From card: "Carved of maple wood in high relief. Set with abalone and painted. Abalone set in resin. Rather good work." As of 2014, some of the abalone inlay is missing.See p. 48 in Wright, Robin K. "Two Haida Artists from Yani: Will John Gwaytihl and Simeon Stilthda Please Step Apart," American Indian Art Magazine 23(3), Summer 1998. Wright identifies this beaver motif frontlet as having characteristics of the style of Skidegate Haida artist Simeon Stilthda/Simeon sdiihldaa.

From card: "Collector's data: "This very fine specimen of indian carving was procured by me at Koona village [a.k.a. Tanu], B.C. of an indian named STA LAI who carved it. It was worn on the headdress of the chief during ceremonial dances and is the crest of the Koot or Fish eagle (hawk). It is one of the best carvings I have seen both in design and execution and shows that the ancient art of carving in stone and metal and wood for which the Haida are so just known has not died out among this interesting tribe. - James G. Swan, Sept., 1883."On exhibit in NMNH Sant Ocean Hall. 2014 exhibit caption identifies this as carving of eagle claw with salmon (frontlet for headdress), by Sta Lai, Haida.

FROM CARD: "HEAD, BUST AND ARMS OF WOMAN CARVED IN RELIEF ON SQUARE BACKGROUND, THE MARGINS INLAID WITH ABALONE. IT IS THE FRONT OF A HEADDRESS OF ERMINE. L.P. EXPOSITION, ST. LOUIS, 1904. OBJECT IS ILLUS. FIG. 6, P. 65, IN EMMONS, GEORGE T. "PORTRAITURE AMONG THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST TRIBES," AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, 16(1), 1914. OBJECT IDENTIFIED THERE AS "BUST OF A YOUNG GIRL NATURALLY POSED AND DRESSED IN THE STYLE OF A GENERATION AGO; IT IS SAID TO REPRESENT THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER OF A HAIDA CHIEF WHOSE UNTIMELY DEATH SO SADDENED THE FATHER THAT HE HAD HER IMAGE CARVED IN THIS MANNER IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT WEAR IT ON CEREMONIAL OCCASIONS ON THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD-DRESS." SEE FIG. 11, P. 180 OF BILL HOLM, "WILL THE REAL CHARLES EDENSAW PLEASE STAND UP?", IN "THE WORLD IS AS SHARP AS A KNIFE"; BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, VICTORIA, 1981, WHERE FRONTLET IS ATTRIBUTED TO CARVER CHARLES GWAYTIHL. [NOTE: RESEARCH BY ROBIN WRIGHT IDENTIFIES NAME AS JOHN GWAYTIHL, NOT CHARLES, BUT WRIGHT ATTRIBUTES PIECE TO SIMEON STILTHDA, NOT GWAYTIHL, SEE BELOW]. SEE PL. 30, P. 41 IN GEORGE F. MACDONALD, HAIDA MONUMENTAL ART; UNIV. OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESS, VANCOUVER, 1983. PLATE IS 1890'S PHOTO TAKEN AT SKIDEGATE SHOWING FRONTLET BEING WORN BY WOMAN IN BACK ROW. Object is illus.: Fig. 6, p. 40 in Wright, Robin K. "The Depiction of Women in Nineteenth Century Haida Argillite Carving," American Indian Art Magazine 11(4), Autumn 1986. Object is described on p.44- 45 of this article and again identified as Haida. 4/18/1967 Loaned to Vancouver Art. Gallery; 12/13/1967 Returned. Loaned to the Art Institute of Chicago 6/22/77; Returned 12/1/77."Originally cataloged as Tlingit, but later changed to Haida. Catalog card notes: "...corrected based on G.T. Emmons, American Anthropologist 16 (1): 65 (fig. 6), W. Sturtevant 12/2/1988"7-21-2005 per Jay Stewart and Peter Macnair, this artifact has been attributed to maker Simeon Stilthda (d. 1883), rather than Gwaytihl. See Collections Lab accession file for additional information. See Fig. 5.60, p. 295 of Wright, Robin Kathleen. 2001. Northern Haida master carvers. Seattle: University of Washington Press, where Wright attributes this headdress frontlet to Simeon Stilthda/Simeon sdiihldaa. See also pp. 45-46, and Fig. 11 p. 48 in Wright, Robin K. "Two Haida Artists from Yani: Will John Gwaytihl and Simeon Stilthda Please Step Apart," American Indian Art Magazine 23(3), Summer 1998.See also accession file for Accession 41221, which contains information about objects from several different Emmons accessions. It appears to contain information about headdress frontlet # E221176. It may be the object referred to on a list at the end of that file as "Head dress mask from Skidigit [presumably Skidegate?], womans face + bust carved."

