Neck Ring Item Number: A3602 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Very thick multi-strand ring of dark orange-red cedar bark rope. Braided appearance. Bundles of lengths of thin twisted cedar bark rope tied to the main ring in two places. Bundle of shredded cedar bark also tied to the main ring.
History Of Use
Neck ring of shaman, paxala (D. Hawkins, 1966). Used by women (T. Johnson, 1966). Part of a T’seka dancer's outfit.
Specific Techniques
The cedar bark is spun one direction in an S-twist, and the other direction in a Z-twist, and then you put them together and it looks like a braid. This neck ring is spun with multi-strands all at the same time: when you look where it can move, you can see that there’s more than four strands.
Narrative
Sold to MOA by Jonathan “Odi” Hunt, Gigame (Chief) Kwakwabalasami, of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert), with whistles, rattles, masks, and frontlets that belonged to him and his wife Abusa. In 1951, when anti-potlatch legislation was dropped from the Indian Act, Mr. Hunt wrote to Audrey Hawthorn, then MOA’s curator, to offer these items to the museum. The financial transaction in no way marked an end to this hereditary leader’s continued valuing of ceremonial practice, or his sense of museums as a place to preserve and present aspects of Kwakwaka’wakw culture: he went on to allow a replica of his ceremonial house to be built inside the Royal British Columbia Museum, potlatching for it there and in Alert Bay to affirm his continued cultural ownership of the house and its images.
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada during 1890
- Collected in Fort Rupert, British Columbia, Canada and Tsaxis, British Columbia, Canada
- Owned by Jonathan Hunt before November 1951
- Received from Jonathan Hunt (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source) during November 1951
What
Who
- Culture
- Kwakwaka'wakw
- Previous Owner
- Jonathan Hunt
- Received from
- Jonathan Hunt (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
- Collected in
- Fort Rupert, British Columbia, Canada and Tsaxis, British Columbia, Canada
When
- Creation Date
- during 1890
- Ownership Date
- before November 1951
- Acquisition Date
- during November 1951
Other
- Condition
- good
- Current Location
- Case 35
- Accession Number
- 1913/0002