Long baseball-bat shape, distal part worn from use. Split in center. Lathe-turned wood. Long and heavy cylindrical club, tapering to the handle; worn from use, split along grain. Used for killing seals by Russian-Americans or ACC.
Donor:
Alaska Commercial Company, Benjamin Bristol, and Older University Collections
Collection place:
Pribilof Islands, Aleutians West Borough, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Aleutian Islands; Pribilof Islands
Culture or time period:
Aleut
Collector:
unknown
Collection date:
1898
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Clubs (weapons)
Function:
1.1 Hunting and Fishing
Accession date:
1904
Context of use:
Used by Aleuts for killing fur seals (Callorhinus alascanus) in commercial seal hunting, 1869-1890.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 158 centimeters, diameter 5.8 centimeters, and diameter 2.9 centimeters
Comment:
1869-1890 (years during which Alaska Comm. Comp. had exclusive rights to take sealskins on Pribilof Ids.). Cf 17-227, 228. Neg. number: ACC41-08 p. 103 Graburn