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| Title | Indians cutting up whale - job nearly finished |
| Accession ID number | 1943.42.19221 |
| Object Type | negative, glass-plate |
| Creator | Asahel Curtis |
| Date | 1910 |
| Rights | Property of the Washington State Historical Society - All Rights Reserved |
| Full Description | Men, women and children of the Makah Tribe at Neah Bay, Washington finish the job of cutting up a whale. Canoes are visible at water's edge and there are several dogs with the group. |
| Inscription | 19221 |
| Subject | Clallam County; Neah Bay, WA; Makah; Makah Indian Reservation; whaling; whale; woman; child; canoe |
| Remarks | Photograph is part of the Harney State Set that Curtis took for W.D. Harney, Photogravure Publisher |
| Interpretation | The life of the Makah was tied closely to the sea. The Makah lived on the northwestern tip of Washington State, with their primary village located at Neah Bay. For subsistence and trade purposes they caught salmon, halibut and other fish, and hunted seals and whales. Many elaborate rituals were followed by the whalers, and these played a large part in Makah culture. Whalers offered prayers and songs to the whale to convince the beast initially to take the harpoon, and then come easily to shore. Source: ASAHEL CURTIS; PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. Richard Frederick and Jeanne Engerman. Tacoma : Washington State Historical Society, 1983 |
| Electronic Publisher | Washington State Historical Society |
| Description | glass; black and white |
| Date Digital | 2007 |
| Dimension | height: 8 inches; width: 10 inches |
| File Characteristics | Negative scanned on a Microtek ArtixScan 1800f scanner at 600 ppi grayscale and resized to 300 dpi. Adjustments made using Adobe Photoshop CS2 |
