Otter skins

This is a kind of currency collected by hunters who visit different islands.

Cormorant skins

These things are used by the narrator to make a skirt.

Canoes

These are made of planks held together by pitch. They are used to navigate around the island of the blue dolphins.

Devilfish

This is Karana’s term for the octopus that lives in the reef around her island.

Bow and Arrow

This is the weapon with which Karana kills the wild dogs that threaten her and her food.

The Spring

This is the source of fresh water for the narrator and all of the life on the island of the blue dolphins.

Mummies

These are the dried and preserved remains of the narrator’s ancestors, which are perhaps hundreds of years old.

Sea Elephant Teeth

The narrator uses these to make points for her spears.