Bow And Arrows Item Number: E20912-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

FROM CARD: "SEE 20690." FROM 19TH CENTURY EXHIBIT CATALOGUE TEXT WITH CARD: "BOWS AND HARPOON-ARROWS USED IN FISHING. BOW: SPRUCE(?); SEMI-OVAL; STRING, A STRIP OF DEER-SKIN. LENGTH, 51 INCHES; WIDTH; 1 3/4 INCHES. BELLA BELLA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1876. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN. ACCOMPANIED BY THREE ARROWS; LIGHT CEDAR SHAFTS WITH ROUND BONE HEADS; SMALL, DETACHABLE, BARBED TIPS---ONE OF COPPER, TWO OF BONE--THROUGH WHICH ARE ROVE THE LINES MADE OF FINE SENNIT, BRAIDED OF SINEW."AN ARROW WAS FOUND IN THE COLLECTIONS WITH "20690 SWAN BELLA BELLA B.C." WRITTEN ON IT. THIS NUMBER 20690 IS INCORRECT AND IT WAS GIVEN [temporary number] T24240. HOWEVER, THE LEDGER BOOK ENTRY FOR BOW #20912 SAYS "SEE 20690 FOR ARROWS." THEREFORE, ON THE PRESUMPTION THAT THE ARROW BELONGS WITH THE BOW, THE ARROW HAS ALSO BEEN GIVEN #20912. - F. PICKERING 2-11-1997Listed on page 41 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Arts of the Northwest Coast Tribes".