Berry-Spoon / Eating Stick Item Number: E8944A-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

FROM CARD: 8944 A,B,C,D. NAME: *CHOP STICKS [sic], EATING STICKS. *BERRY SPOONS. REMARKS: CARVED WHALEBONE. 1 AND 2 - ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; PL. 41, FIG. 224; P. 318. ILLUS.: THE SPIRIT SINGS CATALOGUE, GLENBOW-ALBERTA INST., 1987, #N106, P.156. LOAN GLENBOW NOV 13, 1987. LOAN RETURNED NOV 25, 1988." FROM OLD 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "8,944A. SPOON.-MADE OF WHALEBONE; LONG AND FLAT, AND SHAPED SOMEWHAT LIKE A SPATULA. ORNAMENTED WITH CARVED TOTEMIC DESIGNS. LENGTH, 14 7/8 INCHES; WIDTH, 2 INCHES. SITKA INDIANS (KOLUSCHAN STOCK), SITKA, ALASKA. 8,944. COLLECTED BY DR. A. H. HOFF, U.S.A."Entry on E8944A - D in Army Medical Museum ledger book for Section 6, Miscellaneous Section, under A.M.M. number 378: Received October 29, 1869, from Bvt. Col. A.H. Hoff, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A. - "Two pairs of "chop-sticks" [sic] - implements use by the Indians about Sitka in taking their food."Florence Sheakley and Ruth Demmert, both elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Originally the design on this spoon was used as a filler design, but today people attribute it to Deisheetan clan, who have a bear design. The presence of a finger design suggests this object comes from Kaagwaantaan clan. This is part of a set that includes E8944A-0, E8944B-0, E8944C-0, E8944D-0