From card: "Bear on front and back; wolf on ends; killer-whale on top." Chest; argillite; carved in relief; four added pieces; non-Indian wooden bottom. Illus.: Barbeau, Haida Carvers in Argillite, NMC #139, pg. 60." Barbeau discusses the box on p. 61 and speculates on attributing it to Charles Edenshaw, but notes that "Russ thought it was the work of "Peter Kelley's father" of Skidegate."March 3, 2011, Robin K. Wright, Burke Museum, says "Bill Holm attributes this argillite chest to Haida artist, Tom Price." Ref. Bill Holm, “Will the Real Charles Edenshaw Please Stand Up?” in Abbott, Donald (ed) The World is as Sharp as a Knife:An Anthology in Honour of Wilson Duff. Victoria, B.C.: British Columbia Provincial Museum;1981.

FROM CARD: "CARVED WOOD RATTLE, STAINED BROWN. DESIGN: A HUMAN HEAD. ILLUS. IN THE FAR NORTH CATALOG, NAT. GALL. OF ART, 1973, P. 264. LOANED TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART OCTOBER 20, 1972. RETURNED 5-29-73. LOANED TO THE S.I. CENTENNIAL COMM. 7-9-75. LOAN RETURNED MAR 22 1990."Accession file identifies original #90, Catalogue Nos. E20874 - 75, as 2 war rattles. Anthropology catalogue ledger book identifies them as from Koutznow [i.e. Hutsnuwu people, which was transcribed on the catalogue card as Kountznow], Chatham Strait [listed as Chatham Sound on catalogue card], Alaska. Prince of Wales Island has been written on the artifacts themselves by the museum cataloguer and added to the catalogue cards. The catalogue entry on this object in "The Far North" exhibit catalogue, assumed the object was Tlingit, probably from Admiralty Island from the vicinity of Angoon, but noted that the reverse side of the rattle is inscribed Klemmakoon (which is a term Swan used for the Haida town of Klinkwan, which is on Prince of Wales Island.)This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=48 , retrieved 1-5-2012: Rattle, Tlingit This very large, round rattle may have been used during war to coordinate an attack or to strike fear and confusion into the enemy. George Ramos (Tlingit) said that rattles like this had been described to him as part of a war leader's outfit. Round stones were traditionally collected at low tide to put inside. The abstract designs may represent a whale or frog, but are difficult to interpret. During Elders discussions in 2005 (see web page cited above for transcription), Donald Gregory (Tlingit) and Delores Churchill (Haida) identified the wood as possibly alder.

FROM CARD: "SPOON.---MADE OF GOAT HORN. THE HANDLE IS THE UPPER PORTION OF THE HORN IN ITS NATURAL SHAPE AND IS ORNAMENTED WITH CARVED TOTEMIC DESIGNS THE BOWL IS SHAPED BY STEAMING THE HORN IN A WOODEN MOULD. THE BOWL AND HANDLE ARE RIVETED TOGETHER. LENGTH, 10 INCHES; WIDTH OF BOWL, 2 7/8 INCHES. SITKA INDIANS (KOLUSCHAN STOCK), ALASKA. 20,747. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN."

From card: "Used in tattooing. Two brushes [brush # 4 of 4 and brush # 2 of 4] Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 8, second from left and right, pg. 246. Loan [brush with bird handle, brush # 4 of 4 only was on loan]: NHB Lobby Exhibit Oct 24, 1991." Originally catalogued as consisting of 4 brushes and 5 needles. As of 2005, only the 4 brushes are present. Brush 1 of 4 has a plain handle. Brush 2 of 4 has a salmon on the handle. Brush 3 of 4 has a land otter on the handle. Brush 4 of 4 has a bird on the handle. ET15006 may be the needles from this set? - F. Pickering 5-31-2005 . Neg. #2005-22349 is a photo of 3 paint brushes #E88905 (# 1 of 4; # 2 of 4 and # 3 of 4) with the 5 needles # ET15006.Part of this object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Only 2 of the 4 brushes are on loan: #2 of 4 (also called B) with salmon carving, and #3 of 4 (also called C) with land otter carving.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on paint brush 2 of 4 (also called B) and paint brush 3 of 4 (also called C), http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=621 and http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=622, retrieved 6-24-2012: The two paint brushes were part of a set that also included tattoo needles, suggesting they may have been owned by an artist who specialized in body decoration. Clan designs were painted on the face for dances, ceremonies, girls' initiation, and death; tattoos were an important symbol of high rank, applied by paid artists of the opposite moiety (clan group) during potlatches. When the tip of a traditional brush wore down the artist restored it by pulling the bristles farther out of the handle.The handle of brush 2 of 4 represents a salmon. The handle of brush 3 of 4 represents a long-tongued land otter. The otter's tongue, emphasized by the carver, was the seat of its powerful spirit. "To make a paint brush they would take a small piece of wood and tie it about four inches from the end, then split it down to where the tie stopped it…They placed the hair inside the split… They used guard hairs from the porcupine because they are hollow and take up the paint." - Donald Gregory (Tlingit), 2005

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN NAT./MUS. REPT 1884, P1. XVII, P. 306 ALSO IN USNM REPT, 1902; FIG. 103; P. 309, AND PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 60; P1. 7, NO. 7; P. 48."

From card: "Carved wood. Design: A human head with deeply sunken eyes. "Oala" [sic, should be Olala, Oolala, Ulala] (Mountain demon). A section is sliced from the back of the head which forms the cover to the cavity excavated in the head. The holes in back of head are for tufts of hair. The neck is fitted to be attached to a staff. Illust. in USNM Rept., 1895, fig. 203, p. 652. Loaned to the Whitney Museum of American Art 9-10-71. Returned ... 2-9-72." Identified in USNM Annual Report for 1895 figure caption as "Part of a headdress representing the Olala." On p. 653 of this publication it is noted about 89038, 89039, 89072 and 89073: "In his dances the olala of all the northern tribes use headdresses which represent a corpse...."Provenience note: Swan list for this object in accession file, under #92 on list of objects collected at Skidegate, Skedans, Laskeek, and Fort Simpson, B.C. in the summer of 1883, identifies it as collected at Skedans, and calls it "old head of Oolalla."

Catalog card: "used in masquerade ceremonies". Also says that it was sent as an exchange to F.W. Galpin in 1907, but this is crossed out (and the whistle remains in the NMNH collection).