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1891.49.39

Wooden seal club carved with the head of an animal and long haft. [CAK 12/04/2010]

On display

1891.49.39

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Collection type
Object
Description
Wooden seal club carved with the head of an animal and long haft. [CAK 12/04/2010]
Long description
Wooden seal club carved with the head of an animal and long haft. The club is carved from a single piece of wood. At one end, the club is carved as the head of an animal with a snout, nostrils, mouth showing two rows of teeth and two large eyes. The club tapers slightly and has what appears to be a natural curvature to it. At the other end, the club flares slightly, enabling the hunter to maintain a good grip on the club. The club is unpainted. [CAK 12/04/2010]
Geographical reference
Canada
Northern America > North America > Canada
British Columbia Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) NW Coast
Cultural groups
Haida
Person
Field collector Charles Harrison
PRM source Charles Harrison
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1882-1890
Date collected
Between 1882 and 1890 ?
Acquisition information
Purchased: 02/03/1891
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Incised, Process Decorated
Dimensions
Width: max 61 mm, Length: max 740 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1891.49.39 Other numbers: 17
Research and responses

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum’s collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:

This object was viewed alongside other tools on Monday Sept 14, 2009. Christian White identified this as a seal club made of yew wood. He added that Haidas used seals for meat, fur, fat and teeth. Billy Yovanovich commented that the fur of seal cubs is white, and that the clubs were made from a harder wood, either yew or crab apple. Jaalen Edenshaw and Gwaai Edenshaw both favoured crab apple over yew as the type of wood. Jaalen attributed the darker colour of the wood to handling. More generally, Gwaai thought that those clubs in the collection in the form of sea lions could be sea lion clubs. Billy Yovanovich wondered if the marks found under the chin of the animal carved on the club were a means of counting hunting successes. [CAK 12/04/2010]

Search terms: Hunting, Figure, Weapon, Tool, Club, Hunting accessory, Animal Figure