This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.From card: "Wood. Carved in relief. From: page 44, Boxes and Bowls catalog; Renwick Gallery; Smithsonian Press; 1974. Object illus. same page. Animal-form bowl; Wood; carved in relief; Length: 7 [in.]. [Haida], Massett, British Columbia ... Collected by James G. Swan, July 1883."Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=620 , retrieved 6-24-2012: Bowl Beaver is an important Haida crest, claimed by almost all clans of the Eagle moiety (or clan group). The animal is often shown with a stick in its mouth, as on this feast bowl. In an incident from oral tradition, Raven steals the salmon-rich lake owned by a Beaver chief, rolls it up, puts it in his beak, and flies up into a tree. Beavers, bears, and wolves come to the Beaver chief's aid, toppling the trees where Raven is perched in an effort to catch him. Raven flies away, spitting out water that becomes the Skeena, Stikine, and other rivers.

MODEL OF DUGOUT CANOE; 4 STRUTS, 4 TOTEMIC DESIGNS (KILLER WHALE ?) PAINTED ON SIDES IN RED & BLACK.Letter from donor dated May 3, 1978, filed in accession file, indicates that this object was purchased from Mrs. Charles Bartlett of Port Townsend, WA. Her husband Mr. Charles Bartlett was one of the earliest settlers of Port Townsend. Object said to formerly have been part of the personal collection of James Gilchrist Swan.

CARVED WOODEN MASK OF A HUMAN FACE WITH A METAL RING THROUGH THE SEPTUM AND A NAIL PROTRUDING THROUGH THE LOWER LIP. THE HAIR & EYEBROWS ARE PAINTED BLACK, & THERE IS A BLACK BORDER AROUND THE CHIN. THERE ARE ALSO SOME RED LINES ACROSS THE NOSE AND BROW. MARKS: "THE WOMEN OF A TRIBE NEAR FORT SIMPSON ON THE NW COAST OF AMERICA; LAT. 54°, 30." COLLECTOR CAPTAIN MCNEAL, HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. PUBLICATION: "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," BY VIOLA & MARGOLIS, 1985, ILLUS. P. 141. EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURALHISTORY, 1985-86. EXHIBITED SITES "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS,"1987-89.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: "INSCRIBED ON THE FRONT "THE WOMEN OF A TRIBE NEAR FORT SIMPSON ON THE NW COAST OF AMERICA; LAT. 54° 30"."ILLUS. FIG. 33, P.59, DISCUSSED P. 58, IN DOWN FROM THE SHIMMERING SKY BY PETER MACNAIR, VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, 1998. IDENTIFIED THERE BY PETER MACNAIR AS MASK REPRESENTING YOUNG WOMAN WITH NOSE RING, KAIGANI HAIDA."Captain McNeal" of the Hudson's Bay Company may refer to William Henry McNeill, who did meet Wilkes/the U.S. Exploring Expedition in 1841. At the time of the expedition McNeill was Captain of the Hudson's Bay Company vessel S.S. Beaver, the first steamship on the Pacific coast.

From card: "Marked "Chilkat". This is carved, representing animal and human figures. It was undoubtedly made on the Queen Charlotte Islands and traded to the Chilkat. A bear-mother interpretation. Illus. in Barbeau, Haida Myths illus. in Argillite Carvings, NMC #127, p. 107." Illus. Pl. 81, p. 107 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 "In a pipe group, the Bear reclines, on his back, on his captive, who is crawling on all fours. (Centre) The Flying-Frog sits up, her back to the Bear, and the berry picker has a skil [hat ring or potlatch ring] on her head. The young woman appears nude, her head and shoulders thrown back in prostration, her mouth wide open, a skil on her head."

From card: "Illus. in USNM AR, 1888, Pl. 16, fig. 60, p. 270. Loaned to the Department of Exhibits September 17, 1971. Copper teeth; rolling [movable] eyes. [Formerly] Exhibit Hall 9, 1987. Identified in exhibit label as Festival mask - A Human Spirit, Haida, collected at Skidegate village in 1883."On display in National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Objects of Wonder", 2017 - 2024. Exhibit label: Ceremonial mask, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) or Nuxalk (Bella Coola), acquired from Haida, British Columbia, Canada, 1883; Painted wood, copper, leather. With its moveable eyes and lower jaw, this mask would have inspired awe and veneration. Representing a human-like spirit, the mask and its associated dance paraphernalia were worn by dancers in ritual ceremonies.

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://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=703 , retrieved 5-17-2012: Halibut hook, Haida. Halibut surpassed every other food in the traditional diet. Individual matrilineages claimed ownership of undersea "banks" (plateaus) where the fish congregate. Early spring halibut fishing brought some of the first fresh food of the year, and people worked to lay in a large supply, the men pulling the fish from the bottom on wooden hooks and the women slicing them into fillets and drying them for storage. On summer trading voyages, the Haida exchanged dried halibut and seaweed to the Tsimshian for eulachon grease and berries. On this halibut hook, a predatory creature is shown capturing a seal.