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

VANCOUVER – Two old arrows from Africa are now in the care of the University of British Columbia's anthropology department, thanks to 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.

The senior from North Vancouver who owned the arrows had received them from his father in the 1940s, although it's not known how they had been acquired from Africa.

De Jong says the man considered them weapons.

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

Instead, police approached anthropologists at UBC, and De Jong says they were delighted to take the artifacts into their archives.

"I'm sure there is an intriguing story behind these two arrows," says De Jong.

Police were encouraged to see the owner doing the right thing by turning the items over to police, but are also pleased these arrows will be included in a museum display, he says.