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Headring WalkingE175516-0

FROM CARD: "OF BEAR DANCE OF THE GUSGEMOX. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 112-B; P. 474."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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HeadbandE169111-0

FROM CARD: "CEDAR BARK. USED IN THE 1ST AND 3RD DANCE. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 79; P. 450."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw) and Nakoaktok
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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HeadringE175519-0

FROM CARD: "2ND HEAD-RING OF LAXXALIALAYU. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 93; P. 457."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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HeadringE175522-0

FROM CARD: "OF THE LASGENOX FROM HAYAL IKAWI. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 181; P. 524."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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NeckringE169116-0

FROM CARD: "(GHOST DANCE). ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 147; P. 497."Per Dr. Aaron Glass, 2020: The ghosts were/are one of the spirit beings that initiate Kwakwaka'wakw T'seka (Winter Ceremonial or Red Cedar Bark Ceremonies) dancers. The Ghost Dance is not so much a dance enacting ghosts, but by people enacting ancestral encounters with ghosts that bestowed hereditary rights to the dances/songs. Some Ghost Dance rings have carved skulls, indicating the encounter with ghosts (dead humans), and in this sense can be hard to distinguish from Hamat'sa (Cannibal Dance) regalia that also sometimes feature carved skulls. Ghost dancers often cover their faces with shrouds of some kind (the Berlin head ring has a curtain of shredded cedar bark that covers the face), and they also cover their face with their hands as the characteristic choreographic gesture. Though the dancers wear rings and not masks, I have seen contemporary Ghost Dance masks that appear like skulls and have hair covering the faces. The dance is still passed down to some families, though it is not terribly common. Some information on the Ghost Dance can be found in Boas's 1897 "Social Organization and Secret Societies" book (pg. 408: an origin story; pg. 482: description of the dance itself and its regalia and song; pg. 497: figures of the 2 rings in question; pg. 499 has a list of Ft. Rupert dances in ranking order, and it is #44 of 53). There is no specific cultural sensitivity around the dance or regalia due to the association with ghosts, at least that I have ever heard of.

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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AdzeE151454-0
NeckringE175502-0

FROM CARD: "FOR SAME PURPOSE AS #175501. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 187; P. 528."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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PaintingE175029-0

FROM CARD: "SEA MONSTER" WITH OPEN MOUTH, GILLS & FINS ON EACH SIDE. PAINTED BY MR. WALTERS. 9/8/70 LOANED TO NAT. GALL. ARTS. 9/22/70 RETURNED FROM NGA."

Culture
Northwest Coast
Made in
USA ? or Canada ?
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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HeadringE175500-0

FROM CARD: "1ST HEAD LAGAE OF XANYADGAMGILOS. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 83; P. 452 (XA'NIATS'AMG.ILAKU)."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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Mask "Tsonoqoa"E129516-0

From card: "Illus. in Boas, USNM - AR 1895, "Kwakiutl Indians", p. 372, figure 13."According to Marianne Nicolson (artist/researcher), Brian Nicolson and Mike Willie of the Dzawada'enuxw First Nation of British Columbia, this mask is "from Kwikwasutinuxw (Gilford Island)."

Culture
Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Holding Institution
National Museum of Natural History
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