Whaler's Hat (22cm high x 26cm diameter)

A Nuu-chah-nulth woman wove this hat from cedar bark and other plant fibres. It shows a whale hunt. You can see a harpooned whale trailing a line of floats as it surfaces in front of the harpooner in his canoe.

Among the Nuu-chah-nulth, these hats were the height of skill and artistry, and were only worn by high-ranking individuals and whalers. The Nuu-chah-nulth stopped making this style of hat by the mid-1800s, but today's weavers can still make hats in this style.

Whale oil and meat were important to the diet of the Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx (Makah), with any surplus being widely traded. For them the success of the hunt depended on the crew's ritual and spiritual preparation. Only chiefs captained expeditions and cast the first harpoon.

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