Photo Gallery

Bear's head on a totem pole; Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska

Watertight hat made of spruce roots, woven by Isabella Edenshaw (1858-1926) and painted by her husband, Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920), a famous Haida artist from Masset. The painting shows Raven in double profile. (about 40 cm, ASM)
ASM = Alaska State Museum, Juneau

An old chiefs hat, woven of fine spruce roots and decorated at the top with an ermine skin (about 1850). Each of the cylindrical rings is said to symbolize a potlatch hosted by the wearer of the hat, although the generally held theory that such rings are "potlatch rings" is controversial. The painted design could represent an eagle or the wealth-bringing sea monster Gonakadet. (61 cm, ASM)
ASM = Alaska State Museum, Juneau

This replica of an eagle clan hat was specifically made for the museum by a Tlingit artist. It is made of haliotis and human hair. (27 cm diagonal; ASM)
ASM = Alaska State Museum, Juneau

This basket, collected around the turn of the century (1900), is a stunning example. It is woven of spruce roots and multicolored grasses. The blue color is created with huckleberries. (38 cm, ASM)
ASM = Alaska State Museum, Juneau

The Tsimshian may have been the first to make raven dance rattles. This example represents a widely disseminated model: On the back of a raven sits a man whose tongue is being pulled out by a frog, which is, in turn, being seized by a kingfisher. The underside of the rattle shows a hawk. "Underside" is incorrect insofar as this was the side which was on top when a chief held the rattle in his hand. (28 cm, ASM)
ASM = Alaska State Museum, Juneau