Halibut Hook

Item number 3460/2 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Disassembled halibut hook made of wood. Thin arm of hook (part a) is carved into a bird figure at its top, has a rectangular shaft and conical bottom. Cone is carved in high relief. Entire arm has a flat back. The bird figure has large circular eyes, a long beak pointing down the body, wide legs and feather designs incised on its wings. There is a hole through the middle of the bird, just above the fork of its legs. A thick and braided piece of fibre cording, with a knotted loop end, is strung through the hole. Wood is brown-yellow, cord is beige. Thick arm of hook (part b) has a triangular head with a wide, rectangular groove in its centre. Groove was likely where the arms would have been tied together. Bottom of arm is slightly angled. Wood is brown-red. Iron barb is missing.

Narrative

The two halibut hooks, 3460/1-2, were collected in Alaska, probably around 1920, by Franklin D. Scott (the father of a friend of the donor), who had spent a summer fishing in Alaska to pay for college.