Throwing Stick
“Throwing Stick”
46 cm long x 2-5.6 cm x 1.2 cm thick
Wood, white hard substance (possibly bone)
Alaska (Yupik), c. unknown
Wooden throwing sticks are used to cast small, lightweight spears while hunting waterfowl and seals. The spear is laid in the groove on the top of the stick with its end resting faints the ivory pin at the outer end. Throwing sticks are made so that they are precisely the length from the user’s elbow to the tip of their forefinger. This wooden weapon is angled so that a hunter could get close to an animal and spear it efficiently and speedily. If you look closely at the spear you will see grooves. These grooves act as a drain for any blood that may come from the animal. The tip of the throwing stick is metal, probably traded from a southern part of the artic.