters
Comment:
Continued from context of use, "... attached to it at intervals. Each barb is slipped lengthwise down the throat of a small fish which serves as bait. As the gulls in their flight see the dead small fish floating on the water they seize and swallow them; when they attempt to fly away the barbs turn in their throats and hold them fast.