From card: "Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 7 & 8; p. 636." From 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card: "Body Armor - Breast protector, made of slats and rods of wood woven together by means of fine cord; shield shape; lower part truncated; principal part forms a continuous line under the arms and across the breast and back. The front and back of yoke are made of separate short pieces of wood, and sewed on by means of a strip or rawhide 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. The front and back parts are woven separate and connected by leather strings, at the sides and under the arms. Thlinkit Inidans. Sitka, Alaska, 1883. Collected by J. J. McLean."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=171, retrieved 3-31-2012: Slat armor.

FROM CARD: "46464-5. NO. 46464 - ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1893; PL. 19, FIG. 1; P. 642."

FROM CARD: "DETAIL OF WEAVING ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888, FIG. 46, P. 269. ILLUS. USNM AR, 1888, PL. XIII, FIG. 43, P. 270 ALSO PL. XV, FIG. 53, P. 270." Formerly on exhibit in NHB Hall 9, case 27, where it was identified as rod body armor.

FROM CARD: "LEATHER. TWO THICKNESSES OF MOOSE OR ELK HIDE. TOTEM ? [crest] PAINTED INSIDE. [This text on card probably taken from USNM Annual Report, 1893; p. 642 description of plate 19, Fig 2.:] SKIN ARMOR:--MADE OF THICK TANNED ELK OR MOOSE SKIN FOLDED TWICE INTO OBLONG FORM LIKE A SHEET OF NOTE PAPER. SEWED OVER THE SHOULDERS AND STRENGTHENED INSIDE BY HINGE PIECES. OPEN ALONG RIGHT SIDE, THE EDGES CUT INTO COARSE FRINGE. A SHORT SLIT DOWN LEFT SIDE BELOW THE SHOULDER LEAVES A PASSAGE FOR THE LEFT ARM. ABOUT MIDWAY NEAR THE RIGHT SIDE IS FASTENED A WOODEN TOGGLE, BY WHICH, PROBABLY, WAS SUSPENDED THE DAGGER. THE FRONT OF THE COAT IS DISCOLORED AND DENTED AS THOUGH AN ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE TO RENDER THE LEATHER MORE DENSE BY HAMMERING. THE LEATHER HAS PERHAPS ALSO BEEN TREATED WITH GLUE, AS DESCRIBED BY FATHER MORICE AMONG THE TINNE [Athabaskans]. INSIDE THE ARMOR AT THE BACK IS A FINELY DRAWN AND PAINTED TOTEM [crest] IN A CIRCLE 10 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER. WIDTH, 26 INCHES; HEIGHT, 36 INCHES. TAKU INDIANS, SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1893; PL. 19, FIG. 2; P. 642."There is a painted crest design, possibly raven or eagle?, on interior of armor.Similar to E168157 (see remarks for that object), this Taku Tlingit object may originate with the Taku Tlingit of the Upper Taku River area of British Columbia.

From card: "Greave - Made up of 12 slightly tapering hard wood slats and 8 rods woven together with twisted sinew cord. The weaving is diversified in the central portion by carrying the threads in pairs alternately over the rods. The portion not covered with weaving bears a totemic painting. When the greave is curved around the calf of the leg, the hollowed out portions, which are also beveled, accommodate the instep and knee joint. Tied at the front with thongs. The holes along the upper edge are probably for attaching the greave to the armor for the upper leg. Length, 15 inches; width of upper edge, 17 1/2 inches; width of lower edge, 16 1/2 inches. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 10; p. 638. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 13 bottom left, pg. 218."

FROM CARD: "THOUGH THIS WAS COLLECTED, PRESUMABLY BOUGHT, IN THE TERRITORY OF THE TLINKIT PEOPLE DR. HOFF THOUGHT THAT IT WAS OF CHUKCHEE ORIGIN. ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1893; PL. 21, FIG. 1; P. 644. REF. TO U.S.N. MUS. REP. 1893. P. 643, PL. 21."Ruth Demmert, Virginia Oliver, Florence Sheakley, Alan Zuboff, and Linda Wynne made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. The elders commented that they had never seen Tlingit armor like this before, and this may actually be a more decorative object. The buttons on this object were commercially made and the coins on this object were sewn on with either sinew, braided sinew, or twine. Florence commented that this object looks like it was made from mooseskin.