The Pomo bear-doctor and the dagger he carried have left a trail of confusion in scholarly literature. Dr. Hudson, informant to Stewart Culin, Museum’s curator, summarized as follows. Bear men belong to a secret organization with a representative from each tribe. He preyed on the community and if killed another would be elected in his place. The object of the society was to eliminate undesirable people in the tribe. Bear-doctors were said to have carried one or two daggers of this type with the tips sharpened and rubbed on grinding stones.The realistic style of incising, impeccably rendered does indicate artist provenance to William Benson and has been found on other items know to have been made by Benson. Since several of these have been found in Museum collections, all made by Benson, these are clearly "models" made for the non-Native market.

This headdress was worn perpendicularly at the back of the head, not vertically on the crown, as is common with Native American headdresses of very similar style worn by the Yokuts of Central California. In general structure it resembles Pomo headdresses. Supplementary files: "Dance headress for a man; brown straight feathers rise out of a ruff of soft feathers. A quill pendant hangs from the front of the ruff. Condition: good."

Brooklyn Museum Collection

This rattle is called a raven rattle. It depicts a shaman on the back of a raven. The bird has a frog in its mouth, another frog touches tongues with the shaman, and frogs are on his feet. The bottom of the raven figure is carved.

The object is a bent-corner, box-shaped feast bowl having a bear's face with protruding tongue on one end and its tail on the other. The second face on the bear's tail is a visual pun. The object is in fair and stable condition. Although the wood appears to be extruding oil in some areas more than others, the wood is stable. There are several minor cracks on two of the sides of the bowl which are stable. Previous repairs to the side corners remain secure. The join on through the large face where a break was repaired appears firm and stable. According to Robin Wright, Burke Museum, April 16, 2003, this is not Haida because the eye socket lines run right out to the lips of the bear, which is distinctively Tlingit. She added that if the Tlingit still owned the piece, they would have cleaned up the oil and darkened color.

Shell pendant, scallop, with two small holes at top. The shell is roughly triangular in shape, following ridges of shell to make two straight sides. "SAJH 44866" in black on interior (back) shell surface.

S'abadeb-Seattle Art Museum In the traditional repertoire of canoe paddles, there were several styles of blades and handles that were determined by the type of water travel in tended and by whether the paddles were made for men, women, or children. Today, artists replicate the functionality of canoe paddles but use the challenging vertical surfaces to create innovative designs. Bird imagery is often included on canoe journey paraphernalia and in the canoe songs and dances, because birds are symbolic of strength and pride, fitting symbols for these arduous but culture-affirming summer events.

The cedar is dye and black. The twine is dye and black.

The paint is red and black.