Trap Stick

Item number 2319 from the The Burke: University of Washington.

Public

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Exhibit Label

All bone trap sticks are carved at the upper end. They were used for trapping such land animals as marten, mink, ermine, ground squirrel, and marmot. The figures on these sticks are varied: animal and bird heads, crouching figures of animals or humans, and even a helmeted and visored warrior's head. The figures probably have a purpose similar to that of those on halibut hooks and salmon trap stakes--to entice and perhaps honor the prey. This trap stick depicts an eagle's head with open beak, well carved in the tough bone. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)