МАЭ № 2868-10

Throwing board

The Alutiiq

19th c.

wood, paint, ivory, Haliotis tuberculata

length 49.2 cm, width 6.3 cm, thickness 2.8 cm

This throwing board is decorated with a triangular piece of abalone shell. The head and front paws of an otter are depicted in bas-relief. If one turns the throwing board over one can see the profile of the head of another animal. It’s possible that a mountain goat is depicted and that the piece of shell represents his horn. The throwing boards of the Kodiak Alutiit and the Chugach are virtually identical and it is impossible to distinguish one from another by looking at them. For that reason those throwing boards that are not specifically identified as to their ethnicity by those collecting them are listed as Kodiak Alutiit articles in this catalog.

Ethnography of America