Northwest coast |
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The Northwest coast includes many nations from Alaska to Washington state through British Columbia among which the Haida and Salish. These people were organized in stratified clans identified by totem animals such as the raven and the eagle which were the most important. They lived a semi-sedentary life based on the abondance of the coastal resources, especially salmon whose annual migration allowed important food reserves. To benefit from this diversity of resources on which they depended, they developed complex fishing technologies and techniques using the many materials available to them. The stability that this abondance provided largely contributed to the development of artistic expression that achieved a high degree of sophistication in the form of sculpture and painting.
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Village model
Materials: wood, minerals and other Size: 4 x 4 feet Representation of a Haida village composed of board houses and totem poles. The poles in front of the houses identified the clans who lived in them while other types of poles could have a commemorative or funerary function. |
Adze
Materials: wood, plant fibre, steel Size: 14 inches Used for sculture, this tool is useful for both roughing out a piece of wood and carving a precise shape. This type of adze is made from a tree branch and a piece of recycle steel. |
Knife
Materials: slate, wood, plant fibre Size: 5 ½ inches Salmon was the most appreciated fish whose massive capture allowed to make reserves. This type of knife is very sharp and was used to slice the fish in preparation for smoking. |
Hook
Materials: slate, bone, sinew Size: 3 inches Used for salmon trolling. The line was tied to the paddle of the canoe whose movement dangled the hook under its own weight. |
Spoon
Materials: wood, paint Size: 10 inches Spoon representing a whale. Such utensils were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes. |
Halibut hook
Materials: wood, bone, plant fibre Size: 10 inches This hook used to catch halibut is composed of a hard wood and a softwood allowing it to float correctly to match the unusual configuration of this fish’s mouth. |
Leister spear
Materials: wood, bone, plant fibre Size: 7 feet This type of harpoon with detachable head was used during the salmon migration season. The central point spears the fish while the lateral points serve as barbs to hold it. |
Harpoon point
Materials: antler, bone, plant fibre, resin Size: 4 inches This detachable point linked to a shaft by a line is composed of a bone point fitted between two antler valves. It toggles under tension to capture the fish that is then retrieved by the line. |
Harpoon
Materials: wood, antler, bone, plant fibre, resin Size: main prong 4 feet This type of salmon harpoon is composed of 1 to 3 hard wood prongs fitted to a light wood shaft. It can have many forms depending on the type of river (large, fast, rocky) and the technique used to thrust it (from the shore, an overhang or a boat). |
Fish lure
Materials: wood, plant fibre Size: 14 inches This lure is unique to the Northwest Coast. Made from light wood, it was pushed to the bottom of the water with a long pole and released to let it spin to the surface attracting aggressive fish like cod |
Fish lure
Materials: coquille d'ormeau, bois, os, chanvre Size (shell): 3 inches Abalone shell lures combined with a hook were used on trolling lines from a canoe. Their ability to reflect light and their curved shape create the illusion of a wounded fish to attract bigger ones. |
Dip net
Materials: plant fibre, wood, bone Size: 4 x 2 feet diam x 3 feet deep This type of dip net used to capture salmon in fast rivers was plunged in the water from a scaffold to catch passing fish. The net could be static or have a closing mechanism to trap the fish inside. |
Canoe model
Material: wood Size: 1 foot (model) This Nootka style canoe was carved in a giant cedar to hunt grey whale and seal. It's unusual shape made it very manoeuvrable and could accommodate harpoons with lines and floats. |