МАЭ № 2520-15

Woven hat

Chugach

19th century

spruce root, paint, beads

height 12.5 cm, diameter of the brim 39 cm, diameter of the crown 10 cm

On the brim of the hat are two faces looking in different directions. One of them is a sea animal or a fish; the other is the head of a bird with an open beak. The four lines on the brim that are extending out in various directions symbolize the wings, tail and head. Tlingit influence can be seen to a certain extent in Chugach woven articles (hats) and in household utensils made of wood and horn (bowls and spoons). At the same time the whole gamut of material culture associated with the hunting of sea animals and fishing (kayaks, hunting equipment, and clothing) remains typically Eskimo. This hat was published in the Museum’s Tlingit Catalog (Tlingit 2007: 97) as an object whose ethnic attribution is subject to debate.

Ethnography of America