FROM CARD: "LOAN: THE TEXTILE MUSEUM, 4/30/65. 20574 LOANED TO RENWICK 4/29/82. RETURNED 6/1983. FRONTLET WITH TRAILER, CA. 1850-75. HAIDA, OR POSSIBLY TSIMSHIAN INDIANS; FORT SIMPSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. WOOD, ABALONE INLAY; RED, BLACK, AND GREEN PAINT; SEA-LION WHISKERS; ERMINE SKINS; RED AND WHITE CLOTH; BROWN FELT, SINEW; THREAD; BALEEN STRIPS 51 X 13 1/4 X 7 1/2 (129.5 X 33.7 X 19.1) THE FRONTLET SHOWS A CREST FIGURE THOUGHT TO BE A RAVEN. THE CROWNS OF FRONTLETS WERE FILLED WITH EAGLE DOWN, THE SYMBOL OF THE MANIFESTATION OF SPIRIT POWER IN THE HUMAN WORLD. AS THE DANCER MOVED AND TURNED, THE DOWN FLOATED OUT OF THE HEADPIECE, FILLING THE AIR WITH THE PRESENCE OF SPIRITUAL BENEDICTION." FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: 'HEAD-DRESS - CAP OF FELT, TO WHICH IS ATTACHED IN FRONT A WOODEN MASK CARVED, PAINTED, AND INLAID WITH ABALONE SHELL, AND BEHIND A ROW OF SMALL SKINS OF WHITE ERMINE, PUTORIUS ERMINEA, AND A PENDANT BAND OF COTTON SHEETING LINED WITH ROWS OF ERMINE SKINS. AROUND EDGE OF CAP IS A ROW OF LONG SPINES OR WHISKERS OF SEA-LION. WORN IN DANCING BY NASSE [Nass] INDIANS, FT. SIMPSON. MASKE, 8 1/4 INS. LONG AND 6 1/2 INS. WIDE. LENGTH OF DRESS BEHIND, 40 INS. BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1876. COLLECTED BY J.G. SWAN. THE MASK REPRESENTS YEHL, THE RAVEN, ONE OF THE FOUR TOTEMS INTO WHICH THE KOLOSH OR THLINKET STOCK OF INDIANS DIVIDE THEMSELVES. - DALL'S ALASKA AND ITS RESOURCES."

FROM CARD: "TRANSFERRED IN 1870. ILLUS. IN BAE AR #3, PL. 21, FIG. 48, P. 187."

CHIEF'S FRONTLET - "CARVED WOODEN CREST BADGE," BEAVER AND HAWK DESIGN. PAINTED GREEN, MAROON, AND BROWN AND INLAID WITH ABALONE SHELL. THERE IS A PIECE OF ABALONE SHELL MISSING FROM MAIN FIGURE'S (THE HAWK'S) LEFT EYE. MARKS) "BY E.(DWARD) VERY EX EX 36 B(OX)", (READ ON MASK UNDER BLACK LIGHT). PUBLICATION: ILLUS. IN BAE ANNUAL REPORT III, PL. XXI, FIG. 47, P. 187. "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," BY VIOLA & MARGOLIS, ILLUS. P. 141. EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86.FROM CARD: "CHIEF'S HEADDRESS. CARVED WOODEN CREST BADGE TO BE ATTACHED TO A HEAD RING. BEAVER AND HAWK DESIGN. INLAID WITH ABALONE SHELL. ILLUS. BAE 3RD ANNUAL REPORT, PL. XXI, FIG. 47, P. 187. [Materials identified there as birch wood, abalone shell, and spruce gum to glue abalone to wood]. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 4, FIG. 1, P. 376. IDENTIFIED THERE AS PROBABLY TSIMSHIAN."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=501, retrieved 3-31-2012: Frontlet for headdress, Tsimshian of British Columbia, Canada. A chief's headdress - with its frontlet mask, crown of sea lion whiskers and flicker feathers, and long train of ermine pelts - signified his clan, rank, and spiritual powers. He wore it as the host of memorial ceremonies and during initiation ceremonies for the Dancer, Dog Eater, Cannibal, and Destroyer secret societies, named for the mythical beings portrayed by the dancers. The crest emblems on this frontlet are Beaver (above) and Eagle (below). The feathered crown of the headdress (now missing) was filled with eagle down, a symbol of peace that drifted over the crowd as the chief danced.Provenience note, in 1841 Oregon Territory encompassed the land from Russian Alaska to Spanish California and from the Pacific to the Continental Divide. The U.S. Exploring Expedition did not go to Canada, but did reach Oregon Territory in 1841, and carried out a hydrographic survey of the Columbia River from its mouth to the Cascades, as well as doing some surveying inland.They had dealings with Hudson's Bay Company staff during that time, and it is probable that the HBC is the source of a number of the Northwest Coast artifacts collected by the expedition.This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.