Bracelet Item Number: 2007-4/1 from the The Burke: University of Washington

Exhibit Label

Spirit of the Ancestors-Engraved silver broaches and bracelets were first worn by Northwest Coast Native women to display their inherited crests during the late 19th century, when they were no longer able to display their crests by wearing ceremonial regalia or tattoos. Today, such displays of cultural identity are legal, but bracelets continue to be important ceremonial and everyday wear.