Black Horn Spoon Short Handles Carved

Item number E20623-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "TROCADERO JULY 1885."Anthropology catalogue ledger book and catalogue card identify this spoon as Bella Bella. As of 2010, culture in database identifies the spoon as Tlingit, however the source of the Tlingit identification is unknown. The spoon is therefore being listed as both Tlingit and Bella Bella for now.Ian Reid (Heiltsuk) and Evelyn Windsor (Heiltsuk elder) of the delegation from Bella Bella, Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet communities of British Columbia made the following comments during the Recovering Voices Community Research Visit May 20th - 24th, 2013. In order to make the spoons, they look for parts in the alder tree that have a natural curve. Everyone sat around the big cooking pot and used them for spooning their soup out. Alder wood spoons are for everyday use and horn spoons are used for feasts. Usually when you take on your chiefdomship, or you have a feast, this is one of the items that would sit on top of the bentwood box or it would be publicly handed over.