Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

  • Data
  • Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by National Museum of Natural History. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Notes

FROM CARD: "WOVEN FROM GOAT FLEECE WITH PAINTED (DYED) DESIGNS IN BLACK, YELLOW AND GREEN. TWO ROWS OF PUFFIN BEAK BEADS AT ENDS OF BUCKSKIN FRINGE BORDER. RARE AND VALUABLE SPECIMEN. 4/18/1967: LOANED TO VANCOUVER ART GALL., 12/13/1967 RETURNED BY VANCOUVER. LOAN CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988, LOAN RETURNED JAN 21, 1993. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 290, P. 219." FROM CROSSROADS CATALOGUE: "A WRAPAROUND APRON AND DECORATED LEGGINGS WERE OFTEN WORN BY THE NOBILITY ALONG WITH A CHILKAT BLANKET ON CEREMONIAL OCCASIONS. THE WOVEN PIECES OF THIS SET (OF DANCE APRON AND LEGGINGS) WERE ORIGINALLY PART OF A SINGLE BLANKET DEPICTING A DIVING KILLER WHALE, WHICH WAS PROBABLY CUT UP AND DISTRIBUTED TO GUESTS DURING A GREAT MEMORIAL POTLATCH. THE WOVEN PIECES HAVE BEEN EXTENDED WITH TRADE BLANKET MATERIAL AND BORDERED WITH SKIN FRINGES. PUFFIN BEAKS ATTACHED TO THE FRINGES RATTLED TOGETHER WITH THE MOVEMENTS OF THE DANCER."" Leggings illus. Fig. G, after p. 48 in The Chilkat Dancing Blanket, by Cheryl Samuel, University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.Description: Wraparound leggings decorated with a stylized formline design woven in white, black, blue, and yellow dyed wool. The woven piece has been widened by the addition of wool trade blanket material and bordered with skin fringes. Puffin beaks are attached to the fringes. Materials and Construction: Wool, cotton, cedar bark, hide, and Puffin beaks were used to fabricate the leggings. Fitzhugh and Crowell suggest that the leggings were once part of a larger Chilkat blanket, which was probably cut up and distributed to guests during a great memorial potlatch. The cut edges of the woven fabric are trimmed with black silk piping. Rectangular black wool panels have been sewn to the sides of the leggings. A strip of hide is sewn along the sides of each legging and cut into a fringe. Puffin beaks have been stitched to the inside edge of the hide, adjacent to the weaving and make a rattling sound when the leggings move. One of the leggings has a narrow strip of hide sewn to the top of the legging which has also been cut into fringe. A single Puffin beak is sewn into one end of the hide fringe in this area. The bottom edge of the leggings taper to a fish tail like extension that would partially cover the top of the foot. Hide and canvas strips, sewn at the top, middle and bottom of each side were used to tie the leggings to the wearer.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=349 , retrieved 11-29-2011: Leggings These dance leggings, like the accompanying apron, feature pieces that were cut from a Chilkat-style mountain goat wool blanket. Sections from the original weaving were sewn onto commercial wool cloth and decorated with puffin beaks and leather fringes. The tail-shaped flaps at the bottom of the leggings rested on top of the dancer's moccasins.This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. E341202-0 Apron and E341202-1 Leggings are both on loan.

Item History

With an account, you can ask other users a question about this item. Request an Account

With an account, you can submit information about this item and have it visible to all users and institutions on the RRN. Request an Account

Similar Items