Part 25

Before the introduction of iron it was discovered that if the blade were inserted at right angles to the plane of the body barb the harpoon would have a surer hold, since the strain on the line would always draw it at right angles to the length of the wound cut by the blade. This is shown in Fig. 213 (No. 56620 [199], a walrus harpoon head from Utkiavwĭñ), which has the slate blade inserted in this position. Substituting a metal blade for the stone one gives us the modern toggle head, as already described. That the insertion of the stone blade preceded the rotation of the plane of the latter is, I think, conclusively shown by the whale harpoons[N329] already mentioned, in spite of the fact that we have a bone harpoon head in the collection, No. 89378 [1261], figured in Point Barrow report, which is exactly like No. 89379 [795], except that it has the blade _at right angles_ to the plane of the body barb. This is, however, a newly made model in reindeer antler of the ancient harpoon, and was evidently made by a man so used to the modern pattern that he forgot this important distinction. The development of this spear head has been carried no further at Point Barrow. At one or two places, however, namely, at Cumberland Gulf in the east[N330] and at Sledge Island in the west (as shown in Mr. Nelson’s collection), they go a step further in making the head of the seal harpoon, body and blade, of one piece of iron. The shape, however, is the same as those with the ivory or bone body.

[Footnote N329: Compare, also, the walrus harpoon figured by Capt. Lyon, Parry’s Second Voyage, Pl. opposite p. 550, Fig. 13.]

[Footnote N330: See Kumlien, Contributions, p. 35, and Boas, “Central Eskimo,” p. 473, Fig. 393.]

All of the Eskimo race, as far as I have any definite information, use toggle harpoon-heads. There are specimens in the National Museum from Greenland, Cumberland Gulf, the Anderson and Mackenzie region, and from the Alaskan coast from Point Barrow to Kadiak, as well as from St. Lawrence Island, which are all of essentially the same type, but slightly modified in different localities. The harpoon head in use at Smith Sound is of the same form as the walrus harpoon heads used at Point Barrow, but appears always to have the shaft socket made by a groove closed with thongs.[N331] In Danish Greenland, however, the body has an extra pair of bilateral barbs below the blade. The Greenlanders have, as it were, substituted a metal blade for the point only of the barbed blade portion of such a bone head as No. 89379 [795].[N332]

[Footnote N331: Kane, 2d Grinnell Exp., vol. 1, pp. 412 and 413 (Fig. 1), and Bessells, Naturalist, vol. 18, pt. 9, p. 869, Figs. 6-12.]

[Footnote N332: Crantz, vol. 1, p. 146, and Pl. V, Figs. 1 and 2, and Rink Tales, etc., Pl. opposite p. 10.]

Curiously enough, this form of the toggle head appears again in the Mackenzie and Anderson region, as shown by the extensive collections of Ross, MacFarlane, and others. In this region the metal blade itself is often cut into one or more pairs of bilateral barbs. At the Straits of Fury and Hecla, Parry found the harpoon head, with a body like the walrus harpoon heads at Point Barrow,[N333] but with the blade _in the plane_ of the body barb. Most of the pictures scattered through the work represent the blade in this position, but Fig. 19 on the same plate has the blade at right angles to the barb, so that the older form may not be universal. At Cumberland Gulf the form of the body is considerably modified, though the blade is of the usual shape and in the ordinary position. The body is flattened at right angles to the usual direction, so that the thickness is much greater than the width. It always has two body barbs. On the western coast the harpoon heads are much less modified, though there is a tendency to increase the number of body barbs, at the same time ornamenting the body more elaborately as we go south from Bering Strait. Walrus harpoon heads with a single barb, hardly distinguishable from those used at Point Barrow, are in the collection from the Diomedes and all along the northern shore of Norton Sound, and one also from the mouth of the Kuskoquim. They are probably also used from Point Barrow to Kotzebue Sound. At St. Lawrence Island and on the Asiatic shore they are the common if not the universal form.[N334] The seal harpoon head (naulɐ) at Point Barrow appears always to have the body barb split at the tip into two, and this is the case rarely with the tu´kɐ. This form, which appears occasionally north of Norton Sound (Port Clarence, Cape Nome), appears to be more common south of this locality, where, however, a pattern with the barb divided into three points seems to be the prevailing form. I will now proceed to the description of the different forms of harpoon with which these toggle heads are used.

