Made of wood with sinew cable backing. Remnants of red wool (?) yarn on sinew cable. Spruce (fide Ernest Moses).
Donor:
Ernest Moses
Collection place:
Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska
Culture or time period:
Aleut
Collector:
Ernest Moses
Collection date:
unknown
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Bows (weapons)
Function:
1.1 Hunting and Fishing
Accession date:
1903
Context of use:
Used in hunting.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 1.34 meters
Comment:
Note: Acc. to Lydia Black "Aleut bows have not been located outside USSR. Aleut bow is of Eskimo type, sinew-backed. Usually, sinew cordage is exceptionally fine. Also Aleut bows had representational and/or ornamental motif painted on both surfaces." In "The Etholen Collection", (Varjola et al, Finland, National Board of Antiquities, 1990) it is stated that, among the Aleut, "Bows and arrows were also used [in hunting] but only for hunting on solid ground and as war weapons.