Body Armor, Breast Protector Item Number: E74437-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

From card: "Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 7 & 8; p. 636." From 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card: "Body Armor - Breast protector, made of slats and rods of wood woven together by means of fine cord; shield shape; lower part truncated; principal part forms a continuous line under the arms and across the breast and back. The front and back of yoke are made of separate short pieces of wood, and sewed on by means of a strip or rawhide 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. The front and back parts are woven separate and connected by leather strings, at the sides and under the arms. Thlinkit Inidans. Sitka, Alaska, 1883. Collected by J. J. McLean."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=171, retrieved 3-31-2012: Slat armor.