TANGIBLE VISIONS. WARDWELL, ALLEN, 1996 OBJECTS OF BRIGHT PRIDE: NORTHWEST COAST INDIAN ART FROM THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.FIRST EDITION. WARDWELL, ALLEN EXHIBITION CATALOG, 1978, Publisher: THE CENTER FOR INTER-AMERICAN RELATIONS AND THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF THE ARTS OBJECTS OF BRIGHT PRIDE: SECOND EDITION. WARDWELL, ALLEN EXHIBITION CATALOG, 1978

Headdress frontlet with a wooden bear crest, set within a frame, and painted red, green, and black. The back is unpainted. The frame as well as the bear's eyes, teeth, and paws have inlaid sections of carved abalone shell. Long ermine trailers hang down the back and sea lion whiskers stick out from the top. The headdress would have been worn for a Welcome or Peace Dance. The face's thick, heavy, black eyebrows help to corroborate this attribution. A fistful of eagle down feathers would be placed inside the center of the frontlet. As the chief danced and bowed and greeted his audience, the feathers would float out of his headdress symbolizing peace and friendship. In Tshimshian this was known as Am-halait or "power from the Sky." CONDITION: The object is in fair and stable condition. Special care in handling the piece should be taken for it was treated with arsenic in the past.

Headdress frontlet with a carved bear that can be identified by the depth of its eye sockets and the way its eyes are carved. The Bear appears to be overpowering an insect that has a segmented body and wings behind its head. Framing the carving along the sides and across the top are inset rectangles of abalone shell. Also inset with abalone are the bear's eyes, teeth and paws. The animal's face is blue-green with thick black outlined ears and heavy eyebrows. Its nose, mouth, and torso are red. The proper left edge of the frontlet was repaired and the wood backing for the abalone shell in this area was probably replaced. The object is in good condition. The frontlet might have been hollowed out at the thickest part of the piece behind the face to prevent splitting. The blue-green color is frequently used among the Tlingit while defined eye sockets are frequently indicated by the Haida. Some pieces of abalone shell in this piece are lighter and pinker than other bluer pieces and these pinker pieces may have been replacement pieces for the original blue inlays.

The feather is turkey (bird). The fur is rabbit. The tail is fox (animal).

The paint is dark green, black, and red. The feather is turkey (bird). The fur is rabbit. The tail is fox (animal).

This frontlet is worn on the forehead of a dancer participating in the Tlasula. The back of the headdress is usually covered with a strip of swanskin. Around the upper rim is attached a row of sea lion whiskers. To the back of the crown is attached rows of ermine skins. The carving on this frontlet is apparently a family crest figure representing a hawk or thunderbird. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Family crests are displayed on carved wooden plaques attached to dance headdresses. These have a long trailer of ermine skins and a crown of upright sea lion whiskers. This whisker "fence" holds eagle down, symbolizing peace, that cascades out as the dancer bobs his or her head. This gives the name Feather Dances to the Tlasula.