The object is a large spoon (top in photograph) carved from a single piece of wood. Inside the bowl of the spoon in black and red is a painting of a wolf crest that includes a wolf with a large tail. The spoon is in good and stable condition. On the handle, at the top, there are two holes; on the body and legs of the wolf, there are small black pigment losses. See also 05.588.7331.

Northwest Coast wooden house model with peaked roof; house frontal totem pole with circular entrance doorway in front. Interior empty / undecorated. Four carved killer whales formerly decorated the front roof line, though one has subsequently become detached. Painted designs in black and red on front and both sides, including killer whale motifs. Has been attributed as possibly Haida? No catalog number visible on artifact, which has also been checked with the blacklight. Object was loaned to Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City, Mexico, in 1964; loan returned in 2012.Per Robin Wright, Burke Museum, 4-12-2012, this house model is probably Haida, though she is not sure who the artist might be. House frontal entrance pole is a Salmon with a human figure.A photo of what appears to be this house model on display at the Smithsonian circa 1879 (photo may actually date more specifically to 1882 - early 1885) is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 2962 or MNH-2962, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder: 4, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8263 . House model is one of the small ones, second from left, on shelf in front of house front in back of photo. If this house model does date to this time period, James G. Swan would most likely be the collector. It also appears on the left in an old photo of exhibits at the U.S. National Museum (in what is now the National Museum of Natural History building), Negative # 38121B. It is behind glass and there are reflections, but the exhibit label appears to identify it as Haida and lists James G. Swan as the collector.In James G. Swan correspondence in accession record No. 5260, Swan talks about sending two Haida house models. However, only one was catalogued, # E23547. It is possible house model ET14554/ET24468 or house model ET24565 may be from this accession?

CHARLES EDENSHAW. WRIGHT, ROBIN K. AND DAINA AUGAITIS, CURATORS EXHIBITION CATALOG, 2013, Publisher: BLACK DOG PUBLISHING, LONDON, UK NORTHERN HAIDA MASTER CARVERS. WRIGHT, ROBIN K., 2001, Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS

Anonymous loan

This would be used on top of the head to steady carrying baskets.

From card: "Bear-killer whale, raven, beaver, and fishhawk motifs. Same artist as 274591 - CN Kaufmann 8/67" Illus. Pl. 306, p. 385 and described p. 398 and 410 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 the beaver with bone-of-whale teeth inlaid or glued on, and abalone shell inlays in his eyes and ears; the raven with abalone shell inlays; the killer-whale, also with whale bone teeth glued on, and inlaid abalone eyes. Attributed by Henry Young to Moses McKay.

From card: "After an extensive survey of the totem poles in the USNM collections, it is probable that this specimen is the pole exhibited opposite totem pole #18925 near the entrance to halls 9 and 11. The specimen was apparently collected by Swan for the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 and can be noted in photos of the exhibit. Based on the USNM NW Coast collections and current NW Coast literature, the treatment of the specimen resembles southern Tlingit-work. 6/6/68 GP. Earlier opinions have been noted as follows: 1882 accessioned.Haida. 1962 V. Garfield.Tlingit. 1962 M. Barbeau. Haida. 1962 W. Holm. Tlingit. Loaned to Renwick 1/27/82. Returned 1983. Illus.: p.58, pl.15, Celebrations Catalogue, Smithsonian Press, 1982. Totem pole, ca.1850-75. Tlingit Indians; Alaska. Cedar, red and black paint 176 x 20 [inches] (447 x 50.8 [cm]). NMNH 54297; Probably collected by James G. Swan."From Card: "In 1990 this totem pole is on exhibit in Natural History Museum Exhibit Hall 9/11 with the following label: "Totem Pole, Probably Tlingit, southeast Alaska. The figures represent a man, a bear, and a frog."As of 2004, totem pole is on exhibit in right side of NMNH IMAX Theater lobby. 2009 exhibit label: "Heraldic pole, Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada. Haida [sic] noble's heraldic pole illustrating ancestral history. Top figure wears chief's hat showing family wealth. Collected in 1875 by James Swan and Haida artist Johnny Kit Elswa for 1876 Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia."As of 2018, pole is on exhibit in NMNH Sant Ocean Hall.This pole is part of a group of poles, E54297 – 54302, collected by James G. Swan in 1875, though they were not catalogued by the Smithsonian till 1882. They were all catalogued as Haida, from the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., however that does not seem correct for E54297. Robin Wright, Professor and Curator Emerita, University of Washington, has attributed the pole as Southern Tlingit. She notes that a similar pole is shown in a photo of Tuxekan. On that pole the bear is sitting on a monster head, instead of another bear as in E54927. She also indicates that the Tuxekan poles often have the square base rather than a rounded pole. See Ketchikan Museums, photo KM 77.3.5.450. Steven C. Brown, former curator at the Seattle Art Museum, identified the pole as Southern Tlingit in 2005, and thought it could be attributed to the Tuxekan area. Steve Henrikson, Curator at the Alaska State Museum, is also of the opinion that it is more Tlingit looking than Haida.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: "Totem pole. 3 pieces. Collector's comment: '1 large totem pole or heraldic carving made by the Bella Bella Indians, B. C. The combination is a pictograph which illustrates the artist's idea of some mythical legend. As a general thing, these legends are rendered differently by each artist either in delineation or combination and unless the artist himself gives the explanation the story is difficult to be correctly obtained'. -- 1 Dec., 1884 James G. Swan. 9/8/70 - 9/20/70 Loaned to Nat. Gallery of Art."Ian Reid (Heiltsuk) and Evelyn Windsor (Heiltsuk elder) of the delegation from Bella Bella, Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet communities of British Columbia made the following comments during the Recovering Voices Community Research Visit May 20th - 24th, 2013. A chief would have the totem pole model when speaking in large groups and bang it four times to gain the attention of the crowd. The depicted figures are the ancestors from the owner's personal story. He cannot tell his own story because it would be bragging, so another speaker tells it for him. It is very much a sort of 'talking stick'.