Unalashkan Throwing-Board
This is an arctic Unalashkan (Southern) style throwing-board. The original was collected in Unalashka, Alaska in 1874. The image is from "Throwing-Sticks In The National Museum" by Otis T. Mason, published by the Smithsonian Institute in 1890.
Here is the accompanying text:
Unalashkan throwing-stick. It would be better to call this form the Southern type. The noticeable features in all our specimens are the parallel sides, the hard material, thinness, the carving for the fingers, but above all the reappearance of the eccentric cavity for the index finger. This cavity is not a great perforation, as in the Point Barrow type, but an eccentric pocket, a compromise between the Northern cavity and that of the East.
Material:
Wood, 17 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/2"
Wood, 3/4" x 1/2" x 3/8"
Construction:
- Shape the handle end. The wider grip is about 1/4" deep, while the shorter one is 3/8" deep.
- Thin the bottom of the handle on both sides from the finger grips to the end. The sides should be 1/4" high.
- Cut the groove. Starting 1 1/2" from the peg end, cut a 3/8" wide groove. At the peg end, it should be 1/4" deep, slanting upwards to flush at 10" from the peg end.
- 5" from the handle end, drill the fingerhole. Use a 5/8" bit and lean it sideways so the hole is 3/4" wide.
- Drill a 3/8" hole at the end of the groove, all the way through.
- Round off all edges and sand it smooth.
- Make the peg. Cut the smaller block into this shape. Taper the pointed part for the peg, and make the bottom completely round so it fits in the hole in the groove. Sand it all smooth.
- Put glue in the peg hole and insert the peg.
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