[Footnote N333: 2d Voyage, Pl. opposite p. 550, Fig. 13.]

[Footnote N334: Museum collections and Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, p. 105, Fig. 1. This figure shows the blade _in the plane_ of the barb, but none of the specimens from Plover Bay are of this form.]

Throwing-harpoons are always thrown from the hand without a throwing-board or other assistance, and are of two sizes, one for the walrus and bearded seal, and one for the small seals. Both have a long shaft of wood to the tip of which is attached a heavy bone or ivory foreshaft, usually of greater diameter than the shaft and somewhat club-shaped. This serves the special purpose of giving weight to the head of the harpoon, so it can be darted with a sure aim. The native name of this part of the spear, ukumailuta (Greenlandic, okimailutaĸ, _weight_), indicates its design. This contrivance of weighting the head of the harpoon with a heavy foreshaft is peculiar to the western Eskimo. On all the eastern harpoons (see figures referred to above and the Museum collections) the foreshaft is a simple cap of bone no larger than the shaft the tip of which it protects. Between the foreshaft and the toggle-head is interposed the _loose shaft_ (i´gimû), a slender rod of bone whose tip fits into the shaft socket of the head, while its butt fits loosely in a socket in the tip of the foreshaft. It is secured to the shaft by a thong just long enough to allow it to be unshipped from the foreshaft. This not only prevents the loose shaft from breaking under a lateral strain, but by its play facilitates unshipping the head. On these harpoons intended for throwing, this loose shaft is always short. This brings the weight of the foreshaft close to the head, while it leaves space enough for the head to penetrate beyond the barb.

The walrus harpoon varies in size, being adapted to the strength and stature of the owner. Of the six in our collection, the longest, when mounted for use, is 9 feet 6 inches long, and the shortest 5 feet 8 inches. The ordinary length appears to be about 7 feet. It has a long, heavy shaft (ipua) of wood, usually between 5 and 6 feet long and tapering from a diameter of 1½ inches at the head to about 1 inch at the butt. The head is not usually fastened directly to the line, but has a leader of double thong 1 to 2 feet long, with a becket at the end into which the main line is looped or hitched. At the other end of the line, which is about 30 feet long, is another becket to which is fastened a float consisting of a whole sealskin inflated. When the head is fitted on the tip of the loose shaft the line is brought down to the middle of the shaft and hooked by means of a little becket to an ivory peg (ki´lerbwĭñ) projecting from the side of the shaft. The eastern Eskimo have, in place of the simple becket, a neat little contrivance consisting of a plate of ivory lashed to the line with a large slot in it which hooks over the catch, but nothing of the sort was observed at Point Barrow.

The harpoon thus mounted is poised in the right hand with the forefinger resting against a curved ivory projection (ti´ka) and darted like a white man’s harpoon, the float and line being thrown overboard at the same time. When a walrus is struck the head slips off and toggles as already described; the line detaches itself from the catch, leaving the shaft free to float and be picked up. The float is now fastened to the walrus, and, like the shaft of the seal dart, both shows his whereabouts and acts as a drag on his movements until he is “played” enough for the hunters to come up and dispatch him. This weapon is called u´nakpûk, “the great u´na or spear.” U´na (unâk, u´nañ) appears to be a generic term in Eskimo for harpoon, but at Point Barrow is now restricted to the harpoon used for stabbing seals as they come up to their breathing holes.

