Seal Dart, Barbed

Object Details

Collector

Dr. William H. Dall

Donor Name

U.S. Coast Survey

This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.

Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=36 , retrieved 3-23-2021; see web page for additional information: Dart[s], Yup'ik. The seal dart is a sophisticated tool. Feathers stabilize it in flight, like an arrow. The barbed point fits into a bone or ivory socket piece that adds weight for longer throws and increases the impact of a strike, punching the point through skin, blubber, and bone. Once inside the seal the point disconnects but remains tied to the dart, which floats above and reveals the animal's location. Some hunters on the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers still use this method because seals shot with a gun can easily sink and be lost, especially in fresh water. Today and in the past, coastal communities of southwestern Alaska rely on several species of seals for oil, meat, and skins. These are the bearded (Erignathus barbatus), ringed (Phoca hispida), spotted (Phoca largha), harbor (Phoca vitulina), and ribbon seals (Phoca fasciata). One traditional weapon for hunting small seals was the lightweight dart tipped with a barbed point. A dart can be thrown quite accurately over long distances with the aid of a nuqaq [throwing board]. Darts are distinguished from hand-thrown harpoons that were used to take large seals as well as walrus and beluga whales. The seal dart is a sophisticated tool. Feathers stabilize it in flight, like an arrow. The barbed point fits into a solid bone or ivory socket piece that adds weight for longer throws and increases the impact of a strike, punching the point through skin, blubber, and bone. Once inside the seal the point slips out of its socket but remains connected to the dart by a bridle of braided sinew line. The line unrolls and the dart shaft swings crosswise in the water, dragging behind the seal to slow its escape. Inflated bladders were added to some darts to increase the drag effect. Darts could also be attached to inflated sealskin buoys or wooden float boards, especially for larger sea mammals. Darts and throwing boards continued to be used after firearms came to the region in the late 19th century, and this tradition carries on to the present day in some villages of the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. There are several advantages to the traditional weapon. A dart is silent, whereas a gunshot frightens away other game. A dart slows the seal's escape and marks its whereabouts, whereas a seal wounded with a bullet may sink out of sight and be lost. This is especially true in fresh water, which explains why Yup'ik hunters on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers still prefer the old dart method. H. M. W. Edmonds described group seal hunting from kayaks by men at St. Michael in 1890: "As soon as discovered, the natives throw their spears [darts], those in the rear throwing over the heads of those in front. If the seal is not killed but goes down, the natives take up the chase again, endeavoring, by loud calls, to attract the seal again to the surface. The spears once thrown are grabbed up and used again, each man striving to get his own spear, for the seal belongs to the men whose spears [darts] are afterwards found in the body." Dart shafts are marked with painted bands to show ownership, and the points of individual hunters can also be distinguished.

Record Last Modified

11 Jan 2022

Specimen Count

1

Culture

Eskimo, Yup'ik, Magemiut (Marayarmiut)

Eskimo, Yup'ik

Accession Date

1874

Accession Number

003195

USNM Number

E15677-0

Object Type

Dart

Length - Object

121 cm

Place

Nunivak Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, United States, North America

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Ethnology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8344500

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/33893cad0-2b35-426c-a5d5-d00c8e5fd610