PROBABLY MADE OF FINELY TWISTED TWO-PLY CATTAIL (TYPHA LATIFOLIA) LEAF CORD - *SEE* A TIME OF GATHERING BY ROBIN K. WRIGHT, 1991, P. 34, 40, 48.A similar Chinook skirt, from Lewis and Clark, is in collections of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, # PM 99-12-10/52990. The Peabody Museum website notes that Lewis and Clark "... described at length the unique twined cordage skirts that women in the lower Columbia River area made from cedar bark or cattail leaves, which were valuable commodities in local trade networks." Peabody Museum curator Castle McLaughlin has noted that the Catlin cordage skirts E73291, E73306 and E386547 have red paint applied to them, but this is not typical for these types of skirts. The red paint may have been applied by George Catlin?During the cataloguing of quillwork E386582B in 1948, a tag was found with it that stated "From a Lewis and Clark Chinook Skirt in Catlin Coll". Curator John C. Ewers determined that the tag did not actually belong with E386582B. It is possible that the tag might instead have been associated with Chinook skirts E73291, E73306 or E386547. This tag has not currently been located. Nor can the source of the possible ID of a Chinook skirt in the Catlin collection to Lewis and Clark be determined.

Abalone shell covered with basketry on the outside. The shell has been broken at one edge, and has an iridescent shine. Basketry has been applied around it, covering the entire piece. The basketry begins at the thick end of the shell, and works its way toward the flatter, more open portion. It has lines and colour blocks in colours of purple, yellow, orange, and black, with undyed grass interspersed.

Woven basket with some external vertical elements colored red, purple (?) blue/black (?) and green. Several areas of loss, particularly around the rim and rim is deformed.Typed note inside basket says: "24. Storage Basketry Container. Tribe: Nootka-Makah Vancouver Island, B.C. and Northwest Washington State. Design: red-green-blue-black-purple stripes woven on a natural ground; of plain plaited cedar bark. Size: 6 1/2 h." 13"x10" sq. Circa: 1915. Condition: v. poor."

Oval woven basket with lid. Basket body decorated with faded green (?) designs on natural ground, one on each side: two equilateral crosses with four arms bent at right angles (right-facing swastikas) are found opposite one another and two "Z" patterns opposite one another. On the lid, there are what appear to be two birds (?) (possibly hell-diver bird motif?) opposite one another in the same faded green (?).Note: The swastika is usually considered a non-traditional Northwest Coast basket design symbol. It was popular in the early 20th century in Europe and North America as a good luck symbol but disappeared from use after it became negatively viewed because of its association with the Nazi party.

Clear glass container covered with basketry. The bottle is tall and thin, bulging slightly at its base, shoulder and rim, and indented at the neck. The fine weaving covers the exact shape of the bottle including the base. Only the top of the rim and interior are uncovered. There is some very faded decoration in the weaving on the body, however, a bright red ring is still clearly visible on the base.

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: "Old label: "Made of whale's skull. Handle, a bar between two upright end-pieces, terminating in animal heads. Ornamented by the conventional dot and circle." From late 19th or early 20th century Smithsonian exhibit label stored with the card: "Braking tool - Made of whale's skull. Handle, a bar between two upright end pieces, terminating in animal heads. Ornamented by the conventional dot and circle. Length of blade 9 inches. Washington Territory, 1854. Collected by George Catlin."Illus. Fig. 5.17, p. 88 in Brotherton, Barbara. 2008. S'abadeb = The gifts : Pacific Coast Salish arts and artists. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum in association with University of Washington Press. Figure caption notes: "This functional tool was used to break down the fibrous inner bark of the red cedar tree to make it pliable for weaving mats, hats and baskets, or to break down bark from the yellow cedar with which to weave robes, capes, and dresses. Softened bark was also used for bandages, baby diapers, and rope. The dried strips of bark cut in uniform lengths would be laid over a sharp edge - like a canoe paddle - and chopped with the shredder. ... On each end this shredder has identical creatures with open mouths, short ears, and rounded eyes. Each creature's foot, as well as the blade, is decorated with incised circles and dots."

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.