From card: "Copper images made by hand, of pure nugget copper, very ancient and presumed to have been made of native copper found at Atria [sic, should be Atna/Ahtna] or Copper Riverland from thence brought to Sitka and traded with the Haida Chief who formerly owned them."Note: these five figures were originally catalogued separately as E73118 through E72122, but are currently all tracked as number E73119. They were also erroneously catalogued again later as number 89220.Note, Swan's diaries No. 32 and 33, which are in the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, and which include the dates July 24 and 25, 1883, record his collection of these artifacts. He says he bought them from an old woman named Jetkilslea at Masset on July 24, 1883. See in particular his entries in Diary No. 33, "James Gilchrist Swan journal of a trip to Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, 1883" for dates July 24 and 25, 1883, viewable online beginning here https://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/pioneerlife/id/22984 .There is a long informational note about these objects in the Anthropology catalogue ledger book, sourced to James G. Swan: "Copper images made by hand of pure nugget copper very ancient and presumed to have been made of native copper found at Atna or Copper river, and from thence brought to Sitka & traded to the Haida chief who formerly owned them. Procured at Massett, Q. C. Is. B. C. July 24/83. I bought these of an old woman who found them in an old carved column which supported one end of a great beam which formed the center of the frame of the roof. This column had a cavity at the bottom, & a hand hole in front through which articles were put, a sort of "catch all." The old woman reached in & drew out an ancient seal club of yew carved to represent a sea lion's head and body. Then a lot of old trash, & finally, after a long search, she found these images which she brought to me. She said they belong to her great grandmother & had been in the family of her ancestor for many generations before her great grandmother was born. They were used on great occasions as dancing ornaments & worn around the waist. Tradition did not say who made them but they came from the north. They are not cast, but made by hand from pure nugget copper which rings like steel when struck while smelted copper does not. ... James G Swan".

Karen Anderson (Nuxalk elder), Ian Reid (Heiltsuk), Clyde Tallio (Nuxalk), Evelyn Windsor (Heiltsuk elder), and Jennifer Kramer (anthropologist) 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. This dance image or puppet looks to be whittled noncommittally. It is unfinished, probably produced for tourists. It is made from alder wood. Puppets are very sacred and have power in them that can make you behave a certain way. This object was viewed alongside E073744-0.

FROM CARD: "WITH BEDDING PADS FOR COMPRESSING THE HEAD & SHADE TO COVER THE EYES. SHOWING THE METHOD OF COMPRESSING THE HEAD. #1043: CRADLE A TROUGH RUDELY HEWED OUT OF A CEDAR WOOD. A LOW BRIDGE IS LEFT ACROSS THE TROUGH TO STRENGTHEN IT. SLATS ARE PUT ACROSS TO LEVEL OF HEIGHT OF BRIDGE. THE BEDDING IS MATS OF CEDAR BARK. ON LOWER END OF CRADLE IS A HANDLE. AROUND THE SIDES ARE FASTENED STRINGS. THE COMPRESS IS FASTENED TO HEAD OF CRADLE. IT CURVES OVER AND IS TIGHTENED BY MEANS OF CORDS TO SIDES OF CRADLE. IT IS WOVEN OF ? AND STUFFED TIGHTLY WITH CEDAR BARK. IN CRADLE IS A WOODEN MODEL OF BABY UNDERGOING THE PROCESS OF HEAD FLATTENING. COVERING A CEDAR MAT. L. 26", W. MIDDLE 8 3/4", L. END 5" UPPER 6 1/2", DEPTH 4 1/4". L. HEAD COMPRESS 10" W. OF STEM 3" EXPANDED END 3 3/4".Originally, catalog numbers 1043 and 1044 together comprised a cradle and a wooden figure to go in the cradle for display. As of 2009 (and probably for many years prior to that) the cradle itself is missing, and what remains is a wooden figure, apparently representing the baby that would have gone with the cradle for "showing the method of compressing the head". The card describes the cradle itself as catalog number 1043, which means this figure might have originally been 1044? It is currently marked with number 1043 in an ink that does not appear old enough to be the original number. However, a 19th or early 20th century exhibit label describing the cradle as # 1044 is stored with the card.The cradle (and apparently the wooden figure) were illustrated, under # 1044, on p. 91 in Rhees, William Jones. 1880. Visitor's guide to the Smithsonian institution and National museum, Washington, D.C., Part 3[Washington]: Judd & Detweiler. https://books.google.com/books?id=L5ZJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false . Speculatively, ET15954 may possibly be the cradle E1044? (it currently includes the later addition of a plaster baby mannequin head for display purposes.)

Though catalogued as #6 in the collection, this object is actually #1 on the detailed list filed in the accession record.

Attributed to U.S. Exploring Expedition/Wilkes collection on the catalogue card, however Jane Walsh doubts that attribution.

"House No. 2" is presumably E18906.