A Halibut hook made of yew wood, bent by means of a steaming technique and then hardened. The bone barb is attached by means of a cedar bark string. Collected from the Haida, but of a type used by the Makah. (16 cm, MOA)
MOA = Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

A Haida halibut hook adorned with the figure of a chief wearing a potlatch hat engraved with a frog. (31 cm, over 110 years old; MOA)
MOA = Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The natives of the Queen Charlotte Islands, on the other hand, have won their fight for survival. Daphne Yeltatzie, from the Haida community of Masset, maintains the tradition of hanging halibut fillets from a ceiling grate to dry.

Tony Hunt explains a halibut motif on a new totem pole for his Fort Rupert Kwakiutl community.

Photo Gallery