Arrow, Sea Otter - Ruuwaq
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center > Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Ethnographic Collection
1983.087.005
Wood/Plant material;Sea Mammal Bone;Ivory;Sinew;Fur;Feather;Rock/Stone/Mineral;Human-made;Hide
Length: 35.5"
North 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 into the end of which is a hollowed wooden plug. The bone point would have been placed in the plug. The unilaterally barbed (3 barbs) dart is connected to a braided sinew line with many windings of a white commercial thread. The sinew line is wound around the socket and the shaft, where it is tied at two places. At the junction where the socket is connected to the shaft, a thin layer of rawhide (gut?) covers the joint. The shaft is round, narrowing slightly beneath the fletching and ending in a bulbous end. Two feathers are brown, one tan, and they are held to the shaft at each end by sinew wrapping. All visible areas of the shaft are painted red; blue and red wool yarn decorates the sinew line near the dart head. The arrow is part of a larger collection which includes a bow, four arrows, and a wooden quiver for hunting sea otters.