From card: "Painted [red] at corners and on cover, characteristically joined at corners."Lidded bentwood box, red corner type.

At one time, a paper label with the word "fish" written on it was glued to the underside of this object. It has been removed by Anthropology Conservation in 2008 prior to the artifact going on exhibit.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=614, retrieved 3-31-2012: Charm, Tlingit. Red ocher paint fills the engraved lines of this stone fish charm. Although its history is unknown, it may be a “rubbing amulet” used to scratch or massage the mouth, body, and head. In many situations it was considered dangerous to touch the body directly. For example, when hostages (called "deer") were exchanged to end conflicts they could not scratch themselves with their fingernails without “agitating more war,” as Yakutat Elders told anthropologist Frederica De Laguna in the 1950s. A stone rubbed against the mouth prevented trouble that could be caused by speech.

FROM CARD: "SEE ALSO CATALOGUE CARD FOR 13145. INVENTORIED 1980." Old labels glued onto back of totem pole model identify some of motifs as (from top) bear, wolf, and sea lion.The accession record lists "3 pieces stone carving by Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Island B.C." as part of this accession. This object may be one of those pieces.

FROM CARD: "54126-35. #54133 - 94 X 44"."

O NO. 84; 4 PAINTED WOODEN HUMAN FIGURINES WITH SKIN CLOTHING.

FROM CARD: "LEATHER. TWO THICKNESSES OF MOOSE OR ELK HIDE. TOTEM ? [crest] PAINTED INSIDE. [This text on card probably taken from USNM Annual Report, 1893; p. 642 description of plate 19, Fig 2.:] SKIN ARMOR:--MADE OF THICK TANNED ELK OR MOOSE SKIN FOLDED TWICE INTO OBLONG FORM LIKE A SHEET OF NOTE PAPER. SEWED OVER THE SHOULDERS AND STRENGTHENED INSIDE BY HINGE PIECES. OPEN ALONG RIGHT SIDE, THE EDGES CUT INTO COARSE FRINGE. A SHORT SLIT DOWN LEFT SIDE BELOW THE SHOULDER LEAVES A PASSAGE FOR THE LEFT ARM. ABOUT MIDWAY NEAR THE RIGHT SIDE IS FASTENED A WOODEN TOGGLE, BY WHICH, PROBABLY, WAS SUSPENDED THE DAGGER. THE FRONT OF THE COAT IS DISCOLORED AND DENTED AS THOUGH AN ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE TO RENDER THE LEATHER MORE DENSE BY HAMMERING. THE LEATHER HAS PERHAPS ALSO BEEN TREATED WITH GLUE, AS DESCRIBED BY FATHER MORICE AMONG THE TINNE [Athabaskans]. INSIDE THE ARMOR AT THE BACK IS A FINELY DRAWN AND PAINTED TOTEM [crest] IN A CIRCLE 10 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER. WIDTH, 26 INCHES; HEIGHT, 36 INCHES. TAKU INDIANS, SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1893; PL. 19, FIG. 2; P. 642."There is a painted crest design, possibly raven or eagle?, on interior of armor.Similar to E168157 (see remarks for that object), this Taku Tlingit object may originate with the Taku Tlingit of the Upper Taku River area of British Columbia.

This object is # 7 on Swan invoice/list of contents of box 2 in accession file. It is listed there as "1 carving in wood killer [whale] orca ater cope with seal, Sitka Indians."

From card: "Greave - Made up of 12 slightly tapering hard wood slats and 8 rods woven together with twisted sinew cord. The weaving is diversified in the central portion by carrying the threads in pairs alternately over the rods. The portion not covered with weaving bears a totemic painting. When the greave is curved around the calf of the leg, the hollowed out portions, which are also beveled, accommodate the instep and knee joint. Tied at the front with thongs. The holes along the upper edge are probably for attaching the greave to the armor for the upper leg. Length, 15 inches; width of upper edge, 17 1/2 inches; width of lower edge, 16 1/2 inches. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 10; p. 638. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 13 bottom left, pg. 218."