March 19, 2018 — The Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame recently inducted its first indigenous tool. Few people still use the hand-carved halibut hook, once popular with Southeast tribes. But there’s a push to make sure the tradition sticks around for future generations.
Standing on a stage with his grandson at the Juneau Innovation Summit a few weeks ago, Thomas George accepted an award.
“I’ve been trying to get help to keep this part of our heritage alive for years or decades,” George said.
The Alaska State Committee on Research gives credit to people and inventions which have made a lasting impact in the state.
George accepted the honor for a collective achievement: the halibut hook, which has been used by Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people for thousands of years.
Even though the technology is old, George says it isn’t a relic.
“Over the years everybody thought it was decoration for the wall,” George said. “But my hooks never did hang on the wall. They hung out on the porch.”
George only knows of one other person — in all of Southeast Alaska — who fishes with the traditional halibut hook, and he’s a big proponent for bringing them back. He’s taught classes at the Sealaska Heritage Institute on how to make them.
Growing up in Klawock, he says carving the hooks was part of his childhood. His grandmother was one of the people who passed on the knowledge, and he remembers some advice she gave him: All of the measurements you need to know are in your own hand.
“And if you got small hands you don’t need a big fish,” he said.
Typically, people jig for halibut on their boat using a metal circle hook. But the traditional design and method is different. The hook itself is shaped like a V, with a more buoyant wood like yellow cedar on one side and a denser wood on the other. This makes it float in a certain direction.