The Sheldon Jackson Museum’s Artifact of the Month: halibut hook

578af1c0dad32.imageThe Sheldon Jackson Museum’s July Artifact of the Month is a halibut hook (SJ.I.A.645). Despite serving the same purpose and having the same basic principal design as the other halibut hooks in the museum’s collection, the Artifact of the Month is very different from the other hooks in its construction and simplicity. All coastal tribes have historically caught halibut, though the Makah on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the Tlingit and Haida were the most extensive harvesters of the fish. The species is most abundant in the spring before the arrival of salmon, but can be caught year round, an excellent source of food, fresh or cured. The featured halibut hook is made from the natural crotch of a tree. The large heavier arm has an iron barb bound into place in a vertical groove with two-ply commercial cord. Read the rest here 09:09

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