Object has old identifying tag from James G. Swan describing its function.

ACCORDING TO SWAN'S LIST (FROM ACCESSION FILE) THIS PIECE IS DESCRIBED AS "FIGURE OF A MAN RESTING HIS ELBOWS ON HIS KNEES" AND IS IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF A GROUP OF "SITKA CARVINGS". NOTE: (AUGUST, 1997) ACCORDING TO DR. PETER MACNAIR, ETHNOLOGIST, THE FIGURE IS "JENNA CASS" TYPE. (S. CRAWFORD, SEPT., 1997). ILLUS. FIG. 65, P. 88 IN DOWN FROM THE SHIMMERING SKY BY PETER MACNAIR, VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, 1998. IDENTIFIED THERE BY PETER MACNAIR AS FIGURE REPRESENTING MAN, TLINGIT, ARTIST UNKNOWN, C. 1870.CATALOG NUMBER 13102 WAS ALSO ASSIGNED TO A HAIDA CANOE MODEL FROM SWAN'S COLLECTION BUT AS OF 1997 NO CANOE WITH THIS NUMBER COULD BE LOCATED.Note: accession record indicates 2 Haida canoe models were part of this accession. Swan indicates in the accession record that some of the other artifacts in the accession were packed in these canoe models for shipping, so they were not very small. One was not described further in the accession record. The second is only listed as "fancy painted." These were given catalogue #s 13102 and 13103. MNH2373 is a black and white photo of canoe model 13102. This canoe model is described on p. 934 of the Collins Boat Ms., and there is a notation there that it was in the Division of Mechanical Technology as of 1899, but a subsequent undated annotation indicates it was accidentally destroyed. 13103 is also described in the Collins Boat Ms. on p. 932. The manuscript has an annotation indicating it was withdrawn from the Division of Technology by Otis Mason in 1899 (implying that it went to the Division of Ethnology), but as of 2016, this canoe model has not been located during various inventories.

There is an old circa 1876 tag with the artifacts in Swan's hand: "Needles for making rush mats. Towanahoo Indians, Hood Canal, W.T.".

FROM CARD: "INVENTORIED 1979." FROM OLD 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "BRACELETS (4).---SILVER BANDS, 1 1/4 TO 1 1/2 INCHES BROAD, BENT IN CIRCLETS, AND FITTED WITH HOOK AND EYE CLASPS. GREATEST DIAMS., 2 3/8 INS. LEAST DIAMS., 2 INS. ALASKA, 1875. 19,530, 19,531, 19,532, 19,533. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN. THE EXTERIORS ARE ENGRAVED, SUCCESSIVELY, WITH RUDE [SIC] NATIVE IMAGES OF THE FOUR TOTEMS OF THE THLINKET INDIANS, VIZ., THE WHALE THE RAVEN (YEHL), THE WOLF (KHAN UKH), AND THE EAGLE (CHETHL') THE LATTER BEING ACCOMPANIED BY A RUDE REPRESENTATION OF AN AMERICAN HALF-DOLLAR COIN. SITKA INDIANS."Linda Wynne and Florence Sheakley, elder, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. The design on this bracelet features two killer whales sharing one dorsal fin.

From card: "Renumbered. Illus. in USNM AR, 1888, Pl. VII, fig. 19, p. 260." Identified in publication as "Ear and Nose Ornaments. Of shark's teeth. Auk Indians, Admiralty Island, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan."Anthropology catalogue ledger book lists a collection date of 1876; i.e. this is probably part of the artifacts Swan collected in 1875/1876 for the Smithsonian the Centennial Exposition, possibly accession 4730? See E20848, which is possibly the same or related objects, since E72993 is identified as "renumbered"?

FROM CARD: "TWO BLADED DAGGER. MADE OF IRON, ONE BLADE LONG AND TAPERING, THE OTHER SHORT. THE UPPER OR OUTER SIDE OF EACH BLADE IS DIVIDED INTO THREE FLAT SURFACES, AND IN HIGHLY-FINISHED EXAMPLES THE MIDDLE SURFACE IS RAISED SLIGHTLY. GRIP BETWEEN THE BLADES NARROWED AND WRAPPED WITH CLOTH OR LEATHER. WITH SHEATH."