Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Albumen prints
Place:
Wrangell (Alaska)
Date:
1886 or 1887
Scope and Contents:
Photograph of Chief Shakes' canoe full of people at Fort Wrangell. In the background is Chief Shakes' house with its two mortuary poles: Bear-Up-The-Mountain and Go-na-ka-dot (Guna.kade.t), a wealth-bringing water monster.
Biographical / Historical:
Chief Shakes' canoe was acquired for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and came to the Smithsonian after the Fair closed. The carved bears on the canoe--the watchman at the bow and a female emerging from the stern--gave the boat one of its names: "Brown Bear Canoe" Hootz York. When exhibited at the World's Fair the canoe showed elaborate paintings along its side: at the extreme bow was painted a pilot-fish, a small whale that the Tlingit believed helped herd seals towards killerwhales, with a large killerwhale painted along the side. Chief Shakes' wife was from the Raven clan, and a raven is depicted at the stern. In the photograph, the boat does not appear to have painted designs along the side when it was in use in 1886-1887.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.2008-11
General:
Information provided by Stephen Loring (January 28, 2008).
