Stone Charm Carved Fish

Item number E74943-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

At one time, a paper label with the word "fish" written on it was glued to the underside of this object. It has been removed by Anthropology Conservation in 2008 prior to the artifact going on exhibit.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=614, retrieved 3-31-2012: Charm, Tlingit. Red ocher paint fills the engraved lines of this stone fish charm. Although its history is unknown, it may be a “rubbing amulet” used to scratch or massage the mouth, body, and head. In many situations it was considered dangerous to touch the body directly. For example, when hostages (called "deer") were exchanged to end conflicts they could not scratch themselves with their fingernails without “agitating more war,” as Yakutat Elders told anthropologist Frederica De Laguna in the 1950s. A stone rubbed against the mouth prevented trouble that could be caused by speech.