Ceremonial War Club
Item number E20610-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.
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Notes
FROM CARD: "THUNDER BIRD ORNAMENT. ??? ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; PL. 28, FIG. 132, P. 286. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 313, P. 234. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." Crossroads catalogue caption identifies as "War Club, Tsimshian? Few weapons rival the elegance of this fine wooden club, with the raven's beak for a striking point. The form was probably derived from the antler club of the Athapaskans .... Two frogs crouch flanking the grip and another, topped with a reclining human figure, caps the club. Between his folded wings, the raven grasps another, inverted human. Abalone shell once glittered in the wing feathers. Such clubs were once true weapons, and later were used as emblems of chiefly rank. It is said they were sometimes used to kill slaves on ceremonial occasions."This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=46, retrieved 3-31-2012: Ceremonial War Club, Tsimshian. Designs carved on this polished wooden club include Raven and three Frogs. Although recorded by collector James Swan as an “ancient war club,” it was probably a ceremonial weapon used during initiation rituals of the Tsimshian Destroyer society, called Wi'-nanal (meaning "strong breath"). Novices underwent a ritual of possession by the protector spirit of the cult. While possessed they destroyed canoes, boxes, and other property using wooden clubs decorated with crest designs. The Tsimshian apparently adopted the Destroyer cult and other secret societies from the Bella Bella. "This is an amazing carving…These are probably potlatch rings above Raven's head. Below is a human figure between his wings. You see a lot of this kind of design on shamans' things, where they are riding in a canoe, going to the spirit world. Maybe Raven is that canoe." - David Boxley (Tsimshian), 2009.
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada
- Collected by James G. Swan in British Columbia, Canada
- Received during 1876
What
- Name
- Ceremonial War Club
- Identification Number
- E20610-0
- Type of Item
- club
Where
- Holding Institution
- National Museum of Natural History
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
- Collected in
- British Columbia, Canada
Who
- Culture
- Bella Bella (Heiltsuk) ? or Tsimshian ?
- Field Collector
- James G. Swan
When
- Acquisition Date
- during 1876
Other
- Accession Number
- 004686
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