Indian Mask Item Number: E23441-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

FROM CARD: "...WOODEN HELMET CARVED IN SHAPE OF WOLF'S HEAD, HAIDA ILLUS. IN USNM AR [for year 1888], PL. XIII, FIG. 41, P. 270." Note: this object is catalogued as from Neah Bay, Washington Territory, so it is unclear why this publication caption identifies it as Haida, though some of the other material in this collection is from Alaska. FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "HEADDRESS.---CUT FROM BLOCK OF CEDAR WOOD TO REPRESENT THE HEAD OF WOLF; MOUTH OPEN, DISPLAYING TEETH; TEETH PAINTED WHITE, LIPS RED, EYES BLACK AND WHITE. EARS ARE SEPARATE PIECES. UNDER SIDE CARVED OUT TO FIT HEAD OF WEARER. WORN IN NATIVE DANCES BY MAKAH INDIANS, NEAH BAY. LENGTH, 12 INS. HEIGHT TO TIP OF EAR, 7 1/2 INS. WASHINGTON TER., 1876. 23,441. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN."