Blah blah blah museum stuff

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Repatriation


On an unknown date, two cultural items were removed from an unknown 
location in Tolowa territory, by an unknown individual. The items were 
found in the DNCHS museum collection. Both items appear to have been 
buried, as they are embedded with silt. The two unassociated funerary 
objects are 1 lot of Dentalium & clamshell fragments (catalog number 
50) and 1 clamshell and porcelain bead necklace (catalog number 50-59).
    On an unknown date, 33 cultural items were collected from Yan'-daa-
k'vt (Burnt Ranch) and Taa-ghii~-'a~ (Pt. St. George), in Del Norte 
County, CA, by E. F. Benedict. In 1959, his daughter, Mrs. C. W. 
Jenkins, donated the items to the DNCHS. The 33 unassociated funerary 
objects are 33 arrowheads (catalog number 7).

http://www.nps.gov/history/NAGPRA/FED_NOTICES/NAGPRADIR/nir0652.html

The K[eacute]et Gooshi (Killerwhale Dorsel Fin) also called the 
``Bear Song Leader's Staff'' is an object composed of a long handle and 
a carved and painted pierced blade, which according to Teikweidi Clan 
of Angoon, is a representation of the Brown Bear crest, embodying the 
Xoots (Bear). The blade is ornamented with eight tufts of cow's tail 
and is connected to the handle with cotton cord covered with swan's 
down and feathers.
    The Bear Song Leader's Staff was originally in the collection of 
Axel Rasmussen, a superintendent of schools in Skagway, AK. In 1948, 
the Portland Art Museum purchased his collection. Records from the 
Portland Art Museum read as follows: ``Purchase, Indian Collection 
Subscription Fund. To be known as the Axel Rasmussen Collection. 
Vendor, Earl Stendahl.'' In 1955, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 
purchased part of the Rasmussen Collection from the Portland Art 
Museum, which included this Bear Song Leader's Staff (PAM accession 
 48.3.460; VMFA accession  55.31.1).

http://www.nps.gov/history/NAGPRA/FED_NOTICES/NAGPRADIR/nir0650.html

The two cultural items are Tlingit ceremonial items collected near 
Juneau, AK, in the mid- to late 1800s.
    In 1902, the Field Museum of Natural History (Field Museum) 
purchased a large collection of Tlingit cultural items from George 
Thornton Emmons known as the Spuhn Collection. It is unknown whether 
Emmons or Carl Spuhn, a manager with the Northwest Trading Company, 
originally acquired the two cultural items. The requested items consist 
of a large wooden box drum painted with the design of a wolf (Wolf 
Drum) and a steel, double-bladed dagger decorated with a design of a 
shark (Shark Dagger). Field Museum records indicate that the Wolf Drum 
was acquired sometime before 1900 from a Chief of the Taku Tribe who 
originally lived at Taku Harbor, AK, and who later moved to Gastineau 
Channel below Juneau. Field Museum records indicate that the Shark 
Dagger was acquired before 1900, and came from the Auk tribe living in 
Juneau, AK. The short upper blade is ornamented as a ground shark which 
was the totemic emblem of the family of the owner. Its eyes and teeth 
are embellished with Abalone shell. The dagger appears to be hafted, in 
part, with copper.

http://www.nps.gov/history/NAGPRA/FED_NOTICES/NAGPRADIR/nir0648.html

No comments:

Post a Comment