We collected six of these walrus harpoons complete and forty-two separate heads. Of these, No. 56770 [534], Fig. 214_a_, has the most typical shaft and loose shaft. The shaft is of spruce 71 inches long, roughly rounded, and tapering from a diameter of 1½ inches at the tip to 0.8 at the butt. The foreshaft is of white walrus ivory, 6.7 inches long, exclusive of the wedge-shaped tang which fits into a cleft in the tip of the shaft. It is somewhat club-shaped, being 1.6 inches in diameter at the tip and tapering to 1.3 just above the butt, which expands to the diameter of the shaft, and is separated from the tang by a square transverse shoulder. The shaft and foreshaft are fastened together by a whipping of broad seal thong, put on wet, one end passing through a hole in the foreshaft one-quarter inch from the shaft, and kept from slipping by a low transverse ridge on each side of the tang. In the tip of the foreshaft is a deep, round socket to receive the loose shaft, which is a tapering rod of walrus ivory 4.4 inches long, shouldered off at the butt, which is 0.7 inch in diameter, to a blunt, rounded tang 0.9 inch long. It fits loosely into the foreshaft up to the shoulder, and is secured by a piece of narrow seal thong which passes through a transverse hole one-half inch above the shoulder. The end is spliced to the standing part with double slits about 6 inches from the loose shaft, and the other end makes a couple of turns outside of the lashing on the shaft mentioned above and is secured with two half-hitches.

The line catch (ki´lerbwĭñ) is a little, blunt, backward-pointing hook of ivory inserted in the shaft 17 inches from the tip and projecting about one-third inch. Ten and one-fourth inches farther back and 90 degrees round the shaft from the line catch is the finger rest--a conical recurved piece of ivory 1 inch high, with a flat base, resting against the shaft and secured by a lashing of whalebone, which passes through two corresponding holes, one in the rest and one in the shaft. The head and line belonging to this harpoon are intended for hunting the bearded seal, and will be described below. No. 56772 [536], Fig. 214_b_, from Utkiavwĭñ, is fitted with fairly typical walrus gear. The head is of the typical form, 6 inches long, with a conoidal body of walrus ivory, ornamented with incised lines colored with red ocher, and a blade of steel secured by a whalebone rivet. The “leader,” which is about 15 inches long, is made by passing one end of a piece of stout walrus-hide thong about one-quarter inch wide through the line hole and doubling it with the head in the bight, so that one part is about 6 inches the longer. The two parts are stopped together about 2 inches from the head with a bit of sinew braid. The ends are joined and made into a becket, as follows: The longer end is doubled back for 7 inches and a slit cut through both parts about 2 inches from the end. The shorter end is passed through this slit, and a slit is cut 5 inches from the end of this, through which the loop of the other end is passed and all drawn taut. The whole joint is then tightly seized with sinew braid so as to leave a becket 3 inches and a free end 4 inches long. This becket is looped into an eye 1½ inches long at the end of the main line, made by doubling over 5 inches of the end and stopping the two parts firmly together with sinew braid. The line is of the hide of the bearded seal, about the same diameter as the leader, and 27 feet long. It is in two nearly equal parts, spliced together with double slits, firmly seized with sinew braid. There is a becket about 8 inches long at the other end of the line for attaching the float, made by doubling over the end and tying a carrick bend, the end of which is stopped back to the standing part with sinew braid. The becket to hook upon the line catch is a bit of sinew braid, fastened to the line 2½ feet from the head, as follows: One end being laid against the line it is doubled in a bight and the end is whipped down to the line by the other end, which makes five turns round them.

