Headdress Item Number: A146 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Twenty-three bear claws attached by leather thongs to a leather head band; claws are held upright by a long strip of leather tied to each claw.

Narrative

According to Burnett this headdress, as well as A149-A153 and A155-A157, "...belonged to the late Medicine Man Najieksum Illthpooen (the tail of the whale), of the Kityelash tribe, the people who live by the strong water, Port Essington District ... and was purchased from his widow by the Methodist Missionary of that district."

Cultural Context

Shaman's headdress.