RCMP help once poison-tipped arrows from Africa find their way to B.C. museum

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VANCOUVER — Two old arrows from Africa will be looked at by a curator at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to see if they might be added to its archives after the intervention of North Vancouver RCMP.

Cpl. Richard De Jong says the arrows, which are about 70 centimetres long, are from the Maasai tribes of Kenya and were designed to carry poison.

A senior from North Vancouver who owned the arrows received them from his father in the 1940s, although it’s not known how they were acquired from Africa.

De Jong says the man considered them weapons.

He brought them to the North Vancouver RCMP detachment, hoping the Mounties would have them destroyed.

Instead, police approached experts at the museum and a university spokeswoman says the curator has agreed to look at the arrows to see if they could be added to the museum’s archives.

“I’m sure there is an intriguing story behind these two arrows,” says De Jong.

He says police were also encouraged to see the owner doing the right thing by turning the items over to police.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the arrows were in possession and would be displayed by the department of anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

©2016 The Canadian Press