FROM CARD: "THE BODY REPRESENTS A RAVEN, ITS BREAST A SPARROW HAWK. ON ITS BACK IS A PROSTRATE WOOD DEMON, HIS TONGUE PLUCKED BY A FROG, THAT IS HELD IN THE BEAK OF A KING FISHER. SEE. U.S.M. REPORT 1888, P. 324, ILL. PL. LIV, NO. 290."

Provenience note, not every object in the collection is specifically listed and identified in the accession file list from Colyer in his letter dated August 29, 1872. The list mentions # "33, 34, 35 Indian beadwork from Wrangel Alaska, Stakeen [Stikine] Tribe." The Colyer collection does not contain a lot of Alaskan beadwork, so it is possible that some of the objects catalogued as E11411 - E11414, and identified as Tongass in the Anthropology catalogue ledger book, might be these objects?Florence Sheakley and Ruth Demmert, elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This object was mostly likely used on dance clothes, potentially around the neckline of a shirt or as a cuff. Beadwork was designed and constructed separately from the garment so it could be removed and reused as the garments were replaced.

Toward the base of this totem pole model (directly under the Smithsonian catalogue number), is the word/name "Ebits" (the S is backwards). This name is probably a reference to the Tlingit man named Chief Ebbets (a.k.a. Ebbetts, Ebitts ... ) (1780 - 1880) and his wife Aanseet (Chief of All Women) (1800-1870). This model pole resembles the full size Tongass pole, carved circa 1870 to honor Aanseet, and taken from Tongass in 1899 and erected in Pioneer Square in Seattle. (For information on the pole in Seattle see http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/loc/id/1357; http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Digital-Archives&page=People-of-the-North&cat=Native-Lives-and-Traditions&viewpost=2&ContentId=2659; and Robin K. Wright: Totem Poles: Heraldic Columns of the Northwest Coast, http://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/wright.html ).

Provenience note, not every object in the collection is specifically listed and identified in the accession file list from Colyer in his letter dated August 29, 1872. The list mentions # "33, 34, 35 Indian beadwork from Wrangel Alaska, Stakeen [Stikine] Tribe." The Colyer collection does not contain a lot of Alaskan beadwork, so it is possible that some of the objects catalogued as E11411 - E11414, and identified as Tongass in the Anthropology catalogue ledger book, might be these objects?Florence Sheakley, an elder and beader, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This object has beadwork sewn to the edges, suggesting that it's a belt. A bag strap would be clear of any design at the edges. This object is 49 inches long, features a mountain design, and was likely a dancing belt. This object is made of small beads and bias tape.