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Description

Wooden halibut hook with bone barb lashed on and carved with a bird swallowing a fish. [CAK 26/06/2009]

Longer Description

Wooden halibut hook with bone barb lashed on and carved with a bird swallowing a fish. The hook is carved from two pieces of wood, nailed and lashed together with string to form an acute angle. One arm is carved from cedar wood and has a carved bone barb positioned to face the second arm, and lashed into place with string. The lashing includes a particular knotting to hold the barb in place. The other arm is carved from yew wood and depicts a long-billed bird with a fish in its mouth: the body and tail of the fish are visible. The underside of the bird's head has been carved out. This arm has been perforated through the bird's bill and a length of cord inserted and knotted on the underside of the arm. The cord is wrapped around the first arm and is tangled with the end of the string used to lash the two arms together. [CAK 26/06/2009]

Primary Documentation

Accession Book Entry - 'WELLCOME HISTORICAL MEDICAL MUSEUM, 28 PORTMAN SQUARE, LONDON, W.1...1951.6.59 HAIDA INDIANS. Wooden halibut hook with bone barb lashed on. Upper part of shank carved with bird swallowing fish. Max. length 22.7 cm.

There is no further information on the catalogue card. [CW 11 6 98]

Pitt Rivers Museum label - BRITISH COLUMBIA HAIDA INDIANS Halibut hook Gift of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum [MJD 02/04/2009]

Related Documents File - Letter from E. Ashworth Underwood [Director, The Wellcome Historical Medical Museum] to T. K. Penniman dated 30 January, 1951, inviting the Pitt Rivers Museum to send a representative to select items from the Wellcome collection, housed temporarily at the British Museum. [GI 4/2/2002]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This hook was viewed alongside other fish hooks on Monday Sept 14, 2009. Delegates described this as a halibut hook, used to catch large halibut. The hook and barb are of such a size that only large fish would be able to bite down on it. Christian White thought the bird figure was a raven with a halibut in its mouth and identified the wood as cedar and yew wood. Jaalen Edenshaw also identified the bottom arm as cedar wood and the top as yew wood. Christian clarified that the cedar arm with the hook would float, while the yew wood is denser and would sink, enabling the proper orientation of the hook in the water (i.e. the arm with the barb is above the carved arm). He thought the bird was shown with a fish, and wondered if it was a cormorant. Another delegate identified the figure as a seagull because of the bump in the beak, or a raven. Candace Weir provided a Haida translation for fish hook: t'aawal One delegate added that octopus was used as bait when fishing for halibut.
The bone hooks and wood are bound together using particular tying techniques. This involves laying a length of thread loose along the length of the wood that is to be bound to the hook and binding that under the wound cord. Once enough cord has been wound about the wood and hook this thread is picked back up and used to tie the other end off and to clamp together the sinew / fibres used to tie the hook up. This helps to guard against the binding coming loose as the hook is submerged and begins to absorb water, or as the fish takes hold.
To gauge the hook size a maker would use the width of their thumb across the joint inserted between the bone hook and the outer wooden frame. [CAK 20/05/2010]