Baleen Wolf Killers

Item number E7442-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 5, ARCTIC, PG. 351, FIG. 3. WOLF KILLER....STRIP OF BALEEN SHARPENED AT ENDS, SOFTENED BENT, BOUND INTO SHAPE... EXCHANGE- DR. FRANZ BOAS-AM. MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. JUNE 9. LOANED TO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM 4/30/78. CAT. #7442 RETURNED 6/22/81. LOAN: U.S.I.A. INUA JUN 24 1988. ILLUS.: INUA CATALOGUE. USIA 1988, PL. 50, P.37."Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/163 , retrieved 1-28-2020: A set of five wolf killers, each made from a strip of baleen with ends that have been cut at an angle, and folded several times and tied with sinew. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/63: Wolf killers were made from strips of baleen that were sharpened at each end. They were used by folding them lengthwise, wrapping them in fat and letting them freeze. When swallowed by a wolf the fat would thaw out and the folded strip would return to its original shape inside the animal.