{"product_id":"the-yuquot-whalers-shrine","title":"The Yuquot Whalers' Shrine","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1905 George Hunt  at the insistence of anthropologist Franz Boas  acquired a remarkable collection of materials from the Mowachaht band of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) for the American Museum of Natural History. An assemblage of 92 carved wooden figures and whales  16 human skulls  and the small building that sheltered them  the shrine had for centuries stood in Yuquot  or Friendly Cove  on the remote west coast of Vancouver Island  visited only by chiefs and their wives. Since its removal to New York  it has been represented in anthropological and historical writings  film  television  and newspapers.  In this fascinating study  Aldona Jonaitis investigates and reconstructs the history of the shrine both before and after it was acquired for the museum. Clues to the shrines complex historytraced to the mid-17th centuryand meaning are provided by historical and anthropological writings  photographs  stories  the Hunt-Boas correspondence  and the artifacts themselves. Jonaitis addresses important contemporary issues  including the Mowachaht bands desire to have the shrine repatriated for display in Yuquot.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44949034958901,"sku":"ByrdShop_0295978287","price":542.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780295978284.jpg?v=1770065535","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-yuquot-whalers-shrine","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}