From card: "Taski: a wand of office held in the hand of a chief when giving presents at a feast. When the name of the recipient is called the Taski is thumped down to give emphasis to the word. Emblems: The Beaver "Tsing" wiht the Tadn skillik or hat of rank surmounted by the Eagle Koot. 1/28/1942. Ceremonial wand of shaman in medicine dances Illus. in USNM AR, 1888, Pl. XVI, fig. 54, p. 270. Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, 1972. Returned 5-29-73. Illus. in The Far North catalog, Nat. Gall. of Art, 1973, p. 273. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 14 left, pg. 253."Handbook of North American Indians photo caption identifies as: 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. At top is a beaver crest; at bottom, an eagle. Collected by J.G. Swan at Skidegate, B.C., 1883; length 122.6 cm.The emblem descrption on the cat card is actually describing E89098 and copied over from that card.

SEE PROCESSING LAB ACCESSION FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact, listed as number E20885, http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=49 , retrieved 5-9-2012: Crest hat, Haida. Also called clan hat, potlatch hat.

FROM CARD [for 1155 through 1159]: "WITH TWO MINIATURE BOTTLES..."

From card: "'If for common painting of hats, etc. the paint is prepared by chewing dried salmon eggs and cedar bark and spitting the saliva into the cavity in the stone, and the lignite is then rubbed in till the required color is obtained. When used for tatooing the lignite is rubbed on the stone with water only.' Swan's invoice and descriptive catalogue." Neg. #2005-22350 is photo of this object with Catalogue No. E88903, a paint mortar.

OLD TAG WITH ARTIFACT STATES: "NO. 206 SKAMSKUM, HAIDA MASK MASSET, B.C., JULY 6TH 1883, J.G. SWAN, 75 CENTS."

From card: "#88929 - Illus. in USNM AR, 1888; Pl. 29, fig. 153, p. 286." From 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card: "Seal Spear Head. - Made of steel. Head detachable from foreshaft and secured by a plaited lanyard of seaweed made fast to a shackle in the butt. The case is made of two pieces of cedar lashed with split spruce root. Masset Indians (Skittagetan stock), Queen Charlotte's Islands, B.C. Collected by James G. Swan."Harpoon head sheath is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Only sheath on loan. Harpoon head, which was not located during the 1970's inventory, is not included on loan.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on harpoon head sheath http://www.alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=624, retrieved 5-6-2012: Sheath for harpoon head, Haida. A wooden sheath with a seal-like "tail": encased the barbed tip of a seal harpoon when it was not in use. Legendary seal hunters from Gitadju' became lost in fog and arrived at the undersea house of the Ocean People. There a supernatural being dressed in rings of woven cedar bark taught them spirit dances to perform during potlatch ceremonies. On the way back home the men capsized their canoe but managed to reach shore, and when one blew on his wet harpoon sheath it made a whistling sound like the voice of the dancing spirit. Haida celebrants used wooden whistles to re-create this sound and dressed in bark rings as their ancestors had been shown.

From card: "Bear-killer whale, beaver, frog, and dog fish motifs."