FROM CARD: "54297-54300. 54298 - H. 30 FT. ELEVATOR LOBBY. FLOOR 1. FROM CARD: "AFTER AN EXTENSIVE SURVEY OF THE TOTEM POLES IN THE USNM COLLECTIONS, IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THIS SPECIMEN IS ONE OF THE TWO SHORTER POLES PRESENTLY ERECTED IN THE OLD ART HALL. THIS SPECIMEN IS, THEN, ESSENTIALLY IN AGREEMENT WITH THE CATALOG BOOK. *THE SPECIMEN WAS PROBABLY COLLECTED FOR THE PHILADELPHIA EXPOSITION OF 1876, ALTHOUGH THIS CANNOT BE VERIFIED TO DATE. THE ORIGINAL (1882) ATTRIBUTION OF HAIDA HAS NOT BEEN CONTESTED TO DATE. 6/6/68 GP. *A SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF PHILADELPHIA EXPOSITION PHOTOS POSSIBLY REVEALS A PORTION OF THE BASE OF THIS SPECIMEN.GP. PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN OF THIS TOTEM POLE IN SECTIONS. NEG. NO. MNH 2337; 2338; 2346; 2347; 2349. 11-6-75. LOANED TO 1876 - CENTENNIAL EXHIBIT, A&I.-LEFT POLE. LOAN RETURNED SEP 1990. 1990-THIS POLE ON EXHIBIT IN NHB CONSTITUTION AVE. LOBBY STAIRWELL-LEFT POLE. 1991 - EXHIBIT LABEL IDENTIFIES POLE AS RED CEDAR (THUJA PLICATA), TSIMSHIAN, CARVED AT K'SAN, BRITISH COLUMBIA, COMMISSIONED FOR 1876 PHILADELPHIA EXPOSITION. CARVINGS ARE IDENTIFIED AS (FROM TOP): POSSIBLE WOLF; UNKNOWN; BEAR MOTHER WITH CUB; BEAR MOTHER WITH CUB. AS OF 1994 THIS HAS BEEN RELABELLED AS HAIDA IN EXHIBIT LABEL.From 2009 exhibit labels: Pole is identified as carved from Western red cedar (Thuja plicata). Haida totem pole, carved at Kasaan, Alaska. This pole was commissioned in 1876 [sic, should be 1875] for the Philadelphia Exposition. Crests, from top: Possible wolf, unknown, Bear Mother with cub, Bear Mother with cub. A separate label for the pole tells the story of the Bear Mother, and identifies the lowest crest on the pole again as a crest of Bear Mother holding one of her cubs. It also identifies the pole as carved at Kasaan, Alaska in 1875; commissioned for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. "Story of Bear Mother. Bear spirits captured a young girl gathering berries. After turning her into a bear, they forced her to marry one. She gave birth to twin cubs - half human, half bear. The girl's brothers rescued her by killing the bear husband. Before dying, he taught his wife ritual songs. Bear Mother's children and brothers became skilled bear hunters. They and their descendants always sang ritual songs over bears they killed."See the letter in the Smithsonian Institution Archives from James G. Swan to Spencer Baird, written at Port Townsend, Washington Territory, and dated November 5, 1875, where Swan notes: "Another [totem pole] has been carved expressly for me at Kazaan [Kasaan], Alaska and will be brought here by the Steamer to arrive Dec. 1st."Illus. Fig. 4.33, p. 208, and discussed p. 206-208 of Wright, Robin Kathleen. 2001. Northern Haida master carvers. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Wright identifies as "Pole commissioned by James G. Swan through Charles Baronovich for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876 ... possibly was carved by Dwight Wallace." [Dwight Wallace (gid k'waajuss) of Klinkwan.] See pp. 121 - 126 in Jonaitis, Aldona, and Aaron Glass. 2010. The totem pole: an intercultural history. Seattle: University of Washington Press. See especially "The Swan Pole" by Robin Wright, on pp. 124 - 125. Wright notes "The first known person to commission a full-size pole for an outside audience was James G. Swan, on his Centennial Exposition collecting trip to Alaska in 1875. Having failed to purchase an existing pole on his trip [Swan] wrote a letter on July 15 [1875] to the trader Charles Baranovich, who had a store at Karla Bay that he had visited near the village of Kasaan .... In the letter, Swan ordered a new pole to be carved and sent to him at Port Townsend. ... It tells the story of Ku.l qe, who had an encounter with land otters. This is the same story recorded on a pole carved by Dwight Wallace for Kusqwa'i, John Wallace's mother's brother, that once stood in the village of Sukkwan. ... It is likely, given both the story and the similarity in carving styles, that Dwight Wallace was the carver commissioned by Baranovich to carve the pole for Swan. ... His son, John Wallace, would have been about fifteen years old at the time of this commission, and may have assisted his father. John Wallace also carved a copy of this pole in 1941 for Mud Bight Park north of Ketchikan...."This pole appears to be the one on the left in engraving shown on p. 100 and captioned "The Indian Department, in the United States Government Building", in Norton, Frank H., and Frank Leslie. 1877. Frank Leslie's historical register of the United States Centennial Exposition, 1876. Embellished with nearly eight hundred illustrations drawn expressly for this work by the most eminent artists in America. Including illustrations and descriptions of all previous International exhibitions. New York: Frank Leslie's Pub. House. The pole or house post on the right in the same engraving appears to be E54301. The Library of Congress has a copy of this engraving and a thumbnail image is shown on their website here: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005689180/ .A photo of this pole on display at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 90-7265, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 61, Folder: 5, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8250 . Pole partially visible in back left of photo.

