I purchased this item through Butterfields Auctions in 2001. The description in the catalog read as follows:

This item is a Northwest Coast bone atlatl ( spear thrower ), carved in the Southern Group style and roughly worked in a stylized animal form with deep incisions and ochre red pigment; The bone material is probably from a sea mammal. An intentional hole is pierced through the center. Excellent condition.

I wish I had more information on the age and culture. The region is defined as coastal British Columbia or the southern Alaskan Coast. It is clearly an atlatl and it is complete. There are probably attachments, such as a peg or weight that is missing, but the main body is fully intact. This type of atlatl is very rare and it is one of only two that I have seen in several decades of searching for similar artifacts.