Headdress Item Number: A8373 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Headdress of a raven with mirrored glass eyes. Painted black, blue, and red. Head attached to wooden head ring covered with shredded red cedar bark and repurposed blue with white stripes cotton cloth. Moveable lower jaw held together by metal pegs.
History Of Use
This headpiece most likely wouldn't have been danced. It would have been worn ceremonially by a Sisawk member to show that he belongs to that society. The goal of the Sisawk society is to make sure the people know their ancestry, where they come from, and the lineage they hold. After they are worn in ceremony, Sisawk pieces are put away in treasure boxes. Sometimes, these boxes were hidden in the house or in the sacred rooms. Sometimes they were hidden in caves that only the Stataltmc, the hereditary chiefs, knew about.
Narrative
In 1959 John Davenport Clayton sold this collection of Bella Coola belongings (A8360-A8376) to the Campbell River Historical Society (Museum). The collection comprised 17 masks, headdresses, and other ceremonial items, as well as 3 cedar boxes. In 1963 the Campbell River Museum sold the 17 masks and ceremonial items to MOA (not the boxes). Objects in this collection may have come from Nuxalk households via sale, or exchange (as collateral towards money owed on goods purchased at the store), or may have been placed with the Claytons for secure storage during a time of floods and fires, and ended up remaining with the Clayton family?
Item History
- Made in Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada between 1870 and 1900
- Collected between 1890 and 1910
- Owned by John Davenport Clayton before 1959
- Owned by Campbell River & District Historical Society before April 17, 1963
- Received from Campbell River & District Historical Society (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source) on April 17, 1963
What
- Name
- Headdress
- Identification Number
- A8373
- Type of Item
- headdress
- Material
- alder wood, metal, glass, cotton fibre, cedar bark and paint
- Manufacturing Technique
- carved, nailed and painted
- Overall
- height 9.4 cm, width 19.7 cm, depth 35.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Nuxalk
- Previous Owner
- John Davenport Clayton and Campbell River & District Historical Society
- Received from
- Campbell River & District Historical Society (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada
When
- Creation Date
- between 1870 and 1900
- Collection Date
- between 1890 and 1910
- Ownership Date
- before 1959 and before April 17, 1963
- Acquisition Date
- on April 17, 1963
Other
- Condition
- fair
- Accession Number
- 0099/0014