Money Item Number: 1927.76 from the MAA: University of Cambridge
Description
Eleven dentalium shells of standard length and colour that have been strung together, probably by Ridgeway or the museum.; Good
Context
The catalogue card states the dentalium shell are called Haikwa or Hi-A-Qua among the Kyuquots other tribes of the Westcoast of Vancouver. The original European tribal names and, where possible, current tribal names have both been given in separate GLT fields.; Emmon' s text on the Tlingit, The Tlingit Indians 1991, (University of Washington Press), contains a note on dentalia, page 173-4, Dentalia were used for personal ornaments and to decorate blankets, were procured in trade from the Quatsino Kwakiutl and the Nootka (Nuu-Chah-Nulth). They were, however more valuable in trade to the interior people, and were therefore often called the shell money , since there were fixed trade values for a certain number of standard lengths and colours. A further note added by Frederica de Laguna records that the Russians would acquire dentalium shells at about thirty rubles per hundred in order for them to trade with north Americans.
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada
- Received from Prof. Sir. William Ridgeway during 1927
What
- Name
- Money
- Identification Number
- 1927.76
- Type of Item
- money
- Material
- dentalium shell
Who
- Culture
- Nuu-chah-nulth: Tla-o-qui-aht
- Received from
- Prof. Sir. William Ridgeway
Where
- Holding Institution
- MAA: University of Cambridge
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
When
- Acquisition Date
- during 1927
Other
- Keyword
- Currency