Model Of Whaling Canoe

Item number E73740-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From James G. Swan original tag with artifact, now (2008), stored in Anthropology Collections Lab accession file: "No. 1, Model of Makah Whaling canoe, a very fine specimen & true to nature, made by Lechessar, a Makah Indian for U.S. Fish Commission and National Museum, Washington, D.C. From James G. Swan, Port Townsend, Wash. Terr. Sept. 18, 1884. This canoe + Indians represent a whaling scene off Cape Flattery Washington Territory. The whale has gone down, and they are eagerly and intently watching for its reappearance on the surface. If near enough, the harpooner Hetukivad, throws down his paddle, seizes the harpoon and plunges it into the whale, and simultaneously the seal skin buoys and tow line are thrown overboard by the Indian immediately behind the harpooner. The buoys oblige the whale to keep on the surface of the water where he is killed with lances, and towed ashore. J. G. Swan."