Ceremonial Bow

Item number E324930-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From card: "Painted red on the inner surface and black on the outer. Carved from a single piece of wood. The grip is constricted, flaring out on each side and tapering towards the ends, each of which terminated in a good sized human mask, with real hair inserted." Illus. Fig. 376, p. 274 in Fitzhugh, William W., and Aron Crowell. 1988. Crossroads of continents: cultures of Siberia and Alaska. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Identified there as a Tlingit shaman's bow. "Wands, batons, spears, daggers, and other items were used for display, carried in the hands by Tlingit chiefs and shamans on state occasions like potlatches and festivals. This oversized bow has a carved human head at each end, one singing and one talking. Similar paired faces were carved on shaman's headrests used during fasting (Wardwell 1978:87). Ceremonial bows were often made with matching arrows, and were sometimes used in curing ceremonies."