Exhibit Label

Cedar bark to be used in the Tseyka, the Kwakwaka'wakw Winter Ceremonial, was dyed an orange-red with the inner bark of the red alder. This dyed bark was used alone or mixed with undyed bark to form red and pale buff stripes or patterns according to the traditional arrangement for each Tseyka participant. Principal participants wore cedar bark neck rings as part of their insignia: some of them simple lengths of shredded bark tied into a loop and hung with bark tassels, some plied into red or candy-striped ropes, and others of varying degrees of elaboration in twisted, wrapped, and plaited work. This triple neck ring is one of the most elaborate. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)