Crest Hat | Chief Shakes' Item Number: 1-1436 from the The Burke: University of Washington
Exhibit Label
The most prestigious object in any Tlingit clan is the crest hat. It is the physical manifestation of lineage traditions, and can be properly likened to a crown of royalty. On the momentous occasions when it is worn before the people by its noble custodian, it reminds all who see it of its history and of the glorious deeds of the clan ancestors. Chief Shakes' Killer Whale Hat is the royal crown of the Nanyaayi clan of the Stikine Tlingit. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)
Item History
- Received from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
What
- Name
- Crest Hat | Chief Shakes'
- Identification Number
- 1-1436
- Type of Item
- crest hat
- Material
- copper metal, wood, alder wood ?, spruce root, abalone shell, human hair, rawhide hide, leather, baleen, cord and paint
- Manufacturing Technique
- carved, painted, twined and inlaid
- Overall
- height 38.0 cm, diameter 32.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Tlingit: Stikine
- Received from
- Mrs. Walter C. Waters
Where
- Holding Institution
- The Burke: University of Washington
Other
- Credit
- Purchased from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
- Motif
- Killer Whale | Formline Design | Human
- Collection
- Burke Museum Ethnology Collection