I will now consider the variations of the different parts of these harpoons in detail, beginning with the head. Our series is so large, containing in all forty-eight heads, besides some spare blades, that it probably gives a fair representation of the common variations. The longest of this series is 6 inches long and the shortest 3½, but by far the greater number are from 4½ to 5 inches long. Their proportions are usually about as in the types figured, but the long head just figured (No. 56772 [534]) is also unusually slender. Sheet brass is the commonest material for the blade (thirty blades are of this material), though iron or steel is sometimes used, and rarely, at present, slate. There is one slate-bladed head in the series (No. 56620 [199]) figured above, and four blades for such heads. The blade is commonly of the shape of the type figured, triangular with curved edges, varying from a rather long triangle like the slate blade just mentioned to a rather short one with very strongly curved edges like Fig. 215_a_ (No. 89750 [1038]), which is peculiar as the only walrus harpoon head with a body of reindeer antler. It also has an iron blade and a rivet of iron, not seldom with rounded basal angles so as to be almost heart-shaped, like Fig. 215_b_ (No. 56621 [283]). A less common shape of blade is lanceolate, with the base cut off square as in Fig. 216_a_ (No. 89764 [940]). Only eight blades out of the series are of this shape. A still more peculiar shape of blade, of which we saw only one specimen, is shown in Fig. 216_b_ (No. 89790 [943]). This is made of brass. It was perhaps meant for an imitation of the barbed blades used at the Mackenzie, of which I have already spoken.

The blade, when of metal, is generally fastened in with a single rivet. One only out of the whole number has two rivets, and three are simply wedged into the blade slit. The slate blades appear never to have been riveted; Nordenskiöld, however, figures a walrus harpoon from Port Clarence[N335] with a jade blade riveted in. The rivet is generally made of whalebone, but other materials are sometimes used. For instance, in the series collected two have rivets of iron, two of wood, and five of rawhide. The body is generally made of white walrus ivory, (five of those collected are of hard bone, and one already mentioned and figured, No. 89750 [1038], Fig. 215_a_, is of reindeer antler), and the hexagonal shape, often with rounded edges, and the line grooves continued to the tip, as in Fig. 217_a_, No. 89757 [947], appears to be the commonest. Three out of the forty-eight have four-sided bodies. It is unusual for the body barb to be bifurcated, as is common farther south. Only three out of the forty-eight show this peculiarity, of which No. 56613 [53], Fig. 217_b_, is an example.

[Footnote N335: Vega, vol. 2, p. 229, Fig. 3.]

The specimens figured show the different styles of ornamentation, which always consist of incised patterns colored with red ocher or rarely with soot. These never represent natural objects, but are always conventional patterns, generally a single or double border on two or more faces with short oblique cross-lines and branches. Harpoon heads at Point Barrow are probably never ornamented with the “circles and dots,” so common on other implements and on the harpoons of the southern Eskimo.

Twenty-eight of the heads still have the leaders attached to them. The object of this short line is to enable the hunter to readily detach a broken head and put on a fresh one without going to the trouble of undoing a splice, which must be made strong to keep the head from separating from the line. It is made of a stout piece of rawhide thong, the skin of the walrus or bearded seal, about one-third inch in diameter, and usually from 2 to 3 feet long. It is always passed through the line hole, as in the specimen described, and the ends are made into a becket for attaching the line, with an end left to serve as a handle for pulling the two beckets apart when the main line ends in a becket. Occasionally (two are made this way) the longer end is simply doubled in a bight, and the three parts are then seized together with sinew braid, but it is generally made with a splice, the details of which differ slightly on the different leaders.

The commonest method is that already described. When the longer end is doubled over, a slit is cut through both parts close to the end of this through which the shorter end is passed. A slit is then cut a few inches from the tip of this part, the bight of the becket passed through this slit and all drawn taut. This makes a very strong splice. Fourteen beckets are spliced in this way. A variation of this splice has a slit only through the end part of the longer end, the shorter end being passed through and slit as before. In one becket the standing part of the longer end is passed through the slit of the end part before going through the line hole, while the rest of the becket is made as before. A reversed splice is found on three of the leaders, which is made as follows: When the long end is doubled over, the short end is slit as usual and the longer end passed through this and slit close to the tip. Through this slit is passed the head and all drawn taut. The splice is always firmly seized with sinew braid. The main line, which serves to attach the head to the float, is always made of stout thong, preferably the skin of the bearded seal (very fine lines are sometimes made of beluga skin), about one-third inch square, and, when properly made, trimmed off on the edges so as to be almost round. It is about 10 yards long. It is fastened into the becket of the leader with a becket hitch tied upside down (No. 56771 [535], Fig. 218), or by means of a small becket, made either as on the specimen described (No. 56770 [536], Fig. 219), or spliced with double slits. The long becket at the other end for attaching the float is made either by tying a carrick bend with the end stopped back to the standing part (Fig. 220, No. 56767 [531]), or by splicing (Fig. 221, No. 56769).

