Currently not on view
Gwálaa (dagger) depicting a raven and bear,
before 1894
Tlingit Art of the Warrior
As is true of many warriors’ costumes from around the world, those of the Northwest Coast were meant to impress and intimidate opponents as much as they were to protect the wearer. Tlingit and Haida warriors wore elaborate helmets in the form of crest animals or scowling human faces and body armor composed of lashed wooden slats. The example exhibited here represents a sea lion, which was an important crest animal of the Raven Clan and a powerful sea predator. The helmet’s metal eyes would have flashed with the wearer’s movements on the battlefield.
Tlingit warriors wielded bows and arrows, clubs, and copper or iron daggers for close-ranged combat. Daggers were normally slung around the neck and protected by cloth sheathes. This copper dagger includes fine incised designs on the pommel, with shell inlay portraying a bear head in profile with a young raven above. These likely are the crest symbols of the original owner’s clan. Combat could be rather ceremonial, especially for fights between champions, and war garb was also worn for ceremonial purposes at potlatches.
Information
before 1894
North America, Jilḵaat Ḵwáan (Klukwan)
- Gillett G. Griffin. Art of the Northwest Coast (Princeton University Art Museum, 1969)., cat. no. 16, p. 29
- Patricia Garrett, ed. The Guardians: The Native American Artists (Summit, NJ: Summit Art Center, 1980)., cat. no. 82, p. 12 (illus.), 29
- Helen H. Marr, Voices of the Ancestors: Music in the Life of the Northwest Coast Indians (Greenwich, CT: Bruce Museum, 1986)., p. 21
