Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.

From card: "Bent wood sides, heavy top inlaid with opercula; sides carved and painted. Illus. in The Far North catalog, Nat. Gall. of Art, 1973, p. 182. From: page 82, Boxes and Bowls catalog; Renwick Gallery; Smithsonian Press; 1974. Object illus. on same page: 73. Chest. Wood; carved in relief; painted black and red; inlaid with opercula and abalone shell; kerfed and sewn. Length: 38 [inches]. Alaska. Collected by John G. Brady."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=321, retrieved 3-31-2012: Chest or Box, Tlingit, Southeast Alaska.Listed on page 43 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Arts of the Northwest Coast Tribes".

Per Anthropology catalogue ledger book, this is a model made in the Anthropology Lab for exhibit purposes of Catalogue No. E74335. Original identified as Tlingit, Alaska.

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=272 , retrieved 8-12-2011, and also Dr. Aron Crowell, 3-19-2010: Moccasins Athabascan-style moccasins with Interior Tlingit or Tahltan beaded designs. Moccasins had originally been attributed as possibly Athabascan, but Athabascan advisers for the Arctic Studies Center exhibit "Sharing Knowledge: Alaska Native Peoples and the Smithsonian Collections" at the Anchorage Museum, did not recognize the beading style, and art historian Kate Duncan identified them as Interior Tlingit or Tahltan, based on their style of beading and shape - including high wool cloth cuffs and squared-off toes. Collector Herbert G. Ogden of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey purchased them at the coastal Tlingit village of Klukwan before 1895, a reminder of the extensive Tlingit trade with interior peoples that took place through Klukwan and the Chilkat River valley. Tlingit leaders dressed in Athabascan caribou-skin clothing and moccasins, and coastal clans adopted songs and dances from their interior trading partners. The letter of transfer in the accession file for the collection, dated August 1, 1895, states that items were "collected among the Alaskan Indians on Chilkat river".This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.

As of 05/2010, figurehead originally on prow could not be found. This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Canoe includes 4 paddles on loan.Note that canoe 21594 is mentioned as being used in an exhibit in Berlin in 1880 on p. 104 of USNM Bulletin No. 18. It is described there as a wooden canoe model from Alaska of the type used by the Indians of northwest coast in the whaling and sea fisheries.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=533 , retrieved 12-30-2011: Canoe model Clan leaders took pride in their large red cedar canoes, which lined the beaches at the old coastal villages, each drawn up in front of the clan house to which it belonged. The boats were kept covered with wet cloths to prevent the wood from splitting. Crews of men paddled them at sea or raised sails when the wind was favorable, traveling long distances for trade, warfare, or ceremonies. Owners painted their canoes with clan crests and gave them names.