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I The NMNH: E72637-0 - Serving Stick With Nettle Twine (Cord Reel)

Serving Stick With Nettle Twine (Cord Reel)

Item number E72637-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From card: "To accompany the harpoons # 72634-6. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 2c, pg. 424."Described p. 106 in Brown, James Temple. 1883. The whale fishery and its appliances. Washington: Govt. print. off.: "Serving Stick And Twine. Stick, yew; twine, nettle fiber. Ends of stick carved to represent the caudal fin of the whale. Used in connection with the mallet (76638) to serve harpoon laniards. Length, 16 1/2 inches. Makah Indians, Cape Flattery, 1882. James G. Swan. By means of this implement and the mallet, twine is wound or wrapped around the harpoon lines in spiral folds in the same manner as ordinary seamen serve a rope with spun-yarn or marline. The Indians employed this process before the advent of the white man. The necessities of the case caused them to adopt a plan at once simple and effective. "This stick has been in the family from which it was procured more than four generations. It was the property of Chief Haiks, who died at Neah Bay thirty years ago. His whaling implements have been carefully preserved and never used since his death."—[J. G. Swan.]"