Chilkat Tunic | Naaxhein kudas' Item Number: 1-631 from the The Burke: University of Washington

Exhibit Label

Tlingit weavers also used their skills to produce articles of ceremonial dress other than dancing blankets. Among these were aprons, leggings, and a very few rare pouches, cartridge boxes, and shamans' hats. The largest and most spectacular of these ceremonial articles, however, was the tunic, either sleeved or sleeveless. Probably derived from a painted dance tunic, or perhaps an armor shirt, it was modified and conventionalized by the weaving process. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)