From old label in James G. Swan's hand glued onto artifact: "Haida dance rattle, Queen Charlotte Islands, BC. J G Swan [of] Pt. Townsend. Dec. 1884."

From card: "Bear, raven, and beaver motifs." Illus. Pl. 305, p. 384 and described p. 410 in Barbeau, Charles Marius. 1953. Haida myths illustrated in argillite carvings. [Ottawa]: Dept. of Resources and Development, National Parks Branch, National Museum of Canada. Identified as (from top), beaver, raven, bear, and attributed by Henry Young to John Robison (a.k.a. John Robson) of Skidegate.

From card: "For dances."

From card: "Copper images made by hand, of pure nugget copper, very ancient and presumed to have been made of native copper found at Atria [sic, should be Atna/Ahtna] or Copper Riverland from thence brought to Sitka and traded with the Haida Chief who formerly owned them."Note: these five figures were originally catalogued separately as E73118 through E72122, but are currently all tracked as number E73119. They were also erroneously catalogued again later as number 89220.Note, Swan's diaries No. 32 and 33, which are in the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, and which include the dates July 24 and 25, 1883, record his collection of these artifacts. He says he bought them from an old woman named Jetkilslea at Masset on July 24, 1883. See in particular his entries in Diary No. 33, "James Gilchrist Swan journal of a trip to Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, 1883" for dates July 24 and 25, 1883, viewable online beginning here https://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/pioneerlife/id/22984 .There is a long informational note about these objects in the Anthropology catalogue ledger book, sourced to James G. Swan: "Copper images made by hand of pure nugget copper very ancient and presumed to have been made of native copper found at Atna or Copper river, and from thence brought to Sitka & traded to the Haida chief who formerly owned them. Procured at Massett, Q. C. Is. B. C. July 24/83. I bought these of an old woman who found them in an old carved column which supported one end of a great beam which formed the center of the frame of the roof. This column had a cavity at the bottom, & a hand hole in front through which articles were put, a sort of "catch all." The old woman reached in & drew out an ancient seal club of yew carved to represent a sea lion's head and body. Then a lot of old trash, & finally, after a long search, she found these images which she brought to me. She said they belong to her great grandmother & had been in the family of her ancestor for many generations before her great grandmother was born. They were used on great occasions as dancing ornaments & worn around the waist. Tradition did not say who made them but they came from the north. They are not cast, but made by hand from pure nugget copper which rings like steel when struck while smelted copper does not. ... James G Swan".

FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "HEAD OF FISH-DART.---MADE OF NATIVE COPPER; FIVE BARBS ON EACH SIDE; THROUGH THE SHANK IS ROVE A STRAP MADE OF BRAIDED SINEW. LENGTH, 7 INCHES. FORT SIMPSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1876. 20,653. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN."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=526, retrieved 4-24-2012: Spear head, Tsimshian. Seal meat and fat are highly important foods, and their oil is used to preserve berries and as a condiment for eating dried fish. Seals were traditionally killed from canoes using long spears with barbed heads. This spear head, which is attached to a piece of braided seaweed [sic] line, was forged from an iron trade file. Faint parallel lines from the file can still be seen.From 2009 Conservation Condition Report by Kim Cullen Cobb: Metal spear head with a braided sinew cord tied through a hole in the proximal end. The metal spearhead is fabricated from a iron file trade item. The file cross-hatching from the original tool is visible in the surface texture; the iron was subsequently carved into the shape of a barbed spearhead. There are five barbs extending down each side, with a groove running down the middle of the spearhead and out to the end of each barb point. The cordage running from the spearhead consists of four strands and is strung through a hole at the end of the spear. A darker cord wrapping ties the heavier cord near the spearhead. Eight strands are twisted together and four are tied around the others at 17 cm. From here, the remaining four cords are braided down the length of the line and then tied in a slip knot at the end. Research shows that seaweed was sometimes used as fishing or hunting line, and the waxy, fibrous appearance of the cord suggests that it could possibly be made of bull kelp. However, comparisons made with this material and examples of seaweed in the NMNH collections indicate that the cord is likely fabricated from thick strands of sinew.