Panel in Alert Bay Cemetary. Coper and sisiutl. Per Door Book/Accession Record: Panel--in Alert Bay cemetary--copper and sisiutl.
Donor:
William R. Heick
Verbatim coll. place:
Alert Bay, Baja California
Culture or time period:
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)
Collector:
William R. Heick
Collection date:
1951
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Accession date:
March 22, 2000
Department:
Still and motion photography
Dimensions:
length 35.56 centimeters and width 25.4 centimeters
Comment:
Per labels provided by Ira Jacknis: Mortuary panel depicting a copper and sisiutl. Nimpkish cemetery, Alert Bay, B.C.; 195. These painted panels were a common form of Kwakiutl memorial, especially in the village of Alert Bay in the early twentieth century. A "copper," which one can see in the portrait of Willie Seaweed, is a shield-like panel made from the metal. Serving as a counter of wealth, it is bought and sold and displayed at potlatch ceremonies. A sisiutl, a double-headed sea serpent, was often depicted on house fronts and memorials as a family crest and as a protective design.