Richardson, George


stone net weight, Lil'wat

Description:
[This item was repatriated to Lil'wat Nation Nov 22, 2019]. 1989 Karen Koons is writing a description of Lillooet stone net weight. Stone net weight, large and slightly pill shaped with a groove near one end likely for a rope or some other form of rope. [update 2019] Lil'wat Stone Net Weight with a face carved into the end of the item. This rounded end has traces of red ochre that was applied to the carving. Net weights are also called anchors and sinker stones. An anchor stone held down one end of an outstretched gillnet while sinker stones on the lower edge kept the net hanging vertically. Information from "Stone, Bone, Antler and Shell" by Hillary Stewart, 1996 - shared by Johnny Jones. Johnny Jones says the object is an Owl or Sa'inuz clan marker. He believes it is associated with the Sa'inux clan (village) by old Red Bridge crossing described by anthropologist James Teit in "Journal of American Folklore" as "between the Indian Village of Pemberton and Green Lake at a place a little above Currie's Ranch, there formerly lived a number of people in two underground houses. Sa'inux Clan beings are considered to be half human and half fish. The descendants of the Sa'inux dance at potlatches, with masks and clothes representing half man, half fish. These people were called Sa'inux, and were familiar with the water and powerful in magic". Charlie Mack in his intro to the story "The Boy Who Had Wild Cherry Bark as His Power" said "these mysterious people drowned when their underground houses filled with water, caused by the trained boy dropping salmon down through the entranceway. Charlie called it "a true story about some of our ancestors" when he told the story in 1971. [See book "The Lil'wat World of Charlie Mack"].
Keywords:
fishing, equipment, net, archaeological, Lil'wat, indigenous
Source:
Richardson, George
Date of Object:
Accession #:
983.58.01
Dimensions:
34.5 cm L x 33 cm Dia.
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