Notes

There are currently two objects with this catalogue number: one is an iron barbed arrowhead, the other is a bone barbed arrowhead. The catalogue card identifies this as "fish spear point iron", so the catalogue number for the bone arrowhead may be incorrect (it possibly could be # 7427 instead?)The bone arrowhead only is described in Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/200 , retrieved 1-27-2020: Arrowhead made from bone. It is self-pointed, with barbs along one edge and a conical tang that appears to have been repaired. A line has been incised on either side of the barbs. Note that this object was originally listed in the Smithsonian catalogue as a fish spear point, but was reidentified by the Inuvialuit project as an arrowhead. The Inuvialuit website notes about other similar arrowheads originally listed as fish spear points, that they are similar in size and shape to arrowheads on arrows in the MacFarlane Collection, and so have been reidentified as arrowheads. More information on arrows here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/4: Complete arrows as well as separate arrowheads are present in the MacFarlane Collection. The arrow shafts are made from a single piece of spruce, and typically are 60 to 70 cm. long. Most have been stained with red ochre. The shafts are round in cross section, except near the notch for the bowstring where they are slightly flattened to provide a better grip for the fingers. Fleching consists of two split and trimmed feathers attached with sinew lashing. Several types of arrowheads were used, depending on the game that was hunted. Some of the ochre markings on arrow shafts may have been owner's marks, and some arrowheads are likewise marked with notches and incised lines that might have been used to identify their owner. Community Interpretations Darrel Nasogaluak: Arrowheads were meant to come off the shaft after an animal was struck. My grandfather Edgar Kotokak told me that barbs were cut into only one edge so that the head moved around inside the wound as the animal moved, increasing the chance of killing it.