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Box For Whale Lance Blades
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC, United States
"CARVED FROM DRIFT WOOD, CONTAINING EXTRA BLADES - [Box is in] SHAPE OF WHALE."
E204778 (wooden box and blades) and E204779 (stone box) are on exhibit in NMNH Sant Ocean Hall. 2014 exhibit caption identifies the boxes as Inupiaq whale harpoon boxes in the form of whales: "Honoring the spirit of the whale, these carved and decorated boxes stored harpoon blades during whale hunts. "Living" inside the box was meant to give the blade spiritual powers to carry a harpoon back to the blade's "home" in the whale."
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Details
- Title: Box For Whale Lance Blades
- Location: Alaska, United States, North America
- Type: Box / Point
- Rights: This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. The image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. http://www.si.edu/termsofuse
- External Link: View this object record in the Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center
- USNM Catalog Number(s): E204778-0
- Photo Credit: Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
- Field: Anthropology
- Accession Date: 1900-03-02
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