. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 209 ACCESSORIES TO THE nARPOOX. Besides the hundred and one parts of the harpoon immediately attai'hed to it there are unlimited accessories which have been called into existence at its demands. The hunter has a peculiar costume which he puts on when he goes harpooning-. Certain kinds of food are demanded; a nniltitude of charms and lore are insepara])le from the implement. In addition, the hunter takes along s
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 209 ACCESSORIES TO THE nARPOOX. Besides the hundred and one parts of the harpoon immediately attai'hed to it there are unlimited accessories which have been called into existence at its demands. The hunter has a peculiar costume which he puts on when he goes harpooning-. Certain kinds of food are demanded; a nniltitude of charms and lore are insepara])le from the implement. In addition, the hunter takes along several devices to g;ain information, to decoy the game, and to add to his own com- fort. All about the American coast where great fish or mammals existed the water craft were improved immensely. The Nutka dug- out canoes and the Eskimo kaiak are unrivaled, and they are the ministers of the harpoon. In like manner the sled, the dog, the har- ness, the shifting tent owe their forms and usefulness to the ingenious mind which devised and perfected the harpoon, which is no doubt the most virile of all savage inventions. Sometimes a small implement is used in the hunt to indicate the approach of the seal. It is called qipekutang, and consists of a verv thin. Fig. 7. SKAI. INDICATORS. Point Barrow, Alaska. Collected by P. H. Ray. Cat. No. 56507. Murdoch. rod with a knob or a knot at one end.' It is stuck through the snow, the end into the water, the knob resting on the snow. As soon as the seal rises to l)low. it strikes the rod, which, by its movements, warns the hunter. (Tcneraily it is made of whale's bone. Sometimes a string is attsiched to the knob and fastened l)y a pin to the snow, as its movements are more easily detected than those of the knol). The natives are .somewhat averse to using this implement, as it frequently scares the .; WJKMi watching for a seal at his breathing hole, the Point Barrow native inserts into the hole a rod of
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