OLD TAG WITH OBJECT IDENTIFIES AS "MAKAH, NEEAH B.(AY)".

From card: "See also Cat. #89218 (Duplication). Carved by Skaowskeay, an Indian carver of Skidegate, B.C.. Legend - She being out gathering berries, the bears killed all but one whom the King of Bears took for his wife. She had a child by him, half bear and half human. At length the Indian hunters discovered the woman up a tree and thinking her a bear were about to kill her, but she made them understand she was human and they took her home, and this is the origin of all who belong to the Hoourts or Bear Totem. This remarkable carving takes its conception in the legend of the union between a bear and a woman. The carving shows the woman's agony on being suckled by her half human progeny. Illustrated in USNM AR, 1888, Pl. 47, fig. 263a; Pl. 49, fig. 263b; Pl. 50, fig. 263c, p. 322. Casts have been made of this specimen. Cast sent to Royal Zoological & Anthropological Museum, Dresden, Germany; March 22, 1905. 3/1951 apparently only one cast was left. Published originally as Pls. 49 & 50 in Niblack: "The Coastal Indians of Southern Alaska and N. British Columbia." See Swan's letter of Dec. 4, 1883 in Accession record in which he states that this object "was not finished when I got it but just roughed out and my (Haida) Indian assistant Johnny Kit Elswa finished it on the voyage from Skidegate ...". Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 2, pg. 595."Illus. Pl. 86, p. 113 and described p. 150 in Bear Mother chapter of Barbeau, Charles Marius. 1953. Haida myths illustrated in argillite carvings. [Ottawa]: Dept. of Resources and Development, National Parks Branch, National Museum of Canada. Motifs identified there as "Bear Mother under human form, a labret in her lower lip, and one of the Cubs also as a human, suckling ... at her breast, while she is in agony." Barbeau notes Swan's identification/transliteration of carver's name as "Skaowskeay" and says "Actually (according to Henry Young, a Skidegate craftsman, 75 years old in 1949) it is the work of David Shakespeare whose Haida name was Tsagay." An alternate transliteration Barbeau used for his name was Skaoskay.

TIGHTLY WOVEN, SINGLE-PAIR WRAPPED TWINE CONICAL HAT, PROBABLY MADE OF SPRUCE ROOT. THE LOWER HALF OF THE HAT IS DECORATED WITH A WOVEN DESIGN BY WEFT ON ONE AND TWO WARPS. THERE IS A CAP WOVEN ON THE INTERIOR OF THE HAT FOR A CLOSER FIT. EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86.FROM CARD: "PER PEALE CATALOG: 2720 = ORIG. 336 = WATER-TIGHT BASKET, OREGON COAST."For small illustration see Hat 110, p. 221 in Glinsmann, Dawn. 2006. Northern Northwest Coast spruce root hats. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. Glinsmann identifies as Haida style of manufacture.Provenience note, in 1841 Oregon Territory encompassed the land from Russian Alaska to Spanish California and from the Pacific to the Continental Divide. The U.S. Exploring Expedition did not go to Canada, but did reach Oregon Territory in 1841, and carried out a hydrographic survey of the Columbia River from its mouth to the Cascades, as well as doing some surveying inland.They had dealings with Hudson's Bay Company staff during that time, and it is probable that the HBC is the source of a number of the Northwest Coast artifacts collected by the expedition.

From card: "Red, black, and several shades of blue design with two leather chin straps. The crown is supported by a wooden inner support. 4/18/1967: loaned to Vancouver Art Gall. 12/13/67: returned by Vancouver. 4/17/67: Loan Data: ok but very fragile. Loan: Crossroads Sep 22, 1988. Loan returned: Jan 21, 1993. Illus. Crossroads of Continents catalogue; Fig. 103, p. 92. Ilus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 13, pg. 253." Crossroads catalogue identifies as a spruce-root hat, and says that the formline design is of an orca, or killer whale, a leading crest of the Raven moiety of the Haida. Per Dawn Glinsmann, 7-15-2005, this hat has the Haida jog along with a Haida braid. For small illustration see Hat 106, p. 221 in Glinsmann, Dawn. 2006. Northern Northwest Coast spruce root hats. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006.This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://www.alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=627, retrieved 5-6-2012: Crest hat, Haida. This woven spruce-root hat is painted with abstract form-lines representing the Killer Whale, a crest owned by all of the Raven moiety clans. In traditional stories, killer whales are the rulers of the ocean; they are fearsome creatures that break canoes and drown the people inside, who then become whales themselves. Leading men and women wore hats with painted clan designs at ceremonial occasions such as the great house-building feasts. This hat from Masset, British Columbia has leather chin straps and a wooden frame inside to support the crown.