T´łagak´waxawa'yi
Neck ring
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.
Catalogue Information
Provenance
Owned by Harry Hanuse 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. In September 1993 Dan Hanuse Sr. requested that his father's pieces be transferred from Nuyumbalees to U'mista as per the wishes of the majority of Harry Hanuse's descendants.
Materials
Bark, Cedar; Fibre, Thread
Dimensions
27.0 cm (dia.)
Accession Number
94.09.001
Physical Description
Hamat´sa neck ring, made of red-dyed cedar bark. Square in sections, it is made of four woven cedar bark bands sewn together, each being square in section. Four long fringes comprised of two-ply cedar bark lengths of rope are sewn to the ring in four places. Each rope is sewn at its centre to the ring, leaving the knotted ends to hang down. White bird down clings in places to the fringes. The neck ring is misshapen and some areas on the underside are damaged. NMM accession number is written in black paint on the side.