The toggling harpoon head was fitted to a slender foreshaft of antler or bone which was embedded in a longer shaft of wood. It was secured to the foreshaft by a wrapping of rawhide (not shown in this illustration). Held loosely along the wooden shaft was a skin line which ran through the hole in the harpoon point. Once the point had been driven into the flesh of the quarry, the foreshaft was withdrawn from the socket of the harpoon head leaving it in the wound. A tug on the line caused it to turn sideways, pivoting at the point where the line was attached. This toggling action fixed the harpoon head firmly in the animal's flesh or blubber.
As a device for hunting animals whose internal organs were difficult to penetrate, such as seals and walruses, the toggling harpoon was effective; in addition to injuring the animal, it enabled the hunter to get close enough to the prey to finish the kill with lances. Present archaeological evidence indicates that as early as 7,500 years ago the toggling harpoon was an important item in the tool kit of the Maritime Archaic people of southern Labrador.
Courtesy: National Film Board of Canada and National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada
