Fragment: Copper

Item number A7882 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Fragment of a copper which has had pieces cut from both sides at the bottom and one side at the top. There is a burnished line horizontally across the centre and a vertical line that runs down the centre from the horizontal line.

History Of Use

Coppers can be named, displayed, and transferred in accordance with ceremonial privilege and protocol. Historically, within potlatch economies, coppers would rise in value each time they were purchased, ceremonially presented, and strategically re-sold or given away. Among the Kwakwaka’wakw, coppers were sometimes cut or broken during rivalries. Some of these were riveted together and used again, their value then having to be re-established.

Cultural Context

status; wealth; ceremonial; potlatch

Narrative

Purchased from Indigenous family in Alert Bay by owner of Muse Galleries, through intermediary services of Chief William Scow. Used in ceremonies by families until 1961.