МАЭ № 2539-3

Fishing hook

Tlingit

Early 19th cent.

Russian circumnavigations and half round-the-world sea expeditions

wood, iron, paint, spruce root

Length - 31 cm; width - 6 cm; height - 16 cm

Halibut was caught with the help of large wooden hooks in the form of slingshot. A man went out into the sea and installed a massive wooden float (that was usually cut in the form of a waterfowl bird) not far from the shore. A long line was tied to the float, and on the other end it was attached to a stone sinker. Wooden hooks with metal or ivory tips and bait were attached to the line. The Tlingit people always carved a figure of a mythical hero, an animal of a man on their hooks.

Ethnography of America