NUU-CHAH-NULTH OR MAKAH CLUB

Wilhelm Helmer, Vancouver

George Terasaki, New York, acquired from the above in 1970

Steven C. Brown, Transfigurations: North Pacific Coast Art. George Terasaki, Collector, Seattle, 2006, n.p., pl. 68 (two views)

The Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah were accomplished pelagic seal hunters for at least the past several centuries. Venturing in cedar canoes out to the paths of migrating fur seals twenty, forty, or even sixty miles offshore, crews of two or three men would harpoon, club, and prepare the seals to carry home. Fur seals were prized for their luxuriant, unbelievably soft fur, and all species were valued for their meat. blubber, and pelts. From the late eighteenth century until the turn of the twentieth century, fur traders exchanged objects of value and later money to the native hunters for their fur seal and sea otter pelts.

Hunting clubs were often decorated with images of the hunter's prev in some form, and also with images of powerful hunters of the animal world. The carved images served as homage to the spirits of the creatures that were hunted. A number of seal clubs with a wide range of sculptural embellishments were recovered from the Ozette archaeological site on the Washington coast in the mid-1970s. That site has been dated at 300-500 years old, and all the accouterments of the traditional seal hunt were unearthed there. The style of work on this club differs from those ancient ones of Ozette only by being somewhat more complex, depicting a number of figures in a linear arrangement.

At the top is a bird with a large rounded head, its beak turned down upon its neck. The bird’s talons grasp a serpent that encircles the club, its body partially covered by the wings. The bird and serpent may be a metaphor for the hunter and his harpoon. Nestled below is the upright image of a seal. Its head is upward, and its side and tail flippers are turned up onto its belly. A large serpent-head grasps the seal and the club shaft in its mouth. The incised diagonal lines of cross-hatching that decorate the raised band below the serpent’s head and another at the handle finial may represent the scales of the serpent’s skin. The dark patina and archaic style of work on this club are the indications of an early origin.

Steven C. Brown