Notes

FROM CARD: "LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. [Dagger] ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 311, P.232. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "DOUBLE-BLADED DAGGER AND SHEATHS.--BLADES MADE OF STEEL. THE HANDLE, WHICH IS MOUNTED WITH COPPER AND WRAPPED IN LEATHER, IS SET BETWEEN THE TWO BLADES. THE BLADE ABOVE THE HANDLE IS MUCH SHORTER THAN THE ONE BELOW. ATTACHED TO THE HANDLE IS A LEATHER STRIP WITH A HOLE CUT NEAR THE END TO LET IN THE MIDDLE FINGER. THE STRIP IS THEN TWISTED ABOUT THE WRIST TO SECURE THE WEAPON FIRMLY IN THE HAND SO THAT THE WARRIOR NEVER PARTS WITH HIS WEAPON UNTIL DEATH. SHEATHS FOR BOTH BLADES MADE OF LEATHER. LENGTH OF UPPER BLADE, 4 3/4 INCHES; LENGTH OF LOWER BLADE, 12 3/4 INCHES. INDIANS OF ALASKA. 9,288. COLLECTED BY DR. A. H. HOFF, U. S. A."2-part sheath.This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. War knife and sheath (2 parts) both on loan. See E9288-1 for knife/dagger.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on dagger and sheath http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=506 , retrieved 1-5-2012: Dagger, Tlingit Tlingit warriors possessed iron-bladed knives long before Western contact, crafted from metal found on Asian ships that drifted across the Pacific. Sophisticated indigenous iron-working techniques produced honed and tempered blades, often with ground-on flutes. The double-ended war dagger was worn around the neck in a leather sheath and used in hand-to-hand combat. George Ramos said that a warrior tied his knife to his wrist before going into battle so that it would not be lost.