The loose shaft varies very little in shape, though it is sometimes rounded off at the butt without a shoulder, but the line which secures this to the foreshaft is put on differently on each of the six spears. Five of them have the end simply passed through the hole in the loose shaft and spliced to the standing part, but two (the type figured and No. 56768 [532]) have the other end carried down and hitched round the tip of the shaft; another has it passed through a hole in the foreshaft, taken 1½ turns round this and knotted (No. 56771 [535]); another has a loop as long as the foreshaft with the short end passed under the first turn of the shaft lashing before it is spliced, and the long end secured as on the first mentioned; and the fifth has the end passed through a hole in the foreshaft and carried down and wrapped round the shaft lashing. The sixth has one end passed through a hole in the smallest part of the foreshaft and knotted at the end, the other end carried up through the hole in the loose shaft and down to a second hole in the foreshaft close to the first, then up through the loose shaft, and down through the first hole, and tucked under the two parts on the other side.

The foreshaft is made of walrus ivory or the hard bone of the walrus jaw and varies little in form and dimensions. It is sometimes ornamented by carving, as in No. 56772 [536], or by incised patterns, as in Fig. 222, No. 56538 [98], and generally has one or two deep longitudinal notches in the thickest part, in which the lines can be drawn snugly down. It usually is joined to the shaft by a stout, wedge-shaped tang, which fits into a corresponding cleft in the shaft, and is secured by wooden treenails and a wrapping of seal thong or sinew braid, sometimes made more secure by passing one end through holes in the foreshaft. No. 56768 [532] is peculiar in having the tang on the shaft and the corresponding cleft in the foreshaft. The shaft itself varies little in shape and proportions, and at the present day is sometimes made of ash or other hard wood obtained from the ships. The line catch is generally a little hook of ivory or hard bone like the one described, but two specimens have small screws fastened into the shaft to serve this purpose. The finger rest is ordinarily of the same shape as on the type and fastened on in the same way, but No. 56771 [535] has this made of a knob of ivory elaborately carved into a seal’s head. The eyes are represented by round bits of ivory with pupils drilled in them inlaid in the head. This is evidently the knob of a seal drag (see below) as the longitudinal perforation from chin to nape now serves no purpose. It is fastened on by a lashing of whalebone, which runs round the shaft and through a transverse hole in the knob.

Harpoons closely resembling these in type are used by the Eskimo of western North America wherever they habitually hunt the walrus. At many places this heavy spear is armed at the butt with a long sharp pick of ivory like the smaller seal spear. Two of these large harpoons appear to be rigged especially for the pursuit of the bearded seal, as they have heads which are of precisely the same shape and material as the small seal harpoons in the collection. Both these heads have lanceolate iron blades, conoidal antler bodies with double barbs, and are more slender than the walrus harpoon heads. No. 56770 [534], Fig. 219, has a head 4 inches long and 0.7 broad at the widest part, and fastened to a very long line (12 fathoms long) without a leader, the end being simply passed through the line hole and seized down to the standing part with sinew braid. This is the method of attaching the head of the small seal harpoons. This line is so long that it may have been held in the boat and not attached to a float. No. 56768 [532], however, has a leader with a becket of the ordinary style. Fig. 223, No. 56611 [89], is a head similar to those just described, and probably, from its size, intended for large seals. It is highly ornamented with the usual reddened incised pattern.