FROM CARD: "SPOON.---MADE OF GOAT HORN. THE HANDLE IS THE UPPER PORTION OF THE HORN IN ITS NATURAL SHAPE, ORNAMENTED WITH TOTEMIC FIGURES CARVED IN RELIEF. THE BOWL, AFTER BEING MADE FLEXIBLE BY STEAMING, IS SHAPED IN A WOODEN MOULD. HANDLE AND BOWL ARE RIVETED TOGETHER. THE COLOR OF THE BOWL SHADES FROM A DEEP BLACK TO A BROWN. LENGTH, 17 INCHES; WIDTH OF BOWL, 4 1/2 INCHES. INDIANS OF ALASKA. 23,431. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN. THESE SPOONS ARE PRESERVED IN THE FAMILIES AS HEIRLOOMS AND ARE CONSIDERED OF GREAT VALUE."Listed on page 42 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Arts of the Northwest Coast Tribes".

FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "EAR-RINGS (2).---SILVER; PENDANT TO HOOKS ARE BELL-BUTTON OR ACORN-SHAPED ORNAMENTS, NEATLY ENGRAVED. HAIDAH INDIANS, PRINCE OF WALES ARCHIPELAGO. EXTREME LENGTH, 1 3/8 INS. LENGTH OF PENDANT, 13/16 IN. ALASKA, 1875. 19,549. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN."

Catalog number 88960 [part numbers E88960-0 through E88960-3] are four hats of a similar style. One of the four hats is illustrated (small) as Hat 112, p. 221 in Glinsmann, Dawn. 2006. Northern Northwest Coast spruce root hats. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006.

From card: "Label reads "Haida Indians, Queen Charlotte Indians". Collector's description on reverse. Illus. in The Far North catalog, Nat. Gall. of Art, 1973, p. 272. 4/17/67: loan data: worm holes - ok, some splits. 4/18/67: loaned to Vancouver Art Gall. 12/13/67: returned by Vancouver. Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, 1972. Returned 5-29-73. Loaned to Renwick Gallery 2/11/82. Returned 1983. Lent to Canadian Embassy, Nov. 19, 1991. Loan returned Nov. 20, 1991. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 14 right, pg. 253." Handbook of North American Indians caption: Ceremonial staff. Wand of office held by a chief when giving out gifts at the potlatch. When a recipient was named, the staff was thumped on the floor boards. Staff carved in 2 jointed sections. Whe pulled apart at the socket, the chief retaining one section in each hand, the distribution of presents began (Niblack 1890:272). Collected by J.G. Swan at Masset, B.C., 1883; length 82.2 cm.From second card: "Collector's description: "Taski or carved cane held by chief when distributing presents, formerly highly valued". Upper - whale & crow. Middle - sparrohawk Skamison. Lower - beaver eating mouse. "Taski very ancient, carved to represent one of the columns in front of chiefshouse. This is in two sections, one fitting in a socket to the other. Held in chiefs hand as a baton or wand of office while distributing presents." - Swan's invoice and descriptive catalogue.. [From Celebration: A World of Art and Ritual, exhibit catalogue for Renwick Gallery exhibit, 1982-83:] Speaker's Staff, ca. 1830-60, ... wood, 32 3/8 x 2 (82.2 x5). Men of position often kept speakers to make their public announcements, such as calling out recipients' names at potlatches. Professional speakers carreid staffs like the one shown here, but this particular staff was used by a chief himsel when distributing gifts. In traditional Northwest Coast Indian societies, where all legitimacy came from the past, a chief stood as symbol of his house, and the carved speaker's staff he or his representative held signified his authority - analogously to the way a totem pole signified the authority of the house it stood beside. Holding such a staff indicated that the power to distribute gifts in the present derived from events that occurred in the mythic past. This particular staff, which is incomplete, shows (top to bottom) figures of Raven, Whale, Crow, Sparrowhawk, Beaver, and Mouse."SI ARCHIVE DISTRIBUTION DOCUMENTS SAY SENT TO PEABODY MUSEUM, HARVARD, MASS. 1887.

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN USNM AR 1888, PL. 16, FIG. 59, P. 270. [Identified in USNM AR 1888 as "Mask. Representing Hooyeh, the raven, with bow and arrow of copper in his mouth..."] '... CROW AS A MAN WITH COPPER BOW AND ARROW IN ITS MOUTH.' - SWAN'S DESC. CAT. 9/8/1970 LOANED TO NAT. GALL. ART. 9/22/1970 RETURNED FROM NGA." IDENTIFIED AS MASK COMBINING RAVEN AND KILLER WHALE ELEMENTS, BELLA BELLA, ON P. 189 IN DOWN FROM THE SHIMMERING SKY BY PETER MACNAIR, VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, 1998.Mask is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Appendage (long orca/killer whale fin) not included in loan. Per 2009 Anthropology Conservation Treatment report by Landis Smith: Research indicates strongly that the long orca/killer whale fin fringed with human hair that extended from the back of the "cage" of the mask was most likely added after collection and not originally associated with the other part of the headdress. It has therefore been removed for exhibit, as per curatorial/conservator's judgment. The fin had been attached to the bentwood "cage" of frame of mask with waxed thin cordage, or "fake sinew " - this was added in 1998 for an exhibit. Previously the fin was attached with wire (see ACL Conservation Treatment Report 4/1998).Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on the mask http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=631 , retrieved 5-9-2012: Mask, Haida. This mask of a bird with copper bow and arrows in its beak may represent a story from Haida tradition. The sky god, Shining Heavens, is raised by the daughter of a chief; when she makes him a bow and arrows from her copper bracelets, he shoots a wren, a cormorant, and a blue jay, putting on the skins to become different kinds of clouds in the sky. Copper ornaments on the mask may be stars.