Inuvialuit elders recognized this as a foreshaft from a harpoon, a type of spear used throughout the arctic for hunting sea mammals. Inuvialuit hunters still use harpoons for hunting seals and beluga whales, although today they are made from modern materials. Elders still remember making harpoons from more traditional materials

A harpoon had several pieces that were carefully made to fit together. Once a seal or whale was hit, the parts separated, and only the head remained in the animal.

One end of the foreshaft was inserted into a socket piece at the end of a wooden shaft, and the other end was inserted into a socket at the base of a harpoon head.