Hook and string

Museum number:
2-13611
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020013611
Accession number:
Acc.648
Description:
Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.
Donor:
R. L. Davidson
Collection place:
Cook Inlet, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Cook Inlet
Culture or time period:
Tlingit
Collector:
R. L. Davidson
Collection date:
unknown
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
1.1 Hunting and Fishing
Accession date:
1930
Context of use:
Halibut hook
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 30 centimeters
Comment:
References: Birket-Smith, Early Collections from the Pacific Eskimo, p. 146 and fig. 22. On back: Remarks by Charles Brown (Tlingit, age 65) 12 June, 1964: (A) Correct angle at which hook floats in water. The correct distance between the point of the barb and the shank is measured by placing the thum on the shank such that the thumb nail touches the barb point. Before placing the hook in the water, Mr. Brown''s father talked to the hook saying, "Do your best, boy, I''m depending on you." He also spit on the hook. When set in the water, the hook is not stable; it moves with the current, floating about 4 ft. off the bottom. Tlingit name of the halibut hook is nuxwh. Text from LMA "Man the Inventor" exhibit, 1964: "The ... hooks... are... baited with squid. Often set in pairs, one above the other, the hooks float abouve the ocean floor attached to a stone sinker on the bottom (A). The sinker, in turn, is attached to a float on the surface of the water. when the halibut attempts to pull the bait away, the weight of the sinker securely hooks it. When the fisherman feels the sinker move, he pulls in the line, thereby pulling the hook over, inverting the fish and making it relatively helpless (B).
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 3 titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Hearst Museum object 2 of 3 titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Hearst Museum object 3 of 3 titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Hook and string, accession number 2-13611, described as Double piece, plain except for 10 notches (5 on each side of part opposite hook); iron hook, heavy cotton line.

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