Amutat

Identifier1983.087.004

MaterialWood/Plant material;Sea Mammal Bone;Ivory;Sinew;Fur;Feather;Rock/Stone/Mineral;Hide;Human-made

Dimensions Length: 34"

ProvenanceNorth Pacific Rim (possibly Prince William Sound region), Alaska (attributed), late 19th century (attributed), Unangax or Alutiiq/Sugpiaq (attributed). Purchased from Jonathan Holstein, New York, New York. The shaft is made of wood, with a bone socket. There is an unilaterally barbed (3 barbs) bone point connected by blue commercial thread to a thin braided sinew line. The sinew line has red wool yarn worked into it near the arrowtip and the line itself is tied to two points along the shaft. At the junction where the socket piece is connected to the shaft, a thin layer of rawhide (gut?) covers the joint. The shaft is stained ocher red, and narrows slightly before the bulbous end. There are three dark brown or mottled dark brown and cream-colored feathers, held at each end by sinew wrappings, at one end wrapped over a short section of rawhide or gut. The arrow is part of a larger collection which includes a bow, four arrows, and a wooden quiver for hunting sea otters.