item is from the Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

FROM CARD: "CARVED FROM THE SOLID, WITH EXCEPTION OF TIP OF DOWN CURVED BEAK. TRACES OF VERMILLION, ALSO OF A GRAPHITE-LIKE PAINT. NEG. NO. 43,229-C (FRONT) 43,229-E (PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE) 43,229-D (BOTTOM) NEG. NO. 8374, LOANED TO THE S.I. CENTENNIAL COMM. 7-9-75. LOAN RETURNED MAR 22 1990." FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "HEAD-DRESS.---CARVED FROM SOLID BLOCK OF CEDAR WOOD INTO A CONICAL HELMET SURMOUNTED BY AN EAGLE'S HEAD. WOOD STAINED BLACK. ON SIDES ARE RUDELY CARVED WINGS, AND UNDER HEAD IS CARVED A RUDE REPRESENTATION OF HEAD AND FRONT PAWS OF A YOUNG BEAR. HOLLOWED OUT ON UNDER SIDE TO FIT HEAD OF WEARER. WORN IN NATIVE DANCES BY HAIDAH INDIANS AT KLEMMAKOAN VILLAGE, SOUTHWEST PART OF PRINCE OF WALES ARCHIPELAGO. OUTER DIAM., 12 INS. INNER DIAM., 8 1/4 INS. HEIGHT, 12 INS. PRINCE OF WALES ARCHIPELAGO, 1876. 20,883. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN." See p. 206-207 in Wright, Robin Kathleen. 2001. Northern Haida master carvers. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Wright identifies this object as having been collected by James G. Swan from Duncan ginaawaan at Klinkwan in 1875.This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.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=531 , retrieved 6-24-2012: Helmet An eagle's head and wings give form to this battle helmet, on which a round-eyed spirit peers out from beneath the beak. The helmet was formerly owned by Chief Duncan Ginaawaan at Klinkwan. A Haida fighter dressed for battle in a helmet, wooden visor for his face and neck, a vest and lower body armor made of tightly bound wooden slats or rods, and a thick leather tunic. His weapons were a dagger, club, bow, or spear and in later times a musket or rifle.

FROM CARD: "OLD. WELL CARVED. ENTIRELY FROM THE SOLID. UNLIKE THE HAIDA HELMETS WHICH ARE CARVED FROM A SOFTER SPRUCE OR CEDAR, THIS HELMET IS CUT FROM THE HARDWOOD. FACE UNPAINTED, EXCEPT FOR EYEBALLS AND EYEBROWS. TOTEMIC CARVINGS IN VERMILLION AND A BROWNISH BLACK. NEG. NO. 43,228-B (FRONT), 43,228-D (PROFILE-LEFT SIDE) 43,228-C (PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE). 41,207 A. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21, 1993. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 310, P. 232. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 7, NORTHWEST COAST, FIG. 13 TOP LEFT, PG. 218. "Per Repatriation Office research, as reported in the Tlingit case report (Hollinger et al. 2005), in 1893, Herbert G. Ogden received a wooden helmet in trade from the leaders of the Ishkeetaan clan from the Upper Taku River area of British Columbia.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=261 , retrieved 9-20-2011: Helmet. Tlingit warriors wore carved and decorated helmets, mask-like wooden "collars" over their necks and faces, thick leather tunics, and wooden body armor. Their weapons included bows and arrows, short spears, war clubs, and double-bladed daggers.(1) This helmet, collected in 1893 from the T'aaku/Taku of the upper Taku River in British Columbia, shows a wrinkled human face that was once embellished with bear fur whiskers and shocks of human hair.(2) Its eyebrows are painted brown, the eyes black, and the lips reddish brown against a background of light green. The figure's pierced hands stretch across the front rim of the helmet, joined to a stylized body that is painted around the back. The helmet was carved from a hard, dense spruce burl. Tlingit helmets depict human beings or crest animals belonging to the owner's clan. (3) Helmets were carved from tree roots or knots for strength, and were very dense and heavy. Tomas Suria, who was at Yakutat with the Malaspina expedition in 1791, wrote that, "They construct the helmet of various shapes; usually it is a piece of wood, very solid and thick, so much so, that when I put on one it weighed the same as if it had been of iron."(4) Some type of padding needed to be worn underneath the hat, such as a fur cap.(5) Russian naval office Urey Lisianskii, who helped the Russian-American Company's Alexander Baranov fight the Tlingit at Sitka in 1804, noted that the helmets "are so thick, that a musket-ball, fired at a moderate distance, can hardly penetrate them."(6) Nonetheless, Tlingit helmets and wooden body armor gradually went out of use as firearms became more common on the Northwest Coast. The helmets continued to be important as at.óow, or crest objects owned by clans and presented at potlatches.(7) Tlingit warfare usually pitted one clan against another, rather than whole tribes or villages. It often developed from the harm or insult that one individual suffered at the hands of a person from another clan, and escalated into a conflict that involved all of the relatives on both sides.(8) One observer wrote in 1885 that, "For every bodily injury, for any damage to his goods and property, for any infringement by strangers on his hunting or trading territory, full compensation is demanded or exacted by force."(9) Raiders often attacked their enemies at dawn, killing the men and taking women and children as prisoners and slaves.(10) However, disputes were sometimes settled by duels in which solo fighters from each side fought each other armed only with daggers and dressed in their armor and helmets.(11) 1. DeLaguna 1972:590-91; Emmons 1991:337-46; Holmberg 1985:22; Hough 1895; Lisianskii 1968:149-50; Olson 2002:109, 478-89. 2. DeLaguna 1990:218; Fitzhugh and Crowell 1988:232 3. Emmons 1991:344-45 4. W. M Olson 2002:479 5. Emmons 1991:342 6. Lisianskii 1968:150 7. Jonaitis 1986:21; Lisianskii 1968:150 8. Emmons 1991:328; R. L. Olson 1967:69-82 9. Krause 1956:169 10. Krause 1956:170; Litke 1987:87; Niblack 1890:340-42 11. Holmberg 1985:22; Niblack 1890:342This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.

Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.From card: "Wooden mask, human face with bird beak. Cut from the solid, carved and painted. Ears pegged on (now gone). Crack at side crudely repaired with two heavy iron staples. Recurved beak (hawk or eagle?). Cloud hat formerly pegged to top of crown now missing. Paint colors: vermillion, green, black. White shell teeth inserted in slots within upper and lower lips. Bore tag saying "Helmet, thunder bird, Klingit.""Florence Sheakley and Alan Zuboff, elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. The hat may feature a hawk design, which only would have been used for war helmets because the Tlingit do not have any hawk designations for clans. This object looks like it has been repaired and used to have ears. This object may have been an early iteration of a later, more light weight hat.

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. BAE AR 26, 1904-05, FIG. 105, P. 419. HOLLOWED OUT OF A SINGLE PIECE OF WOOD CA. 2 INCHES THICKNESS, WITH A GROOVE CUT JUST INSIDE THE LIP AREA FOR THE INSERTION OF SEPARATELY CARVED ROWS OF WOODEN TEETH, ONLY PART OF THOSE ON THE LOWER JAW LEFT (AS OF 1954). LIP AREA PAINTED BLUE. ALL BUT THE LIPS COVERED WITH SKIN WITH HAIR ON, ATTACHED AROUND THE LIPS WITH WOODEN PEGS. DOUBLE FLAPS OF SKIN SEWN ON TO FORM EARS. 'OWNED BY 'JIM COONIE', A KACHADI.'"

FROM CARD: "CUT FROM THE SOLID, CARVED TO REPRESENT THE BEAVER, PAINTED, AND PEGGED WITH TUFTS OF HUMAN HAIR ON CREST. INCISOR TEETH, TWO UPPER AND TWO LOWER, OF BRASS. TROUGHSCUT FOR REMAINDER OF TEETH NOW EMPTY. PAINTED GREEN OVER ALL, EXCEPT EYEBALLS, BLACK; EYE-BROWS, BLACK; NOSTRILS, RED; LIPS, BLACK. (RESTORED SECTION OF CHEEK SECURED WITH PEGS) NEG. NO. 43,227-E (FRONT). 43,227-F (PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE)."McLean list in accession file identifies this object as Chilcat. It appears that Chilcat may be meant as a place name on this list, perhaps not specifically or exclusively as a culture name, similar to the way other objects in the collection are identified as Sitka, Kootzahoo, and Hoonia. Chilcat/Chilkat is a name sometimes used for Klukwan.

