Harpoon and Herring Rake

The three piece composite fish harpoon is sort of like a spear. It's made out of a shaft, two barb pieces, a line which binds everything together and a point which is the center piece. What the Indians did was that they looked into the water and when they saw a fish they would aim straight at it and throw the harpoon. The harpoon was connected to a line, usually anchored to the bow of the canoe or some other solid object. The harpoon itself was made of bone and wood.

The herring rake is the easiest one to explain. This tool was not used to collect and catch fish; rather, it was used in the cleaning and preparation of herring. The rake rubs off the scales of the fish. What you do is you comb through the fish with the scales going the opposite way. The rake itself was made of wood and the prongs on the rake were made of bone or metal, in later times.

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