This small chest has been identified as a gambler's box. If so, the box was probably intended to hold rolled skin containers and painted gambling sticks, the shredded cedar bark in which they were shuffled, and the mat under which the sticks were shuffled and on which they were thrown for display. On the other hand, the box is the size and shape of well-documented shamans' chests in which rattles, amulets, and other objects of the profession were kept. Whatever its use, this chest is a fine example of northern Northwest Coast art and craftsmanship from the early historic period. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)

This is a replica of a Tsimshian memorial pole that once stood in the Nisga'a village of Gitlakhdamks in northern British Columbia. It was raised in memory of a deceased chief by his relatives as a public announcement that his successor was assuming his rank and privileges. Carved in 1880, the figures from bottom to top represent a humanoid bear; a bird (raven or mountain hawk); a sea-bear with a dorsal fin and upturned nostrils; and a human figure that grasps the dorsal fin of the sea-bear. This replica was carved by Bill Holm, 1971, based on photos of the original pole, which no longer survives.

The dye is yellow and black.

The paint is red, green, and black.

The paint is black.

No more royal robe ever draped a king than the dancing blanket of the northern Northwest Coast, universally named the Chilkat blanket, after the Tlingit tribe whose weavers specialized in its making in the nineteenth century. Its characteristic five-sided form, richly fringed, with striking black and yellow bands bordering a complex tapestry of eyes, fins, or feathers, is instantly recognizable. There are dozens of Chilkat blanket patterns. The most common are those called diving whale, most of which are divided into three distinct panels, the central one depicting the whale. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)