FROM CARD: "CUT FROM THE SOLID, CARVED TO REPRESENT THE "THUNDERBIRD PAINTED, AND PEGGED WITH TUFTS OF HAIR (NOW GONE). STRONGLY RECURVED BEAK. PAINT COLORS: GREEN, VERMILLION, BLACK. (WOOD WHERE EXPOSED BENEATH PAINT IS CRUMBLING) NEG. NO. 43,228 (FRONT) NEG. NO. 43,228-A PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE) NEG. NO. 8374."Appears to be a set consisting of a war helmet and visor or collar, rather than a dance mask.

Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.From card: "Carved & painted mask, with squid coronet. Carved from the solid. Unpainted except for green on facial features and crest. Wood used, presumably cedar or spruce. Tufts of hair pegged into crest symbolizing an octopus extending over crown from ear to ear. Cut sections of furred skin pegged and glued to upper lip and chin to represent moustaches and beard, also above eyes representing eyebrows (all now gone)."Florence Sheakley, elder, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This object features an octopus design, a symbol belonging to a group in Sitka. It has eyes made of copper.

FROM CARD: "CARVED FROM THE SOLID. HARDWOOD. UNPAINTED AND PLAIN EXCEPT FOR FACE WHICH IS TUFTED WITH HAIR AND PAINTED. TOP OF CROWN FROM EAR TO EAR HAS TUFTS OF APPARENTLY HUMAN HAIR INSERTED IN SMALL HOLES SECURED WITH PEGS. MOUSTACHES AND CHIN WHISKERS OF CUT SECTIONS OF A SOFT GRAY FUR GLUED OR OTHERWISE SECURED IN PROPER LOCATIONS. FACE PAINTED GREEN (RIGHT SIDE); VERMILLION (LEFT SIDE); EYES, WHITE AND BLACK; EYEBROWS, BLACK; TEETH, WHITE; EARS, RED. NEG. NO.43,227-D (FRONT). 43,227-C (PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE). 43,227-I (PROFILE-RIGHT SIDE AT AN ANGLE)43,227-J (PROFILE-LEFT SIDE) LOANED: OSAKA EXPO-70 JULY 69 - JAN 71. RETURNED TO COLLECTION DECEMBER 7, 1970. LOANED TO THE S.I. CENTENNIAL COMM. 7-9-75. LOAN RETURNED MAR 22 1990." FROM OLD 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "HEAD-DRESS.---HEAVY CONICAL HELMET OF WOOD, HOLLOWED OUT ON UNDER SIDE TO FIT WEARER, AND ORNAMENTED IN FRONT WITH A CARVED AND PAINTED MAN'S FACE, ONE HALF BEING COLORED BLUE AND THE OTHER RED. THE MOUSTACHE, BEARD, AND HAIR ARE OF VEGETABLE FIBER. WORN IN DANCING BY SITKA-KWAN INDIANS. OUTER DIAMETER, 11 1/2 INS. INNER DIAM., 8 1/2 INS, HEIGHT, 9 1/2 INS. SITKA, ALASKA, 1876. 20,785. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN."Ruth Demmert, Alan Zuboff, Linda Wynne, Florence Sheakley, and Virginia Oliver made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This object was carved from a burl, and looks more like a helmet than a dancing mask. Florence believes that helmets with iron nails or staples are newer because earlier Tlingit helmets only used wooden dowels to make repairs. The fuzzy beard on this object could be made of animal fur, human hair, or whiskers, but it is not vegetable fiber as the record states. The blue color on this object in particular looks commercial and has changed over time. This object is made in a similar fashion as a shakee.at dancing headdress, with additional garments draped down the back.

From card: "Carved from the solid. Hardwood. Pained in green, vermillion and black. Hair tufts (now missing) inserted in a series of holes extending over apex of crown from ear to ear. Teeth, apparently of a white shell inserted in excavated trenches in upper and lower jaws. Illus. in USNM AR 1888, Pl. XIII, fig. 42, p. 270." Identified in the publication as a wooden helmet. Per Tommy Joseph, 6-2-2009, helmet is in form of a human with shark characteristics, including eyes with downturning outer corners, and gills, and back of helmet has carved shark formline imagery.Florence Sheakley, elder, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Florence belives the owner of this helmet was Shark clan.