Club Item Number: E 1905.217 from the MAA: University of Cambridge
A fish killing club with cylindrical shaft and knob handle carved in the shape of an ?owl with deep set eye- sockets and tightly closed mouth. On the bird' s chest, between its wings, an armless human figure stands. There is a small hole where thefigure' s genitalia should be. The bird' s head and lower back wing and tail regions are grooved. The handle has a deep patina of use, while the bird' s head is rough and pitted as if it has been beaten.; Good
The original European tribal names and, where possible, current The club is very similar in style to 1885.66.4 the provenance of which is given as Cape Flattery, on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, making that club Makah in origin.In turn both are very similar in style to two Nootka clubs in the British Museum, illustrated in J.C.H.King' s Artificial Curiosities 1981, colour plate 5, and monochrome plate 45. The Makah language is the southernmost extent of the Wakashan language, its closest branch being Nootkan, especially Nitinaht. The Makah shared subsistence patterns, social organisation and ceremonialism with their Nootkan neighbours, making the similarity of artefact style understandable (G.Crowther). Tribal names have both been given in separate GLT fields.; Clubs of this shape are often noted to be fish killing clubs , and they may also have been used as dancing batons, as were Kwakiutl examples (G.Crowther).; Exhibited: Old Anthropological displays,case 34, dismantled 14081986.