Provenience note: Anthropology catalogue ledger book lists a locality of Alaska for E67931 - 68019. Catalogue cards list a locality of Sitka. Alaska. It is unclear which is correct, though it is probable that the collection was purchased in Sitka.

FROM CARD: 8944 A,B,C,D. NAME: *CHOP STICKS [sic], EATING STICKS. *BERRY SPOONS. REMARKS: CARVED WHALEBONE. 1 AND 2 - ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; PL. 41, FIG. 224; P. 318. ILLUS.: THE SPIRIT SINGS CATALOGUE, GLENBOW-ALBERTA INST., 1987, #N106, P.156. LOAN GLENBOW NOV 13, 1987. LOAN RETURNED NOV 25, 1988." FROM OLD 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "8,944A. SPOON.-MADE OF WHALEBONE; LONG AND FLAT, AND SHAPED SOMEWHAT LIKE A SPATULA. ORNAMENTED WITH CARVED TOTEMIC DESIGNS. LENGTH, 14 7/8 INCHES; WIDTH, 2 INCHES. SITKA INDIANS (KOLUSCHAN STOCK), SITKA, ALASKA. 8,944. COLLECTED BY DR. A. H. HOFF, U.S.A."Entry on E8944A - D in Army Medical Museum ledger book for Section 6, Miscellaneous Section, under A.M.M. number 378: Received October 29, 1869, from Bvt. Col. A.H. Hoff, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A. - "Two pairs of "chop-sticks" [sic] - implements use by the Indians about Sitka in taking their food."Florence Sheakley and Ruth Demmert, both elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Originally the design on this spoon was used as a filler design, but today people attribute it to Deisheetan clan, who have a bear design. The presence of a finger design suggests this object comes from Kaagwaantaan clan. This is part of a set that includes E8944A-0, E8944B-0, E8944C-0, E8944D-0

FROM CARD: "WOOD, WITH BLACK, RED AND GREEN PIGMENT, AND FIBER LASHINGS. ILLUS. IN THE FAR NORTH CATALOG, NAT. GALL. OF ART, 1973, P. 183. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 7, NORTHWEST COAST, FIG. 4, PG. 612. LOANED TO THE NAT'L GALLERY OF ART 10-20-72. FROM: P. 84, BOXES AND BOWLS CATALOG, RENWICK GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN PRESS, 1974, OBJECT ILLUSTRATED ON SAME PAGE:'CHEST, WOOD; CARVED IN RELIEF, PAINTED BLACK AND RED; KERFED AND PEGGED, LENGTH: 38. TSIMSHIAN?, FORT SIMPSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, COLLECTED BY GEORGE GIBBS.'"This box/chest is visible (on floor to left of aisle) on display in a photograph taken at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Interior view, Department of the Interior exhibits in the United States Government Building, featuring archeological and anthropological artifacts, prepared by Bureau of Indian Affairs and Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 64, Folder 01, Image No. SIA_000095_B64_F01_029. https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_400427 .