Natural stone bearing some resemblance to a bird or animal. [DCF Court Team 13/11/2002]

Shark tooth amulet with a perforation at the wide end. [MJD 17/08/2009]

Amulet comprised of two boar tusks bound in a circular shape with a sea lion tooth suspended on a long piece of string. [CAK 22/06/2009]

Illustrated in Crossroads of Continents, fig. 374, pg. 273 , and described as "a killer whale amulet made from walrus ivory traded from the Bering Sea".From card: "This piece depicts a NW Coast 'killer' whale. There is a [wooden] copy of this piece [catalog number E]229546A. Loan: Lowie Museum (BC) 12/31/64 Loan returned: 2/15/66. Loaned to Vancouver Art Gallery 4/18/67Anthropology Catalogue ledger book indicates this and E229546A are both models of artifact 9641, modeled by the Anthropology Laboratory for exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. The ledger lists the name of C.R. Luscombe, who is presumably the model maker.

No catalog card found in card fileAnthropology Catalogue ledger book indicates this is a model of artifact E9813-1, modeled by the Anthropology Laboratory for exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. The ledger lists the name of C.R. Luscombe, who is presumably the model maker.Listed on page 45 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 (Tools)".

Bone carved to represent a whale and decorated with abalone inlay and incised formline designs.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, listed as number E9813B, http://www.alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=508, retrieved 4-24-2012: Amulet, Tsimshian. A shaman's amulets represented the guardian spirits that aided his work. Like his wooden rattles, crown of bear claws, dance apron, and red ocher face paint, bone and stone amulets were essential to his practice. This beautifully carved example represents a killer whale; its tail is a long-beaked bird.

FROM CARD: "...WHALE EFFIGY SET WITH ABALONE.=NISHGA (NISGA'A). WHALE EFFIGY: LOANED: 4/18/1967 VANCOUVER ART GALLERY. RETURNED: 12/12/1967. LOANED: NATL. INSTIT. OF HEALTH 5/1/71. RETURNED: 11/9/71. LOANED: WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART 9/10/1971. RETURNED: 2/9/72. LOANED TO THE S.I. CENTENNIAL COMM. 7-9-75. LOAN RETURNED MAR 22 1990. LOAN: CROSSROADS. SEP 22 1988. ILLUS. CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 374, P.273. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." "Amulet depicting a sea creature, probably a whale" according to Crossroads of Continents, illus. Pl. 231, p. 269. "Killer whale amulet made from walrus ivory."Described p. 302 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 bone carving with abalone shell inlays, representing the Killer-Whale with Gunarhnesemgyet on his head.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, listed as number E9813A, http://www.alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=507 retrieved 4-24-2012: Amulet, Tsimshian. The amulet portrays the story of Gunarhnesemgyet, whose wife is abducted by a white killer whale. As the whale speeds away from the village she shouts, "My people, come for me!" Gunarhnesemgyet follows in his canoe and eventually rescues her from the whale with the help of cormorants and the whale's servant, Gitsaedzan.

From card: "This is a copy of original specimen [E]229546B. The two pieces are identical depicting a NW Coast 'killer' whale." Copy made for exhibition purposes. Original is from Fort Tongass, Alaska.Anthropology Catalogue ledger book indicates this and E229546B are both models of artifact 9641, modeled by the Anthropology Laboratory for exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. The ledger lists the name of C.R. Luscombe, who is presumably the model maker.

From card: "A slightly concave section of ivory at the top which is carved all over with figures, a face in the center and the left end with four comb teeth. Suspended from this are 17 separate carved ivory figures of various kinds... "Used in medicine dances" [according to] Swan"According to conservation condition reports (and the catalog card) the main amulet necklace was loaned to the Whitney Museum of American Art on Sept. 10, 1971, and returned on Feb. 9, 1972. Both the main piece and the other 3 separate amulets were loaned to the Glenbow Museum in 1987 for "The Spirit Sings" exhibition, and returned in 1988.4 pieces: shaman's necklace - a piece of carved ivory with 17 carved ivory amulets attached, and 3 additional amulets. The catalog describes the main piece with the 17 amulets, but it does not mention the additional 3 amulets. So either the amulets are misnumbered or the card is incorrect or incomplete.Shaman's necklace is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. Only the large carved necklace piece with seventeen attached pendant amulets is on loan; the 3 additional amulets with this number are not on loan.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on the large necklace piece with 17 attached amulets http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=628 , retrieved 5-9-2012: Shaman's necklace, Haida. Haida shamans, both men and women, wore images of the helping spirits that came to them in dreams and visions. On this finely carved bone amulet, the heads of birds flank a human face; heron, land otter, and dog salmon, all recorded as spirit assistants in oral tradition, can be identified among the figures suspended below. Amulets worn from the neck were sometimes called head-scratchers, suggesting the purpose of the sharp points on the left side of this piece. A shaman never cut, combed, or washed his or her hair, because it was a source of spiritual strength.Listed on page 46 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 (Tools)".

No catalog card found in card fileAnthropology Catalogue ledger book indicates this is a model of artifact E9813 (it seems similar to E9813-0), modeled by the Anthropology Laboratory for exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. The ledger lists the name of C.R. Luscombe, who is presumably the model maker.Listed on page 45 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 (Tools)".