E229550 is a wooden copy of this artifact made for exhibit purposes. E229550 was illus. Fig. 72 p. 71 in Chaussonnet, Valerie. 1995. Crossroads Alaska: native cultures of Alaska and Siberia. Washington, D.C.: Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Identified there as killer whale amulet.

From card for E23523-46: "Dec 20, 1972, Bill Holm says that these are definitely Haida."Cultural ID for paddles E23523 - 23546 is somewhat in question. They were catalogued as Clallam, Bill Holm has identified them as Haida, but James Swan in correspondence in the accession file references 24 Bella Bella paddles.

FROM CARD: "FOUND IN PILE OF BLANKETS IN TRADERS ROOM. SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN PLACED THERE BY INDIANS TO WORK INJURY TO THE TRADER. 4/17/67: LOAN DATA-HAS BEEN BROKEN & REPAIRED. 4/18/67:LOANED TO VANCOUVER ART GALL. ILLUSTRATED AS #234 IN ARTS OF THE RAVEN BY DUFF, HOLM AND REID - THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, JUNE-SEPTEMBER 1967. 12/13/67: RETURNED BY VANCOUVER. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.; CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 451, P.312. LOAN RETURNED; JAN 21 1993." From photo caption in the Crossroads of Continents catalogue: "Soul Catcher, Tsimshian. Like most soul catchers, this one ... has large, toothed, wolflike heads at each end and a humanoid face in the middle .... It resembles the Kwakiutl supernatural being, Sisiutl, whose usual form is a serpent with a head at each end of his body and a humanoid face in the center (Holm 1983:55-57). Serpent figures were also used as motifs on ceremonial clothing .... "

From card: "Carved from wood in shape of a face; painted in red, blue, and black. Exhibit Hall 9, 1987. Identified in exhibit label as Bella Coola mask."Ian Reid (Heiltsuk), Evelyn Windsor (Heiltsuk elder) and Clyde Tallio (Nuxalk) of the delegation from Bella Bella, Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet communities of British Columbia made the following comments during the Recovering Voices Community Research Visit May 20th - 24th, 2013. The mask was probably wrapped and decorated with cedar bark. The mask is very heavy and appears to be alder wood. The group speculated as to whether the mask represents the sun or moon.

From card: "Simple bow; grip wrapped in bark; sinew strung."Catalogue card calls this Salish, but older Smithsonian tag with object has it as Clallam (mispelled as Clamlam). This bow bears a variety of original numbers. One number marked on the bow itself in old ink/handwriting (and subsequently struck through) is 1142; bow is also marked "Bow. Puget Sound" in old ink/handwriting. It may be speculated that this bow may be bow Catalogue No. E1142, exchanged out of the collections to Anton Heitmuller in 1915. Heitmuller and Evans were both Washington, D.C. collectors during the same time period, and other Smithsonian pieces that went to Heitmuller are documented in the Evans collection. If the bow is indeed the former E1142, that object was collected by James G. Swan from the Makah of Neah Bay, Washingon, and entered the Smithsonian collections in 1866. Note that early Swan accession records from this era, including the one E1142 is part of, reference Puget Sound, though that has been corrected to Neah Bay in the cataloguing.