T´łagakwame'
Headpiece - Cedar Bark Regalia
Cedar Bark regalia is sacred and used in all except one of the Kwakwaka’wakw ceremonies. Although they may appear the same, each object is unique and is only used for specific dances.
Owner
Arthur Bondsound, Kwikwasut´inuxw (Gilford Island)
Catalogue Information
Provenance
Owned by Bondsound until its forced surrender to Indian Agent William Halliday on March 25, 1922. Halliday later displayed and photographed the seized pieces at the Parish Hall in Alert Bay. After doing an inventory, he crated the items in June, and at the end of September he shipped them to Edward Sapir at the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of History). They remained the property of the NMM until their repatriation by the U’mista and Nuyumbalees Cultural Societies in 1979.
Materials
Bark, Cedar; Paint
Dimensions
7.5 cm (ht.)
Accession Number
80.01.137
Physical Description
Cedar bark headdress comprised of a flat inner band of cedar bark, lined with flour sacking. Sewn to the exterior are bands of cedar bark cords, arranged horizontally in a herring bone pattern. Sewn to the upper edge is a heavy cedar bark rope. Sewn to the front and back are flat rectangular panels of cedar bark and tied above these are bundles of shredded cedar bark, two on the front, one on the back. These attachments are sewn with black thread. Red, natural cedar bark.