Original label attached to artifact says "Frank Natkong [presumably the maker or original owner?], Jackson, Alaska." Jackson is an alternate name for Howkan, Alaska, which is a Haida town. Natkong is a Haida name.

Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.From card: "[1] Trocadero/July, 1885. Illus. in USNM AR, 1888; fig. 1, p. 535; also in Proceedings USNM, vol. 73, Art. 14; fig. 1; p. 10." From old 19th or early 20th century typed exhibit label stored with artifact: "Fire drill and tinder of cedar, Thuja gigantea, slightly charred, in order to repel moisture. Tinder of frayed cedar bark. Lower piece [hearth] shows three cavities, in which the spindle works, with their accompanying furrows for collecting the dust in which the spark appears. Length of lower piece and spindles 23 i[nches]. Tlingit Inds., Sitka, Alaska. Two spindles are often kept with the set on account, perhaps, of the difficulty in procuring a round seasoned stick on an emergency."In 2023, Paz Nunez-Regueiro, Head of the Americas collection at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac confirmed that object that went to the Trocadero is still there at Branly, now as catalog number 71.1885.78.71.

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.

This amulet marked with (incorrect?) number 9819

FROM CARD: "THUNDER BIRD ORNAMENT. ??? ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; PL. 28, FIG. 132, P. 286. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 313, P. 234. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." Crossroads catalogue caption identifies as "War Club, Tsimshian? Few weapons rival the elegance of this fine wooden club, with the raven's beak for a striking point. The form was probably derived from the antler club of the Athapaskans .... Two frogs crouch flanking the grip and another, topped with a reclining human figure, caps the club. Between his folded wings, the raven grasps another, inverted human. Abalone shell once glittered in the wing feathers. Such clubs were once true weapons, and later were used as emblems of chiefly rank. It is said they were sometimes used to kill slaves on ceremonial occasions."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=46, retrieved 3-31-2012: Ceremonial War Club, Tsimshian. Designs carved on this polished wooden club include Raven and three Frogs. Although recorded by collector James Swan as an “ancient war club,” it was probably a ceremonial weapon used during initiation rituals of the Tsimshian Destroyer society, called Wi'-nanal (meaning "strong breath"). Novices underwent a ritual of possession by the protector spirit of the cult. While possessed they destroyed canoes, boxes, and other property using wooden clubs decorated with crest designs. The Tsimshian apparently adopted the Destroyer cult and other secret societies from the Bella Bella. "This is an amazing carving…These are probably potlatch rings above Raven's head. Below is a human figure between his wings. You see a lot of this kind of design on shamans' things, where they are riding in a canoe, going to the spirit world. Maybe Raven is that canoe." - David Boxley (Tsimshian), 2009.

Per Anthropology catalogue ledger book and Dall's field catalogue, filed under Accession No. 3258, entry under # 604, collector is [Captain] A. [Amos] T. Whitford and object is from Sitka Tlingit.

FROM CARD: "9267-70. #9270-TLINGIT TOBACCO PIPE-ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; P. 48, FIG. 268; P. 322."Florence Sheakley, Ruth Demmert, and Virginia Oliver during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This pipe is made from metal and wood, and has a metal inset.

The accession record lists a group of Sitka carvings as part of this accession. This object may be one of those pieces, possibly the one described as "man standing on whales back", and thus possibly Tlingit rather than Haida?