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.

From card: "Two tusks of the Peccary or Mexican wild hog. Found in the grave of an old Indian doctor at KAH TE LAY JUK TO WOS point, NW end of Graham Id., Queen Charlotte group, between KIOOSTA [Kiusta] and YAKH [Yaku] villages opposite North Island. Collected Aug. 10th, 1883 by James G. Swan. See accession records for additional data."

From card: "Black slate covered with tolunie [sic, "tolunie" probably a mistranscription of "totemic"] carvings on upper surface and rim, the latter also set with pairs of opercula. Design represents a ------."

FROM CARD: "$6.00." PROVENIENCE NOTE: ACCESSION RECORD LISTS NO LOCALITY FOR THIS OBJECT. LEDGER BOOK LISTS "B.C." FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA. CATALOGUE CARD LISTS LOCALITY AS ALASKA. SOURCE OF ALASKA IS UNKNOWN UNLESS IT IS A MISREADING OF THE LEDGER BOOK, SINCE 56489 IS FROM ALASKA. - F. PICKERING 6-29-1999

From card: "This appears to be a pelvic bone on whiich is carved the head of some animal, utilizing the natural curvation of the bone for the mouth and eyes."