bird spear

unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, artist

bird spear, mid 1800s–1895

Where object was made: Greenland

Material/technique: cord; wood; bone; carving; iron

Dimensions:
Object Length/Width/Depth (Length x Width x Depth): 154 x 8 x 4.5 cm
Object Length/Width/Depth (Length x Width x Depth): 3 1/8 x 60 5/8 x 1 3/4 in

Credit line: Gift of Lewis Lindsay Dyche

Accession number: 2007.0561

Not on display

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Exhibition Label:
"Climate Change at the Poles," Jan-2009, Kate Meyer, Jennifer Talbott, and Angela Watts
When an Inuit was out on the water hunting sea mammals, the top of his kayak would be covered with all of the tools he would need. One of the most important Inuit inventions for hunting is the toggling harpoon head, which is a sharp point that is angled and attached to a long line made of sealskin. The point is attached to the end of the harpoon shaft. When a hunter spears an animal, the long, wooden (and therefore valuable) shaft of the harpoon can be retracted out of the water. The point remains attached to the line, therefore ensuring the animal’s capture.

Other tools that are important in the hunt are the air-filled seal float, which helps to tire an ensnared animal so that it can be pulled out of the water. The spear thrower gives the hunter a stronger throw. The bird spear can trap multiple birds in its prongs with one throw.